Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

After entering the banquet hall, I began to defeat each one as if breaking a stamp.

“I heard there was a debt in your family? Did you pay it back?”

“Mmh, I don’t mind if there’s some left. Wouldn’t it be possible to pay back just by selling the diamonds on the hem of this dress?”

Just by slightly raising the hem, I got rid of the first sewage.

“You don’t look too sick. I hope it is not something like exile under the guise of recuperation?”

“Come to think of it, is it true that Count Revan left his fiancée at Lake Esvantes… No, no. You might want to keep it a secret.”

“…Wh-what did you say? What are you talking about?”

“Well, you can’t reveal someone’s dirty life in the guise of healing. Oh, I don’t know about exile.”

“I apologize, Princess. Of course, it is all about recuperation. I think my mouth went crazy for a moment. If you’re offended, I apologize.”

The second sewage was blown away with the love affair that Serena told me.

“Seeing that you have come so far, you must have had a hard time staying at the Duchy of Icard. Well, a daughter-in-law with nothing to see isn’t that pretty…”

“Isn’t it a little hot? I’m a little hot. I happen to have a fan that I got as a gift…”

“No, t-t-that’s the tiger of Rivien!”

Needless to say, I shook the fan given by Olivia and sent the third sewage away.

It wasn’t difficult to deal with these little pricks. Since I was also a delicate person, no matter how easily I pressed it, my heart was not feeling good… it was feeling completely good.

It was fun to win in the end. It was amusing. This was it. Pretending to be nice and controlling really was totally my thing. Some people were watching the light defeat of those who had been dispatched one by one. They were Vietti and Bern.

“May I speak to you, princess? Please come to our table.”

“Very well.”

Bern came up and talked to me. When I went to their side, there was a group of people sitting at the table. At first, I went because they wanted to talk to me, though, somehow, he brought up an old story without actually trying to make any conversations with me at all.

“So, last winter, it was a lot of fun, thanks to young lady Owen.”

“That’s right. I couldn’t even sleep at that time.”

Well, this… one of the deliberate ignoring skills, ‘Making a fool out of a person they called but just talking to each other while ignoring them.’ It was a technique that made people feel left out by talking about a usually fun past.

‘If you look into things in advance, you can counterattack.’

I stepped in with a smile.

“Yes, I heard the story. It must have been a pleasure to make an untimely ghost fuss.”

Everyone gazed at me with a faint look. Vietti, who was leading the mood, coughed a few times and turned to another topic.

“Do you remember the last time Karen came? It was ridiculous at the time.”

“That’s right. Why the hell did she come like that?”

This…! It is a higher level of skill, ‘Cursing the absent and making the unknown never get involved.’

Although the last technique’s intentions were the same, there was a barrier for people, one could not curse people whom you hadn’t met. And, there was the collateral effect of ‘you get dumped like this if you do something wrong.’

Thus, I smiled and stepped in again.

“Still, they say it’s a trend in the north. Wasn’t the fur hat cute?”

Based on the information researched in advance, it was necessary to side with the person who was not capable of being present at the moment. As I seemed unable to be alienated, Vietti smiled slightly and eventually asked.

“How does the princess know all the stories? I heard you have no social activities in the Capital.”

‘Well, she’s implying that I don’t have friends in the Capital…’

“Because I got married at an early age due to various circumstances. Young master Icard is famous enough, though he’s still young, so it’s hard to get close to people.”

The first was to skin me off about my parents’ debts, and the second was saying I wasn’t recognized by the Icards.

I then added with a casual shrug.

“Since father prepared this fancy banquet for me.”

I meant, ‘Contrary to what you had said, I’m adored by the Duke of Icard.’

“Since I came here, I’ve had some correspondence.”

Everyone knew that I exchanged letters with many people as a banquet invitation.

“I have a friend who told me stuff.”

Actually, it was Serena who told me.

The atmosphere of the table got cold with my words. Everyone was nervous at the thought of having a spy. In particular, Vietti was as if she wanted to find out whom I had become close enough to tell me all the details.

“By the way, Young Lady Kate is not here.”

Saying so, I stood up with a smile, “She must be uncomfortable because Young Master Bern keeps confessing, right?”

“W-what!”

Bern jumped in surprise.

“I’ve been going to Marquis Eldsphy’s new class, and some correspondence has been crumpled up and rolling around.”

“What do you mean…?”

Vietti looked at Bern as if she were dumbfounded.

“Maybe, you used Young Lady Vietti to alienate her because you were annoyed about being dumped… No, I’m just being presumptuous. Well, it’s just my opinion after all.”

I tilted my head and added. On the other hand, Vietti began grinding her teeth in anger at Bern.

“H-how dare you… use me?”

It was obvious that she would feel bad. Even the word ‘use’ came out because it was not enough to send a letter to the person she was alienating.

I shrugged.

“Well, then…”

Now that the bomb had exploded, it was time to get up.

“I’m going to greet young lady Kate.”

The first and second places in the gang would likely fight, so the rest would be divided as expected.

Of course, there would be some of them who would be conscious of the situation and be attached to me and seek a third power. When the gang tears themselves apart, they would lose their strength. Therefore, a gang with divided forces would be over as well.

Kate was originally quite an influential young lady, but she was simply left out because she was alienated.

It meant that she had a position where she could reign again if she had wings. So, if the Duke’s Princess, me, and the Marquis’ Young Lady, Kate, joined hands, we would have much more of a ripple effect than Count Young Lady, Vietti.

Until now, Kate was not good at politics, so she went around alone, though that was enough if I worked behind her back.

‘That’s it for today.’

After announcing the prelude to their collapse, I nicely approached Kate and talked amicably.

“Is everything all right with you?”

My teacher was none other than her mother, Marchioness Eldsphy.

“I wish my mother could have come, although it’s not easy to move around.”

Marchioness Eldsphy had been consistently teaching liberal arts and manners at my request. Despite the fact that she was well-known and well-educated in many ways, she was very old. That was why she couldn’t take care of Kate’s social life, her youngest daughter.

Obviously, it was also because Kate was quite prideful and never gave any details about her condition so far. She was so proud that she didn’t even tell anyone about Bern’s courting letters.

Well, it was not that she didn’t have any friends initially, though when she suddenly became isolated due to Vietti sweeping the social scene and losing her favor, Kate acted even more aloof.

‘The rest of the work will be done soon.’

Now, if the members were selected well in the tea time invitation, we could quickly increase our power.

Looking beyond the banquet hall, Evan was surrounded by more people. I knew he was constantly checking me sideways. As we made eye contact, I smiled discreetly and then sneaked out of the banquet hall.

Even though the bomb exploded in Vietti’s group as planned, it didn’t feel too good.

As a matter of fact, I was like a machine as the planned words came out because part of my mind was elsewhere.

‘Of course, even so, I did a great job.’

I didn’t forget to praise myself in the meantime.

‘It’s about this much, but how good would I be if I made up my mind? I could put the Empire’s social life in the palm of my hand.’

However, that was just that… and being depressed was being depressed.

As I left the banquet hall, I settled down in the garden where no one was. Actually, I needed some time to think alone.

‘Why…’

I tried to look into my mind quietly. It was apparent why my heart was waning than I thought it would be. The fact that Duke Icard was still trying to use black magic kept ringing in my mind.

‘What does it have to do with me to do with Duke Icard’s plan? I just want to run away.’

It wasn’t until I sat alone for a while that I realized why my mind felt uncomfortable. When I had no idea of the Duke of Icard’s goal, maybe I expected a different ending without even realizing it.

“You say it. You’re happier here than in Rostry County. Don’t dwell too much on blood ties.”

“I’ll be a much better family member than all your relatives put together.”

After the Karen incident, what Duke Icard and Evan said was frankly warm. To be honest, it was the first time I felt so loved.

…I had no expectations of being a family member, so I was a little excited about those words. Obviously, it was true that I liked the materialistic side in me every time I received this or that gift, but I was also a person, so my heart couldn’t help but get moved.

There was always hope for Plan B, even though I thought Duke Icard could kill me. I loved being entangled with Evan and Olivia in the name of family. That was why I thought it was like a lottery, but in fact, my heart for Plan B grew bigger without realizing it.

I was prepared hard to run away but could throw it all away in a moment. It was hard to treat only Duke Icard, who still didn’t talk about my illness, still, I expected it from the bottom of my heart…

Consequently, when I felt like he really thought I was cute or when he gave me excessive gifts. I was constantly on guard. But, sometimes, I really thought he was giving it to me. Whatever Duke Icard wanted, maybe he would be able to solve it without killing me.

Shouldn’t I do something better so that it doesn’t flow like the original…?

So, I didn’t even know I was so curious about the goal of the Duke of Icard.

‘Whatever it is, I will make it happen.’

It was a thought that showed no self-respect, though originally, I had no self-respect at all. However, if the goal was Matilda, it was never something I could replace…

‘If I don’t disappear in time, I’ll be killed. I may hesitate for a moment because of the built-up affection that’s just so precious, but…’

No matter how good I was, no matter how hard I tried… I couldn’t beat Matilda, who was already not part of this world.