That Piece Of Trash Was Me - Chapter 38

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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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Chapter 38

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“Cough, cough.”

When I coughed, Adel quickly patted my back.

“How does it feel to have the romance of running in the rain repaid with a cold, Miss?”

Of course, I didn’t tell Adel about meeting the Crown Prince either.

I just made up some vague excuse.

Something about wanting to catch a glimpse of the Imperial Family, so I snuck out alone but got lost.

Fortunately, Adel seemed to believe me without much suspicion.

“I guess I’ve learned that every romance comes with a price…”

When I answered while coughing, Adel let out a laugh.

“You’ll have to eat only stew for a while. If you eat hot, boiled stew, your cold will clear up quickly.”

“Mm-hmm.”

I coughed several times, but my mood was absolutely soaring.

‘90%.’

Wow.

It was truly a reassuring number just to hear.

Assis Grand Duke Frazier’s affection level toward me was a whopping 90%!

If I could, I’d want to brag about it to everyone, but that would immediately get me treated like a crazy person, so I was just holding it in.

‘Plus, Ruk brought me some really good news too.’

“Miss Tulia. Starting this month, your dignity maintenance allowance will double.”

“Double? Why?!”

“You received Glory, Frazier’s Necklace. According to family law, the budget allocation doubles.”

Imagine someone who was earning 2 million won monthly suddenly getting raised to 4 million won.

Wouldn’t that feel amazing?

Thanks to that, even though I had a cold, I kept grinning all day, which eventually made Adel genuinely worried.

“When will Grandfather return?”

“His Grace the Grand Duke will probably return before the banquet. It should take about a month.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Right now, Assis Grand Duke Frazier is… no.

‘He cherishes me 90%. I shouldn’t call him so coldly either.’

I changed the way I’d been addressing him in my mind.

Grandfather.

Grandfather, Grandfather.

“Grandfather…”

“Yes? Miss? What did you say?”

“No, nothing.”

I shook my head casually at Adel and leaned back against the pillow.

Grandfather, huh.

I’d always called him that outwardly to look good, but now that my mindset had changed, I felt somehow warm and fuzzy. Like having a handful of soft feathers touching my palm.

Anyway, Grandfather left the main castle a few days ago.

‘He’s not someone who stays in the Grand Duchy all the time anyway.’

The Grand Duchy was so vast it occupied a third of the Empire.

So just one territory inspection easily took a full month.

It must be bothersome.

But Grandfather always conducted annual territory inspections unless there was something particularly urgent.

That’s probably why talented people like Ruk Kelfosher and excellent knights respect and follow him as their lord.

‘He has surprisingly caring sides when you look closely.’

Grandfather left for territory inspection without returning to the main castle.

When our paths diverged, I saw Grandfather off and said:

“Thank you for taking me to the White Tower. When the new Pneuma comes, I’ll study hard. Grandfather.”

At that time, right after hearing about the ‘doubled dignity maintenance allowance’ from Ruk, my cheeks were stretched to their limit with my grin.

So I delivered that flattery with even more genuine respectfulness, but Grandfather unexpectedly glared.

“What studying when you’re coughing like that. Take care of your health first!”

Thanks to that, the day for the new Pneuma’s arrival was postponed a bit, and in the Grand Duchy where Grandfather’s word was law, I was taking a legitimate rest.

“It’s really fortunate that His Grace the Grand Duke assigned you a personal assistant butler before leaving.”

Adel said while bringing a tray with several silver dishes.

“Thanks to that, there’s no head chef tampering with your ingredients.”

Adel’s words were tactful, but they were targeting Viscount Lilius and Aubrey, who had been subtly mistreating me until now.

Well, until recently, my personal kitchen had been filled with nothing but bruised apples.

Vegetables on the verge of wilting, meat in poor condition with a foul smell rising from it.

A noble lady’s kitchen filled with such things was quite pitiful, but not anymore.

“Since Ruk personally selected and assigned him, the head chefs don’t dare make a peep.”

This was an obvious fact.

And…

I was curious about Adel’s reaction, so I deliberately brought up Ruk’s name.

Adel’s expression, who always cared for me warmly, darkened slightly for just a moment.

But it was only brief.

Soon she smiled with her usual warm expression.

“It’s nice that the Chief Advisor takes such good care of you, Miss. Thanks to the assistant butler, we lack nothing in medicinal materials or ingredients.”

After Aubrey was stripped of her domestic authority, Frazier Main Castle was in a somewhat chaotic state.

With no noble lady left to give final approval, the butler and servants must have been quite flustered.

‘Plus, most of them are Viscount Lilius’s people anyway…’

Grandfather knew this too, so he seemed to have deliberately had Ruk Kelfosher assign me an influential assistant butler.

‘Well, it would be difficult for Grandfather to immediately cast out his son.’

Half of all the Grand Ducal House’s domestic authority.

Half of that half was the authority to purchase and manage food, daily necessities, or luxury items for family members.

‘The authority that the lady of the house usually needs to pay the most attention to.’

That power Aubrey had been holding onto.

She was stripped of that authority.

But Viscount Lilius still held half of the remaining half of domestic authority.

The authority he held was managing castle wall repairs, family stable management, salaries for retainers, and such…

Strictly speaking, it was more of an ‘external authority.’

Still, in this state, Viscount Lilius’s position would diminish endlessly.

If he reflects appropriately at this point and stays quiet, he could continue enjoying his current level of authority and wealth.

If he ‘reflects’ and stays ‘quiet,’ that is.

But…

‘Would Viscount Lilius be that kind of person?’

When playing as Coriko, all the people in House Frazier were easy to handle.

Even those who were initially cold to Coriko would quickly melt and become Coriko’s allies if you just chose the right dialogue options a few times.

But since I’m Tulia, no matter what I do, they try to melt me down as if dipping me in lava.

Reflecting on the situation so far, it didn’t seem like Viscount Lilius would stay quiet.

‘I wish my cold would get better first before anything else happens.’

It would be nice if I had infinite monster stamina like the Male Leads in .

Unfortunately, while Tulia’s eyes and personality were crazy, her body was that of an ordinary lady, so her stamina wasn’t particularly good.

‘She probably became even weaker from spending those few years shivering in that damn warehouse at Randel Castle.’

Now Tedrick would be the one shivering there instead.

“Miss. Would you like to eat in bed?”

“Yeah.”

Adel brought a tray in front of me with a smile.

When she lifted the silver lid, steam immediately rose up. The appetizing cream aroma made me feel hungry.

Adel watched with a smile as I took a big spoonful of stew, then spoke up.

“How does it taste?”

“It’s really delicious.”

“I’m glad you haven’t lost your appetite.”

Adel said while organizing the lid.

“Just recently, the kitchen tried to give us stew filled only with chicken thigh meat. This time, since I brought the Assistant Butler along, they properly made chicken breast stew right away.”

“I actually prefer thigh meat though.”

When I said this while chewing the meat and broth, Adel laughed.

“You’re just saying that because I’m from the Borderlands, aren’t you?”

“Really. I prefer thighs or wings over breast meat.”

“Really? But Nobles can’t possibly…”

Adel looked somewhat bewildered.

That was understandable.

The Nobles here, or more precisely the Nobles in , didn’t eat chicken thighs or wings.

They considered breast meat the finest part.

This fixed notion was even ingrained in the Commoners as well.

The setting in was that only Lower Class people from the Borderlands ate thighs or wings.

‘Well, if things go according to the game’s progression, that will change later because of a certain member of the Imperial Family.’

But that’s not something that would happen now.

After finishing all the stew, I took my medicine and lay down.

I found myself thinking that the ceiling above the bed was quite ornate.

As I traced the luxurious decorations with my eyes, a memory suddenly came to mind.

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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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