Berta and Sophia arrived at the castle on a clear, bright afternoon.
It seemed they'd been cheerfully rehearsing the lines they had prepared in advance.
"Poor Elena. You must be so haggard... Oh?"
Shown into the drawing room, the two of them stopped mid-sentence.
What awaited them there was neither bones nor a haggard prisoner.
Draped in the finest of gowns, large diamonds adorning her hair, seated on the sofa—was me.
"Mother. Sophia. Welcome. I'm so glad you could come."
I smiled, slowly.
Sophia's face twisted before my eyes.
"Wh-what is that getup? Those jewels... where did you steal them from?!"
"Steal?"
At that moment, the door behind me opened.
Claude walked in.
Faced with the monster duke of the rumors, Berta and Sophia went pale at once.
"Why, Your Grace. I do hope your wife hasn't been any trouble to you—"
"Trouble?"
Claude sat down beside me and drew me close by the shoulder, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"No one has ever brought more light to this castle than my wife. Everything she wears was a gift from me. Do you have some complaint?"
Berta's mouth opened and closed without a sound.
"B-but aren't you... a man who prefers men...?"
"Ah, that rumor."
Claude gave a cold laugh.
"A lie to keep the pests away. Pests like—you two, for instance."
"By the way."
Claude's voice dropped several degrees.
"House Fordrick. I've had all your promissory notes bought up. Along with every record of how you devoured the lands Elena's late father left behind."
The blood drained from Berta's face.
"And what might this be?"
What he held out was—my mother's keepsake ring.
"I hear you took it upon yourselves to sell my wife's late mother's keepsake. Buying it back was something of an ordeal."
"Th-that is, well..."
"Anyone who hurts you, I will not forgive," Claude whispered, looking at me, like a promise.
Then he turned back to the two of them, and his voice cut like a blade of ice.
"Every one of those notes is in my hands. As of this very moment, I will be the one collecting every debt owed by House Fordrick. —You had best prepare yourselves."
Sophia let out a strangled shriek.
"S-Sister, help us... We'll lose our house!"
It was no longer a matter of "will." It was already in motion. Next week, envoys of the ducal house would set out for the manor; the furnishings and lands would be seized, and the remaining servants dismissed—Hanna had quietly shown me the copies of the arrangements.
"That marriage... it was supposed to be mine."
Sophia stared at the floor, forcing the words out. The jealousy of a girl who had let a brilliant match slip through her fingers was being painted over with despair.
I gently slid my mother's ring onto my finger.
It fit perfectly. A familiar, beloved weight.
"You're the ones who taught me," I said, quietly but clearly.
"Family or not, I won't sell my pride. —And I kept my head held high to the very end."
Berta sank unsteadily to her knees.
The stepdaughter, cherished like a princess.
The genuine, doting love of a real duke, turned upon her.
It was the very future they had meant to hand her as "despair."
"Uh... ah..."
Leaving behind a moan that never became words, Berta fainted where she knelt.
Sophia, too, her face a tangle of jealousy and despair, crumpled right after her.
When he had watched Hanna lead the two of them out, Claude let out a soft breath.
"Did I frighten you?"
"No."
I shook my head and gently laid my hand over his.
"As long as you're by my side, I'm not afraid of anything anymore."
Claude's eyes went wide—and then he smiled like the happiest man in the world.
"Then let me make a declaration."
He swept me up into his arms as if I weighed nothing.
"You are my one and only national treasure. From now on and forever, I will cherish you more than anyone."
Outside the window, the rose garden made for me was in full, glorious bloom.
I was supposed to have married a monster—and now I am the most loved woman in the world.