[ The Ducal Lady of House Everhart Exposed as a Fraud — Family’s Loyal Butler Revealed as the Mastermind ]
[ Fake Noble ‘Marie Whistler’ Wanted for Embezzling a Count’s Secret Funds ]
[ Young Widow Madam McDowell Caught Blackmailing Lover for Money ]
[ Playboy Marquis’s Heir Robbed of Family’s Slush Fund by Missing Fiancée ]
A fake noble daughter, a disguised aristocrat, a young widow, and a vanished fiancée.
A legendary con artist with dozens of names. The very first name: Jenna Madeline.
That’s me.
I unknowingly began my education in fraud at the age of five. And except for one time, I’ve never once regretted this job.
That’s because I had one rule of my own.
“You wretched swindler!”
Reeking of the stench of a failed villain, he was one of my many victims
I had no idea how he found me, but he’d chased me all the way to the rooftop of the hotel where I was hiding.
“Oh my, I didn’t expect to meet my ex-fiancé’s father like this. You’ve come such a long way. That must’ve been quite the trouble, hoho…”
“How dare you swindle me with a fake auction business? And even deceive me with a marriage fraud? Return my investment immediately!”
Oh dear, marriage fraud?
For a marquis, he sure was quick to come running, just because I tricked his precious son into handing over a bit of money.
“Oh my, so that’s why you came. But please, let’s be accurate with our words.”
“What? What trickery this time…?”
“Father, it wasn’t an auction business. It was a slave trade. You know, once that’s exposed, prison is inevitable. Do you really think you should be wasting your time chasing after me instead?”
In truth, he was a vile man who illegally trafficked slaves from a foreign country.
So I used his son to crack his vault, gave half the money to the freed slaves, and kept the other half for myself.
Yes, that’s my rule.
If I’m going to commit fraud, let it at least be a righteous one.
Not to brag, but you could say I’m something like a “benevolent thief.”
But in the end, a crime is still a crime.
Perhaps this is simply the fate of a con artist who’s run out of luck.
“Shut up! If I can’t get my money back, I’ll at least take your life before Sir Aster arrives!”
“Sir Aster? Where, where is he? Damn it, how close is he? That mad dog is really after me again, huh?”
“Die!”
Thud!
I lost my balance as his fist landed, just as I got distracted for a moment.
“W-what? No, no! I, I’m falling!”
Before I could even gather my thoughts, I was plummeting from the top of the hotel building.
That despicable man! Just because your pathetic life is ruined, you’re going to kill me too?
‘…Aah, so this is how it ends. Maybe it’s for the best. I’ve paid off all my debts anyway…’
Strangely, I felt kind of relieved. But still, there was one thing I regretted.
My very first con.
Pretending to be a fake daughter and leaving a man—who’d already lost his family—feeling even more broken.
* * *
Clatter!
“Gasp!”
The loud jolt snapped my eyes open.
Outside the window, the scenery was rushing by—I was in a moving carriage.
Something felt off.
‘…Wait, I’m not dead?’
I looked up at the ceiling, half-expecting I’d crashed through it or something—but nope, no hole.
No broken bones, not even a scratch.
Physically, I was totally fine.
But my mood? It was the worst.
Because sitting right in front of me were the two faces I found the most unbearably annoying in my entire life.
Slowly, I raised a finger and pointed at them.
“…The mom who abandoned me. The dad who abandoned me.”
They were the parents who had pretended to be a duke’s family for twelve years, stolen countless treasures, and then fled in the dead of night.
They even left debts under my name—twice—before disappearing again.
Tch. Seriously? Not even a wrinkle on their faces? Maybe I should’ve just let the debt collectors have them.
“Why’d you come hewe? Whewe do you even get da newve? Don’ fink I’ll fowgive you jus’ ‘cause you got wucky an’ saved me… huh?”
‘What’s this? It’s been weird for a while… Did I bite my tongue when I fell?’
Annoyed by how clumsy my words sounded, I noticed my parents starting to glance nervously at someone else.
Sitting right next to me was a middle-aged man with a belly so big, his fancy vest looked like it was about to burst.
With a displeased tone, he spoke.
“I heard the child was supposed to be smart. What’s going on?”
“Oh, oh my! Baron! She really is smart! She must still be groggy from just waking up.
Jenna, come on, what are you supposed to say?”
“Yes, Jenna. Hurry up and speak. That information this noble sir kindly gave us—you repeated it perfectly this morning!”
“…?”
When I looked at my parents, my mother stretched out her hand and pinched the inside of my arm with a terrifying expression.
“Ow! Wha’ are you doin’? That huwts!”
Her sharp nails dug into my soft skin—it really did hurt.
“Tsk, stop fooling around. You know everything. Are you teasing me again? Get it together!”
“Yeah, you little brat! When you meet the Duke later, make sure you say what we practiced yesterday!”
“Tsk, perhaps I should find another child…”
The baron muttered, clearly displeased, and my parents quickly bowed their heads in panic.
“Oh my, please don’t say that! She might act a little cocky, but she’s the smartest kid in the whole territory!”
“That’s right! She’s only five, and she can already do multiplication and division, even though no one taught her! Would you like to test her yourself?”
‘What is this ridiculous act… huh? What? Five?’
My mouth dropped open, completely overwhelmed by confusion.
‘What kind of absurd afterlife moment is this?!’
I frantically turned my head from side to side, checking my body—chubby little hands like soft, white steamed buns, and tiny, stubby legs like useless sausages.
If this absurd afterlife was actually real life, then out of all the names I’d ever used, I had returned to the very first one—the prodigy swindler.
I was five-year-old Jenna Madeline again!
“A-Ah, I see. Ahem… You’ve given birth to quite a daughter. Make sure you drill it into her head—if she can catch the butler’s eye this time, expanding my estate won’t just be a dream.”
As I quietly watched their shameless performance, the situation slowly started to make sense.
Through the endless rows of lush plane trees, I could see a grand, majestic mansion.
Even though this wasn’t deep in a forest, the garden was full of vibrant, blooming flowers.
It was the kind of noble estate that should have had nothing to do with someone like me—a commoner—yet somehow, it all felt so familiar. A bad feeling crept over me.
If the door to that drawing room were to open…
Click. Murmurs.
Just as I remembered, I saw girls with silver hair—ranging from deep silver to platinum, to light gray—gathered like a bustling market square.
‘…Oh, crap.’
To explain this bizarre situation, we have to go back about seven years.
The owner of this mansion was none other than the Duke of Everhart, heir to a thousand-year-old lineage.
It was a well-known story—a noble heir who had been kidnapped and raised as a commoner finally returned home.
Even the timing of his return was the stuff of legends: just as the family, left with only the duchess, was on the verge of being taken by the imperial family.
He was like a hero rising in troubled times.
But sadly, things quickly took a turn for the worse.
What greeted him wasn’t a warm welcome, but territorial bullying, power struggles, and vassals who had already seized control of the estate.
His desperate attempts to prove himself only ended in tragedy—the loss of the duchess, the woman he had loved since his commoner days.
Heartbroken, he tirelessly searched for her, clinging to the hope of finding both her and the child she had been carrying.
But even now, not a single clue had surfaced.
That’s why.
The butler, who had always looked down on the commoner-born duke, came up with this ridiculous competition to find the “duke’s daughter.”
‘Of course, the butler’s real plan was to plant a fake daughter and eventually devour the duchy.’
The cunning butler gave the best information to the easiest fool to manipulate, who just happened to be the baron who recommended me.
And so, the day I miraculously beat fifty-to-one odds and was chosen to be the duke’s daughter…
That day was today—the day I came to deceive a broken man who had already lost his family.
“Jenna, you have to do well from now on. We’re no longer your parents—we’re just the ones who saved your life. Got it?”
“That’s right. You have to be chosen. You becoming the duke’s daughter is the only way we can live without ever working again.
Our daughter is such a good, filial child. Hahaha!”
“…Wha?”
A filial child? A filial child, they said?
The word sent shivers down my spine, snapping me back to full awareness.
The parents who had forced me to live as a fake duke’s daughter for twelve long years.
The same parents who spent every coin I earned and later came after me as loan sharks.
‘You think I’m gonna be your slave again?’
This time, I swore to myself—I wouldn’t leave any room for regret.
And then, finally, it was my turn. The office door creaked open.
Click.
At the head of a massive desk sat a face I knew all too well.
With his noble, long silver hair and clear blue eyes, Duke Dane Everhart was just as cold and sharp as I remembered.
Even if he had now lost his family and been hollowed out by grief, in my life, he had been the warmest adult-the only one who had ever forgiven me.
Meeting his gaze, I knew I couldn’t just stand there like an idiot, whether this was a dream or reality.
I quickly bowed my head as deeply as I could.
“Nice to meet you, Duke!”
The weight of my large head nearly folded my little body in half, but what mattered most was making a good impression on him, at least.
Slowly, I lifted my head and glanced at the man standing beside the Duke.
Just seeing him made the corners of my lips curl into a wicked grin.
‘Your Grace, I don’t know exactly what’s going on right now, but I’ll repay my debt this time. It’s going to be so easy. Isn’t that right, old man?’
“…And you too, Mister Butler!”
Grinning slyly, I turned my gaze toward the man who was the starting point of all these wicked schemes.
Like a sly serpent eyeing the eggs in its nest.
