Title: I was told, "You die instead." Margrave to a ruthless Margrave in place of her sister and get happiness (Google translate title) Japanese: 妹の身代わりに冷酷な辺境伯のもとへ嫁ぎ、幸せを手に入れる Syosetsu: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4481hp/ Summary: I was loved only by my sister and had no place to stay at home. One day, due to a royal order, a marriage to her sister comes in. The opponent was a rumored Margrave, and his parents and sister refused to do so. But he couldn't go against the royal order, and I would marry him in place of his sister.
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I'm creating a thread partially to share awareness of this series and also to keep up with spoilers. Here's the gist up to chapter 11, per Google Translate: Spoiler FL grew up abused and neglected in favor of her sister, Merrill. Her family is (I believe) the Count Everland family. She wasn't allowed to go out to parties or events and was forced to do household work that by all rights her parents should have been doing. Apparently she also came up with various good ideas that her parents passed off as their own. FL has silver hair, but her sister threw a fit and as a result, the parents forced her to dye it a sandy color so sister's hair (golden blonde) would stand out more. The family receives a mandate from the king that the family must send the "Jewel Princess of the Count Everland" to a Margrave (Hilde, ML) whose territory is right next to a dungeon/forest filled with monsters. Everyone, including FL, assumes that it means the sister, however sis refuses because the territory is so far away and filled with monsters. There's also bad rumors about the Margrave, like he's a rough, awful person. FL is forced to go by her parents and pretend to be the sister. Part of her wants to go because she does love her sister. I get the impression that this love is more her starved for affection and Stockholm syndrome. FL is taken most of the way there, but is left in a monster filled forest by the coachman because he was only paid up to that point. He's also afraid of monsters and needs to get to his family, as he is going to use the money to pay for much needed medication. He doesn't really want to leave her, but FL insists. Thankfully he tells someone on his way out of the forest and she's rescued just as a tree monster is about to get her. Of course it's the ML, who notices that she seems to be pretty resigned to her death/fate. She's taken back to his home, where they learn that she was sent to be his bride. They think that her name is "Lil", as the letter/edict she was sent with was torn apart in the monster attack. They can read the gist of the message, but only have the last part of the name Merrill and her last name, Evergreen. FL is given food and companionship, as well as just plain acceptance, which really touches her. She's so starved for any sort of compassion that she starts crying, so of course they realize that her home life was awful. This is pretty much confirmed when she mentions what she's capable of doing and that she's come up with ideas her parents used for their benefit. ML takes her out to see some sights and he pretty much has already started to fall in love with her. FL is open to this, but is terrified that they'll discover that she isn't her sister and throw her away or worse. When they get back FL is given a bath and washed, during which they discover she has beautiful silver hair. Her attendant, Matilda, calls her the Jewel Princess and FL gets scared as she realizes that stories of her sister have reached all the way here, so she is at a higher risk of discovery. There is no reincarnation, isekai type stuff, or saint actions, just a straightforward fantasy with awful parents. It's hitting a lot of the usual tropes, so I'm predicting that Spoiler FL is probably not the bio daughter of at least one of the parents, if not both, and the whole Jewel Princess thing has always been about her and that the king sent her out there in order to get her away from her awful family. Which if it's true, then c'mon king, you have the ability to just yank her out of there and do whatever with her without having to wait until that moment. Chapter 12&13 Spoiler FL admits that she's not Merrill, as she is so taken by their kindness and care that she can't bear to deceive them, especially ML. He's totally OK with it and says she can leave if she really wants to. ML then asks for her real name, which she gives - Cheryl - and then tells her he loves her. ML asks her to marry him, to which she agrees! Also, apparently while she was out there she creates magic matches, which has the potential to make a lot of money. The joy doesn't last long as they receive a letter demanding that FL and ML divorce so Sis can marry ML. The parents also want the rights to the matches. Chapter 14-16 Spoiler ML is not amused by her parents' fuckery. He tells FL she can give them the match royalties if she wants, but that her new design is probably sufficiently different enough to not violate "their" patent on matches, which put out nasty fumes and which are currently in production. He also says that as far as the marriage goes she shouldn't worry unless the complaint gets backed by the king. Until then, it doesn't really matter at all. She decides that she's going to ask her parents what they plan on doing with the magic match money. They decide to meet up with her parents in a month's time. In the meantime ML is ordering a beautiful gown so FL will shine. His plan is to let the onlookers decide who is the true "Jewel Princess". Month later. FL appears looking GORGEOUS and the onlookers assume that she had been hidden away all this time because of her beauty. She appears in front of the king, who calls her the "Jewel Princess", making FL realize that he had her in mind all along. (I called it.) With "court" now in session, the parents now try to claim that sis was the true jewel all along, however the king is not having any of it and says that FL is more beautiful. The king asks ML what name was on the edict and ML confirms that it was so torn up that the name could have been Cheryl or Merrill, there was no way of knowing. She then asks her dad what he planned on doing with the magic matches and he says that he's not planning on doing anything, as stuff made from monsters is dirty. This gives FL the gumption to say that her sister should go out to the Margrave territory... as Sis and the parents told her to go out there and die. As expected, this revelation goes over like a lead balloon as the onlookers rightfully understood it as the parents sending her out to die. Her parents try to say otherwise, but the edict is again brought forward. Apparently the edict had some sort of magic on it that could show if FL was at risk of death, which she was. Her parents try to claim it was all faked, but the coachman comes forward and testifies on FL's behalf that he was more or less told to leave FL to her death. The king also says that he had plans to ban the parents' matches since they're dangerous. The parents are then told that they're up poo creek with no paddles. The king says that it was always supposed to be Cheryl on the edict. If they say it's Merrill then they're admitting that they were trying to murder FL. However by doing so they're also calling the king a liar. Her family is stripped of their wealth and titles. Sis looks like she's going to appeal, but instead just hollers abuse at her sister. Sis is taken to a nunnery. Everything ends with FL and ML happy together. Huh. Thought this was an ongoing series, but apparently it's ended. Enjoy the spoilers everyone!
Idiotic awful parents. Sorry, I know Golden child syndrome is a thing and all, but when ordered to marry your most loved daughter to a higher ranking noble (Margrave is above count IIRC) by the king sending the abused daughter as as substitute is just stupid. There are just to many points where it can fail and cause issues involving an upset monarch. I mean if you are realistic and want to not get caught the favored daughter can no longer : Get married since she is supposed to already be married Attend social events lets she should be "accompanying her husband" not there as a single lady Date/flirt/court since she is "married" Inherit their title if there is no son, as the sacrificial daughters and/or husband would have a claim that will get higher recognition (and the inheritance it likely part of if not the reason for the Royal decree if there is no son) These sacrificial substitute "plots" only have a chance of working if the adults involved are all idiots, who do not pay attention to events. The spoilers tell me that yup, they are idiots. .
TBF, that's what drives 90% of these stories forward is just the blatant stupidity of the antagonists. On a side note, I saw a story on Syosetsu that was a reversal of the villainess setup. It's essentially the OFL trying to avoid disaster because the OG villainess essentially became what she was trying to avoid. If I can find it again I'll post it. Google Translate wasn't kind to that story so I really only skimmed through it and don't remember the title. Anywho, that story was the epitome of the bad guys being stupid.