CH 22

Her ageless beauty, upright posture, and exuding elegance seemed to show her noble lineage.

Although it faded to white, her prickly and strict personality was revealed in her neatly raised blonde hair, which was a representative symbol of the imperial family, and her fiercely shining blue eyes.

‘Speregrin Liviatan.’

A woman from the Imperial family who inherited the blood of the noble royal family of the Odphelia Empire and became the duchess by marrying the former Duke of Leviathan.

The Liviatan family was in a position to maintain neutrality between the Imperial family and the nobles, but after she entered the duke’s house, she was so influential that she transformed the family to become royal to the Imperial family.

After the previous Duke of Liviatan passed away, she went down to the duchy and lived quietly, but her reputation was still famous in the social world.

Grandmother Liviatan was so proud of her lineage that she was enraged by her second son’s escape of love.

Later, when my parents died in an accident and I appeared at the duke’s office, rumors that she was angry and tried to kick me out circulated secretly.

“Mother.”

Father called Grandmother in a low voice, but she ignored it and scolded me.

“It’s been a long time since I see a face that’s so unpleasant.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

When I spat out an apology at her prompting, the sound of her clicking her tongue was heard again.

“I hope you haven’t been wasting your time. Have you found any exceptional talent to contribute to your family?”

“N-Not yet…”

My face turned pale as I continued the conversation with Grandmother.

“This is why I told you not to bring in vulgar things. It’s needlessly damaging the honor of the duchy and the Imperial family…”

Grandmother strode towards me, looking at me as if I was pathetic.

‘I want to run away right now.’

I didn’t have the courage to stay here anymore, so I wanted to run away and never looked back.

“Stop it.”

“Stop it.”

Before I knew it, my sisters stepped forward to block Grandmother who had approached me.

The two put me aside as if to protect me, then walked over to Grandmother and interrupted her.

“Daisy is not a child who deserves to be told that by Grandmother.”

At Viola’s words, Grandmother looked at her as if she was seeing something strange.

“It seems you have some business with me, so you may talk to me. Why are you lashing out at an innocent kid?”

Liliana spoke clearly without avoiding Grandmother’s eyes.

As if understanding the situation, Grandmother looked at me and Sisters alternately, unable to hide her displeasure.

“What is this….”

Father quickly stepped up and grabbed her by the arm before Grandmother could raise her voice.

“Mother, there are a lot of eyes here. Let’s move over and talk.”

“Hmph.”

Grandmother snorted at Father’s words and moved to the drawing room.

The way she left without casting a glance at us showed how unhappy she was about the situation.

Father didn’t immediately follow Grandmother and patted me.

“Daisy. Don’t pay too much attention to your grandmother’s words. Just remember that we are lucky just to have you by our side, and let go of all the bad words.”

“…Yes.”

Father headed to the drawing room with Liliana.

“Our precious youngest, please go back to your room and rest. Don’t forget that we always love you.”

“Yes, I love you, too.”

Mother hugged me tightly with an apologetic look.

Being comforted and hugged in a warm embrace, I felt like my tears were about to burst out.

Soon after, Mother also headed to the drawing room, and the lobby became quiet.

I bit my lip in resentment, but after chewing it over and over again, I didn’t think Grandmother’s words were wrong.

‘It’s true that the blood flowing in me is different from my parents and sisters… For Grandmother who belonged to the Imperial family, my half bloodline is low blood.’

Like my grandmother said, since I didn’t know how to do anything properly, there was no way I could look pretty in her eyes.

‘But it’s not my fault that I was born like this….’

Hearing the vague criticisms made my self-esteem plummet to the ground.

“Daisy.”

I was lost in my thoughts, so I forgot for a moment that Viola was next to me.

When I looked up in surprise, I realized that she had come close to me and was watching me.

“Sister! You’re going to be late. You have to go to work.”

“I’m a little worried.”

“Grandmother went to talk to our parents and Sister Liliana, so it should be fine.”

Viola shook her head and said with a smile.

“No. I’m worried about you.”

“What? What do you mean….”

“You were hurt by Grandmother’s words.”

I tried to turn my eyes away out of embarrassment because I felt like I was caught red-handed, but she grabbed my shoulder.

“Daisy. Father and Mother are right. No matter what anyone says, you’re our family, and you’re never useless.”

“…But unlike Sisters, I don’t have anything special. Maybe it’s true that I am unfit to be in Liviatan.”

I expressed my upset heart in a trembling voice.

Viola shook her head firmly at my words.

“No. You suit Liviatan better than anyone else. You try your best in everything, you’re sweet to everyone, and you’re braver than anyone else.”

“I am?”

Viola’s praise made me think that it was all nonsense.

However, the smile on her lips showed that what she had just said was not a lie.

“So what if you don’t have any special ability? Even if you don’t have any ability, the thought that you are my precious and lovely sister will not change.”

Viola’s ears were red, perhaps she was embarrassed for having to speak for a long time, which was unlike her.

Nevertheless, she continued to look straight at me as if there were no lies in her words.

Her kind consolation suddenly reminded me of the situation from a moment ago.

‘Sisters blocked Grandmother.’

Liliana and Viola had been raised and educated by Grandmother since childhood.

‘Grandmother threatened my parents about the responsibility of Sisters’ education, so they said it couldn’t be helped, but it’s probably because of me.’

Mother said that after giving birth to my sisters, she became weak and had to lie in bed for a long time, so she had no choice but to entrust the children’s education to Grandmother.

When I woke up from the hospital bed, I secretly heard someone say that she couldn’t take care of my sisters as much as she did with me because she was taking care of me who was sick.

My sisters always worked hard to be the best under Grandmother’s guidance, and they grew up loyal to the Imperial family while illuminating this family.

For my sisters, Grandmother would have been a mother, a teacher, and a spiritual pillar.

I heard that my sisters respected Grandmother and never disobeyed her teaching.

Those kinds of Sisters were now the first to talk back to Grandmother for my sake.

‘Doesn’t it seem like they’ve completely changed?’

I could definitely feel it when they protected me in front of Grandmother.

‘Sisters really like me. They tried to save me.’

Liliana, who always solved everything on her own and didn’t bring up her story, told me what she felt inside.

Viola, who was blunt with no one to talk to, kindly comforted me when I was sad.

It was possible because they thought of me as a younger sister and cared for me.

Having realized this fact, I was more than touched and felt great joy.

The fearful worries that remained feeble flew away.

I raised my head straight up and looked at Viola.

Viola was drooping her eyebrows and looked worried.

“Thank you, Viola. You really cheered me up.”

“That’s a relief.”

I smiled broadly and nodded.

Everyone in my family loved and cared for me, so I didn’t want to listen and care about the people who hated me.

‘She’s someone who won’t like me no matter what I do.’

It was scary if you didn’t expect it, but I didn’t have to suffer.

‘It feels like I am just making up my mind to make a firm decision every time.’

Thinking that this might be the time to put it into practice, I smiled lightly and said to Viola.

“Thanks to you, I feel better. So don’t worry about me and come back safely.”

“I see.”

Viola was about to leave but suddenly stopped, came up, and hugged me tightly.

“I’ll be back.”

Then she left the mansion without saying anything.

I covered the corners of my mouth and laughed, then came to my senses when I thought of Grandmother.

Instead of going back to my room, I turned to the drawing room.

‘I’m afraid of Grandmother. But I can’t avoid her forever. Remember this, Daisy. No matter what anyone says, you are a proud member of Duke Liviatan.’

And when I arrived in front of the drawing room after a while, I heard a tremendous scream from inside.

“I don’t understand why you refused the engagement! Are you really trying to disgrace my face!?”

Grandmother was screaming at Lilliana in a very angry voice.

It was clear that the refusal of the engagement with the First Prince had made Grandmother so angry that she lost her temper.

Perhaps if it was yesterday, I would have been worried that Liliana might follow Grandmother’s orders.

But after talking to Liliana last night, I decided not to worry about useless things.

“I don’t think Grandmother and I will accept each other’s opinions.”

Liliana spat out the words regretfully, paused for a moment, then spoke in a confident voice.

“So Grandmother, won’t you make a bet with me? About whose choice is right?”