It Turned Out to be a Useful Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 23

Chapter 4. The Graveyard of Old Fairytales

 

There was an ancient legend passed down through the Dennick royal family. The legend began on the day when George von Dennick, who would become the founding monarch of the royal family, was sailing the Southern seas as a child and fell into the water.

George von Dennick remained missing for what seemed like an impossibly long time for anyone to survive, until he was found on a beach in the South. When George regained consciousness, he told the people that it was a mermaid who had taken care of him during that time.

A mermaid. A mythical creature said to have existed only in ancient times.

People, unable to believe in the existence of such a mythical being, dismissed George’s story as nonsense. But when they went to the place George mentioned, where the mermaids supposedly lived—lo and behold—

There was a mine full of extremely high purity magic stones!

While the magic power of stones usually extracted from the corpses of creatures like orcs or giant boars had a power level of 1, the stones from this mine had a magic power level of about 100. Thus, rumors began to circulate that such powerful magic stones must have come from the corpses of mermaids.

It was said that the ones who took care of George von Dennick were the spirits of mermaids who had long since died.

Thanks to that incident, George acquired the high-purity magic stones from the mine and declared, “ This is all thanks to the blessing of the mermaids.”

George von Dennick. The man blessed by the mermaids.

Later, George conquered the continent of Hellenia, which had previously been dominated by the Hixenbourg royal family, and established the Dennick royal family.

… And that’s how the legend ends.

Well, no one knows whether George was ever truly missing, or if he was, whether he actually met a mermaid. It seems more likely that he was rescued by some kind-hearted, meddlesome fisherman, don’t you think?

However royal legends are supposed to throw things like plausibility or realism out the window. That way, they can say, “Our royal family is protected by these mysterious beings! Isn’t that terrifying?”

Well anyway.

The fact that there was a mine with high-purity magic stones was true, and it seems that this did help George become the first monarch. Even after that, there was a place where magic stones of such high purity called ‘The Mermaids’ Graves’ were ever found. However, only two mermaids’ graves were discovered after that. And every time, the Princes who discovered those two places, despite being second in line for the throne, ended up becoming emperor due to the rumors of having the ‘blessing of the mermaids’. Although, it was likely more thanks to the enormous wealth generated by those magic stones rather than any actual mermaid’s blessing.

Over time, the symbolic notion that ‘whoever finds the mermaids’ graves will become emperor’ became firmly rooted, and the princes and princesses became obsessed with discovering more of these mines called ‘The Mermaids’ Graves’.

However, for hundreds of years, no new high-purity magic stone mines had been found beyond the original three.

And now, one of the few remaining ‘Mermaids’ Graves’ just so happened to be located on a palm-sized piece of coastal land inherited by none other than Viscount Wedgwood.

“Isn’t that amazing?”

I tried to keep a serious expression as I replied, “Is it really amazing? With a piece of land like that–”

“You’re not thinking about selling it off, are you?” Eric interrupted, clearly seeing right through my initial thoughts when I first saw the document. 

I flinched and gave an awkward smile. “No way. Of course not. If it were the Mermaids’ Graves, not only Prince Robert but even the Princess would rush to snatch it away.”

Although the temptation was there, I had quickly dismissed the idea, knowing full well that the symbolic significance of the Mermaids’ Grave meant I couldn’t even dream of it. Besides, that piece of coastal land was also buried under a mountain of debt.

‘But how on earth Young Master Eric even know about all this?’ I wondered, though I decided not to pry any further and instead turned to the more pressing issue. 

“The problem is that the land is essentially just a name. The debt tied to it is so extensive that even the loan sharks can’t keep track of whose collateral it is anymore.”

“Did Wedgwood use that land as collateral?”

Eric tilted his head while asking. I nodded in reply.

“In that case, even if the rights to the collateral are reclaimed, it can’t be sold again for a year. You can’t transfer the title to Prince Robert either.”

“Can I reclaim the rights to the collateral?”

I opened my eyes wide. Then Eric said as if he was dumbfounded.

“Of course. If you repay the debt, you can reclaim the rights to the collateral. The title is still valid, right? It might be tricky to determine the order of precedence among creditors, but it’s not impossible.”

“…?”

Then why did the Duke try to kill us? No, why did he ‘kill’ us?

“But even if you reclaim the rights, once the ownership is transferred, you can’t sell it again for a year. That law’s designed to prevent reckless nobles from selling off land they have inherited from their ancestors.”

Could it be–

The coastal land was immediately needed, but when they found out the ownership had been scattered among loan sharks, and even if they managed to reclaim it, they’d have to wait a whole year before using it– 

‘That must have caused trouble with the contract made with Robert.’

And rather than explaining everything, convincing Helena, paying off the debt for the coastal land that belonged to our family, and then selling the mermaids’ graves to Robert—maybe it was just easier to kill us and solve everything on their own.

Wow.

To nobles like the Duke, a bunch of con artists like our family, was just like flies to be swatted?

“Haha…”

That rotten bastard.

I clenched my fists.

Eric heard the bitter laugh escaping between my teeth and frowned.

“What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know if this is something I should be saying in front of you, Young Master. But… your father is a complete scumbag.”

I thought Eric would shout in anger immediately, but he stayed quiet. Then, he responded with a bitter expression.

“If all of this is true, then of course he is. He should be punished.”

Wait, punished?

I frowned.

Of course, If the Duke were charged with treason and murder, the family’s entire fortune could be confiscated by the royal family in the process.

“No, hold on. Are you really going to reveal all this? Isn’t this the kind of situation where you’d just cover it up, make a deal, and let our family escape in exchange for silence?”

“Are you crazy? If he’s committed crimes, he should be punished.”

Eric spoke like a stubborn old man. I burst out laughing.

“Hah. I thought you didn’t like the whole ‘good defeats evil’ thing anymore?”

“Evil must be defeated with evil.”

He looked at me again with a look of agony on his face. Why does he keep staring at me like that?

“And from what I’ve seen, there’s no villain more trustworthy to fight evil than you, Emeline.”

“…Huh?”

Eric suddenly knelt in front of me. I tilted my head in confusion.

At that moment, the dim garden lights began to flicker one by one, casting light on Eric’s face, which had been dark.

Ah? Is this some dramatic lighting setup the Duke arranged ahead of time?

I quickly scanned our surroundings, afraid that someone might see us now that the garden starting to get brighter.

“Why are you kneeling there? Stand up. If anyone sees this…”

If anyone sees this, they might think the photos I took yesterday are real.

I thought about the photo of me and Eric that I had printed earlier at a photo supply store.

Why, of all times, did those pictures pop into my head now? Eric’s sculpted torso. Me sitting atop it. And his half-parted lips.

I glanced at Eric’s red lips, which were exactly the same as in the photo.

His looks always stirred up some strange feeling in me from deep down.

‘Is this what they call lust…?’

I muttered to myself, unable to take my eyes off his lips. “This could easily lead to a misunderstanding…”

Despite my muttering, Eric began speaking again.

“In any case, I must prevent the coastal land from falling into my father’s hand, and you must prevent your mother from marrying my father. We’ve only got two days left before their wedding.”

“Yeah, well, that’s right…” Eric’s words brought me back to my senses and quickly responded.

As soon as we made eye contact, Eric’s cheeks and ears flushed red, as if he had been caught doing something.

But caught doing what?

Up until now, Eric hadn’t seemed like the kind of person who would get caught in anything. He was a simple, straightforward guy, honest to a fault–even foolishly so. A good man who is so naive that he chooses the whole ‘good defeats evil’ thing over the safety of his family.

‘So why is he acting so flustered in front of me now?’

Eric cleared his throat and started sweating nervously as he continued.

“I’m about to make a really strange proposal, and I need you to accept it because I truly need your help, and it looks like you need mine too.”

“Just spit it out already. Why’s your face so red all of a sudden…?”

You’re making me blush too!

“Speak quietly!”

“I am speaking quietly…?!”

You’re the one yelling.

I glared at him with a bewildered look. Won’t your knees hurt id you kneel like that?

Eric finally spoke.

“The only way to stop this wedding, which is only two days away, is for you to become not my sister—but my wife.”

I was so dumbfounded that Eric’s words didn’t even register at first. I blinked and asked with a blank expression.

“What did you say?”

But Eric seemed too worked up to notice my question, he gritted his teeth like an angry person and pulled something from his pocket.

It was a small box, the kind you could see from a passing carriage window and know exactly what was inside.

‘Oh, no way…’

I felt a chill run down my spine as my eyes widened.

“Of course, this is technically a fraudulent marriage, but I believe that marriage is sacred, and no marriage is complete without a proposal–”

“Uh… wait, hold on…”

This is not how I expected things to go!

However, despite my protests, Eric stubbornly continued.

“Will you marry me, Emeline Wedgwood?”

I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming. But a curse slipped through my teeth anyway.

“What the hell!”

Eric’s face distorted in dismay.

 

✵ ✵ ✵

 

At the back of the ballroom was a private resting room exclusively for the royal family.

Princess Ella, who had been dancing energetically, entered the resting room to take a break. She wasn’t alone. Sitting nervously beside her was a twenty-year-old nobleman, who had just made his debut this year.

Ella glanced at him, a playful smile on her lips, and asked, “Are you nervous?”

“What? Ah, no. I mean… yes. It’s my first time meeting someone as high-ranking as you…”

“And am I just high-ranking, or am I beautiful?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked if I’m just of high rank, or am I beautiful as well.”

Ella giggled and lifted her glass. 

The young man, sweating profusely, hurried to respond. “N-no! You are beautiful! Absolutely beautiful, Princess.”

Ella stared intently at him like a hunter eyeing its prey. She had no intention of letting this one go.

She put her glass down and cupped the young nobleman’s cheek. As she leaned in to taste his lips– 

“Pardon the intrusion, Princess.”

Someone interrupted, stepping into the room.

Ella turned her gaze toward the intruder in annoyance. There stood Eric Orleans, looking at the half-naked young man and Ella with an indifferent expression.

As Ella gritted her teeth and was about to order Eric to leave, the young nobleman, whose face turned red, hastily grabbed his coat and stammered, “I-I was just looking for the bathroom and wandered in by mistake! I swear, I–”

“Wait, no… just a moment!”

But before Ella could stop him, the young man disappeared in an instant.

As soon as he left, Ella shouted at Eric, “What do you think you’re doing?! I even helped you out with that cute little red-haired girl earlier!”

She clutched the back of her neck in frustration. Letting such a cute guy slip away, just like that!

Eric spoke firmly. “It’s urgent.”

“If this isn’t really urgent, I’ll have you jailed for three days for invading the royal family’s private quarters. Then you won’t be able to attend your father’s wedding!”

Despite her angry outburst, Eric didn’t even blink. 

“You might want to tidy up your appearance. I’m not alone.”

“Then who did you come with?”

Ella asked irritably as she flopped down on the now-empty sofa. Just then, the door to the resting room opened a little further, and a glimpse of red hair appeared through the gap.

“…?”

Ella narrowed her eyes at the sight of that red hair.

Red hair, brown eyes… Ah, the girl who would become Eric’s sister-in-law. Earlier, she’d barely survived an encounter with that audacious marquess’s daughter and had fled the scene, looking like she was barely holding on.

Ella stood up from her seat and studied the young woman’s face carefully whose name she could not remember.

At that moment, the young woman suddenly knelt before Ella.

“Please, give me the young lord!”

“…?”

With a thud, the sound of her knees hitting the floor echoed through the room. Eric grimaced and hurriedly whispered to the kneeling woman.

“What– I get what you’re trying to do, but this isn’t the way. Get up, Emeline Wedgwood.”

Ah, that’s right.

Emeline Wedgwood.

That was her name.

 

✵ ✵ ✵

 

“This isn’t how I’m supposed to do it? Why not…? You said I needed the Princess’s permission.”

As I muttered, Eric ran a hand through his hair looking dumbfounded, as if dealing with a headache.

“Why would you need permission like that? Get up.”

Eric grabbed my hand and helped me up.

His gaze briefly flickered over my dress and shoes, but it was only for a moment.

My attention was immediately drawn to what the Princess said next.

“What do you plan to do with him?”

The Princess casually referred to Eric, the young lord of Orleans, as ‘him’. Were these two really in that kind of relationship?

Fearing that I would upset the notoriously jealous Princess, I hunched my shoulders and muttered, “Well… I plan to use him and return him later…”

‘Since this is a fraudulent marriage, after all?’

A fraudulent marriage.

The huge disaster that Eric and I were about to create was our marriage.

“Is it really that bad, to the point of swearing? The tabloids said I’m a man whom everyone wants to marry.”

“Wow… Did you see the rankings in the tabloids? Even someone like you checks those?”

“Lower your voice.”

“I’m already speaking quietly.”

Eric continued speaking with his face flushed red.

He said that the Duke must have more than a few secrets about my family. If the Duke decided to act on those weaknesses, my family would be isolated on this vast continent, with no allies to turn to. Even if my mother tried to break off the marriage and run, the Duke wouldn’t let it happen.

So, from his perspective, the only way to break this marriage and protect my family while also making Eric an important witness and preventing the Duke from getting hold of the Mermaids’ Graves was this:

“I’ll protect you and your family until I uncover all of my father’s secrets. With marriage. Didn’t you say you wanted to be my advisor? It would be convenient to think of it as a kind of contract.”

Why does your face turn red when you say it’s just a contract?

Eric took out a ring and, with trembling hands, placed it… well, not on my finger, but firmly in my palm.

“If you are willing to cooperate with me, accept it.”

Did it take five seconds?

That’s how long it took for me to slip the ring on without any further questions.

“Yes.”

Of course, there were many reasons why I accepted the ring, as Eric had pointed out, but the main reason I sided with him was—

Eric Orleans is a good guy, and good guys never win against bad guys.

On the contrary, I am a bad guy. I’m confident I’ll be able to use Eric and discard him after using him to my heart’s content.

However… is Eric really the Princess’s?

“What nonsense is this? Am I some kind of object? Enough with the jokes.”

Eric responded firmly to the Princess. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled at his words.

“What? She’s the one asking for you first. She may not think you’re an object, but she’s asking you for a purpose, right? Whether it’s for ornamental purposes, emergency food, or to satisfy certain… human instinctive needs…”

“Princess.”

Eric turned his head.

However, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the Princess’s boldness and straightforwardness.

‘Wow, I want to be friends with her. That’s the kind of expression that comes from real-life experience.’

Though, realistically, there’s no way I could ever be friends with her.

“Stop. I didn’t come here to joke around,” Eric said.

The princess, who had been joking up until now, suddenly dropped her playful tone and spoke in a cold voice.

“I’m not joking either. The girl who’s supposed to become your sister knelt before me and asked for you. How could that be a joke? The whole capital would be in an uproar. So, why is it a problem for me to ask how you’re useful?”

The Princess’s gaze pierced through me. The lighthearted and cheerful demeanor she had shown when I first met her in the reception hall had completely vanished, replaced by a sharp, calculating expression.

“Emeline Wedgwood. The passionate red-haired lady, right?”

I swallowed my saliva nervously, feeling as though my entire body had frozen, unable to meet the Princess’s gaze.

The Princess slumped back onto the sofa. Eric, sensing my stiffness, gently guided me to a chair across from the Princess.

“Well, this has been entertaining so far, but it’s not enough to forgive you for interrupting my delightful evening. So, Miss Emeline Wedgwood, tell me clearly. What exactly do you plan to do with Eric Orleans?”

Princess Ella’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

Her gaze was so intense, it felt as though it was suffocating the life out of me. At that moment, Eric reached his hand toward me. I looked at him in confusion. Eric whispered softly to me.

“Hand it over. That document.”

I blinked in surprise. I whispered back to him, “Are you serious?”

Is he really this honest? I mean, Lily did say he was a man whose inside matched his outside, but is it really that straightforward? He’s seriously going to give those documents to the Princess? Isn’t that a family secret?

Sweat trickled down my back as I retrieved the documents from my inner pocket. I looked at Eric with pleading eyes.

Are we really not going to get our heads chopped off for showing this? After all, the Orleans family was in alliance with Prince Robert!

Eric gently loosened my fingers one by one and took the documents from me. Then, he handed them to the Princess.

“You should read it.”

It didn’t take the Princess long to read through the documents.

“Wow, Baldrick Orleans. I always had a soft spot for him, thinking of him as a charming old man… but this is disappointing.”

The Princess muttered to herself.

Charming old man…? Is that how princesses normally speak?

The Princess, having set the documents aside, crossed her legs and looked at Eric.

“And yet you brought this to me?”

Exactly. My thoughts exactly.

My heart pounded inside.

“Even though Robert embezzling the national treasury, this document could still easily become evidence of your family’s treason? And after you took the original with you last time, you’re willingly bringing it back to me now?”

I looked at Eric.

What are you going to do now? You have a plan, right? huh? Please tell me you have a plan.