Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 71

***

Erica Robert threw the letter she was holding onto the floor. In front of her, a pile of letters lay scattered. They were all letters from a woman named Brianna Everett.

“It was that wench…”

While sorting through Florian’s belongings after his funeral, letters hidden by him had been discovered. After reading them, Erica finally learned who the woman Florian intended to marry was.

It was that maid she had met in Harzen. A woman who had annoyed her during their brief meeting. No wonder her eyes kept being drawn to her!

In the end, everything had happened because of that maid. If it weren’t for her, Florian would have obediently married the woman his parents had chosen. They would have received a dowry, and they wouldn’t be in this financial predicament now. And Florian wouldn’t have gone to war and died.

“Aagh!”

Erica tore the letters to pieces, venting her rage. She wanted to find that wench immediately and demand she bring Florian back to life. But the letters had stopped after Brianna mentioned she would go to Bastogne. There was no way to know where she was now.

“Madam.”

Just then, a maid opened the door. The maid took a quick breath upon seeing the disarray of the room, then spoke, “There is someone outside who insists on meeting you, madam.”

Lately, the only visitors to the Robert estate were debt collectors. They all threatened to take whatever was in the mansion if money wasn’t raised immediately. Because of this, Erica had not been able to leave the house, trapped within its walls. Her husband, who promised to find a way to borrow money, hadn’t been seen in days.

Hearing the maid’s words in such circumstances made Erica seethe with anger.

“Didn’t I tell you not to let anyone in?!”

The maid flinched at Erica’s fierce reaction, then spoke cautiously, “B-but the person claims to know a way to help you, madam. It doesn’t seem like a lie, so perhaps you should meet her…”

The maid was also in a desperate situation. She hadn’t received her wages for months. She couldn’t leave this house empty-handed. She had to find a way to get her overdue salary.

“A way to help me?”

“The woman says she knows of an inheritance that neither you nor the master are aware of.”

“An inheritance?”

“She mentioned the late Madam Linares, and said you would understand…”

Erica drew a sharp breath.

“B-bring her in. Right now!”

The woman who entered the drawing room under the maid’s guidance looked disheveled. She seemed as if she hadn’t slept or eaten properly. Could someone in such a state really know about an inheritance? Such doubts crossed Erica’s mind briefly, but the woman began to speak.

“I once worked at the Madam Linares’s residence in Harzen. Because of that, I know her quite well.”

Erica studied the woman’s face carefully. She didn’t recall seeing her during her time in Harzen. Then again, why would she remember the face of a mere maid?

“I was told that you know about an inheritance we were unaware of. What is it?”

“While I was at Harzen, I personally witnessed the madam handing an inheritance document to the maid she kept by her side.”

“What?”

“Not only that, the madam acknowledged in front of me that she had already given part of her personal property to the maid. Because of that, I was forced to leave the estate overnight. It must have been something that couldn’t be known to others.”

Margot watched Erica’s face twist in rage and smiled with satisfaction.

This time, she had gotten it right.

After being kicked out of the Kirchner estate, Margot wandered to different places. The Countess Kirchner had refused to write her a recommendation letter, stating that she hadn’t worked there long enough to vouch for her reliability. When she left the Linares estate, she at least had the ring the madam had given her. This time, she had nothing.

Her money quickly ran out. Unable to pay the rent at the inn she was staying at, the innkeeper offered her a suggestion: she could pay her debt by selling her body to the inn’s customers.

It didn’t take long for her life to hit rock bottom. The personal maid of a count’s daughter was now a prostitute, and it had taken less than a few months.

Every night, as she lay beneath men panting over her, Margot burned with thoughts of revenge on Brianna.

She wouldn’t let that woman be. Brianna had ruined her life, and Margot swore she would ruin Brianna’s life in return.

Then, she heard that Florian Robert had died in the war. While she was pleased at Brianna’s misfortune, she remembered the inheritance Brianna supposedly had.

What happens to that inheritance if Florian is dead? Does Brianna keep it all? It seemed inevitable that she would. After all, the Robert couple didn’t even know the inheritance existed.

Grinding her teeth, Margot swore not to let that happen. She wouldn’t allow Brianna to keep all that wealth. And this was an opportunity for her, too. If she played her cards right, she might get a share in exchange for revealing what she knew.

“Who is this maid?”

At Erica’s urgent question, Margot stretched her back and leaned into the sofa without answering. Her lips curled upward.

“First, give me a room to stay here.”

“What?”

“Then I’ll tell you more about the inheritance. We have much to discuss going forward, after all.”

Rumors that the Robert family was on the verge of bankruptcy were widespread. Debt collectors gathered in front of the mansion, demanding repayment. In such circumstances, how could they refuse such a sweet proposal?

Margot looked leisurely at the dumbfounded Erica, who had no choice but to accept her demands.

This time, she wouldn’t let herself be trampled by nobles. If she was destined to be crushed, she would make sure to get everything she could before that happened.

***

Daniel stood with his arms crossed, silently examining the documents spread on the desk. Once he finished reading, the usual playful expression disappeared from his face entirely.

“…So, what is all this?”

In response to his question, the butler gave a direct answer, “As you can see, it’s information about the arms companies Master Florian was investigating before his death, as well as those around the crown prince.”

“Right, I understand that much. I suspected there might be some connection between the two. But what on earth is this?”

He pointed at a particular section of the report. Listed there were the people the crown prince had met since the war began, along with those he had been in contact with. Among them were several clergy members, whom he had met suspiciously often.

“I doubt the crown prince suddenly developed piety.”

The butler nodded at his sarcastic remark. “Indeed. Originally, His Highness showed little interest in religion.”

“I can understand meeting with a clergyman. As people grow older, some find solace in religion out of a deep sense of disillusionment with life. The problem is that this particular clergyman had contact with the arms company.”

The clergyman had regular meetings with someone from the arms company Florian was investigating. The meetings took place in the confessional inside a cathedral—an ideal place for sharing secrets.

Unfortunately for them, Daniel, being related to the Pope, could easily learn what went on inside the cathedral if he so wished. The method was simple: he hinted to the archbishop that he would recommend him for a cardinal position, in exchange for some information. With just that one hint, they confessed every detail—who visited the cathedral and who gave confession to whom.

“Did the clergyman need weapons? Is he going to war? Of course not.”

“He was likely acting as a go-between, passing information.”

“Right, he was a liaison between the crown prince and someone else. And that person was…”

The document crumpled in Daniel’s hand. The investigation into the background of the suspect clergyman revealed that he had ties to the High Priest of the Kazak Empire. That High Priest was among those whom the emperor of the Kazak Empire had installed after removing the Pope’s power to appoint clergy, in defiance of papal authority.

“So, the crown prince was colluding with the Kazak Empire… What a maddening conclusion.”