'Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no...!

　That day, I was facing a big crisis.

I kicked and broke the bonsai tree that my father had carefully grown with great care.....

　The only time that a busy father can relax and let his mind wander is to take care of these bonsai trees...!

　Of all of them, this one is one of my favorites that your father raised from a young age...!

　I kicked it away in a daze...!
　Oh no, this is really bad.

　I can't let them find out I'm doing this, I'll lose my allowance....
"What am I going to do, what am I going to do, I can't do anything!

　All right, now let's get out of here before they find out.
Nobody's watching us!　We have no choice but to run away like that!

　I didn't know anything about it, and I didn't go into the bonsai room, yes.
　--And then I was about to spit and run away.

Geez!
　

I wanted a new dress for Parley...

　Father came to the bonsai room where I was grieving.
　I took one look at the battered love bonsai.

"...Maria, what is this all about?
　He opened his mouth rather gravely.

'This is, you see, father. What do you call it, sir?　To tell you the truth, I am sorry to have to tell your father this, but I have a very complicated situation that may or may not be deeper than the sea and higher than the mountains. Please, I hope you won't just miss your allowance...

　It was time to make a half-hearted apology and try to get him to miss his allowance.

'It's not Maria's fault!　It's my fault!
　It was some kind of maid who came running by herself.

　Let's see, it was a bonsai maid...or was it?
　I don't have much contact with them, so I don't really remember.

　The maid was...

'I'm the real culprit!　I broke a branch of a bonsai tree that the lady of the house cherished!　I was so scared that I just ran away!　So now I came back to check on you and I saw Mary getting angry instead...!

What the...
　When your father heard the maid's confession, his father's complexion was beaming! And then it changed.

'I am sure Mary dared to drop the bonsai to take my place and batter it to the ground to take the blame!

'Huh?　Substitute!
　What's that? I've never heard of that!

'So it's my fault!　Mary did nothing wrong!　　And to blame Mary for that, of all things, please punish me for my foolishness!

　A bonsai maid who keeps apologizing frantically.

　Hmm?
　So that means what?
　It seems that the maids' fierce misunderstanding of me saved me...?

Well that's what it's all about. Very well, stand back. We'll let this whole thing go unchallenged.

Father...?

'There's no way I'm going to punish her. Because now I feel so much better about my daughter's growth. Maria, you have grown into a wonderful lady.

'What?　Oh, yes.....

'I didn't expect you to dare to take on the sins of a servant. I thought you were still just a little kid, but you've already become a full-fledged lady.

Yeah, that's right...?

　Oh no, I can't say anything real anymore.
　All right, I'll keep it quiet for the rest of my life....

Speaking of which, Maria, didn't you say there was going to be a big party soon?　You need money to buy a new dress, right?　I'll double your allowance this month.

Oh, no!　Really?　Yes!　That's why I love your father!

Haha, you're still a child in that department.

　Well, yes, at one point I wondered what was going to happen, but not only did I lose my allowance, I doubled it, doubled it!

　You did it!