Intermission 1: The Adoptive Family and Former Fiancé
A few days after Olivia left for the capital, Henry’s father paid a visit to her childhood home. In the glittering gold reception room with its blatant nouveau riche style, the regional lord, Viscount Perigord, sat in his clearly expensive suit.
He glared down at Baronet Carter and proclaimed, “You’ve caused quite the stir while I’ve been gone.”
“Ah, yes, about that…” In his tacky gold blazer, Olivia’s uncle stammered as he explained.
The corners of the Viscount’s mouth quirked up in a cold smile. “I see. So, the majority of the magic jewelry at Carter’s Magic Items was designed not by Olivia but by Catherine?”
“Yes, Lord Perigord. Particularly those from this past year. Those were all thought up by Catherine. Apparently, even the design that won the award was originally Catherine’s.” The Baronet gave a flustered smile as he rubbed his hands together and bowed his head.
“And what does Catherine have to say about this?”
“She said she couldn’t admit anything sooner because she was afraid of Olivia.”
The Viscount gave a ridiculing snort of laughter. “Hmph. She didn’t seem that timid a girl to me. And wasn’t she becoming rather close to my son Henry, who was engaged to her adopted sister? I can hardly imagine a girl as bold as that would remain quiet if her designs were stolen. Is what she says true?”
“Y-yes, it is true,” Baronet Carter stuttered, wiping the sweat from his face with a gold handkerchief.
Sitting next to him was his wife, wearing a dress with a plunging neckline. In a calm voice, she agreed, “It is true. Please look at this.” She indicated a small, well-used sketchbook on the coffee table. “These were all drawn by Catherine. It seems Olivia took what Catherine had made in books like these.”
The Viscount grunted and took the book to flip through its pages. Inside, designs of jewelry covered every inch of the pages. “Is this all?” he asked.
“No, all of these as well.” The baroness smiled and placed ten more similar sketchbooks on the table. “I can attest to the fact that Catherine drew these. I’ve seen her work on them myself.”
“I see,” murmured the Viscount. He saw the signature “Catherine Carter” on the last page of the sketchbook and turned to the Baronet. “Henry told me something similar. If two people close to me say the same, then I suppose it must be true.”
“It is,” said the Baronet with a vigorous nod. Then he leaned closer to the Viscount and whispered, “And I’m not sure I should say this, but, while Olivia does have excellent technique, she is inflexible. She may become an…inconvenience.”
“I see.” The Viscount frowned. “Well, we can handle that later,” he said with a grim nod. “I originally made Henry her fiancé after being won over by her excellent design sensibility. However, if those designs were, in fact, Catherine’s, then there is no reason for him to remain Olivia’s fiancé. I accept the dissolution of their engagement and his engagement to Catherine.”
“Th-thank you!”
“I am, however, concerned that an engagement immediately following the dissolution of his previous engagement may result in unwanted rumors. They will be officially engaged one year from now, and the wedding will take place a year after that.”
“Understood.” The Baronet and his wife grinned broadly.
Catherine was eavesdropping from the next room and pumped her fists in victory. Yes! Now I am officially Henry’s fiancée!
She clung to Henry, who was beside her and also celebrating. “Thank you, Henry, I am so happy!” she exclaimed.
“As am I, Catherine.” He put his arms around her with a lustful look as he let out a satisfied sigh. Ah, finally, I can lead a life suited to someone like me, he thought.
Henry was born the fourth son of Viscount Perigord. Having noble status from birth and being blessed with good looks made him believe from a young age that he was special. That was why he was so utterly disappointed when Olivia was introduced to him as his fiancée.
Why must someone as special as me marry a plain-looking mock noble like her with nothing of value to her other than her designs?
But his father would not budge on the issue. Henry began to court Olivia, as much as he hated it.
The one saving grace of the situation was that Olivia didn’t have a particularly horrible personality, although she was quite the bore. He dreaded the time they spent together.
But one day, a girl named Catherine moved in to live with Olivia, her cousin. Henry was shocked by how enchanting she was. This was a girl worthy of being with him.
They began going for walks together, which was when he noticed something odd. Sometimes, she would take out a sketchbook and draw fervently inside. Glancing inside, he saw what looked like magic jewelry designs.
Thinking it suspicious, he confronted her about it, and she broke down into tears as she confessed to him that her cousin had been stealing her designs for years.
Henry immediately told his father about this. He then hit that lying woman, Olivia, with the news of their engagement ending and proposed to Catherine. They wouldn’t be able to marry for some time yet, but that was a small price to pay for being with a woman that suited him.
He stroked Catherine’s hair as he held her, a triumphant smile on his face. Now, he would finally have the life he deserved.
✦ ✦ ✦
💎💎💎
CATHERINE also smiled triumphantly in Henry’s arms.
Finally, finally, I have everything.
In the beginning, Catherine’s family was well-off. Her great-grandfather left them a significant sum, meaning they had enough money to live in luxury even without working. They lived in a big house filled to bursting with expensive objects, and all their clothing was of the highest quality. Add into the mix her incredible looks, and she was pampered like crazy.
But when she was twelve, her father got conned, and they lost their fortune. They had to sell their home and belongings and move to a hovel outside town.
Her father was incompetent regarding work, and her mother seemed uninterested in working. The life that awaited Catherine was a life of poverty where she would be dressed in rags and struggle to find food for the next day.
Her friends that had flattered her up until then now paid her no attention, and the people around her looked at her with ridicule.
Why do I have to face such hardships?
She was filled with such anger that she wanted to scream.
Then one day, Catherine saw Olivia in town. She was wearing beautiful clothes and walking pleasantly with her fiancé. Rage bubbled up from the pit of Catherine’s stomach. How unfair it was that she had to go through this.
Catherine already knew what she would do when she and her family moved into Olivia’s mansion the following year.
“I am going to steal everything from her.”
She took her room, clothes, accessories, and fiancé. Catherine even schemed with her mother to swipe her designs and chase her out of the house and shop.
The next day, she was officially Henry’s fiancée—she could barely stop smiling.
Once Henry left that day, she returned to her room and opened a drawer. Inside were the twenty sketchbooks she’d stolen from Olivia’s room. There were over 500 designs for rings, necklaces, and even earrings. If she put out ten designs each year, they would last her fifty years.
And then they’ll see me as a genius designer too.
There were many fans of Olivia’s designs. Since Catherine now had those designs, her security as a designer was now all but guaranteed.
All that’s left to make this perfect is to find her bank card, and I only need to look little by little for that.
If she had Olivia’s card, she could withdraw her savings and steal what was in her safety deposit box. Once that was done, Olivia would have absolutely nothing left.
Catherine closed the drawer and smiled contemptuously.
“Thank you, sister. And goodbye.”
This is the start of my rosy life.
✦ ✦ ✦
💎💎💎
ABOUT a week later…
“Ah! I found it!”
“Is that where it was hiding?”
Catherine and her mother found Olivia’s bank card on the worn bookcase in her room. They practically skipped to the bank, knowing this would let them take everything Olivia had.
“That card has been reported stolen,” reported one bank worker.
“How odd,” noted another. “Miss Olivia told us herself that her family said they didn’t know anything about her card.”
And so, the two became the subject of intense questioning, but Olivia wasn’t yet aware of that.