델파, the chamberlain, widened her eyes.

“Did she really come?”

Though flustered, she decided to get to work.

Silently, she dashed to the door and held it open.

“Welcome, Your Highness.”

Viola brushed past Delpha.

Delpha flinched.

It had been 25 years since she started working as a chamberlain.

In that time, she had met numerous nobles and knights.

So, she believed she was quite familiar with those who possessed mana.

“I’m feeling all tingly.”

It seemed Viola carried a special kind of mana.

Just passing by gave her goosebumps.

“Is this… the Killing Star they talk about?”

She found it hard to look directly at a twelve-year-old girl.

The disturbing aura surrounding Princess Viola made her forget that Viola was barely twelve.

To the naked eye, she was just a little girl, but the sensation she exuded felt like that of a giant.

Meanwhile, Viola was in high spirits.

“Tundra is alright, too.”

She noticed the fresh white linens on the bed.

Tundra was sleeping soundly.

How relieved Viola felt to hear that Tundra was okay.

“I just need to do my part.”

She didn’t feel the need to hide her good mood.

With a light smile, she walked toward Viscount Seaal.

Delpha swallowed hard.

“A smile?”

To Delpha’s eyes, it seemed like a witch’s sinister grin.

It had nothing to do with Viola’s actual expression.

In Delpha’s eyes, she saw a witch with a sly smile.

It seemed the rumors about the Duke of Thousand Kills inviting witches were not unfounded.

“My apologies for the late hour.”

Viola walked gracefully up to Viscount Seaal.

“What brings you here?”

“You already know what this is about.”

In truth, Viola was in a slightly different state than usual.

She wasn’t as calm and rational as she normally was.

“Did Uncle Hixson always have this much smarts?”

But with Hixson’s insights during their conversation, she now found clarity.

Hixson had been a tremendous help.

“If you didn’t notice my intentions at all, I’d be quite disappointed, Viscount Seaal.”

Delpha, standing a distance away, swallowed again at the memory of her earlier conversation with the viscount.

“Wasn’t everything the viscount said correct?”

It seemed that Viscount Seaal’s deductions were spot on.

Just a moment ago, she thought of Viola as a mere twelve-year-old kid, but her perspective had completely flipped.

“If it’s that princess, it’s totally plausible.”

Viola crossed her legs and sat in the chair at the table.

“Chamberlain.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Please bring me warm milk.”

At the word “please,” Delpha perked up.

“A request?”

That was a term that utterly didn’t suit Viola right now.

Not an order, but a request…

What an unusually kind way to command.

But… oddly…

That “please” felt so natural.

Despite the fact that the princess was much more accustomed to commanding than requesting.

So natural,

And thus

Very…

What to call this feeling she was experiencing?

Fear? New? Strange?

No. It felt authoritative.

That polite tone and her request had an elegance and naturalness to it.

It certainly gave the impression of being one of the heirs of a ruling family.

Just that single word “please” packed immense power.

“With honey, please.”

“…Understood.”

Feeling uplifted, Viola pressed her luck a little more.

“And cookies.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure to prepare them.”

Delpha stepped out, feeling a strangely unusual sensation.

Such a ruler-like atmosphere yet requesting honey milk and cookies.

That gap felt astonishing to Delpha.

Viscount Seaal spoke up.

“Fortunately, the Partner Sword should recover soon.”

“I heard.”

“And my ear will heal in a few days as well.”

“Glad to hear that.”

“I’ve been told the incision is very clean.”

The viscount’s eyes narrowed.

“It seems it was part of what you intended, wasn’t it?”

It wasn’t me, but another side of me that did that.

It wasn’t my intention, but things turned out this way.

Concealing her true thoughts, she replied casually.

“If it weren’t intentional, would I have bothered to use force there?”

“Indeed, that’s true. Now, assuming everything I’ve surmised is correct, let me say this.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve come here, not as Princess Viola, but as human Viola, to apologize to me, haven’t you?”

Viola let out a small chuckle.

She had really gotten the hang of acting.

“Apologize?”

She deliberately mixed in informal speech.

In an instant, the viscount flinched.

He almost instinctively reached for a weapon.

“What’s with that attitude…?!”

When she’d seen the 1st Princess Medea as a child, it had never been like this.

The mana radiating from Viola felt far more cruel and sticky.

She had the horrifying sensation that Viola could draw a dagger and stab herself any moment.

“I judged you to be a reasonable person with noble beliefs. So, I took it upon myself to come here as a special envoy.”

“…Thank you for that.”

“But I’m a bit disappointed. I didn’t expect you to start with an apology.”

The viscount’s face tightened a bit.

After all, Bellatu was the rival family that killed the viscount’s son.

The viscount had considered waging war over it.

Before he could retort, Viola’s questions continued.

“Was your son important to the Bellatu family?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then why did they dare to risk condemnation, ignoring proper procedure, and execute your son?”

“That’s… because my son broke the harsh laws of Winter Castle.”

“Oh. So, because your son dared to break the laws of Winter Castle, you felt offended and executed him?”

Viola chuckled.

Anger bubbled up within Seaal.

Putting aside right and wrong, this princess was clearly mocking them.

The viscount raised his voice slightly.

“Isn’t that right?”

“Of course not.”

Just then, the chamberlain entered with honey milk and coconut cookies.

Crunch!

Viola popped a coconut cookie into her mouth and chewed.

“Delicious.”

The nobility of this world certainly seemed to know their baking.

The cookie was very satisfying.

The viscount opened his mouth.

“I was prepared to go to war myself.”

“I know. You’re that kind of person. Of course, you would have been the one facing death.”

“Since I was prepared for death, I must hear a clear explanation.”

The viscount was not afraid of death.

“If there’s no clear explanation, I might declare war on Bellatu right now. If you hadn’t saved my life once, I might have killed you on the spot.”

“Really?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

She’d seen the princess’s movements earlier.

There was no way someone twelve years old could move like that.

“However, now everyone from the viscount’s family has been freed from the poison. If our knights move, it’s likely we could tie up your party.”

“Alright. Let’s go with that. But I hope such an incident won’t actually happen. Please, I genuinely wish for that.”

To be honest, it was frightening.

That “please” was indeed meant sincerely.

“Ugh. How scary.”

Even after living as Viola for five years, I’d lived as Han Ah-rin for twenty-one years.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t scared.

Such situations weren’t even present back in Korea.

“Still… it’s much better than dealing with my father.”

Consciously, she decided to calm her mind.

“The reason for executing an unimportant figure without proper procedure is actually quite simple when you think about it.”

“I don’t understand. Please explain.”

“It’s because my father holds you in high regard.”

That was not a complete lie.

In the original work, Heron speaks highly of the viscount.

Thus, he made arrangements for a beheading instead of a torture execution.

Ironically, he would later support the Seaal Viscount House.

“W-what do you mean…?!”

“To protect your honor, my father chose to bear the mantle of a tyrant.”

The viscount looked confused.

“What does that have to do with my honor?”

“Violating the laws of Winter Castle was a justification.”

Viola lightly clapped her hands.

“Zeno.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As if he had been waiting, Zeno promptly opened the door and entered.

In Zeno’s hand was a white cloth, with a glass vial filled with red liquid resting atop it.

“This is your son’s blood. He was under the influence of black magic.”

Viola spoke with a calm expression.

“Would he have caused such a ruckus at Winter Castle if he had been in his right mind? Just for an Egg Tart?”

Black magic muddles a person’s mind and makes them crave instinctual pleasures.

It prioritizes emotion over rationality but grants them immense magical power.

However, it comes with a significant drawback.

If one cannot handle mana properly, their body will explode.

Meaning they become a living bomb.

“Someone injected black magic into your son. But you know, it can’t be activated without your son’s consent. In the end, the black magic must have been what your son wanted. His blood was saturated with black magic mana.”

This detail came from the author’s notes.

It hadn’t been deeply covered in the main story.

Zelton was just a tragic side character who was killed by Bichen.

“The concentration was extremely high, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had exploded at any moment. First, I had to protect the people of Winter Castle from your son becoming a living bomb.”

Viola’s eyes were fixed on Viscount Seaal.

Her lips bore a bit of foam from the white milk.

“Secondly, I had to uphold the honor of your family. So, he was executed.”

“…”

“While your son was coming to that point, what were you doing, Viscount?”

“Why should my father bear the dirty stigma of being a tyrant to protect your honor?”

My favorite character isn’t really that kind of character!

Though it was a bit scary, they were just a kind person raising adorable hedgehogs in the Beast’s Hall, with a seven-layer magic circle around!

“If I were your father, I would have exposed everything to the world, regardless of your honor. If I had done that, you would surely have taken your own life.

Because you’re a person of noble beliefs.”

That was indeed the case in the original work.

In the end, the viscount declares war, and Heron personally kills him.

For his honor.

The fact that Zelton had fallen victim to black magic would be forever buried in the world.

“I’ll ask. Was my father’s choice wrong?”

The viscount hung his head low.

Then he began to speak words that even Viola hadn’t expected.