My Sister Took My Fiancé and Now I’m Forced to Marry the Ugly Duke

End

While Lucrezia was listing the missing items, Ramilio returned.

“I’m back, you look better than I thought you would.”

Lucrezia’s whole body relaxed.

She had been anxious to find out what had happened to her agent.

“They had a little conversation, albeit a brief one. For some reason, the thief asked for the documents of the safe deposit box, where the agent had deposited the jewelry, and he told me that he had given them to him.”

Lucrezia looked a little stupefied.

She wondered what they were after, a safe deposit box certificate of all things.

“…. It’s a very specific kind of robbery, isn’t it? It’s as if they knew in advance that we had a deed to an expensive piece of jewelry….”

“Ah, I think I know who did it. By the way, where’s the safe deposit box? Do you think we can get to it in time?”

“It’s in the Illuminati’s royal capital.”

Similar to Lucrezia, Ramilio’s face also turned stupefied.

“Then, we can make it in plenty of time. The messenger will be faster than the human.”

“I’m not so sure about that. They’re at war with Rai….”

“Well, wasn’t it just the occupation of the port town?”

Lucrezia shook her head with a somber look.

“I heard they’re in Teruna now.”

“It’s still far away, isn’t it?”

“It’s not that far. Once you cross the great river of Teruna, there are many well-paved boulevards, so you can ride all the way to the capital on horseback.”

Lucrezia was well-educated, so she was familiar with the geography of the country.

“If it were me, I would take the capital down at once and extract favorable terms for peace.”

“That means….”

“Even if you send a message, there is a possibility that the military will prevent them from getting in. They might be taken in the turmoil….”

“They might take it in the turmoil….”

Ramilio repeated meaningfully.

As she was thinking about the meaning of this, Ramilio’s voice came out unexpectedly bright.

“Well, if that’s the case, it can’t be helped. I guess you can consider it good riddance. I’ll buy you a new one. How much did they take?”

Lucrezia silently and rapidly listed out the numbers, added them up, and gave a rough estimate.

“About this much….”

Ramilio’s face tightened.

“You must have been incredibly wealthy…”

“It’s frustrating, but I’m glad no one lost their lives.”

As long as you’re alive and well, you will eventually get your money back.

Ramilio patted her on the back as if to comfort her.

“I can’t do it all right away, but let’s make one at a time. For now, all we need is a set of jewelry for the parade.

Lucrezia’s face lit up with joy.

In his mind, he had already considered that much.

“I hope it becomes an item that will be passed down in Ramilio-sama’s family for generations to come.”

“What are you talking about? It’s your family, too.”

Lucrezia responded to Ramilio’s slightly cool words with a big smile, but Ramilio was taken aback.

She was sure she had frightened him because of her gloomy eyes.

While slightly sad, Lucrezia was still happy.

‘The jewelry had been taken, but….’

Lucrezia got what she wanted most, she thought.

Meeting him was the most treasured thing of all.

Maybe it was because she was thinking about such a thing vaguely.…

When Ramiro hugged her, Lucrezia’s reaction was delayed.

“R-ramilio-sama….”

She was surprised, and when she called out in a small voice, she was increasingly squeezed.

“No complaints. We’re going to be a family after all.”

It wasn’t so much a complaint as a clear rejection, but it was still embarrassing to do this in the presence of other people.

“I’m glad you’re safe. I couldn’t bear to think that it could’ve been you who was attacked.”

Lucrezia was dizzy and could no longer say anything, so she gently hugged him back.

***

When she arrived home, Prince Antonio had disappeared without a trace.

Not a single note.

Where had he gone, leaving even Rosa behind? When she asked Rosa about it, she said she didn’t know.

“Dad is missing…?”

“Yes. The documents from the jewelry safe deposit box were also taken from my office. Father isn’t necessarily the culprit, but if he had anything to do with it, he won’t be coming back.”

Rosa looked terribly shocked.

“…. And I….?”

“Maybe he’s planning to pick you up later.”

It was comforting, but Rosa seemed to have seen through it.

Her sister suddenly began to shed tears.

“…. I was left behind…?”

Seeing her crying face, Lucrezia indeed could no longer be a stranger.

“Sis, I don’t know what to do….”

Rosa was sniffling​ and sobbing.

‘She’s only sixteen, isn’t she?’

Aristocratic daughters couldn’t do anything without the patronage of their parents. Now that her father had abandoned her and there was no marriage partner she could rely on, she was practically on the street.

Rather than being thrown out of the mansion with nowhere to go, it would be better to join a monastery, where a minimum lifestyle was guaranteed.

“If you want to join a monastery, I’ll provide you with the down payment for it.”

When Lucrezia said this, Rosa began to cry in earnest.

“I’m sorry, sister, I’m so sorry…! I was so stupid…! Please don’t tell me to go to a monastery…!”

Her sister desperately apologized while crying.

“I was so jealous of you! That’s why I kept saying stupid things… and I knew it was really bad…! I knew…!”

Lucrezia looked over at her crying sister with an indescribable feeling.

“I’ll be a good girl from now on…! Don’t kick me out…!”

‘I’m stumped.’

Even Lucrezia wasn’t a saint and had her own resentments about what her sister did to her.

But now, Rosa really had nowhere else to go and had lost everything.

Even Lucrezia had a lot of help from her grandfather and contracted agents in order to build her own personal fortune. It would be very difficult to ask Rosa to build a private fortune in the same way as Lucrezia.

“…. That is for Ramilio-sama to decide, not me. Can you tell Ramilio-sama that you’re sorry for what you said?”

“Say…! I can say it, of course…!”

“Okay. Don’t worry, Ramilio-sama loves me, so if I ask him, I’m sure he’ll think about it.”

Rosa clung to Lucrezia, as she cried.

‘You’re a self-interested child. Just a few days ago, you were making fun of me.’

Having no choice, Lucrezia stroked Rosa’s head until she stopped crying.