“Eek!”
Anna jumped in surprise, falling flat on the ground as if she had been startled by a ghost. I smiled chillingly at her face, which looked like she had seen a ghost.
“Don’t be so surprised. If anyone heard you, they’d think you buried a finger here.”
“L, Lady, what are you…”
“You buried it, so you should find it.”
“Huh?”
“Dig it up and give it to me, that bracelet.”
“Milady, there seems to be some misunderstanding…”
“You putting dirt in my mother’s food? Or deliberately tearing her dress? Is that a misunderstanding too?”
“Ah…”
Anna began to tremble.
In my previous life, I would have thought, ‘Did someone install a CCTV?’ But since this isn’t that, it truly would feel like a ghost story. The best she can think is that my mother must have told me.
Looking down at her eyes filled with fear, I said,
“Dig with your own hands. The snow that fell yesterday has melted, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Don’t pretend you can’t find it. If you do, I’ll make you dig up this entire area with your hands. Your nails won’t survive that.”
Eventually, Anna started to cry and began to dig through the ground. Since it had been buried seven years ago, she seemed to struggle to remember where it was, wandering around for a while until she finally found a neatly placed stone and let out a small, “Ah.”
Anna started to dig into the ground with her bare hands.
Even though the ground had softened somewhat from the afternoon sun melting the snow, digging with her hands was no ordinary task.
Her soft fingertips tore, blood flowed, and her nails broke. At first, it seemed she was crying out of fear of me, but now it looked like she was crying because her hands hurt too much.
Anna glanced at me several times during the process, but each time, I responded with a cold gaze. Ultimately, she resigned herself and focused solely on digging up the bracelet.
“I found it!”
Finally, the bracelet that had been buried in the dirt for seven years appeared. Anna hurriedly handed it to me.
I looked at it resting on my palm.
This was the first gift my mother received from my father.
When my mother first came to the Grand Duke’s residence, my father belatedly realized that her birthday had already passed. So, he bought the bracelet himself and gave it to her. It was only natural that my mother cherished this bracelet.
Seeing this, Anna felt jealousy that she couldn’t bear. In the end, she secretly stole the bracelet and buried it here.
She wasn’t completely foolish; she knew well that if she sold the bracelet outside, the fact that she had stolen it would be exposed.
Or perhaps she planned to keep it buried here until she could leave the Grand Duke’s residence later.
In any case, my mother was truly upset about the lost bracelet. Unable to bear seeing her like that, my father gave her a ring engraved with the family crest. It was the ring I had given him to prove my identity during our first meeting. Anna wouldn’t dare touch that ring.
Though the bracelet had been buried in the ground for a long time and was covered in dirt, its delicate craftsmanship and the beauty of the shining jewels remained intact.
I took a handkerchief from my pocket and wrapped the bracelet in it.
“Milady, please forgive me!”
Then Anna knelt before me and began to plead.
“I was wrong, so please, please forgive me!”
I looked down at Anna for a moment before speaking.
“Do you really want to be forgiven?”
Anna lifted her head, her expression brightening as if she had found her last hope.
“Yes, milady!”
“What do you think you should do to be forgiven?”
Seeing her eyes widen in confusion, I smiled.
“You can’t just ask for forgiveness with your bare lips. That would be shameless, wouldn’t it?”
“Then, what should I do…?”
“Bring me an item from my grandmother’s room. Use that to prove your worth.”
“Milady! That is…”
“Why? Can’t you do it?”
Anna began to nervously roll her eyes. She seemed to be calculating between keeping her loyalty to Countess Portman and siding with me.
“Do as you wish. Either way, I have proof that you’re a thief.”
I smiled as I watched Anna’s face turn pale.
Silly Anna. If I were you, I would never voluntarily find and hand over that item. I would have denied it to the end and found some way to evade responsibility. In the end, you’ve brought me the evidence yourself.
“If you do well on this task, you will be given a better opportunity.”
It’s a rule that after striking with the whip, you must always offer a sweet carrot. (*Reward)
Anna cautiously opened her eyes and looked at me.
“…A better opportunity?”
“Who do you think will be the future master of this estate?”
Anna gulped.
“That would be you, milady.”
I felt grateful again that my father had already marked me as his successor, even if I was still young.
If I only held the title of a noble lady, I wouldn’t have been able to control Anna like this. In that case, it would have been hard to break free from the influence of Countess Portman, who was the real power in the Grand Duke’s residence.
Since I was not just the Grand Duke’s daughter but the one destined to be the owner of the Grand Duchy, Anna had no choice but to comply with me.
“Anna, I will give you the opportunity to do more for me.”
“I-I will!”
Anna clenched her fists tightly. Bowing her head, she repeatedly exclaimed,
“Thank you for the opportunity, milady! I will definitely bring that item to you!”
Of course, Anna had no idea that the carrot I offered was laced with poison.
I told Anna that I would give her the opportunity to do more for me, but I never said anything about forgiveness.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Two days after that incident, I happened to run into one of the children who had thrown stones at me in the hallway.
“Hello?”
I greeted him with a bright smile. As I approached, fiddling with a small stone in my right hand, the child screamed and ran away.
I watched him flee as if his bottom were on fire, and a smile crept onto my lips.
Yes, that’s how it should be. The victim can stretch out their legs and sleep, but the perpetrator must never do so.
Feeling very refreshed, I returned to my room and was passing the time when one of the mothers of the children came to see me.
“Welcome, Baroness Rotrek.”
I offered her a seat and called for my maids to bring tea and snacks. Of course, I was served warm milk. Ah, I can’t wait to grow up so I can drink caffeine freely.
“Thank you for allowing me this unexpected visit, milady. The weather is quite nice today.”
She started with small talk about the weather, as nobles do. Then, she quickly finished her formal greetings with polite compliments about me and congratulations on my parents’ official marriage before getting to the main topic.
“Actually, the reason I came to see you today is about my son.”
“Your son?”
I tilted my head cutely on purpose.
“Yes, Derek Rotrek is my son. You have met him once before, haven’t you?”
“What about him?”
“Well….”
The baroness’s gaze shifted to the white stone placed on the table. Then she looked back at me.
“I recently heard some strange rumors. Forgive me for asking, but why do you carry that stone around?”
“Pepe is my friend.”
“Excuse me?”
I lifted the stone to show the lady. It had a cute face drawn on it.
“Pepe is my friend, so I have to take him everywhere with me.”
“Ah….”
The baroness soon wore a look of understanding. She must have thought it was similar to a child’s comfort object.
“Then why… are there those rumors…?”
“What rumors?”
“Well, I feel very embarrassed to say this, but there are rumors that the lady intends to hit children with that stone….”
“That’s quite strange. Could it be that someone has twisted my words and spread them outside?”
“Hiccup!”
As soon as I finished speaking, Cecile, who was standing next to the table, started to hiccup.
“Hiccup! Ah! I-I’m sorry….”
In the end, Cecile clamped her mouth shut and ran out the door.
With this, there shouldn’t be any more reckless gossip about me for a while. They must know that I’m watching everything.
The baroness continued speaking.
“Derek has been afraid of something lately and hasn’t been going outside his room. He’s even skipping meals. I wondered if it might be related to those rumors….”
I smiled at her.
“Then have you asked Derek about it?”
“Yes. But he didn’t answer.”
“Why do you think he didn’t answer?”
“…….”
She looked at me for a moment as if she had lost her words. She must have felt that something was off by now.
Even if strange rumors were circulating around, there would be no reason to hide if he had done nothing wrong.
After taking a sip of my milk, I set the cup down. Then I deliberately swept my hair back to reveal the injury.
Seeing the baroness’s gaze waver, I spoke.
“I really want to be friends with Derek, madam. If there are any misunderstandings, I want to clear them up.”
The baroness pressed her lips tightly together and stood up. After bowing politely, she opened her mouth.
“I will have Derek come to see you directly soon.”
