One Day My Sister Died - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Regina’s Life Turnaround

Tl note: I misstranslated the title of the ML in the previous chapters, he is actually a Crown Prince yet to be known if will be successfully crowned as an Emperor or not in the succeeding chapters. I’m very sorry for this mistake ??.

“What, what is it?”

Priscilla, with much to hide, deliberately widened her eyes and feigned ignorance.

“Are the gaps in between because of spending money, or do they not include the profits from selling the drugs?”

“How would I know that! I just organized the receipts that were sent from the merchant group! Are you suspecting that I embezzled the money?!”

“……”

“Why, why are you questioning your mother like that?…”

Priscilla, irritated by Regina’s suspicious gaze, snatched the ledger away.

Managing the household accounts was already overwhelming, and now she was suddenly burdened with the drug supply records as well. Priscilla found it equally challenging.

Until now, with Yuan’s help, Priscilla had always managed to keep the ledgers perfectly organized and boasted to her husband that this was the capability of ‘Priscilla Felt’, the daughter of Felt Merchant Guild’s leader. Thus, she couldn’t afford to complain or admit she couldn’t handle it.

“Ugh. Never mind. If that girl Yuan was here, she would have figured out what the problem was in no time.”

At the mention of “Yuan,” Regina felt a pang of frustration and shot a glare at Priscilla before walking away.

‘Yuan. Yuan. Even if Father says Yuan stole something, why does Mother believe it too?’

To Regina, Yuan leaving was no different than a mere maid leaving the house.

Regina thought this without hesitation.

Her father, Garrette Felice, left a respectable noble family in his youth and married her mother, Priscilla.

Her mother, naively believing that being the second son of the famous Felice family meant he had a title to inherit, spent the night thinking, ‘’What the hell’’ , and soon enough, Frederick was born.

The maternal family, Felt Merchant Guild, was a newcomer to the capital at that time and lacked sufficient information. The Felice family, even then, was a minor nobility known only for its reputation, with a notably reclusive nature.

It wasn’t until Priscilla was already pregnant that her family realized Garrette Felice was a nobleman without anything to his name.

Later, while preparing for the wedding, the maternal family discovered that Garrette Felice had no title, no land, and not even any wealth to inherit. It was no surprise that this revelation caused an uproar. If it weren’t for Priscilla’s pregnancy, Garrette Felice would have undoubtedly faced a lawsuit for fraudulent marriage.

After much deliberation, the Felt Merchant Guild chose to support them instead of pursuing legal action.

They didn’t want their daughter to raise a child without a father or live in poverty.

The Felt Merchant Guild provided Garrette Felice with business capital under the guise of a dowry. However, Garrette, who was new to business, fell victim to a clean scam and lost all the money.

Twice more after that.

By the time Regina was born, in addition to Frederick, the Count had squandered all the business capital provided by his in-laws. As a result, his authority as the head of the family was thoroughly diminished.

Moreover, due to the cold shoulder from his in-laws, he moved from one modest house to another, living a poor lifestyle befitting a commoner while refusing to work, still clinging to his noble status.

In the midst of this, Priscilla frequently visited her parental home to borrow money to support her children. However, the amount of money she could borrow gradually decreased, while the number of resentful glances to her husband and children because of Garrette Felice steadily increased.

His life turned around on the day when Igor, the then Grand Duke of the North, unexpectedly ascended to the throne.

It was the day the news spread nationwide that Crown Prince Claude Yufrees voluntarily renounced his claim to the throne and sought refuge with his maternal family, coinciding with the funeral of the former Emperor Alexei.

Garrette Felice was saved when the family lawyer came to see him with some news.

The death of his elder brother, Philip Felice.

With Philip’s children too young to inherit the title, it fell to Garrette, the next closest male relative, to inherit it.

This event completely turned Regina’s life around as well.

The resentment she had harbored toward her father vanished like a feather in the wind, and the moment she laid eyes on the grand mansion of the noble family, leaving behind the house infested with mice, her heart was entirely captivated.

Even as a minor noble, nobility was still nobility. Regina was enchanted by the elegant dresses, which she once considered old-fashioned and wouldn’t have glanced at.

Everything placed and hung in Yuan’s room appeared precious and beautiful to her. The moments she could try on and wear these items made her feel like she owned the world.

Regina, who had to bow her head every time a four-wheeled carriage passed by, was now thrilled by the fact that she could confidently meet the eyes of and greet the beautiful girls her age who rode in those carriages.

It was a narrow-minded way of thinking, one that was unrelenting in its bloodline, and one that dictated what nobles should and shouldn’t do.

Regina was determined not to lose what was hers.

She never wanted to envy nobles again or think that elegance was something beyond her reach.

‘Now that crow Yuan is no longer in the house. Everything is really mine now.’

She understood that maintaining a high status within the family meant her father wouldn’t seek a match for her under the notion that “any fallen noble with an estate would do.”

When winter passes, it will be the dream of all young ladies of Yufrees.

The imperial palace debutante ball, which one can only attend if they have connections with the royal family, will begin.

It was the stage Regina had dreamed of since her childhood, when she wasn’t even recognized as a noble outside the mansion.

A stage that could change her life.

To shine the brightest on that stage, she needed to bring along an impressive partner to elevate her status.

Someone like a man from the Count Treloni’s family, known for their vast estates.

Spotting a letter with the Count Treloni’s seal in the basket a maid had just brought in, Regina swiftly hid it.

With a nervous expression, she paced the drawing room, glancing at the portraits of previous Count Felices hanging on the wall. They had been bothering her all day.

‘Damn crows.’

Whenever she invited her peers over, they would glance between her and those portraits, with their black hair and black eyes.

Regina, with her red hair and green eyes, felt like an outsider simply because she didn’t share their colors.

Feeling as if the faces of her ancestors were looking down on her, she clutched the letter tightly to her chest and ran to her room.

She crawled under her bed and pulled out a box.

The box was filled with letters of various sizes.

The letters, filled with inquiries about Yuan’s well-being, had been sent diligently to the mansion by Louise Felice over the past year.

Regina picked one of the letters from the pile and held it up to the chandelier’s light.

Aside from the lengthy well-wishes, Louise’s letters contained nothing suspicious.

Despite secretly intercepting these letters over the past year, Yuan had behaved as usual.

She occasionally seemed to expect a letter, but if she truly longed for her sister’s correspondence, she would have searched the servants’ quarters to find it.

‘In the end, she didn’t care about Louise either.’

Otherwise, how could she have left so eagerly!

She followed the Marquis of Compani like a fox.

Pretending to be a victim, she had only criticized the family that had taken her in. Upon reflection, Yuan was a cold-hearted person who didn’t shed a single tear over her sister’s death.

Regina hastily folded the letter and shoved it back into the box, then secretly opened the letter from the Count Treloni’s family.

The letter was filled with the handwriting of Dracup Treloni, the third son of the Count Treloni.

He had a lot to say about the swift rejection of the marriage proposal he had sent recently.

He expressed his sincere desire to marry the daughter of the Count Felice and mentioned that if he truly wished for it, his family was willing to share even the smallest part of their estate as a gesture of goodwill. He pleaded for reconsideration.

‘A marriage proposal? That was a close call!’

Dracup Treloni had not just taken a liking to Yuan, but had even sent a marriage proposal?

If Yuan hadn’t left the mansion, this proposal would have driven Priscilla into a frenzy.

There was no doubt her father, Garrette Felice, would have been eager for such an opportunity, given his longing for an estate.

A girl receiving marriage proposals even before her debutante ball would naturally draw significant attention.

Especially if the news spread that the daughter of the Count Felice, who wasn’t from a major noble family, received a marriage proposal before her debutante ball?

If Regina were the recipient of this proposal, she would undoubtedly be the most attention-grabbing figure at the debutante ball!

Regina’s green eyes lingered over the words “Lady of the Count Felice.”

A young noble just recently knighted.

The recklessness of someone who, without even exchanging a word, was willing to offer his estate to marry.

Dracup Treloni must have fallen for Yuan’s face alone, not even knowing her name.

Deciding whom to take as a partner to the debutante ball at the palace was already a headache.

Bringing along her overweight father wouldn’t look good, and having her “half-baked” brother Frederick by her side wouldn’t be impressive either.

Moreover, having grown up as a commoner in her early years, Regina didn’t have any noble acquaintances who she was close enough to ask for such a favor.

‘Dracup Treloni is perfect.’

When it came to looks, she was far superior to the gloomy crow, Yuan Felice.

Confident that Dracup Treloni would surely fall in love with her once he saw her, Regina began to write a reply to his letter.