Hoooah!
I was daydreaming about the future and almost forgot that the villa I entered was the hideout of the Nobility Faction!
No wonder! No wonder!
This person walked in so confidently like the owner of a shady hideout associated with the Nobility Faction!
Ughhh!
No way! No way!
They say you can survive if your mind is intact even in a tiger’s den!
But isn’t a human den not a tiger den, so you can’t survive even if your mind is intact?
Ugh, bad realization.
Pastel turned pale.
“First, we need to verify if you really switched to the Republican Party.”
Duchess Nastasha smiled.
“Personally, I don’t want to pressure you like that! It would make me a very mean adult to act coercively with a friend’s child, right?”
Oh!
Mom’s friend?
Pastel’s expression brightened as they discovered a possible lifeline through connections.
I love you, Mom!
“Are you friends with my mom?”
“Blossom? I was talking about your father, but that too is something, isn’t it?”
There was something subtly awkward about it.
The reason was quickly explained by Duchess Nastasha, who smiled brightly.
“Blossom was a rival of mine once over your father, so calling her a friend might be a bit much for my pride. I ended up losing, though.”
Hehe.
Once a rival.
Blossom, walking with her reverse harem, and Duchess Nastasha, gnawing at her handkerchief while watching that.
Mom, what are you doing?!
Pastel felt uncomfortable for a different reason in this situation.
An insurmountable trial lay before me.
I only half love you, Mom…!
In a flurry, Pastel tried to find a way out while glancing at Duchess Nastasha’s girl-like figure and attempted a quick change of subject.
“You look really youthful!”
The paint-splattered artist attire and her actions and atmosphere felt so girlish, giving off a youthful vibe!
“True. I never thought I would look this way even at thirty.”
Duchess Nastasha laughed.
“When I confessed to your father, he told me he disliked it because it felt like I was a thief, and I was right to worry.”
Father…!
Pastel mentally screamed.
Dad is no help in my life!
Absolutely none!
“That was a long time ago, though.”
Duchess Nastasha organized her drawing tools. Then she examined Pastel’s portrait and nodded.
“The portrait turned out well. Want to take it when you leave? Don’t forget.”
“Oh, yes.”
Pastel sneakily peeked at the portrait. There she was, pastel-colored and blooming with an aura reminiscent of cherry blossoms despite not having a single petal drawn.
Whoa, is that me?
I think I understand why I’m popular!
Duchess Nastasha brushed her hands off.
“Speaking of which, I haven’t been able to contact your father lately. Do you know what he’s up to these days?”
“My father?”
After joining the Cult for my mom’s resurrection, he’s been engaged in wicked deeds. He even said he would be in the Demon Realm and told me to come if I wanted to join him. Total bad dad.
But saying that would be quite awkward.
“I don’t really know either.”
Having replied like that, Pastel suddenly snapped to her senses.
Oh dear.
Wait a minute, is this the scenario of the woman who was rejected after confessing in her youth trying to contact a man who lost his wife?
Am I unintentionally preventing infidelity right now?
Phew~
Mom! Look at how good a child I am!
But Dad is so absorbed in resurrecting Mom that infidelity is probably not even on his mind!
What kind of dad is that? I don’t even know if he’s a good dad or a bad dad~.
“I think you’ve relaxed a bit, so shall we get down to business?”
Duchess Nastasha brought a chair and sat in front of Pastel, crossing her legs and speaking calmly.
“Our Republican Party welcomes the membership of all nobles, but we don’t accept spies. Especially not from families with a definite royalist background.”
Ughhh.
I’m still tense.
I probably won’t relax for the rest of my life.
Pastel fidgeted with her fingers.
“I have a question.”
A puzzled glance came her way.
“Is there a difference between the Nobility Faction and the Republican Party?”
A very important question.
I thought I was in a hideout of the Nobility Faction, but I came to find it was the Republican Party, and I’m confused.
However, Duchess Nastasha took this question differently and her expression became serious.
“You’re more serious than I expected? Some people call us nobility, but they’re the ones that are mistaken. How can one discuss change without even being able to distinguish between oligarchy and republicanism?”
Her brown eyes gazed somewhere far away.
“While there might be answers in education that don’t lead to delusions, wouldn’t it be best to first check the literacy rate of the subjects before stating your claims? When systems are prioritized and institutions follow, with culture trailing, is when dreams become reality.”
Suddenly faced with an off-context argument, Pastel shrank back.
“Um, that’s not what I meant. I was just wondering if there’s a separate social circle for the Nobility Faction and the Republican Party.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Duchess Nastasha looked dumbfounded.
“Are you asking if the Nobility Faction and the Republican Party are literally separate?”
“Yes!”
Finally, we’re on the same page!
Duchess Nastasha, thinking it over, ended up with a slightly awkward smile. She rubbed her finger on her lips and pointed at Pastel.
“If I were to put aside my position and give personal advice to a friend’s child, pretending not to know too much isn’t good for political activity. Ambiguous credibility raises baseless suspicions even among allies.”
Hooah, what great advice.
I’ve been feeling the pressure from Elly’s suspicious gaze on me lately.
What have I even done?!
But, but a really, really important fact…
I genuinely don’t know!
Is there a difference between the Nobility Faction and the Republican Party?!
Pastel felt wronged.
“I’m not acting! I really don’t know! I’m just Pastel from the outskirts lazing around on Sky Island.”
Duchess Nastasha looked troubled.
“Do you want me to believe you came without researching the social scene? Are you truly that unaware that the Nobility Faction and Republican Party point to the same targets?”
“That’s, that’s different.”
I did research the social scene.
I definitely did.
Well, it was simply asking the Demon Lord about political dynamics in a hospital room.
At that time, the Demon Lord explained that it was just an opposition between the royalists and the nobility.
But now it turns out the term isn’t Nobility Faction, but Republican Party, and I was just wondering if they were different?
“Still inexperienced, but blood runs deep.”
Duchess Nastasha switched her crossed legs. Then she smiled and rested her chin on her hand.
“You might have been deceived by appearances in the outskirts, but here, you’d find plenty of people who smile while wielding daggers. Who would believe someone who pretends to be innocent when they’ve just received the governor position from the emperor yesterday?”
Hooah.
What was quietly bestowed as governance in the hospital has now spread like wildfire.
Moreover, I’m supposedly having a meeting to verify if I’m a spy for the emperor while they already know I received a royalist commemorative gift?!
What the?! What the?!
So scary!
Pastel trembled.
I’ve joined the royalists, but I don’t want to fight with such scary people!
“Perhaps it’s my inexperience that’s making me anxious?”
Duchess Nastasha pressed her lips together, pondering. Then, she smiled brightly.
“You don’t need to hide so much. This meeting’s purpose is to clarify your ambiguous position. It’s a matter of distinguishing allies from enemies.”
Pastel felt like a mouse in front of a cat. The only thing different from an ordinary mouse was the cherry blossom ribbon atop her head.
Escape! Escape!
She pooled all her brainpower to find a way out.
Task: Flee to Sky Island without becoming an enemy of the Republican Party.
The method is… the method is…
After much deliberation, Pastel decided to evolve from a mouse to a hedgehog.
In other words, it was to raise her quills and act confident.
Haaap-!
Craft Mode…!
The trembling body slowly calmed. Her pink eyes gazed steadily at the Duchess.
Then her pink eyes narrowed, and her body twisted a bit. An adorable plea for attention shone through, deftly navigating the delicate relationship of being a friend’s child.
“However, I think it’s hard to show sincerity to someone who doesn’t loosen their grip on the leash. Respect is beautiful when it’s mutual, right?”
Duchess Nastasha’s mouth dropped open.
“You have some strong blood.”
Her crossed legs uncrossed.
“Yesterday we planned to pressure the emperor by messing up the banquet, hoping to use the Craft Family’s apparent shift as an excuse to take the lead and pin down the transition.”
Duchess Nastasha rummaged through a corner of the art workshop. Colorful paint jars clinked together.
“We need to first bring up tales of the former tyrant to sour the political mood. Then, the actual culprit here, and someone who’s still isolated in the central political scene, Marquis Pastel, will find it difficult to return to the royalists immediately.”
Duchess Nastasha stood up.
“At that point, showing this tangible evidence will force the choice between fully switching to the Republican Party and remaining an isolated figure facing accusations from both the royalists and the Republican Party.”
In her hand was a gem pepper shaker that looked just like the one Pastel held.
“But we disagreed when the Marquis received the governor position before we even moved. Did he have an interest in the royalists from the get-go? Or were there other intents? There were many opinions regarding the latter…”
Duchess Nastasha smiled knowingly.
“We’ll cancel the conspiracy, and coax the emperor to undermine any weaknesses relevant only to this incident.”
She approached and handed Pastel the gem pepper shaker.
“An inexperienced person only thinks of the success of the conspiracy, but a wise one considers the flexibility of it.”
Like how one must calculate the follow-up after a betrayal’s success.
“There’s some strong blood.”
“Well, I don’t know.”
The girl calmly received the evidence back.
“This level is common sense.”
Her pink eyes gently narrowed.
“Now that it has become fair, shall we discuss business, Duchess?”
Duchess Nastasha’s mouth was agape.
“I didn’t act like this at your age either.”
