Chapter 07
Originally, Judith had planned to visit the ducal estate two days later.
However, early the very next morning, someone was already waiting in front of her boarding house before dawn.
With the dim morning light at his back, he bowed politely.
“Her Grace, the Duchess of Meius, has personally ordered me to escort Baroness Ailan to the estate.”
The alley where Judith’s boarding house was located was far too narrow for a carriage to enter.
From one perspective, it might have seemed pitiful for a noble holding a barony to live in such a place, but Judith showed no sign of embarrassment. If she were the sort of person who worried about such things, she would never have survived living this way in the first place.
She was exceptionally good at accepting reality.
She had been that way since she was very young.
“Ah, just a moment. I have several home tutoring appointments today… Let me write a few letters canceling them, and then I’ll leave.”
“That won’t be necessary. The ducal house has already taken care of everything.”
“…I see.”
The fact that they had even tracked down and canceled her teaching schedule made it obvious they had thoroughly investigated her background.
After choosing a neat outfit, Judith walked through the alley and boarded the carriage bearing the eagle crest of House Meius.
Judging by how respectfully the servant treated her, the Duchess must have taken quite a liking to her.
Resting her chin on her hand, Judith gazed at the Meius emblem.
After some time on the road, the enormous Meius ducal estate came into view.
What exactly happened to Ekian Meius?
What circumstances could have driven him to abandon a guaranteed future, a loving family, and immense wealth, and walk away from the estate of his own accord?
Judith, who had possessed not a single one of those things, knew she would never find the answer, yet she couldn’t stop wondering.
How had a young duke who seemed to lack nothing become a runaway teenager in his mid-teens?
Wherever he was, whatever he was doing… he’s probably dead, right? That’s why he never appears in the original story.
He had a much younger brother he cherished dearlyâKarl Meius.
When Karl, the future villain of the original novel, became an orphan, suffered through countless hardships, and eventually descended into darkness, Ekian never once appeared.
If he had been alive, surely he would have helped Karl somehow.
Maybe he was originally terminally ill?
Judith began spinning theories in her head.
Maybe he hid his illness and disappeared because he didn’t want his family to grieve.
Everyone in House Meius had golden hair.
Only the Duchess’s was even lighterâa platinum blonde.
The Duke, Karl, and naturally the young heir as well.
Ekian Meius… I heard he had blond hair and dark crimson eyes.
She had only heard descriptions of him.
As her master had pointed out, Judith had never actually met Ekian.
Blond and platinum hair aren’t common, after all. Just having that would make someone seem special.
Even the glimpses she had caught of her master’s hair beneath his ever-changing wigs revealed only black hair.
And hair dye was extremely expensive in this world.
Until now, the Duchess was the first platinum blonde Judith had ever seen.
While she was lost in thought, the carriage arrived at the gates of the Meius estate.
All right.
Judith smiled faintly and steeled herself.
Now is the time to make a decision once and for all.
* * *
For the past two days, Isabella Meius, Duchess of Meius, had been unable to sleep.
The reason was a red-haired woman who had appeared out of nowhere: Judith Ailan.
The information Judith had recited about Ekian had been astonishingly personal, accurate, and trivial.
Information so useless that there was virtually no way for it to become public knowledge.
That girl definitely has some connection to Ekian.
Rubbing her tired eyes, Isabella contemplated the matter.
Judith Ailan.
A baroness whose title seemed almost meaningless given how desperately she was being hounded by debt collectors.
Following Judith’s visit, Isabella had taken her advice and investigated her.
Despite inheriting nothing but debt after losing her parents at a young age, she was living with a level of diligence that inspired admiration.
She maintained a murderous tutoring schedule while selling miscellaneous information to an intelligence guild.
Even so, she was barely managing to cover the interest payments.
Did she somehow discover information about Ekian through that information guild?
One thing was certain.
She had no choice but to summon Judith again.
Ekian… my precious son…
Isabella lowered her eyes.
She had her own suspicions about why Ekian had suddenly run away without a word and why he had never contacted them.
I need to see you again. We love you. We need to talk.
It had been nearly five years.
If they failed to find even the slightest clue about Ekian soon, the legal procedures declaring him dead would proceed naturally.
She knew she was grasping at straws.
But she wanted to postpone those procedures by any means possible.
Noâshe wanted Ekian, wherever he might be, to see how desperately they refused to give up on him.
To show him that they were still waiting.
That was why Isabella had become willing to consider desperate measures.
“I believe I know the plan Your Grace is considering.”
Judith, who had arrived at dawn, spoke with intelligent eyes shining brightly.
“You’re planning to announce that a woman carrying Young Master Ekian’s child exists, and that the unborn child carries the aura of House Meius. It would damage the young master’s reputation, but it would allow you to avoid declaring him legally dead.”
“…Yes.”
Isabella nodded heavily.
House Meius had no need for paternity tests.
A special aura flowed only through the direct bloodline of the family.
The head of the house could sense that aura even while a child was still in the womb.
This was merely a temporary solution she had devised.
Since no such child existed, they would eventually have to claim that the pregnancy had ended in miscarriage after a few months.
Still, wouldn’t it send a message to Ekian, wherever he is?
Yet Judith somehow knew a secret Isabella had shared only with her most trusted confidants.
Of course, once something had been told to even one other person, it could no longer be called a perfect secret.
“With all due respect, Your Grace.”
Judith spoke politely.
Though her clothing was plain, her posture was upright and dignified.
“Even if you publicly acknowledge a woman carrying Young Master Ekian’s child as your daughter-in-law and announce it to high society, Young Master Ekian will not return.”
Isabella’s heart sank.
There was conviction in Judith’s voice.
The same certainty she had shown when speaking about Ekian’s personal information and when deducing the Duchess’s intentions.
“No matter what happens within House Meius, Young Master Ekian will not come back.”
Judith continued calmly.
“Even so, if you still wish to use that method…”
“If I still wish to?”
“Then I would like to become that contractual daughter-in-law.”
“…What?”
“The daughter-in-law who pretends to be pregnant with Ekian Meius’s child and then announces a miscarriage a few months later.”
Isabella was dumbfounded.
Even if it lasted only a few months, it would still be the position of a daughter-in-law.
That meant a marriage and divorce would both remain on record.
The groom would be missing the entire time.
And if Ekian returned, things would become even more complicated.
Since the pregnancy was a lie, they would ultimately have to fake a miscarriage and arrange a divorce regardless.
Divorce was still uncommon throughout the Empire.
Among nobles, it was considered a particularly serious stain on one’s prospects for remarriage.
Ekian’s situation was one thingâhe was on the verge of being declared dead anyway.
But for the woman involved, it was an entirely different matter.
That was why Isabella had quietly considered selecting a common-born maid from a foreign country who desperately needed money.
“Baroness Ailan, this is not something I can ask of a noble lady.”
“My motive is simple.”
Judith answered immediately.
“Money.”
Her tone was straightforward and unambiguous.
“If you’ve investigated me, then you already know. I’m drowning in debt. No matter what I do, I can’t pay it all back. Noble dignity and reputation became luxuries I could no longer afford a long time ago.”
Isabella studied Judith silently.
The girl had come seeking a transaction.
Both of them wanted something, and both possessed something the other could offer.
Yet…
For someone seeking a business arrangement…
After a long silence, Isabella suddenly asked,
“Baroness, do you not know how to negotiate?”
“Pardon?”
“If you truly wanted this deal to succeed, why did you begin by telling me that none of this would bring Ekian back?”
“…”
“If you genuinely wanted to secure this agreement, you should have said that Ekian might return in a few months. And if you disliked lying, you could simply have avoided mentioning the matter altogether.”
Judith showed no sign of panic.
Instead, she wore the expression of someone who had anticipated the question.
Then she confidently opened her mouth to answer.
