My father placed the royal letter on the desk.
It was an invitation to the tea party that would take place six months from now, where the Crown Prince's fiancée would be selected. It was the same tea party that had been held in my previous life.
In my previous life, my father had already summoned his mistress and named my half-brother as the heir.
As a result, Gloria, who was of an appropriate age and family background, had already been unofficially decided as the Crown Prince's fiancée. The tea party was more about introducing her to the Crown Prince than actually selecting his fiancée.
"The only daughter worthy of the prince is you," my father said.
"However, Father, I am the only one who can inherit the title of Duke of Caldwell," Gloria replied, smiling with only her lips, her gaze fixed on her father, who was trying to dominate her with his commanding tone.
The father glaring at her from his chair was younger than the middle-aged face she had grown used to in her previous life, and he looked less at ease than she remembered.
That was because he had his authority overthrown by the brother he despised. In response, he was now overly eager to make Gloria the Crown Prince's fiancée.
For the sake of revenge, Gloria should follow the same path as in her previous life and become the Crown Prince's fiancée. Her father's attitude was exactly what she wanted, but...
"There's no problem. You have a younger brother. He has the same golden hair and purple eyes, much like the Caldwell family."
"But Father, didn't Uncle say, 'It is out of the question for a son of the Duke's mistress to enter the family'?"
"That was your uncle's side!"
With a loud thud, my father slammed his fist onto the desk, his shoulders tense with frustration.
"Why does Horatio interfere with my family matters! I am the head of the family, and you are my daughter! Listen to me, not him!"
My father, who had always been compared to his brilliant younger brother, placed great importance on his position as the head of the Caldwell family, a position his brother could never have.
To maintain his influence and position, he thought it would be more convenient to have the son of his mistress, someone whom he could claim to have given "a stable life," as the heir.
"Father… Please remember what Mother always said: 'Make a choice worthy of the Duke's family.'"
Gloria mocked him, mimicking her mother's expression as she subtly reminded him that he was unworthy of the title of Duke.
For her father, who had only become the head of the family thanks to her mother, Gloria's mother was a symbol of his "lack of ability." He didn't want Gloria, who inherited her blood, to become the next head of the family.
That's why he wanted to marry her off to the royal family—by doing so, he believed it would enhance his position as the Duke of Caldwell, and his relatives would respect him. In her previous life, he had blamed Gloria for ruining that plan with her impulsiveness.
Thus, he framed her for his own crimes and had her executed.
In this life, Gloria's contacting her uncle caused her father, who tried to welcome his mistress and her son, to be ridiculed by his brother.
He could not forgive this and began showing a violent side he hadn't revealed in her previous life.
While the threat of violence didn't faze Gloria, who had been beheaded in her previous life, it might have terrified a naive ten-year-old.
(Seriously, isn't Dad just the worst?)
Gloria couldn't help but agree with A-ko, who had accidentally whispered this aloud.
She knew that the selection of the Crown Prince's fiancée would happen eventually.
If she couldn't be the one to become the fiancée because of the inheritance issues in the Duke's family, she'd simply create a candidate for the next Duke.
Through letters with her uncle, she learned that his second son, who was the same age as Alan, was both talented and well-suited to be the next Duke of Caldwell.
Her uncle's wife, from an old viscount family, was far more fitting to be the next Duchess than Alan.
She was kind-hearted, with a particularly strong sense of justice.
Such people were easy to manipulate.
There was no need to cling to her father's bloodline. As long as they had the Caldwell blood, that was enough.
(If Dad finds out that I'm planning to put his hated nephew in such an important position, he's going to hit me, though…)
If he wants to hit me, then let him. The more he acts out, the faster he'll be socially destroyed.