The little goddess was furious.

I’d gone wide-eyed when Father reported what had happened.

It was the same with Raffilia—what exactly had Aria been up to behind the scenes? Apparently, while Sauvel was busy managing the estate, Isabella and Lauren had taken over the household duties. That’s how the suspicious expenses came to light.

Isabella compiled a report and convinced Sauvel. “Divorce her,” she said.

Father said that was the report’s contents—but then added, “Mother heard it from your sister,” and went into excruciating detail about Aria’s misdeeds. The temperature of Father’s anger climbed even higher. I was genuinely scared.

“Ori, can I tell Sauvel about this later?”

“…Are you sure? Won’t he just get even more depressed?”

“No, it’s fine. He said he wasn’t sad. If that’s true, then I want it crushed completely. No gentle talk about ‘rebuilding’—not even a whisper of it.”

“Ara ara.”

My mother blinked rapidly, stunned by how furious Papa had become.

And I was furious too, after hearing what Aria had done. Since Mama was talking to Papa, she noticed my expression—silent, motionless—while I listened beneath them, and her face went pale.

“Eh… Elen-chan…?”

“Elen…?”

Papa, startled by Mama’s pale face, leaned in to look at me—and then he went as white as a sheet.

“Elen!! Wait, wait, wait!!”

Papa frantically scooped me up. Mama covered my cheeks with both hands, trying to rub the tension out.

“…………”

No matter how much she kneaded, my expression didn’t change.

I stared straight ahead. “I’ll crush it,” I said, voice low.

“Eh, Elen-chan!! No physical violence, okay!?”

“EeeeeeElen!! Leave it to Papa! Right!?”

“No. I’ll see my uncle through to the end.”

I glared at the two of them. They both turned pale and sighed, defeated.

Even my father apologized to Sauvel—actually apologized, of all things.

“Honestly, that foolish girl managed to piss off the one goddess you absolutely shouldn’t provoke…”

The moment I heard Raffilia was coming back to the manor, I made up my mind: I’d crush her completely.

＊＊＊

Raffilia returned to the manor. The air was so thick with tension it felt like standing in a storm before the lightning strikes.

She realized too late that the mess she’d made was beyond repair. The teacher had sighed, “House arrest,” and she’d had no words to fight back.

She still couldn’t understand—she’d only wanted to say that staying with Kai as her guard would be smarter. Why did she have to be so furious?

And that comment from Amiel kept echoing in her head.

“You call yourself a noble, yet you can’t even bother to learn the proper customs?”

(Proper customs…)

What my father and tutors were trying to teach me. But Mother said, "We're nobility, so you don't need to worry about things like that. Being this high in rank, no one dares scold you anyway."

(She’s royalty by birth... she’s the one who’s supposed to be lecturing me. So why’s she coming at me like this?)

No one around would dare to scold the duke’s daughter. So they must’ve asked Amiel, who’s of higher rank, right?

(Which means Amiel is... )

Raffilia finally turned her attention to what was happening around her, perhaps realizing she’d been the one everyone was blaming all along—but she sighed almost immediately, already knowing it was pointless.

Raffilia, told to wait in her room until the carriage arrived, was instructed by her teacher to gather all her belongings together.

Raffilia noticed, startled, that several servants had come to fetch her and were now carrying all her personal belongings out of the room she’d been using as her own.

"Why are they taking everything out...?"

When I asked why they were removing all my things, the servant looked at me and said simply, "Ask the master yourself."

Reluctantly, I climbed into the carriage and returned to the manor, but the air inside was so thick I couldn’t stand it.

How could something I did be worth this much anger? Raffilia’s resentment bubbled up, hot and bitter.

Lauren greeted me at the door and said, “The master is waiting in the parlor.” I grudgingly followed, and there, already seated, were my parents.

But something felt off about their expressions.

"...I’m back."

"Sit down. We need to talk."

Raffilia could feel the anger in Sauvel’s voice through the walls. She hesitated, then sat beside Aria, her heart fluttering.

"Do you even know what you did at the academy?"

Raffilia bristled at Sauvel’s blunt words.

“B-but… Kai’s been protecting me, right? That’s more useful than him protecting Elen, isn’t it? I just said that!”

Then Sauvel slammed his fist onto the table.

The two had never seen such violent behavior before—both flinched, shoulders jerking.

“You two were told when you arrived at this mansion. What a knight is. What kind of family mine is. And that the servants working here aren’t just servants.”

The words made the two strain to remember. Something had been said, yes—but now everything had flipped upside down, and they’d completely forgotten.

“You insulted a knight. You disrespected the pride of those who guard this house. Every single one of your actions has been reported. The servants, the maids, the butler—all of them are knights. They’re my subordinates.”

The two of them flinched at Sauvel’s words.

They seemed to remember what they’d been doing with the maids. Their faces paled further, and Sauvel spat out, “You finally realize, do you?”

“This territory’s under scrutiny from every angle right now. Just like how Raffilia was kidnapped four years ago—your lives were targeted. You were in danger.”

But when Sauvel continued, Aria went deathly pale in an instant.

“I had guards assigned to you in secret. I assigned them because I was worried about you… What did they report? Aria, you know what I mean.”

“…Mother?”

Aria stood frozen, trembling violently. She didn’t seem to hear Raffilia’s anxious voice asking, “Mother, what’s wrong?”

“And you, Raffilia— you don’t have noble status.”

At Sauvel’s words, Raffilia froze.

“…Huh?”

“You’ve been going around bragging you’re from a ducal family at the academy, I hear. I thought that kidnapping incident would’ve taught you something. Apparently not.”

“But…! That’s true, isn’t it!? I’m not my father’s child!!”

“…Yes. But do you even grasp what that kind of talk does to others?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You’ve been intimidating everyone around you, telling them to respect you because you’re ‘above them.’”

“B-But… that’s not—”

“Wouldn’t that make people avoid you? The academy’s full of nobles, sure—but knights’ training draws in commoners too. Especially this household, which has ties to the knightly class. You think that kind of attitude wouldn’t sound like bullying? It’s bound to breed resentment. And that resentment? It’ll end up shaping how they see you. How they see *this* family. …You’ve dragged our family name through the mud at the academy.”

And finally, Raffilia understood why the knight trainees had come to complain about her.

It was strange—back when she was just a commoner, she had plenty of friends in town. But now that she was a noble, not a single friend could she make?

She kind of understood why nobles looked down on her. But why were commoners doing it too? That part just didn’t make sense.

Realizing she’d been unintentionally intimidating people all along, Raffilia felt her spirits sink.

“You’re being expelled from the academy. I’ll arrange for you to return to the common folk.”

“W-what? Father!?”

Raffilia widened her eyes, stunned. Sauvel spoke with a cold voice.

“I’m divorcing Ariella.”

Ariella panicked. “Why!? Why now!?” she screamed, but Sauvel spat back.

“Why? Why do you think *I’m* the one asking that? You betrayed me even before we married—so don’t act surprised. You know damn well what you did.”

“…Mother? What does ‘betray’ even mean…?”

Having said that, Raffilia glared at her father as if remembering something.

You're the one who betrayed Mother, aren't you?!

"...What?"

Ever since Mother came to this house, everyone’s been so cold! Mother was hurt by that! So it’s not Father’s fault at all!!

Sauvel tilted his head, clearly baffled. “What are you talking about?”

Just then, the door was knocked on.

Lauren called out to Sauvel from the other side of the door.

"Ah, come in."

It was Sauvel who prompted the cousins and their wife, and their grandmother, to come in.

Raffilia was puzzled, wondering why she was here, when Elen came rushing over, step by step, step by step.

Raffilia’s anger flared up even higher.

"What do you want?!" Raffilia shouts, and Elen replies with a flat expression.

Auntie Aria. I should’ve warned you. Not only Papa, but even Uncle Sauvel… you’re turning them into broth?!

Elen didn’t look at Raffilia as she spoke to Aria.

I'll crush them.

Aria let out a startled cry when she heard that.

Raffilia was instantly swallowed by a sight of Elen she’d never seen before.

A shiver ran through me, like my whole body had turned to gooseflesh.

Felt like I’d pissed off something I really shouldn’t have.

She didn’t realize it was fear, but the sensation was clearly the same for Sauvel and the others—adults all around turned pale.

"Sauvel, sorry... Elen flew off the handle at Aria once she found out the truth."

Sauvel let out a pitiful, “Eeeeee!?”, responding to Lovell’s words.