Marion’s house was small but old and magnificent.
It had no extravagant atmosphere at all, but was simple and sturdy in construction.
As soon as the carriage arrived, about twenty birds landed on the roof of the mansion.
They were the owls who always played in the courtyard. I felt reassured by their presence.
“Carro, it’s best if you stay hidden in my pocket.”
“Kyukkyu.”
“Stay hidden until we play with Sara, okay?”
“Kyuu.”
Carro is more reliable than Daru, so I feel at ease.
As I spoke to Carro, my mother smiled gently and watched us.
When we got off the carriage, Marion’s husband, the Baron himself, came out to greet us.
Leaving one servant and a maid behind in the carriage, we were guided by the Baron into the mansion.
Four of the Duke’s household attendants who had been assigned as our guards followed us into the Baron’s house.
In order to carry out the treatment for Marion secretly, we had to avoid the attendants’ eyes.
It was probably the biggest obstacle to the treatment.
We were led into the reception room, where we introduced ourselves to each other.
Upon entering the reception room, I took off my hood and let my hair show.
“…No, Miss Luria, you truly are lovely.”
The Baron briefly reacted to my red hair and eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
He must have heard the legends about the wicked woman who brought disaster.
“Thank you. Baron. Is Sara not here?”
I immediately asked the Baron.
In the reception room the Baron showed us into, there were only a few servants besides the Baron, and no children were present.
“Luria has been saying for a while that she wants to meet Sara.”
When my mother said this, the Baron showed a troubled expression.
“However, Sara is still very young, and her manners are… well…”
“Please don’t worry. She is Marion’s child. I consider her family.”
“I’m flattered by your words… but… as you might know, Sara is not the kind of person who could meet Her Highness…”
“I told you not to worry,” my mother replied with a smile, though there was a certain commanding force in her tone.
“Such gracious words!”
In response to my mother’s words, the Baron exaggeratedly expressed his gratitude and told a servant to call for Sara.
After a while, Sara arrived in the reception room, dressed in a beautiful outfit.
She was small and had something resembling dog ears on her head.
There was also a tight tail under her skirt.
Sara might be a beastkin. It was the first time I had met one in this world.
Neither Marion nor the Baron were beastkin, which meant that perhaps her grandparents or even further back were beastkin.
As I stared at her tail and ears, Sara anxiously grabbed her ears with her hands to hide them.
“……”
“Sara, introduce yourself.”
“Sara… desu.”
“Put your hands properly in front of you.”
“Y-yes.”
Sara let go of her ears and moved her hands to the front of her body, then bowed her head.
“I’m Luria. Nice to meet you.”
“……”
Sara looked troubled and bowed her head again.
“Sara, greet her properly.”
“I’m sorry. I must have spoiled her too much… she hasn’t learned proper manners…”
“No, no. Don’t worry about it. Sara, I’m Amalia, your mother’s friend.”
“……”
Sara again bowed deeply.
My mother bent down gently and held Sara’s hand.
“Sara, if you have any troubles, you can tell me, okay? I think I can help.”
“…… Yes.”
The Baron, from an angle where my mother couldn’t see, waved his hand at Sara.
Seeing this, Sara bowed her head once more and ran out of the room.
“…I am truly embarrassed. My daughter’s education has been neglected because of her mother’s illness…”
“No, no. She’s adorable. A good child.”
“I’m flattered by your words.”
The Baron, looking quite apologetic, answered my mother’s questions about Marion’s condition seriously.
We quietly listened for about three minutes, but it was mostly information I had already heard from the bird guardians.
I had to find a way to leave this place and head to Marion’s treatment.
As I was thinking this, my mother suddenly smiled at me.
“Hm?”
“Really, Luria, you’re hopeless.”
“Huh?”
I was a little confused when my mother smiled at me.
“You must be bored by the adult conversation. You look so sleepy.”
“I’m not sleepy!”
I wasn’t sleepy at all, but it seemed like my mother misunderstood.
“It might have been a bit hard for you to follow the adult conversation, huh?”
“Children are like that.”
The Baron smiled cheerfully.
“Oh, that’s right. Go play with Sara. Baron, would that be alright?”
“Well, but… my daughter—”
For some reason, the Baron hesitated.
I’m sure my mother noticed the hesitation, but she showed no sign of caring.
She spoke firmly, unlike the usual considerate way she’d speak to us or the servants.
“Ah, don’t worry about it. You, the one standing there. Take Luria to Sara’s room.”
“Your Highness, please wait—”
“My, Baron! Really, don’t worry about it!”
My mother’s pressure is unusually strong.
The Baron, being from a marquis family and the consort of the Grand Duchess, is unable to respond to my mother’s strong words.
“Luria still lacks manners. Children, you see…”
My mother continues without letting the Baron speak. He looks perplexed but can only smile vaguely, unable to interrupt her words.
While speaking, my mother briefly falls silent and smiles at the maid.
“Please hurry and take Luria to Sara’s room.”
Seeing my mother’s smile directed at the maid, I couldn’t help but mutter in my mind, “That’s scary.”
Her pressure was that intense.
It was different from the smile she usually gives me.
(This is… the pressure of royalty…)
There was a force that made subordinates instinctively want to comply. My mother was not born into royalty but married into it. Even so, could she exert this much pressure?
I looked at my mother with respect.
“Understood.”
Under my mother’s pressure, the maid started moving without waiting for the Baron’s orders.
“Your Highness, that—”
“Children are such cute things, aren’t they, Baron—”
The Baron tried to say something, but my mother didn’t let him finish.
(…This is socializing.)
This may be the first time I’ve seen the social face of a Grand Duchess outside.
There might be things my mother doesn’t want me to hear. Since I probably wouldn’t understand them anyway, and if my mother doesn’t want me to hear them, I don’t need to.
Besides, it’s convenient to be separated from my mother now.
After all, what’s important right now is Marion’s treatment.
I’ll make use of this opportunity.
I followed the maid out of the room.
“Which way is Marion’s separate room?”
“Ah, yes. It’s in that direction, but please be careful as there is an infectious disease going around…”
“Mm. I understand.”
As long as I know the direction, I can manage. If it’s just one maid, I might be able to shake her off.
After all, I’ve been training in swordsmanship every day, so I’m physically fit.
While I was thinking this and looking around,
“Rest assured, Lady Luria. We are providing proper protection.”
One of the Duke’s servants, who had been following us, spoke to me from behind.
I hadn’t sensed his presence at all. Terrifying.
“You don’t need to follow me, right?”
“That’s not possible. My job is to protect you, young lady.”
He said in an unyielding tone, with a full smile.
Among the four servants who entered the mansion, only one followed me, which was a stroke of luck.
Still, even if it’s just one, he is an elite bodyguard, so shaking him off won’t be easy.
It can’t be helped. I’ll have the servant wait outside Sara’s room.
After walking a little further, the maid stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Please wait here, young lady.”
The maid walked toward a room at the end of the hallway.
I listened closely toward the room.
Actually, I have a special skill where, when I concentrate, I can hear better.
By the way, when I concentrate, my vision improves too.
It’s similar to when I used body-enhancing magic in my past life.
However, since I don’t feel like I’m using magic, it must just be a skill, not magic.
And since it’s a skill and not magic, I believe it wouldn’t affect my height.
Using this skill, I tried to hear what was going on in the room, and I could hear the voice of an adult woman cursing.
“You shameful thing!”
“…”
“Someone like you, from the Baron’s family—”
The voice of the woman scolding sounded loud.
“…That’s ominous.”
I muttered quietly enough so the maid couldn’t hear.
“Excuse me!”
The maid called loudly to the room.
“What is going on?”
“The Duke’s daughter, Lady Luria, has arrived.”
“…”
The door opened, and a woman dressed like a noble’s wife stepped out.
She glared at me as she looked me up and down.
“How troublesome. …Unlucky.”
She said mockingly, hiding her mouth with a fan.
The woman’s stomach was bulging.
She must have been about seven months pregnant.
She was probably the Baron’s sister or cousin, who had returned to her family after becoming pregnant.
I ignored her.
I wouldn’t introduce myself to someone who called me unlucky.
“To not even introduce yourself, how rude.”
It’s proper to speak first to someone older.
That woman couldn’t speak to me first, as I’m the Duke’s daughter.
So, she whispered behind my back, thinking I was just a five-year-old child.
“Maybe a rude and unlucky daughter like you would be well-suited to that gloomy and foolish Sara.”
My father must have kept me away from the mansion to protect me from such gossip.
“You think I can’t hear you? What’s your name?”
“Huh?”
The woman let out a dumbfounded voice. She hadn’t expected to be questioned by a child.
I was angry.
I didn’t care about the insults directed at me.
No, actually, it’s not that I don’t care, but I absolutely cannot ignore the insults directed at Sara.
I don’t know Sara very well, but I owe her a debt of gratitude for sharing her mother’s milk with me.
“Ha? Not ‘ha.’ What’s your name? I must report it to my father.”
“Huh?”
The woman looked bewildered, probably not expecting to be questioned.
“My lady, there’s no need to ask. I’ll make sure to properly investigate the name myself.”
“Yeah, please do.”
“Ah, excuse me.”
Flustered, the woman hurriedly left, trying to hide her face with a fan.
It’s too late now to try hiding her face. The Duke’s servants saw her.
In no time, all her information would be exposed.
“I apologize. Please wait outside.”
“Why, what for?”
“Sara was being bullied. She might be crying.”
The servant who accompanied me today has undergone special training.
They use sensory-enhancing magic, so they must have heard the woman bullying Sara.
“…Understood. However, please keep the door open so I can respond quickly if anything happens.”
That was the servant’s greatest concession, as their job was to protect me.
“Got it. Keep an eye out for any women or others approaching.”
“Understood.”
I asked the servant to keep the maidens away, then quietly entered Sara’s room, leaving the door open.
