It Turned Out to be a Useful Fraudulent Marriage – Chapter 9 – 2. Cinderella Who Loses Her Mother at a Young Age, Her Stepmother, and Her New Older Brothers

Author: amourtentia

When Eric peeked his head out of the window frame, Emeline was running toward the walkway, clutching her skirt tightly.

“… Seriously.“

Eric muttered.

‘Were you too naive to know what your father does? Or did you not want to know? Either way, ignorance is also a sin, Eric Orleans.’

Eric recalled Emeline’s words.

Ignorance? What does Eric not know?

Eric walked to the bookshelf with a stern expression. He reached into the third shelf. Soon, his hand grabbed the envelope he had hidden.

Whatever it was, he would find out by examining this document. Most of the secrets about his father would be written in this document.

Although Eric generally trusted his father, Duke Orleans, he couldn’t help but feel tense as he pulled out the documents.

Eric opened the envelope.

Click.

At that moment, the sound of the study door opening was heard.

It was Lily who opened the door.

Seeing Eric holding the documents, Lily spoke with a relieved expression.

“So you found the documents, Young Master.”

“Yeah.”

Eric put the documents back into the envelope. It was inappropriate to open them in front of Lily.

Lily began to apologize to Eric with a perplexed expression.

“I apologize. We had taken measures to prevent the maids from coming to this floor, but Lady Emeline suddenly disappeared and the butler had to search the house… … .”

“She suddenly disappeared?”

Eric murmured as he looked out the open window.

“Yes. We are still looking for where she went. The butler says she disappeared in the blink of an eye while he was momentarily distracted….”

Listening to Lily’s words, Eric thought about Emeline Wedgwood, that strange woman.

She acted like a Southern hillbilly on the balcony but shamelessly demanded 100,000 gold when he visited the mansion.

She seemed to tolerate Vivian Cavendish’s insults but didn’t she forge Vivian’s handwriting….

“What on earth are you up to?”

“I apologize, Young Master.”

Lily quickly bowed her head at Eric’s words. Eric looked at Lily’s stiff posture, he sighed and moved away from the window.

Lily Bellian.

Her true identity was a royal knight. Lily owed her life to Eric when he was the commander of the royal knights. Because of that connection, Lily was tasked with accompanying Eric.

Eric shook his head.

“No, I wasn’t talking to you. Stand up.“

Lily raised her head with a puzzled look on her face and asked. “Then to whom were you speaking…?”

Eric remained silent, gazing intently at the bookshelf.

Eric walked to the bookshelf and opened it without hesitation. Lily frowned as the secret space hidden behind it was revealed.

“Is this where the vault is located?”

Eric nodded at Lily’s words.

Eric took out a small silver necklace from his pocket. As he inserted the pendant into the slot in the middle of the space within the bookshelf, the shelf split sideways, revealing a compartment blocked on three sides by walls.

Lily looked at Eric with astonishment.

Eric spoke. “This is the secret vault. I heard rumors about such a space in the mansion, but I was lost because I didn’t know what the key was. The key… I never thought it would be that….”

As Eric’s eyes grew dim, Lily looked at the necklace in Eric’s hand and said in a sympathetic voice.

“Isn’t that the late Duchess’?”

“That’s right. It belonged to my mother.”

A longing for his deceased mother seemed to flicker in Eric’s eyes.

Lily said. “It seems that the Duke had deep feelings for the young master’s mother to gift her the key to the secret vault.”

Truly, it was not easy. Most unions among aristocratic families were primarily for the sake of lineage, and in such arranged marriages, due to the sharp conflict of interests within the family, spouses often regarded each other as mere opponents.

The Duke and Duchess of Orleans were also in an arranged marriage. However, they were known to have sincerely loved each other since they became engaged at the age of six.

Eric muttered as he tightly grasped the silver necklace.

“Then what should we do? My mother….”

She was a crazy woman.

Eric thought so.

‘I shouldn’t have had you! You are the child of a monster!’

Eric’s expression hardened as he recalled what his mother had said just before she died.

The child of a monster.

Eric heard that phrase so often it became tiresome. His mother often said it more than his name.

Was that why?

In order not to become the child of a monster, Eric lived even more diligently and improved himself.

After his mother’s death, the lingering curse of those words haunted him for a long time.

‘The child of a monster! You will eventually become a terrible demon!’

Eric looked out the window, recalling his mother’s last words.

The day before she was found as a cold corpse in the middle of the vast forest of the Duke’s residence, his mother had said such things. It was as if this dreadful curse became his mother’s last testament.

While Eric was lost in those thoughts, he saw the silhouette of a woman approaching the forest.

Emeline Wedgwood.

The strange woman who ran with her red hair fluttering and her skirt billowing.

Eric muttered.

“I really… hate crazy women.”

✵ ✵ ✵

It wasn’t difficult to spot the Duke and Philip walking along the forest trail attached to the Duke’s residence.

Although the forest was deep and vast, there were many servants gathered nearby.

“Huff… huff….”

I was out of breath when I arrived in front of the Duke and Philip. I saw Philip applauding the Duke with a bright smile.

“Your shooting skills are truly excellent, Your Grace!”

As soon as I heard Philip’s voice, my tension dissipated, and I sat down right there. Then, a servant who noticed me approached.

“Lady Emeline?”

Hearing the servant’s voice, the Duke and Philip walked towards me.

“Emeline!”

The Duke looked at me, drenched in sweat, with a worried expression.

A person who is better at acting than a con man.

I looked up at the Duke. As I did, memories of Eric, who had reached out to me in the office about ten minutes ago, flashed through my mind.

Eric Orleans and the Duke really look alike. Jet-black hair, fair skin, red lips. Even the chilling red eyes.

The only difference was that the Duke smiled quite often.

“Why did you run here like that, Emeline? heard you weren’t feeling well?”

The Duke spoke affectionately.

I stared at the Duke’s hand for a moment before grasping it.

The Duke chuckled.

“If you’re feeling better, how about eating the bird we caught together?”

“We, you say! Didn’t Your Grace catch it alone, haha!”

While Philip was making abominable flattery, the gamekeeper behind the Duke came forward with the corpse of a bird he had just shot.

As I looked at the bloody corpse, I felt the urge to throw up again. I turned my head away, and the Duke gestured quickly to the gamekeeper.

“Oh, our cute lady seems startled. I’m sorry. I’m inexperienced in such matters as I don’t have a daughter.”

A cute lady….

Did it take having a daughter to know that some people may find dead animals disgusting?

The Duke gently laughed and patted my back.

“But aren’t we going to gradually become a family from now on?”

The Duke’s subtle voice echoed in my ears.

I glanced at Philip.

Philip’s face stiffened at the word ‘family.’

His previously cheerful expression hardened, and someone might mistake him for being angry, but I knew. That idiot… right now…

He’s moved. By the word “family.”

“Ha….”

I let out a sigh.

Whether it’s the conning Duke or the easily fooled Philip, or even me who knows the future but can’t change it…

What a mess.

I turned towards the direction of the mansion I had run from.

The possibility of being able to hold hands with suspicious Eric Orleans was gradually fading away.

Eric Orleans was truly a strange guy, and Eric himself considered me a really strange woman.

I couldn’t steal the documents, and sneaking back in raised too many suspicions.

Now, it seems there’s only one option left.

Making a huge mess that will ruin the marriage!

There are only six days left until the wedding.

What kind of scheme could possibly ruin the wedding irreparably?

✵ ✵ ✵

As time passed without me coming up with a groundbreaking idea to ruin the wedding, the wedding was only three days away.

The dresses crafted by the designers over the past three days had arrived at the mansion. Instead of flashy dresses adorned with flashy jewels, they were modest dresses with only a diamond at the end.

‘A different dress than the one I saw in my dream….’

Deciding to change even the dress as a resolution after Vivian’s incident was resolved, I advised my mother to opt for something less extravagant.

‘Well, the marriage was ruined anyway, so what’s the use of a dress?’

I rubbed my throbbing temple with my hand.

Whether she sensed my mood or not, Mom hummed a tune while examining the dress on her body.

“Look at this. All these are diamonds, you know? If worse comes to worst, just with this dress alone, this marriage will be profitable, Philip!”

Philip replied cheerfully as Mother exclaimed with excitement.

“Mom, how much can we sell this for now? Huh? I could start a new business with this too….”

As Philip aimed for the diamonds attached to our mother’s dress, she swatted his hand away.

“No matter how much you..!”

Huh?

What’s going on?