My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren't Wicked

Nakamura Miharu, the illegitimate child of a certain noble family, lived a poor but happy life with her mother.
Then, one day, her beloved mother passed away, and Miharu was taken in by the main branch of the Kozo family. Feeling ashamed of being the child of a concubine, she bowed deeply in apology, prepared to accept any treatment.
However, her stepsisters welcomed her with great hospitality, giving her a bath and dressing her in pretty clothes. Furthermore, they began a major cleaning to convert her father's study into her room.

There's still so much that Miyu doesn't understand about the Kouzou family.
One day, Marika asks her to meet the Kouzou family's bodyguards, and Miyu imagines burly, intimidating Japanese soldiers, making her nervous.
But what awaits her is Gungnir, a round, fluffy little dog.
She's instantly captivated by Gungnir. However, Gungnir has a tragic past, and that incident caused him to lose his voice.
As Miyu learns about Gungnir's origins, she begins to relate them to her own past—

Miyu is being tutored by Marika. She studies desperately to live up to the name of Kozou, but things don't go as planned and she becomes discouraged.
Marika tells Miyu about her past.
Hearing about Marika's past puts Miyu at ease. Just then, Arisa comes in to let Miyu take a break, and the study session is temporarily interrupted.
Miyu and the others head to the terrace for tea, but there is a loud crash from the garden! It sounds rather ominous──

Exactly one month has passed since Miharu was taken in by the Kouzou family. Miharu wants to do something to show her gratitude for everything they've done for her.
Just then, she learns that Marika and the others have received their new clothes. Miharu volunteers to help, but for some reason, she ends up choosing an outfit herself.
Not wanting things to continue like this, Miharu declines Marika and the others' offer and works hard to show her gratitude.
Meanwhile, Marika and the others, unaware of the situation, mistakenly believe that Miharu is avoiding them—?

Thanks to Teru's arrangements, Miya enrolls in the same Eihou Girls' Academy as Marika and the others.
Though nervous, Miya is excited about her first experience of school life, but she catches the eye of Hanayama Lil, the class's Madonna. Miya becomes depressed, wondering if she's done something to offend Lil.
One day during lunchtime, as Miya is eating alone on a bench in the courtyard, she encounters Lil walking by with her maid. There, Lil appoints Miya as the vice-leader for the school trip—

Miyu had finally gotten used to school life.
While walking to school with Marika and the others, she encountered Inari Koyuki, a classmate who had been absent since the entrance ceremony.
Koyuki was timid and scared when Marika spoke to her, but as the daughter of the school's chairman and the eldest daughter of the Inari family, who were well-informed about all aspects of society, she was someone that even Arisa respected.
Unlike the lively daughters of prestigious families that Miyu had met so far, she felt a sense of closeness to the quiet Koyuki.
However, Koyuki had a big problem—

My cousin Yaeko came to visit the Kouzo family.
She brought a cake as a gift to celebrate Miharu's passing her academic exam. As she took Arisa's hand and headed towards the terrace for tea, she carelessly bumped into Teru.
Yaeko turned pale at her blunder towards Teru, who was someone her parents feared and the legitimate wife of the main family. She immediately apologized, but Teru's appearance made her even more embarrassed.
Desperate to make amends, she impulsively invited Teru to have tea with her—?

It's parent-teacher observation day at Eihou Girls' Academy. The teachers line up to welcome the parents. There's a rumor that if a parent takes a liking to you, you'll be unemployed the next day, so the teachers look nervous. Amidst all this, Teru speaks to each teacher individually and praises them. Hanayama and Mikuriya's mother are captivated by her.
Teru observes Marika and Arisa's class and then goes to Miharu's classroom. Miharu is the only one in the academy with a background like hers, so everyone's eyes are on her. Amidst curious eyes and gossip, Miharu reads her essay under Teru's watchful eye—

Student council president Mikuriya Sada valued discipline and, due to her strict personality, enjoyed immense support from the students. Though she suspected she might be mistaken, Miharu couldn't help but see the student council president's image in the woman with the dog she'd met in the park.
Meanwhile, in the student council room, a meeting was being held. The topic was the survey conducted on parent-teacher day. It concerned the negative impact and loss of social credibility caused by the enrollment of an illegitimate child, but for some reason, no such concerns had been raised by the parents of Kouzo Miharu's class…