The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 118

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

118.

“…Yes?”

Toward the bewildered Casian, the old man blinked his eyes and then bowed his head as if he had come to his senses.

“I apologize, there’s no way someone so young would be him.”

“May I ask who you mistook him for? When you said young master, do you mean one of the Zamoti sons?”

As far as I knew, there wasn’t a single person in that family who looked like Casian.

Then the old man shook his head with a serious expression.

“Our young master is absolutely not a member of the Zamoti Duchy, or rather the Marquis family!”

After declaring that, he looked relieved as if something had been lifted off his chest.

“I thought I was seeing the young duke of the Riarden Ducal Family that once ruled this land.”

“Young duke…?”

Wasn’t that the former Empress?

When I looked puzzled, the old man scratched his cheek.

“Yes, she was a beautiful young lady. …So it wasn’t right to mistake her for such a grown young gentleman. I’m truly sorry.”

“But didn’t you call him young master just a moment ago?”

The old man nodded with an embarrassed face at those words.

“It was the young duke’s hobby.”

“Cross-dressing?”

“Yes, she stopped after her debutante ball, but in her childhood she often went around the village dressed like a boy. When she did that, she would scold us if we called her young duke or miss.”

He gazed into the distance as if looking at memories, then turned his gaze toward us.

“Excuse me, in front of our guests.”

The old man soon asked for our names.

He even apologized for keeping the guests standing for too long.

He couldn’t hide his brief disappointment when he saw our aliases written in the guest registry.

What was written there was the disguised name of Mr. and Mrs. Victor.

“Are you in business?”

Even after confirming, he asked again while guiding us to our room.

“Yes, we started in the kingdom and things went well, so we’re looking around Rierdun Territory both to expand our business and to escape the summer heat.”

“A good choice, summers in Rierdun Territory are very pleasant.”

“That’s right. And since there are rumors that the owner will change soon, we thought we’d look for good business locations.”

At Casian’s smoothly flowing words, the old man smiled with resignation.

“I sincerely hope your choice will be good for both us and you two.”

After the old man withdrew, unable to completely hide his regret, a bellboy skillfully brought our luggage into the room and left.

Looking at the closed door for a moment, I spoke to Casian.

“It seems Casian really resembles Her Majesty the former Empress quite a bit.”

“I think I’ve been told I resemble His Majesty the Emperor in appearance.”

That was also true, but if he could be mistaken to that degree, then surely he must be the spitting image of that cotton candy-like lovely former Empress when she cross-dressed.

Having seen it directly, even if briefly, I found myself staring intently at his face.

“…Rose?”

Perhaps my gaze was too intense, as Casian unnecessarily pulled back.

“I’m very grateful that you’re looking at me so passionately, but then I have to endure a lot too.”

“…What?”

“The urge to pull you into my arms and make you stop?”

Even though you embrace me readily without such reasons.

Since coming up to the capital, we had disguised ourselves as a married couple so often and even had a contract engagement, so I had become too accustomed to his physical affection.

I looked away as he wished and headed toward the neatly arranged interior of the room while throwing playful words at him.

“It’s not just your face, Casian.”

“Hmm?”

“I think you most resemble her in your history of disguises.”

Since you’re always pretending to be someone else?

I had also been influenced by him and become accustomed to it now.

When I said that and glanced back, Casian had a dazed expression like someone caught off guard, then soon sent me a gentle look.

“That’s true.”

At his murmuring voice saying he hadn’t realized it, I felt awkward for no reason and turned my head again.

At the same time, I seemed to be colored with happiness.

Casian Artez had been filled only with wounds, but since coming to Riorden Ducal Territory, I felt as if Maribel was soothingly comforting him.

*

In the evening, we decided to go eat at the bistro recommended by the old man.

Befitting the manager of the oldest and finest lodging in the capital city, he had recommended several places worth visiting.

Except for newly opened places, most were similar to the places Maribel had recorded, greatly increasing the credibility of both sources.

As it was getting dark with the sun setting, the roads were also darkening, but several villagers were following at our walking pace, lighting the street lamps.

“Everyone seems enthusiastic about managing the village.”

“Yes, it seems the Jaemoti Marquis family neither bothered nor greatly managed it.”

“I wonder why, they could have made sufficient profit if they had paid attention in various ways.”

“Well, most speculation was that it was simply due to an inferiority complex about Riorden Ducal Territory.”

I felt that alone couldn’t explain the behavior of that greedy family.

Of course, they did slightly raise tax rates, but they were collecting that much from their original territories too.

“Thinking simply, it would be more comfortable to just collect the steady tax revenue rather than bothering to increase work by paying attention.”

“It feels like there must be some reason?”

“Most likely.”

While having that conversation, we had arrived at the bistro entrance.

The villagers who had been lighting the street lamps winked at us as we entered.

“Good choice, that’s the most delicious restaurant in our village.”

A friendly person even spoke to us.

We lightly nodded and entered the bistro.

Unlike the pub we had passed on the way, the interior wasn’t excessively noisy and had an atmosphere of quiet conversation.

A nimble employee came out and opened his mouth with a bright face, saying we had come at just the right time.

“Manager Parker contacted us in advance, we’ve prepared a good seat for you.”

It was a balcony seat located on the second floor.

Since it was evening, a cool breeze was coming in, and I liked the beautiful plant-decorated railings and the pretty lighting placed here and there.

The partitions for a private atmosphere were also nicely spaced, not too narrow.

“The shopping district is visible.”

“Yes.”

After receiving menu recommendations from the employee and ordering several items, I took in the surroundings carefully.

Casian was looking at the street with even more mixed emotions.

Maribel had traveled around Riorden Ducal Territory a lot since childhood, but among all those places, the location mentioned most frequently in her diary was right here.

Because it was the village that was like the heart of where Riorden Ducal Palace was located.

When all the food we ordered had arrived, I took a big spoonful of the obviously deliciously cooked soup and spoke to Casian.

“By the way, Casian.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you think Lady Maribel cross-dressed?”

“Well…”

He also looked like he couldn’t find that answer.

There were parts that bothered me to simply say that disguising was her hobby.

“Usually the purpose of disguising is to deceive or surprise others.”

“That’s right.”

“But when I heard the inn manager’s story, it didn’t seem to be for those reasons.”

Casian nodded as if he agreed.

“Then was it out of necessity? Or because she wanted to deny that she was a woman?”

There was a passage that kept bothering me.

Though it wasn’t written directly, I could tell that the duchess, who was Maribel’s mother, was deeply saddened and sorry for giving birth to a daughter.

I thought it might be due to discrimination, but there was something that bothered me about thinking that way.

“But the Empire doesn’t particularly prevent female succession, does it?”

“That’s right, though the Temple dislikes it somewhat.”

Because of that, the Imperial Court, which couldn’t be at odds with the Temple, basically tended to establish princes as heirs.

However, except for nobles who were actively involved in the capital, they weren’t greatly constrained by this.

Even in the Salice Baron family, I was the heir for now, and His Majesty the Emperor had even granted me the title of Clupea Margrave.

Of course, due to the remaining old-fashioned atmosphere from the past, there were more male heirs.

‘Even Wilma said it was confirmed that she would inherit the title her grandmother held.’

So it was something that often happened around the count level.

Even among ducal houses, if there was only one heir like the Reardon Ducal Family, they would gladly put forward their daughter.

Francis’s Ashwood Ducal House also had a woman as the holder of the ducal title a few generations ago.

Now, since there were only sons in a row, Francis, being the eldest, was the leading candidate for succession.

The Lopez Ducal House also wasn’t without such precedents.

However….

“The Reardon Ducal Family never had female successors, did they?”

To simply say they were conservative due to tradition, there was another point that bothered me.

The late Duke Reardon had immediately elevated young Maribel Reardon to the position of little duchess, worrying about his wife’s weak health.

Moreover, it wasn’t as if this region was completely closed-minded about such things.

‘What I’ve felt in detail while traveling so far, the atmosphere of the duchy.’

Furthermore, that wasn’t the only peculiar point.

“Traditionally, someone of the rank of Reardon duchess would be considered for political marriage, but according to records, no one except Lady Maribel has married outside the territory.”

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