I Will Buy Divine Power With Money! - Chapter 108
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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From the moment Rute declared he would stay at the Count’s manor, I had foreseen this very moment.
An old, dirty, secluded attic room with no windows where sunlight barely entered.
Would the Count’s family really send me back to that place in front of Rute?
Especially when Rute wasn’t even hiding his favor toward me?
The answer to that was now unfolding fascinatingly before my eyes.
“…Count Kiris. Your family seems to find my words quite amusing. Seeing how they don’t move even after I’ve spoken twice.”
At Rute’s cold tone, I glanced at the Count who had entered belatedly.
In the end, the choice was the Count’s to make.
Where would he send me?
“…I apologize. Actually, the bedroom that the Holy Maiden…was using has been damaged due to our negligence and is under repair.”
“Damaged?”
“Yes. We didn’t know you would arrive so quickly, so we couldn’t finish the construction in time. It’s our oversight.”
“And so?”
“…The other rooms are far too inadequate to accommodate the Holy Maiden, so it would be best if she used Yoanna’s room during her stay here.”
This was a more radical proposal than I had expected. Who would have thought he’d immediately offer up his daughter’s room?
“F-Father?!”
Yoanna, who had been quietly standing there only to have her room given to me, screamed, but no one paid her any attention.
“Just a Count’s daughter’s room… It’s somewhat inadequate for the Holy Maiden to use, but it can’t be helped.”
With Rute’s single comment, Yoanna, who had been reduced to “just a Count’s daughter,” trembled violently.
“Guide her there immediately.”
At Rute’s command, the Count sighed and nodded his head.
Someone presumed to be the head butler immediately stepped forward.
“Please come this way.”
“Holy Maiden. Can you walk?”
Rute, who had been irritated with the Count’s family and speaking curtly, looked at me with a completely transformed face.
The bewildered gazes pouring from the Count’s family…
Were truly thrilling and satisfying.
The unpleasant sensation that had been enveloping my entire body also seemed to wash away completely with the refreshing shower Rute had unleashed.
“Could you just support me a little?”
“I’ll escort you.”
When I deliberately acted weak, Rute gently wrapped my arm as if he had been waiting for this.
And he looked at the head butler with a cold face.
“What are you doing just standing there?”
“S-sorry. Please come this way.”
The head butler flinched and quickly took the lead.
I glanced at the Count’s family, who were standing there with their mouths agape.
The taste of power experienced indirectly was truly sweet.
“Th-this is it.”
The place the head butler guided us to was in front of a door carved with pure white flowers.
In the corridor, maids with pale blue faces stood in a line.
Most of them were probably Yoanna’s maids. I memorized each of their faces precisely.
“Close the door and leave.”
Rute, who had helped me sit on the sofa, issued an order to dismiss the head butler.
The flustered head butler quickly responded.
“I’ll send in maids to attend to the Holy Maiden…”
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to leave? How dare you argue with my words?”
Rute, who had been gently looking after me, glared at the head butler with flashing eyes.
It seemed his anger was gradually rising since no one had been listening to him properly from the start.
“S-sorry. I’ll take my leave.”
The head butler, whose face had turned deathly pale, hurriedly left.
Rute clicked his tongue sharply.
“Not even trying to hide that they want to spy on us. I really don’t like this place.”
I agreed. If it weren’t for business, I would never have come here in my lifetime.
“And look at the state of this room.”
At Rute’s words, I looked around Yoanna’s room.
The entire room was filled with furniture that looked expensive at first glance and tacky decorations covered with jewels.
I thought I found this flashiness burdensome because I was a commoner, but seeing Rute react like that, it really must be bad.
“The story about the Holy Maiden’s room being under repair is probably a lie, right?”
“Well, I’m not sure about that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it really was in a state that needed repair.”
The rotten wooden floor that creaked with every step, the desk gnawed by mice, the dirty and moldy bed…
‘Ordel’s’ room, which I had only seen for one night but was so terrible that I couldn’t forget it even after several months had passed.
“They might be repairing it to use as a storehouse.”
Or maybe as a prison.
When I shrugged with a smile, Rute’s face hardened.
“…You’ve been living in such a room, until now?”
“That’s right. Why did they do that, really.”
Living in ‘Ordel’s’ body was difficult in many ways.
The High Priest who didn’t trust me, the people of the Grand Temple who feared me, my reputation that couldn’t fall any lower, the finances that were barely left due to extravagance and embezzlement…
Even so, the reason I didn’t truly hate ‘Ordel’ was because I had seen that room with my own eyes.
Of course, I couldn’t defend her for harming others just because she was abused, but couldn’t at least I, who had taken her place, feel sorry for her?
“What’s so great about family affection.”
What was so great about the Count’s affection, who only saw her as a tool, that she endured such absurdity?
Honestly, I don’t understand it well.
Even though I was also an orphan, I had never thought about wanting to have a family.
My friend Joo Hyun-jin, who was from the same orphanage, was enough for me.
“…Do you still want to receive family affection now?”
“N-not at all.”
Would you want to receive affection from people like these?
“You really look disgusted. That’s a relief.”
Then Rute smiled sweetly and spread both hands wide, bringing them to his chin.
“Well, you’re receiving plenty of affection from rich and handsome me, so you don’t need any more, right?”
“…”
It’s really absurd, but since he really is rich and handsome, I can’t deny it.
“You can be happy about it. You’re the only one receiving my affection.”
“My goodness. Yes, thank you.”
When I let out a hollow laugh, Rute grinned.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t felt that unpleasant feeling that had been making me uncomfortable for some time now.
Somehow that seemed strange, so I gently rubbed my stomach.
* * *
“Father! What is the meaning of this? Giving my room to that wench!”
As soon as Rute and Ordel disappeared, Yoanna rushed to the Count like a hawk and confronted him.
“Then, would you have me show that filthy attic room to the Duke?”
“Th-that’s not what I mean, but… There are guest rooms too! But why my room of all places…!”
“Quiet! Can’t you be silent!”
At the Count’s scolding, Yoanna was startled and shut her mouth.
He had always been strict, but this was the first time he had gotten this angry.
“From now on, you’ll need to be careful with your words. Not just you, but you too, and you as well.”
The Count pointed to Yoanna, his son Lloyd, and his wife Sara in turn.
“The Duke is currently maintaining close ties with the Sun God’s Main Temple. He’s particularly fond of Ordel. What do you think will happen if the Duke finds out we’ve been tormenting her?”
“…Nothing good would come of it.”
The Count nodded at Countess Sara’s calm response.
“The Duke must maintain his relationship with the Sun God’s Main Temple at all costs. At the same time, he can’t afford to fall out with us either.”
“Then even if we don’t like it, we’ll have to treat that girl like a real daughter, at least while the Duke is here.”
“That’s not enough. We need to revere her like House of Duke Aria reveres the Holy Maiden and Holy Sage of the Sea God.”
The Countess’s face twisted with disgust.
Though the thought was unpleasant, she understood the necessity and didn’t argue back.
“Tell the servants as well. If they dare treat that thing, Ordel, carelessly in front of the Duke, they won’t escape death.”
“I’ll do that.”
“The same goes for you two. If you happen to fall out of the Duke’s favor…”
Lloyd and Yoanna gulped at the Count’s sharp gaze.
“If you bring harm to the clan, I won’t forgive you even if you’re my children. Keep that in mind.”
Having finished speaking, the Count turned sharply and left.
“You heard him? Be careful for the time being. Damn that Ordel. How on earth did she manage to win over that Duke?”
Sara also shook her head and left.
However, Yoanna’s face was filled with unresolved resentment.
‘How did that worthless thing manage to seduce the Duke?’
She was so furious about even having her room taken away that she couldn’t stand it.
And to Ordel, who was nothing more than a tool for our clan!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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