She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 122

Marquis David Grant has passed away suddenly.

It was the first obituary since the death of the former Crown Prince, Ulan Belnias, to send a shockwave through the social circles.

“No, but he was in such good health?”

“Then what happens to the Grant title? Will the Marchioness step forward?”

“But how on earth did it happen…?”

“I don’t know the details, but rumor has it that it wasn’t due to an accident or illness.”

“What did you say?”

The hushed murmuring that had stirred the social world for the first time in a while was short-lived; the eyes of the nobles attending the Marquis’s funeral widened in surprise.

This was because Idel Clementine, who hadn’t shown her face anywhere recently, was standing by Marchioness Grant’s side, draped in a black veil.

“L… Lady Clementine? Didn’t she go abroad to study?”

“Could she have returned? No, but since when was she so close with the Grant family…?”

One could gauge the intimacy between the two simply by looking at the marchioness clutching the young lady’s hand.

The nobles, flustered by the appearance of someone they never imagined seeing there, quickly exchanged glances.

In that moment, they had an intuition that today’s funeral would not just pass by uneventfully.

It wasn’t simply because the second daughter of the Clementine family—the center of all rumors—was there; it was because not one of the three much-discussed successors was standing by the Marchioness.

‘There’s… something going on.’

‘Wait. A priest has even arrived for the funeral…. Could he have left a will regarding his successor?’

Even while the minds of the attending nobles were racing, Marquis Grant’s funeral proceeded solemnly.

“We are gathered here today to remember and share the life of Marquis Grant.”

“Ugh… hng!”

“His laughter, his firm resolve, and his deep faith in the Goddess…”

Idel slowly shifted her gaze, watching the priest recite the memorial words before the Marquis’s coffin.

Beatrice, who attended the funeral with her husband, was shedding tears as if her own biological father had passed away. Even Benjamin, who usually loitered with a flippant attitude, maintained a somber face for today.

Surprisingly, the most emotional of the three was Leo Winston. Idel let out a silent, dry laugh as she watched the man weep with a face full of resentment and despair, his fists clenched tight.

‘If that’s all an act, it’s impressive in its own right.’

Unlike her, who had performed for her life under the threat of death, he was putting on a show purely for his own gain.

Idel tore her eyes away from the three people mourning the Marquis’s death—each acting “as a successor to the title should”—and looked around. Honestly, she had no way of knowing for sure, but she wanted to see if anyone like Cordelia was present.

‘Someone noticeably grieving, or perhaps someone who looks out of place in a setting like this… Hm?’

It was at that moment, while Idel scanned the attendees through her veil, that the Marchioness—who had been holding her hand for the sake of the performance—suddenly squeezed her hand with immense strength.

Reflexively checking the Marchioness’s face, Idel realized she didn’t need to go looking for Cordelia herself.

The Marchioness’s expression and her immediate reaction, visible from right beside her, provided the answer without a single word.

‘I’m curious to see who it is… but there’s no time to check. It’s almost time to announce the will.’

Idel gave a small nod toward the priest, who caught her eye and gave a subtle signal.

Today, as a witness who had heard the Marquis’s final wishes alongside the priest, Idel was tasked with revealing his will.

“Now then, Sister… please share the Marquis’s final testament with us.”

“Yes.”

As Idel stepped forward at the priest’s prompting, the funeral hall—which had been filled with sobbing and silence—became somewhat restless.

The opportunity to deliver the deceased’s final words was always given to someone exceptionally close to the departed or their family. In a sense, they were the person acting as the voice of the deceased.

‘But to think that the person in that position is none other than Lady Idel Clementine, the Duke’s daughter!’

This was a different matter entirely from simply standing by the Marchioness’s side.

“Wait a moment—if the Marchioness is personally shielding the Young Lady like this, doesn’t that completely change her standing in society?”

“If it’s come to this, even the marriage proposals after her coming-of-age ceremony will be…”

“Shh, everyone be quiet for a moment.”

The nobles, who had been whispering because they couldn’t dare speak aloud, fell silent the moment Idel lifted her veil.

Idel Clementine’s face was pale and bare, fitting for a funeral, yet even that could not hide her radiant beauty.

Those who had momentarily forgotten the setting, captivated by her appearance, soon snapped their eyes wide at the sound of her voice echoing through the hall.

It was only natural.

The testament delivered by Lady Clementine was nothing short of a total shock.

“I swear upon the Scales of the Goddess to relay the words of Marquis David Grant exactly as they were spoken. ‘I, Marquis David Grant, upon my death, surrender the title of Marquis and the Grant territory to His Majesty. Regarding the management of all assets gathered under the name of David Grant, I entrust everything to my wife, Tara Grant.’

‘However, for my wife, Tara Grant, to fully inherit the authority over said assets, she must support “Cordelia Pierce.”’ That is all.”

“What did I just hear?”

“Cordelia? I remember Cordelia definitely being the Marquis’s daughter… Is Cordelia Pierce someone else?”

“Wait! That’s not the important part. To surrender the territory to His Majesty… that means…”

Swallowing their bewilderment for what felt like the hundredth time, the nobles turned their gazes toward the three individuals sitting in the front row.

Until the moment the will was revealed, they had been proudly preparing to inherit the Marquisate.

The first among the three to spring up was Leo Winston, who had shown the most intense emotions earlier today.

“My Master said he would surrender the title and territory to His Majesty? That’s impossible! Until his very last breath, he kept me by his side and told me to take good care of the territory after him! There must be some mistake!”

Leaping from his seat and pouring out his emotions, he pointed a finger directly at Idel.

“Lady Clementine, can you prove that you have properly fulfilled your role as a witness?”

“Master Leo Winston.”

“In the first place, someone I barely even know couldn’t possibly be so close to my master. My lady, did you play some trick on the marquis? Just what on earth did you do…!”

Leo Winston immediately began attacking Idel, using his long-standing relationship of trust with the Marquis as his justification. However, Idel didn’t even need to bother responding to him.

Before she could step forward, a loud bang—the sound of a chair being kicked—echoed through the hall as Benjamin opened his mouth.

“A trick? The only one playing tricks is you, Leo. My uncle told you to take care of the territory? Where do you get off spewing such bullshit? Hey, do you have no conscience? My uncle died because of you!”

“Ha! Benjamin Ross, I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense, so shut—”

“Nonsense? You think I’m just talking? I’ve done my investigation. Those supplements and teas you constantly offered my uncle while pretending to be loyal… if you take them together, they act like poison, don’t they?”

“What…!”

“Spit it out. You tried to kill my uncle because you were greedy for the title, didn’t you?”

At his shout, the crowd stirred once more. Rumors they thought were mere gossip were now coming straight from the source!

Everyone turned to glare at Leo Winston. But this time, the voice that rang out didn’t come from Leo but from Beatrice, who was leaning against her husband.

“Then that means the only person qualified in this room is me. Because… Benjamin Ross, you are guilty as well.”

“What?”

“Cordelia… You planned to get rid of poor Cordelia by disguising it as an accident, didn’t you? It’s no use denying it. I have the very plan you wrote with your own hand. A trusted disciple trying to harm his master, and a cherished nephew trying to harm the daughter… what a tragedy this is…”

As Beatrice raised another shocking topic, the crowd gasped and whipped their heads back toward Benjamin. But even that didn’t last long. Having heard Beatrice’s words, Leo stabbed right back at her.

“That ‘tragedy’ is something Count Ritz—your husband—should be feeling, not you. Because you aren’t the real ‘Beatrice Grant.’ You’re just the maid they brought into the house when you were a child!”

Accusations of murder, identity theft, and the true faces of all three candidates are finally exposed.

Watching the funeral hall turn into a chaotic shambles over a single will, Idel slowly lowered her gaze.

It had been a while since she’d experienced this level of “soap-opera madness” since dealing with the Count and Countess of Bright.