Chapter 2

“Are you saying that woman is alive?”

The duke, Edwin Nazar La Lombard, frowned in clear confusion after hearing the steward’s report.

Berthold stammered under the sharp gaze.

“I, I do not know how this happened…”

Elicia was a precious imperial princess who carried the blood of the Valdin royal family and the Marcen royal line. By lineage alone, she was someone any noble house would desire as their mistress.

But the duke had used every means possible to prevent this marriage that had been forced by imperial order.

‘I understand my lord’s feelings…’

The imperial family was Lombard’s enemy.

The previous Duke of Lombard had died because of Elicia’s father.

For generations, the Lombard family had defended the empire’s peace from the monsters of the Black Continent beyond the northern wall.

Then one day, a massive earthquake caused part of the northern wall to collapse.

The former duke urgently requested aid from the capital. However, Elicia’s father, who was crown prince at the time, refused with various excuses.

He had always feared that Lombard’s overwhelming military might would someday threaten the capital.

After much hardship, the situation was barely resolved, but the duke who had fought on the frontlines returned as a cold corpse.

Berthold could never forget the eyes of the young master as he stared at his father’s coffin.

So when the emperor later forced the marriage with Elicia, Berthold could not refuse the duke’s command to procure a deadly poison.

‘We will remove her corpse tomorrow morning.’

‘What shall her cause of death be?’

‘Sudden death caused by excessive drinking. Anything is fine as long as it is believable enough that the capital will not question it.’

After the wedding ceremony, the duke had returned from the bridal chamber.

In a calm voice, he stated that he had given the new bride wine laced with poison.

He avoided fast-acting poison since it would attract suspicion during autopsy if the organs were damaged. Still, the poison he used was one that would not allow her to live past twelve hours.

Berthold himself had acquired the poison. He was sure she would be found cold and lifeless by morning.

“Then why is she alive?”

“I, I apologize…”

Was the amount too small. Or was the poison itself faulty.

No matter how he thought about it the situation made no sense. Under his lord’s scornful stare, Berthold could not offer any proper explanation.

“In my personal opinion, perhaps she has poison resistance. It is not uncommon for someone raised in the palace.”

“That seems possible. She is still a member of the imperial line.”

“My goodness…”

Berthold recalled what happened that morning.

The plan was to pretend to be delivering administrative documents, go inside, and find the duchess’s cold corpse lying in the bridal chamber.

Of course the imperial capital would object, but if Lombard performed an autopsy first, created a suitable cause of death, and then held a funeral, it would end cleanly.

But instead she met Berthold without the slightest sign of pallor.

Even worse, she pointed out errors in whatever random documents he happened to be carrying and warned him not to test her again.

The more he thought about it, the stranger it became.

‘The reports said she could not read at all…’

This was another problem.

Lombard’s intelligence network was one of the best in the empire.

And the target was not a military official or someone of high secrecy. She was merely a collateral princess. Investigating her should have been easier than blowing dust from a book.

‘Unless…’

Berthold suddenly thought of a possibility.

What if everything she had done in her life so far had been an act.

As the only surviving successor of the deceased crown prince, she would have faced many difficulties. If she pretended to be foolish in order to protect herself and survive, that would not be surprising.

Combined with the idea that she secretly built poison resistance over time, it was a somewhat convincing theory.

‘What foolish nonsense. I must be getting old.’

Even so, he immediately rejected his own idea.

Berthold trusted his ability to read people.

From the moment he first saw Elicia in the palace to the moment they traveled north and held the wedding ceremony, Elicia had been nothing but a complete fool.

The kind of empty rattle that would ring loudly if you tapped her head.

‘Just coincidence.’

Clearing away useless thoughts, Berthold spoke again.

“Since the plan has failed, what should we do now.”

“…”

“Please give me your command.”

As a straightforward steward, Berthold immediately considered the next move.

Attempting another poisoning would be difficult. The best alternative would be to find an appropriate time to confine her somewhere.

‘It would be ideal if we could divorce…’

But the pope would never approve. The scripture strictly forbade breaking the bond of marriage.

So nobles often resorted to simply killing their spouse in a way that looked natural, or they confined them under the pretext of needing long-term medical rest.

But the duke gave an unexpected answer.

“For now, let her be. She may be useful.”

“Then…”

The steward was startled but also quietly accepted the answer.

The duke was not wrong. Politically, she did have value.

Elicia was the deceased crown prince’s only heir. Her continued existence as the duchess was not entirely disadvantageous to Lombard.

As long as she behaved quietly, unlike in the capital, it would benefit Lombard more to allow her to keep her authority as duchess rather than shut her away.

‘What is my lord planning…’

Even though Berthold had served the duke for many years, he could not read his young master’s thoughts this time.

While Berthold was troubled, someone rushed in from the castle office.

A breathless official shouted desperately.

“M, Madam has broken into the administrative office!”

“…”

Berthold saw the duke’s expression subtly twist.

It seemed they would need to repair the tower she was going to be confined in ahead of schedule.

* * *

“Good grief…”

I was flipping through a ledger as thick as a book, one page after another.

It was the document listing Elicia’s assets.

“Is this a dream or reality?”

I slapped my own cheek.

A sharp smack rang out and my skin stung.

Even so I felt like I was floating on a cloud.

“My goodness.”

I never thought I would say the phrase my devout parents used to mutter so often.

I looked down at the papers again.

First of all, Elicia had inherited quite a fortune from her father, the deceased crown prince.

On top of that, the imperial family had granted her an enormous marriage dowry.

“But why is the dowry this large. Even for royalty this is…”

Muttering blankly, I suddenly remembered Elicia’s place in the line of succession.

Fourth in line for the throne.

The current emperor had two children from his first wife and one prince from his second wife. Elicia came next in succession.

‘If something happened to the emperor’s children the next throne would fall to the Lombard family that I married into.’

There had been countless cases in history where third parties inherited nations or territories like this.

Which meant the enormous dowry also included the price for her giving up her right of succession.

“If that is the case, then this amount feels a bit stingy.”

My voice grew irritated.

At first all I wanted was to run away from this situation. But the moment I saw Elicia’s wealth every ounce of resentment melted away.

I finished preparing myself, body and soul, to live as Elicia.

“All I have to do is make a mess of things with confidence.”

I never expected to be thankful for her foolish and simple personality.

I had already flipped through so many pages and yet there were still more left.

Allowances from the Lombard family, funds from the imperial family to maintain noble dignity, rental income and financial gains from Elicia’s personal assets.

Money was literally calling more money.

Her real estate and liquid assets kept increasing on their own even though no one did anything with them.

‘How much is this?’

A silent scream escaped me because the happiness was too overwhelming.

From now on I did not need to do anything. Even if I spent recklessly until the day I died, this enormous wealth would not be scratched.

I thought about all the books I wanted to read, the fountain pens and ink I dreamed of using, and those fancy restaurants I had only visited once a year on my birthday.

Normally I could not even dream of such luxuries.

“If only life had been like this earlier.”

Suddenly I remembered something.

It was the day my parents died in a carriage accident. A monk with a pale face ran to find me while I was studying at the monastery.

‘Sir Filio. You are still in class so why am I being called…’

‘I am very sorry. It seems your parents have been in an accident.’

My obsession with money may have begun from that moment.

My parents had served Lombard their whole lives with sincerity, yet after they died, relatives took advantage of the chaos and stole everything.

All I had left as a child was the house I once lived in with them.

And that was how I became completely alone in this world.