The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Come to think of it, I had rarely used the words father or mother since coming to this world.

Even when I was the Emperor’s child, I had always referred to him strictly as Your Majesty. Not because I refused to call him father, but because of the weight of his position. No matter how much he was my parent, when addressing the Emperor, his title came before our relationship.

In that sense, the words mother and father that I used in this world had always been tools—means to an end, meant to put me in the most advantageous position.

Staying in the Grace household alone was enough to ensure my safety. They never abandoned the orphans they took in; they raised them properly and made them part of their household. Not as disposable pawns, but as proper retainers, providing them with shelter, food, and a stable position.

But at the time, that wasn’t enough for me.

No matter how well-fed a servant was, they were still a commoner. The gap in status between a mere servant and someone like Alice or Claire was simply too great for meaningful conversation.

To truly stand on equal footing with them, I needed to be a noble. And so, I used every ability I had to become the Grace family’s daughter. The only reason I was able to pull it off was because I had seen the exact steps Claire had taken to become one.

In other words, the very process of me calling Baroness Grace mother had been built entirely on deception.

“...Mother.”

And yet, I was calling her that now.

“Yes, Sylvia.”

Baroness Grace smiled as she responded.

“You’ve finally come home.”

“......”

Faced with a mother speaking those words, I had no idea how to continue the conversation.

I had no intention of returning to the Grace household as their daughter. More than that, it wasn’t even an option. I already held the title of princess, and my place in the line of succession was right behind the crown princess herself.

Even if I were to say, I want to return as a baron’s daughter, who would ever allow it?

Baroness Grace surely understood this as well. She had lived her entire life as a noble—perhaps she felt the weight of that reality even more than I did.

“...But, I...”

I knew I had to say it. But the words wouldn’t come out.

How was I supposed to explain this?

There’s a phrase—a child born from the heart. It refers to a child who, despite not being connected by blood, is loved and raised as if they were one’s own.

To Baron and Baroness Grace, I had been that kind of child.

Leo, their real son, was always there, yet I never once felt that I was treated any differently from him. If anything, perhaps I was treated more preciously because I was their daughter, a daughter who had never been expected to fight.

Not that I had ever doubted it, but knowing now how much Claire must have been loved in the Grace household gave me even greater reassurance.

Even so, I wasn’t sure if I had the right to call her mother.

It hadn’t been unconditional love that bound us. My adoption had been entirely based on conditions—a painfully calculated relationship.

“It’s all right.”

Before I could say anything, Mother spoke first.

“I’ve spent a long time thinking about it since then. Why would a child with the status of a princess try to become my daughter? What was she after? What did she hope to gain by entering my household? Why did she behave so differently from before, going out and meeting so many people?”

She looked at me as she continued.

“But in the end, I always arrived at the same conclusion. I thought of you as my daughter. No—you were my daughter. I refused to think of it in any other way. We took you in because we wanted to. And because of that, I simply considered you a beloved daughter. That was enough.”

“......”

“So, there’s no need for apologies. We were happy to have such a kind, brilliant, and beautiful daughter.”

I had no response.

*

Honestly, it would’ve been fair to tease me for this.

I mean, despite how things might seem now, I had successfully maintained my cool beauty persona for quite some time. Though, of course, that image had completely shattered by now, and there was no way to put it back together.

The biggest risk when keeping up a persona is what happens when it breaks. Especially when someone who’s supposed to be emotionless gets caught acting emotionally—it’s incredibly embarrassing.

For a cool beauty, the ideal scenario is to gradually rediscover their emotions over time. Not to have them come crashing down all at once like I just did.

So if a character like that—someone who was supposed to be composed—ended up crying hard enough that their eyes turned red, wouldn’t that be prime material for teasing?

And yet, Alice, Claire, and Leo all looked at me with overwhelming sympathy.

"......."

Well, at the very least, that suffocating feeling of sitting on a bed of nails had eased up.

There were plenty of things to talk about beyond just teasing me.

Take Alice’s expression, for example—it was practically saying, I’ll allow you to call the Baroness "Mother" here, but don’t do it in front of others.

It made sense. We could do this because we shared those memories, but if other nobles caught wind of it, things would get messy.

Of course, I knew that the Grace family wouldn’t care in the slightest about petty rumors. But Alice was the Crown Princess. And baseless gossip had a way of spiraling out of control in ways no one could predict.

Still, Alice didn’t bring it up. Neither did Claire or Leo.

Baroness Grace—Mother—excused herself from the room.

"Why don’t you stay for dinner before you leave?"

That’s what she said before stepping out. I just pressed my lips together and nodded.

She probably wanted me to have this conversation with Father, too.

...Considering how much I owed them, I figured that much was the least I could do. That was my duty as their child, after all.

"Are you feeling a little better?"

Alice asked cautiously.

I nodded.

I didn’t ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) speak because I knew that if I opened my mouth, my voice would come out unsteady.

"That’s a relief."

Claire let out a breath and smiled brightly.

"Now I can finally call you sister without hesitation."

"Haven’t you been calling me that with no hesitation this whole time?"

Leo muttered in disbelief, but Claire ignored him entirely.

"Now you’re really my sister. Right?"

She looked at me expectantly, waiting for confirmation.

I nodded again. Still didn’t speak. My throat felt too tight.

My sleeves were already damp. In my rush to wipe my eyes, I had completely forgotten I carried a handkerchief. By the time I finally pulled it out, my sleeves were already past their limit.

Not that my handkerchief was in much better shape now.

...Come to think of it, Mother was the one who told me to always carry one.

"Then... what about me?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Leo spoke up, glancing between me and Claire.

"Should I call you big sister?"

"......."

I lifted my head and stared at him in silence.

"What? Why?"

Leo protested, confused by my reaction. Claire, sitting beside him, clicked her tongue.

"Calling her big sister sounds too stiff, like you’re making fun of her. It’s too formal—it doesn’t feel familial at all."

"Huh? Is that so?"

No, that wasn’t it.

It was just that hearing Leo call me big sister made me cringe.

"Yeah. There’s no way you could be her younger brother anyway."

Claire said something slightly off the mark.

"Then... should I just call her sis?"

That wasn’t the issue here.

But excluding Leo entirely felt a bit wrong. He and Claire already considered each other siblings. If I wanted to truly be part of that dynamic, I couldn’t just reject the title outright.

"...Sis?"

"......."

Well.

It was better than big sister, at least.

"Then,"

Alice, watching the scene with amusement, finally spoke up.

"Sylvia is my younger sister, so that means you two are my younger siblings as well."

"Ugh."

Claire grimaced in genuine disgust.

"Why would I be your younger sister? Has our sister ever called you big sister?"

...Hadn’t I?

I forcefully shut down that train of thought before a repressed memory could resurface.

"I wouldn’t really mind calling Alice big sis."

Leo mused.

"You’re my little brother too, so your opinion doesn’t count."

"Ugh."

...Yeah, I was going to stay out of this one.

The heavy feeling in my chest had been replaced by a kind of exhausted amusement.

Listening to their increasingly heated argument, I reached for my now-cold teacup.

They really did have the vibe of bickering sisters.

Not that I’d ever say that out loud—both Claire and Alice would be horrified.