Still, Lilika answered more cautiously than her brother.

“I just… thought that because Sister never takes a maid with her when she goes to the Princess’ palace… it would be better to send someone to take care of her.”

Though, of course, it doesn’t mean that what she said makes sense.

“So you two are innocent, and the maid did that alone?”

It was different from what the maid said, that she had been ordered to hold out, so in the end, the maid was called to check the facts.

“I-I heard you called…”

As soon as the maid entered the study, a harsh, sharp voice resonated.

“You did a great job in front of Her Highness, didn’t you? You should tell the truth.”
“I, I… I just… no matter what happened…”

However, in this place, she couldn’t honestly say what the young master or what the young lady had told her. In that case, how was she going to wrap this up?

‘I feel no sympathy at all.’

It was ironic that she behaved like that in front of me, but now she was trembling and couldn’t even speak.

Well, it was obvious why the maid was attached to me.
The culprit must have been the one who hated me meeting with the princess the most.
Lilika, who was in the corner pretending to be all kinds of pitiful.

‘She must have been curious about how I was invited to the imperial palace and what conversations we had.’

She needed someone to spy on me, but Lilika didn’t have a maid she could trust enough to do something important.
She pushed them away first when she asked if they had told me the color of the dress last time, and a while later, they lost confidence in her and cut ties with her because of the lead pot incident.
Although Lilika would have been the one in control, it was correct that my brother gave the order himself.

“Even the imperial knights had stepped back and were holding out not going there… Dear heavens.”

It was sudden, but Lilika was good at acting.
Seeing her drawing a line naturally, as if it had nothing to do with her, Jiksen choked up.

“You told me to send a maid like that!”
“That’s not what I meant… I was just worried that Sister was going to the imperial palace alone, so I said it would be better to send someone with her.”

It seemed to me that Lilika was no worse than usual, but my brother, who rarely heard my father make harsh remarks, couldn’t tolerate the current situation.

‘They seem to have a good relationship.’

Of course, I was being ironic.

“Brother, don’t be too hard on Lilika.”

I interrupted while pretending to mediate this situation.

“Lilika doesn’t know that you can’t give handkerchiefs to a man who has a fiancée, and she doesn’t know that lead pots are dangerous… She still has a lot to learn.”

In a nutshell, Lilika was stupid and ignorant.

“It’s been like that until now. I’m sure Lilika didn’t do this on purpose either.”
“What? Will you just let it go if her intentions were good?”

Didn’t he think that he defended Lilika when he said that last time?

Even though I was being poignantly sarcastic on the inside, I kept a quite pitiful expression and continued speaking.

“Brother must have thought about what Lilika said and accepted her request.”
“Yes, Yuria is right.”

Then, my father, who had been quiet for a while, opened his mouth.

“Jiksen. Are you Lilika?”
“…!”

At those words, Jiksen and Lilika’s faces hardened in an instant.
I couldn’t believe he asked him if he was Lilika.
Was he cursing my brother, or was he cursing Lilika?
If he was trying to offend both of them, it was an excellent choice.

“Lilika says she doesn’t know anything, but you should have stopped her in the middle! Will you be able to lead the duchy in the future like this?”

Brother Jiksen was like Lilika, and Lilika was like herself.
I wanted to clap my hands inwardly.

‘After all, they’re both ignorant and stupid.’

It would be less upsetting to hear straightforwardly that he was being stupid. Or a really harsh cursing would be better.

‘Come to think of it, whenever someone caused trouble in the past, he would ask, “Are you Yuria?”‘

How insulting it was to feel like I was being scolded at the same time even though I hadn’t done anything.
In particular, Lilika said, “I’m not even my sister, I’m sorry…” How angry I was every time she said something like this.
And it was also unpleasant when my brother took sides, asking things like, “Was it really Lilika? Not Yuria?”
I couldn’t believe I was going to give that back now.

‘Lilika’s reputation has surely diminished in my father’s eyes. Well, things keep happening one after the other.’

My father continued, unconcerned that Jiksen and Lilika were in shock.

“And you’re worried about Yuria being disrespectful? The rude things you did, Her Highness the Princess said that she would let it go when she saw Yuria!”
“…”
“She came here in the first place to say thank you. But contrary to that, her impressions of the family have gotten worse!”

Father let out a long sigh. His insides seemed to be boiling.

“I didn’t think I would be criticizing your manners and etiquette at this age. It is now disgraceful to say that Primrose is a prestigious family.”

But he couldn’t scold them forever. There were signs that he was about to wrap this up.

“That was not my intention, but I will be careful going forward.”
“It seems I caused a big trouble.”

But still, whether they wanted to stop being scolded, Brother Jiksen and Lilika kept quiet without opening their mouths anymore.
But it was still too early to feel relieved.

“It’s all thanks to Yuria that your great disrespect could be ignored. Both of you, thank Yuria and say you’re sorry.”
“… What?”

The two looked up, doubting their ears. Their attitude of being quiet was so obvious that he clearly hated it.

Ooh, they look like they are asking him to please say it’s a lie.

“Father. Could you say that again? I think I misheard you.”
“So, you don’t want us to thank you… but thank Sister instead?”

My father frowned again.

“Did I say something you couldn’t hear? Who was it that sorted out the mess you made!”
“N-no. But does Father really mean not to apologize to you… but to Yuria?”
“Don’t make me say it again.”

My father’s mouth twitched. It seemed that something even bigger would happen if Brother Jiksen said one more word.

“If you’re thankful, say thank you. If you’re sorry, you should say you’re sorry. Have I brought you up to be children who don’t express their gratitude?”
“…”

Look at that, Lilika is staying quiet.
In this sense, my brother is even dumber than Lilika… Isn’t it a compliment to say that he’s like Lilika?

Brother Jiksen gritted his teeth and said in a low voice,

“… Thank… you.”
“… It’s thanks… to you.”

Lilika continued. Neither of them looked at me and spoke in such a low voice that I couldn’t even hear them.
Of course, my father did not overlook this.

“Louder! Someone might think I’m making you do this!”

The two finally raised the corners of their mouths as they looked at my face.

“Yuria, I’m really sorry, and thank you… I have no excuse… I’ll be careful from now on.”
“I’m sorry, Sister… And thank you… Thanks to you, things were sorted out without a problem.”

Giving strength to each word… My father was looking at them, so they didn’t grind their teeth like before, but their fists were shaking.
Still, isn’t it nice to talk with a smile on your face?

I replied with a grin.

“It’s alright. I’m glad I was able to make up for my brother and sister’s shortcomings in the slightest.”

You were bad, I was good. That’s why I’m happy.
I smiled brightly like a watered flower.

The maid was subsequently fired without a letter of recommendation.
Since she was fired for something unpleasant, no one will try to get involved with her, in case they incur Primrose’s anger. It’s going to be hard to live in the future.

However, it was a mild punishment, considering the crime of holding out in front of the imperial family. The princess also looked at me and said she would let it go, and I tried to pretend that it was nothing.

‘But with this, word about Brother Jiksen will also go around the employees.’

It will be difficult to get a loyal person in the future.
The two of them will be in a situation where the employees will avoid them.

“And write a letter for the Princess to say that you’re sorry.”

I had a gentle expression next to my father, who spoke sternly, and then interrupted.

“It reminds me of when we were young. Brother and I used to write letters of apology while playing…”

How does it feel to write a letter of apology again, something you did when you were a child?
Seeing that my brother’s cheeks were trembling, and Lilika was lowering her head so much that I couldn’t see her face, it didn’t seem to feel good.

That’s good.

***

It had been a few days since I parted ways with Princess Vivian.
I was going to have a meeting with Crown Prince Enoch, arranged by Princess Vivian.

——