186 2.2.11: Marriage Contract IV

"What happened?" The Duke asked impatiently. He couldn't believe that the illegitimate daughter of his ended up being the most useful pawn of all. She was going to be the queen in the future! No matter how audacious and ambitious the Duke was, he would've never assumed that his daughter would be the future queen one day. Maybe his legitimate daughter since she had the status and the bloodline to follow, but for his illegitimate daughter that had grown up with the peasants for a short period of time? It was too ridiculous to think about.

"He and I talked, then I invited him to the garden with the permission of...Mother," Xiao Yunhua innocently turned to the Duchess who nodded to confirm her words. "Then we realized that we have a lot more in common than we expected. He found me charming and said that he would do something that would bind me to him, so that no one would know my perspicacity except him." This was far fetched from reality, but no one except the crown prince and herself knew the truth. "The marriage was completely unexpected." To him. "However, I really do like him." Her sky blue eyes glimmered with more innocence. "I hope that I can marry him—"

"Of course," the Duchess interrupted her. "If he fell for you at first sight and you also like him, then we have no right to separate both of you lovers." Xiao Yunhua wanted to roll her eyes. Was this really the same woman who had been so unrelenting against her relationship with Dominic? Where had the 'love' gone then? The hypocrisy was too much to handle, so she turned her attention away from the Duchess.

The Duke massaged his temples from the incoming headache. How did a debutant party end up getting his daughter engaged to be the future queen?

Augustine was still in shock, not believing that the sister he didn't even fully accept as a sister and thought of as inferior had actually struck gold. She was not only going to be his superior, but she was going to be the superior of everyone in the kingdom! Except the king, of course.

Did that mean that he would be the brother of the future queen? Even though Augustine was young, he was still greedy and prided himself on being the heir of a dukedom, which gave him the status only below the royal family. But now, knowing that he was going to be related to the royal family and he on the same foothold as them, meaning his status was even higher, he was even more arrogant. And to think that this was only possibly because his sister that he didn't even acknowledge fully as a sister due to her illegitimate bloodline...ended up being more useful after all.

She may have been occupying the seat of the illegitimate daughter, but she wasn't stupid. Their underestimation was their flaw, not hers. She didn't tell them to think that she was useless. All these years, she had been racking and using her brain to survive, this was just another method of survival.

Had it been the real Evelyn, then possibly, the girl would've gotten herself killed with that arrogance. Or even the naïve Juliet who was too kindhearted to refuse even the biggest favor or to complain, they both wouldn't have survived in this harsh world of greed and murder. When she was restricted by the system to act like Juliet, she had personally seen and experienced how to be a mute and never resist. It scared her to even think about the real Juliet in her shoes. The girl was too pure for her own good.

She walked back to her room, noticing another person that she hadn't seen in a while: Ingrid. Even though she had Ingrid had entered the Warrington Household at the same time, the Duchess had purposely separated them to force Xiao Yunhua to focus on her training. All the times that she had seen Ingrid through the years could be counted using her hands.

At that moment, when she saw Ingrid, she realized that the woman had aged a lot more. She looked much older and haggard, like the years had taken a toll on her. They probably had, especially since one of them had been admitted as the Warrington daughter and the other had been admitted as a servant.

Ingrid hadn't been in the main room when the crown prince made the announcement about wanting to propose marriage, nor did she gossip with any of the servants so she still had no idea.

"Ingrid..." she softly called out. Surprisingly, the old woman heard her and turned around to greet her with a fatigued smile.

"My lady." She stopped her current chore and bowed. The greeting that Ingrid gave her was so natural. There was no attachment nor emotion behind her words. She was just like another servant seeing and greeting their master.

"Ingrid don't bow, please." The old woman looked like she was ready to collapse at any time. Bowing could harm her back. Besides, she didn't come here for formalities of a master and servant with Ingrid. She had passed by and realized that she should speak with her.

"My lady, I could never—"

"Ingrid, we need to talk." Hearing the severity of her tone, Ingrid stopped and stared at her, trying to fathom what she was thinking. Fortunately for her, her face was expressionless.

Ingrid nodded and followed her to her room, where Xiao Yunhua closed the door and locked it to prevent anyone from getting inside. She couldn't allow for any blunders, especially now that she was closer to achieving her target by getting an opportunity to spend more time with him.

"My lady—"

"Ingrid, how are you doing?" Immediately, by the shift in Violetta's tone to a soft one, Ingrid could tell that the one speaking to her was not the trained lady of the house, but the little girl that she had convinced to take a risk all those years ago. Ingrid's face contorted into confusion. She wanted to call out her real name, but didn't know if she was allowed to. "It's alright, I'm Juliet right now. The Juliet that you raised for seven years." Hearing the real name of her body said out loud, she felt like a stranger. She had used the name Juliet for a brief amount of time, so she didn't have any lingering attachments to it.

"Juliet..." Ingrid said, the name foreign yet familiar on her tongue. She reached out and hugged the girl, something she had not done in a long time even though they both lived in the Warrington mansion. Ingrid remembered the hugs that she gave Juliet, who was a malnourished little girl that barely reached her chest. Now, the person she was hugging had already turned to an adult and was almost as tall as her. "My dear, how have you been?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't reach out to you, I was—" Ingrid hugged her even tighter. How could she not know that the one who restricted Juliet was the cold hearted Duchess? She had isolated the girl and deprived her of a childhood, to do nothing but train and learn different things. Even though Ingrid was only a servant, she still had eyes and ears. All the servants pitied the young miss who had nothing to do except read and learn with different teachers every day. They saw her exclusively, since the Duchess was too strict. They interpreted this strictness as being overprotective, but Ingrid knew that this strictness was a matter of control.

Initially, Xiao Yunhua thought that they had grown distant, but she realized that it was only her excuse. Ingrid was as kind and motherly as ever, even if they had not spoken for the past couple of years. They hugged for a little longer before Ingrid let go and they sat down to talk.

"Ingrid, I'm sure you've already heard the news." Xiao Yunhua began, but was surprised to see that Ingrid didn't react.

"What news?" Xiao Yunhua thought everyone already knew at this point, but she was shocked to see that there were still people in the mansion that didn't know.

"I...I got engaged."

Ingrid's usual kind face immediately turned red and the wrinkles on her face more prominent. She turned so angry that she stood up, cursing the Duchess. "That evil woman, you had just had your debutant party today. You're barely an adult and she's already sold you off? How dare she—"

"Ingrid it was my own request." Ingrid froze and turned to her. "Furthermore, I have gotten engaged to the crown prince." Ingrid's red face turned pale and she started to fan herself. Xiao Yunhua knew that the woman would be shocked, but she didn't expect that she would be this shocked. She looked like she was on the verge of having a panic attack! "Ingrid, calm down please!"

Even though Ingrid still hadn't adapted to the idea, she was much calmer after Xiao Yunhua spoke. "I knew that the Duchess was going to find me a marriage partner and sell me off as soon as possible, so I decided to take a chance. And it just so happened that the chance I took was the crown prince."

"He likes you?" Not exactly, but Xiao Yunhua didn't want to tell Ingrid the truth about the contract. Ingrid already knew about her real identity as Juliet, so it was dangerous to tell her more secrets. Someone bearing too many secrets could crack and expose them all.

So, she nodded. She poured herself a glass of water from the water that was placed by her bed and raised it to her lips. Even though she doesn't get an itchy throat anymore, the servants had made it a routine to get her cold water to help her sleep more peacefully.

Ingrid sighed and looked relieved. "If he likes you, then it's fine. As long as you're happy. Just make sure to prolong pregnancy as much as you can since you're still too young in my eyes." The water that was in her mouth was spat out and she started to cough violently. Ingrid was startled and her face shifted to concern. She stood next to her and tried to help, but Xiao Yunhua raised her hand to stop her. She took a deep breath and calmed herself.

Pregnancy?

There would be no such thing! They were going to stay engaged for as long as the current king was the current king. Once Adriel inherited the throne in a couple of years, then she would give up the engagement too. Even though being engaged for a few years would be embarrassing for her reputation, she didn't care. She didn't want to seriously marry him, it was purely a contract of benefit between two parties.

"Ingrid, since I have the crown prince as my supporter now, the Duchess will not bother me anymore. So I can act freely without much restriction." Xiao Yunhua explained. "You've worked so hard for all these years, so I think I will compensate you a large sum of money so you can quit. I won't be here in the Warrington mansion as much since I won't be limited, so your stay would be pointless. And the money I'll give you should be sufficient enough to pay for everything you want for the rest of your life."

Ingrid looked at her, expressionlessly, for a few minutes before she nodded and her face lit up. "I won't have to work anymore? That's a blessing. Thank you so much Juliet!" Ingrid stood up and hugged her again.

Xiao Yunhua felt bad because she knew that the old woman thought that she was doing this out of good will. In reality, she was just selfish and thinking for herself. She needed to send Ingrid far, far away so her secret would be safe forever. No one other than Ingrid knew that she was Juliet, so she would always have that unsafe boundary over her head. As long as Ingrid was here, there was always a high risk. She didn't care for the risk before, but now, she needed the status and support of the Warrington dukedom to maintain her contract with the crown prince. If it were to ever be exposed that she was a commoner, she would be ousted and would lose his minimal trust.

Just the idea made her nervous, so she hugged Ingrid even tighter. As Ingrid was faced away from her, Xiao Yunhua, didn't see the dark glint in brown eyes.

Ingrid's greed has clouded her rationality. She knew that the secret she carried was worth far much more than the amount that Juliet was using to drive her away.

'Want to send me away to protect yourself?' Ingrid's face twisted into a mocking smile. 'You'll just have to give an offer I can't refuse...'