Episode 9
After finishing breakfast and leaving the dining hall, Ivan headed straight to his study. His face was full of thought.
*“She’s even smarter than I expected.”*
He liked those bright blue eyes that gleamed with intelligence.
Sometimes, the child showed an oddly mature glint for her age, which he found intriguing—but a child was still a child. The way she couldn’t take her eyes off the cake, swallowing her saliva…
Watching the chatterbox crumble so easily before sweet food made him smile.
In truth, a precocious child wasn’t unfamiliar to Ivan. His only daughter, Isabella, had been the same.
Rather, Isabella had never once shown him a childish side since she was young.
She was extremely intelligent and, perhaps because she resembled Ivan, rather quiet.
Catherine often said, “She takes after you,” and whenever she did, Ivan would reflect on himself, wondering if he really was as stiff as a wooden doll.
*“Isabella has the makings of a family head. To lead a household, it’s better to be rational and upright than emotional.”*
In any case, Isabella was a daughter to be proud of. Though he had never expressed it, Ivan was deeply proud of her.
However, he often saw Catherine doting on their only daughter, which worried him. Fearing Isabella might grow up spoiled, he raised her even more strictly.
And Isabella excelled. She never fell behind, even in classes far above her level. Every tutor assigned to her spared no praise, calling her a genius.
Each time, Ivan felt satisfied—and his expectations grew even higher.
A daughter fit to lead the family.
He had never doubted that Isabella would inherit his title and wield immense power.
At least, not until the Empress started meddling.
A few years ago, Empress Iana began summoning Isabella to the imperial palace from time to time.
Under the pretext that Helaise needed a companion, Iana called Isabella once or twice a week.
It felt unsettling, but Ivan allowed it, thinking it wouldn’t be bad for Isabella to build ties with the prince.
That turned out to be a mistake.
Around her fourteenth birthday, Isabella suddenly declared that after turning sixteen, she would become engaged to Helaise.
She said she wanted to become Empress.
“That’s absurd.”
Ivan clenched his fist.
It was unbelievable.
The child he had firmly believed would shoulder the family’s future was now saying she would give up the ducal title and enter the imperial family. Had she fallen in love with Helaise?
*“Even so, she’s not the kind of child to stubbornly cling to some fleeting emotion.”*
Ivan couldn’t shake his suspicion of Iana, who had smiled warmly and said it would be wonderful if Isabella became her daughter-in-law.
He couldn’t help but think that woman was manipulating Isabella behind the scenes.
*“What on earth did she say to lure the child?”*
Isabella was sharp. Ivan firmly believed that Iana might have exploited some weakness of hers.
*“Does she forget who made her rise to that position, daring to meddle with Isabella?”*
Ivan was the only one who knew the ambition hidden behind Iana’s gentle face.
That was precisely why he had helped her enter the imperial family.
He believed she would do whatever it took to seize the Empress’s seat from the now-deposed former empress and strengthen the Weiss family.
But now that she had become Empress, she had grown greedy.
*“I won’t let Iana stand above Isabella.”*
If Iana continued like this, Ivan decided he would find another girl to pair with Helaise in Isabella’s place—and later use that girl to pressure Iana in return.
*“Fredia.”*
That child was perfect.
Iana couldn’t control Helaise, the son of the deposed empress.
Even at a young age, Helaise had earned the emperor’s trust and stood on equal footing with Iana.
That was why she was desperately trying to keep him under her control—while neglecting her own biological child.
*“If the prince desires Fredia, even Iana won’t be able to refuse.”*
Ivan recalled those dazzling blue eyes that were impossible to look away from—like a ball that could bounce anywhere, unpredictable and intriguing.
Fredia would surely capture Helaise’s attention.
As he remembered her stuffing cake into her mouth like a squirrel cramming its cheeks with peanuts, a smile unconsciously spread across his lips.
Then suddenly, he recalled her shabby appearance.
“Derrick, are you there?”
“Yes, sir.”
At Ivan’s call, Derrick the butler, who was always attentive, entered the study.
“Go to Isabella and tell her to buy what Fredia needs.”
“You mean Miss Isabella?”
Ivan understood the unspoken “Not the madam?” in Derrick’s question.
Thinking of Catherine, who had opposed bringing Fredia until the very end, Ivan nodded bitterly.
“A child her age would know best what she needs.”
Right now, he couldn’t ask Catherine to bother with such things. She was still so angry that she wouldn’t even look at him.
A shadow fell across Ivan’s face.
—
The clothes in this world weren’t much different in structure from the doll clothes I used to make. Thanks to that, the outfit I refashioned with my side-job skills looked far more splendid than before.
With some clever pleating here and there, I made the skirt fuller and the sleeves more elegant.
As expected, once you learn something, it comes in handy someday.
“Maybe when I’m free someday, I could work at a clothing shop.”
My cheeks flushed rosy with dreams of a rosy future.
“Since I’ve got new clothes, should I go explore the house?”
I planned to wander outside, learn the layout of this massive mansion, and get a sense of the overall atmosphere.
After all, I’d be living here for years—I needed to adapt quickly.
As I wandered the hallway, servants passed by, awkwardly bowing their heads.
Some maids avoided my gaze, pretending not to see me, while others busied themselves cleaning windows.
It seemed they were unsure how to treat me.
*“Makes sense. Ivan wasn’t exactly cold or warm toward me at breakfast.”*
And everyone probably knew Catherine and Isabella disliked me.
They were likely afraid of offending Catherine if they treated me well, yet couldn’t ignore me entirely since Ivan had personally brought me here.
The half-polite tone Isabella’s maid used earlier was probably both the minimum and maximum respect I could expect.
Proof that my position here was… ambiguous.
But it didn’t bother me.
*“Even before transmigrating, I was a professional loner! Haha! Alone is great! Alone is comfortable! Alone is love! My future has only me in it!”*
Honestly, it would’ve been worse if someone tried to stop me from wandering alone.
This way, I had peace of mind.
The mansion was like a palace—something akin to the Palace of Versailles, I imagined.
It had four floors, and its scale was enormous.
The ceilings were so high that even four floors felt like seven or eight. The corridors stretched as long as a soccer field.
Large doors lined the hallway every few meters—perhaps for insulation.
I gave up counting after the seventh door.
The fourth floor was for servants, but I couldn’t find the stairs—maybe hidden, like janitor lounges in office buildings.
The third floor was for the ducal family, so I went down to the second floor instead.
The second floor had guest rooms—each one huge, with its own bathroom, dressing room, and even spare side rooms.
I couldn’t explore everything; it was too exhausting.
“My legs hurt just from touring a house… This scale is beyond anything I imagined.”
Eventually, I wandered into a gallery filled with portraits.
“Wow.”
As I looked at them, I realized they were portraits of Ivan and his predecessors.
A bookshelf nearby held photo albums, and one lay open on a table.
Flipping through it, I saw what looked like recent photos—Ivan in uniform on horseback, and others with stern-looking men.
There was also a warm family photo.
*“This must be Catherine… and that’s Isabella?”*
A beautiful red-haired woman rested her hand on Ivan’s shoulder, gazing forward like a queen.
*“Wow… Mother, I pledge my loyalty.”*
Villain or not, what did it matter? Even if she tormented me—so what?
My mind was already gone.
*“Huh?”*
Then something odd caught my eye.
*“Isn’t Isabella supposed to have red hair like Catherine…?”*
Just then—
“So this is where you were!”
A sharp voice pierced from behind.
Startled, I turned to see Isabella’s maid glaring at me.
“How dare you steal and wear my lady’s clothes!”
