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As I entered Viola’s Room, a child’s voice resonated.

“This is the Truth’s Brow!”

For a moment, Sena thought she might’ve stumbled into the wrong room.

That was not a voice one would expect from someone like Viola.

The child was pointing at the space between her eyebrows with her index finger.

‘Is that Selbin Princess?’

It made no sense.

Why was Selbin, the duel opponent, here?

And why did she look so cheerful despite her defeat?

“Sis is the best! So awesome, awesome!”

Perhaps due to having her mouth full—most likely with an Egg Tart—her words came out jumbled. Or maybe it was her naturally short tongue, but one thing was for sure: Selbin looked extremely happy.

In reality, Selbin was indeed happy.

Even though they could only buy two Egg Tarts per person in line, she found herself with three whole boxes here.

Each box contained twelve, meaning Selbin was gazing upon a treasure of thirty-six Egg Tarts resting in Viola’s Room.

To Selbin, this place felt like heaven.

“Oh? Princess Sena? Hello! Want to try one?”

The way she treated Viola and the way she addressed Sena was subtly different, though it was hard to pinpoint.

When talking to Viola, her tongue seemed to have a particularly short phenomenon.

“Viola sis is amazing! Wanna know why?”

For reasons unknown to Sena, Selbin puffed out her chest and continued.

“The shopkeeper is a fan of Viola sis! He sent over three boxes to congratulate her for winning the duel!”

Nom!

Munch!

“Yummmmm!”

Selbin held her cheeks in both hands, overwhelmed with bliss.

The sweet taste of the Egg Tart spread through her body, sending shivers down her spine.

“It’s too delicious! I want to be with Viola sis every single day!”

Sena glanced at Viola and Selbin, her expression one of disbelief before she finally spoke.

“This could pose a significant diplomatic issue. You’re aware of that, aren’t you, Princess Viola?”

Selbin Brandia and Viola Bellatu appeared to be quite buddy-buddy.

Perhaps they had known each other before.

Viola chuckled softly.

“Now, you’re not suggesting that Lady Selbin took a dive for me, are you?”

“I wouldn’t say that, but based on the current situation, it does seem plausible.”

Sena bit her lip.

‘Selbin suddenly declares she’ll become the Black Knight. Something has been off since then.’

In truth, Selbin’s claim of being a Black Knight stemmed from her own ego as a martial artist, but Sena didn’t think that way.

“Did you set a trap to insult me?”

Viola chuckled inwardly.

‘She really is consistent in her ways.’

Sena’s intentions to not apologize were clear to her.

Viola unknowingly clicked her tongue as she said, “If it were me, I would have handled things a bit more wisely.”

“What was that?”

“I meant I wouldn’t make accusations without concrete evidence that I colluded with Lady Selbin, Princess Sena.”

Whether it was the anger blinding her or being raised like a flower in the Duke of Mariantu’s household, she was way off mark.

“What in front of my eyes is not evidence, then?”

Hearing this, Selbin chimed in, “You’re just being ridiculous.”

In that moment, Sena shot Selbin an incredulous look.

Selbin then giggled, “Oh, I mean, I’m peeling the wrapper.”

Sena’s face flushed slightly.

She knew the Brandia house was barbaric, but she didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

Then came the shocking behavior.

‘What the heck are you doing?!’

Selbin raised her middle finger towards Sena while pointing it downwards, making sure Viola couldn’t see.

Though the meaning behind that single gesture eluded her, it made Sena feel inexplicably bad.

She had heard that beggars would sometimes make such gestures when severely insulting their opponents.

“Princess Sena, you don’t seem like someone here to apologize.”

Viola crossed her legs and began to swing them lightly.

“If you came to apologize, you should act like you’re here to apologize.”

“Um…”

Sena’s face reddened.

However, she tried her best to hide it as she asked, “Just to confirm, Lady Selbin Brandia has indeed been defeated by Viola Bellatu, correct?”

“Yep, totally lost.”

Sena frowned slightly.

Perhaps growing up in the far-flung dukedom had made her use a lot of confusing language and behavior.

“What does ‘totally lost’ mean?”

“It means, roughly, I lost.”

Selbin, ignoring Sena entirely, munched on the Egg Tart.

Her tone and actions were strangely irritating.

While she was patronizing Sena, it was a bit too ambiguous to challenge, considering she was already there to apologize.

“I have to apologize.”

She had lost the duel.

Thus, it was right to apologize.

Whether she liked it or not, it was a rule that came with being born a noble.

Sena grabbed the hem of her dress with both hands and bowed her waist.

“I’m sorry. I’ve committed a great rudeness and offense.”

“Really? Just what kind of great rudeness and offense did you commit?”

“I insulted the value of the gift given by Duke Heron and tried to humiliate you publicly. I feel I’ve shown quite a lack of character.”

“Do you feel so?”

“I did.”

With her head bowed, Sena bit her lip.

There was no helping it.

She had expected a certain amount of humiliation when coming to apologize.

“Princess Sena, recently someone sincerely apologized to me.”

“Yes?”

“That person practiced their handwriting and sent me over ten letters. They ran a long distance to wait nearby for my response in hopes I might forgive them. They came to see me genuinely seeking forgiveness, offering their most precious possession.”

Sena felt an inexplicable anxiety creep in.

Every word that came out of Viola’s mouth felt lethal like a venomous snake.

“The attitudes of that person and yours are starkly contrasting.”

Seeing the difference clarified everything.

She understood how sincere Jeremy was.

Jeremy’s desperate approach to her contrasted sharply with how half-heartedly Sena approached her apology.

“That person said, apologies must be sincere to count as real apologies. Nobles must behave like nobles.”

“…Are you saying my apology isn’t sincere? Are you implying I’m not noble enough?”

“Shouldn’t you show at least an equal measure of sincerity? You’re the one who lost the duel, after all.”

“I don’t know who that person is, but comparing me with them isn’t fair.”

Though she admitted defeat at every level in front of Viola, Sena couldn’t let go of her last shred of pride.

“I’m a lady of the Duke of Mariantu!”

She bit her lip tight.

Her eyes brimmed with tears, stinging her vision.

She clutched the hem of her dress tightly.

She struggled to not cry.

“What does that matter? That person was also of noble birth.”

“The daughter of the Duke and an ordinary noble are completely different.”

“How are they different?”

Viola twirled a lock of her hair around her index finger.

“Everything is different qualitatively!”

Sena completely lost her composure.

She turned into a child in front of Viola.

Viola leisurely murmured, “Was the daughter of the Storm Fortress, guarding the Savage Canyon, so inferior in quality…?”

Sena’s face went pale.

There was no way that person could be Prince Jeremy.

And that Prince Jeremy practiced his handwriting just to apologize.

She felt like the sky was crashing down on her.

“Here we go, right from the start it’s all tangled up. Someone here to apologize is questioning if the duel was staged. You just insulted Sister Medea, the first-class knight of the empire who presided over that duel.”

“Th-that’s…”

“And not only that, you疑虑the honor of the Brandia house. You humiliated Bella, who fought alongside you, and have spoken ill of the prince of the Storm Fortress. Can you bear all this?”

Viola chuckled softly.

“I can’t believe someone here to apologize would speak like this.”

*

Tears streamed down Sena’s face.

The more she conversed with Viola, the deeper she felt she was sinking.

It felt like being trapped in a dark labyrinth where no light was visible.

“I-I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

Once the dam broke, the tears didn’t want to stop.

Sena felt fear.

The very idea of Viola felt overwhelmingly terrifying.

Viola loomed like a giant.

“I want you to specify exactly what you did wrong and how. I want your apology before my sister.”

Hela entered the room.

Sena desperately wanted to escape this situation.

She rambled out every thought that came to mind.

“Please forgive me for underestimating Princess Hela. I was too foolish to do such a thing. I was incredibly wrong. Truly wrong.”

Ignoring Hela.

Colluding with other nobles to subtly ostracize her from the social circle.

Whispers that she was a dropout who couldn’t become the Black Bellatu, forced to become the White Bellatu instead.

She confessed every sin while sobbing uncontrollably.

Hela looked at Viola with a slightly incredulous expression.

Her lips silently asking the question, ‘What did she do?’

This proud Princess Sena, reducing herself to a sobbing mess.

Even Hela found this outrageous.

‘It doesn’t seem like she used any violence.’

It appeared all it took was words to bring Sena to this point.

What a truly incredible talent.

Regardless, Viola kept her promise.

Viola had promised this much.

“I’ll kill you without raising suspicion. I’ll do it step by step.”

The Sena now was no different from a dead Sena.

Having let go of everything and crying, she felt she would do anything to escape from here.

Deep inside Hela, she felt a warm something rising up.

‘More than an apology from someone like Sena.

Hela locked her gaze on Viola.

‘I’m glad you kept your promise. I feel like I’ve seen another layer of your capabilities.’

‘As expected of Viola.’

Hela said, “This is enough. I understand Lady Sena’s heart well, and according to the laws of the Empire, everything you’ve just said is being recorded by magical devices.

I hope you become a noble who takes responsibility for your words in the future.”

Only then did Sena’s face flush deep red.

The realization that all her moments were being recorded washed over her.

“I-I think I’ll take my leave now. Thank you for forgiving me.”

Sena hobbled on unsteady legs as she moved.

When she came to her senses, a tsunami of shame washed over her.

She wished she could die recalling how she had sobbed and apologized before that barbaric household.

‘I’ll kill them all!’

Despite not being able to show it in front of Viola, her rage surged to the top of her head.

She loathed the Bellatu and detested Winter Castle.

A primal urge to smash everything filled her being.

‘Just wait and see. I’ll definitely kill them all!’

She didn’t know.

That her trials were far from over.

That there were more than just Viola and Hela at Winter Castle.