She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 11. Marriage Alliance for Revenge (2)

“Pardon?”

Cecilia’s eyes widened at Rainer’s additional comment.

Then she let out a small laugh.

“I don’t think that will happen.”

“Is that so.”

Rainer shrugged his shoulders lightly.

Even so, he recalled Harry’s words from yesterday about getting along well with Cecilia.

‘Such unnecessary talk after all.’

His inexplicable aversion to the advice about not involving emotions seemed to stem from those words.

Just then, Cecilia held out the documents to him again.

“Anyway, it should help you steel your resolve. If you have no objections, please sign here.”

Cecilia’s slender finger pointed to one side at the bottom of the document.

Rainer silently picked up the quill pen and signed.

As he elegantly wrote out his name, Rainer asked casually.

“Very well. Then when are you planning to move into the mansion?”

“I’ll go now.”

“…Pardon?”

Rainer, who was finishing his signature, nearly dropped his quill pen.

When he looked up, Cecilia tilted her head slightly and asked.

“Is there some problem?”

“We’re not prepared to receive a wife yet.”

“You mean yourself? Do you need more mental preparation?”

“Not that, I meant the mansion’s affairs. We’d need preparations to welcome a new family member.”

At the sudden question, Rainer shook his head with a brief laugh of disbelief.

In truth, he had only brought the marriage documents, so preparations to receive Cecilia weren’t ready.

After all, she was also a lady from a noble family, so she would need various things.

But Cecilia looked unconcerned.

“Oh, if it’s that, I don’t mind. Actually, um… I’ve almost run out of money to stay at the hotel.”

At her overly honest answer, Rainer finally burst into laughter.

“Don’t worry about money. If the hotel is comfortable, you can move to a better place in central Brisen and stay there.”

“Thank you for saying so, but I’m fine.”

Cecilia shook her head.

There was another reason she wanted to enter the Duke’s Mansion quickly.

‘I need someone who will move for my sake. Inside the Duke’s family.’

With the status of a duchess, there would surely be clear limits to running around personally.

Then she needed someone who would move nimbly for her sake.

For that, above all, she needed to become familiar with the Duke’s family as quickly as possible.

Since it would be very different from her previous life.

“What are you doing? Let’s go already.”

When Cecilia stood up from her seat, Rainer noticed that she had already packed all her belongings.

He unconsciously smiled and shook his head.

Really, she was always an unexpected woman.

Though proposing a contract marriage in the first place was extraordinary.

“Very well.”

Rainer also stood up and extended his hand to Cecilia for an escort.

His black hair flowed softly down to his forehead.

Rainer looked at Cecilia with a gentlemanly yet captivating smile.

“I look forward to working with you, my lady.”

* * *

A few days later, Rainer’s title conferment ceremony was held at the Imperial Palace Banquet Hall.

Most of those gathered welcomed the new duke, but only one person was an exception.

“Please smile a little, Dowager Duchess.”

At the following celebration, Rainer looked down at the stern-faced Elise and smiled coldly.

“…”

Elise bit her lips and trembled.

While her concealment of Gilbert’s affairs had been settled within Hays internally, she couldn’t exert any influence during that process.

On top of that, Rainer had inherited the ducal title.

It was her first taste of complete defeat.

Since there was little progress in finding her grandson either, Elise felt truly cornered.

Rainer, who had been satisfyingly observing such a state of Elise, slowly bent down and whispered in her ear.

“I told you to smile. Anyone watching might think you’re looking at the son of a mistress you burned to death.”

“Wh-what are you saying now…”

Elise’s expression contorted.

But conscious of the surrounding gazes, she couldn’t raise her voice.

Just then, Crown Prince Nicholas approached the two.

“Well, Duke Hays. Congratulations. Ah, Dowager Duchess, you were here too.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Please speak with the Duke.”

Elise gave Nicholas a formal greeting and left with a stiff face.

Nicholas, who had been watching her retreating figure for a moment, patted Rainer’s shoulder.

“Do you get scolded by your mother even on the day you receive your title?”

“Yes, she’s quite a strict person.”

At the Crown Prince’s joking words, not knowing the situation, Rainer just smiled briefly.

The Crown Prince wagged his finger and clicked his tongue.

“This is all because you haven’t married yet. Now that you’ve become a duke, you should welcome a duchess as soon as possible—”

“I got married recently.”

“…What?”

Nicholas’s eyes widened.

Meanwhile, Rainer calmly took a sip of champagne.

With unhurried movements, Rainer set down his glass on a passing servant’s tray and looked back at Nicholas.

“She already exists. The Duchess of Hays.”

At Rainer’s statement, the banquet hall suddenly became quiet.

The Crown Prince and the Duke of Hays.

Everyone was secretly listening to the conversation between the two most notable men in the Empire.

But Rainer Hays was married.

Bewilderment spread across the faces of the young ladies who had been waiting for a chance to dance with him.

Clack!

“Oh my!”

One young lady lost strength in her hand and dropped her fan.

When the sound of it hitting the floor echoed, as if it were a signal, people swarmed toward Rainer all at once.

“Your Grace! Is what you said true?”

“Did you really get married? When exactly?”

“What kind of person is the Duchess… Didn’t she come with you today?”

Despite the barrage of questions from all directions, Rainer remained completely unshaken and only wore a leisurely smile.

Instead of clear answers, he just nodded slightly, making people even more anxious.

Crown Prince Nicholas, watching this scene, shook his head.

“He’s really eccentric…”

* * *

The news that Rainer Hays had quietly married soon spread throughout Brisen and became a huge topic.

Until now, among unmarried young ladies, there were countless who would fall ill just at the mention of Rainer’s name.

The news that such a man had married without even a wedding ceremony was shocking in itself.

Naturally, people’s attention was focused on the new Duchess.

“They say she’s a desert princess. It seems she’s still learning the imperial language at the mansion since she hasn’t mastered it yet.”

“Oh my, I heard she’s a niece from His Majesty the Emperor’s maternal side. Since she’s not from a legitimate wife, her name isn’t on the family registry.”

“Whatever the case, we’ll probably see her at a banquet soon, won’t we? What kind of woman could have captured the heart of the stoic Duke Hays?”

Since Rainer remained silent about his wife, people’s speculations continued endlessly.

Whether at banquets or salons, wherever nobles gathered, the Duchess of Hays was always the topic of conversation.

And there was another person who was more enthusiastic about this subject than anyone else.

“Honey! Honey!”

Count Cloud Osburn frowned and snapped his newspaper shut at his wife’s shrill voice echoing from early morning.

At the same time, Countess Trisha Osburn entered the drawing room.

In her hands was today’s newsletter.

“Dear, do you know who the new Duchess is?”

Trisha’s eyes gleamed as she pointed to one side of an article.

“Look at this. With the wealth the Hays Ducal House possesses, they could buy half of Listea. What a lucky woman to have gotten all of this!”

“Tsk, that’s quite an exaggeration.”

Cloud shook his head disapprovingly and clicked his tongue.

But the story about the Hays Ducal House’s wealth kept lingering in his mind.

‘I should have tried to connect with the ducal house earlier and pushed Rosena forward.’

Since he was already dissatisfied with Evan, who was a commoner, Cloud smacked his lips in regret.

It wasn’t as if Rosena had any real possibility of becoming a duchess.

Nevertheless, he somehow felt as if he had lost his own money, which was regrettable.

Trisha felt the same disappointment.

“Sigh, some people catch a good man and become a distinguished duchess. That Evan fellow doesn’t even come to the Count’s house, using work as an excuse…”

“Oh my, Mother! What’s wrong with our Evan?”

Rosena, who had been quietly listening nearby, suddenly protested.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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