I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 132

“You’re being fooled by this kid’s mask! Do you know what she said to me earlier?”

Then Cliff looked at Lizé and asked softly, “Lizé, what did you say to this man?”

“He thought he was a father just because all he did was move his lower body. So I told him that I don’t accept him as a father, not even if he’s a Ludwig.”

Cliff didn’t raise an eyebrow at the harsher phrasing.

“She said exactly the right thing, so what’s the problem?”

Count Sinclair huffed and puffed, then snapped, “Then you shouldn’t take the name Sinclair!”

“Oh, I won’t have to, the temple finally allowed me to ditch the surname,” Lizé replied as if she had been waiting.

The only reason she still wore the surname Sinclair until now was because the Temple did not allow her to disassociate herself from her family. The contract says they can’t claim ties, but religion is a separate matter.

But even religion can’t keep you out of reality.

It was hard for the Temple to withstand the pressure of Duke Ludwig, who was so close to the highest power in the Empire, and at last, Lizé was able to part with her surname, Sinclair.

“Farewell, then, Count Sinclair.”

Lizé flashed that angelic smile of courtesy and took Cliff’s arm, heading for her room.

***

At the same time, Leila ran into Edith, who was walking slowly, holding onto the railing.

The Duke and Killian didn’t pay much attention to Count Sinclair, who ran to Lizé, and Cliff, who followed slowly behind.

This made Leila feel a little bolder. Truth be told, she was blinded by the fact that her plans had been blown to smithereens.

“Oh my, who is this? Isn’t this ‘the one who survived’?”

“Ah, Young Lady Sinclair.”

Killian shot a sharp glance in her direction, but Edith waved a hand dismissively.

“I’ve been thinking about it before, but you have a great deal of mental strength; you’ve survived alone with all your blood relatives dead, and there’s not a hint of guilt or fear in you. I know you’ve always been a little shameless, but……”

Edith just smirked at Leila who made fun of her openly.

“I thought you were here to take my place now that my ‘expiration date’ is over, but seeing as you didn’t say anything about it, you must have failed, right?”

Tilting her head at an angle, Edith looked pleasantly arrogant.

As Leila gritted her teeth, Edith quickly wiped the smile off her face. “I told you not to look down on my husband. He’s not for the faint of heart.”

Then she slowly walked over to Leila and lifted her chin with the tip of her forefinger. “And my husband has a good eye. You can’t do much with this.”

As soon as she said that, she flicked her finger to the side, causing Leila’s head to snap in that direction and then quickly return to its original position.

“You, how rude……!”

“‘Rude’ is when a mere Count’s daughter does this to me, the Countess of Ryzen.”

Leila couldn’t argue with Edith’s words, which were even more outrageous than before.

It was as if Edith, who had been a mere nuisance before, now had a knife in her back.

It felt like she was going to stab her in the heart if she crossed any more lines, so Leila finally backed away, hesitant.

“You’d better go back to your father or he’ll anger the Duke again…… and even you won’t be able to get away with it.”

Smiling, Edith pointed with the tip of her chin at Count Sinclair, who stood in a daze on the first floor.

Cliff, who had come up to the second floor with Lizé, looked at Edith and shook his head in disbelief. “I suppose it won’t be long before Ludwig’s daughters-in-law are rumored to be wicked.”

“That’s not a bad thing, since I think we’ve been taking things a little too easy.”

Killian responded to Cliff’s comment, and Edith smirked again as she watched Lizé look away.

***

“I heard that Cliff asked Lizé to marry him, so I guess we’ll have to wait until after the wedding, is that okay?”

“They just got engaged, and they’re already getting married?”

“Cliff seems to be in a hurry.”

The news came as Killian and I were preparing to head down to Ryzen.

It was surprising that the heir to the dukedom had announced his engagement so casually and without much fanfare, but to have a wedding less than two months later seemed a bit rushed.

“Well, that’s probably for the best. It’s one thing to go back and forth, but if we just do it all at once and then go there, we can focus on the estate for the next while.”

I said it because I meant it, but Killian had been watching me for some time, and suddenly he came up behind me and hugged me, pressing his lips to my neck.

“Thank you for your understanding.”

He’s thanking me for something like this? It’s truly overwhelming compared to before.

“You’re so kind, I worry about you sometimes.”

“I thought I heard that I was going to be known as the wicked woman of the Ludwigs at some point?”

“No, I’m telling you to be a little bit like that. You have too much heart.”

“Me?”

“If it were me, I’d be slapping Leila Sinclair’s face.”

Killian was still pissed off about the incident, which was almost two months old.

“You spread those rumors around the social circle because you weren’t happy with my response, that’s what you did, no?”

Since the return of Count Sinclair and Leila, there have been no malicious rumors about me or Lizé in the capital’s social circles, but rather mocking rumors about Leila.

Rumors that Leila Sinclair had tried to seduce a married man and failed miserably…… rumors that weren’t exactly untrue.

“Well, I’m not really into socialite rumors, so I don’t know.”

“I thought you were well aware of my rumors……”

“I guess I’ve been a little interested in you since then.”

“Well said.”

We shared a light kiss and sat back down to go over the list of things to furnish the castle on the estate.

I felt excited, like I was getting married and moving into my new home.

“I think we have almost all the furnishings for the bedrooms and parlor, some of which were sent off to Ryzen the other day.”

“What about the silverware and candlesticks?”

“That should be almost there too. But only in such quantities? Is that enough?”

“That’s more than enough! Honestly, if it wasn’t for hosting guests, I wouldn’t buy silverware that’s hard to maintain.”

I can still remember my hands shaking as I commissioned expensive silverware.

“You don’t want expensive tapestries or carpets, you don’t buy ornaments, you keep the furniture to a minimum…… don’t you intend to stay long in Ryzen?”

“That much is enough. If we need anything else, we can order it when we go.”

“You make me want to give you all the luxuries…….”

Killian shook his head.

He’d argued with me about all sorts of ‘dowry’ items, even going so far as to call every famous jeweler in the capital, but the ruby necklace he’d bought me back then was enough for me.

The certainty that a piece of his heart would always be with me was truly enough.

My happiness with Killian would not be defined by the contents of the castle or the number of jewels I owned.

***

Half a year later, the wedding of Cliff and Lizé took place in the halls of the Ludwig mansion.

‘What a grand wedding for the main characters.’

In truth, as grand as it seemed at the time, everything about Killian and my wedding was all about keeping things simple. The guests on both sides were in a bad mood, and the reception was over quickly.

But whether it’s because Cliff is the heir to the dukedom, or because they’re the main characters in the original story, this wedding feels like they took everything they could out of the treasury and poured it in.

‘It’s a good thing my wedding wasn’t like this. By the end of the evening, the bride is dead.’

But Lizé, who loves to be the center of attention, may actually like this wedding.

I don’t know if that privilege still exists even though the author’s powers are gone, and even though the full extent of what she’s done to me has been revealed, she’s still Cliff’s lover and bride, and she hasn’t been ‘punished’ for it.

It’s a bit unfair that I was almost punished for something I didn’t do, but I figured if Lizé died or disappeared and Cliff became the villain, it would be a bit of a headache for Killian and me, so I decided to think positively.

But contrary to what I thought, Cliff and Lizé’s relationship has gotten a little more complicated over the past half year.

Lizé, who had lost the power of the female lead Lizé, wanted to be in the spotlight as much as the original Lizé, so she made all sorts of demands on Cliff, who initially complied, but by the time of the wedding, he was getting pretty tired of her.

‘I don’t know how the hell you took my advice, or if you ever did.’

I don’t mind that she’s stopped playing the angel, but the increasingly venomous look in her eyes is a little unsettling.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who notices, but even the Duchess, who used to think her lovely, hasn’t seen much of her lately.

The Duke was even skeptical about Cliff and Lizé’s marriage, but the past of giving Lizé the ‘Light of Lorraine’ held him back.

Perhaps it was the Duke’s attitude that made Cliff rush to marry her.

‘Maybe this is Lizé’s punishment. I wonder if she still doesn’t realize how much it means to lose the people who love her.’

If Lizé doesn’t change, she’ll spend the rest of her life watching the affection of others, and the good fortune she built on their affection, slip away like dust.