If I had been a little closer that day, I could have poured hot water on that wench’s face.

“Lucy, Mer is your real sister after all. To be honest, I’m frustrated and angry that she acts so much like your father, but I still worry about her.”

Lucienne replied to Penelope’s words with an irritated voice.

“Mother, what are you thinking? Have you forgotten? The day of the tea party? That child sided with the Duke and abandoned us. It’s only because His Highness the Crown Prince is kind-hearted that he let it go, otherwise we would all be dead. Why worry about a child who abandoned both you, her birth mother, and me? By the way, now that the Duke is dead, it will be His Highness the Crown Prince’s world.”

“Right. That’s true. Then did you perhaps…?”

“Of course. Don’t worry, His Highness will surely marry me. He’s already completely fallen for my charms. I’ll really become the Crown Princess now, Mother.”

“Yes, yes, thanks to you our family will rise again.”

Lucienne smiled as she watched Penelope rejoice.

But…

The joy was short-lived. After Ruan’s mourning period ended, on the day of Prince Haiman’s wedding, the Crown Prince was stripped of all his positions and banished when everything he had done was revealed.

At the same time, Lucienne’s dream of becoming Crown Princess seemed to vanish.

Until she saw Ruan, perfectly fine, at Prince Haiman’s Crown Prince inauguration ceremony.

Lucienne, who attended the Crown Prince’s inauguration ceremony, stared blankly at Ruan standing next to Crown Prince Haiman.

Is that man really Duke Ruan Canoloup?

Of course, even when he was thin he wasn’t ugly, but she never imagined he would be this magnificent.

Besides, she had clearly heard he died, so why was that man standing there perfectly fine next to His Highness the Crown Prince?

“My goodness, I heard he pretended to be dead on purpose to reveal the crimes of the deposed Crown Prince.”

“I see. By the way, the Duchess must be so happy then. Not only is the Duke no longer dying, but he’s completely recovered and is now the Crown Prince’s closest aide, making their family the most powerful and wealthy in the empire after the imperial family.”

“But I heard the Duchess has already left the Duke’s household?”

What? Mercian left the Duke’s household?

Lucienne unknowingly leaned in to listen to the story about Mercian.

“No, why?”

“You know, it was originally a 6-month terminal marriage, and she left the Duke’s household right after the Duke’s funeral, so the Duke is frantically searching for her. He even put the Duchess’s portrait in the newspaper saying he’d give 1,000 gold coins to anyone who could tell him where she is. These past few days, so many women have been showing up at the Duke’s mansion claiming to be the Duchess.”

“My goodness. I heard he was cold and wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed, but I guess not when it comes to his wife?”

“Well, who knows. Anyway, if you catch the Duke’s eye, you could probably live in luxury for the rest of your life.”

Lucienne carefully observed Ruan as she listened to the people around her.

The Canoloup Duchy…

Mer left right after the Duke pretended to die?

What a foolish wench, leaving such a fine man behind.

Well, I suppose she must have known her place and position.

There’s no way such a handsome and wonderful man would like someone like Mer.

Rather than getting divorced, it’s better for appearances if she left on her own.

But why is he looking for Mer?

Could it be that he actually liked Mer?

Lucienne stared for a long time at Ruan, who looked more and more handsome the longer she looked.

Come to think of it, don’t I resemble Mer a bit?

Since he says he misses Mer, if I dress up like her and appear to comfort him well, wouldn’t he fall for my charms?

Even at my worst, I’d be a more suitable Duchess than that stupid Mer.

If that happened and I ended up marrying Duke Canoloup…

Lucienne was already in a good mood, as if she had married Ruan.

Duchess Lucienne Canoloup…

That doesn’t sound bad, does it?

As Lucienne was imagining becoming the Duchess of Canoloup, she suddenly remembered the servants of the Duke’s household who had disrespected her.

Ah, right, there were those who only took Mer’s side so rudely.

Well, it’s fine. I can just fire them all once I become the Duchess anyway…

Having made up her mind to become the Duchess, Lucienne wandered around looking for Ruan, who had disappeared from people’s sight.

“Haa, Your Grace, this is really going to be a big problem. Please stop drinking and let’s go back now.”

“It’s fine, I won’t collapse from this much. Any news about Rosalyn?”

Ruan asked Cassel, who was trying to stop him from drinking.

“Not yet.”

“I see. Keep looking.”

“Yes, Your Grace. We’ll keep looking for Rosalyn, so please stop drinking now.”

As Ruan tried to re-enter the banquet hall despite Cassel’s attempts to stop him, Lucienne walked towards Ruan as if she hadn’t seen him and fell down after bumping into him.

“Ouch!”

Lucienne fell down weakly and lowered her head, waiting for Ruan to speak to her.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

“Yes. I should be the one… Your Grace?”

When Lucienne raised her head, she saw a servant looking at her instead of Ruan. She quickly got up and looked around, and the servant also looked around and said,

“There was no one here when I arrived. My lady, are you really alright?”

“O-Of course. Well then.”

Embarrassed, Lucienne hurriedly entered the banquet hall, but Ruan had already left and was nowhere to be seen.

.

.

.

“Mother, I think I’ve finally found my husband.”

Penelope looked at Lucienne with surprised eyes when she returned from the banquet and said this.

“Really?”

Penelope approached Lucienne with a happy expression at her words.

“Yes. He’s the perfect husband for me.”

Lucienne smiled as she spoke to Penelope, then as if she had suddenly thought of something, she quickly went into Mercian’s old room and brought out a dress.

“Why are you bringing that out?”

“This is the dress Mer always wore.”

“I know that, but why are you taking out this dress? And what do you mean you found a husband?”

Lucienne had been in despair after Daemon was exiled from the empire and had been rejecting all marriage proposals that came to her.

Penelope had sent her to the banquet hoping she might feel better and meet other young noblemen, but a husband? Did she really meet someone at the banquet?

Penelope looked at Lucienne with a happy expression as she spoke.

“My goodness, I never thought that man would change so much. If I had known, I should have married him myself.”

Lucienne muttered with a happy expression as she held Mercian’s dress against her body.

“Lucy. I don’t understand what you’re saying. And why are you holding Mer’s dress against your body? It will be too big for you.”

“Haa. Mother, why did you buy such a cheap dress for Mer? I can’t possibly wear this. What should I do? Ah, right, the dress she wore when entering the Duke’s household. Yes, that was Mer’s dress too, wasn’t it?”

Lucienne went into her room, put on the dress Mercian had given her, came out and muttered while looking in the mirror.

“Since I can’t gain weight, I’ll have to change my hairstyle to be similar to Mer’s.”

“Lucy, are you really alright?”

Penelope asked with a worried expression at Lucienne, who had been acting strangely since returning from the banquet.

“Of course, Mother. I’m more clear-headed now than ever. My goodness, do you know who I saw at the banquet today?”

“Who did you see…”

“It was Ruan.”

Ruan?

Surely she doesn’t mean that Duke Ruan Canoloup who was Mer’s husband?

“R-Ruan? D-Do you mean Duke Ruan Canoloup?”

“Hohoho, you remember too, Mother. That’s right. Mer’s ex-husband, Ruan. My goodness, he came back from the dead and is completely different now. When he married Mer, he was so thin he looked like he was dying, but today he was standing next to His Highness the Crown Prince, and he was so dazzling and handsome… I was so upset that we made Mer marry that man. I should have married him back then.”

Penelope was worried about Lucienne, who was muttering to herself as if in a dream.

“B-But he was terminally ill back then, and you said we should do it. Lucy, what’s going on? Didn’t you say you found a husband at the banquet?”

“That’s right, Mother.”

“Then why do you keep talking about that Duke instead of your husband?”

At Penelope’s words, Lucienne held up Mercian’s dress here and there and said,

“Mom, the husband I’m talking about is Ruan.”

“Lucy, what are you saying? That Duke was your sister’s husband, so why are you saying he’s your husband?”

“Mother, I heard today that Ruan is looking for Mer, who left the Duke’s household.”

Penelope recalled the newspaper articles with Mercian’s portrait on the front page, searching for her whereabouts.

“Yes, I know that too. But what does that have to do with you now?”

“I thought about it when I went to the banquet today, and I think it would be fine to marry Ruan.”

At Lucienne’s words, Penelope jumped up as if it was absurd and said,

“Lucy, are you in your right mind? That man is your sister’s husband, and why do you keep calling him Ruan? You don’t even know that Duke well.”

“Mother, Mer only lived with him for barely 5 months. And doesn’t everyone start not knowing each other well at first?”

Penelope took Mercian’s dress away from Lucienne and said,

“Lucy, anyone else might be possible, but not the Duke. Moreover, the Duke is searching so hard for Mer now, he won’t even notice you.”

“Mother! Are you saying I’m worse than Mer? Ruan has only experienced Mer as a woman. He’s looking for Mer now not because he loves her, but out of pity. So if I approach him looking similar to Mer and comfort him, he’ll soon forget Mer and choose me.”

Penelope felt like her heart would stop at the sight of Lucienne muttering as if she were addicted to something.

After Olivia took all the dowry money because of the china shop incident, only 300 gold coins remained.

In the past, that would have been enough to live comfortably for a while, but with Lucienne’s increased spending after receiving the dowry, they now only had about 50 gold coins left.

She had hoped to arrange a marriage with a family of better status while they still had some money left…

Penelope thought she should stop Lucienne, who was having such absurd thoughts, but soon gave up.

Knowing she wouldn’t listen to her anyway…

A few days later, when Lucienne went to the Duke’s mansion to meet Ruan, she happened to see the Duke’s family returning from Phenomenon village.

By secretly listening to their conversation, she learned that Ruan was currently selling sandwiches in a village called Phenomenon.

“Are you really going?”

Penelope asked Lucienne, who was adjusting Mercian’s dress on her body and trying her best to look like Mercian.

“Mother, please wait a little. I’ll go and bring back my husband.”

Penelope grabbed Lucienne again as she was about to leave the viscounty and tried to stop her one last time.

“Lucy, look carefully at your reflection in the mirror. You’re different from Mer, aren’t you? Do you really think the Duke will consider you similar to Mer? Even if he did, what the Duke wants is Mer, not you.”

Lucienne shook off Penelope’s hand holding her and said,

“Don’t worry, I dressed up a bit countrified like Mer, so he’ll think we’re similar. And once I catch Ruan’s eye, from then on I’ll make sure he never thinks of Mer again.”

Penelope watched the departing carriage, unable to stop Lucienne, who was confident she could make Ruan her man.