I Became the Substitute for the Runaway Heroine - Chapter 14

“By now, that girl must be dead.”

If the maid he sent as Amelia’s replacement had died from poisoning, all of this could be covered up. He could simply claim that Caesar Maes had murdered his wife. Maybe that was why Caesar had been so quiet perhaps he believed the poisoned woman had been Amelia and was now busy trying to clean up the mess.

If only that were the case.

With a pounding headache, Count Anderson stepped into his study.

“Ugh!”

Even in broad daylight, the portraits of his ancestors lining the walls seemed unnervingly sinister.

“Steward!” he barked.

The head steward, Jovern, hurried in.

“Yes, my lord?”

“Take down all the portraits. Get rid of the ceremonial swords, too. Store away all the vases and porcelain decorations!”

Jovern hesitated. “May I ask why, my lord…?”

Of course, he couldn’t admit that his ancestors had been beating him in his nightmares.

So, with an indifferent expression, Count Anderson replied, “I’m planning to create a new gallery to honor my ancestors. Until then, I want all the portraits stored away.”

“Understood. I will summon the servants at once.”

Jovern stepped out, but within moments, he hurriedly backed into the room again.

“Sir, th-the messenger we sent to Count Maes—”

“What is it?”

As Count Anderson rose from his chair, his face turned pale.

“Ahhh! A ghost?!”

Odette strode into the study, her steps slow and deliberate.

“Am I a ghost?”

A ghost? Did he really think I was dead?

Caesar had thoroughly purged all of Count Anderson’s spies from his household—twice, even three times. So it made sense that Anderson’s information had been completely cut off. But still, how could he not even know if someone was dead or alive?

As Odette studied the Count, she noticed his bloodshot eyes, the dark circles beneath them. His once tight-fitting jacket now hung loose on his frame.

So, the nightmares really did a number on him.

While gathering information through his dreams, Odette had indulged in some well-deserved revenge. She had tied him up and beaten him senseless in his nightmares. Apparently, it had taken quite a toll.

Count Anderson stammered, his face pale.

“You… You’re alive. What in the world—”

“It means, my lord, that all of your plans have failed.”

“You wretched girl! You ruined everything!”

His pupils shrank with rage.

Whenever things didn’t go his way, his first instinct was to eliminate the problem.

“I only need to kill you. Then I can simply claim you were a deranged maid who impersonated my daughter!”

He grabbed one of the decorative swords from the display. It gleamed, well-polished but likely dull, incapable of cutting anything.

Still, getting hit with it would hurt.

Dodging, Odette calmly spoke, “You sent me as Amelia’s replacement because she ran away. I already told Caesar Maes everything.”

“You confessed?! I told you to keep your mouth shut!”

Anderson swung the sword wildly.

Crash!

A vase shattered. Papers flew across the room. The study was quickly turning into a disaster.

“If I get hurt, Caesar won’t stay quiet.”

Odette’s voice was steady.

“He even proposed to me. Formally.”

“What?!”

With a thud, the sword slipped from Anderson’s hands, clattering to the floor.

“Say that again. Caesar did what?”

“He’s completely smitten with me,” Odette said with a smug smile. “He asked me to marry him.”

“That bastard!”

Anderson had planned to frame Caesar for Amelia’s murder, have him executed, and seize House Maes for himself. But instead of dying, the maid he sent as a sacrifice had become Caesar’s wife.

And now, Amelia’s infidelity had been exposed.

Caesar is going to kill me.

If word spread that he had swapped a maid for his daughter, his reputation as the Emperor’s mentor would be destroyed. He would be cast out of high society and likely disowned by the Emperor himself.

Count Anderson clutched his head in despair.

“My money… My fortune… Hnghh… My honor! No! It can’t end like this!”

“You could always adopt me as your daughter.”

Odette’s real reason for coming back to Count Anderson’s estate was money. She needed funds to escape. No money, no freedom.

If she wanted to avoid being caught by Caesar Maes, the only way was to leave the Empire. And for that, she needed a forged identity and magic potions to alter her appearance.

Her emerald-green eyes were too distinct, making her easily recognizable. One glance, and people never forgot her.

Caesar’s search would be too easy.

She needed resources for a perfect escape—enough to secure a new life far, far away. And while she was at it… If she could gather enough evidence to bring Anderson down, she would.

The bastard tried to kill me. I’m not just going to walk away.

Of course, there was a chance he’d reject her offer and try to kill her anyway.

So, Odette removed her hood.

Underneath, she was wearing Caesar Maes’s shirt, embroidered with his family’s crest.

The moment Count Anderson saw it, his face drained of color.

“You… You really…?”

Odette smirked.

“I slept with Caesar Maes.”

Anderson’s breath hitched.

“Th-that’s why you’re so… confident?”

“Of course.”

Odette spoke with a teasing smirk.

“Adopt me as your daughter and marry me off to Lord Caesar. Of course, that would require a proper dowry.”

“If I take you as my adopted daughter… I wouldn’t have to pay any alimony. And it wouldn’t be seen as swapping a maid for my real daughter, either.”

“Exactly.”

“You scheming little—! Trying to secure both wealth and status at the same time?”

Count Anderson, who loved money more than anything, clutched at his hair in frustration, clearly reluctant to part with a single coin.

But he would have no choice.

Odette’s determined gaze made the count groan.

“Fine. I’ll give you ten million gold.”

“That’s too little.”

In truth, Odette felt like her heart might stop from sheer nerves.

“T-ten million is too little?”

“Yes.”

She lowered her gaze to hide the excitement bubbling inside her. If she looked him in the eye, she might accidentally reveal how absurdly high she already found that sum.

A maid’s monthly wage was fifty silver. Since one hundred silver made one gold, she would have to work for two full months just to earn a single gold.

Ten million gold was an amount Odette could never dream of touching in her lifetime.

But money wasn’t the only thing she was demanding. This was also revenge for nearly being poisoned to death. She wasn’t going to settle for anything less than what she deserved.

“Lord Caesar plans to demand fifty million gold in alimony from Lady Amelia.”

“Is that so?”

The count’s mustache twitched.

What was that reaction? He looked… relieved?

Was fifty million gold not enough to put a dent in his finances?

She decided to push further.

“Multiply that by seven.”

“What?”

“The marriage lasted for seven years. He’s planning to charge fifty million for every year they were together.”

“That lunatic!”

Count Anderson slammed his fist onto the desk, cursing.

It seemed she had struck the right nerve.

“Three hundred fifty million gold in alimony would be difficult for you to handle, wouldn’t it? So why not give me a clean one hundred million instead?”

The moment she said the number, her heart pounded so hard it made her dizzy.

But as she recalled the moment the count had wrapped his hands around her throat, her mind grew terrifyingly calm.

“How much more time do you need to think about it?”

Odette’s sharp tone made Count Anderson groan as he tore at his hair. He looked around, as if trying to calculate his options.

“Seventy million…”

“Goodbye.”

Without hesitation, she turned to leave the study, but the count quickly stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

“Fine! Eighty million.”

“One hundred.”

“Ninety—”

“Ugh!”

Odette scowled, and Count Anderson’s face twisted in distress.

“Fine! One hundred! But in return, you have to forget all the… unpleasant things I may have done to you in the past. Understood, my daughter?”

Unpleasant things?

He had tried to kill her twice, and he was calling that unpleasant?

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