However, there were exceptions.
For example, the escort knights who guarded Lilika at the meeting. And the order they belonged to.
Since they trained in a training hall separated from the building where the employees worked, and recently conducted external schedules, they were not familiar with what had happened in the castle.
After a while, they belatedly came across a related story, but it was also a distorted and reduced direction.

“Then are the maids resentful because they couldn’t store away a single dress?”
“Did Young Lady Lilika get humiliated in the social world for lacking education? Gosh…”

Rather, they worried about Lilika.
They wondered if that lovely lady was going to feel left out in the castle. They were afraid that the words ‘extramarital child’ would turn around in the social world once again.

“So that’s why Young Lady Lilika’s expression was so gloomy.”
“It would not have been the case if, like us, they had seen the Young Lady at the castle for a long time.”
“The young kitchen maid is the one who framed Young Lady Lilika. And that tutor woman only saw her sometimes too.”

The knights who thought that the new employees were disrupting the law and order of the castle clicked their tongues.
Despite the fact that even the butler, who had worked for a long time, began to keep his distance from Lilika in consideration of Duchess Primrose.

“She has been criticized for being an illegitimate child for a long time. But that being said, Young Lady Lilika is also the Duke’s daughter.”
“This is when we have to protect her. Let’s not fall for people’s prejudices.”
“Isn’t that obvious? In fact, don’t we follow Young Lady Lilika more than we do Young Master Jiksen?”

Meanwhile, in the training hall, the knights standing under the strong sun rubbed their stinging and sore skin and grumbled. Some of them could not even touch the reddened skin and only created shade to cover themselves from the sun.

In time, they served Lilika more reverently than ever before, with a strict attitude.
Even though the others were on Yuria’s side, who was her enemy, they swore firmly that they would take Lilika’s side, who was innocent.

***

Even after returning from the imperial palace, I kept thinking about the knights’ attitude.

‘All the knights who were protecting me are doing it half-heartedly… I mean, I don’t even have a dedicated escort knight.’

Recently, my reputation in the castle was better than before, but that didn’t seem to have had much effect on the knights who were training far away.
Thinking about it, the maids and servants working inside the castle were so insolent that they just didn’t recognize it. The fact that the knights didn’t like me was the same.
There was no one willing to take care of my escort, so it kept changing.

‘I’m not someone the knights want to protect.’

… As I thought about that, I also had this question.
When Sir Vieira suddenly rushed at me, if the escort knight had been by my side instead of outside the building, would he have actively stopped him?
… I felt a bitter taste in my mouth. I was also an esteemed daughter of the duchy, but my treatment was extremely different.

‘It must be the difference between the main character and the villainess.’

Lilika was loved by everyone, and she was also the protagonist of a childcare story.
It was natural that people would be completely devoted to her if they had seen ‘that’ Lilika since childhood.

Though a series of big incidents have occurred this time, it only lasted for a moment.
I didn’t know about the others, but it was obvious that my father and brother would feel sorry for Lilika when they saw her being ignored by people.
Perhaps even more so, it would be an opportunity to side with Lilika.

‘I can’t just watch it go in Lillika’s favor without doing anything.’

Didn’t the source of Lilika’s power come from two men, the Duke of Primrose and his son?
If only the two of them had an unshakable love for Lilika, then the things that had happened so far could be covered up.
That was the power of the Primrose duchy.

‘So far, Lilika has used me to overcome her own crisis. But I won’t stay still anymore either.’

The kind and poor younger sister.
And me, the villainess who was jealous and harassed such a younger sister.
If any incident happened, all the disturbances Lilika had caused before that would be buried, and all attention would be focused on me.
But, wasn’t that kind of structure boring now?

***

The castle was quiet until lunchtime the next day. I leaned against the couch with a pretty serious expression on my face. I had expected that Lilika would not stand still, having experienced such a thing yesterday, but it was different from my expectations.

‘Why is Lilika so calm? She was anxious because she wanted to be loved by everyone.’

I wondered what was going on with Lilika, but there was no way to know right away.

While Lilika usually had meals with my father and brother, I always ate alone. This was because my mother, the only one who had a good relationship with me, always had her special meals in her quarters because of her health.

Mealtime was the only time I could see my family’s faces unless I visited them in person, so I had no choice but to ask someone else. Pretending to be worried about Lilika, I asked a maid.
But what came out of the maid’s mouth was surprising.

“… I heard that Lilika hasn’t eaten yet?”
“Yes. She has missed breakfast and lunch.”
“Then is she still shut in her room?”

How noisy the social world was yesterday over Lilika.
Considering the commotion, there was no way that neither I nor the maid would not know, no matter how chaotic the castle was.

“Actually, Young Lady Lilika has said not to let anyone into her room. Hm, and it seems that she can be heard crying from time to time.”

While lost in thought, a report that was more detailed than expected came from the maid.

Hm, seeing that she didn’t come out all day today, she must have been quite shocked yesterday…
Besides, it was a little surprising that my father and brother were keeping quiet all this time, even though Lilika had been skipping meals.
Normally, they cared for Lilika as carefully as if she were a porcelain doll.

I opened my mouth, conscious of the maid staring at me.

“It must be hard for Lilika, too… I should have paid more attention as her older sister.”
“Not at all. You have done as much as you could, Young Lady Yuria!”

A comforting statement following a detailed report.
In the past, she would have already left the room, let alone given me this kind of support, but surely my reputation among the employees had changed.

“Thank you for thinking so, Jera.”
“Oh, did you know my name?”
“Don’t you know how many years you’ve been in the castle?”

In my previous life, she was one of Lilika’s close maids.
Especially because she is so talkative… She probably contributed to my bad reputation.

But was it because of the series of events that happened this time? She didn’t look too close to Lilika.
Originally, she would have observed my movements and reported it to Lilika, but wasn’t it the other way around now?

I gave a small smile to seal the maid’s favor.

“I’ve just been embarrassed to talk to someone else first until now. But I suddenly thought that this could be reflected as me being self-righteous.”
“Young Lady…”
“From now on, I’ll try to approach you first. I’m not upset that you don’t care about me.”

Jera flinched at those words.
Hadn’t the employees, including Jera, been revolving around Lilika all this time?

“It’s not that everyone hates Young Lady Yuria. Rather, lately, it’s been…!”
“Yes. I know.”

I replied in a low voice and smiled.

I didn’t intend to get acquainted with the maids and listen to all their stories, like Lilika.
However, the comparison group was myself in the past, who used to ignore the maids.
I couldn’t afford to smile kindly and say hi to everyone like Lilika, but this was enough.
When Lilika, who had a good image, spoke kind words to the maids, they didn’t give much of a reaction because it was the same as usual.
However, when I, who always seemed harsh, smiled and spoke to the maids first…

“I look forward to your continued kindness.”
“Yes, Young Lady!”

It was a reaction that was as effective as what Lilika got with a few arduous words.
Especially when it felt like they didn’t care that much for me.

I ended my conversation with Jera, who informed me of Lilika’s movements, with a proper goodbye.
Then, I said that I was still worried about Lilika and headed to the second floor.

“Lilika.”

I stood in front of Lilika’s room and knocked on the door, but there was no answer.
After waiting long enough, I quietly called her name again.

“Lilika, it’s me. You didn’t come to eat today…”
“How can I know if you say it like that!”

However, my cautious voice was buried by a sharp, loud voice.

“How can I know who you are if you didn’t even say your name!”
“…”
“Didn’t you hear what I said earlier about not worrying about me? Don’t mind what I do with that stupid head of yours! It’s annoying, really…”

I stood there quietly.
The aggravated tone, similar to a shouting voice, was of a kind not usually heard from Lilika.

“Ah, I get nauseous when I see a stupid kid like you!”

Even the raw emotions I had in the past, before going back in time…

“That’s why you were abandoned by your fiancé.”

Ah, she even said something like this here.
However, Lilika always said hurtful things when she was this angry. I calmly analyzed what she had just said.

‘Why was Lilika, who always turned things around and attacked, so bluntly cursing?’

And soon came up with an answer.
Of course, Lilika was not an idiot, and she knew that I was the only young woman to call her by her name in this castle.

‘Whether I get angry here or hold it in, it will be good for Lilika.’

If I got angry, she could say that I was provoking her when she was already sullen, and if I held it in, she could sharply pour out her upset feelings, so that was good.
However, Lilika was mistaken about something.

——