Self-Made Lady

Chapter 5

“I told the emperor that I want you. I believe that should answer your question,” Cedric said.

“Hmm, I guess they’re not the sort of rumors you want to tell the person involved.” I shrugged apathetically, and Cedric let out an awkward sigh.

Seeing his reaction only made me more curious about the kinds of things that were being said about me. But, he only avoided my gaze and changed the subject.

“The doctor you sent is quite skilled. He made an experimental cure, and it seems to be working.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“You do not seem surprised at all,” he remarked.

Of course not. I already knew that this doctor would be able to cure that plague.

“I told you he was talented. He knows a lot about infectious diseases.”

“Still, my staff are keeping their hopes in check,” he replied.

“What about you?” I asked.

“Having spoken with you in person, it does not seem like you are lying. Though, I assume you must have a reason for acting with such certainty. Either that or you are a terrific fraud.”

“Good thing I’m not a fraud then,” I said.

Cedric lightly bowed his head to me. “Allow me to thank you on behalf of everyone in my territory. Thanks to you, we were able to prevent more lives from being lost.” He seemed genuinely grateful and continued, “An Etchell always repays others, debt and grudge alike. Since you helped us, I will do my best to help you in return.”

But I’m still the person who told Jadiel to spread that disease in the first place. I squirmed a bit at his gratitude. It was starting to hit me how the actions I’d heedlessly chosen in the game were now reality.

A pang of guilt washed through me. Even though I’m going to leave him one day, I feel like I have a duty to make up for what I did. During my stay on the archduke’s estate, I’d better do whatever I could to repay him. Having come to that decision, I bowed my head as well.

Cedric awkwardly rubbed his neck asking, “What brings you here today? If it is related to our marriage, I was planning to send someone to the duke’s manor soon...” As he trailed off, he looked over my outfit before adding, “But it seems like you are not here for a good reason.”

“That’s right. My stepfather is determined to marry me off to the crown prince. He told me to talk you into changing your mind.”

“And you obeyed him and came here,” he replied.

“I thought we could meet and come up with a solution. He gave me an excuse to come see you, so I wasn’t going to turn it down.”

“A solution, you say?” Cedric tilted his head to the side, as if thinking for a moment, before looking at me with a strange expression. “It seems as though you have already thought of something.”

“I have.”

“Then tell me,” he said without hesitation.

He seemed to have great faith in me after seeing how I’d sent him such an effective doctor.

“It might make you angry... Please promise me you won’t get angry,” I said.

“I promise.”

“Really? It’s hard to believe you when you reply so quickly.”

“I... promise,” he said after a pause.

I couldn’t have asked for a better response. I swallowed a smile and began to lay out the plan I’d thought of on my way from the duke’s estate. “You can choose one of two options.”

“I have a whole two options? Go on.”

Cedric nodded, picking up his teacup. While I began to speak, I watched his textbook-perfect posture as he elegantly sipped his tea.

“The first option is for you and I to spend a night in the same room together.”

“Hrrk!”

As soon as I finished speaking, Cedric coughed. It looked like he was actually choking, and he barely managed to catch his breath as he set his teacup on its saucer.

“What sort... of bizarre solution is that?!” he managed to say.

“I’m not saying we have to sleep together. We just want people to think we did.”

If we jumped the gun, then neither the emperor nor the duke could do anything about it. In fact, the emperor will probably step in and try to stop me from marrying the crown prince himself. The emperor cared a great deal about honor. He would never accept a crown princess who’d caused a scandal and destroyed her reputation.

However, Cedric firmly shook his head.

“Let’s go with the second option,” he said.

“But I haven’t even told you what it is.”

He remained adamant. “Whatever it is, it cannot be worse than the first option. Let’s use the other one.”

“All right,” I replied. “I personally think the first choice is the better one, but I’ll respect your opinion.” I nodded my head and simply gave him the second option like he wanted. “Then you’ll have to lock me up.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“That’s my second suggestion,” I said.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am.”

Since the archduke had used his Meritorious Vassal’s Command, you could say it was only fair for him to take me. The emperor would have no way of denying it, and Duke Vasell couldn’t use his military strength to take me back forcefully either. The emperor definitely didn’t want battles breaking out in the capital.

Cedric stared into my eyes, as if trying to decide how serious I was, before rubbing his head and sighing. He seemed to have realized that I wasn’t joking.

“Why are all your ideas so drastic?” he asked.

“I would call them bold.”

I had realized something while playing The One Who Holds the Crown. If you hesitated and just used some kind of lukewarm strategy, you would lose to your enemy. Only by carrying out a decisive plan—one that you couldn’t go back on—would you be able to achieve your goals.

This wasn’t the game anymore, but it was still a game in a sense. I decided to boldly enact the same strategies that had led me to success before.

“Go on,” I said. “I’m ready.”

I held my arms out with a smile.

However, Cedric was staring at me silently with his brow furrowed. His gaze was fixed on my left cheek.

“Your face...”

“What about it?”

I touched my cheek and realized what he was talking about. It was where my stepfather had hit me. I had done my best to cover the mark with makeup, but apparently it still showed through.

Without taking his gaze off my cheek, Cedric said, “Everyone says Duke Vasell loves his stepdaughter. That’s why everyone laughs off the fact that she acts so shamelessly and squanders the family fortune.”

“Is that what people are saying?”

It seemed like this was one of the rumors Cedric had heard but hadn’t wanted to tell me. Whenever Vivian was invited to a tea party or ball, she insisted on bringing Violet along. It was rude to bring someone who hadn’t been invited, but Vivian always said that Violet liked to be a part of things.

I guess that’s why people think she’s shameless. On top of that, people probably said she was squandering the family fortune because of all the dresses and accessories she had bought with Vivian’s encouragement.

“I thought Duke Vasell was a fair and just man,” Cedric said.

“That’s what he wants you to think,” I replied.

Duke Vasell was very similar to the emperor in that way. It’s what’s inside that matters, but they prioritized appearances. It was very aristocratic of them.

Cedric watched me as I boldly answered him, before lowering his gaze and sinking into his own thoughts. His long, handsome fingers drummed on the table before he finally came to a decision.

“All right. I’ll lock you up,” he said. “If I have you in my hands, the emperor will not be able to drag his feet.”

“This option will damage your reputation. Are you sure about this?” I asked.

“The first option damages your reputation,” he replied. “It is my turn to repay you, so it is only right that I take the hit here. I don’t care what people in the capital think of me anyway.”

Honestly, I didn’t care about my reputation in the capital either. Given that it was located at the heart of the fight for the throne, it was a dangerous place, and I didn’t plan to return even after leaving the archduke’s estate.

Still, if he insisted on taking the hit for me, who was I to stop him?

However, I was curious why he cared so little about what went on in the capital. That hadn’t been revealed in the game either. The nobility of the empire were always tuned in to central politics. That was partially why they gathered together and socialized when the House of Peers was in session.

Cedric’s father, the former archduke, was quite influential in central politics, but Cedric was different. If I’d chosen Cedric’s route, maybe I could’ve learned more of his hidden backstory...

I’d poured nearly all of myself into Jadiel’s route, so I had very little information from the other two storylines. Even so, I knew quite a bit about the crown prince because I’d had Violet spy on him, but I still had a lot of gaps in my knowledge about Cedric. I’ll have to keep learning more about him.

“If there is anything you need from the duke’s manor, I will send some people to collect it,” he said.

“I can’t think of anything,” I said.

Maybe the real Violet would’ve wanted to keep some things, but it was all meaningless to me. Thanks to Vivian and Duke Vasell dolling me up in this expensive jewelry and outfit before sending me here, I would have a bit of disposable income too.

I’ll turn this into my funds for freedom.

It was an excellent plan.

“How are you planning to take things from the duke’s manor anyway?” I asked, tilting my head. “I can’t imagine my stepfather opening the doors for you.”

Cedric’s mouth only curled up in a slight smile. “I would not be so sure about that.”

He didn’t say much, but I could tell he wasn’t thinking of a terribly dignified solution.

I won’t ask. Sometimes it was better not to know.

“Oh, Your Grace. There’s a place I have to stop by. It’s very important,” I said.

Cedric let out a small laugh. “Are you getting imprisoned or going on an outing?” Despite the question, he continued, “I will tell my knights. If there is somewhere you want to go, you can just tell them.”

“You mean you’re not going with me?”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I was just curious how much you trusted me.”

Cedric stared at me in confusion.

“I know I’m suspicious,” I said. “I mean, I popped out of nowhere and asked to be your wife. Since I’m asking you to go against the emperor, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that I was sent here to cause trouble.”

“Yet you still made your offer?” he said.

“I didn’t have a choice. I thought I could handle being under a bit of suspicion. You can go ahead and keep me under observation to see if I do anything suspicious. I won’t be hurt.”

Cedric shut his mouth and stared at me. I returned his gaze, and his forehead creased slightly.

“There were no rumors saying you were like this,” he said.

“I’ll bet. I’m sure nobody said anything about me being this smart.”

“They did not say anything about you being so confident either.” Cedric smiled, but it didn’t last for too long. “I did wonder briefly if I really ought to oppose the emperor in order to help you... but now I do not regret it.”

Before I could ask why, Cedric looked at me and said, “It would be a waste for you to become the crown princess, Lady Violet.”

As he spoke, I thought I could just detect a faint smile on his lips.