Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 117

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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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Chapter 117
How long had I been waiting for this moment?
Elysion’s hand moved slowly to my cheek, then traced the delicate line of my jaw from my ear down to beneath my chin.
His touch was so careful, as if handling fragile glass, that it seemed to ask for my permission.
With his other hand, he pulled my waist firmly against him.
While I focused entirely on the sensation of his touch, I found myself drawn so close that I could feel his breath.
The moment I realized this—
Elysion tilted his head down and captured my lips in one swift motion.
Despite being mentally prepared, my body trembled involuntarily.
Knowing this was far more than a simple kiss and that I should allow his invasion, the muscles around my mouth remained rigid and unresponsive.
“Easy, there’s a good girl.”
As Elysion’s honeyed voice caressed my eardrums, my tension melted away, if only briefly.
He seized that moment and swiftly invaded the space between my lips.
His breath pursued relentlessly into every corner of my mouth.
A tingling sensation spread through my spine and radiated across my entire body.
He never closed his eyes, as if unwilling to miss a single moment of our kiss.
I wanted to close mine.
But the moment I tried, I feared being consumed by his inferno, so I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
He indulged in me like a ravenous beast.
When had he been so gentle and coaxing, and now so violently demanding?
Feeling petulant, I decided to give as good as I got and lunged forward.
But that only poured fuel on the fire of his desire.
He seemed delighted and pressed me further.
I tried to maintain my pride, but soon found myself overwhelmed, and finally gripped the fabric of his clothes.
“Mm…”
My breath came short, and my face flushed.
While I struggled to breathe heavily, Elysion showed not a trace of strain.
He tenderly caressed the softened corners of my eyes with affection.
Unlike me, he remained composed, blinking lazily like a satiated predator.
How much time had passed?
Unable to endure any longer, I gently pushed against his chest.
Elysion slowly withdrew and lightly licked my lips.
Yet the heat and lingering desire remained unextinguished in his gaze.
As expected.
“…Can I do more?”
The man who had just been indulging in me with terrifying persistence now asked with lowered brows and a seemingly docile expression.
What a cunning fox.
As I stared at Elysion with an incredulous look, he narrowed his eyes with a sly smile.
“I’ll take that as permission.”
Before I could even react and refuse, our lips met once more.
I was poised to unleash every desire that had accumulated over such a long time.
At this point, I began to feel a slight anxiety about the wedding night I would eventually share with him.
I had been waiting for this moment too, and it was something I anticipated, but….
What if he doesn’t let go like he did today?
That was when it happened.
Elysion, who had been exploring the depths of my mouth, pressed his forehead against mine with a displeased expression.
“What are you thinking about? You need to focus.”
Ah, I was caught.
To smooth over the situation, I mixed honesty into my response.
“I was thinking you’re like a starving beast.”
At that, satisfaction bloomed across Elysion’s face.
“Since you were thinking of me, I’ll let it slide this time.”
Yet he showed no mercy to my swollen lips, immediately pressing his lips against mine again.
I closed my eyes and thought to myself.
After all, the wedding night is a matter for the future—I’ll figure it out somehow and simply enjoy the present.

✦ ✦ ✦
―Shopping Revolution in the Heart of the City: Bilbergia Opens to Massive Crowds
―Dream Shopping Destination ‘Bilbergia’ Achieves Record-Breaking Sales at Grand Opening!
―Department Store’s Triumph: Thanks to New Maid’s Future Sight Ability?
The Department Store’s opening was an overwhelming success.
The newspaper articles that poured out the day after the opening were all about Bilbergia or me.
I selected one of the countless tea party invitations that arrived and attended.
It was to see how much the nobles’ attitude toward me had changed.
“The promotional strategy was truly brilliant. How did you come up with such an idea…!”
“I envy Tania’s wealth to be able to execute something like that.”
“We were both simply fortunate. Thank you for the excessive praise.”
I savored my tea with satisfaction as I watched the young ladies of nobility scramble to please me.
Ah, this was it.
The exhilarating taste of power.
In truth, using hot air balloons for promotion and distributing gentlemen’s and ladies’ clothing for free were strategies borrowed from department store marketing on Earth.
That was why I could be so confident it would succeed.
Of course, not all nobles were positive about Bilbergia.
“Having to use the same shops as commoners. It’s beneath our station, really….”
A young lady who had been picking quarrels with me since long ago stared at me with a blunt expression.
Ilina de Aris.
Born as the precious youngest daughter of the prestigious Marquis de Aris Family, she seemed unable to bear it when attention wasn’t focused on her.
“Perhaps because you’re of commoner origins, it’s touching how you look after people like yourselves.”
I had actually foreseen this situation.
Lucian had been similarly disrespected by his peers of the same age.
Only after he began courting the Princess did he cease being dismissed as commoner-born.
How could anyone dare speak carelessly when the Princess—a bloodline more precious than any other—stood beside him?
[Overlaying current perspective onto Viewpoint 1.]
“Hmph, the Young Lady’s standing diminishes considerably by merely patronizing the same shops as commoners.”
“What, what did you say?”
Ilina de Aris’s face flushed crimson and pale in rapid succession, as though she had suffered a grave insult.
“Did you truly dare suggest my standing has fallen?!”
She rose from her seat and shrieked indignantly.
Ah, this is backfiring spectacularly.
From her expression, if I continued this confrontation, even should I emerge victorious, she would surely orchestrate some form of retaliation behind the scenes.
That won’t do. That simply won’t do.
[Restoring Viewpoint 1.]
Having shifted my perspective, I resolved this time to approach her with a completely reversed demeanor.
Truth be told, I preferred persuasion and alliance to outright enmity—it suited my nature far better to convert an opponent into an ally than to cultivate a bitter rival.
Unless, of course, redemption seemed impossible or the breach was irreparably widened.
As I rose abruptly and stepped closer to her, she flinched and pressed her back firmly against the chair’s backrest.
If she was going to be so frightened, she shouldn’t have provoked me in the first place.
She resembled a rabbit cornered by a predator—one who had mistaken itself for the king of the jungle and now found itself in dire straits.
Rather endearing, actually.
I regarded her intently.
“Young Lady Ilina de Aris.”
“W-what is it? If you’re thinking of laying hands on me, remember that everyone here will bear witness to—”
“A letter of introduction granting priority access to Madam Jane’s dresses.”
I extended an envelope to her, still tense with apprehension.
“Once you’ve experienced Bilbergia for yourself, I would appreciate your reassessment, and I shall endeavor to address your concerns accordingly.”
“Gasp—Madam Jane, you say…!”
“She’s recently opened a boutique in Bilbergia—do you have connections with her?”
The surrounding young ladies gasped with envy.
Madam Jane was currently the Capital’s most celebrated boutique’s head designer.
Her popularity soared so extraordinarily that securing even a single dress reservation proved nearly impossible.
Consequently, she was renowned for dismissing even the most distinguished nobles’ commissions outright.
Yet I was the one who had spent years cultivating her favor, making her mine.
The white and blue blended dress I had worn yesterday was her design—that alone speaks volumes.
How did I manage it, you ask?
Well, there exists an ancient adage on this matter.
If something cannot be resolved by money, one should consider whether the sum offered was simply insufficient.
By similar methods, Ilina de Aris was succumbing to my persuasion.
At an age when she adored adorning herself, the proposal proved irresistible, and she slyly accepted the letter of introduction I offered.
“Well, since you’ve put it that way, I suppose I shall try it and give you my thoughts.”
Observing her adorable demeanor, I let out a soft laugh, regarding Ilina de Aris with amusement.
She, too, felt a bit embarrassed by how readily she’d accepted the letter of introduction, so she replied with deliberate curtness.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ilina de Aris. Everything else is fine, but I think it would be wise to refrain from words and actions that demean commoners.”
“Why? Does it bother you because I’m of commoner origin?”
Her words carried barbs, as if she hadn’t yet lowered her guard.
“I’m a noblewoman myself. I don’t mind it at all. But your dear servants are hearing every word you say, aren’t they?”
They might not speak of it, but how deeply must their hearts be wounded?
At those added words, Ilina de Aris’s pupils trembled faintly.
She was, in truth, someone who held her people dear—her family, her guard knights, her maids, all of them.
No matter how much a pampered youngest daughter might be treasured, one cannot earn love through willful obstinacy alone.
There were reasons for everything, which was why everyone treated her with such gentle indulgence.
Humans possess many facets.
One cannot judge by observing only a single side.
If Ilina de Aris had been a villain to me, she might have been an irreplaceable friend to someone else.
A cherished mistress to yet another.

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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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