Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

This is my second post today.

When I go to work, I usually don’t bring a maid along. Mio sees me off at the gate. Especially now, with Marie here, I don’t intend to leave the castle unattended.

However, I pulled Mio into the carriage. I told the coachman not to start moving for a while.

Mio immediately understood and stayed close by my side.

“...Have you read that letter?”

“Yes. It woke me up.”

From my pocket, I took out a cheap paper envelope.

It was enclosed in the box sent to Marie this morning. When the contents spilled onto the floor, Mio was the first to gather it up and hide it from Marie. The addressee was Marie Chadelan. The sender was Gregor Chadelan.

The head of the baronial family... Marie’s father.

“...There’s no doubt that Gregor himself wrote this, right? Not his wife, Elvira?”

“Definitely. The handwriting on this card is different.”

Mio pulled out another piece from the same box. It seemed Marie had already seen this one. The nauseating text was written in thin, sharp, and distorted characters. Although it was a card message rather than a letter, the tone was far too blunt and rude.

Gregor’s handwriting was thick and rounded, with narrow spacing between characters and extremely wide line spacing.

Both were poor handwriting and hard to read, but they were clearly different styles.

I read the letter again.

—Marie. What are you doing? Why haven’t you come back?

The count said you don’t have to return the treasure. There’s no longer any need for you to be there. What are you doing?

Come back soon. Your home is here.

Even if you stay in that castle, you will never be happy. Return, immediately.—

Mio sighed.

“...Both letters are disgusting. To insult their own daughter like this—what pleasure could they possibly find in it? Give them here; I’ll burn them.”

“No, they aren’t together.”

I spoke.

That’s right, they aren’t together. These two are saying completely opposite things. Mio reread both letters with a frown.

“...I wonder if Baron and Baroness Chadelan want to let Lady Marie go or keep her close.”

“Mio, they aren’t ‘Baron and Baroness Chadelan.’ They’re ‘Gregor’ and ‘Elvira.’”

“...The couple isn’t united...”

I compared the two letters side by side. The handwriting and tools were different, so these messages were written separately. Do they even know what the other wrote?

Marie. Marie is adorable.

I am certain of it. Marie is adorable.

She was an honest, kind, and intelligent person. Even if she wasn’t beautiful, even if her older sister was far more stunning—aren’t daughters just precious to their real parents simply for being alive?

And because she was oppressed, I became furious. To judge sisters’ worth based only on appearance—how could they still call themselves real parents? I was enraged.

Now, that rage has turned into a quiet doubt.

—To judge sisters’ worth based only on appearance. Are they really her real parents?—

“Mio, there’s something I want you to investigate while I’m away.”

“...Whether the Chadelans are truly Lady Marie’s parents, right?”

“Yes. And one more thing—whether Anastasia Chadelan is Marie’s real older sister.”

Mio nodded solemnly, then slipped out of the carriage like a shadow.

When she returns to the castle, she will support Marie’s daily life as her maid. That is an important part of her job.

But a woman who can do only that cannot become the chief chamberlain of the Count’s Castle.