C123
At the moment Liena saw Leandro's expression, she felt that something was very wrong.
"I didn't know that such a story was circulating among the servants."
Leandro let out a deep sigh of exasperation and brushed his bangs.
"Where did you hear that... From whom did you hear this rumor?"
"W-Was this a rumor?"
"Of course, it's a rumor. How could you become my sister in the first place?"
As Leandro's tone became increasingly heated, Liena hesitated and took a step back.
"A lost daughter? Does our family look so disheveled in your eyes?"
Although he had a cool head, he was not like Duke Cassius, who was always courteous to his employees.
"If it's not that, then what? Does this mean my mother gave birth to a girl without the family knowing? Why would she do that? Why cheat?"
"No!"
Surprised, Liena gave the reasons why she thought the rumor might be true.
"I heard that the duchess spent a lot of time in the south about ten years ago. Coincidentally, I was also discovered in the South when I was a baby, and the timing was more or less the same..."
"Just because of that? Even if it's in the south, it's bigger than the neighboring kingdom of Leok, isn't it?"
"And I-I also... I heard a long time ago that someone was desperately searching for something in the Duke's house..."
"Searching for something? Oh, I guess that's about the time capsule my mother left."
"... A time capsule?"
"Such a thing exists. It seems you only heard rumors fragmentarily, but I suppose there was no colleague close enough to tell you the family's secret circumstances."
Liena blushed at Leandro's sarcasm.
That was true. At first, the head maid of the duke didn't look at her with favor.
There were some colleagues who approached Liena first when the maid wasn't looking, but there was a limit to how close they could get.
A tremendous sense of shame overcame Liena.
Why did she decide that such a rumor was a likely story?
Now that she thinks about it again, everything she thought was a basis for judgment was extremely poor.
But until recently, Liena seriously thought that a rosy future awaited her.
No, maybe she just couldn't bear it if she didn't think that way.
Only by believing that she was Duke Cassius's biological daughter could she free herself from the inferiority complex she felt towards Ethel.
"Anyway, please tell me the source of the rumor. Even if you're friends with Ethel, you can't avoid responsibility if you say such absurd things..."
Faced with Leandro's disdain, Liena felt that she could no longer stay here.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
Liena left the Cassius family with that final shout.
She ran aimlessly until she reached the place where she had agreed to meet Ethel.
"Ethel..."
She saw Ethel waiting for her in the distance.
The man beside her seemed to be someone Ethel had recently met, but she wasn't in the mood to pay attention.
She wanted to go with Ethel immediately and receive comfort, but she couldn't.
How embarrassed will Ethel feel when she finds out what happened today?
Although she got a good job thanks to her friend and only took on easy tasks, she can't believe she ruined it.
She didn't want Ethel to know this even if she had to die.
"Goodbye."
Liena turned around and walked away from the meeting place. Then she left the capital through that path.
After that, Liena did everything she could to make a living.
There was almost no job she wouldn't do, including working as a maid, nanny, housekeeper, sewing, and cleaning.
Sometimes there were temptations, like requests to become the mistress of an old nobleman, but she refused.
Her pride, more than her morality, didn't allow it.
Meanwhile, time passed without warning, and several years had passed since Liena left the capital.
Before she knew it, the emperor had also changed.
This was because the emperor went to enjoy his golden years after crowning Prince Mikhail, who had played the role of successor perfectly.
Emperor Mikhail seemed to be so popular that his recently published autobiography quickly sold out.
Liena also read the autobiography, but for a commoner like her, it was only like a dream.
In fact, Liena had something much more important than the changes in the world.
After diligently saving money, she finally got a house where she could live.
The step into real estate with a down payment felt light. But.
"Give me the money!"
This time fate was not on her side either.
Liena, who fell into the cold street after being stabbed by a robber, felt incredibly aggrieved.
Why should she die? Why should she inevitably fall into the swamp of misery?
As she watched the flashing lights go by, the happiest moment of her life was when she was in the orphanage.
Those were the days when, to avoid the director's abuse, she climbed the mountain behind and filled her stomach with raspberries, envious of children with parents who ate chocolate and other things as snacks.
"I want to go back to that time and start over. If there is a being you can call God, please..."
"Poor girl, your sincere voice reached me."
It was when.
"Lucky girl, I will give you another chance and a blessing, so make your wish come true."
Liena experienced a miracle.
"Liena, Liena!"
"... Oh?"
"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly dazed?"
When she opened her eyes, she saw little Ethel looking at Liena with concern. The location was the mountain behind the orphanage.
She had returned to the past, just as she had hoped.
Liena didn't have time to lose herself in joy and acted quickly. It wasn't so difficult because she had imagined dozens, if not hundreds, of times how she would act if Duke Cassius were to visit the orphanage again.
A few days later, with the director's cooperation, Liena successfully entered the Cassius family.
For a veteran who had been struggling in her past life to please all kinds of people, it wasn't difficult to act like a cute and innocent girl and win the hearts of the Duke's family members.
Moreover, she even had the goddess's blessing.
"Goddess, please don't allow the people here to send me back to the orphanage."
At first, it was a prayer to gain the sympathy of the maids who inspected Liena's room every night to check if she was sleeping well.
But soon she realized that the more she prayed, the more people became favorable towards her.
Leandro and Leheim, who were initially distant from Liena, started paying secret attention to her.
Liena was thrilled and devoted more time to her prayers. She prayed, prayed, and prayed again.
She didn't ask for a light favor but for a deep love unlike any other in the world.
"I really don't recommend it."
Then, for the first time since she returned, she heard the goddess's response.
"Excess of anything can provoke anger. A blessing is a blessing; think about what you wanted before you died. Hasn't your wish already come true?"
It was as she said. In the past, Liena would have felt grateful just for this situation.
But once she tasted family love, it was too sweet. She didn't want to lose a single thing.
Liena wanted strong assurances that she wouldn't be abandoned like her adoptive parents in her previous life.
"I can do it! Above all, you can't be angry because something as beautiful and good as love is too much."
The next response came after a while.
"If that's what you want, do it yourself. It's up to you to weave the threads of countless possibilities."
The goddess said something that didn't make sense, but her voice was as warm as before.
It sounded a bit cruel before, but it was still an illusion.
Relieved, Liena continued praying, and the effect exceeded expectations.
The maids who had laughed before were now fighting each other to cut Liena's nails.
"I'll cut her nails, so go away!"
"What?! You did it last time too! It's my turn this time!"
"Miss, you want me to do it, right? Last time, you told me my skill is the best."
"You wench! I won't let you!"
"Ack! You won't back down?! Then try it!"
In the end, Liena was left dumbfounded as she watched them fight while grabbing each other's hair.
This is love. As the goddess said, it seemed a bit excessive, but she was content with the excess.
Since they loved her so much, there was no way they would turn their backs on her one day.
After realizing that she didn't have to pray to the goddess, Liena used her blessings freely and made more people love her.
However, the blessing wasn't omnipotent as there were people who disliked her.
For example, the head maid of Cassius was like that.
"The duke too. I can't believe he brought an orphan like this into the house."
The maid, who had isolated Liena from the duchy in her previous life, also ignored her in this life.
Of course, unlike her previous life, Liena had become a beloved princess.
Liena used various methods to deal with all those who disrespected her, starting with the head maid.
Oddly enough, they were all people who had gossiped about Liena in her previous life.
From this, one thing became clear.
Liena couldn't win the favor of someone for whom she couldn't feel the slightest affection.
Perhaps it was because the desire to be loved by them didn't come from the heart.
However, the advantages of the blessing were so great that the disadvantages were inconsequential.
In fact, Liena held the Cassius family in the palm of her hand without any difficulty.
As the worry that they might repudiate her diminished, she began to worry about other things.
Liena had someone find out about Ethel.
"What? Was she adopted?"
"Yes, it is said that a noble couple adopted her."
"A noble family..."
"They say they wanted to raise her as their own daughter and even gave her money and erased her adoption record. I had difficulties with the orphanage staff because they didn't open their mouths easily."
"What family is it?"
"I'm sorry. Only that... If you give me an order, I will definitely find out, whether by giving them more money or threatening them."
Liena originally planned to secretly take care of Ethel once she settled into the family.
But is it really necessary?
If Ethel went to a noble family, she would eat well and live well. Moreover, didn't they say they would raise her as if she were their own daughter?
"Above all, if my dad observes my actions and finds out about Ethel..."
When she thought about how they had been friendly with each other as if they were a family in her past life, her vision became distant.
The current Duke Cassius clearly loved Liena, but despite having the goddess's blessing on her, she had a strange fear.
It seemed like they would take everything away from her when Ethel returned.
That's how strong Ethel's presence was for Liena.
"No, that's enough. You can stop investigating."
In the end, Liena decided to bury her old friend. Rationalizing that Ethel would be fine.