Chapter 2 – Part 1

Two days had passed since the unwanted meeting of Kristin with Raphael.

And this morning, the dowry envelope from Rodney’s manor arrived at the Earldom.

As if the dowry wasn’t simply being sent through a courier, from early in the morning, many carriages had lined up in front of the Earldom, more than the eyes could see.

Rose, with makeup on her face since morning, stood in front of the main gate to receive the carriages filled with jewels and dresses, among other things, and Elena, too, showed a determined demeanor as she gathered her share of the items.

There was no trace of the dignity that nobility should possess in the appearance of these two women.

Instead, they looked like hyenas eyeing the presents in the carriages eagerly.

Kristin smiled slightly as she watched the scene from inside the room.

Then, one of the maids combing Kristin’s hair spoke cautiously.

“How pleased you must be, My Lady.”

“Yes, of course.”

But then the maid expressed her doubts.

“But why did His Grace not propose immediately after the debutante ball and wait for a year to propose?”

The reason was simple.

It was to gauge the situation.

After receiving the dance request from the Marquis of Winston at her debut, Kristin had to endure envy and jealousy from other nobles.

Withered flower bouquets and garbage were regularly delivered to their doorstep. Anonymous letters even told her to give up on Marquis Winston and stop her cunning ways.

Furthermore, although Edith held the title of a Viscountess, that name had no honor.

After the previous Viscountess Elesia died of illness when Kristin was fifteen, her life as the Viscountess’s daughter was only in name.

Her father, Vernon, received the title of Viscount, but he did not try to maintain that reputation nor engage in noble social activities.

He did not continue the numerous volunteer activities that Viscountess Elesia had done, nor did he participate in noble parties, all because of Rose Veronica.

Rose Veronica was making sure that Vernon never looked at anyone but her.

But the Viscount was unaware that he was being manipulated from behind, so he did not even know that his daughter was being bullied by his stepmother and stepsister.

Other nobles would criticize him for this, but as the situation continued, the number of nobles trying to form connections with the Viscount gradually decreased.

Raphael was also aware of these circumstances.

The reason he did not hastily propose to Kristin was that he was waiting for the right time to hurt the Marquis of Winston

To him, the Marquis of Winston was a hateful existence that he wished to eliminate.

Before Raphael received the title of Duke when he was still a Viscount, Winston’s mother often ignored Raphael, who grew up without parents.

Even at his debutante ball, she whispered false rumors about the Rodney family to other nobles.

But when Raphael became a Duke, Winston’s mother made efforts to please Raphael, offering gifts and such, to look good in his eyes once again.

“There must have been a reason for it.”

Kristin already knew everything from the past, so she knew the answer, but she pretended not to know.

The conclusion was that there was no point in exposing it.

She also thought that being sent back to the day before receiving Raphael’s proposal letter was an event that would never happen again.

She couldn’t afford to let this opportunity slip away.

Even if everyone in this revived reality hated and envied her, she couldn’t live as pathetically as she had in her previous life.

“How nervous you must be with the wedding just a few days away. They say it will be held at the prestigious Grace Hall in the capital, where no noble can have their wedding. My Lady is truly remarkable.”

“I’m not.”

“No. We servants know how much you care for and look after us. Out there, they’re like foxes, I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s alright.”

“My Lady is a much finer person than Lady Elena. I hope you live a happy life from now on.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

Kristin spoke to her.

“Now I need to go out and check the gifts. There might be too many, and we might have to send some back.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

* * *

Kristin finished brushing her hair and walked down to the first floor.
From the front gate to the mansion’s entrance, the place was filled with the gifts sent by Duke Raphael, leaving hardly any room to walk.

As Kristin carefully made her way towards the garden, she saw all the servants hurrying about.

She approached one of the servants and spoke innocently, as if unaware.

“It seems there are quite a lot of gifts…”

The servant replied,

“Ever since the gifts arrived, we’ve been busy sorting them out. Lady Elena and the Viscountess have instructed us to set aside the items they want for themselves.”

It was no different from the past.

Their endless greed and desire to claim things that didn’t belong to them remained the same.

In the past, they had done the same, opened the dowry envelope, secretly hid the gifts addressed to Kristin, and bustled about adorning themselves with the jewelry.

Back then, she had been too kind and naive to object, but not anymore.

Kristin spoke slowly to the servant in front of her.

“Would you mind coming over here for a moment?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“All these gifts, need to be returned in full. There’s no need to sort out the shares for Mother and Elena. If even one item sent by the Duke is missing when we return them, there will be consequences. By the way, do you know who has the dowry envelope right now?”

“Huh? Uh, well…”

The servant seemed flustered, seeing Kristin’s resolute expression for the first time.

But Kristin gently continued.

“We can’t accept so much.”

“If you, My Lady, say so, then of course we must follow your instructions…”

“Tell the others the same thing. Have everyone help load the gifts back onto the carriages, without any trouble.”

“Yes, My Lady. And as for the dowry envelope, Lady Rose has it.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Kristin exchanged a warm glance with the maid before walking towards the small fountain near the garden, where Rose usually liked to spend her time when she felt joyful.

Today, Kristin anticipated that it would be an especially joyous occasion for her, so she expected her to be there.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for Kristin to spot the Viscountess, holding her daughter Elena’s hand and beaming with delight.

She was smiling, as if she was happier to be in a pile of presents than to be a Viscountess, when their eyes met, the smile instantly vanished from her face, and whispered something to Elena.

Then Elena walked in front of Kristin, and before she died, Kristin remembered the events of the past year and anticipated what was to come.

At this time last year, Rose and Elena stood before this fountain and said to Kristin.

“If there’s one thing you’re good at, it’s stealing men’s hearts. I thought you were just a naive child, but you’ve got quite an impressive side to you. That’s one thing to praise.”

“But you’ll have to give up on Winston Zenon, my dear. He’s meant to marry our Elena.”

Back then, she couldn’t even give a proper response to their taunting words.

Furthermore, not only Rose and Elena but also other nobles constantly criticized Kristin.

The unending jealousy, vanity, and envy within those thorny words had left her too flustered to speak up.

As Elena drew closer, Kristin preemptively grabbed her wrist and spoke.

“Thank you for being happy about my wedding, Elena.”

“Huh?”

Elena looked puzzled at Kristin’s outwardly kind smile. Before she could respond, Kristin continued.

“I’m grateful for your happiness. However, these gifts are too much for me, so I plan to return them. So, if you’ve secretly hidden any gifts meant for me, I hope you’ll put them back in the carriages.”

“If rumors spread that you, my sister, took the wedding gifts meant for me, don’t you think the Marquis of Winston, whom you like, would be disappointed? Don’t you agree, Elena?”

“What did you just say?”

“I’m just worried, that’s all. I’m sure you’ll take care of it.”

Kristin said, letting go of Elena’s wrist, and Elena snatched it back.

“Are you threatening me right now? I thought something was off. You couldn’t even properly respond to me and Mother before, but now that you’re marrying the Duke, you’re acting all high and mighty?”

“Oh, why would that be, I’m not even a Duchess yet.”

Kristin interrupted, pulling her right hand away from Elena’s grasp.

“I’m just worried my sister might get in trouble. Now, shall we go? I have something to receive from Mother.”

“Oh, the dowry envelope?”