Evelina closed her eyes as a sharp satisfaction settled into her bones.All the doors were closed, the Duke was gone, and for the first time in two lifetimes, she was finally the one in control.

The morning sun bled through the high, arched windows of the Alvarez estate, casting long shadows across the master suite.

By the time the maids came to wake Eveline, she was already standing by the mahogany writing desk, her fingers tracing the grain of the wood. The heavy wedding veil from the night before lay discarded on the floor like the shed skin of a snake.

"Bring me the ledgers," she commanded the first maid who entered.

The young girl, a stuttering thing named Marta, blinked in confusion, "The... the household accounts, Your Grace? But the Duke has only just departed. Usually, the mistress waits for the Head Housekeeper to—"

"I didn’t ask for a lesson on tradition, Marta. I asked for the books," Evelina’s voice was like the snap of a winter branch.

In her past life, Evelina had spent her first morning in this house weeping into her tea, waiting for a husband who would never come to breakfast.

She had accepted her role as the ’Pauper Duchess’ without question.

When her father, Baron Snow, had sent a messenger claiming that her massive dowry had been lost in transit due to a bandit raid, she had believed him.

She had spent years apologizing to the Alvarez estate for her lack of contribution, living like a beggar in a palace of gold.

She knew better now. The Snow family didn’t lose things. They stole them. They had sent her here as a political sacrificial lamb, stripped of her wealth to ensure she remained weak and dependent on the mercy of a husband who had none to give.

Ten minutes later, a stack of leather-bound books was thudded onto her desk. Marta beat a hasty retreat, leaving Evelina alone with the smell of old paper.

Evelina pulled the first ledger toward her. This was the record of the ’Transferred Assets from the House of Snow.’

On the surface, the ink was clear. It listed crates of fine silk, barrels of rare spices, and fifty thousand gold pieces; all marked with a glaring red stamp: [UNRECEIVED: LOST TO BANDITRY].

"Let’s see the truth," Evelina whispered.

In the corner of her vision, she tapped a floating icon.

[Activate Skill: True Sight (Level 1)?]

[Cost: 100 Gold.]

[Note: Reveals hidden intent, magical obstruction, and forged data.]

"Confirm," she muttered.

A golden pulse rippled from her fingertips, washing over the yellowed pages. Suddenly, the world around her seemed to change. The dusty room dimmed, and the ledger beneath her hands began to glow with a violet light.

Evelina watched a little breathlessly as the black ink on the page began to shift. The words ’Lost to Banditry’ didn’t disappear; instead, they became transparent, like a lie losing its strength. Beneath them, a second layer of writing; Ghost Writing, emerged in a shimmering silver hue.

This wasn’t a record of a tragedy. It was a record of a heist. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Her eyes scanned the silver text. The fifty thousand gold pieces hadn’t been intercepted by hooded thieves on a muddy road. According to the hidden transaction logs, the funds had never even left the Snow estate’s primary vault in the capital. They had been rerouted via a private merchant’s note three days before her wedding.

The recipient’s name was etched into the paper and just the sight of it made Evelina’s blood run cold: Selene Snow and Baron Snow.

Her younger sister. The fragile, sweet Selene, who had cried at the gates when Evelina left, clinging to her arm and promising to visit.

While Evelina was being fitted for a veil that would hide her tears, Selene had been signing the papers to steal her sister’s future. It was almost poetic.

The funds had been used to secure a luxury villa in the south and a dowry of Selene’s own, far larger than what was originally promised to Evelina.

The Pauper Duchess wasn’t a victim of bad luck. She was a victim, carefully crafted by her family.

Unfortunately, she failed to see that in her past life.

[System Notification: ’True Sight’ has uncovered a ’Major Deception’.]

[Experience Gained: 100 XP.]

[New Clue Added to Log: The Snow Family’s Hidden Ledger.]

Evelina closed the book, the violet glow fading as she deactivated the skill. Her heart was thumping rapidly as cold fury spread in her nerves.

She was barely sad. Sadness was for the woman she used to be and she has probably ended all her tears and emotions in her past life.

Right now, she felt... invigorated. Every lie discovered was a weapon added to her arsenal.

A sharp, hesitant knock rattled the door.

"Enter," Evelina said, her voice devoid of any warmth.

It was the estate’s secondary steward, a man who looked like he had been chosen for the job specifically because he was easy to intimidate her.

He wouldn’t even look her in the eye. He carried a silver tray, but it was conspicuously empty except for a single glass of water.

However, Evelina’s coldness seemed to startle him.

"Your Grace," he stammered, his eyes fixed on her slippers, "The... the kitchen staff... they sent me to inform you..."

"Inform me of what?" Evelina asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"There is no breakfast, Your Grace. And there will be no lunch. The Head Housekeeper says that since your dowry has been officially declared ’lost,’ the Alvarez coffers are currently restricted by the Duke’s standing order. We are to provide only the ’basic necessities’ until the Duchess’s funds have cleared or a new credit line is established by your father."

He swallowed hard, the sound loud in the quiet room, "Since your funds haven’t cleared... well, there is no credit. The merchants in town refuse to deliver the fresh meat or the white flour without a deposit."

In the past, this was the moment Evelina would have felt the sting of shame. She would have written a desperate, begging letter to her father, who would have ignored it, or to Ace, who would have seen her as a burden.

In fact, she could more or less guess that Ace’s shattered ego might have a role in elevating her current situation.

Evelina looked down at the ledger, where her True Sight had just revealed the silver path of fifty thousand gold pieces. She could almost feel the weight of that gold, sitting in a vault her sister thought was safe.

A slow smirk spread across her face. It was the kind of expression that didn’t belong on a fragile bride like Evelina.

"The steward is worried about cleared funds," she said, more to herself than the man in front of her. She stood up, her silk dressing gown trailing behind her like a queen’s robe.

"Your Grace?" the steward whispered, finally looking up. He flinched at the look in her eyes.

"Tell the kitchen to prepare the ovens," Evelina said, her voice rising with a terrifying authority, "And tell the merchants that their payment is coming. My dear sister Selene is currently holding onto fifty thousand gold pieces of mine."

She tapped the ledger with one perfectly manicured nail.

"Oh, the funds are here, Steward. They’re just in the wrong hands. I just need to reach out... and take them back."

[Notification: Hidden Quest ’The Dowry Audit’ Complete.]

[Reward: 600 Gold.]

[Hidden Objective Unlocked: The Reclamation of the Snow Assets.]

The steward backed out of the room, nearly tripping over his own feet, leaving Evelina alone.

Evelina had 1,000 gold in her System balance now, a Duke who was out of her way, and a sister who was about to learn that even a rabbit would know how to attack when cornered.