There's No Way a Useless Girl Like This Could Stop My Arranged Marriage

A duke's daughter, living where the maids and servants stayed.

Hmm…… There's definitely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something going on here…….

Keeping a careful ear out for anyone nearby, Serena searched the rooms on the fourth floor one by one.

This one was a storeroom. This one belonged to a maid. This one was for the menservants.

Nothing here either…….

By the time she had finished checking, only a single room remained.

It was the most sunless, tucked-away corner of the entire fourth floor.

Serena studied the firmly shut door and thought,

It'd make a perfect storeroom, honestly.

So it wasn't exactly the most logical conclusion…… and yet, somehow, she had a feeling the young lady was in there.

Instead of opening the door right away, Serena pressed her ear against it and listened for any sign of life within.

Nothing. Not a sound. As if no one were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inside at all.

But even a stone bridge should be tapped before you cross it. Serena turned the handle with exquisite care, so gently it made no noise at all.

……It was locked.

The fourth floor was either storage or servants' quarters. Either way, there was no reason to lock a door.

Serena knocked softly.

Knock, knock. Knock, knock…….

When there was no response, she knocked a little harder. A faint rustling came from inside.

So there is someone in there after all…….

Locking the door tight in the middle of the day. Suspicious. Very suspicious.

She'd have to check, wouldn't she……?

Serena climbed the stairs.

This was the fourth floor—already the top story of the manor—but even the top story tended to have something above it.

Call it a fourth-and-a-half floor. The attic.

After confirming through the attic window that no one below was looking up her way, Serena touched the belt hidden beneath her maid's uniform.

Using mana, she undid the rope's magical compression, secured one end to a suitable anchor point, and tied the other around her waist.

Then she stepped out onto the windowsill and—

Her foot slipped.

"Eek!"

……She nearly plummeted straight down, but the rope already fastened around her waist saved her. She ended up merely slamming face-first into the outer wall of the manor.

Dangling against the exterior, Serena groped her way along the wall toward the window of the suspicious room.

And when she peered inside that secret chamber on the fourth floor……

……What the hell.

A mess? No. Even that was far too gentle a word.

It was a dark garbage dump.

Heavy blackout curtains hung nearly shut, leaving the interior pitch-black even though it was daytime. Through the one narrow gap where a single shaft of sunlight managed to slip in, everything it touched was buried in trash.

The bed lay in shadow—but Serena, blessed with excellent night vision, could tell from that lone thread of light alone that someone was there.

Let me get a look at their face…….

The moment she made out the figure on the bed—

Ah…….

Serena nearly screamed. She clamped a hand over her own mouth and barely managed to hold it in.

It had to be a trick of the dark. She must have seen wrong.

Her first reaction was denial and doubt.

Distrusting her own eyes, Serena looked at the bed again.

…….

She hadn't been wrong.

There lay a girl with long white hair and silver eyes.

White hair. Silver eyes.

A chill raced down Serena's spine, and every fine hair on her body stood on end.

That girl…… looked uncannily like the witch who, some forty years ago, had helped destroy half the world.

That witch, too, had been white-haired and silver-eyed, exactly like this.

So that's the young lady of House Sirius…….

Serena finally understood why the ducal house had stashed this child away on the fourth floor—and why information about her had been so suspiciously hard to come by.

Because she looked ominous. Because nothing good could come of anyone seeing her. Because everyone would hate her on sight.

Don't let a single pair of eyes fall on her.

That was why they had locked her away in the most forgotten corner of the fourth floor, where no one's gaze would ever reach.

Serena had already known the young lady was neglected by her father and stepmother.

But she was still, in name and in fact, the legitimate daughter of the Sirius Duke House.

Abused by her stepmother or left to rot—either way, she bore ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Sirius name.

She should have held more than enough value for a political marriage……!

But not like this.

Serena was certain of it.

This child had no chance of inheriting the duchy, and no chance of becoming a duchess through a political marriage either.

Who would marry a white-haired, silver-eyed girl who looked like a witch? Just to forge ties with the empire's most powerful military house?

The damage of being known as the man who took a witch for a wife far outweighed any benefit. Anyone who couldn't make that basic political calculation didn't deserve to call themselves an imperial noble.

So this child would rot in this sunless room for the rest of her life.

There was no way a useless girl like this could stop Serena's arranged marriage.

A kite with a cut string.

Serena could guess why House Sirius was looking for a lady-in-waiting for this child.

Until now, as the family's only direct descendant, she had at least been entitled to a bare minimum of consideration. But now a legitimate son had been born.

With even that scrap of usefulness gone, the family no longer wanted anything to do with her.

But ignoring someone didn't make them cease to exist. Someone still had to take responsibility for this white elephant.

But who? A maid? If the girl threw a tantrum, could a commoner maid dare to push back?

So the idea they'd landed on was a lady-in-waiting.

The legitimate daughter of a baronial house couldn't be treated carelessly—not even by the eldest daughter of a duke.

Haa…….

Serena finished her calculations. Becoming this child's lady-in-waiting would be a waste of time.

I'll flunk the interview just enough and go home.

———Or so she had thought, a few days ago, looking at the young lady.

"……Lady Lumina. The air is cold. May I hold you?"

"……Do as you like."

When Serena came back to herself, she found that not only had she become the lady-in-waiting to the young lady of House Sirius—she was currently holding her tight in bed.

Ahaha. How on earth did it come to this…….

Serena let out a hollow laugh inwardly.

Before the interview, she never would have imagined she'd end up like this.

You really never could tell with people, could you?

Feeling the girl's warmth against her, Serena cast her mind back over the past few days.

Six candidates had sat for the interview, including Serena.

Serena herself. Two from vassal houses of Sirius. And three from vassal houses of Altair, the duchess's maiden family. Six in total.

Whatever the makeup of the candidates, Serena had already resolved to fail.

So while everyone else took the interview deadly seriously, Serena phoned hers in completely—and was absolutely certain she would be rejected.

And yet……

"Miss Meridiana. You have passed the first round."

It was only the first round, but she had passed.

Why me……?

That question resolved itself the moment she looked at who else had made it through.

The two from Sirius's vassal houses: rejected.

The three from Altair's vassal houses: passed.

On bad terms with Sirius's vassals, maybe? The duchess just straight-up picked only her own people.

Passing candidates from only one faction would look blatantly unfair—so they had padded the first-round pass list with Serena, who had nothing to do with anyone.

In the second round, the duchess would drop Serena and pass one of her own side.

But then—why go out of her way to attach someone from her maiden family as lady-in-waiting to a completely useless young lady? What was in it for her?

That question was answered by the words of the Duchess of Sirius herself—Vireyer Sirius.

"For the four of you who have passed the first round, there is something I should mention in advance. My eldest niece will be enrolling at the Imperial Academy in two years' time. The child is rather shy and has yet to make a single friend. It would be wonderful if someone could study alongside her as a companion……."

In exchange for looking after a useless white-elephant of a young lady, the duchess was offering a chance to become lady-in-waiting to the young lady of Altair.

Being able to serve as the Altair young lady's attendant is an enormous perk.

The legitimate daughter of the Altair Duke House was of a rank that could marry anyone from the heir of another ducal house, to a neighboring country's crown prince—even the Imperial Crown Prince himself.

Becoming a queen's lady-in-waiting, or an empress's, would bring staggering political and material rewards.

The terms are looking pretty good, actually……?

Serena's eyes lit up.

The Altair young lady had never made a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠single friend?

Show her even a little kindness and she'd get massively attached, right?

And if that girl became empress or queen someday, she'd completely block Serena's marriage path for her…… and throw some political benefits her family's way on top of it.

Serena decided to revise her strategy.

By any means necessary, she would pass the second round.

She didn't even need any particular means.

They were all teenage girls, and it showed—they were incredibly sloppy.

One of them badmouthed the northern Sirius territories—and, going further, the duchess's maiden family of Altair—in front of her own attending maid, got recorded by Serena, and withdrew of her own accord.

The remaining two didn't even need a push. They each secretly slipped laxatives into the other's teacup and took each other out in mutual destruction.

A result blessed by a modest stroke of luck.

Serena received word of her acceptance from Vireyer Sirius, Duchess of Sirius.

"Miss Meridiana. You have been selected as our Lumina's lady-in-waiting."

"Wow! Really!? That's amazing!"

Serena let out a cheer.