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Chapter 7. Verification (1)
After finishing her words, Cecilia quietly lifted her teacup and drank her tea.
Reiner watched her with sharp eyes.
These were stories that a woman living as a dependent in a viscount’s household would find impossible to fabricate on her own.
“If you still find it hard to believe, you should first verify whether Duke Hays has truly passed away. You’ll soon find out whether my words are true or nonsense.”
She even confidently instructed him on what he should do, right to the end.
Reiner simply couldn’t figure out how to deal with this woman.
“That is all I have to say for now.”
Cecilia slowly rose to her feet, showing a relaxed smile.
It was the expression of someone holding the winning card.
“Once it’s confirmed that I am right, then we can discuss our deal again. I am staying at the Seymour Hotel, so if you feel inclined to talk, you may visit me anytime.”
“Phew…….”
Only after exiting the ducal residence did Cecilia finally take a deep breath.
She could hardly remember what she had even said.
To speak so defiantly in front of that Reiner… It was an act her past self could never have imagined.
‘Reiner must be deep in thought by now.’
Reiner had not risen from his seat until Cecilia left the room. Whether that silence meant he would accept her proposal or not was still unknown.
‘…It will be fine. It’s a gamble I’ve already started, anyway. Let’s trust my instincts.’
With a resolute expression, Cecilia nodded and turned her steps without further hesitation.
And the next day.
Reiner Hays’ carriage once again headed for the Hays territory.
“Seeing such a vulgar face too often makes even my dignity feel tarnished.”
Elise, who he met again at the Hays estate, greeted Reiner with a chilly face. She made no effort to hide her displeasure at his visit.
Elise had always been like that, from the very beginning.
Although she had brought in her husband’s illegitimate child for the sake of public perception, she never showed him any affection. Instead, she unabashedly revealed her ugliest side.
>’Just like your mother! You with your shameless, filthy blood!'<
The words from her were always nothing but abuse and reproach.
Suddenly reminded of those past memories, Reiner pressed his fingertips firmly against his temples. Everything about this moment was unpleasant.
But he still had to verify it.
If Cecilia Fanning’s words were true, they would be the key to overturning the future landscape.
“I have come today to see my brother.”
“……What?”
For a moment, a different kind of agitation flashed in Elise’s eyes. Reiner did not miss it.
“As his younger brother, it weighs on my conscience that I haven’t properly visited him during his illness. I will just see his face and leave right away, so please don’t trouble yourself, Madam—”
“Th-that is unnecessary!”
As Reiner rose from his seat, Elise stepped in front of him to block his way. Her expression tried to appear nonchalant, but her tightly clenched hands were trembling slightly.
“Gilbert requires absolute rest. Someone as vulgar as you would be of no help whatsoever.”
“Ah, is that so.”
Reiner looked at Elise for a moment, then chuckled softly.
Gilbert was a man who took after his mother.
Unable to handle a half-brother over a decade his junior, he was always restless, and whenever Elise abused Reiner, he would smirk from the side and often egg her on.
As that Reiner grew up and gradually began to stand out in the imperial court and social circles, Gilbert’s jealousy sometimes drove him mad.
Reiner had no objection to the statement that he would be of no help to Gilbert’s condition.
Provided, of course, that he was alive.
“Who knows? Seeing me might make his blood boil so much that a dead corpse would spring right up.”
“……W-what?”
At Reiner’s sarcasm, Elise’s expression stiffened rigidly.
“C-corpse? Watch your tongue. Gilbert is—”
“Yes, he must be sleeping due to his illness.”
With those words laced with double meaning, Reiner slowly rose from his seat. There was no need to even go as far as Gilbert’s bedroom. Elise’s reaction said it all.
‘If Gilbert were alive, she would have triumphantly shown him off, telling me to abandon my foolish hopes.’
He, too, would have mocked Reiner even from his sickbed.
But now, Elise could only stand there, breath heaving, unable to give any proper reply.
Watching the old fox seethe with resentment, Reiner smiled with a sense of victory.
“Then, I shall take my leave.”
He gave a slight bow to Elise and walked toward the door. Standing before it, he turned to look at her, his hand on the doorknob.
“But, Madam.”
Elise was glaring at him, grinding her teeth hard.
“If your hands keep shaking like that, will you even be able to drink your tea properly?”
“You……!”
As Elise sprang up, Reiner gave a cold laugh and walked out.
“Sir Reiner.”
Upon leaving the mansion, Harry was waiting for him. He had returned from a visit to the public medical center on Reiner’s orders.
“I have verified the childbirth records of a woman named Sella. Just as Lady Fanning said, she gave birth to a son 22 years ago.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. They say she spoke of the child’s father being a noble at the time, but everyone just thought she was talking nonsense in her excitement.”
Harry handed over a document envelope.
Reiner narrowed his eyes as he looked at the birth certificate bearing the name ‘Evan’.
“Does Elise know?”
“She doesn’t seem to know yet. I had the medical center personnel sworn to strict secrecy. The document I just gave you is the original; I confirmed on my way here that all copies were burned.”
Reiner nodded at Harry’s meticulous work. He had almost been outmaneuvered by Elise, rendering all his endured patience meaningless. He had to admit that it was all thanks to Cecilia Fanning.
“…….”
As he boarded the carriage, Reiner gazed at the receding Hays Great Residence, lost in thought.
Now his mind was filled with curiosity about a certain woman.
‘Cecilia Fanning… Just what kind of woman are you?’
Two days later, Reiner visited the Seymour Hotel.
Meeting him in the lounge, Cecilia inwardly cheered.
‘He came sooner than I thought.’
The fact that he came in person meant he had verified everything. She was astounded by Reiner’s capability, having accomplished the task in just two days.
However, Cecilia showed no outward sign and merely asked with a lightly smiling face.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, my lord? Surely you didn’t come all this way just to have tea with me.”
“…….”
Fully aware of his reason for coming, Cecilia feigned ignorance.
Reiner looked at her with cool eyes.
“How did you know?”
“Pardon? Know what?”
“About me, Elise Hays, and Gilbert.”
Reiner stared sharply at Cecilia.
“Madam must have imposed strict secrecy. I can’t even begin to guess how you obtained that information.”
‘Ah, so that’s what he’s curious about?’
Well, it made sense.
The information she possessed went far beyond the level of simple rumors.
Cecilia shook her head with a secretive smile.
“I cannot tell you that. You haven’t given me anything yet, my lord.”
Cecilia pursed her lips slightly and picked up her teacup. It was a subtle gesture of polite refusal, indicating she would answer no further.
‘It’s not like I can explain it anyway.’
Who would believe her if she said she was killed by Rosena, only to open her eyes and find herself back in the past? Saying such a thing would surely get her labeled a madwoman and dragged off to an asylum.
“Ha, then I’ll ask just this.”
At Cecilia’s firm demeanor, Reiner let out a sigh and loosened his cravat slightly.
“Why did you pass that information to me? If you had just pretended not to know about Evan March’s affair and kept quiet, you would have become a duchess.”
Reiner was curious about this woman’s intentions. Why would she make such a choice when an easier path lay before her? For her to be angry about her fiance’s affair, Cecilia had given up too much.
To begin with, it was rare in the aristocratic society of Brissen’s to publicly make a scene over a husband’s mistress. Perhaps if she had vented her anger in secret like Elise, it would be different.
“A duchess…….”
Cecilia set down her teacup with a bitter expression. Just as Reiner said, when she first became a duchess in her past life, she too had felt she lacked nothing.
But reality was different.
Worn down by her husband’s increasingly cold demeanor and Elise’s persistent pressure for an heir, she grew thinner by the day. And in the end, she was even killed by Rosena.
The position of duchess was nothing but a splendid shell.
“That is not what I need.”
Cecilia straightened her back and spoke.
