novelraw Chapter 111 : Chapter 111
Chapter 111 : Chapter 111
Chapter 111: Taking Money and Doing the Job Is Only Right
“Vivi?”
Hearing that name, the three people present—each of them a lord of one of the four regions—were all taken aback.
They all knew the Duke of Night and his only daughter, Vivianna. Naturally, they understood exactly whom Otilia was calling “Vivi.” Which could only mean…
As the three stood there in shock, a red-eyed girl with ash-gray hair slowly walked in through the doorway.
Her ash-gray hair was tied into a ponytail with a black ribbon. With clumsy little hands, she lifted the hem of her wide Lolita dress. Her posture was not particularly refined, nothing like that of a noble young lady, yet her attire and her strikingly beautiful face more than made up for it—her aura even surpassed that of a princess.
Facing the three unfamiliar adults, Erika looked somewhat uncomfortable. Her fair cheeks and skin still carried a hint of babyish blush, and her ruby-like red eyes cautiously examined them.
“H-hello…”
She tried to bow and greet them, just as Otilia had taught her.
Otilia had told her that the three people in this room were all close friends of her father, the Duke of Daylight.
But Erika did not particularly care about that. After all, she did not recognize a single one of them.
“V-Vivi!?”
All three of them stood up at once, staring at Erika in disbelief, shock written clearly across their faces.
Just one year ago, at the Duke of Night’s funeral, they had all seen Vivianna’s corpse with their own eyes. She had unquestionably been dead.
How could a dead person suddenly appear before them?
They were all adults. Expecting them to believe that someone could die and come back to life was simply impossible.
Rubbing his eyes, the Duke of Daylight looked closely at Erika again. Noticing that her age did not match, he took a deep breath and turned his gaze toward his daughter.
“Otilia, Vivi is dead. This kind of joke isn’t funny. Who is this little girl who looks so much like Vivi?”
“She is Vivi, Father.”
“No.”
The Duke of Daylight narrowed his eyes. “I personally confirmed Vivi’s body back then. Are you telling me she came back to life? And even became younger?”
“This is the method I was talking about.”
Otilia smiled faintly. “Her name is actually Erika. But when I said she was Vivi, all of you believed it, didn’t you?”
“She’s really that similar!”
At this moment, Princess Charlotte was visibly shaken. She stared at Erika in a daze, her body trembling slightly. At this point, she had lost all composure befitting a princess.
“When Vivi was young, she looked exactly like her.”
She stepped toward Erika and instinctively reached out, wanting to touch her face.
There was no way Erika would allow a stranger to touch her. She frowned slightly and said nothing.
Taking two steps back, she hid behind Otilia, her small hand gripping the hem of Otilia’s clothes tightly.
She did not know this person, and she felt very resistant.
“You’re frightening her, Princess Charlotte,” Otilia said calmly.
“Oh… my apologies. I was being rude.”
Realizing she had lost her composure, Charlotte adjusted herself. Calming down, she turned toward the Duke of Daylight and said in a low voice, “Daylight, letting Miss Erika play the role of Vivianna might be a good choice. They’re far too similar. The people at the banquet may not be able to tell them apart.”
“I know, Your Highness.”
The Duke of Daylight let out a bitter smile. “I’m very familiar with Night’s daughter. This little girl does indeed resemble Vivi greatly. But those imperial nobles should have also seen Vivi’s body back then. Do you expect them to believe that resurrection exists in this world?”
“Daylight, whether Miss Erika is truly Vivianna or not isn’t important.”
At this point, Linton spoke up from the side. “Her appearance will be of great help to us. If Miss Erika appears at the banquet as Vivi, we can openly use her to make our case, can’t we?”
Hearing Linton’s words, the Duke of Daylight fell silent.
Indeed, as long as Vivianna appeared, they could use her identity to openly declare that the Duke of Night’s death had not been an accident, but a deliberate murder.
That alone would allow them to clearly state their stance for returning to the Imperial Capital, with justification, without bearing the label of rebellion.
However, after a moment of silence, the Duke of Daylight still shook his head.
“This isn’t a good idea, Linton. If we do this, we’ll drag this young lady into unnecessary trouble.”
“Father!”
Otilia suddenly raised her voice. “I said it already—she is Vivi now! We need to step forward and use this identity to tell the entire nation that Vivi is actually alive, and that the Duke of Night’s death was a premeditated murder! We can’t continue sitting around waiting to die!”
“Even if she truly were Vivi, we still can’t let her appear before those imperial nobles again.”
The Duke of Daylight decisively rejected Otilia’s proposal, his voice low and firm. “To those who killed Night, Vivi’s appearance would be a threat. They would definitely strike at her again.
Letting this little girl play Vivi’s role? Compared to that, I think it’s even more important that we don’t let her be harmed.”
Hearing this, Otilia fell silent.
She turned to look at Erika, her heart filled with complicated emotions.
Perhaps her father was right. Maybe she was acting too hastily and had even overlooked Erika’s feelings. Doing so might truly put her in danger.
“Can you all stop putting on an act?”
Just as everyone was caught in their dilemma, a soft yet annoyed voice cut in.
Erika blinked her red eyes and looked at them with clear irritation.
“I’m not an idiot, you know. One of you plays the good cop, the other the bad cop—do you think this is fun? You’re just wasting time.”
Finally fed up with their endless back-and-forth, Erika took a deep breath and adjusted herself.
She knew very well that these people were probably waiting for her to speak up on her own.
Frowning slightly, her red eyes swept over everyone once more.
“I’ve already taken Otilia’s payment and agreed to help her pretend to be Vivianna, so I’ll do it. You don’t need to act in front of me. Don’t treat me like a little kid. From the moment I walked into this room, I could already see what you were thinking in your eyes. If I’m not mistaken, you were all hoping I’d volunteer to help, weren’t you? So let’s hurry up and go to the banquet. Once this is done, I still need to go home for dinner.”
…
At those words, everyone present looked at one another, all wearing awkward expressions.
Erika was right. Deep down, they had indeed hoped she would help.
“Erika… I’m sorry…”
Otilia smiled bitterly and reached out, wanting to rub the little girl’s head beside her.
But Erika’s head was reserved for only one person to touch—Gladys.
She immediately moved her head away and frowned. “There’s no need to apologize, Otilia. I already said it—taking money and doing the job is only right. Besides, I’m not afraid of those imperial nobles, or even that Cage organization.”
“Thank you…”
Otilia awkwardly withdrew her hand and thanked her softly, then began to reassure her.
“It’s fine. Later, Erika, you won’t need to say a single word. You just need to show yourself so those imperial nobles can see that ‘Vivianna’ is still alive. If anyone asks you questions, you can pretend you’ve lost your memory, or simply act as if you didn’t hear them.”
“Let her go.”
At this moment, Charlotte smiled as well. “I like this little girl. She may be young, but she’s quite interesting. At the banquet later, I’ll do my best to protect her.”
Linton also sighed. “Heh, perhaps this really is a good solution.”
Seeing that everyone agreed, the Duke of Daylight did not hesitate any longer.
Still, he looked at Erika with a trace of concern and nodded slowly.
“In that case, we’ll be relying on you, Miss Erika. You’ve given us a fulcrum to act upon. What you’re doing for us today, the Elfreid family will remember for a lifetime. Thank you.”
“It’s fine. Let’s start quickly and finish quickly.”
Erika waved her hand. “I don’t like owing people anything.”