She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 131

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 131. Rosena’s Revenge Plan (1)
“H-how on earth did you get in here?”
Nancy’s eyes betrayed her disbelief.
The woman standing before her was unmistakably Rosena.
The woman who should have been hunted down had brazenly entered her own home!
“Your household is completely ruined, so there was no one to stop me.”
“C-completely ruined? What are you talking about!”
“Hmph, is there anyone in Brisen who doesn’t know your husband gambled away the family fortune?”
Count Devlin had borrowed gambling funds from every corner.
The Drawing Room floor was littered with creditors’ demand notices.
“If you’re going to deny it, at least clean up something like this before you speak.”
Rosena pinched an invoice between two fingers and waved it mockingly.
She was far too composed to be a fugitive under pursuit.
‘Is this woman insane…?’
A chill ran down Nancy’s spine.
“L-leave at once.”
She took a step backward.
Once they had been acquainted, and she had moved at Rosena’s behest.
But now Rosena was a murderer, was she not?
A dangerous woman for whom the Imperial Palace had even posted a bounty…
‘Wait, a bounty?’
Nancy suddenly froze.
‘Now that I think about it, there was quite a substantial price on her head!’
The wanted poster she had seen recently flashed through her mind.
“First-Degree Murder Suspect—Public Wanted Notice”
Name: Rosena Hays
Reward: 1,000 Crowns
1,000 Crowns!
As this thought took hold, Nancy’s eyes widened.
Of course, compared to the enormous debt her husband had incurred, it was not a fortune.
But it would be enough to ease their immediate financial suffocation.
“…”
Nancy watched Rosena carefully and quietly retreated backward.
Even if the household security had grown lax, there were still servants about.
A shout would bring several of them running.
“Someone—!”
The moment Nancy opened her mouth.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
The impact struck her abdomen, and her breath caught sharply.
In a flash, Rosena rushed forward and seized Nancy by the collar.
“Are you going to keep your mouth shut or not?”
Rosena had already abandoned her formal speech, her words turning crude and sharp.
“Y-you―”
“Shut it! I have nothing left to lose. If things go wrong, I can kill you right here and be done with it.”
Nancy trembled violently at the unmistakable threat.
Rosena’s eyes widened dangerously.
“So what will it be? Do you want to die here, or will you listen to what I have to say?”
“I-I’ll listen!”
Nancy nodded frantically, tears streaming down her face in abject submission.
When Rosena released her grip, Nancy collapsed to the floor.
She reflexively clutched at her throat, gasping for breath.
“W-why did you come to our house?”
Nancy barely managed to open her mouth and ask.
“Did you really come to kill me? Is that why you’re trying to steal valuables from our home?”
“Am I insane?”
Rosena let out a derisive laugh.
“What good would killing someone like you do me?”
….
She had a point—if one were to rob someone, it would make more sense to target a different household.
Nancy clamped her mouth shut.
Rosena’s eyes curved dangerously.
“Don’t be so frightened. I actually came here to tell you something good.”
“Something… good?”
“Yes.”
Rosena flicked a debt notice that lay on the floor with the tip of her shoe.
“You’re already at rock bottom anyway. Your husband has gambled away the family fortune, and creditors come knocking every single day.”
….
Nancy’s shoulders sagged under the weight of this harsh reality.
Rosena smirked slightly.
“Even if you turned me in and collected the thousand-crown bounty, you couldn’t pay off half of this household’s debts, could you?”
“That’s… well…”
“Nancy Devlin.”
Rosena’s voice dropped lower.
“If you simply follow my instructions, you’ll be able to earn not just a thousand crowns, but a hundred thousand crowns with ease.”
“A-a hundred thousand, you say?”
Nancy’s eyes widened.
A hundred thousand crowns!
With that sum, she could settle all the debts and have a fortune left over.
Yet suspicion soon reared its head.
‘How could this woman possibly do it?’
Rosena’s current appearance was, quite literally, that of a beggar.
Tattered rags stained with filth draped across her frame.
No matter how one looked at it, she seemed utterly devoid of wealth.
Nancy regarded Rosena with suspicious eyes.
“…How exactly do you intend to provide such a large sum of money?”
“I’m not the one providing it.”
Yet Rosena remained composed and unruffled.
She smiled wickedly and bent down to meet Nancy’s gaze at eye level.
“I’ll extort the money from the Hays Ducal House.”
“Y-You’re going to blackmail the Ducal House?”
“Shh!”
Rosena quickly covered Nancy’s mouth with her hand.
“Lower your voice, you foolish woman.”
Rosena’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Nancy for a moment.
She briefly considered whether this woman could be trusted, but soon dismissed the thought.
After all, she had no other options at present.
“Still, having lived in that house, I’ve learned quite a great deal.”
Rosena laughed softly.
“Among those secrets are things the Ducal House would never want revealed to the world.”
Secrets of the Ducal House?
Nancy’s eyes widened in astonishment.
As if she had anticipated this reaction, Rosena’s lips slowly curved upward.
As she slowly withdrew her hand, Nancy asked urgently.
“W-What exactly is it?”
“Hmm…”
Rosena paused deliberately.
At this, Nancy nervously bit her lip.
She, who chased after every morsel of gossip in High Society, could not possibly let this slip away.
Rosena, knowing this well, wore a sinister smile.
“If you agree to cooperate with me, I’ll tell you.”
“I will! I absolutely will!”
Nancy nodded eagerly, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.
Besides, her feelings toward Cecilia had soured ever since the banquet not long ago.
If she could also earn money in the process, there was no reason to refuse.
“Good.”
Having successfully recruited Nancy, Rosena smiled with satisfaction.
Watching Nancy swallow nervously with a tense expression on her face.
Rosena slowly opened her mouth.
“Rainer Hays.”
When I recalled Cecilia’s ruthless accomplice, my lips twisted.
Her mouth contorted into a sneer.
“That man. He’s a bastard.”
“What did you say?”
Nancy’s eyes widened as if they might burst from her skull.
“The D-Duke is a bastard?”
She covered her mouth with both hands, as though unable to believe her own ears.
Outwardly, House of Hays was flawless.
A cadet branch of the Imperial bloodline, the most venerable and ancient noble family in the Empire.
The heir to that house and the son of Elise, royalty of neighboring Herdwin.
Everyone believed Rainer possessed an authority beyond reproach.
“Yes, tainted blood of the lowest sort.”
“That cannot be….”
Even hearing my words, Nancy could not accept them.
“I have never heard such a thing!”
“Of course you haven’t.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“That foolish Dowager Duchess buried it for the sake of propriety. If word spread that her husband had strayed and fathered a bastard, her reputation would be ruined. She never imagined she would lose the Ducal Title itself.”
Even as I spoke of the woman I had killed,
there was not a shred of guilt upon my face.
“Think about it. What would happen if this truth came to light? A bastard sitting in the Duke’s seat—would the nobility simply accept it?”
The House of Hays was already mired in scandal.
A birth scandal involving the family head at this juncture would be catastrophic.
Nancy swallowed hard.
“…Then the only way to prevent this would be to send money, wouldn’t it?”
“Now you’re beginning to make sense.”
I smiled wickedly.
My eyes gleamed with malice.
‘Yes, let’s see how far this goes.’
First, I would bleed the Duke’s Mansion dry of every coin I could extract.
Then I would release this entire affair to the world.
My original purpose, after all, was to utterly destroy Cecilia.
I was even planning to publish a book under my own name, Rosena Osburn.
‘People will buy it out of sheer curiosity, won’t they?’
In Part One, I would question the Duke’s birth.
In Part Two, I would expose the fractured relationship between the Duke and the Dowager Duchess.
And I would suggest that perhaps it was Cecilia, acting under Rainer’s orders, who killed the Dowager Duchess.
People would eagerly devour such insinuation.
Then Parts Three, Four….
I would simply continue weaving endless fabrications, spreading every sordid and vile tale imaginable.
‘Just you wait, Cecilia.’
I’ll tear you to shreds just as our family has been torn apart.
Winning over Nancy today was merely the first step of my revenge.
* * *
A few days later.
Rainer was reading an anonymous letter with a furrowed brow.
Cecilia, who reviewed the contents alongside him, let out a hollow laugh.
“This is absolutely infuriating.”

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