Chapter 2

Contract Daughter-in-Law

"Pay up now! Hand over the money, I said!"

At seventeen, Judith's situation was dire. She was, quite literally, an orphan left with nothing but debt.

"If you don't pay even the interest by this Thursday, don't think we'll let it slide!"

She must have heard this same threat about twenty times already.

Judith Aillan sighed deeply and closed her eyes, her appearance utterly disheveled. After her father, Paul Aillan, took his own life, she—his only daughter—had become Baroness Aillan.

A baroness in name only, for all she had was a mountain of debt.

To make matters worse, her mother had taken everything of value and fled.

Even the maid Judith had been particularly close to had stolen all her jewelry before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠running off together with her mother.

The only thing they'd left behind was Judith herself.

"What the hell am I supposed to do."

Clad in a single tattered dress, Judith let out a heavy sigh. Her father, who'd been obsessed with gambling and rarely came home, was dead, and her mother, who'd always been too busy clinging to the maids to spare Judith a glance, had run away—yet she felt strangely detached, as if these were someone else's problems.

If anything, it felt like something she'd vaguely imagined long ago had finally become reality.

The only thing she couldn't remain composed about was the debt that had now become her sole responsibility.

"What do I do......."

She had no friends left, either. After ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her father's death, she'd gone around begging her friends for money, only to lose every last one of them in the process.

But Judith couldn't even bring herself to resent them, for the scale of her debt was staggering.

If she failed to pay the interest, the loan sharks would drag her away. In situations like these, noble daughters either took their own lives to preserve their honor or were sold off to wealthy old men who could pay their debts.

Frankly speaking, she was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠backed into a corner with no way out.

However, there was one peculiar thing about Judith. Just before her father passed away, she had regained memories of her past life.

While being chased out without even getting to see the face of a friend she'd thought was close, she suddenly realized she'd been reincarnated into a novel she'd read in her past life.

'Hmm, even if I try to use the original story's plot, it's set way before the main events begin.'

She knew where the original story started because the cheap boarding house Judith was staying in—after auctioning off the baron's estate—was still perfectly intact.

The entire street going up in flames and turning to ruins was the prologue of the original novel.

The title of the book Judith from her past life had been reading right before her death was Flowers Blooming Amidst the Ruins.

In short, it was the story of a spirited florist who lost her home when the street burned down, but persevered through hardships and found love.

Though she didn't recall having studied it particularly hard, every detail came back to her vividly.

So the moment Judith remembered her past life, she immediately went to visit the florist—the original story's heroine—who lived in her neighborhood. The heroine was...... twelve years old.

This meant there were three years until the fire, and eight more until she'd start getting entangled with men while struggling through poverty.

'There must be something...... some angle I can use, right?'

Fortunately, Judith could recall every single detail of the original story without error. But no matter how much she combed through the heroine's or the male lead's arcs, nothing useful came to mind.

'What about the villain's side, then...... Well, the villain would still be a kid too. Hmm, wait!'

Karl Meius—the villain who harbored twisted feelings for the heroine, obsessing over her and tormenting her relentlessly.

'The Meius Ducal Family!'

Karl Meius had a backstory that explained why he became a villain. A temporary contract daughter-in-law, brought into the family as a fake, had secretly abused him when he was still young.

Already emotionally unstable after his much older brother—the one who'd doted on him—went missing, Karl couldn't even tell his parents and suffered helplessly under her torment.

This warped his personality, eventually shaping him into the villain he became......

'What if I become that contract daughter-in-law? From the Meius Ducal Family's perspective, anyone would do, right?'

In the original story, they'd claimed one of their maids was pregnant with their missing eldest son's child and registered her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as his wife.

Their intention was to delay reporting their missing son's death for as long as possible. If, by some miracle, the eldest son who had run away heard the news and returned—even if out of sheer disbelief—it would be an even greater stroke of luck.

Of course, the ducal family could have forced the matter with their power, but the risks were too high.

'Not to mention, in the original story, the imperial family despised House Meius. If they tried to forcibly annul the marriage, it would only give their enemies ammunition.'

So, even if it was just a facade, they needed some woman to register a marriage with their missing eldest son—leaving an official record. In return, the ducal family would pay handsomely.

'In the end, the eldest son never returns. Later, they'd just claim she had a miscarriage, pay her off generously, and send her away...'

Judith rolled her eyes as she sank deeper into thought.

'What if I took that position? I wouldn't abuse the young villain—just take the money and leave. Wouldn't that be a win for everyone?'

No matter how villainous he became, a child suffering abuse was unacceptable. If sparing him that torment meant he wouldn't grow into a villain at all, then all the better.

Judith thought of the villagers she'd secretly observed, the little female protagonist, and steeled her resolve.

Three years from now, if she timed it right, securing that contractual daughter-in-law position wouldn't be too difficult.

Then, just like in the original, the ducal family would pay her a fortune, and this mountain of debt would vanish in an instant.

'Of course, I won't get an offer like that maid did in the original, so I'll have to scheme a bit harder. Still...'

The real problem was surviving those three years. She had to endure until then.

'I'll have to scrape by, paying at least the interest in the meantime—but how?'

Even if she barely fed herself by taking odd jobs, it wouldn't be enough to cover the interest. That much was obvious.

Judith clutched her head, lost in thought.

She combed through every detail of the original story she could recall. The only advantage she had over others was information—albeit very limited.

'...Ah! Information! I know things.'

Her eyes sparkled as another idea struck her.

'There's an Information Guild in this alley.'

She remembered a line from the story: when this district went up in flames, the bustling headquarters of the Information Guild in the capital burned down too, killing everyone inside. The male protagonist later lamented it...

'What if I sold the information I know?'

Of course, since most of her knowledge came from fragmented flashbacks in the original, it wouldn't fetch a fortune now—before the main plot even began. But it was better than nothing.

'The name was... <Gray Information Guild>, right?'

Judith sprang to her feet and headed out into the street.

'I have to meet the Master. Unless the Master approves the information, it won't be worth much.'

The Information Guild wasn't hidden away in some secret location. It was just an ordinary-looking storefront with a sign—easy enough to find. But meeting the Master? That was the hard part.

The Gray Information Guild was a rising newcomer, rapidly expanding its influence.

Many sought an audience with the Master, but he rarely showed himself. From what Judith had heard, not even local rumors could confirm what he looked like. No one had seen his face.

"I'm here to sell information."

So when Judith arrived at the <Gray Information Guild>, she was determined to deal directly with the Master.

"You may tell me," said the receptionist at the entrance with a polite smile. "I'll relay it to the Master."

"I'd prefer to speak with him directly."

"That's against protocol. Share your information with me, and I'll pass it along. Payment will follow."

"Ah."

She'd expected this. Judith had already prepared a way to bypass such 'protocols.'

With a confident smile, she tilted her chin up slightly. "Surely the Master isn't refusing to deal with me just because I'm young?"

She knew her age—seventeen—wasn't the issue. But she needed to broach the subject first before dropping her real bargaining chip.

"I hear the Master himself is still a minor."

Just as she'd hoped, the receptionist faltered slightly, clearly unsure how to respond. Judith held her confident smirk through the brief silence—until, behind the receptionist, a door slid quietly open.

At the same time, a masked young man appeared.

"Well, well." Though his expression was hidden, the intrigue in his voice was unmistakable. "An interesting guest has arrived."

This was the first meeting between Judith and the enigmatic Master—the man she would trade with steadily for the next three years.