I called Han Jihyeok.

He must have gone through quite a hard time at the barracks, because even without makeup, dark circles stretched all the way down to his jawline.

Han Jihyeok’s face was pale and he looked half out of it.

And what’s this now?

“Ugh, the stink...”

“It’s because of the helmet. I’ve been cleaning helmets lately... sniff.”

Han Jihyeok covered his mouth with his fist, sounding pitiful.

The soldiers wear helmets during training to prepare for actual combat.

After a whole day of tough training, the helmets must be soaked in sweat.

Of course, cleaning those helmets would make the smell unavoidable.

“Those bastards... When I make a lot of money, I’m gonna hire an assassin.”

“Training’s tough, so the smell can’t be helped.”

“I wasn’t originally supposed to clean helmets! There was some weirdo who liked cleaning helmets. But the soldiers didn’t like how I looked, so they made me do it!”

Without makeup, Han Jihyeok looked so pretty that passersby would glance at him at least once.

No wonder the soldiers disliked his face.

Han Jihyeok complained pitifully, making childish gestures with his hands and feet as if begging his mother.

“Alright, alright. I’ll try asking Michelan to change your part.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But first, you should meet with the Sarans.”

“Sarans? What kind of people?”

“The people you set up to help you scam, you know. Like Lord Hoku.”

“What do I do when I meet them?”

“Spread some rumors.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“They say Joshua’s curse is contagious to people with Gaho.”

I smiled, raising the corners of my mouth.

Han Jihyeok started spreading rumors.

He mainly spread them like birdseed among messengers traveling the Royal Road.

Naturally, the messengers eagerly carried the rumors far and wide, and it took less than three days for the rumors to spread.

The whole world was turned upside down.

The curse from Daymond’s jurisdiction is contagious!

As evidence, Balzac Astra and Erilot Astra had not appeared publicly.

The nobles were engulfed in unease.

“Did Erilot Astra ever go out to the shopping district?”

“Yes. So many people come and go there. She even visited a famous pastry shop that targets nobles.”

“How many nobles might have run into her?”

“Maybe those nobles came up to the Royal Road afterward?”

When problems arise among the powers, they tend to look for solutions faster.

The rumor was brought up as an agenda at the noble council.

“We cannot leave it as is while rumors of a contagious curse circulate.”

“We must investigate Daymond’s jurisdiction to confirm the curse’s nature.”

“We must act quickly before this escalates.”

The nobles all agreed.

With this happening, Marquis Bushez was extremely flustered.

If the palace investigates Daymond’s jurisdiction, the curse ritual will be exposed...

How did things get like this?

The curse was simply meant to create cracks within the Astra family.

If Daymond and Deconz fight, Astra’s discord would be exposed to the world.

Since they could no longer bribe nobles with ancient stones, they wanted to show that the family was unstable so their allied nobles wouldn’t flee.

‘The original target was Daymond Astra.’

The curse meant for an adult manifested instead on Joshua, a child.

So he couldn’t help but teeter between life and death.

‘This shouldn’t have gone this far!’

Daymond was Astra’s strongest warrior.

If he intervened, Deconz would collapse quickly, so the curse was necessary to prolong their fight.

“We don’t yet know if it’s truly contagious.”

“That’s why we must send the Imperial search party to verify.”

“Do you think Duke Astra will allow Astra to be investigated?”

“But it’s a curse said to be contagious. Refusing investigation endangers the empire!”

“But...!”

“Marquis Bushez, why are you acting like this today? Normally, you would be the first to demand an investigation.”

Startled, the anxious Marquis Bushez stammered.

“W-well, we’re not on the same faction.”

Blocking the investigation was their priority.

The nobles eyed Marquis Bushez suspiciously.

He was usually desperate to bring down Duke Astra.

Suddenly changing his attitude was very suspicious.

At that moment, a noble burst into the room, panting.

“Duke Astra has agreed to the investigation of Daymond’s jurisdiction!”

What?

Bushez’s face turned ashen.

Biting his nails nervously, he dashed straight to the palace as soon as the meeting ended.

He went to persuade the emperor, running immediately to the main hall.

But someone was already coming out of the audience chamber.

Duke Astra and a man I hadn’t seen before.

The man was a tall, handsome fellow.

Blonde hair, red eyes, tall stature, eyes resembling the duke’s.

‘That must be Daymond Astra.’

I swallowed dryly without realizing it.

“A-Astra Duke.”

My calves trembled. But I couldn’t just stand still.

“I heard the Imperial search party is going to Daymond’s jurisdiction? Since when has Astra so readily obeyed the Imperial request? Please don’t...”

No matter what, we had to stop the investigation of Daymond’s jurisdiction.

Marquis Bushez wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead with the back of his hand, laughed awkwardly, and continued.

“Having a grandchild cursed is a disgrace to the family. I’ll help, so the Imperial investigation—”

“Save your breath.”

“Pardon?”

“The investigation is just an excuse to tear you apart.”

Duke Astra looked at Marquis Bushez with a colorless, scentless gaze.

Bushez flinched, shocked, and fell silent.

It was a look that seemed to squeeze every organ inside him.

Duke Astra slowly walked up to Bushez.

Standing in front of him, the duke spoke slowly.

“Let’s see how far your sister can protect you.”

“W-what are you saying? I am the brother of Empress Ocelia, and the first prince of this empire—!”

At that moment, Daymond, who had been quietly observing, spoke from behind.

“If you’re done talking, can I take care of my business?”

“Fine.”

Daymond strode toward Bushez.

The moment Bushez looked up at Daymond—

Bam!

Bushez was punched hard and tumbled to the floor.

It felt like a rock had smashed into his head.

Frozen in pain and shock, Bushez grabbed his cheek and looked up at Daymond.

Daymond slowly rubbed his neck and said,

“Get up. We haven’t even started yet.”

At that moment, Marquis Bushez’s face turned deathly pale.

Imperial search parties, ordered by the emperor, departed for Daymond’s jurisdiction.

They immediately inspected the garden suspected to be the source of the curse.

Among the Imperial search party was someone with the Gaho .

They could find things that ordinary magicians couldn’t.

Tracking residual magical energy left in the garden quickly revealed Bushez was responsible.

Because of the palace search party’s testimony, Bushez could not deny his involvement.

A few days later, Daymond’s jurisdiction.

I was groaning, pondering over a book.

Because the garden had become a clearing after removing the curse’s source, I was choosing new flowers to plant.

Heidi and Betty smiled faintly as they watched me press my fists against my head, deep in thought.

Heidi pointed at a page in the open book and said,

“These lilies are pretty, and so are these tulips.”

“How about modest flowers like violets?”

‘Ah, they’re all beautiful.’

Lilies and tulips seem flashy.

Wildflowers like violets seem cute.

“How about choosing your favorite flower?”

“What flower do you like best?”

Heidi and Betty asked one after another.

Still staring at the book, I answered,

“Rose.”

“Then you should plant roses again.”

“But Joshua’s rose made me sick. I don’t like seeing roses.”

My words made the maids’ faces sour.

They then hugged me tightly from both sides.

“How thoughtful.”

“So kind.”

I think they must have been completely smitten by now.

I opened my blurry eyes and endured their affection.

“Don’t worry anymore. The bad guy’s gone. Marquis Bushez committed suicide—”

“Betty.”

Heidi frowned, and Betty quickly covered her mouth with one hand.

‘I’m fine.’

I already heard from Han Jihyeok that Marquis Bushez committed suicide.

He panicked after the curse on the Astra main line was exposed and killed himself or something like that.

But I thought differently.

‘Grandfather and father must have pressured him to that.’

Proof was that Empress Ocelia didn’t even attend the funeral.

Bushez erased the marquis’s name from the registry and paid astronomical compensation to Astra.

Many others also noticed the pressure from grandfather and father.

They must have thought Astra was merciless.

‘Merciless? The kid got cursed.’

I thought the one who did that to a child deserved to die.

‘Because of that bastard, the jurisdiction evaluation we worked so hard on got messed up.’

The disturbance caused the evaluation to be voided.

So the budget was frozen.

‘Well, we got a lot of Bushez’s compensation, so it doesn’t matter.’

Other second-generation jurisdictions would suffer a bit.

Because the budget got cut heavily after grandfather’s assault, they must have worked extremely hard on this evaluation.

‘Now that things seem mostly settled, let me check the comments.’

While the maids were absorbed in the book, I manifested my Gaho.

Familiar spears appeared before my eyes in an instant.

I was an ordinary university student in Korea.

I possessed the body of an extra in a novel I usually read.

Despite all the hardships as an orphan, I turned out to be the granddaughter of the final villain, Duke Astra?!

.

.

‘The protagonist changed again.’

After saving Joshua, Balzac became a supporting character again.

Eight activated episodes so far.

‘What happened?’

Suddenly, a comment I saw last time came to mind.

└Fits the protagonist’s conditions. Enough misfortune, a chance to overcome, and ability.

‘I see!’

If there’s a character with settings surpassing Dalia’s, the protagonist can change.

‘Wait, then can I become the protagonist too?’

I thought and shook my head.

If that were so, I would have become the protagonist early on.

Among the protagonist’s three conditions, I lack ‘ability.’

My ancient language reading Gaho is fake.

The ability to read comments is not mentioned in the novel.

So the novel judges me as incompetent.

‘Anyway, it’s good to be back as Possessed.Granddaughter.’

If the story changes, the future changes too.

I still have things to gain, so the future must not change.

At that moment, Heidi said,

“It’s almost snack time. Shall we go?”

“What snack?”

“Castella cake.”

“Wow!”

I love milk, and castella cake goes perfectly with milk.

Excited, I ran clumsily to prepare for castella.

As I waddled along, I ran into my father near the central guard.

Joshua and Balzac stood behind him.

“Hello!”

I waved one arm while running.

My father slipped his hand under my armpit and scooped me up.

“Where are you rushing off to?”

“Today’s snack is castella!”

My father chuckled, raising the corners of his mouth.

He glanced at the maid and said,

“Bring the snack to the study.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Then I was carried by my father to the study.

It had been a long time since I was with him.

He had been mostly at the factory or Royal Road to handle the Joshua curse incident.

We all sat around the table in the study.

Shortly after, a plate with castella and a small crystal glass of milk was placed in front of me.

My eyes sparkled as I ate the snack, when Joshua looked at my father and said,

“I will return it to General.”

He pulled out an old book from his arms.

Seeing written on the cover, it must be the book Joshua stole.

There was no further talk between my father and Joshua.

Balzac, sitting next to Joshua, was also silent.

‘Geez!’

People here barely talk.

Things that could be solved with conversation get tangled up and escalate.

‘It can’t be helped.’

I read the name written in the book slowly.

“Li...sy...an. It’s Supumim!”

When I said that, my father nodded.

“Yes, it’s your uncle’s book.”

“No! °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° When talking about Supumim!”

Putting my hands on my waist, I spoke childishly. I felt a little down but tried to ignore it.

My father frowned.

“What?”

“Supumim told me not to talk about it because he bullied father. Right?”

Then I looked at the twin brothers.

They lowered their heads a bit and said nothing.

‘Does father really dislike Uncle Lysian?’

I don’t think so.

Father never stays close to people he dislikes.

Even if grandfather ordered it, he wouldn’t register the enemy’s children.

But father registered the twins and supported them heavily.

The residence near the factory was bought by father, too.

And the twins’ outfits and belongings were all ultra-expensive.

They even scored well on exams.

‘That’s all because father spent money hard.’

Maybe the reason father couldn’t use private property freely when the budget was tight was that.

‘Because later when those kids become independent, he needs to give them some money.’

Father sighed.

“Lysian... that guy...”

Then one of the twins suddenly turned his head and looked at father.

“Lysian is a weirdo, but he’s timid and wouldn’t poison anyone.”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

The twins widened their eyes, and father folded his arms.

“You’re lucky. Having twins is a good thing.”

I smiled brightly.

“Mom is twins with Uncle Lysian too.”

“Yeah. It was a good thing for me too.”

Father handed the book back to Joshua.

“This was meant to be yours when you become an adult. No reason to steal it.”

“......”

“Balzac.”

“Yes?”

“You can’t return it to Lady and Charles.”

“I didn’t know it was that kind of book!”

Balzac flushed with an embarrassed expression, and I giggled.

‘Everything’s worked out well.’

So now it should be peaceful until we go to the factory, right?

At that moment, I had no idea.

How those three men were looking at me while I dipped my castella in milk and munched happily.

It was the beginning of the hellish battle over Erilot to come.