Liriette, who came to her senses a beat late, hurriedly lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands.

“I’m Liriette.”

Liriette asked the duke how to address Olivia when she met her. The Duke said to simply call her Madam Olivia.

‘But since I’m the daughter of the Duke, she’s a grandmother to me.’

Of course, the woman in front of her didn’t match the title of grandmother in the slightest.

Even so, Liriette mustered up her courage.

“It’s nice to meet you, Grandmother.”

“…”

At that moment, a silence so heavy that it couldn’t be compared to the moment before came. Sensing that, Liriette closed her eyes tightly.

‘Uaaah, I guess this isn’t it!’

It was Olivia who spoke first in the suffocating atmosphere.

“It’s not very nice to hear such a title from a child I met for the first time today.”

Liriette’s face turned bright red at her cold words.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

But instead of reacting to Liriette’s apology, Olivia looked at her duke.

“Anyway, if you were going to lie about her being your daughter, shouldn’t you have brought a child who looked at least a little bit like you? Except for her silver hair and blue eyes, she doesn’t resemble you at all.”

The Duke’s eyes widened slightly.

The Duke told Olivia the same thing he had told the High Priest. That he has found the daughter whom the woman he loved long ago gave birth to.

However, Olivia was speaking as if she knew all of the hidden truths.

She said as she lowered her eyes.

“I didn’t investigate it separately. I just thought about it.”

Olivia knew her son well.

Duke Laurencio has been a perfectionist since childhood. He never did anything he regretted.

He did the same with women.

‘He was a hot-blooded man, so it wasn’t that he didn’t have relationships with women at all, but he never made a mistake.’

The Duke made it clear to the woman he was dating that it was a relationship that had to be parted at any time.

Both the emotional part and the physical part.

‘There’s no way a guy like that would have let a woman have his own child.’

She was decisively convinced the moment she saw Liriette.

“If it’s my son’s blood, then since it’s also my blood, I’ll feel it, yet I can’t feel anything about this child. I feel unfamiliar and repulsed.”

At Olivia’s sharp words, Liriette lost her words. She felt sorry and ashamed for deceiving her.

However, the Duke who had lied to his mother didn’t waver at all.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. More than anything, I don’t believe in the absurd rumor that you had a woman whom you loved. Rather, this side is more convincing.”

“…”

“The Duke of Windsor-Ice coveted a child with divine power. The Duke, in order to take the child away from the High Priest, made the child of no blood his daughter.”

“Did the rumor spread like that?”

“Thanks to the High Priest talking so hard in the capital, the nobles with good ears know that. But not many people believe that.”

No matter how much divine power she possesses, she is just an ordinary child unless the power is manifested.

To officially register such a child was more to lose than to gain.

Therefore, there were more opinions that Liriette must be the real daughter of the Duke of Windsor-Ice.

Either way, it was an unpleasant thing for Olivia.

“Laurencio. As you know, having a child out of wedlock, be it a real daughter or not, is a big flaw. Why do you dare to have this child enrolled, even to the point of enduring such disgrace?”

Although it was an elegant tone, there was a clear anger in her voice.

However, the Duke answered in an extremely calm voice.

“I want to be the father of this child.”

Olivia waited for words to follow him. However, even after a long time, the Duke didn’t say anything.

She furrowed her eyebrows.

“Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“…”

One of her eyebrows rose.

It was the expression she put on when she was very upset, as she always maintained her graceful expression.

Her son was gifted with brains, bodies, everything.

He was respected and admired by both nobles and commoners alike.

But even the perfect one had one flaw.

‘Laurencio will never give up or compromise once he gets what he wants.’

So, when he was only 4 years old, he persuaded the previous duke to follow him to subdue monsters, and when he was 18, he annihilated the dragon of the northern mountains, which everyone thought was impossible.

It hasn’t changed at all even now, at the age of 24.

‘No matter how much I object, he won’t even snort and have that child registered as his daughter.’

Even the thought of her made her head throb, but Olivia had long given up on drying her son.

Instead, she chose to defend the honor of the Duke of Windsor-Ice by a little bit.

“It would be better to hear that he found the daughter of the woman he loved in the past, rather than that the Duke of Windsor-Ice coveted divine power and forcibly made a parentless child into his daughter.”

To the Duke who nodded her head, Olivia continued her words.

“There is the easiest way to solidify that story. It’s to bring people together and formally introduce the child.”

The Duke raised one eyebrow.

“Are you talking about throwing a banquet?”

“Yes. People will believe your outrageous lies if you show them that you and the child are father and daughter. That child will be recognized by the world as the Princess of Windsor-Ice. But…”

Olivia turned her gaze to Liriette. Liriette put her hands together with a tense face.

She chuckled and clicked her tongue.

“If you send a child to a banquet like this, what they will say is obvious. They’ll be whispering that a child who looks so weak and lowly can’t be the daughter of the Duke of Windsor-Ice.”

“…”

“Then leave the child to me. Before the banquet, I will make the child the perfect Princess of Windsor-Ice.”

It was an unconventional proposal.

However, the Duke’s face was plain.

He had no intention of wanting people to understand Liriette’s existence. He just thought he would just give a notice and end it.

Because he’s the Duke of Windsor-Ice.

No one would be able to deny Liriette in front of him, even if there were many words behind him.

Even the Emperor.

The Duke was about to open her mouth to reject Olivia’s words.

Liriette, who had been silent the whole time, opened her mouth.

“If the Duke allows it, I want Madam Olivia to teach me.”

It was a voice of courage.

The Duke’s and Olivia’s eyes widened at the same time.

Liriette continued with a desperate face.

“I also know that I lack a lot to be the Duke’s daughter. So, I want to learn as much as I can to make up for that deficiency… I want to be acknowledged by the Duke as your daughter you’re not ashamed of.”

“…”

“…”

At the stillness that lingered once more, Liriette gulped.

‘Did I say anything wrong this time? I should have just listened to what the two of them were saying.’

Contrary to her worries, however, Olivia spoke in a very relaxed voice.

“I thought you were blind and didn’t know anything, but you’re quite clever. At least you have a better grip on reality than my son.”

“…”

She said to the Duke, who kept his mouth shut.

“The child says that, so leave her be. When you come back, she will be a perfect lady.”

***

The Duke couldn’t leave the castle empty even for a day because of the monsters that might attack at any time and various tasks.

So he thought of just greeting Olivia and going back right away.

Leaving Liriette here was unplanned.

He raised his eyebrows and asked.

“Are you really going to be okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

However, despite Liriette’s courageous reply, the Duke’s eyebrows didn’t straighten.

“Mother isn’t gentle enough to see you as a child. She’s very strict. You’ll be having a hard time.”

Even for Liriette, Olivia’s eyes were very fierce.

There wasn’t a hint of affection for her.

Even so, she wanted her to get an education.

“Duke, do you know? Gra…”

Recalling that Olivia’s serious look at the title of grandmother, Lirietteimmediately changed the title and continued.

“Madam Olivia didn’t say she didn’t like me. She didn’t even yell at me to leave right away because a child like me couldn’t be accepted into the duchy.”

Instead, she asked to throw a banquet for Liriette. She should be perfectly recognized as the daughter of the Duke of Windsor-Ice by the world.

Of course, it wasn’t for Liriette.

‘Perhaps it’s to make things look as good as possible for the Duke’s unprepared actions.’

Even so, Liriette was very grateful that she had accepted her. At the same time, she had a desire.

“If I train hard and become a good lady, Madam Olivia might like a little bit of me.”

The Duke looked at Liriette without saying anything.

Although she seemed infinitely young, she was actually a very strong child.

Enough that she came alone to Windsor-Ice Castle.

Enough that she begged the intimidating Duke to let her stay by his side.

She’s such a child, so it may not be so hard for her to learn how to become a noble in a strange place.

Eventually, the Duke gave up his worries and nodded.

“I get it.”