The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 46

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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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Rosaline looked around and ground her teeth.

‘What stupid swarm of flies got attracted to that painting!’

Surely at the last auction, everyone had laughed at it.

Who would buy such a painting, they said.

But…

‘Damn it. It must have become a hot topic after the last auction!’

Moreover, people were subtly watching Rosaline.

Though identities were secret at the auction house, there was nothing they could do about being recognized by clothing and accessories.

Since Rosaline, Viscountess, known for her deep knowledge of art, was bidding on “The Forest of Cologne,” people seemed to be rushing in thinking, ‘It must be a good painting that only I didn’t know about!’

She had shot herself in the foot.

But she couldn’t back down here. Rosaline bit her lip and raised her paddle again.

As a result.

“‘The Forest of Cologne’ has been sold to Customer 6 for 170 million gold!”

The amount Rosaline won the bid for was a whopping 170 million gold.

‘Damn it!’

No matter how much the painting contained clues about Uncle’s hidden assets, 170 million gold was too much.

Still fuming, Rosaline abruptly stood up.

Anyway, she had finished her business. Once she received the painting, she would never set foot in this shabby night auction again.

Walking irritably, Rosaline tripped over something and fell.

“Ugh…!”

“Oh my, are you alright?”

Looking back, she saw an Old Lady sitting in a wheelchair.

“You must have had something urgent. Can you get up? I’m sorry I couldn’t help you up.”

It was then she realized she had tripped over the woman’s wheelchair.

Rosaline muttered viciously.

“If you’re disabled, you should just stay holed up at home.”

The Old Lady’s orange eyes widened.

Strictly speaking, it was Rosaline who had been walking hastily and fell on her own, but that’s how noble society worked.

The person who apologizes first loses.

Moreover, she was just a customer at a shabby night auction. To Rosaline, she was someone who could be trampled on at will.

“How could you say such a thing!”

“…Never mind. Let’s not cause a scene.”

A person who looked like a Butler stood up indignantly, but the Old Lady restrained him.

Rosaline, who had barely gotten up due to her cumbersome dress, glared at them as she walked, then suddenly stopped.

‘Wheelchair? Orange eyes?’

Someone’s face flashed through her mind, but Rosaline soon shook her head.

No way. That ‘someone’ had been in hiding for a long time.

She wouldn’t appear in a place like this.

“Bring it. ‘The Forest of Cologne.'”

Arriving at the place to receive auction items, Rosaline flicked her finger.

An Attendant brought two large bags and spread them on the table.

One bag contained 170 million gold, and the other contained a replica of “The Forest of Cologne” brought for comparison with the original.

“Yes. Here it is. Once an auction item is sold, cancellation is absolutely impossible…”

“Do you think I wouldn’t know that?”

Rosaline snapped irritably and roughly took the original.

‘Let’s see what Nicholas missed.’

Rosaline looked at both paintings for a long time.

But.

“How is this… possible…”

The paintings were identical.

The texture, color expression, even the cracks.

There wasn’t a single difference.

“No, this can’t be. This can’t be happening!”

How on earth did this happen?

There had to be differences. That would make sense.

Only then would the reason nothing came from the coniferous forest be Nicholas’s fault for copying the replica incorrectly, not her mistake!

It was when the pale Rosaline raised her head.

Through the slightly open door, sounds from the auction hall could be heard.

“…It’s a very special painting in many ways. Not only is it painted on a dish rather than canvas, but it’s both a comeback work and debut work by an unknown artist. I present ‘Life’ by Nicholas Raum, depicting the northern waterfall.”

“What?!”

What Rosaline saw as she burst through the door was.

“5 million gold. 5.5 million gold. 6 million gold. Bidding increases by 1 million gold. 7 million gold. 8 million gold…”

Auction paddles rising like applause for Nicholas’s painting.

“Sold to Customer 1 for 16 million gold.”

Rosaline’s head turned stiffly.

The person coming to receive Nicholas’s painting after winning the bid was…

“What a relief. I fell in love with it at first sight, so I was worried about not being able to buy it.”

“Your Grace, if I may ask, is there a reason you liked that painting? Don’t you already have many landscape paintings given as gifts?”

“All the paintings others sent me were beautiful, but they were all so large that they made me sad. Having to look up at them made me newly aware of my situation.”

“Your Grace…”

“But that painting called ‘Life’ painted on a dish can always be kept close for comfort, can’t it? That’s why I liked it. Of course, the painting itself is excellent too.”

‘Duke of Alchemiya!’

Was the Old Lady in the wheelchair she had just encountered the Duke of Alchemiya?

The harsh words she had spat at her echoed in her ears.

Duke of Alchemiya, passing by the stiffly frozen Rosaline, looked at her intently.

And then.

“But why hasn’t such a talented person been creating artwork until now…?”

Duke of Alchemiya’s lips, which had been smiling throughout, closed coldly.

“That’s quite curious.”

After Duke of Alchemiya disappeared, Rosaline, with a chill down her spine, came out of the auction house.

Throwing off her mask, she headed toward the carriage.

She had to find out.

Why the original “The Forest of Cologne” was identical to the replica.

And why Nicholas had done such a crazy thing!

“S-Sister!”

However, the moment she saw Hugo’s face turn pale as he waited in the carriage, Rosaline had a premonition that things wouldn’t go well.

“Uncle’s pawnshop… has secured a guarantor! They completed the permit renewal!”

“…What?”

There were only two conditions for a guarantor.

Either blood family or a noble who was a symbol of honor in themselves.

But she had definitely confirmed.

The fact that Michele Fiochedade Rionet had not appeared on the street.

But how? By what means?

“That’s not all! Not only Uncle’s pawnshop, but the entire Ashen Street applied for permits with the same guarantor!”

“What on earth are you talking about!”

“Didn’t you know, Sister?!”

I didn’t know?

Rosaline, who had been blankly mulling over Hugo’s words, suddenly felt like she had been hit in the head with a hammer.

“Your husband! Nicholas Raum! That bastard guaranteed the entire street!”

‘Nicholas!’

Rosaline clenched her fists with a grinding sound.

That bastard had finally gone insane.

“You’re nothing without me. Do you think there’s anyone who would acknowledge someone like you?”

If that weren’t the case, how could that fool who used to only cry after hearing those words now be seriously screwing her over like this!

“How on earth did this happen…? No, but didn’t The Forest of Cologne fall into our hands?”

Hugo, who had looked anxious, spoke with forced cheerfulness.

“With just that painting, we can obtain Uncle’s fortune, so what does it matter what happens to some pawnshop? Right? Was there a code? Or a mark?”

“…”

“Sister? Why aren’t you saying anything…?”

“To the estate… I’m going back.”

“S-Sister?”

“I said I’m going back to the estate!”

Right. She could check the painting again. After cutting down that bastard Nicholas.

If she compared them carefully, there would surely be differences between the two paintings.

That cunning uncle had hidden it so thoroughly that clues couldn’t be found with the naked eye. That had to be it.

It was several hours later when Rosaline, trembling with rage, and Hugo, thoroughly frightened, arrived at the Raum Viscountcy.

“Nicholas!”

Rosaline ransacked the mansion like a half-mad person.

“How dare you hide after pulling such a stunt? Come out! Come out right now!”

“M-Madam…”

A maid who had been following her while trembling like an aspen leaf cautiously spoke up.

At the look in Rosaline’s eyes when she turned around, the maid gasped and spoke in a voice on the verge of tears.

“I opened the atelier door to prepare dinner for you, and th-this was…”

Rosaline’s face turned pale as she snatched the paper from the maid’s hand.

What she saw was.

[There was someone who would acknowledge me, after all.]

《Divorce Papers》

Divorce documents with Nicholas’s name written on them.

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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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