Seated at the head of the table with elegant poise, she spoke while maintaining a faint smile on her lips. Her cynical tone was just a bonus. Mariposa trembled as she looked at Giselle sitting in the seat of honor.
“Isn’t it a bit late for you to realize that?”
“Ha, haha… How did this happen…”
“You’re a bit slow on the uptake.”
“…”
“I’m the duke’s fiancée.”
The color drained from Mariposa’s face.
At that moment, Duke Kalinos whispered quietly, “That’s right, Darling. You’re my fiancée.” His arrogant expression hit Mariposa directly.
* * *
The first thing that caught my eye was Mariposa’s deathly pale face. How desperately she must have wanted to curry favor with the future mistress of House Kalinos. But discovering it was me? She must be completely shocked.
Mariposa couldn’t even hide her stunned expression. It was natural. Even I never imagined I’d become a Cinderella overnight like this.
“How have you been? I haven’t seen you at all because you were grounded!”
Mariposa was so pale that she couldn’t even answer my cheerful greeting.
“Giselle came prepared with so ma~ny stories to share today. Like all those rumors about Giselle, for example…” I pulled out a ‘Society Gossip’ newspaper—a tabloid full of trashy social news—from my dress pocket and beamed. In short, it was my way of saying, ‘I’ll expose your true face in front of Duke Kalinos.’
Mariposa’s face went white, as if she hadn’t seen this coming.
“…Giselle, you’re getting married soon. Shouldn’t you try to show only your best side to the Duke’s family? You shouldn’t act in a way that puts your own family down.”
“Hmm? But Giselle thinks honesty is a virtue! The person who raised Giselle always taught that~!”
“No…”
“And now, let’s be~gin!”
With that, Mariposa was forced onto the express train to her own ruin, driven by me.
“First! Daily bullying was the norm!”
“…What are you—”
“Second! Giselle’s dresses were always old and shabby!”
“No, that’s—”
“Third! Giselle’s hands and eyes never stayed dry from all the crying!”
“Oh, that’s truly appalling.”
With even Duke Kalinos chiming in, Mariposa really couldn’t object anymore.
“Fourth! An utter neglect! Fifth! Spreading vicious lies about Giselle’s supposed lack of mana while tormenting Giselle relentlessly!” To prove I had mana, I performed a simple wind spell this time.
“Ack!” Mariposa’s hair was pulled and fell to the floor.
“Giselle was going to say more, but Giselle is starting to get bored.”
Honestly, she was always such a pathetic person. Someone who would instantly grovel before even the smallest power. Which is probably why she trampled on me even more. Looking back now, she really was nothing special.
I grinned as I locked eyes with Mariposa, whose gaze was rolling around in shock. “Mariposa Florette.”
“Y-Yes?”
By now, Mariposa’s mind was probably racing, calculating frantically. She must be imagining that if I become Duchess Kalinos, her own son might become the family head. She was probably also figuring that I wouldn’t be able to abandon the Florette family if I needed to fit in at Kalinos.
Naturally, to be acknowledged by your in-laws, you need the support of your birth family. But I didn’t need any of that.
“You mentioned wanting to do business with Duke Kalinos, didn’t you?”
“T-That’s…”
“No way, absolutely not. Fortunately, I, Giselle, have an even better plan!” I waved my hand with a bright smile. “This coffee house, give it to Giselle.”
“What do you—?”
“Giselle needs a proper dowry to get married. This coffee house is perfect.”
I saw Mariposa clench her fists at my words. Watching her, my past came to mind.
“Giselle, you’ll keep losing, losing, and losing, over and over again.”
“W-Why? What did I do w-wrong…?”
“Your sin was daring to crawl into this family in the first place.”
But guess what. Now, the one who’s going to keep losing, losing, and losing is her.
“This dessert is really delicious. Since Madam Mariposa worked so hard to develop this recipe, it’s Giselle’s now, right?” I grinned mischievously, popping the dessert into my mouth like I was just snatching it away. Watching Mariposa tremble made me feel even poison would taste sweet.
* * *
“That’s nonsense. How could you take over another noble’s business? No matter how high your status, it’s impossible.”
“Ha, I thought so.”
“Yes. Even if this went to court by His Majesty’s order, you’d win. As long as you don’t sign any contract, you can rest easy.”
Unable to utter a word in response to Giselle, Mariposa returned home. Fuming, she went to see a lawyer. In this strictly hierarchical world, even the highest-ranking nobles had lines they couldn’t cross—or so she believed.
Giselle Florette, whatever tricks that vile woman used, there’s no way I’ll lose my coffee house. She’d already bribed countless other nobles and gotten a legal opinion that the business couldn’t be taken from her. How foolish. Did she think I’d be defeated so easily?
But then… The very next day, after triumphantly returning from the lawyer, a terrified maid rushed up to her and grabbed her sleeve.
“Ma-Madam Mariposa!”
“What?”
“They’re building a wall in front of the coffee house!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Customers can’t get in, and the employees who came in early this morning are trapped inside!”
* * *
Thunk, thunk, thud—! Hearing the sounds of the wall being built, the chef Liliv wiped the sweat from his brow in front of the coffee house oven and straightened his back.
“What’s going on?”
Amazingly, a wall was being erected right in front of the coffee house—blocking the main entrance! Waiters and waitresses who had been passing their work onto him and joking around looked on in shock.
“This is ridiculous. I’d better go tell the boss so we can sort this out. Anyway, Mister, hurry up and get back inside. If people see you limping, they’ll think it’s bad for business.”
“Yeah, just get out of here already!”
Liliv hurried off, limping. But, unlucky as ever, he tripped and fell to the floor. To make matters worse, a note fell out of his worn pocket.
With a mocking expression, the red-haired waitress snatched up the note as if she’d just seen something amusing. “Ha, what is this not? [Dad, ar yu okay at wok? Is it hard? I luv you.]”
“M-My daughter gave me that.”
“Your daughter can’t even write properly, and her dad is criples? What a family.”
The waiters and waitresses laughed as they tore up the crumpled note. Used to this kind of abuse, Liliv bowed his head and swallowed his anger. After all, as they said, no restaurant would hire a cripple. Almost as if echoing his feelings, clapping was heard from a distance.
“Oh, who could possibly do such an unscrupulous thing?” The mocking voice was a bonus.
Everyone’s attention turned to where the voice had come from.
* * *
That ‘who’ was me. Watching the whole situation, I propped my chin on my hand and mused quietly to myself. Acting without any business ethics—how delightful.
