Self-Made Lady

Chapter 4

In a daze, I blinked and covered my cheek.

The slap was all the more shocking because I hadn’t been able to prepare for it. But really, how did I lose 100 life points from a single blow to the face? Maybe my body was weak to attacks since I was an untrained noble lady.

Well, it certainly is convenient to see how hard I’ve been hit written out in numbers. You see, I hadn’t just fallen into the world of the game. Even though this world was as vivid as reality, I could still use some of the game’s systems.

The information window I’d just seen was just one example.

I got my thoughts in order and looked at the duke. The elegant middle-aged man, a blond with blue eyes, glared down at me coldly.

“Archduke Etchell has asked the emperor for permission to marry you,” he said. “He even used his Meritorious Vassal’s Command!”

“I had no idea,” I replied.

It wasn’t a total lie. Not even I expected Archduke Etchell to act so quickly. I guess he’s more of a man of action than I thought. However, the duke didn’t seem particularly interested in whether I was telling the truth or not. It didn’t even seem like he was listening to me.

“How dare that country bumpkin from the east try to interfere with my plans!”

Duke Vasell was trembling with rage. It looked like he might hit me again at any moment. However, Lady Vivian, who’d replaced her icy gaze with the mask of the kind sister, gently took her father’s arm.

“Father, please don’t. Violet hasn’t done anything wrong,” she said.

She had blond hair and blue eyes just like her father’s, and was known to be a rare beauty. Vivian was also well liked by society, since she had an elegant bearing and the high status of a duke’s daughter. The nobility also praised her kindness for not being cruel to her stepsister, Violet, who’d entered the family when her father remarried.

When dressmakers came to their house for fittings, for example, she fretted over Violet’s dresses more than her own. People only sang her praises more loudly for that. However, none of the dresses she chose for her stepsister suited Violet particularly well. They were all refined and expensive, but they were too fancy, and it was hard for the young Violet to deal with. Even so, she was grateful for her stepsister’s kindness and always wore the dresses that Vivian chose for her.

Because of this, everyone said that Lady Adeline’s daughter might have a pretty face, but there was nothing behind it. And because people felt that it was Vivian who had both beauty and brains, they would add that she was a true daughter of a duke. And so, Vivian used Violet as an accessory to make herself shine even brighter.

It was very clever of her.

“You must have been so surprised, Violet.” Vivian said after calming her father down. She approached me and let out a small sigh. “Can you believe it? Archduke Etchell said he happened to see you in the capital and fell in love at first sight. Then he invoked his Meritorious Vassal’s Command and asked to marry you. The whole palace is in an uproar.”

So he’d really said it.

He looked so disgusted when I suggested it, though. I guess Archduke Etchell ended up accepting the fact that it was the most natural-sounding excuse.

“The emperor asked him to reconsider, since the wedding is so soon, but the archduke held fast,” she continued.

“Since Archduke Etchell used his Meritorious Vassal’s Command, the emperor has no way of refusing him,” Duke Vasell said, staring at me coldly. He seemed to have calmed down while Vivian was explaining the situation. “Now you’re doomed to be shut up in his house in the middle of nowhere.”

Was that a threat?

The real Violet, who had grown up in the capital and never seen the outside world, would have been frightened by this, just like the duke wanted. After her mother, Adeline, passed away, Violet had begun to rely more heavily on Vivian and the duke. Being forced outside the capital into a world without them would have essentially been a death sentence for her.

However, I wasn’t that same Violet.

“Father,” Vivian said, “how could you say that? Look how pale poor Violet is.” As she chided her father again, she clasped my hands. “Don’t worry, Violet. We can still undo this.”

“Undo it?” I replied.

“The emperor still hasn’t given a definitive response. He’s going to drag it out as long as he can. In the meantime, you talk to the archduke and convince him to reconsider.”

So that’s what they’d decided.

The emperor himself couldn’t refuse. After all, he’d granted the Meritorious Vassal’s Command to the family of the loyal subject who’d died protecting him. If he went back on his promise to grant any request, his authority would suffer a major blow. It would mean that nobody would try to help him the next time he was in danger.

Their only choice was to get Archduke Etchell to change his mind and voluntarily revoke his Meritorious Vassal’s Command.

“If he likes you enough to use his Command,” Vivian continued, “then you’ll be able to change his mind. You want to stay in the capital, don’t you? Besides, it’s an honor to become the princess.”

She patted my back kindly, as Duke Vasell interjected: “Do whatever it takes to change the archduke’s mind. It’s all for your own good.”

He put a lot of emphasis on the words “whatever it takes” while staring intently at me.

“If he’s the sort of man who’ll fall for some unknown lady and use his Meritorious Vassal’s Command for her, it’s obvious what will happen. Your words will sway him easily enough. Meet the archduke and change his mind.”

In other words, they were putting it all on my shoulders. But, I didn’t resist.

“All right. I’ll meet the archduke and talk to him,” I said.

I was being given a chance to officially meet and talk to Archduke Etchell.

I had no reason to refuse.

* * *

Duke Vasell and Vivian dolled me up as much as possible before putting me in the carriage. They decked me out in a dress made of the finest cloth along with a necklace and earrings that sported enormous gemstones.

On their own, the dress and jewelry looked lovely, but put together they made me look ridiculous. I looked like I’d suddenly come into a lot of money and had no idea how to spend it. Maybe their plan was to sway the archduke by making me look like some brainless girl that only cared about extravagance. Of course, all they told me was that I couldn’t make a fool of myself in front of the archduke, so I had to dress nicely.

I rode in the carriage for quite a while until it stopped in front of an enormous manor on the outskirts of the capital. It was the Etchell family’s townhouse. Most wealthy nobles with country estates had townhouses in the First District near the palace.

During the social season, when the House of Peers was in session, nobles from all over would gather there to socialize. It was standard for townhouses to be smaller than the manors out on the estates.

But this place is huge!

House Etchell’s residence in the capital was far too enormous to be called a townhouse. It even had a proper garden, so it didn’t feel quite right to just call it a house either. Finding a manor of this size was difficult in the capital—it was actually similar in scale to the imperial family’s summer home.

A butler waited at the entrance, and I followed him into a drawing room. The inside of the house naturally had the same vintage feel as the outside. From the paintings and sculptures down to the smallest decorations, the decor gave the place an air of dignity.

It had the kind of atmosphere that could only belong to a house with a long history. Not long after I was seated and served tea, the door to the drawing room opened.

“How have you been, Your Grace?” I asked, rising to greet Cedric as he took a step inside before freezing in place.

He stared at me, his brow slightly creased and his mouth hanging open. It was obvious what he was thinking.

“Don’t bother trying to think of something nice to say. I know I look ridiculous,” I said.

“You know...?” he replied.

“Your Grace, you don’t need to deny it.” I sighed and sat down again. “The duke just wanted you to see that I’m a silly, extravagant girl. He wants you to think I’m not suited to becoming the archduchess.”

“And that is not the truth?”

“Of course not.”

“Is that right?” Cedric said vaguely, sitting across from me.

As he did so, a maid rushed in and prepared tea for him. Only after she’d finished her task and left did he speak.

“I’ve heard plenty of rumors about you.”

Rumors? I was curious to hear them. Rumors don’t always make their way to the person they’re about.

“Did you investigate me?” I asked.

“I found out what I could. I cannot hang my future on someone I do not know very well,” he said, turning my own words back on me.

I didn’t realize Archduke Etchell was so witty. He looked so stoic that I’d assumed he didn’t even know how to make a joke.

I silently gazed at Cedric’s face. With his black hair and violet eyes, his coloring was very dark. Only his skin was pale, as if he rarely saw the sunlight. Perhaps because of the refined air about him, he gave the impression of being softhearted and sensitive too. It was remarkable when you considered his large build.

He’s handsome too. As you might expect from the main character of a video game, his appearance was a feast for the eyes.

Honestly, all three main characters look incredible. They were all handsome in their own ways. Cassard looked warm and kind, while Jadiel gave off the air of a cold princeling. Meanwhile, Archduke Etchell looks like an indifferent man of mystery.

I thought he was handsome when I played the game, but in person he had a whole new level of destructive power.

“So what did you learn from the rumors?”

As soon as I asked this, my gaze met Cedric’s deep violet eyes.