“Get lost.”

The child who was endlessly fuming and struggling, let out a curse as soon as she got down from my arms.

Rebecca Petri. That was the name of the child who was cursing flawlessly at me. For that reason, it would make one wonder if this is really coming out from a 5-year-old girl’s mouth.

This young girl is an outstanding prospective villainess. She would poison the woman who persistently thrives to become the Crown Princess. And I’m the third stepmother of that child, Leona Selen.

“I said get lost!”

“Yes, Rere, but you should eat first. I’ll get lost after you eat, so let’s just eat this, okay?”

I wanted to clean up the meal because the child said she doesn’t want to eat. But this child is a powerful young noble, and I had to pacify such a difficult child because I’m her stepmother.

Thanks to her, it feels like I’m at war every day.

Who said that a child’s very existence itself is wonderful? To some extent, I could agree, but Rere is an exception.

While I swallowed my pent-up anger inside, Rere couldn’t withstand her temper and began to throw things.

‘That’s a relief, there’s nothing dangerous here.’

I was relieved for a moment because I thought I wouldn’t be in a dangerous situation enough to get hurt, but…

One of them hit me right in the face.

Tak-!

“Ah.”

I spouted a single groan at the unexpected pain. A wooden block bounced under my feet and then rolled around. I cleared out all the dangerous stuff away, but it was still there somehow. I can’t even feel the pain due to my perplexity.

At first, I thought I was okay. But the next moment, something trickled down as my forehead got hot.

‘It’s not blood, is it?’

When I wiped my forehead with my hands, warm blood was smeared all over my hand.

“…”

It’s red blood. For a moment, I was wondering if this was a dream. At that time, the startled Rere ran to me belatedly.

“Blo-Blood…! Th-That’s why I told you to get lost!”

She’s not even apologizing. Damn it.

Stepmother or whatever, should I just give up on it and smack her harshly before running away?

I wiped my forehead with my hands without even thinking about taking out my handkerchief because I was dazed. There is so much blood leaking out that even if I wiped it off, the blood kept getting on my hands. It was so dreadful.

Then, Rere came close to me.

“Won’t you…get angry?”

“…What?”

“Why are you not angry!”

It’s me who should be angry, but why are you getting annoyed?

Don’t worry about it, Rere. I was about to get angry.

What should I do with you? Would it make you feel better if I took you somewhere and smacked your buttocks?

“…Why are you not angry. Why!”

“That’s…”

I want to hit you. I have been thinking about this more than a hundred times. I think the people in this family have spoiled you too much. If I hit your butt 100 times, will you wake up?

As I was immersed in my thoughts, along with the sound of the door opening, there was an unfamiliar voice.

“…It’s the first time. You are the first person who did not get angry at the child’s behavior.”

“Pardon?”

At the stern voice of the man, I raised my head hurriedly. He was Rere’s father, the owner of the irrevocable black market, and the Duke, Ian Petri.

“No matter what she does, are you trying to raise her with love?”

My body flinched at the stern man’s words.

“Your Grace, that’s not what I mean…”

The moment I was stiffened by his taciturn gaze, Rebecca approached me.

“Hey, you…”

“Huh…?”

Just you wait, Rere. I’ll give you a little bit of spanking later.

But Rere pulled the hem of my clothing towards her.

“…I didn’t mean it. Sorry…”

Huh? This is not right.

Unlike my expectation that she would utter profanity and scream, Rere rushed to me with tears flowing down from her beady pair of eyes.

What’s wrong with you?

“You’re acting a little bit different…”

The Duke is strange, too.

Hey, that’s not it!

Things are starting to turn strangely.

Can you not be sorry…?

The beginning of the whole story started 15 days ago.

***

*Gallop* *Gallop*

I woke up from my sleep at the sound of the horse’s movement.

“Wh-Where is this?!”

“…What are you talking about?”

I hurriedly raised my head to the voice of an unfamiliar man. The man who narrowed his eyes was unbearably handsome, enough to left me speechless at the moment. His appearance was so remarkable that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he was carved by God. As if a halo was shining behind him. His hair parallels the clearest night sky and his eyes look like the finest ruby. Even his expressionless face was perfect.

“Ah…”

“You don’t have to be nervous. Anyway, can you sign your transfer document?”

After hearing the unfamiliar voice once more, my head was cleared up.

‘I…am already dead.’

It was because of a car accident. Living in the modern age, I pursued a little child as if I was possessed by something and got run over by a car. And when I opened my eyes, I was already here. Even worse, this place is not of the modern age. Suddenly, I found myself riding the carriage and became a woman named Leona Selen who lived in this era.

“What are you looking at?”

The pair of red pupils were focused on me.

“…It’s nothing.”

“…Leona Selen. From now on, you have one task to do. Keep yourself in line.”

All my positive opinions about him evaporated instantly. I’m only possessing this body, you know?

‘You’re Leona’, as soon as I unfolded my eyes, I remembered Leona’s memories. I can remember all the memories throughout her entire life, not even missing the smallest details.

I remembered perfectly the part where Leona’s father sold her as a courtesan at the highest price as well. Not caring even if he had to sell her to the Duke. The materialistic family sold Leona, and Leona also agreed. That is because living in that house was a misfortune for her anyway.

Rather, Leona’s life might get better now that she was sold to entertain the Duke at night.

But Leona, I’m not going to the Duchy to do that kind of work.

I’m walking straight into hell.

I’m inside a book, and the family of Duke Ian Petri, who bought me, is an irrevocable dark family, where a monster resides within.

***

There was no further explanation. As soon as the carriage stopped, the Duke took me inside. Then, he took me into a room that seemed to be the living room and called his daughter. Soon after, a child came into the living room and did not deviate an inch from my expectation.

Black hair and red eyes. Her cheek puffed grumpily as if she found everything annoying.

‘Rebecca Petri. She’s the villainess of this novel.’

As soon as I was thinking about it, the child’s mouth opened.

“What is ‘that’?”

The child, who was clinging at the Duke’s waist, scowled at me.

“Won’t you greet her?”

As I was gazing at the child, the Duke’s uncomfortable voice rang in my ears again.

Right, I must greet her. I battled with my shivering body and waved my hand at the child.

“…Hi.”

“Did you say, ‘hi’? Get lost.”

The first thing I heard from the monster not long after we met was ‘Get lost’. I suddenly imagined that it might be better to entertain the Duke at night, just as what the original Leona was thinking.

I know this novel well. Not to mention, the ending of the two people in front of me. Whether he assumed that the greeting was over, the Duke caressed the child’s head once and looked at me.

“What you’re going to do now is to become this child’s stepmother.”

At the Duke’s words, I opened my mouth carefully.

“By any chance…you know…I want to ask…”

“What is it?”

“As her stepmother, what number am I?”

Perhaps it was an unexpected question, but even if so, the Duke only slightly opened his eyes without altering his expression.

But for me, it was quite an important question. Rebecca’s third stepmother was crippled because of her.

‘Please don’t let me be the third one.’

“That’s unusual. Are you curious about that? You must have noticed that you aren’t the first one.”

“Yes. So… what number am I?”

His forehead became crumpled at my query.

“You are the third.”

For a moment, my eyes became clouded. Is this what it feels like when the sky collapses? I’m the third one. God was too cruel to Leona and I.

Then Rebecca, who was sticking on the duke like a cicada, sulked.

“What? Did you call me for this?”

“I thought you’d have to say hello.”

“It’s annoying! It’s not fun at all. I’m leaving.”

“Sure, you said hello today, so you can go.”

“I’m not going because dad allowed me to go! I’m going because I want to!”

Rebecca, who was abruptly throwing a tantrum and screamed her lungs out, glared at me.

“Alright.”

Rebecca went outside with a loud bang, clearly expressing her resentment towards me.

I don’t really like you either. I hate you enough to the point I want to run away.

‘As expected from the irrevocable dark family’s villainess. Yes, I certainly want to run away.’

The atmosphere in the room was cold as if it was filled with cold water. I just need to evade the Duke’s gaze. But then,

“Let’s go.”

“Wh-Where?”

“What’s with your response? Did you think I would take you to a strange place?”

Yes. Exactly.

I only knew the future of this family, but I didn’t know what was going on inside this mansion. Rebecca was particularly described in detail because she was in the same generation as the main characters, but there is not much description of the other generations.

There was no description of the Duke, so I was worried about that.

‘Are you going to kill me just because the child despises me?’

I became even more afraid because I didn’t hear anything about the first and second stepmother. Even the rumors about the Duke in Leona’s memories were gruesome.

-The Dukedom was experimenting with people

-There are many cases where the maids and servants abruptly went missing.

‘You don’t know how precious my life is…..’

In the modern age, I died absurdly, but I don’t want to die hopelessly here. So, I hesitated to move and distanced myself as much as I could from him.

“I have no intention of taking you to a strange place, or hitting you, so follow me.”

“Ah. You’re saying that again.”

“Did you still think that I might do something like that?”

“Yes.”

I nodded my head heedlessly. This is why you need to be nice while living.

“…I’m not that kind of person.”

“That’s a relief.”

He was somewhat feeling discontented with my answer and creased his forehead, but I followed him as if I didn’t know.

*Step*

*Step*

The sound of footsteps was heard ringing in the long hallway. When only the sound of footsteps and their breaths reverberated in the space for a long time, it was the Duke who began to open his mouth again.

“But…..did you really think that I was going to do that?”

A slightly uneasy voice came out from the Duke who was ahead of me. As if he never thought of himself that way before.

‘It’s worse than you think.’

I clenched my teeth at the handsome back of his head.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

When I was swearing inwardly at him, I momentarily closed my mouth.

“It’s….It’s because of the rumors.”

There’s no way I could tell him that his reputation is worse than dog shit. My life is precious!

“Rumors, huh? Don’t believe that. Rumors are created by foolish people who want to drag others down just to protect themselves.”

His sharp eyes looked very uncomfortable. As if he was having a seizure just by hearing the story about his rumor.

The Duke, who looked so displeased, took the lead. Like a dog who follows its master well, I faithfully followed him from behind.

I was amazed that every servant I encountered throughout the way didn’t even care about me.

‘Well, two stepmothers had come before, so they must be familiar with it.’

It seems that we’ve arrived at the destination, so the Duke in front of me stopped his stride. His hand stretched out to unlock the old wooden-door.

“You can stay here.”

My gaze naturally turned to where he pointed. Anyone can tell it’s an old room. The wooden room that didn’t look fancy at all, looked weak as if it would be opened just by shoving my shoulder onto it.

“Is this not to your liking?”

Contrary to my expectation, the room was surprisingly neat. The warm sunlight shone through the wide window, and all the furnishings looked new.

This room was too good for this body’s owner, Leona, who had suffered a lot in her own house.

Even though she’s the daughter of that family, Leona practically dwells in the attic all her life.

“I thought the Duchess’s bedroom would be too excessive for you.”

“I think so, too. This room is nice.”

“Huh?”

As if he was bewildered by the unexpected answer, the Duke caressed his chin awkwardly. Only then did I realize that he was testing me.

“I don’t think you’re a fool. You know your position very well.”

‘Bastard, bastard, bastard.’

I tried to let out a genuine smile as much as possible and swallowed my resentment. It’s clear that the ‘irrevocably dark’ wasn’t only about Rebecca, but also the Duke himself.

“Then have a good rest. You have to take care of the child tomorrow.”

That was his last greeting.

Having said all he had to say, he left without even closing the door. I closed the door only after I made sure that he has left.

“Haa…I hate him more than Rebecca.”

No. I want to run away.

I wouldn’t be concerned if I was the second or fourth stepmother, but the third time is an automatic death penalty.

When the contents of the novel flashed into my mind, my future was getting murkier.

Rebecca Petri, the supporting character and the villainess. Her mother died in childbirth. There were even rumors about Rebecca’s birth because her mother’s identity remained hidden.

In the meantime, Rebecca was sick. So her father did everything she wanted, and she grew up to be a wicked woman.

“Just like now.”

No matter who my opponent was, my downfall was inevitable.

Rebecca’s wickedness went too far to the point it exceeded what a human could do. She poured hot water at the young noble ladies that she hates, and she even impaled her escort’s arm with a sword just because he didn’t properly discard the rocks that were hindering her path.

That’s not all. She treated her fiance, the Crown Prince, similarly.

“How could you raise a child to grow up awfully like Rebecca?”

Eventually, when her fiance, the Crown Prince, took another woman to be the Crown Princess, she fed her with poison.

Of course, she’ll get executed for it.

I sat in front of the mirror after organizing my thoughts about Rebecca for a while.

“I have a greater problem than Rebecca.”

I looked over the mirror, which had been polished smoothly without any cracks. The silver locks and blue eyes that glisten under the light. It’s obviously Leona who was reflected in the mirror.

In fact, ‘Leona’ was never mentioned in the novel. But Rebecca’s third stepmother has been mentioned.

According to the book, the third stepmother who was formally listed on paper was slightly different from before.

Perhaps that’s why the third stepmother, who was different from the previous stepmother, ended up crippled because of Rebecca.

“Haa….How pitiful you are.”

I looked at Leona’s miserable face over the mirror. Her slightly dry skin was as white as porcelain as if she was nurtured in a loving family, but that’s not the case at all.

“This is why they sold me. Am I going to be crippled?”

I wouldn’t even have to worry about this if only I became Leona a little faster. I’m living a shitty life.

Leona’s life is much worse.

Eventually, I decided to remove my worries and leaped into the bed. Contrary to what it looks like, the bed was soft and didn’t make any creaking noise so I burrowed myself comfortably into the warm, soft sheets.

“Tomorrow’s work begins tomorrow!”

Talking about this and that alone doesn’t change anything right away.

The fact that I became Rebecca’s stepmother remains unchanged.

“Ha…”

Perhaps because I spent the entire day being nervous about going to the duchy, as soon as I lied down and closed my eyes, the feeling of fatigue went all over my body.

Even when I was on the verge of a life and death situation, my instinct could not defeat my exhaustion. Shortly after, I fell asleep.

***

Ever since I heard the word, “Get lost.” I haven’t seen Rebecca for days. The biggest reason is that I can’t meet Rebecca.

The vast duchy mansion consists of three buildings. Three buildings were attached with a cave-like hallway.

That’s why I can’t find Rebecca’s room when I first came here. Let alone finding her room, there’s no way I could go around looking for Rebecca by opening more than a hundred doors.

I asked the passing servants about Rebecca’s room, but I was ignored.

They would either speak vaguely or run away saying they don’t know.

By the time I was ignored for the seventeenth time, I could understand it perfectly.

“Ah. I guess I’m being cast out.”

Realizing the truth in a few days, I returned to my room at ease.

“I’ve done my best.”

That’s how I reassured myself.

Still, I don’t have to worry about being starved to death because the meal was placed in front of my room, although it was delivered irregularly.

‘It was a hard bread though.’

Two hard loaves of bread were always delivered without soup or a drink. Just like a criminal, I spend my days leisurely while picking up and eating the bread.

I wish they would just forget about me like this.

Unfortunately, a week later, the duke came to visit me personally. Without knocking properly, he opened the door and looked very angry.

“I brought you in to take care of my child, but you didn’t look for her even for a day? You’re a lot different from the women before.”

As I was enjoying the view outside the window, I turned my head and greeted him with a big smile.

“Ah! That’s great.”

“Great? What’s so great?”

“Because someone finally here to guide me? No matter how many times I asked, nobody would tell me the room. Where is the room, and should I go now?”

Rather, it was he who made an absurd expression.

“…Are you making excuses that you couldn’t go because you don’t know where her room is?”

“Excuse? It’s the truth.”

“Ha. Do you think I’ll believe that?”

The Duke’s face was contorted for a moment.

It was me who should be annoyed. Why would I want to stay here for a week?

I asked all the passing servants about Rebecca’s room, and I even opened up all the fancy doors because I couldn’t stay still.

Of course, I was stopped every time.

“Whether you believe it or not, it’s your choice. But I’m sure you knew that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you sure you didn’t know? Did you not know…that the servants ran away when I tried to ask them?”

I looked at him while narrowing my eyes.

There’s no way that he could stop me from running away without knowing it.

Those servants, who pretended to not know when I asked them about Rebecca’s room, always appeared at a wonderful time and stopped me whenever I attempted to get out of the duchy.

‘It might be Rebecca’s work that prevented me from coming into her room, but the Duke also neglected me.’

Watching his subtle change of expression, I took out the paper from my arms.

“I asked a total of 38 people, and their answer was written precisely there.”

When someone tries to bully me, all I have to do is collect evidence.

“What is this?”

“It’s to prove that the Duke, who thinks I did nothing at all, is wrong.”

I laughed proudly at him, who was perplexed.

“…”

“You’re already here to show me around, so let’s go. Now that the Duke is here, I can finally see the precious princess’ face. You don’t know how much I missed her.”

I took the lead by acting exaggeratedly.

The Duke’s gaze was sharply pointed at the paper that I held out to him for a long time.

Then, as if he had made a decision, he took and folded the paper, then put it in his chest while turning around.

“This way.”

I, who proudly followed him from behind, even lost my direction with confidence.

“Where are you going?”

Even when he was going to the left, I turned the opposite way.

“…That way.”

“…I’m beginning to believe that you didn’t know the way.”

It strangely hurts my pride, but I followed him with a forced smile on my face.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah. Speaking of the way, basically, the room for important members of the dukedom is located in the middle of the castle.”

It would be great if you told me beforehand.

“I was unaware of that.”

I pursed my lips in a small pout and followed him diligently just like a baby bird following its mother.

I carefully studied the hallway in fear of getting lost again.

‘I think I’ll get confused again.’

The Duke, who was walking in front of me, stopped walking and turned his head to look at me.

“Have we arrived yet?”

“No. I just wanted to say that you don’t have to wag your head left and right like a rabbit.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll assign someone to you starting tomorrow, so you don’t have to wag your head to memorize the way.”

I was wary of the duke’s sudden change.

“What do you mean?”

“If what is written on this piece of paper you gave me is true, it would mean that your desire to take care of my daughter is sincere.”

I almost shook my head. No, it’s not like that at all. It’s just a list of people who bullied me.

I just wanted to run away.

But I couldn’t say that out loud, so I put my impulse to rest and smiled pretentiously.

“O-Of course!”

“I see. You look confident, so I’ll be looking forward to it. ”

“Of course.”

I replied excitedly like a clown and painfully put on a harmless face.

“That’s a relief. If you hadn’t answered that, I wouldn’t have shown mercy.”

“Mercy, huh? Will things get better if I ran away?”

“Are you growing your liver in the meantime? You look completely different from that day, you know?”

(T/N: It’s a Korean saying used to make fun of people who act recklessly without fearing possible consequences. ‘Liver’ here is a symbol of courage/gut.)

Suddenly my conscience was pricked, so I stumbled on my steps.

“What do you mean by different? I’m always the same.”

“Let’s watch and we’ll know.”

‘What are you going to do if I persistently tried to run away?’ That’s what I’ve been itching to ask, but I might get my liver taken out from my stomach for real.

In the meantime, a lot of servants stopped around us.

It was only then that I knew I had finally arrived in front of Rebecca’s room.

Anyone can tell it’s Rebecca’s room. The door was embellished in red and gold color.

Now I could see the reason why the servants blocked me every time I went this way.

‘It’s obviously Rebecca’s room.’

The eyes that were observing me keenly when I was alone, averting their gazes as if they were avoiding me now.

“We should enter now.”

While I was busy watching the servants, who gave me the poles-apart treatment, the duke urged me to enter the room and we went inside.

***

The room was extremely large as if to announce that it was the princess’ room.

The ceiling was so high that it could never be reached, and dolls were lined up everywhere.

The room with a yellow-pink tint that shone like a forsythia flower was adequately childlike.

“Daddy’s here.”

In the middle of the room, the black-haired child, who was playing with the rabbit doll, spat out stinging words without even looking back.

“Why are you here?”

“I brought your mom.”

Only then did Rebecca turn her gaze away. Her vicious gaze disappeared in a second.

“Mom? Are you kidding me? What kind of mom is that? She didn’t even look for me.”

Her gaze was once again directed at the rabbit doll, but Rebecca’s cheeks twitched as if she experienced an electric shock.

(T/N: The MC tends to interpret or react to something hilariously. So expect a lot of exaggerated comments like having a seizure or getting electrocuted just by looking at a simple gesture like this one XD)

To the point where I can feel that she’s giggling.

“It’s not because I didn’t look for you, it’s because I can’t find you. Come to think of it, Rebecca. Why are the servants, who said that they didn’t know your room when I asked them, here?”

As if to show the height of my innocence, I pointed my finger at the servants one by one thoughtlessly.

“This woman, when I asked her three days ago, she freaked out and ran away. Ah, that woman, she shouted ‘Don’t ask me anything’.”

As my steps turned towards the maids instead of Rebecca, all the eyes in the room were nailed on me.

“These people were written on the paper I gave you earlier. I wanted to ask when I met them again anyway, so this is great.”

‘Why do you all hate me for no reason?’

I tried to overlook it, but ‘Rebecca’s maid’ in this room particularly displayed hostility towards me.

Whenever I try to ask something about Rebecca, I feel like they are having a seizure.

As expected, the complexions of the maids in the room turned gray.

They were busy avoiding eye contact as if I’m going to stab them in the eyes.

“Is it true?”

“Duke, about that…”

Unlike the perplexed servants, Rebecca hummed casually.

Almost as if I was showing off, I was busy playing around like I was not affected at all.

As I watched them, I was struck by a sudden realization.

‘Yeah, these people had done nothing wrong. And if I do this…then I’m no different from Rebecca.’

My mind changed quickly.

I didn’t want to harass them anymore because I even got an unexpected vacation for a week anyway.

So with a bubbly spirit, I strode toward the duke.

“Actually, I lied.”

“What?”

His expression was distinctly different from before as he turned to me.

“That paper is a lie. Actually, I didn’t ask these people.”

“A lie?”

“As you might be aware, my life has been very tough. I wanted to play a little. I made it because I would seem suspicious if I just play around.”

His sharp eyes looked right at me as I deliberately acted more boldly.

Contrary to my expectation that he would get furious, his gaze shifted strangely.

“So it was a lie. Is it because of your big ‘liver’? I can’t believe you lied to me.”

“I was told to ‘get lost’ on my first day here, so it’s only natural that I don’t want to come, right?”

As I was confronting him and opened my mouth, the tip of my hand trembled. You’re not going to kill me straight away if I lied, are you?

Right now, the duke’s murky red-eyes automatically made me flinched.

I swallowed my saliva.

What are you going to say? Your silence is making me more frightened.

It was then.

“It’s amusing.”

Along with an unexpected answer, a smile spread on the Duke’s face.

“You’re probably the only one who tells these lies to the Duke of Petri.”

The raging tension inside the room gradually subsided and the jittery faces of the maid loosened.

But the atmosphere was quickly stiffened because of someone.

“Be quiet. Why are you so noisy in someone else’s room?”

Rebecca jumped up from her seat and walked past me while holding a black rabbit in her arms.

Not only did she walked past me, but she also intentionally elbowed my thigh.

Her black hair and red-eyes, just like the duke’s, expressed more hostility than he did.

As if trying to show that she was the prospective villainess, her personality is already horrible.

‘How can I change the setting of the novel?’

Seeing the pair of eyes who were glaring at me while sticking at the Duke’s feet, I was determined to give up on Rebecca.

Before I became Leona, I was an orphan living in the modern age.

I was abandoned when I was a baby so I couldn’t remember anything, and I grew up in an orphanage. Thanks to that, I grew up watching all kinds of children.

Even in my eyes, Rebecca is not normal.

“What are you looking at! It’s annoying. Dad, tell ‘that’ to get out of here!”

That.

That…

That?

I had already heard it last time, but hearing it again today made me feel filthy.

My forehead naturally frowned. But whenever she saw my face, Rebecca just grinned and wriggled her nose.

As if it was funny.

I smiled as if I was unaffected by that.

“Unfortunately, ‘that’ had no intention of going out. My dear daughter, Rebecca.”

“Did you just say ‘my daughter Rebecca’?! Don’t make me laugh!”

“Sadly, there’s nothing funny about that. Now that I’ve become your mom, from now on, Rebecca needs to listen well to me.”

Before Rebecca could hide, I quickly moved towards the child and stroked her head.

“What are you doing!”

“I’m touching you.”

With no room to spare, I stroked Rebecca’s head with care.

“It’s annoying! Go away!”

Unfortunately, I’m not that kind of person who would back down with that much irritation. I got up from my seat hugging Rebecca, who was getting more and more agitated.

“Kyaaagh!”

She was heavier than what I expected, and as a result, a crack sound was heard from my backbone.

Luckily, I managed to repress my shriek and put on a forced smile.

Surprised by my action, the duke came one step closer to me.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Put me down!”

“If I just put you down from here, someone is going to get hurt.”

“What?”

“If you struggle so much, I might drop you on the floor.”

Surprised by my threats, the body of a woman, who seemed to be her nanny, and the duke turned to my side.

“Don’t worry. As long as she’s not struggling, I won’t throw this cute Rebecca on the floor. There’s no way a mother would throw her child on the floor, right?”

I smiled brightly while remaining oblivious to whether their expressions became hardened or not.

“Then why don’t you leave so that you can handle the dukedom state affairs now?”

“…”

“Do you think I would abuse the child? She’s not just any child, she’s my child and the princess at that. I will take care of her with love, so don’t worry too much.”

If you don’t like it, just kick me out right away.

The best thing to do here is to kick me out.

I stared at him with bright eyes full of anticipation.

However, the novel was really faithful to the original story.

As I was staring at him intensely, thinking that I might soon be kicked out, the duke only nodded slowly.

“Of course, as you should since you are the mother of this child.”

I never thought that he would give up this easily.

In the meantime, Rebecca, who was frightened by the fact that she might fall, squeezed the hem of my dress as tight as she could.

“Da-Daddy! Don’t leave!”

“Have fun, Rebecca. Try to get along well this time.”

“Daddy! This is crazy! Crazy! She’s going to throw me! Daddy!”

But whatever he was thinking, the Duke’s eyes were stuck on the paper, which I said was a lie.

He seemed to be in a hurry because he couldn’t even hear his daughter’s whimper.

When the duke went out and the door was closed, the silence quickly descended upon the large room. Even Rebecca, who was violently struggling, stopped moving, while the maids and the nanny silently looked at me.

Then the woman that I believed to be Rebecca’s nanny, began talking.

“Why don’t you put her down?”

She was the only one wearing different clothes, and there was a strange sense of pride around her.

She was wearing a heavy necklace around her neck, which came off incompatible to wear while taking care of the child.

She doesn’t appear like a maid, rather, she looks like a noblewoman.

“Who are you?”