Rumors of the wedding between Dylan Lancester and Avril Allingham had reached even the rural town where the Count of Allingham resided.

The marriage of a young duke with a free-spirited and enigmatic lady who was infamous for her misdeeds piqued everyone’s interest.

Everyone, except for Corinna.

In a salon where not a trace of luxury remained, she cursed her predicament.

“Hey, what the hell does this mean? The audacity! She dares uninvite me from her wedding? Father, contact her right away and ask for the invitation!”

 “Corinna, that’s just beyond us. You can tell by looking at this drab room. To be frank, we almost couldn’t afford to travel to the royal capital for the upcoming wedding. Therefore, we can’t bring you with us.”

“What—!? So Father and Mother are going to the royal capital, yet I’m to remain here!? Absolutely not—!”

“Then go to the Lindberg family. Their house is in the royal capital. If you go there, we can obtain a grace period for our debts. No, if anything, please go.”

Corinna snorted at her father who dejectedly dropped his head. Over the past few months, her father had aged a lot. It was difficult to believe that he was the same coddling, rich man from before.

…I thought it was because Avril didn’t send the preparation money… But it seems that’s not the only reason.

It wasn’t until the arrival of a young man named Cyril Brandner that her father’s attitude took a turn for the worse. By the way, Cyril was an assistant from the academy. He has been coming and going in and out of this house for the past few months. Despite being an “assistant”, he made it obvious that he regarded her father as someone of a lower stature.

I don’t really care.

After all, it had nothing to do with Corinna.

She only had issues with money. In fact, they were quite the huge issues. Not only did she not receive any allowance to go out or do shopping, her meals were getting simpler every day.

Some of the money earned from selling the art pieces and household goods had been given to Corinna and her mother. However, since Cyril arrived, the money was being transferred elsewhere and they couldn’t get their hands on it.

Even the dress she was wearing today had been worn many times. Corinna, who’d only known luxury since entering the Count of Allingham household, was confused beyond belief.

I can’t stand this anymore…!

I have to switch places with Avril immediately!

As she renewed her determination to carry out her objective, her mother appeared, staggering.

“Honey, I haven’t seen any of our servants lately. Where have they all gone?”

“I couldn’t pay their salary, so they left.”

“You have to be kidding me! They’ve served our family for generations! Where did their loyalty go!?”

“…At first, everyone was hesitant. However, when Cyril Brandner arranged for new workplaces, everyone resigned. What manner of trickery is this!”

While listening to the despairing conversation between her parents, Corinna brought out a dress without a care.

“Father, Mother, look. The other day, Carol—who works for the Duke of Lancester—sent me a lovely dress. It is a wonderful dress! It has a novel design and is made of fine fabrics…”

It was a deep green dress. At first glance, it seemed like an orthodox evening dress, but the back was wide open and ravishing, and the fabric was of high quality.

…Carol sent me something nice. Withholding her salary did the trick. Well, it’s not like I could pay her even if I wanted.

“…From that maid, Carol? Well, what are you planning to do with it?”

When her mother asked in a terrified manner, Corinna showed a genuinely twisted smile.

“—Attend the wedding, of course! From what Father said, I understand that traveling to the royal capital is going to be costly. Well, there’ll be no need to pay for the return trip! After all, I’m going to marry into the Duke of Lancester’s house and send Avril to the Count of Lindberg’s house!”

“But Corinna, even if the two of you resembled each other, I think everyone will still realize the truth. Please, just give up—”

“—Mother, now that Avril; the handy tool, is gone, are you trying to control me?”

“C-Corinna…! You know that’s not true…!”

Caught off guard, her mother panicked. Since she was the mother of Corinna, a self-proclaimed “villainess”, it was only to be expected. Corinna went on without feeling particularly hurt.

“When I first read Carol’s letter, which alludes to how Avril is being shunned by the lord and the servants alike, I was skeptical. But after my visit to the royal capital, I saw it for myself—he didn’t see Avril as his wife. If that’s the case, there’s no way he will be able to tell us apart.”

“…I wonder if your plan will succeed…”

“It’ll be fine, Mother.”

While clutching the deep green dress that Carol had sent her, Corinna gave a beguiling smile.

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***T/N: Smart enough to discern your mother’s ploy but not smart enough to see that Avril is not as dumb as she looks eh? Well I love how stress-free this story is, free of abusive sister who tries to get her sister executed (cough, Into the Light, cough)

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