Aria’s antics.

I’ve dealt with royal houses before—punished them for reaching for Raffilia.

What came of it was enough to turn my father pale.

And now? I’m even more furious than I was back then. That’s why my father’s turning pale.

“Wait, Elen… please, don’t go physical? The estate’ll blow to pieces.”

The moment my father said it, Sauvel and the others went even paler.

I’m not going physical—but I *need* to crush Aria. I can’t stand it.

And why? Because Aria was aiming to kill Sauvel.

“Did you hear that down the hall? Raffilia… what do you mean, uncle betrayed us?”

I suddenly asked Raffilia, and she blinked wide-eyed.

But caught in my strange mood, she just… started talking.

“Because… Papa betrayed Mama,” I suddenly said to Raffilia, and she blinked wide-eyed. But caught in my strange mood, she just… started talking.

“Sad? You heard the reason he betrayed her?”

“…Reason?”

“If Auntie was betrayed, what did Uncle do?”

“…It wasn’t just Papa. Everyone in this mansion did it! Ignoring Mama all the time!”

“When was this?”

“When? It was like that when I arrived!!”

“…………”

That must mean since the moment Aria came to this mansion. So the reason everyone here treated Aria coldly is clear now.

“Aria Auntie. Would you tell Raffilia the truth? About why you’ve been treated so coldly by everyone in this house.”

“What are you talking about!?”

“Raffilia, Auntie, you betrayed Uncle before you came here.”

“…Huh?”

The household was furious about it. There’d been someone like that before—someone who’d done something similar and had been shunned by the household. Auntie was trying to do exactly the same thing again.

"...A hated being? That’s... Amiel’s mother?"

"Agiel, that person..."

Raffilia must have remembered my words. She recalled being the kind of child who’d troubled her parents, even as a little one.

"What does that have to do with Mother?"

"We swear our vows before the goddess at the wedding. Remember? The wedding of Uncle and Auntie."

Raffilia blinked, startled by the sudden shift in conversation. I continued, watching her nod as she remembered the wedding—Aria in a stunning dress, so proud, so radiant.

I’m swearing to walk hand-in-hand with this person. And yet, Auntie didn’t want to walk with Uncle at all. That’s why the goddess warned her. “Pay proper attention to Uncle,” she said.

"A warning from the goddess...? Mother?"

"Yeah. We’re mad at Auntie. You said you loved Uncle, didn’t you?"

"Mother...?"

Raffilia shouted at Aria, who stared in disbelief, “No, it’s not like that!”

I said I didn’t mean it like that, didn’t I?! Why do you always bring that up and treat me coldly…!?

S-so, that's right!! Mother isn't at fault, is she?!

"Not bad...?"

Raffilia and Aria flinched at my low voice. I replied with a blank expression.

What would Raffilia think if Uncle kept staring at some woman who wasn’t Auntie during the wedding?

"Wha... what's that, it's gross..."

"Looks kinda gross, Auntie."

Raffilia finally seemed to grasp what I meant.

What?! Her eyes darted to Aria, pleading in disbelief.

"Raffilia, didn't Auntie say something like, 'I'm not at fault'? 'I just tried to win your favor because we’re family'?"

"Why would she...?"

"You heard that, and you misunderstood—thought Auntie was bullying Uncle. That’s why you acted so defiant toward him, right?"

Sauvel’s eyes flew open at my words.

Raffilia had misread the whole situation—thought she was defending her mother from cruelty. That’s why she’d been so stubborn.

"Wait... so you were just resisting me because you thought I was being cruel...?"

Sauvel clutched his head. Raffilia looked utterly embarrassed.

If she truly believed that, then her reaction wasn’t unreasonable. Kids don’t have many options when they’re convinced they’re being wronged.

"...and Mother said I’d be fine without studying much anyway, so I didn’t really need to..."

"Aria!?!"

"N-no! That’s not what I said at all!!"

"Eh... Mother did say that, didn’t she... so I thought... I mean..."

"Don’t lie!! I didn’t say anything like that!!"

Raffilia was stunned by Aria’s words. Her expression—staring blankly at her mother—said it all: betrayed, shattered.

"Stop blaming Raffilia. You believed your own lies, and now she’s isolated in the academy."

Aria couldn’t take it anymore. She shouted at Sauvel.

"Why?! Why won’t you believe me?!?!"

"Believe you? Look at this."

With a sharp slap, Sauvel spread papers across the table. Aria glanced at one—and her face turned deathly pale.

Isabella walks slowly from behind. Standing behind Sauvel, she says:

"You’ve been spending the household’s money on your own, haven’t you? We’ve been told the furnishings are gone. Sold off without permission—what were you even doing with it?"

To Aria, trembling uncontrollably, Isabella adds:

"You said you wanted to win their favor, since you’re joining the family. So what exactly have you been doing all along? Not greeting Sauvel when he returned. Not even trying to learn how to be a proper lady. …You only want to win Lovell’s favor, don’t you?"

Raffilia stares, dumbfounded.

"Mother…? You can’t mean… that’s impossible…?"

Girls this age are precocious. Maybe that’s why she understood the meaning so clearly—this was the age when love stories made hearts race.

“The men who took money from you were keeping watch here. What do you think they were planning to do, since you asked them to?”

“Lies! I didn’t ask them anything!”

“Oh, so you’re not denying you handed over the coins?”

Isabella’s words cut sharp, and Aria glared at her, speechless.

“You tried to kill Sauvel. You’d better have known what you were doing.”

Raffilia murmured, disbelief etched into her voice, as if she couldn’t believe Aria anymore.

“Mother…? You’re joking…? Kill Father…?”

“I didn’t ask you to do anything like that!” Aria shouted, her voice cracking.

From behind, the silence of her mother broke.

“Hmm… you didn’t say it out loud, did you?”

The words hung in the air like a memory the woman had lived through herself.

Mother smiled warmly at Aria, who was flustered and confused.

You see everything, sister. Everything you did, everything you thought. I know it all.

"W-what... is that...?"

Mother smiled sweetly at Aria, flustered as she was.

"You were sleeping with four people at once during Sauvel’s wedding, weren’t you?"

"Wha—..."

Ignoring Sauvel and the others gaping in shock, Mother continued.

I pretended to be troubled by my relationship with Sauvel, so you could comfort me— but the two of them, when they heard you were getting married, betrayed you and left. The other two kept things going, but one of them got so desperate she tried to kill Sauvel.

"What? They weren't two people!?"

Mother apologized with a quiet, "I'm sorry," as Sauvel shouted.

Lovell says so, so I’m exposing everything~

Sauvel and the others were speechless at their mother’s words, blaming it all on Father.

Well, no wonder. Ariah had used Sauvel as a broth, drawing men close with sympathy, and then soothing herself with their pity.

When the man she’d lured dwindled, she’d swooned over the sight of her father in the manor, fawning and flirting like a common maid.

When that failed and she was scorned by the crowd, she’d twist it to play the poor, pitiful woman.

That was the setup—exactly like a woman shunned by her new family. And by dragging her daughter into it, she’d tried to make the story more believable.

But it backfired worse than expected. The Vanklyft Family’s reputation had exceeded Ariah’s wildest hopes.

The truth? The one she’d complained to—had believed her completely, and tried to kill Sauvel.

“You… you woman…”

Not just my anger anymore. The whole room was boiling with fury now.

Aria hung her head, silent and unmoving.

"Mom… Mom…"

I pulled Raffilia close, her tears streaming down her face in shock.

Even though I’m tiny compared to her, she immediately clung to me, sobbing uncontrollably.

I rubbed her back and whispered, “It’s okay,” and she squeezed me so tightly I could barely breathe.

My anger flared at how she’d used her father like a broth for her own convenience—playing with men like they were nothing.

And worse, how she’d used Raffilia just to feed her own pity.

“Lady,” I said, voice low, “prepare yourself.”

My rage sent vibrations through the air, sparks crackling around us.

Father and Albert rushed in, panicked, trying to stop me.

“Elen!! No physical force!!”

“Elen-chan~! You’ll blow the whole mansion apart if you keep this up~!”

Surrounded by my parents, I was desperately trying to keep my emotions in check.

Raffilia, watching it all up close, just stood there, tears streaming down her face, utterly stunned.

"...What... is this...?"

Sauvel, rushing to her side as if to rescue her from the confusion, pulled her into a tight embrace.

Startled by the sudden hug from Sauvel, Raffilia looked up at him, dazed.

The two of them, realizing it at the same moment, just stared at each other in silence. Then, Raffilia suddenly let out a choked sob.

"D-daddy... I'm... I'm sorry... I... I can't..."

"...Yeah. It's okay. It's fine. I'm the one who should be sorry..."

Sauvel held Raffilia close, careful and tender.

The kind of embrace he'd wanted for so, so long—it burst open like a dam, and Raffilia collapsed into tears.