The Substitute Bride Is Adored by the Clumsy Margrave

r, even Clarisse, who was not familiar with the aristocrats, had heard of the Marquis of McCain, one of the most influential and wealthy families in the capital. 

He was ten years older than Matilda, which meant he was 31 years old, making him older than Jean.
Her father kept saying that Gregory was a fine-looking young man, paying attention to Jean, so she guessed that he was probably a “weak, dainty, aristocratic young man.”

“The wedding itself will probably take place next year or the year after, so come back then.”

That’s all that’s been decided at this point, the Viscount said, ending the conversation.

‘For something like this… they invited the busy Jean-sama from the frontier…?’

She felt sorry for causing Jean to have to adjust his busy work schedule.

And to Marius, who took care of the work while they were gone, and to the knights guarding the still tense borders. 

She felt incredibly ashamed of her self-centered and ignorant father.
He had the audacity to call his younger daughter’s fiancé from a place where it would take several days to get there just to inform him of his lovely daughter’s engagement.

“How about having lunch with us today? What do you say?”

Her father asked, but Clarisse, not wanting to stay in the Farenheit residence any longer, shook her head and declined.

“Father, there are a few things I would like to take from my room before I leave… would you mind if I went to my room?”

“Yes, that’s fine.
But I want you to go alone.”

When her father, feigning concern, implicitly told her not to take Jean with her, her fiancé, sitting next to her, nodded to Clarisse that he would wait here with her parents.

When she entered her room, which she hadn’t been to in a long time, she found that it had been cleaned, but it looked somewhat cluttered and disorganized. 

When she looked around, she saw that although she didn’t have much of anything luxurious, some of the better quality dresses and accessories she had left behind were gone.
It must be Matilda’s doing; Matilda has always had no hesitation in taking things she likes from Clarisse’s room without asking.

However, what Clarisse wanted to take back to the Margrave estate were the rest of the botanical books, herbal books, medical books, and some of her favorite novels, which Matilda was not interested in, so they were completely untouched.

As she stood in front of the bookshelf looking for the book she wanted, she heard the door open behind her.

“Clarisse.”

When Clarisse turned around, she saw Matilda standing there, looking like a demon.