12
Margaret was taken aback by Railey’s sudden reaction.
She had been fully intent on using a magical artifact to force her into submission, yet here Railey was—apologizing first.
“…What do you mean, you’re sorry?”
“A… About earlier. That horrible pain… That was you, wasn’t it, Margaret?”
“……”
The moment the pain faded, she began to suspect. If it wasn’t some sudden illness, then the timing of that sharp headache couldn’t just be a coincidence…
Sure, this girl was always timid, but she wasn’t entirely clueless.
As Margaret twisted her lips in silence, Railey, growing anxious, raised her voice again.
“It really hurt…! I don’t want that to happen again… It’s terrifying…”
“Yes, your guess is correct. If I choose to, I can make you feel that same pain any time I want.”
“……!”
Railey gasped and took a step back.
Margaret considered using the magical artifact again, partly to make an example of her and partly out of spite—but held herself back. The artifact needed time to recharge, and overusing it wasn’t wise.
Besides, Railey happened to say the very words Margaret wanted to hear.
“F-Fine! I’ll do whatever you say!”
“Good. Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d been this cooperative from the start? I hate causing you pain—it breaks my heart, you know. But it’s all for your own discipline.”
Of course, she didn’t mean a word of it.
Most of the ‘discipline’ Margaret claimed to deliver was just an excuse to vent her own frustrations by picking fights over nothing.
“W-What do I have to do…? It’s not like the Duke would talk about important business in front of a child like me…”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
Margaret gave a sly smile.
“The Duke won’t discuss anything important in your presence—but it won’t be hard for you to enter his study, will it?”
“Y-Yeah… I guess not…”
“I’ll give you a magical tool later. All you need to do is pretend you’re exploring the room… and secretly…”
To make sure Railey wouldn’t mess up and blow their cover, Margaret carefully explained how to install the artifact.
Normally, the tediousness of such explanations would’ve annoyed her, but today, it just made her giddy.
She could already see her baronial rank glimmering before her eyes.
Once she had that in her hands, only a future of happiness awaited her—free from the wretched life of cleaning up after that idiot Viscount.
So caught up in her joy, Margaret didn’t notice the determined resolve now glinting in Railey’s eyes.
***
That night.
Railey received an unexpected visitor.
“Huh? Weren’t you supposed to arrive tomorrow?”
“Mm-hmm. I hurried because I couldn’t wait to see my lovely daughter-in-law’s face.”
It was her father-in-law, still wearing that wide, goofy smile that never quite suited his appearance.
As Railey stared up at him in shock, Walter gave her a sheepish look.
“I probably should’ve waited until morning to visit, huh? I got so excited I forgot how late it was…”
“No, it’s perfectly fine! If I’d known, I would’ve gone out to greet you.”
“I wouldn’t trouble you like that. I just needed to see your face to feel at ease.”
And with that, he implied he would now head back.
It truly seemed he’d come straight to greet her the moment he arrived—nothing more, nothing less.
‘Maybe… he rushed over because of what happened earlier…’
Perhaps he had seen how her old nanny had treated her and come out of concern.
Once again, Railey was reminded of how kind the Duke of Elestine’s household was—and how urgent it was to rid them of the toxic cancer lurking within.
“Did Young Master Serge not come with you?”
“Mm, he went straight to his quarters. You’ll see him tomorrow.”
Most likely, his magic hadn’t stabilized yet, and he was still in animal form. Railey nodded without letting her guess show.
“Sorry for the late visit. I’ll be going now.”
“Ah…! Father-in-law!”
“Yes?”
Walter’s expression lit up noticeably at being called ‘Father-in-law.’ If he’d been in fox form, his tail would surely have been wagging furiously.
“I actually had something I wanted to discuss with you. Could we talk now, if you have time?”
“……”
For just a moment, a sharp glint passed through Walter’s golden eyes—then vanished.
“Well then, since my daughter-in-law says she has something to tell me, I’d make time no matter what.”
“Thank you.”
As the saying goes—strike while the iron is hot. She needed to speak with Walter to move forward with the plan she had in mind anyway.
With trembling hands clenched tightly, she led Walter into the private room—one with no prying ears.
***
“So, what is it you wanted to talk about? Feel free to say whatever’s on your mind.”
Walter asked gently, smiling warmly as he looked at Railey seated across from him on the sofa.
Railey hesitated, then began to speak.
“You may find it hard to believe the words of someone as young as me, but…”
“What are you talking about? Is something making you uncomfortable at the estate? Are the staff not treating you properly, perhaps…?”
“Oh, no! Nothing like that. Everyone has been truly kind to me.”
“Then…?”
Railey swallowed hard, then made up her mind and continued.
“I’m sure you were informed beforehand… but my nanny came to the estate today.”
“Yes, I was. Since everything here is new to you, the Viscount of Vitence insisted she come along to help you adjust.”
“But the nanny… didn’t come here for that reason alone.”
“You mean, she has another motive?”
“Yes.”
Railey fixed her gaze firmly, deliberately showing strength in her eyes so her words wouldn’t be dismissed as childish nonsense.
“My father… He seems to want to extract information from the Duchy and is trying to pass it on through my nanny.”
“……!”
She didn’t dare meet her father-in-law’s gaze, unsure she could face the shock and disappointment likely painted on his face.
To the Duke, this must sound absurd—if not outright horrifying.
“But historically… the Duchess of Elestine has often disgraced the family by betraying the ducal house. Unfortunately.”
“The higher the noblewoman’s status, the more likely it was to happen.”
“Though it was never made public, Serge’s mother—my former wife—was one such case.”
To think that he, who had once been betrayed by his late wife, was now facing something similar with his daughter-in-law…
It was enough to make anyone want to cast her out on the spot.
That’s why Railey had initially considered keeping it all a secret—thinking it might be better to handle things on her own.
But she also knew she was still just a child, with clear limits to what she could do. And if the truth ever came out later, the Duke’s sense of betrayal would only deepen.
So she chose to come clean—before anything got worse. That felt like the right decision.
Still, if she just confessed and nothing more, she would likely be banished from the duchy on the spot.
She had to prove she had value—a reason for them to let her stay.
“I—I don’t want to be cast out! So… I thought maybe I could turn this around and help you instead!”
“…Help me?”
“Yes! My nanny told me to plant a magical artifact in your office to steal information. But my father doesn’t have the money to afford something that powerful.”
She spoke clearly, articulating her thoughts with purpose.
“More than the money, my father simply isn’t clever or bold enough to pull off something like this on his own. So that means…”
“…”
“There must be someone else behind all this—someone with enough power and ambition to target the Elestine Duchy, and they’re using my father as a pawn.”
“…!”
The situation became crystal clear.
“I haven’t received the magic artifact yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll hand it over to you. It’s a rare item—if we can trace its origins, we might uncover the one behind all this. Or maybe we can even make them think their plan is working… and strike back.”
“…”
“If needed, I’ll try to dig up more information. Please… use me.”
Still unable to lift her head, Railey clenched her fists tightly.
This was the deal she had come up with—her desperate plan to survive.
She may have been young, but she knew she could handle this. After all, she had the memories of a previous life now.
Just one thing…
“In return… please don’t send me back to the Viscount’s house…”
She had tried to sound strong—but the final plea slipped out in a trembling voice.
~~~
Hello! If you’d like to read chapters 14 – 15 & 16 – 20 of the novel ‘The Fox Clan Hides Their True Identity from the Bride’
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