Camilla swallowed dryly, like someone who had just heard news they didn’t want to hear.
Her face contorted in a strange way.
She froze like ice for a long time.
Soon, she began to tremble all over and burst into tears.
“N-No… I… I don’t want to die!”
Camilla grabbed the hem of Mina’s skirt again and pleaded.
“Please, just save me! Your Highness Bi, please, somehow…!”
There was no trace of the elegant Countess she once was.
I looked down at her, utterly ruined, and slowly parted my lips.
“…There’s no such thing as an antidote.”
And I moved my feet toward her, continuing my words.
“Because that was just tea.”
Camilla, her face streaked with black tears, looked up at me.
“…Pardon?”
Camilla’s eyes darted around frantically.
For a moment, her mind seemed to have stopped.
Camilla, who had been panting continuously, finally managed to open her mouth after a while.
“Th-Then…?”
“There was no poison in it in the first place.”
She blinked her eyes blankly for a long time, then let out a long breath and fell backward limply.
She barely managed to gasp for air, then belatedly came to her senses, grinding her teeth.
“Y-Your Highness Bi! How could you do this to me?!”
“Because I can. Didn’t you think you could do whatever you wanted when you tormented my maid, Camilla?”
“…!”
“And thanks to that, I got to see you genuinely apologize to Mina.”
“Th-That’s…!”
Camilla’s face instantly burned red.
She must have recalled the sight of herself on the floor, groveling and weeping at Mina’s feet.
I smiled slightly and held out my hand to Camilla.
“Get up now, Camilla. It’s getting embarrassing to watch.”
The most embarrassed person right now must be Camilla herself.
Her eyes shot up in fury, but she grabbed my outstretched hand and stood up.
I slowly brushed the dust from the hem of Camilla’s dress and continued speaking.
“You are the star of our northern high society, Countess Dmitry.”
“…”
“But now, it might be difficult for you to maintain that position, don’t you think?”
“Wh-What do you mean by that?”
“Think about it. If word gets out that you, a Countess, knelt and wept and begged in front of a half-demon maid… wouldn’t that put a serious dent in your splendid reputation?”
“…!”
Camilla’s face turned red again.
She bit her lips anxiously for a long time.
Then, she blinked her eyes quickly and spoke in a rush.
“T-Today’s incident… I won’t cause any trouble or tell anyone about it…”
Seeing her finally back down, it was clear that she would rather die than have this incident be known.
Watching Camilla bite her lower lip repeatedly, I wore a faint, satisfied smile.
‘Thanks to you causing a ridiculous commotion all on your own, I can get rid of you more easily than I expected. Should I thank you for that?’
I went to the sofa, sat down with my legs crossed, and spoke again.
“Yes. That would be best for both of us.”
Then, I spread my arms wide on the back of the sofa, leaned back, and looked at Camilla.
“Camilla. Of course, this is our little secret… but I hope you don’t forget what happened today.”
“What do you mean…?”
“There have been many people who have suffered such humiliation at your hands, haven’t there?”
“…”
“What do you think their feelings were like at the time…?”
I tapped my head with my finger.
“Keep it here, and remember it well.”
Camilla lowered her head and gripped the hem of her dress tightly.
“Yes, Your Highness Bi. I will… never forget this lesson.”
Her voice was filled with suppressed rage.
I looked at Camilla and chuckled leisurely.
“I don’t mean for you to remember it to seek revenge. Of course, our Countess wouldn’t do anything that foolish, would she?”
“…”
“Because if you do, your next teacup will truly contain a poison with no antidote.”
At my words, Camilla’s face instantly turned pale.
“O-Of course not…”
Only then did Camilla drop her head, like someone who had lost all fight.
“It seems you’ve finally understood. Now, you may leave. You must be tired.”
Camilla nodded weakly and walked toward the door.
As I watched her slumped shoulders, something I had forgotten suddenly came to mind.
“Ah, Camilla?”
At my call, Camilla, who was almost at the door, slowly turned her head.
“Yes, Your Highness Bi…”
Her voice was listless, without a hint of venom.
But the resentment in her face as she looked at me was still thick.
“I’m also very sorry, but since the Countess’s resignation is quite urgent, I suppose I’ll have to accept your request.”
A big wave of shock rippled through Camilla’s golden eyes once again.
I looked at her and smiled leisurely.
“Goodbye, Camilla.”
A week later, at the Mansion of Light.
As Rebecca had promised, the incident of that day was not known outside the Twin’s family castle.
However, among the servants inside the castle, the day’s events were a hot topic.
“Did you hear the story? About Her Highness Bi and Lady Camilla.”
“Why? Did they almost beat up another maid?”
“No, Lady Camilla was the one who was almost beaten up. Because she messed with Her Highness Bi’s personal maid!”
“No way, you’re lying!”
At first, everyone shook their heads, saying it was ridiculous.
However, most of the story that was told was true, and there were even witnesses to the story that Rebecca had almost beaten up her lady-in-waiting, Camilla.
That’s not all.
“Jena says that Her Highness Bi told the servants of the Mansion of Darkness not to bow their heads just because they were half-demons.”
“What? That’s impossible!”
“It’s true! Lady Camilla getting kicked out for tormenting Mina was real, wasn’t it?”
“I heard it too! She even gives the servants of the Mansion of Darkness rest time and brings them desserts herself sometimes?”
The story became more and more unbelievable the more they heard it.
The servants’ jaws dropped in disbelief.
“So, does that mean Her Highness Bi has really changed?”
“Yes, I’m telling you!”
One of the maids beat her chest as if she was frustrated.
“Can’t you tell just by looking at how Princess Bianca’s eyes are always filled with hearts whenever she sees Her Highness Bi these days?”
…
At the same time.
Dinner was prepared in the dining hall of the Mansion of Light.
Soon, the main dish of the day, a mouthwatering lamb steak, was placed in front of Cedric and Bianca.
However, Bianca, whose attention was completely elsewhere, kept picking up and putting down her fork.
Cedric, who had been watching her silently, urged her in a low voice.
“Bianca, you should eat now, shouldn’t you?”
“Oh, yes!”
But Bianca’s short legs under the table were still crossing and uncrossing to a rhythm.
Cedric, who was cutting his steak, glanced at her and let out a small laugh.
“Bianca, it seems you have something good on your mind these days.”
“It’s not so much something good… It’s because of Her Highness Bi.”
“…Because of the Grand Duchess?”
“Yes, no matter how much I think about our Her Highness Bi…”
Bianca’s cheeks turned rosy as she paused for a moment.
Then, a cheerful voice flowed from the child’s lips.
“She’s so, so cool!”
Bianca let out an excited breath and continued speaking quickly.
“When I grow up, I’m going to become a cool adult just like Her Highness Bi! Someone who is kind to her people, but who doesn’t hesitate to scold the bad ones!”
Cedric blinked his blue eyes slowly.
“Rebecca… is that kind of person?”
Of course, he knew that Rebecca had changed a lot from before.
But the ‘Rebecca’ Bianca was talking about was, in fact, very different from the person he had known.
It was in that moment of bewilderment from the gap between the two that Bianca, who had been chattering excitedly just a moment ago, lowered her head with a slightly crestfallen look.
“I wish I could live with Her Highness Bi in the Mansion of Light…”
Cedric was surprised at her words.
‘To think such words would come out of Bianca’s mouth.’
This was the same Bianca who used to have a fit just by hearing Rebecca’s name.
Not only was Bianca praising Rebecca, but she was even saying she wanted to live with her.
Cedric was too shocked to continue speaking.
‘If we could have lived like this from the beginning… would Rebecca and I still be husband and wife?’
Such a question popped into his mind without him realizing it.
However, Cedric shook his head.
‘That’s a useless thought now.’
He had always looked down on those who uttered ‘if only’ or ‘what if.’
But here he was, replaying ‘what if’ in his mind while thinking of Rebecca.
Just as Cedric’s brows were slowly furrowing.
“Umm… Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
Bianca seemed to be about to bring up a difficult topic, and she looked at Cedric, hesitating.
“Bianca, what’s wrong?”
Cedric’s voice was infinitely gentle, but Bianca repeated parting her lips and hesitating several times.
“Umm, well… it’s about Her Highness Bi.”
“Yes?”
“Did she move to the Mansion of Darkness because of me? Because I was afraid of her?”
Bianca’s round eyes sparkled as she threw out a series of questions.
“If that’s the case, can’t I ask Her Highness Bi to come back to the Mansion of Light now?”
“…”
“Please? Your Highness the Grand Duke! Since Her Highness Bi likes me now, she’ll definitely agree!”
Cedric tried to hide his flustered expression and shook his head.
“Well…”
“…?”
“Bianca, the Grand Duchess did not leave the Mansion of Light because of you.”
“Then… why?”
“I simply judged that it would be better for the Grand Duchess and me to live separately for a while.”
“Why?”
Cedric’s lips were tightly sealed.
Bianca, who soon understood the meaning of his silence, pouted her lower lip.
“Hmph. I wish Your Highness the Grand Duke and Her Highness Bi would get along…”
Even though Bianca was just a child, it was impossible for her not to know about the long-standing discord between the Grand Duke and Duchess.
Bianca kept shooting Cedric pitiful looks like a puppy.
“Can’t you let Her Highness Bi come back here? You just need to give her permission, Your Highness. Please?”
“My permission…”
Cedric, who had been lost in thought and silent, finally murmured as if to himself.
“…Even if I ask her to come back now, Rebecca might not agree.”
Cedric’s expression was one of resignation, but Bianca’s round eyes, on the other hand, sparkled with hope.
“Does that mean that if only Her Highness Bi agrees, it’s okay with you too, Your Highness the Grand Duke?”
At Bianca’s question, Cedric just looked somewhere else and said nothing.
However, Bianca understood that his silence was an affirmative answer.
Otherwise, he would have flatly refused her request already.
For Bianca, who thought Cedric was the biggest obstacle to Rebecca’s return, this was nothing but good news.
“Then, I’m going to go and ask Her Highness Bi right now!”
Bianca immediately ran out of the dining hall.
It was just a child’s run, but Cedric didn’t even try to catch up with her.
He just stood in the same spot, repeatedly calling out Bianca’s name.
“Oh, Bianca…!”
