Translator: Nox

Chapter 5

Dana picked up the vase from the nightstand. It happened to be filled with forget-me-nots, flowers that suited Alice quite well.

Holding the vase, she strode toward Alice.

“Alice Winzer. Don’t your knees hurt?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been wailing like that for a while now. Isn’t your throat sore?”

“O-Sister? Are you worried about me?”

Alice’s eyes sparkled as she gave a bright smile.

“Thank you, Sister. I knew you would be the one to—”

In the next moment, Dana poured the water over Alice’s head. Her face remained fixed in that same smiling expression.

Splash. The clear liquid soaked Alice’s hair, and the flowers scattered down her shoulders.

Alice looked up at her, appearing as though she couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Sister… just now…?”

Drip. As the final drop fell, Alice’s lips began to tremble violently.

“H-how could you do this to me?”

“I should be asking you that.”

Dana tilted her head slightly.

“Alice, how could you do what you did to me?”

At those words, Alice looked up sorrowfully, her eyes brimming with tears as if she were about to burst.

“I—I didn’t want to hurt you, Sister. But love isn’t something you can control!”

“Neither is this.”

Answering smoothly, Dana reached out and wound Alice’s hair around her hand.

“Agggh! S-Sister?!”

“I feel the same way, Alice. I don’t want to hurt you. But anger isn’t something you can control either, is it?”

As she spoke, she flicked her gaze toward the door.

‘Why aren’t they here yet?’

Just as she thought it was about time, the sound of urgent footsteps began to approach.

‘There they are.’

With a serene face, Dana raised her hand. And then—

Slap!

She struck Alice across the cheek.

“Kyaaa!”

At that exact moment, the door burst open.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

A man rushed through the open door.

A man with platinum blonde hair as handsome as a statue. It was Danae’s uncle, Karl Winzer.

“A-Alice! My god, how could you do such a thing?!”

Following behind him, her aunt, Sandra, came running in as well.

Dana smiled and greeted them.

“Uncle, Aunt. You’ve arrived? Good morning.”

She kept a firm grip on the drenched Alice’s hair.

“Have you eaten?”

She shook her back and forth.

“Kyaaa!”

A scream erupted from Alice. Sandra, turning pale as a sheet, shrieked.

“Let go of my daughter’s hair this instant?!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Dana let go obediently. Alice immediately burst into tears and ran into Sandra’s arms.

“Heugh, uwaaaa, Mom, Dad!”

Dana watched the scene quietly.

She wasn’t particularly fond of violence. In fact, she disliked it. Furthermore, she detested such primitive forms of revenge, but…

‘The two of them had to see this.’

She knew they would come.

‘As soon as she entered my room, Alice started crying loud enough to bring the house down.’

One of the servants must have gone to inform them. She hadn’t expected them to take this long, though.

“You!”

Sandra shouted, her eyes wild with fury.

“Have you lost your mind, Danae?!”

“The one who’s lost her mind is your daughter, Aunt.”

“What?”

“Unless she were insane, would she have been hiding naked under my fiancé’s desk?”

Sandra stared at Dana with a stunned expression.

This was Danae. The always-smiling, kind, and gentle Danae.

Those weren’t words the Danae they knew would ever say…

“Dana, it seems you’ve lost your senses.”

Then, Karl Winzer’s low voice cut through the air.

“I can’t believe you would do something so unlike yourself.”

Dana suppressed a scoff.

So you can make a face like that, too.

This was the first time her Uncle Karl had ever looked at her with such disappointment. And why wouldn’t he? Until now, he had never even breathed a word of disapproval toward her.

He had always been a man who showed her a smiling face and spoke in a gentle voice.

‘Well, I hit Alice specifically because I wanted to see this.’

She had wanted Karl Winzer to be angry with her.

“You’re being too much.”

Because she needed an excuse to act offended.

“Uncle, you may be Alice’s father, but you are also my guardian.”

Guardian.

At that word, Karl Winzer’s mouth tightened. Dana expressed her grievance with the most sorrowful expression she could muster.

“I thought that when I was treated unfairly, you would be angry on my behalf, Uncle. Because you are my guardian.”

She saw the look of disappointment in Karl Winzer’s eyes vanish completely at those words.

In the past, she would have thought he had calmed down because he empathized with her, but…

“If you won’t even take my side in a situation like this, why do I need a guardian at all?”

“…!”

“Are you even my guardian?”

She knew now.

She knew how desperate he was to maintain his status as her guardian.

Looking at Karl Winzer’s face, which was now completely devoid of words, Dana swallowed a laugh.

‘What will you do, Karl Winzer?’

I just struck and insulted your daughter right in front of your eyes. But if you take my side here…

‘You become a pathetic father.’

An incompetent father and husband who cannot protect his own daughter.

However, if you push me further…

‘You lose your position as my guardian.’

Which means you’ll never get your hands on my fortune.

The role of the head of the household versus Danae’s massive inheritance.

Which side would Karl Winzer choose to discard?

Dana waited with a sense of amusement.

No matter which he chose, it would be the beginning of Karl Winzer’s ruin.

He was a man who absolutely had to be brought down.

‘Only then can I obtain the Sacred Artifact.’

Dana looked at Karl.

To be precise, she was observing the middle finger of his left hand.

A ring set with a large, amber-colored gemstone.

It was a Winzer family heirloom, a ring passed down to the Vice Family Head. And…

‘That is the Sacred Artifact.’

The ring Karl Winzer had never taken off since the day he became the Vice Family Head.

No one knew, but that was the Sacred Artifact. The very object that would help her return to her own world.

And Dana intended to claim it.

Even if she had to cut off Karl’s finger to do it.

“…Dana.”

After a heavy silence, Karl finally spoke.

It seemed he had reached a decision.

“It seems there has been a misunderstanding.”

He let out a short laugh.

Like a kind uncle, just as he always had.

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“…!”

In that moment, a look of thunderous shock crossed Alice’s eyes. Sandra looked the same.

Ignoring his daughter and wife, Karl consoled Dana.

“Don’t misunderstand. It hurts my feelings to hear you say such things.”

“Misunderstanding? Alice deceived me, Uncle.”

“Yes, yes, Alice was in the wrong. I’ll give her a good talking-to, all right?”

Karl pulled Dana into an embrace and patted her shoulder.

“You must be very angry, hmm? Please, let it go.”

“….”

“I’ll make sure to scold Alice properly, okay?”

While held in his arms, Dana stared intently at Alice and her aunt. They were trembling with a sense of betrayal.

She wanted to sneer, but she suppressed it and pushed Karl away, pretending to be sulky.

“No, do you really think a scolding will be enough?”

“Dana.”

“Alice doesn’t even seem to know what she did wrong. Therefore…”

Dana spoke while looking at Alice’s completely dazed face.

“I think it’s necessary to follow the traditional disciplinary methods of the Winzer family.”

“…!”

The traditional disciplinary method of the Winzers, a family with deep military roots.

It was corporal punishment.

‘Punish Alice?’

Karl’s eyes shook violently.

Punish Alice, his youngest daughter?

“We have to let Alice know that this was wrong, Uncle. For Alice’s own sake.”

“….”

“You are Alice’s biological father… and also my guardian, aren’t you?”

Yes, guardian.

Karl swallowed hard.

I am that girl’s guardian. The guardian who, in just one year, will become the primary heir to her fortune…

Karl closed his eyes tight. After a moment.

“…You there, go bring the switch.”