“Yes. But… eventually, she will cut off ties with us and betray us. It will just take some time. We can profit from using Riley until then and find a way to cast her aside. Don’t worry about it right now.”

At Ryan’s words, the Baroness nodded, and Ryan spoke to Claire.

“You should also try to control your temper and keep as quiet as possible given the situation.”

At Ryan’s words, Claire’s eyes widened.

Claire had thought that Ryan was neglecting her.

She had felt a noticeable cooling since Riley became engaged to Gibnen Lianster. In fact, he had always disparaged Riley. Claire’s pride had been utterly crushed, as she was always scolded in front of Riley.

But that was not the case.

“…Didn’t you hate me?”

“You are my only daughter.”

“…Father.”

“Do you think I wanted to favor that girl, Riley? I didn’t want to protect her either. But you kept putting me in a situation where I had to take her side, so what could I do?”

“… ”

“So you should behave as quietly as possible towards Riley. Don’t make any unnecessary noise.”

At Ryan’s words, Claire bowed her head.

“…It’s not as easy as deciding to do so.”

“Do you think anyone likes to please that girl’s temper? Now we have to bow down. You must learn to bend as well.”

“…I’ll try.”

Claire fled to her room.

‘If it were that easy to decide, I wouldn’t have had to agonize like this!’

Claire was not unaware.

That her and Riley’s positions had completely reversed. That she had to bow down to Riley in some way or another.

But while her mind understood this, her behavior continued to follow her emotions. Claire had always become emotional in front of Riley.

‘…I’ve lived desperately trying.’

Claire got angry whenever she thought about Riley. The anger boiling up from the bottom of her heart was so deep that it was impossible to control with reason.

It had become worse since she came to the capital.

She had realized that she was just a frog in a well.

How foolish she had been to be a bit proud of her living was something she realized firsthand. And while this ignited Ryan’s ambition to rise higher, it brought Claire tremendous selfdoubt.

In the meantime, Riley, who had been living bowing down from the bottom of her heart, had reversed her life in a moment and was living a wealthy and abundant life, so Claire couldn’t help but be angry.

The life Riley was enjoying now was the life Claire had dreamed of all her life. Marrying the most attractive and highranking man, living without hardship, not being ignored, and living lavishly. This was the only way to suppress the inferiority complex of her lessthanrespectable family background.

Living as the mistress of a better family by marrying into it. Claire could confidently say that she had lived her best for this.

“Don’t cry, Miss.”
“……It’s unfair, so infuriating and unfair I could die. Why does it have to be Riley? Why her of all people!”

Clare’s direct maid, Liz, was at her wit’s end trying to console her.

“We’re shocked too, really. Unless Duke Matapju has lost his mind, what on earth could he see in the eldest lady that he likes so much…… This marriage doesn’t make sense in the first place. I don’t understand how the preparations for the wedding are proceeding smoothly when there’s such a huge gap between their families. What’s so easy about this, what’s going so smoothly.”

“She’s done nothing! All she did was freeload and gobble down food at our house, that stupid thing…… Now she’s playing the lady of the Leinster house. The clothes she wore today, the jewelry. Do those expensive things suit her at all?”

“Honestly, it was like putting a pearl necklace on a pig. It didn’t suit her at all. It looked unnatural, like she was forcibly wearing clothes that didn’t fit.”

Clare, not satisfied even after pouring out her insults, eventually burst into loud sobs.

Tears she had never shed in her life poured out like a flood.

It was unjust and infuriating.

She had striven all her life. To not be belittled by others, to live a better life! She had studied fiercely to rise higher, putting effort into human relationships and doing her best to cultivate herself.

But Riley, who had done nothing, took it all. The life Clare Adaline had dreamed of and longed for was now in the hands of Riley Adaline.

She wouldn’t have been so angry if it were someone she barely knew. It was infuriating because it was Riley of all people! That cursed Riley was the star of this lucky break! Clare found it unbearable, the anger and injustice bubbling up inside her.

So she kept losing her words in front of Riley.

“Both of them are bad luck. He pretends to be a good gentleman on the outside, but in fact, he’s trash…… Riley’s demure behavior all this time was all pretense, wasn’t it! Seeing her acting so proud makes me want to kill her.”

“Don’t be too upset, Miss. The marriage isn’t settled yet.”

“It’s as good as settled! The prewedding meeting is tomorrow!”

“You never know. The marriage between the eldest lady and Count Ermeintz was called off in just a day, right? Marriage isn’t certain until the stamp is on the marriage certificate.”

“……”

“And to be honest, it’s the prewedding meeting tomorrow. Do you think the Leinster family would like the eldest lady? It might even turn into a breakup meeting.”

Indeed, many stories would come and go at the prewedding meeting.

Worried about this, her parents had called Riley in advance to get their stories straight.

No matter how much they hated each other, how many houses would want an uneducated girl with a short educational background as their daughterinlaw?

The Leinster family was not an ordinary one. The chance of them liking her, who was ignorant even for a baronet’s daughter, was low in an elite family that had produced many great figures in history.

“You’re right, your words make sense. Only Gibnen Leinster is crazy. His family members must be perfectly sane people. There’s no way they’d be satisfied with someone like Riley, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why do I feel so anxious!”

“You’re being sensitive, that’s why. Since you’re uneasy, you keep thinking negative thoughts.”

“……Is that really it?”

“Yes, it is. It’s a marriage that doesn’t make sense at all. Everyone’s just shocked by Duke Matapju’s insane behavior for now. Maybe he’ll come to his senses by the prewedding meeting?”

“……”

“No one knows anything before the ceremony. So don’t worry too much!”

Clare wiped her tears and gritted her teeth.

She looked almost out of her mind.

‘Right, you have to see it through to the end. What if, although unlikely, the prewedding meeting ends successfully? No! That can’t happen! I have to stop it at all costs, the marriage between Riley and Duke Horizon Matapju…… I can never allow it.’