* * *

Ray, Linna, and I sat atop the highest mound of dirt, looking like a complete mess.

In the ruins of the villa, priests and servants were still flailing around in total chaos.

“So… how do you feel now that it’s all over? Emptied out? Hollow or anything…?”

I asked cautiously.

“It’s not over yet.”

Linna was staring coldly at the disaster site.

Her tangled red hair fluttered in the wind, her smeared makeup looked eerie, and her golden eyes gleamed far too intensely. It gave her an almost grotesque appearance.

“My father is still left.”

“Ah.”

“I need to go to the Idra Duchy.”

Come to think of it, the Duke of Idra’s sins weren’t minor either.

He’d known everything—and still oppressed Linna in other ways. Possibly even since her birth…

“People around me used to say something every single day: that I’d become the next Idra.”

Linna curled her lips into a twisted smile.

“I’ll go back and show them exactly what that means.”

Looked like she was planning to bring down the Idra Duchy as well.

That meant Anais and all the Idra servants would instantly have nowhere to go.

But then again, if the Earth Divine Beast acknowledged Linna’s legitimacy, who could stop her?

“I’m going to tell Father directly,” Linna said, lifting her chin.

“To watch closely as the successor he always dreamed of takes his place.”

She spoke darkly, but then caught sight of my blank expression and blinked, startled.

“Huh? Why? Was that too shocking? Too unfilial?”

“No…”

I slowly raised my hands and clapped.

“I’m memorizing that line. It really resonated with me. I want to say it too when I meet my father.”

Ray shook his head, looking like he couldn’t believe this.

That’s when it happened.

A luxury carriage pulled up in front of us.

“We are here to greet Lady Linna Idra.”

A man in elegant clothes stepped down from the carriage. He was tall and rail-thin, with blond hair and blue eyes—clearly an elderly noble.

“Oh, and… the Prince of Water is here too. That explains the witness accounts about water bursting from the lake…”

The old man, who looked rather stiff and strict, wore an expression of great surprise when he saw Ray.

Linna seemed to recognize him. She immediately straightened up, smiled awkwardly, and gave a respectful bow.

“Marquis Sinesse.”

“I came when I saw Trasan collapse.”

The man referred to as Marquis Sinesse glanced at the crumbled mountain before turning to Linna.

“Do you require the Sinesse family’s assistance? Is the Duchess well…?”

Only then did I understand the situation.

This villa stood at the far edge of the Idra territory, right on the border of the Sinesse March.

The Marquis had seen the landslide from his estate and rushed over in person.

Saying “I came to see if the Duke’s family needed help” was just a polite way of saying he came to check whether the damage would affect his land.

Linna tilted her chin and replied proudly.

“We only destroyed the villa, and there won’t be any further damage. As for the rest…”

She glanced back at the wrecked villa.

Servants were still scrambling through the piles of earth. Anais and Celia were surely in there somewhere too.

“…They can handle it. There were plenty of priests staying here.”

Her voice was ice cold.

“There’ve been countless landslides and earthquakes over the years, but Idra never once sent help. They always said it was a natural disaster and to deal with it ourselves. I’m just giving them the same response.”

“Ah…”

The Marquis of Sinesse darted his eyes around, his expression uncertain.

I stared at him.

Strange… this is my first time seeing him, but he feels oddly familiar…

Of course, the Marquis didn’t so much as glance at me in my maid uniform.

He clearly didn’t want to get involved in this mess and gave a quick, formal bow.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave. If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out.”

Which clearly meant: This doesn’t seem like my problem, so I’m getting out of here now.

“Oh, really?”

Linna’s eyes lit up like she had no idea what he actually meant.

“Then there’s something you can help with!”

“…Pardon?”

“We haven’t bathed or changed clothes, and we look like this. Isn’t the marquis estate nearby? Could you feed us, clothe us, and let us sleep there just for tonight? We’ll be leaving for the capital tomorrow afternoon once we’ve rested!”

Linna chirped brightly.

“It’ll be me, the Prince of Water here, and—though she’s wearing an Idra maid’s uniform—she’s actually Noa—mmph!”

Ray suddenly covered Linna’s mouth. He smiled gently and said,

“Then we’ll gladly accept your hospitality, Marquis. Myself, Lady Linna, and her closest maid.”

“Mmmph?!”

Linna frowned, clearly thinking, Why are we still hiding this? But Ray raised his brows in a look that said trust me.

Naturally, the Marquis couldn’t refuse a request from the children of such prestigious families.

“It’s an honor to host such distinguished guests. Shall we get you into the carriage? I’ll escort you to the manor right away.”

He didn’t get in the carriage himself, though. Instead, he got on horseback.

“Meow.”

<You guys must be gross. You smell.>

Cashie tilted his head and meowed. Honestly, I agreed.

He probably didn’t want to ride in the same carriage as a bunch of mud-covered people.

As the three of us climbed in, Linna turned indignantly to Ray.

“Why are we hiding her identity? Rosie’s a noble too!”

Ray gave me a look of disbelief.

“Rosie, you seriously don’t know? Haven’t you heard of the Sinesse March?”

“Huh? Why are you asking me? Never heard of them.”

I shrugged, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) just as confused.

“I mean, I was ranked higher than you at the Academy, but that doesn’t mean I know everything. Especially when it comes to noble families. You know how short our family’s history is.”

“…”

Especially since the Sinesse March wasn’t the kind of house that traveled to the capital.

They’d always stayed quiet on the outskirts. Even before regression, Zahid had never once mentioned them.

Ray sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Haa… so neither Julian nor Count Noart told you, huh? I guess that makes sense.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a really old story. Both sides are pretending it never happened, so barely anyone on the continent knows anymore.”

“What is it? Come on, if it’s such a rare and juicy bit of info, share it already.”

I pressed, and Ray sighed again before answering.

“By blood, Marquis Sinesse is Caliban Noart’s brother-in-law.”

I blinked and started doing the math.

My grandfather’s brother-in-law?

So… my grandmother’s younger brother?

But I’d never heard anything about my grandmother.

All I knew was that the marriage had been for social climbing, and she died after giving birth to Monica.

“Don’t even bring up your grandmother, Rosierosie. Even her own brothers didn’t like her.”

“Huh? But she was their sister.”

“I heard she developed a chronic leg condition in her mid-thirties and spent the rest of her life throwing hysterical fits. Claimed she smelled awful.”

“Wait, really? If she thought she stank, why blame others? It’s not like it came from someone else…”

“Anyway, she cursed Grandpa every single day, saying he wouldn’t even call a priest for her. In the end, she died giving birth to Aunt Monica—completely unrelated to the illness.”

And from what I’d heard in passing, ‘Noart’ was originally her family name. Slaves didn’t have surnames, after all.

Only then did I realize why the Marquis of Sinesse had seemed so familiar earlier.

Now that I thought about it—his frail frame, the refined but sharp, anxious look… he really did resemble Monica.

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