My Sister Took My Fiancé and Now I’m Forced to Marry the Ugly Duke

Father’s Authority

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“….
Rosa.
Please be quiet for a while.”

“Ha?! You’re such a hateful person, sis!”

“Rosa, shut up.”

Rosa was angry with her father and turned away with a pout.

“I’m sorry, but we just had the ceremony, so the marriage has already been consummated.
I have no intention of giving my wife back to you.”

Lucrezia trembled a little as she was told this while being hugged on the shoulder.

‘I know it’s imprudent, but I’m glad….’

She found herself somewhat enjoying this scene.

“Nothing was ever consummated.
I haven’t signed any contract with you, and I wasn’t present at your wedding.
I still have control over my daughter, and I will not be handing her over to you.”

“You’re the one who wrote to me saying that you were going to give her away as a bride.”

“Such a thing is invalid.
If I had really wanted to marry her off, we would have exchanged engagements.
It was just a temporary deposit.
I never agreed to an engagement, not now, not ever.”

Ramilio pulled Lucrezia’s body lightly and said, “Let’s go.”

“Lucrezia wants this marriage.
That’s all that matters.
She will never see you, ever again.”

Then, ignoring Ramilio, who was about to leave, the Prince grabbed Lucrezia by the shoulders.

“Lucrezia, we need to talk.
Otherwise, I’ll take you back, and you’ll never see him again.”

“You don’t have to listen to him.”

Ramilio said gently.

Lucrezia couldn’t stop thinking about what to do.

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To be honest, she wanted to marry Ramilio and forget about her father and sister.

“Lucrezia, come here.
Or shall I tell him a story here that he can’t hear?”

‘I wonder what it is.’

“There isn’t a story that I couldn’t tell him.”

“No? It will be hard to explain, for instance, the duke’s jewelry that you took away.”

Lucrezia looked at him in surprise.

“It was mine to begin with.
Please refrain from making false accusations.”

“Oh, yes, it belonged to you.… However, I, as your father, have the right to dispose of it at will!”

‘How troublesome.
Where did he get such wisdom?’

Not long ago, her father didn’t know anything about money.
This allowed Lucrezia to do whatever she wanted, and what he said was essentially true.

According to the scriptures, women have no reasoning power.

The law also states that a woman must obtain the consent of her blood relatives whenever she disposes of her family’s assets.

In the first place, all the woman’s assets belong to the family.

Since the concept of personal property didn’t exist, all of Lucrezia’s property was styled as an inheritance from her mother’s dowry.

In many cases, only dowries were allowed to have certain rights so that women weren’t impoverished by the weakness of their position.

However, that dowry, too, was essentially something that cannot be freely moved without the father’s consent.
Shopping through a bank as Lucrezia did, as she liked to do, was a very gray area.

Since her father had a point, Lucrezia had to carefully argue against it.

“Legally, it says that a mother’s personal belongings can be passed on directly to her daughter.”

“There’s a limit! If you sell it all, it’s worth at least a hundred million gold coins! That is the property of the duke’s family, given to me in exchange for your mother! I will not allow you to run off with it without permission!”

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“Father, don’t make accusations like that―”

Lucrezia understood immediately as she said it.

‘Ah, that’s right.
My father is after my money, isn’t he?’

Her father and Rosa were dressed in shabby clothes.

According to the newspapers, her father had returned his title.
His income had plummeted, and he was probably having trouble making ends meet.

No matter how libertine he was, if he sold that much jewelry, he could live off of it for the rest of his life.

‘I wonder if he resents the fact that I suddenly terminated the employment of his servants and all support to the duke’s family, and that I made him seize the counterfeit jewelry.’

For Lucrezia, it was only a minor thing that she did, hoping it would hurt them a little.

She had no intention of impoverishing them to the point where they would have trouble eating, so if they were really in need, she would be willing to take care of them somewhat.

“I understand.
Then, let’s just talk about it for the time being.”

“No need!”

It was Ramilio who intervened forcefully.

“If it’s about my wife, I’d like you to go through me.
I don’t want to talk in such a place, so please come to the mansion first.”

‘I wonder if it’s safe to let them into the house.’

Once they were let in, they would stay for a long time.

She was a little worried, but she was also certain that the spectators’ eyes were on them.

If things continued as they were, the newspapers may write about false things again.

Lucrezia thought that it would be nice if she could somehow convince him in the mansion.

***

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The discussion was then held in the presence of a notary public in Ramilio’s mansion.

“As far as my assets are concerned, I leave everything to him.”

Lucrezia called the asset management agent to explain on her behalf.

“….
In conclusion, Lucrezia’s grandfather on her mother’s side, the Sostegno family, and her grandfather on the Serravalle family, by mutual agreement, have granted Lucrezia’s freedom.
Your father has no rights.”

He explained patiently, thrusting a number of bank management documents in front of him.

Her father, who had tried his best to be difficult at first, gradually grew weary.

“….
Then, I just won’t recognize Lucrezia’s marriage.
If you want me to recognize your marriage, you must give me all the jewelry.”

He began to demand directly.

Ramilio listened in silence, but when he saw the time was right, he raised his hand to attract the attention of those around him.

“….
Enough of this.
You’ve gone too far in your demands.
Instead, I will give you up to the general amount.
Would that be acceptable to you?”

‘That’s a safe enough compromise.’

Lucrezia thought so.

It was a common practice for husbands to pay a certain amount of money to their wives’ families when they get married.

“Don’t be ridiculous.
How could I give away my 100 million dollar daughter for such a small sum of money?”

Her father, however, wasn’t convinced.

“What about Rosa? She is a descendant of the royal family, yet she has no dowry and nowhere to go! You have a duty to help the royal family, don’t you?”

“It’s a father’s duty, not mine.”

“Lucrezia is my daughter.
She is under my control, including her fortune.”

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“….
And I have explained that to you many times.”

Eventually, no matter how many times they explained it, her father continued to make the same arguments without listening, so they had to let the matter drop.

“Maybe he’s trying to prolong it.”

After they were alone, Ramilio lamented in passing.

“Even if they do that, they’re not going to get it.”

“I guess there’s more to it than just jewelry.”

They had come a long way, and we couldn’t just throw them out.

Ramilio and his servants then had to provide them with rooms and meals.

They ate well and said they didn’t have enough, as if the food on the trip had been too miserable.

“I’ll have them make a little more tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, Ramilio-sama.”

“No, it’s okay.
A little more food is no big deal at all.”

Ramilio was kind enough to say so, but Lucrezia was filled with apologies.

Her father seemed brazenly determined to stay and then he ordered Rosa.

“You are to keep an eye on the two of them to make sure they don’t do anything insolent on their own.”

“I understand.
Sis, from today onwards, the three of us will be together again like usual.
I did the same with Falco-sama, didn’t I?”

A lady wasn’t supposed to be alone with a man.

She guessed that meant that they won’t allow her to be friends with Ramilio.

From that day on, Rosa’s approach began.