Chapter 12. The Light of Life

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Debt was something she was sick of.

The first culprit that ruined Margot’s life was her father’s gambling debt.

Margot Roussel, the barber’s daughter, had to marry Walter Dussolier, a transporter, to escape a house buried in debt.

Walter was twenty years older than her and had remained a bachelor due to his ugly appearance.

Margot could never forget the humiliation of marrying an old, ugly husband. The dreadful wedding night and the subsequent marital relations were memories she wanted to erase if she could.

The first child born between her and Walter was Helene. When she was pregnant with Helene, Margot feared the child would inherit her husband’s ugly looks.

However, the child born was dazzlingly beautiful. The only flaw was that she was short like her father. But being short was not a flaw for a girl, so it didn’t matter.

The second child was Melissa. Margot, exhausted by her husband’s insistence that she must bear a son, was extremely disappointed that the child she barely gave birth to was a girl.

Her husband left the birthing room without even looking at the child, scolding Margot, and she began to dislike the second daughter who looked nothing like her.

Even so, she raised Melissa with a mix of love and resentment, but as Melissa grew, she increasingly resembled her aunt.

Yes, Margot’s sister-in-law.

Unlike her brother, Margot’s sister-in-law had a reasonably good appearance and lived a happy life married to a decent man.

Because she was the same age as Margot, who was much younger than her brother, she often looked down on Margot whenever she visited the Dussolier family.

Marrying my brother, that ugly old bachelor, how pitiful.

Whenever she felt those condescending eyes on her, Margot couldn’t contain the boiling resentment in her chest. She eagerly awaited the death of her elderly husband. Then his wealth would become hers.

A splendid house and enough money to last a lifetime. Thinking that all of it would eventually be in her hands made her feel like she was being compensated for her miserable past.

However, her husband’s death came too suddenly and in an unexpected way.

‘Your husband has been imprisoned for fraud.’
‘What? What do you mean?’
‘We won’t know the full details until further investigation…’

It was truly shocking news. If her husband had indeed committed fraud, what would happen to his assets? Would they be confiscated? What about me and my daughters?

A few days later, news came that her husband had died in the detention center. The cause of death was food poisoning. He had ingested a toxic substance in his meal and died suddenly overnight.

‘What about his assets? What happens to his assets?’

Margot felt no sorrow over her husband’s death. She had been waiting for him to die anyway. The problem was the aftermath. Margot went to a lawyer to see if she could inherit the mansion, various valuables, and part of the bank account deposits.

But before that, claims from those defrauded by her husband started arriving at the mansion. The damages listed in the claims were enormous. Even if they sold all of her husband’s assets, it wouldn’t cover the debt.

In the end, Margot gave up on inheriting the estate. By doing so, she and her two daughters would be free from the claims for damages.

Margot left the mansion with Helene and Melissa. But they had nowhere to go. Margot had only enough money for three days of lodging.

Margot had to choose. Should she swallow her pride and beg her sister-in-law Beatrice for help, or should she become a live-in maid in someone else’s house?

‘If I become a maid, my daughters will follow the same path.’

She wanted to raise her two daughters as noble ladies and make them into distinguished women of good families. Becoming a maid was not a good option. In the end, Margot swallowed her pride and begged her sister-in-law for help.

‘Oh dear… How pitiful.’

Contrary to her half-expectation that Beatrice might throw her and her daughters out, Beatrice surprisingly took them in willingly, albeit with conditions.

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t let you stay here without doing anything. I have to consider my husband and in-laws. I’d like you to help with cleaning and kitchen work. And how about sending the children to a boarding school at the monastery? It might be better for their future.’

Doing household chores was something Margot had expected. That was not difficult. But sending Helene and Melissa to a boarding school at the monastery? That was a place for children with nowhere else to go, a sort of daycare.

Most children who graduated from there became governesses if they were lucky, but most stayed in the monastery as nuns or became maids if even that was not possible.

No, absolutely not.

She hadn’t raised her daughters in luxury just to make them governesses or nuns. Although she said she understood to Beatrice, Margot had no intention of sending her daughters to the boarding school.

She soon began to devise a plan. Ways to live without relying on Beatrice and the Palmen family, a new breakthrough…

During this time, she happened to meet Baron Lopez.

Victor Lopez, Ellenore’s father.

Margot helped him when he lost his gold key on the street, and he seemed very interested in her glamorous appearance.

The moment she realized this, Margot’s instincts screamed. This is an opportunity. I must use this man as my lifeline. It felt like fate that she had found the gold key he had lost.

Baroness Margot Lopez. That sounds wonderful.

Baron Lopez wanted to reward Margot, and she didn’t miss the opportunity. This time, Lady Luck was definitely on her side.

After a few meetings, Margot learned that he was troubled by his mentally unstable wife.

Although his wealth was limited and his family had fallen on hard times, the Lopez family was still a noble family, and the Baron was a government official working as a foreign affairs officer at the palace.

In every aspect, he was a far better match than Walter Dussolier. He was handsome and tall. His neat attire, refined demeanor, and cultured speech made him the ideal noble gentleman Margot had always dreamed of as a husband.

His lack of wealth was a flaw, but it didn’t matter. With the Lopez family name… she could marry her daughters into noble families using that name as leverage.

‘I think I can help you, Your Grace.’

Not long after she offered her help, Petra, the then Baroness Lopez, passed away. Her maiden name was Petra Raman.

The woman, who was from a merchant family in a distant country, was said to have died from a worsening mental illness suspected to be endemic to her homeland.

Thanks to this, Margot was able to move into the Lopez mansion the day after Petra’s death without arousing much suspicion.

All the Baron wanted from the new Baroness Margot was a male heir.

Fortunately, Margot easily became pregnant and gave birth to a baby. That child was Anthony.

Baron Lopez was overjoyed to have a son, and as Anthony grew up to be as handsome as Margot, he became even more pleased.

Anthony was also very intelligent. He was a very bright child. How could Margot not cherish such a child? To Margot, Anthony was her greatest pride and the light of her life.

Thanks to that child, thanks to his birth, Margot could live proudly as Baroness Lopez.

That’s why Margot couldn’t give up on Anthony.

“…….”

Returning from her recollection, Margot looked at her trembling son sitting on the opposite sofa.

When she first heard the story from her son, she was in shock, but now she was fine. She couldn’t give up on Anthony. There must be a way. There must be a way to save this poor child, my one and only son…

“Don’t worry, Anthony. I’ll find the money somehow.”

“The deadline is a month. Can we get the money in that time?”

“There will be a way. Just promise me you won’t get involved in such things again.”

“Yes… I promise.”

After sending the unusually subdued Anthony to his room, Margot was left alone in the living room, deep in thought.

Anthony, my son, had gambling debts.

It still felt like a dream. He had started socializing and frequenting clubs, but she believed he wouldn’t get into serious trouble since he was still young…

From what she heard, he seemed to have gotten involved with some very dangerous gamblers. If Anthony couldn’t repay the money, those thugs would surely cut off his hand or worse.

How did he get entangled with such people…

Margot sighed deeply, resting her chin on her hand. To save Anthony, she needed to find the money. She couldn’t tell Baron Lopez about this, so she had to handle it on her own.

‘But how…’

The sound of knocking reached Margot’s ears just as she nervously tapped the cushion on her lap.

Knock, knock—

“Madam, a letter has arrived.”

“A letter…?”

At this hour? Puzzled, Margot let the servant in. The servant, who entered the living room and bowed politely, held out a tray with an envelope on it. Margot picked it up and checked the sender.

[Robert Anderson]

‘Anderson? The old man who tried to dance with Ellen at the spring ball?’

Margot’s hand holding the letter trembled. Her heart pounded with a sudden premonition. Could it be, by any chance, that Marquis Anderson…

Margot hurriedly dismissed the servant and opened the letter. The recipient was Margot Lopez, herself, and the content was a proposal to Ellenore, whom he had fallen in love with at first sight at the ball, asking for the baroness’s permission first.

As Margot stared at the letter, her lips slowly curled into a smile. Soon, laughter burst from her mouth.

“Ha ha… Ahahaha!”

Even if the sky falls, there is a hole to escape through!

Marquis Anderson stated that there was no need for the Lopez barony to prepare a dowry, and he did not mind Ellenore coming alone.

Moreover, at the end of the letter, he added that if he could take Ellenore as his bride, he would give a portion of the taxes collected from the Anderson estate and gold and silver treasures to the Lopez barony.

“Ellen, here comes the day when you are useful to my life.”

Margot folded the letter neatly and put it back in the envelope, smiling brightly. A plan to trap Ellen without any escape was forming in her mind.

That girl is cunning, so if she finds out about this, she will try to avoid the marriage. That cannot happen. You must obediently become the sacrificial lamb. …No, no. This marriage is good for you too. If not now, how could a Cinderella like you marry into a wealthy marquisate?

“You should be grateful to me, Ellen. It’s all for you and this family.”

A faint smile formed on Margot’s lips as she murmured softly. Her green eyes shone with a secret sadistic pleasure.

* * *

The townhouse was a temporary residence built for nobles who came to the capital from their estates.

Though it was a temporary residence, it was luxurious and splendid, befitting the space where nobles stayed.

Particularly, the townhouse of Grand Duke Bayern was famous for being as magnificent as the king’s palace, and was also known by the name Winter Palace.

I am now standing in front of that Winter Palace.

To meet Enoch Bayern.