Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 29

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Evan went off to sword training, and I met with Serena, who had come under the pretense of a medical examination.
“Serena, did you find that person I mentioned before?”
I had previously asked Serena in secret to find and bring someone to me.
Serena nodded with a smile.
“Yes. He’ll be arriving soon, disguised as a medicinal herb merchant.”
“Thank you.”
Now that I had an estate, it was time to start accumulating more capital. I could take out loans to develop iron ore, but now wasn’t the right moment. Iron ore prices wouldn’t skyrocket for several years yet. I had been planning to gather funds in the meantime, when Serena suddenly narrowed her eyes and spoke.
“Lady Laria.”
“What is it?”
“You’re planning to disappear at an appropriate time, aren’t you?”
I was startled and looked at Serena. I thought she might have noticed when I purchased the estate under an assumed name, but I couldn’t understand why she was bringing it up now.
“Well, yes.”
I was thinking about how to answer if she asked why, when Serena suddenly grabbed my hand.
“We’ll help you with that escape.”
“Huh?”
“It would be such a waste for you to remain here as a noblewoman.”
I blinked. Then I asked calmly.
“Tell me your real motive. It can’t be sentiment—not from the Bestian Dark Information Guild of all people.”
“I’ll explain that later… when I’m with Sven.”
They were offering to help, so there was no particular reason to refuse, but it was certainly an unexpected situation.
Just then, a servant entered politely with a young boy.
“Lady Serena, this is the boy from the medicinal herb shop. He says you’ll know who he is when you hear his name.”
“Yes. Welcome. I’m the one who called for you.”
When Serena answered, the servant bowed and left, and a boy of about fifteen bowed to me with a slightly nervous expression.
“Greetings. I am Redian Kears, my lady.”
Redian was a handsome boy with dark gray hair and black eyes. I had instructed Serena to bring him directly to me. Since I couldn’t freely roam the city, I had to use this method.
“Good.”
I smiled brightly at Redian.
I had told the people of the Count’s Manor he was a medicinal herb merchant to deceive them, but Redian was actually a boy with nothing to do with herbs at all.
“The thing is, I’d like to purchase some of your paintings.”
Redian was a painter unknown to anyone yet.
He was currently selling a few paintings of a unique style at a small gallery in the city, but he wasn’t famous.
However, it wouldn’t be long before his name became widely known. After all, paintings are the best for money laundering!
I still had some of the ten gold coins I’d received in change from Sven previously. Of course, this was also part of Simor’s future actions.
Simor would happen to see Redian’s paintings and sense great success. So he would purchase several paintings himself, and introduce the remaining excellent works to salons, completely raising Redian’s value. In doing so, Simor’s asset value would also increase.
In other words, since Simor would eventually be the painter he’d work with, if I secured some paintings in advance, I could also make some money.
“Y-your paintings?”
“Yes. About five pieces? Would one gold coin per painting work?”
“Yeah. About five points? Would one gold coin per piece work?”
“You’re being too generous….”
Redian’s hands trembled.
Once Simor promoted him later, he’d earn at least 100 gold per painting….
Especially since his early style was something he could never return to no matter how hard he tried later, making his early works skyrocket in value.
“Then I’ll take about ten pieces. One gold coin for every two?”
Since he said it was too much, there was no reason not to haggle down the price.
Redian seemed to realize that I wasn’t the type to insist, “No, your paintings are worth that much,” while pressing coins into his hands—I was the type to immediately slash the price in half—and quickly nodded.
“Understood, Young Lady. Thank you….”
“I’d like ten pieces with flower motifs. Once you give the paintings to Serena, she’ll store them properly.”
The reason I summoned him directly was that Redian had a stubborn principle of never selling his paintings to anyone he hadn’t met in person.
Because of that strange artist’s stubbornness, the prices of his paintings only climbed higher.
“Yes….”
From Redian’s perspective, this must have been shocking.
He was a nameless, impoverished painter, and suddenly a young noblewoman from an aristocratic house summoned him in secret, offering to buy his paintings at high prices.
“But how did you know of my paintings….”
“I went into the city a few days ago and happened to see them by chance. The feeling of the paintings was so good that I’ve been remembering them.”
“Ah.”
Color bloomed across Redian’s face. Any artist would naturally feel affection toward someone who appreciated their work.
“Especially the color palette is truly unique and I really like it.”
That was Simor’s opinion, but regardless.
“I’m sure you understand why I called you in secret. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to the people at the Count’s Manor.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Redian immediately nodded.
“I heard the late Lady loved paintings and often summoned painters…. I fully understand that it would be burdensome to act the same way.”
Ah, was that so? I didn’t know that….
Since the business was finished, I was about to send him off when Redian hesitated and spoke.
“Um….”
“What?”
“My Lady, if it’s not too much trouble, would it be alright if I painted your portrait as a gift?”
My portrait? What a windfall! There’s no way I’d refuse!
A portrait painted in Redian’s early style…. Later, it would be nearly impossible to even assign a price to it.
“Thank you so much for appreciating my paintings like this and valuing them so highly, My Lady. This is my first bulk order, so I really want to paint it for you as an additional gift.”
Though Simor would approach him soon enough anyway.
He wouldn’t paint Simor’s portrait, but he was quite accommodating to a noblewoman.
“But you didn’t bring any art supplies with you?”
“If I just observe for a long time and commit it to memory, I can paint it later.”
He really was a genius painter.
“Then since the weather is nice, shall we go to the garden and enjoy the sunlight together?”
Serena suggested with a smile.
So the three of us went out to the garden and sat there all afternoon.
I ate Occlasia Fruit while chatting with Serena about this and that, and Redian simply stared at me with an unwavering gaze from beside me.
At first it was a bit embarrassing, but I quickly grew accustomed to it.
When the portrait is finished later, I should hang it in my hideout rather than sell it.
It was simply an ordinary, peaceful afternoon.
Until Serena suddenly excused herself saying she urgently needed to use the restroom, and right on cue, Evan approached with snacks.
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“What did you say?”
Simor stood before Redian’s shabby art studio, furrowing his brow and blinking his eyes.
“Redian Kears was… summoned?”
The Neighbor Old Woman who had been watching over Redian’s shabby art studio nodded blankly.
“He was always clinging to paintings that wouldn’t sell, but looks like his luck is turning. He followed someone sent by the Icard Nobleman.”
“Is that so?”
“If he makes a good impression on a great noblewoman, the orders will be massive. At least he’ll be able to earn a month’s living expenses. Last time I felt sorry seeing him scrape by and go around buying paints.”
“The Icard Nobleman….”
Simor bit his fingernails. He had thought this person had nothing to do with him, yet strangely their paths kept crossing.
At first, the fact that she had won the same amount of money as him at the Racetrack was somewhat frustrating. If she hadn’t been there, he could have won far more.
No, even if he had directly observed the black horse and bet with confidence, how on earth had the Icard Nobleman made such a bold choice?
‘Was it coincidence?’
When he went to the Bestian Dark Information Guild, which was said to be the most competent, with the money he’d won at the Racetrack, he had to hear the Icard Nobleman’s name once more.
The moment he stood before the elderly man guarding the Cafe and held up the newspaper saying “I am this person right here,” the old man replied flatly.
“She already came and went, so don’t bother impersonating.”
Simor then pointed more carefully to his own back in the newspaper, and only then did the old man’s expression change to surprise as he said “I thought there was only one person…” before guiding him to Sven.
That meant Laria Rose Icard, whose back appeared larger in the photograph than his own, had already been there and left.
Moreover, when he met Sven and mentioned wanting to buy a title and purchase the Hanua Estate, Sven replied with a reluctant expression.
“However, the Hanua Estate from here to here is already being purchased by someone else, so it’s problematic. Shall we proceed with purchasing the remainder?”
Simor had a strange premonition that the ‘person’ Sven mentioned was likely the Icard Nobleman. Sven never revealed the name of the person who had said they would purchase the Hanua Estate before him, but his intuition told him so.
So he only had suspicions.
Hanua was an obscure estate with cheap prices. It was far from the capital and had no particularly developed industries.
‘If I hadn’t thought of earning money there for special reasons, I too would have had absolutely no interest in such a remote place.’
Yet not only did she try to purchase that remote estate simultaneously, but now… she had even summoned Redian Kears.
Redian Kears was a gem of a talent he had discovered after carefully examining various art studios. Though still young and not actively promoting his own paintings, the artistry and expressiveness of his work itself were excellent.
Especially his use of color—so luminous and distinctive—was difficult to forget once seen. With just a few exhibitions in influential salons, there was room for his value to skyrocket.
Artworks naturally had limited supply, so once they took off, they could be quite profitable. That’s why he had come now with the intention of promoting him… and yet, the Icard Nobleman again.
‘This is strange.’
Simor sat before the art studio saying he would wait for Redian to arrive, lost in thought.
‘How can our thoughts align so perfectly?’
Not just anyone, but the Icard Nobleman…. From the very beginning, a noble person whose birth was entirely different from his own common origins. Though only fourteen, she was now the sole heir of the Icard family who was rapidly expanding their power, and the wife of that heir.
There was a social gap between them so vast that even exchanging words was difficult. Yet had he ever cared about such things? Rather, his competitive spirit burned even brighter. Hadn’t he come this far driven by curiosity about how far he could climb starting from nothing?
‘Could it be….’
Besides, now that he had purchased a title, he could no longer be considered a commoner. He had thought he could buy a baron’s title, but due to winning less money than expected at the horse races, he had ended up with a viscount’s title instead.
‘Could it be… fate?’
Simor carefully withdrew a newspaper clipping from his pocket—one he’d been carrying for days—and unfolded it.
‘My soul’s perfect match? Someone I never thought could exist in this world?’
A photograph of Laria’s back, captured at the Racetrack, dominated the page. Beside it, a smaller image of his own back appeared in parallel. Though they’d both won money together, Laria’s noble status had naturally drawn far more attention than his.
‘I want to know more about her.’
His brilliant golden hair gleamed in the sunlight, and his emerald eyes sparkled with contemplation. Women passing through the City stole furtive glances at him as they walked, captivated by his striking features.
Simor Litshia.
An eighteen-year-old commoner whose chest burned with ambition, whose eyes blazed with hunger for profit, devoid of blood, tears, conscience, or ethics.
Now he held the rank of Baron, bearing the name Simor Gold Litshia. The very addition of “Gold” to his middle name revealed the depth of his passion for wealth.
Though he’d begun with a Barony, he was already planning greater efforts toward higher titles that demanded astronomical sums of money.
He possessed an obsession: if something captured his fancy, he would keep it at his side regardless of whether it belonged to another man’s wife.
Even if that person were Princess Elani, spoken of as the heart of the Imperial Family itself, he would not relent—let alone an Icard Nobleman.
‘I need to meet her.’
Simor rested his chin in his hand, lost in thought.
‘No matter what it takes.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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