Chapter 11
In ‘The Fallen Noble Lady Captures the Duke’, there was a scene where Amanda visited the Anais Guild. Thanks to that, I knew how quick and high-quality their services were, as long as you paid well.
‘Why bother finding a new guild when I can just go to the competent one mentioned in the novel?’ I thought as I set down my teacup.
The guild master, wearing a crow mask that only showed his mouth, asked,
“Duchess, are you here for information regarding high society?”
For newlyweds, their first appearance in society is as important as a debutante’s debut. However, due to Diana’s infamous reputation, none of the influential ladies in the social circles had sent me invitations. Social status alone wasn’t enough to sway them.
As a result, I’d been racking my brain with the butler about where to begin my social activities.
‘If I have a good standing, hosting my own event could be an option, but…’
That’s not why I was here, so I decided to put that issue aside for now.
“I understand this guild handles all sorts of errands. I want you to take this money and buy a proxy to handle investments and related tasks on my behalf,” I said.
“…Couldn’t you handle the investments through your family?” the guild master asked.
“I came here because I want to do it privately, without the family knowing.”
“Wow. But of all places, why come to us…?”
“What?”
“Ahem! Nothing! But there are plenty of other guilds out there. Are you sure you want to trust this to Anais?”
“Yes. That’s why I came, isn’t it?”
…Why did he look at me with pity? Narrowing my eyes at his strange reaction, I watched him grin before standing up.
“You’ve come to the right place. Anais Guild specializes in this kind of work!” he said, sweeping up my empty teacup with a flourish. His ash-gray hair swayed with his sharp movements.
“I’ll brew a fresh pot of tea, and we can continue our discussion afterward,” he said, quickly excusing himself and leaving the room with my teacup in hand.
* * *
The rest of the conversation with the guild master went smoothly. Satisfied, I pulled my hood low over my face and left the Anais Guild building.
‘I’m rich now,’ I thought confidently.
There was no way my investments would fail, not when I followed what happened in the novel.
‘Later, I should also use this place to prepare for my escape overseas.’
As long as I kept paying well, the guild wouldn’t hesitate to handle even illegal tasks.
If I deposited the money under an alias in a foreign bank, I could live comfortably off the interest alone. Fortunately, the country I was eyeing for exile had a banking system just as good as the empire’s.
‘Once I cure Harold, I can start a new life there.’
The more money, the better. I could leave the dirty work to the guild and live in peace.
Humming a cheerful tune, I walked briskly. I had the carriage parked a little farther away to avoid anyone noticing where I’d been.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew from the front.
Ugh, my eyes! I squeezed them shut and rubbed at them with the back of my hand as tears welled up.
Somehow, at that moment, my hood had slipped off, and my hair was flying wildly. As the wind died down, the sting in my eyes subsided, and I hurried to straighten my hair and pull up my hood. But just then, I froze as I saw a group of familiar faces approaching from the front.
They were members of the human trafficking gang that had tried to sell me into slavery.
“Hey! You’re…!”
Without thinking, I turned and bolted.
“Hey! Get her!”
“Stop right there!”
“Like hell, I will! Would you stop if you were me!?”
“Well, stop anyway!”
They weren’t going to give up easily after losing me before. Gritting my teeth, I sprinted toward the only place I knew I could find help: the Anais Guild.
I thought I had left street life behind for good, never expecting to run into them again, especially not in this area, which wasn’t their usual base.
‘It’s not like I’m being chased by Diana’s fate as a villainess or anything!’
This was just one persistent stroke of bad luck. Or maybe today was just cursed.
I turned to look back and threw my hood at them.
“Argh! This little…!”
The wind carried the cloak into their faces, momentarily blinding them. I used the chance to run faster.
But before I could make it much farther, my foot caught on a stone.
No! This can’t be happening!
I tried to steady myself, but my body was already tipping forward. With a painful thud, I hit the ground.
“Ouch…”
Though the pain subsided quickly thanks to my healing abilities, the traffickers had already surrounded me, grinning like predators who had just caught a prize fish.
“Phew. Finally got you. You’ve been running around like a rat, making us work for it,” one said.
“Come on, don’t be so mad, boss. With a face and body like hers, we’ll be rich once we sell her,” another said.
I sighed internally. I was so close to reaching the Anais Guild. Tightening my jaw, I assessed my surroundings. Having lost me so many times before, they weren’t giving me any chance to escape this time.
“Now, don’t resist, pretty girl. I don’t want to damage such a valuable prize, understand?”
“You’d better not touch me,” I said, lifting my left hand.
On my ring finger was the wedding band with the Vissen family crest engraved on it.
“Didn’t you hear that Duke Vissen recently got married?”
Our wedding had been widely reported in the newspapers, given that Harold was the empire’s only young duke. They hadn’t published my portrait, but they had written that the duchess had pink hair and blue eyes.
I wasn’t the abandoned, powerless street rat I used to be. I had backing now.
I fought the urge to cry and straightened my shoulders with confidence.
“If you walk away now, I’ll let this go.”
“Hah, so this pretty little thing who gave us so much trouble is claiming to be the Duchess?”
“Yes!”
“Bwahahaha!”
They all burst into laughter.
“The Duchess! Haha! She says she’s the Duchess! So, does that make me the Duke? Oh, my stomach! Hahaha!”
“Hey, boss! Should I start calling you ‘Your Grace’ from now on?”
“Do that! Hahaha… Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve laughed this hard.”
They began mocking and ridiculing me, clearly not taking me seriously.
“Pretty girl, so what if you’ve got pink hair and blue eyes like some duchess? Real duchesses grew up in castles and pampered their whole lives before getting married. But you? You grew up eating and sleeping on the streets.”
“That’s—!”
“Looks like you found yourself a decent guy, though. Your clothes look expensive, and that ring… Haha! Sure, that ring’s good enough for a duchess! Or did some guy con you into thinking he’s a duke? Hahaha! You’re too naïve, growing up on the streets like that! You’re bound to run into guys like us.”
I silently wished someone from the guild would come out, hearing all the noise, but no one did.
Satisfied with their mockery, one of the traffickers grabbed my wrist with his hand.
“Today’s our lucky day. A face like this is rare to come by on the streets, and we’ve been dying to catch you.”
For me, it was the unluckiest of days.
“You should at least confirm if I’m really the Duchess. If not, you’ll regret it.”
“Regret it? Yeah, right.”
He grinned, showing his yellowed teeth, and pulled me toward him.
I struggled, but my body was pulled helplessly in his grip.
“Let me go!”
“You think I’m gonna let go just because you told me to?”
The vivid memory of the novel’s scene where ‘Diana was captured by human trafficking, sold into slavery in another country, and eventually took her own life’ flashed through my mind, sending a shiver of terror through my body. My fingers trembled with fear, That scene had haunted me for the first ten days after I’d possessed this body.
Then, a scream came from behind me. One of the gang members fell to the ground, clutching his shin in agony.
“Hey! What happened, kid?!”
I turned my head reflexively at the sound, and my eyes widened in shock.
“Harold…?”
Dressed in a sharp black suit, Harold approached with a cold expression.
He took off his jacket and draped it gently over my shoulders.
Around us, knights in armor formed a protective circle. Their armor bore the Vissen family crest: a shield emblazoned with an eagle, crossed by a sword. The same crest was engraved on my wedding ring.
The traffickers’ eyes darted between the knights, Harold, and me, their once confident expressions slowly turning pale as they began to realize the situation.
“W-wait… Is she really the Duchess?”
“She is.”
Harold’s hand rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
“If you understand, I suggest you take your hands off my wife.”
With a chilling sound, the sword slid from its sheath, its tip aimed at the man who was still holding my wrist.
“Before I cut it off.”
