It was just after dinner.
After clearing the empty plates and returning, Mina continued the story she was telling.
“It’s true, Your Highness Bi! They didn’t believe me when I kept saying it before, but since that day, they’ve started to believe me little by little!”
“Really?”
“Yes! And in the Mansion of Darkness, a group of people has even started to praise you, saying you’ve become more generous!”
Mina clasped her hands together in delight.
Her hands were still wrapped in bandages.
“Mina, are you applying the medicine properly?”
“…Oh, this?”
Mina shrugged nonchalantly and unwrapped the bandage.
Contrary to my assumption, the back of Mina’s hand was clean, without a single scar.
“I just kept it on. I didn’t want to do chores…”
“…”
“I was just about to take it off since the head maid seemed to have caught on a little. Hehe.”
Mina wrinkled her nose and laughed, embarrassed that her true feelings had been discovered.
Our Mina is truly… innocent.
I was holding my forehead and shaking my head when,
“Your Highness Bi, Princess Bianca has arrived.”
The voice of the doorman servant was heard from outside.
“Princess Bianca? Let her in at once.”
How long had it been since the message was delivered?
Bianca, with a flushed face, ran into the Grand Duchess’s residence.
“Bianca, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
A rosy glow was on Bianca’s round cheeks, and her big blue eyes were sparkling.
Wiping the sweat from her ears with her sleeve, Bianca, who had run all the way here, flung herself into my arms.
“Your Highness Bi!”
I quickly sat Bianca on my lap.
And I used a handkerchief to wipe the beads of sweat from the child’s forehead.
“Oh my, look at all this sweat. What on earth is so urgent that you came running all this way?”
Bianca, who was by now used to being in my arms, smiled brightly and looked up at me.
She took a few adorable breaths and then swallowed before speaking.
“Because I missed you so much!”
The child’s innocent eyes shone blue as they looked at me.
‘How much must she have yearned for a family’s affection to like me so quickly, even after being treated so harshly by Rebecca?’
I felt a pang of pity and looked at Bianca for a moment, and then the child’s cute lips opened again.
“Your Highness Bi, were you and Mina having a fun conversation?”
I smiled slightly and answered.
“No, I was just checking to see if Mina’s hand had healed.”
Mina, who had been listening with sparkling eyes the whole time, raised her voice proudly toward Bianca.
“I was also telling her how the servants have started to see Her Highness Bi in a new light because of what happened with Lady Camilla!”
Bianca clapped her hands cutely and continued.
“That’s great! The number of servants who believe that Her Highness Bi has changed will surely grow. I can guarantee it!”
“How?”
“Because I know now. Even though it was because your heart was hurting until now, the original Her Highness Bi is…”
“…?”
“…A very, very cool and kind person!”
Bianca’s cheeks puffed up as she looked up at me with a shy smile.
It was the very same smile she had always reserved for the heroine, Lovelia, in the original story.
I never thought I would get to see this adorable face…
‘Ugh. It’s so cute my heart hurts…’
Bianca looked at me for a while, then slowly blinked her blue eyes and pursed her lips.
She seemed a little hesitant for some reason.
“Um, Your Highness Bi… So, that’s why I wanted to ask you something…”
“Yes? What is it, Bianca?”
Bianca, who had been just moving her lips, closed her eyes tightly and shouted loudly.
“Your Highness Bi! Can you please come back to the Mansion of Light now?!”
I blinked in surprise at Bianca’s enthusiastic shout.
‘Come back to the Mansion of Light…?’
I never expected to hear such a thing from Bianca.
Perhaps because of that, I felt a lump in my throat.
“If you came here because you were afraid I would be scared of you, you don’t have to anymore. Because I… I…”
Bianca’s round eyes, which were looking up at me, soon curved into a smile.
It was a cute smile that an angel baby might make.
“I think the time I spend with you is the best time in the whole world!”
Thump!
Another massive shock was dealt to my heart.
I bit my lip and clutched my chest.
‘She’s so cute! I’m going crazy! But I can’t give in to this… If I do, my divorce contract with Cedric will be ruined!’
I bit my lower lip hard and shook my head to regain my senses.
Bianca, who was looking up at me, then lowered the corners of her mouth with a crestfallen expression.
“Your Highness Bi… you don’t like being with me, do you?”
“I don’t…?”
“Then… what is it?”
“Of course, I’m the happiest when I’m with you, too!”
My true feelings blurted out without me realizing it.
How could I dislike seeing that adorable face every day!
The problem, however, was the fact that Cedric and I were already divorced.
‘How can I tell Bianca that I can’t go to the Mansion of Light without hurting her feelings?’
Just as I was biting my lower lip and pondering,
“If you’re happy being with me, Your Highness Bi, then you should just come back to the Mansion of Light. So you can be with me every day. Please?”
Bianca blinked her eyes as she looked up at me like Puss in Boots.
My heart was melting at that face, but I managed to steady myself and open my mouth.
“Bianca. I want to, of course, but that’s…”
“Are you worrying about His Highness the Grand Duke?”
…Oh? Yes, maybe it would be better to use Cedric as an excuse!
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie, was it?
I forced myself to ignore the faint sense of guilt and nodded.
“Bianca, I’m sorry, but I made a promise to His Highness the Grand Duke.”
“…”
“If I break that promise and say I’m going back to the Mansion of Light, His Highness won’t like it.”
Whew, I successfully refused.
But for some reason, a cheerful expression came over Bianca’s face after hearing my words.
“Then, if it’s okay with His Highness the Grand Duke, you’ll agree too, won’t you?”
Just as I was awkwardly raising the corners of my mouth at Bianca’s unexpected reaction.
The doorman servant’s voice was heard again from outside.
“Your Highness Bi, His Highness the Grand Duke has arrived.”
Cedric came to see me too? What’s going on today?
I blinked in confusion for a moment.
‘Ah, did he come to stop Bianca?’
To think the day would come when Cedric felt like a savior.
After allowing him to enter, Cedric soon came into the Grand Duchess’s residence.
“Oh? Your Highness the Grand Duke!”
“…Cedric, it’s been a while.”
I greeted him and subtly sent him a signal with my eyes.
‘It seems you came to stop Bianca, so please soothe her and take her away.’
However, Cedric just looked at me silently.
‘Did he not understand my signal?’
I winked again, but Cedric pretended not to see my gaze and walked toward the sofa.
“It’s been a while, Rebecca.”
After greeting me, Cedric sat down on the sofa across from me.
Even as a teacup was placed in front of him, Cedric just sat there silently.
‘He didn’t come to stop Bianca? Did he forget why he came?’
Tired of waiting for him to speak, I finally opened my mouth first.
“Cedric, did you come to get Bianca?”
“Yes. She said she had something to ask you and ran out in the middle of dinner.”
“I see. Then, please take Bianca and go back to dinner…”
“Bianca.”
Cedric, who cut me off, turned his gaze to Bianca.
“So, what was it you wanted to ask the Grand Duchess?”
My prediction that Cedric would immediately take Bianca with him was beautifully proven wrong again.
Bianca looked back and forth between Cedric and me and then spoke with a bright smile.
“I just asked her!”
At Bianca’s bright answer, Cedric let out a meaningless cough.
“I see… And did you get an answer?”
“She was about to answer when Your Highness the Grand Duke arrived! But from what she said before that…”
“From what she said before that?”
Cedric’s eyebrows, which had been holding a teacup, instantly curved into a high arc.
“She said that you would be unhappy if she broke her promise. But it’s okay with you, isn’t it?”
“…”
“You said it was okay if only Her Highness Bi agreed, didn’t you?”
…Cedric said that?
I looked at Cedric with a puzzled expression, but he just stared into the distance without either confirming or denying it.
I tilted my head, watching Cedric, and then finally understood his intentions.
Then a snort escaped me.
‘Aha… He wants me to be the villain?’
I gave Cedric a discreet glare.
But after a short while, I had no choice but to accept the villainous role given to me with a feeling of resignation.
‘To be honest… I’m a better fit for the villain role than Cedric is.’
Even though I tried to tell myself that, it was too difficult to refuse Bianca while looking at her eyes sparkling with hope.
“Your Highness Bi, you can come back to the Mansion of Light now, can’t you? Can you?”
I hesitated, unable to get the words out, but Cedric just looked at me silently.
As if he was very curious to hear what I would say.
‘Tsk, he knows exactly what I’m going to say…’
I shot a quick glance at Cedric and then turned to Bianca and slowly parted my lips.
“…I’m sorry, Bianca. I think it would be better for me to stay in the Mansion of Darkness for a while.”
At that, Bianca’s eyes, which had been sparkling with hope, instantly drooped and slowly fell downward.
“As I thought… it’s not going to happen…”
Ugh, I really hate this. I’m the one who made Bianca look so disappointed…
To give me a role like this!
I glared sideways at Cedric and whipped my head around to face him.
But for some reason, a shadow had fallen over Cedric’s face, too, as he lowered his eyes.
‘Why is he acting like that? Is… is Cedric also sorry for Bianca?’
Thinking that, my resentment toward Cedric softened a little.
I let out a long sigh and gently stroked Bianca’s head.
“But Bianca, you’re always welcome here, so you can come whenever you miss me.”
“Okay…”
“You can even sleep over in the Grand Duchess’s residence if you want to.”
“R-Really?!”
“Of course. Since we’re on the subject, should we set a date for a pajama party just for us?”
“I love that, Your Highness Bi!”
Bianca, who had found her smile again, burrowed into my arms.
I hugged the small and cute child like a squirrel tightly in my arms.
And just as I watched a faint smile spread across Cedric’s lips.
The door opened, and a servant came in.
“A letter of invitation has arrived for Your Highness Bi.”
Mina received the letter first and checked the sender.
Her expression slowly turned dark.
“What is it, Mina?”
“Well… Your Highness Bi, a confirmed invitation for a banquet has arrived from the Dmitry family.”
“The Dmitry family, you say…”
My brows slowly furrowed.
I had a bad feeling.
“Are you saying Camilla sent me an invitation?”
