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

A New Marriage Partner

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Lucrezia grumbled in her room that night.

“…..
I wonder how I can get her to listen to me.”

Lucrezia was not pointing out the errors in her etiquette because she hated her sister.

She was just worried that Rosa will be embarrassed if she doesn’t know the royal court’s etiquette, skips her lessons, and uses opera and romance novels as models for her behavior.

‘If you’re going to read, at least read a novel where the author is an aristocrat …… No.
I’m sure she won’t like it because it’s too “educational”.’

It’s not uncommon for a novel to be not popular because its author is a noblewoman or it is too religious.
Romance novels that get people’s attention have to portray the common people while featuring aristocratic characters.

Rosa’s favorite novel is also a popular one.

It’s still fine if you just read it and not take it to heart.

But the marshal is the supreme commander in charge of the country’s armed forces.

As the face of the country, the marshal’s wife is required to have a dual nature, sometimes to welcome enemy troops with hospitality and sometimes to fight to protect her country’s honor.

If the marshal and his wife are pretentious, they will invite unnecessary troubles and put the whole country in great danger.

And Falco is completely pretentious.

The current marshal and his wife have decided that Falco is not reliable enough to succeed them, which is why Lucrezia was chosen to take over.

While she never learns too much in order to prepare for her future with Falco, Rosa doesn’t even know her own court etiquette, let alone a foreign one.

It’s dangerous to let Falco and Rosa stand before foreign dignitaries at this point in their lives.

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‘No, I don’t know if they would do well in their own court, let alone in a foreign country…….’

She’d like to somehow persuade them before they make a fatal mistake, but it will be no small feat to get Rosa to listen to her.

It may be too late to say anything now, but considering that this could turn into a matter of interstate war, Lucrezia couldn’t give up now.

***

Falco was hurriedly going to his ex-fiancee’s parents’ house.

Now that he had the Duke of Serravalle’s approval, there was nothing to prevent him from dating Rosa.
He planned to live a leisurely flirtatious life until Falco’s parents returned home from their business.

“My friend, Philippa, and the others are coming to visit me this weekend, would you like to come too, Falco-sama? I want to inform them about Falco-sama!”

“Okay, I want to meet them too.”

“Yes! Falco-sama is so cool, everyone seems to admire you.”

“I’m only interested in you.”

At a private tea party within her inner circle, Rosa made fun of her sister.

“….Then, my sister says, ‘I’m the one who was educated with the idea of becoming a marshal’s wife!’.
It’s so funny.”

“Wow, that hurt.”

“You didn’t tell that to other people?”

“Who do you think you are?”

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“And then, because she was frustrated that she lost to me, she made some nasty remarks about me! She’s such a detestable woman! Don’t you think so, Falco-sama?”

“Hmm? Oh…..”

Falco tried to remember Lucrezia, but she was so unremarkable that there was nothing much to talk about.

“She was a woman I didn’t really understand.
Even when I told her I was breaking off the engagement, all she said was ‘yes’.”

“I really don’t know what she’s thinking, she’s so weird.”

The place was filled with excitement.

Falco’s slip-up caused more excitement than expected, and the tea party that day was full of slandering Lucrezia until the very end.

After having a lot of fun, Falco suddenly felt uneasy.

‘I had not yet obtained permission from father and mother, so it would be better not to spread rumors, but I wondered if I had slipped up too much.’

He was a little worried, but the gathering was very private to begin with.

‘Well, it’s only Rosa’s friends, so it’s okay.’

Falco doesn’t yet know that it’s not okay at all and will become a big problem later on.

***

After lunch, Lucrezia dispersed the crowd in order to teach Rosa table manners in a separate room.
This way, even if she shouted a little louder, she didn’t have to worry about people hearing her.

“You remove the chicken bones so nicely.
You must be very skillful with your hands.”

To make them feel comfortable listening, praise them first.
After lifting her up with praise, Lucrezia cut to the part that had been bothering her.

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“But you see, perhaps you already know this, but you are not allowed to touch your hair or your own skin while eating.
In the olden days, you used your hands to take your food directly from the platter.
Nowadays, we have knives and spoons, but …..
following the old customs is a way to  show that you are a real aristocrat, different from the new aristocrats.”

As soon as the preaching began, Rosa blatantly expressed her displeasure.

“Oh my God, just shut up! I don’t care if it’s a tea party, but you don’t have to say it at home when we’re eating!”

“You have to be able to do it naturally even when you’re not paying attention.
As the wife of a marshal, you will now have to be familiar with the manners of all countries, not just your own.”

Lucrezia tried her best to persuade her, hoping that she would understand her concern for Rosa, but Rosa remained silent as if she wanted Lucrezia to finish quickly.

‘I don’t know what to do.’

While she was at a loss, the door suddenly opened and her father, Duke Antonio Serravalle, appeared.

“Father! Sister is bullying me!”

Rosa rushed over and clung to Duke Serravalle.
Lucrezia was dismayed at being called a bully.
Sure enough, she was still not getting the message.

“Leave her alone.
The girl must be very disappointed that Falco rejected her.”

After taunting Lucrezia with unjustified slander, the Duke of Serravalle smiled unpleasantly.

“Be grateful, Lucrezia.
I have decided where to marry you.”

The Duke’s face was full of malice.

“Heh… I’m surprised there were people who wanted to get a scarred woman like sister.”

“Oh, he’s a man of taste, and of the worst sort.”

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The Duke of Serravalle opened the newspaper with a cheerful look on his face.

The headline says, “Ugly Duke’s Engagement Cancellation​” and the illustration of the article depicted a strange-looking human being.
The illustration depicted a strange figure with an oddly long neck, donkey-like ears, and a mouth as pointed as a bird’s beak.
One of his legs grew backwards, and he held a bow and arrow awkwardly with strangely long fingers.

“Ramilio Pastore, the “Ugly Duke”! I’m sure you’ve heard of him at least once, haven’t you?”

Rosa gushed.
It must have felt good to get back at her sister’s noisy educational guidance.

She laughed with exaggerated glee.

“The “Ugly Duke” is the one who has already had six engagements broken off because he is so ugly! Ahahaha, he’s a good match for you, sister!”

“Not only that, but according to the newspapers, there have been a number of eerie atrocities in his territory! There are even rumors that it might be the work of the Ugly Duke!”

Duke Serravalle slapped the newspaper against Lucrezia’s cheek.

Lucrezia reflexively received the newspaper and opened it with her own hands.

The article describes the appearance of the Duke in a ten-line poem.

‘A man with eyes like insects, a forked tongue like a snake, teeth like an irregular saw, and his body hair is like a fox’s.’

Lucrezia immediately thought, “Hmm?”

‘The illustration and the text are different.’

The beak wouldn’t have teeth, and neither would the tongue.

‘It seems to be greatly exaggerated.
I wonder how much of it is true.’

The local news often contains perfunctory and false stories.
It seems safe to assume that the article on the Ugly Duke is also a piece of questionable information.