Chapter 2 – Part 2 

“Oh, the dowry envelope?”

Elena, with her tied-up brown hair swaying, stood in front of Kristin.

Then she crossed her arms and gave Kristin a mocking expression.

“I wanted to take a look at how much was in it, but it’s not as much as I imagined. For a future Duchess, the dowry should be enough to buy a whole estate, but it seems Duke Raphael doesn’t have that much money.”

“Haha, is that so?”

Kristin genuinely laughed at Elena’s words – both at her absurdity and ignorance.

Raphael had sent her a dowry before, but the envelope was less than ten percent of what he could afford.

On their wedding day, he had opened a safe deposit box account in Kristin’s name and gifted her a large sum.

Although he had ultimately taken it all back, perhaps feeling sorry for using her, he had at least compensated her financially during their marriage.

“You don’t know, do you? Let me tell you a secret.”

Kristin cautiously spoke to her, touching her lips with her hand.

“The day His Grace came to the Earldom, he made me a promise in my room. In addition to the dowry, he would give me a larger sum of money as my share.”

“You wouldn’t know that, would you? You had better not think of taking it away from me, Elena, for I have not yet received it.”

“So this marriage isn’t about love, it’s just selling yourself for money?”

Elena was carelessly spewing hurtful, insulting words.

Kristin wanted to strangle her, but it wasn’t time yet.

Getting Elena to leave the Edith Earldom on her own willingly, was Kristin’s desired revenge.

She didn’t want to see Elena anymore.

Normally, she would have cried her eyes out, but this time was different.

After staring intently at Elena for a moment, Kristin gently closed and opened her eyes before responding.

“If you’re talking about someone I know, you might need to be careful with your words. Mother would be deeply hurt if she knew you thought of her that way. And now that you’re a noble, why don’t you try acting with a little more dignity?”

“Really, what are you talking about?”

As Elena raised her hand, about to slap Kristin’s face, Rose quickly rushed over and grabbed her hand, pulling her away.

“Stop it. What are you doing, Elena? There’s no need to raise your voice on a good day like today.”

“Mother, but Kristin-“

Elena’s irritated voice made the servants nearby glance at her. Seeing this, Rose sharply addressed the servants.

“What are you all doing? Get back to work, unless you want to fail to finish everything by today.”

“Yes, My Lady”

Although they spoke like that, the faces of the servants were filled with dissatisfaction.

After the servants had turned away to resume their tasks, Kristin smiled at Rose.

“Mother, I have something to discuss with you.”

“Alright, what is it? Hurry up, we need to go to the shops to find dresses for the wedding.”

But their closets were already overflowing with the dresses they planned to wear for the wedding. While Kristin only had three dresses.

Rose and Elena’s closets were bursting with unfinished gowns.

“We don’t need to buy new dresses, Mother. First, I’d like you to return the dowry envelope sent to me. And I also plan to send back all these carriages of gifts.”

At Kristin’s words, the friendly smile on Viscountess’s face instantly soured.

The mention of returning the money and gifts irritated her, making it impossible to maintain her pleasant expression.

Yet Kristin showed no sign of shrinking back, standing tall and looking Rose unflinchingly in the eye as she spoke firmly.

“Since they’re addressed to me, I should be able to do as I please with them, right? I’m feeling burdened by receiving so many gifts, so I’d appreciate it if you could understand.”

“It’s a lie to say it’s because of the pressure, and it’s not that we didn’t want to keep these gifts either. We are your family, after all.”

Rose approached Kristin, lowering her voice so the other servants couldn’t hear, and gently grasped her hand.

“Your groom is a Duke, and it’s not a problem to accept this much, right? When else would we receive such gifts? Kristin, this wedding will bring us great things – prestige, power, and even elegant jewelry to adorn ourselves. You just need to be by Duke Raphael’s side and serve as our source of funds. Do you understand?”

Kristin let out a bitter laugh at Rose’s words.

“Pfft.”

“Why are you laughing?”

Rose had expected Kristin to be intimidated and compliant if she spoke to her in this manner.

She had observed Kristin for six years since she turned fifteen, she had never been one to speak up when confronted with an unreasonable situation.

It was easy to suppress someone like her.

If she didn’t listen, she could be slapped, or if Viscount Vernon wasn’t looking, she could be subjected to all sorts of abuse.

Even in situations like this, Kristin had always cried, never showing any signs of laughter.

But now, this mocking laughter was directed at her.

Rose clenched her hands and was about to speak, but Kristin spoke first.

“How long do you plan to keep hitting and abusing me? Bully me for prestige, power? Dresses and jewelry?

“Fine. Being a source of funds won’t be difficult, but I worry that if Duke Raphael learns of your true intentions, won’t he treat me differently?”

“You think you’re a match for Duke Raphael?”

Kristin did not want to lose to Rose.

For the six years since she came to the Earldom at fifteen, she had meekly endured, unable to speak up for herself.

She had endured even her embroidery skills, her only hobby, being ignored, and had endured not touching her mother’s heirlooms as she pleased.

And now, on top of that, she was just a source of funds?

Kristin’s head briefly swirled with confusion.

‘Could Rose have been involved in the carriage accident that led to her death?’

If Rose saw her only as a source of money, perhaps.

Perhaps she had heard the rumors of Kristin’s strained relationship with Raphael and killed her to prevent her from returning to the estate.

And if all of this was true…

Kristin continued to stare into Rose’s eyes.

‘What did those dark brown eyes hide? What bold desires did they hold?’

As her mind grew muddled, a headache threatened to emerge, but Kristin clenched her lips tightly once again.

‘I can’t just let myself be subjected like before. At least now that I’ve come back from death, I need to find out who killed me. I’ve decided not to live kindly anymore. Not anymore.’

“Well, speak up then, Kristin. I’ve been so curious about what kind of charm of yours made Duke Raphael want to marry you.”

“What’s going on here, Rose?”

It was Vernon’s voice.

He was holding a bubbling glass of champagne and munching on an apple as he approached.

Kristin saw this as an opportunity.

“Oh, Father. Um, Mother was…”

“What’s wrong, Kristin? Why are you crying? It’s a nice day, Rose, what’s wrong?”

Normally, Kristin’s behavior would have been what Rose and Elena had already done.

But this time, Kristin was faster.

Having endured what she had for so long, Kristin summoned the courage to speak up to her father with an expression of injustice.

“Mother said I’m not suitable for Duke Raphael. That marrying me is absurd.”

Surprised by Kristin’s clever response, Rose was momentarily speechless, allowing Vernon to angrily throw down the champagne glass and demand of her.

“Is that true? Did you say that to Kristin? That Kristin is no match for Duke Raphael!”

Seeing the angry Viscount, Rose, and Elena glanced at Kristin, who was now nestled in her father’s embrace, wearing a faint smile.

Kristin feigned crying in her father’s arms, then cautiously spoke to the Visocunt who was comforting her.

“I’m sorry, Father. I’ve ruined your mood on such a good day.”

“No. I’ll talk to Rose again. Go to your room and rest.”

“Father, it’s not…”

“Isn’t the child crying? What on earth did you say to make Kristin turn so pale and cling to me like this? In any case, you and Elena should return to your rooms as well.”

“Father.”

“My Lord”

“And I must say, if such words about Kristin’s marriage to Duke Raphael come up again, I won’t just stand by. I hope you’ll be careful not to let this marriage, which was supposed to elevate the reputation of Edith’s household, fall into ruin in an instant.”

With a comforting pat on Kristin’s shoulder, Vernon led his daughter into the mansion.

They had never had a conversation like this before. It was always Kristin who had always been caught up in Rose and Elena’s schemes.

Falsely accused of bullying her sister, and the absurdity of her mother’s behavior, Kristin had become a strange daughter to her father.

But upon hearing that she was to marry Duke Raphael, Vernon’s attitude changed in an instant, revealing his duplicity.
While pretending to care for his daughter, his inner desire was to use his daughter to gain a son-in-law, placing all the nobles of the Union Empire under his control.

The immense power of Duket Raphael, second only to the Emperor, was something no noble could ignore.

If he was not merely an acquaintance but bound by marriage, that relationship could not be easily severed.

He believed that if Kristin could maintain that relationship, he could live with favors and pretense until he died.

Vernon could not afford to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He was determined to scold and reprimand anything that could interfere with Kristin and Raphael’s wedding. That was his principle.

However, being unaware of Kristin’s return from death, he failed to properly gauge her daughter’s true feelings.

He simply earnestly hoped that his daughter would become his loyal source of funds.

“Then go rest upstairs. I’ll take care of the commotion that just happened. Rest up until the wedding, Kristin.”

“Yes, Father.”