Chapter: 03
The night Crua Aloje took over the guest room of the Argenta mansion.
“Have you confirmed it?”
Dielo asked the person who had silently entered the room.
The woman bowed her head.
Although dressed as the head maid, her agile movements clearly marked her as someone trained.
“Yes. The name of His Highness that was on the back between the shoulder blades was indeed a carefully carved fake. As you said, the traces have faded compared to the previous inspection, and it seems it will disappear over time.”
—Scritch.
Dielo Argenta, who was handling the Argenta matters, quietly set down his quill.
The Argenta informant who followed through the door also gave a useful response.
“I investigated, but as you said, even the informants in the Aloje house remarked that it was unusually quiet for Crua Aloje to have awakened as a Pero.”
Aloje and Argenta were almost hostile toward each other. Even if she were a secondary daughter, if Crua had genuinely awakened as Dielo’s Pero, it would have caused a massive uproar.
Unless the Duke of Aloje had secretly orchestrated everything with only his close aides.
So, as she said, Crua Aloje really was a fake Pero.
He recalled the afternoon that suddenly came to mind.
‘Dielo Argenta, Duke.’
Crua Aloje, with her deep purple hair, had addressed him like that.
She had a completely different aura than when he had seen her before their marriage was arranged.
Rumor had it she was a whimsical person who acted on impulse, yet the eyes he saw reflected a shining future.
The eyes of one who sees the future and prepares for it.
“She’s hiding her true self, isn’t she…”
He tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.
The Duke of Aloje was the kind of person who viewed everything, even his own family, as cards in his hand. So it was wise for Crua Aloje to conceal her true intentions.
He remembered how she had confidently proposed a deal in front of him.
Throughout the conversation, Crua Aloje repeatedly spread her hands in a gesture meant to reassure him.
Like trying to calm a frightened herbivore.
Without knowing who the fragile prey really was.
“Negotiating with the enemy…”
He examined the letter that had come from the Duke of Aloje along with Crua Aloje.
The marriage conditions written alongside arrogant words, even while sending a fake Pero, were outrageous.
[First, provide 20% of the revenue from the main mines and farmland of Argenta territory to maintain the dignity of Lady Crua, wife of the Duke of Argenta, to the Aloje house.]
Why the Duchess’s maintenance fee was to go to the Aloje house made no sense.
[Also, allow one hundred more knights of Aloje to be stationed at the Tilla Pass, which lies between Argenta and Aloje, where monsters have recently gathered.]
Tilla Pass was a strategic point between the two houses.
If war broke out between the families, the house that controlled this high ground would gain overwhelming advantage.
And that high ground currently belonged to the Argenta family.
This meant they wanted it handed over.
[Furthermore, could you ensure that Crua visits the Aloje house at least once a month?]
The reason written below was comical.
[The relationship between Argenta and Aloje hasn’t been good lately, and sending such a beautiful daughter all of a sudden weighs on my mind.]
“A daughter too beautiful…”
Sending such a daughter as a Pero into the enemy camp?
Muttering this line, Dielo chuckled dryly—completely different from the warm smile he had shown when facing Crua Aloje earlier.
—Click.
When he pulled the latch, the maid who had vacated her spot quietly re-entered.
Her steps were again unnaturally light.
“Piele.”
“Yes.”
Dielo gestured toward the maid with a bow.
“Escort the lady who will become the Duchess. And…”
He pressed the family seal onto the reply to be sent to the Duke of Aloje, sealing the letter.
“Grant them what they wish for in Aloje.”
After all, they had provided an exceptionally interesting bride.
He laughed silently.
Soon, preparations for a lavish wedding began.
Since a Pero had been found in Argenta, there was no reason to delay, so things moved quickly.
The wedding costs were split: 50% from Argenta, 50% from Aloje.
On the surface, it seemed like an equal exchange, but in reality, it wasn’t.
Unlike a one-time wedding expense, the rights and benefits extracted from Aloje under the pretext of this marriage were tremendous.
Of course, it was only a temporary expenditure.
“These will come back to us once our head awakens, anyway.”
The importance of a Pero was that high, and the Argentans viewed the concessions to Aloje as merely lent for the moment.
Still, it was natural that Argenta’s servants didn’t view Aloje favorably.
Adding to that, Argenta’s general exclusivity toward outsiders caused unnecessary friction.
“I’d like to place an advance order for the wedding dress. Please select four options from these, and I will have them made.”
Due to rumors that Argenta’s rights and benefits were being handed over, the household staff didn’t look kindly at her.
Of course, she had no intention of yielding to them.
After all, while she was here, she was the lady of the house, and even if she was leaving soon, she had the right to be comfortable.
“All of them.”
Without even looking at the seven rainbow-colored samples, she replied.
The maid looked dumbfounded.
“What?”
“Typically, you change dresses at least five times at a wedding.”
She looked the maid straight in the eye.
“And only four dresses? You expect me to wear a dress twice? At a luxurious wedding attended by every family that knows Aloje and Argenta? Moreover…”
She pointed outside.
“Do you know what the weather will be like that day and only prepare four dresses? You need at least backups.”
Argenta’s weather was notoriously capricious.
A cloudless sunny morning could suddenly turn into a downpour.
Thanks to that, Crua Aloje had trouble preparing only four dresses.
But she had no reason to care.
“…Understood.”
“And prepare at least three matching necklaces, shoes, and earrings for the dresses.”
It wouldn’t even look like much of the budget was used.
She glared at the maid.
The maid, slightly flustered, bowed and left silently.
She wouldn’t be taken lightly.
If such petty disputes arose again, the staff’s discipline would need to be enforced.
While a building solely for the wedding was being constructed, a banquet announcing the union of the two houses to the central imperial social scene was held.
Naturally, the hosts of today’s banquet were Dielo Argenta and herself, as the engaged couple.
The only issue… was that the central social scene believed their marriage to be a romantic love match.
The truth about the Pero and the succession of the family head’s abilities was a secret known only to the three houses and the imperial family.
“Tonight, Crua Aloje will shine the brightest.”
The head maid, adjusting her outfit, said.
“It’s rare for a marriage to occur between the three ducal houses.”
Introducing herself as Piele, she treated her very warmly.
Of course, she knew it was only a show.
“I see.”
She glanced at Piele.
Piele was the head maid of Argenta and the manager of the ‘cleaning staff.’
The cleaners were not merely floor sweepers.
They were a group of assassins who “cleaned” people.
Those who opposed Argenta’s will were eliminated.
In the original story, she had pledged her life to Argenta and never hesitated to spill blood.
Though she smiled kindly now, she was far from what she appeared.
Even knowing the story only halfway through, she understood this.
Though Dielo Argenta had a kind nature and was slow to make decisions, anyone harmful to Argenta did not escape Piele’s sword.
In the original, after it was revealed that Crua Aloje was a fake Pero, Piele had come to behead her.
The Duke of Aloje had intervened and killed Crua first, so it didn’t happen.
“But Piele…”
The original Crua had feared Piele, but her situation was different.
Did she know she was a fake Pero?
Although her deal with Dielo was secret, someone of Piele’s rank might know.
The way to find out was simple.
“Yes, Lady Crua Aloje.”
Since she was not yet married, she did not call her ‘My Lady.’
She looked up at the strict head maid and asked:
“Were you assigned to serve me directly by His Highness Dielo Argenta?”
If he had placed Piele with her directly, it meant their plans were already shared.
Dielo, being Argenta, knew what kind of person Piele was.
If she had needed to hide the fact that she was a fake Pero, she wouldn’t have been assigned to her.
“Of course.”
Piele answered immediately.
“From today’s banquet to after the wedding, I have been commanded to serve you with all my strength, Lady Crua Aloje.”
She smiled faintly.
She nodded slightly at Piele’s words.
Dielo likely assigned her, the family’s cleaner, to provide security as well.
“Then I look forward to working with you.”
So she knew her identity.
Piele bowed.
“I look forward to serving you as well, Lady Crua Aloje.”
Though her voice was soft, she remained cautious.
As a cleaner of the house, it was her duty to remain vigilant against outsiders to the very end.
“…”
She had no intention to deceive Argenta, but she couldn’t help feeling tense.
While Piele was bowing, she looked out through the glass across her room.
Through the white walls and windows, the beautiful glinting sea stretched widely.
The ocean view was lovely, but as expected, it was not as serene as it looked.
“That’s the Infinite Sea, isn’t it?”
She pointed at the seemingly endless sea.
Far beyond what could be seen, this sea was where the Argenta family had defended against monster invasions for generations.
Monsters swimming from the sea or emerging from the tidal flats were constantly repelled by the fiery Argenta family.
“Yes, that’s right. It must be your first time seeing it.”
Piele glanced at her with a faint smile.
“Compared to Aloje’s ‘Endlessly Expanding Forest,’ how do you find it?”
‘Endlessly Expanding Forest.’
Aloje’s line of defense against monsters.
As Argenta defended the Infinite Sea, the three ducal families each protected a different area of the empire.
The third house, likely Cartiel of the Wind, defended ‘The Desert Where All Things Crumble.’
This was both an elemental power and an ancient pact with the imperial family.
Each house defended a region even if it was disadvantageous, so they couldn’t run amok.
They focused entirely on repelling monsters.
“It’s beautiful.”
She spoke sincerely.
Even though she had never seen Aloje’s forest, she loved the ocean view.
Especially from this white building, the sea seemed exotic.
“I heard Aloje gets tired of water, but apparently not.”
Piele smiled faintly. She shrugged.
“How could one with the power to control water get tired of it?”
She moved her hand experimentally.
At first, uncertain, but since the moment she had possessed the body, the ability had adapted to her.
Especially the first time she used it in front of Dielo.
Since then, it had felt increasingly familiar.
Thanks to that, she could move the water in the glass at will.
—Splash!
“…!”
Her water control was clearly superior to the original Crua.
She had only meant to gather a few droplets, but the entire glass sloshed.
Controlling water felt as natural as breathing.
She shaped the water into a small dolphin and made it move.
—Plop!
The little dolphin lightly jumped above the surface, then submerged again.
As if alive.
The process was, strangely, as easy as breathing.
Soon, the banquet began.
The shocking news of Dielo Argenta and Crua Aloje’s marriage set the social scene ablaze.
