The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 121

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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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121.

With a whoosh.

Maribel’s words were cut off right there.

At the same time, the flower pot that had been shielding our backs disappeared.

The empty and worn terrace came into view behind Casian’s back.

“…We’re back.”

“Indeed we are.”

At the most crucial moment.

If we had listened just a little longer, we would have learned for certain the secret that the Riarden Ducal Family had been keeping.

I opened the scroll just in case, but for now there was nothing additional revealed beyond the information Maribel had shared.

Still, the gains were quite substantial.

“You know, Casian.”

“Yeah.”

“About how blessing becomes poison.”

At my words, Casian also nodded as if he had caught on.

Because we had already experienced such a condition before.

During the Flare Dragon subjugation, my condition when I was overwhelmed by side effects from using too many magical tools was exactly like that.

“So the Riarden princesses possessed more mana than their vessels could contain?”

“Right.”

He nodded, knowing how the concept of side effects applied.

“That’s why problems arise when non-mages overuse magical tools. Normally they don’t have vessels to contain mana.”

“And that mana came from dragons.”

According to what was commonly known, the birth of mages began when the first dragon fell into slumber.

‘Probably Gaia.’

Historically, it was said that all dragons from the first one onward had been subjugated—though of course this turned out to be false—but it would have been difficult for humans to defeat dragons all at once.

During the fighting process, the mana possessed by dragons mixed into the earth and air, creating mana vessels in human bodies, and thus mages were born.

The Temple persistently advocated this theory, which was why their relationship with mages was even worse.

When they dragged away innocent women due to their own greed, it wasn’t for nothing that they oppressed them by calling them witches.

Nevertheless, there were also nations like Seolkuk or our current Empire that didn’t reject mages when needed.

‘The Empire grew this large by appropriately joining hands with such mages, and it wasn’t an empire from the beginning.’

So the Empire basically maintained neutrality between the Temple and the Magic Tower.

That’s why successive emperors couldn’t maintain very good relations with the Temple.

“Gaia appearing before us wasn’t a coincidence, and neither was the fact that the land where she slept was Riarden County.”

When we talked with Gaia, it would have been good if we had known this much about the Riarden Ducal Family.

Casian, who had been quietly listening to my story while looking at the scroll, spoke to me calmly.

“Does Gaia’s blood flow in the Riarden Ducal Family?”

Now that’s a setting that would appear in a fantasy novel.

Though I thought it was quite a plausible guess.

As soon as I had that thought, Casian urged me to check the settings.

Even after hearing all of Maribel’s story just now, there hadn’t been much change…

Surprisingly, the content had changed.

As if bloodline was the key keyword.

“…As expected.”

And Casian looked relieved as soon as he saw it.

“Why do you look like that?”

“I tried to hold onto Rose during the Flare Dragon incident too.”

“Ah.”

“So I was curious why it didn’t work then, but worked this time even though it felt like I might die.”

Casian then pointed to one more thing—Maribel’s diary that I had brought in my bag.

“And even though there were several places where dragons were presumed to have slept, there was something special about Mother frequently visiting that abandoned mine.”

“There was something that drew her there.”

“Right, I thought Gaia was surprisingly gentle with me compared to the Flare Dragon.”

I hadn’t noticed that part.

“Because Rose is loved by dragons.”

Grumbling was mixed into Casian’s voice.

I soothed his complaint by patting his head and also checked the next passage.

“And the fact that originally a Riarden princess should have been the Saint, as expected.”

“The Temple is concealing something.”

Rather, looking at what Gaia had told us and the records written from the Riarden Ducal Family’s perspective, it felt like the Temple was distorting and defying dragons.

“The remaining trial is probably—”

Just as I said that, I felt signs of people in the distance.

“…Guests?”

It was Parker Manager, dressed with cleaning tools.

*

“If you wanted to tour the Count’s Manor, you should have told me!”

Even while we were visiting the past, time in reality continued to flow chaotically.

And today, several hours had passed.

Thanks to that, we had run right into Parker Manager who had come to clean the manor.

“Of course, the garden view from this balcony was, ahem, beautiful in the past.”

Seeing us sitting close together in the corner of the balcony talking, fortunately(?) he misunderstood in a good way.

That we had come to the Count’s Manor looking for a date spot and had rested there.

“Anyway, the top floor balcony where you can see the distant mountains well is better than here now.”

Parker Manager looked somewhat embarrassed.

Since mountains were just natural features, he seemed sad that this was all the Count’s Manor had to offer.

On the other hand, he couldn’t hide his desire to show us around the Count’s Manor.

As soon as he discovered us, he hurriedly put away his cleaning tools and came to tell us to follow him.

“This room next to where you two were is the room the young master used.”

He opened wide the door to show us the room we had only glimpsed through the balcony in the past.

“My hands weren’t enough to maintain all the rooms, but I tried my best to preserve at least the heir’s room.”

Soon Parker Manager strode over and even pulled away the large cloth that had been covering the furniture.

Instantly, a strange sense of life settled into the previously ownerless room.

A table with some scratches from misusing pen nibs, a wooden vanity and drawers maintained with oil for a long time.

And even the bed placed near the balcony.

Perhaps because I had just seen Maribel lying there, I was swept up in the feeling that she might return at any moment.

“Have you been managing this manor all along, Parker Manager?”

“Not just me. Everyone comes to sweep and clean when they have time. This place is special to us.”

I could feel regret in his eyes.

I was curious about that deep gaze that was lost in contemplation beyond mere reminiscence.

Moreover, having such reverence for a family that had been destroyed long ago, and continuing to manage a manor that no owner would ever return to.

Casian also looked puzzled by all these points.

On the other hand, he was looking around Maribel’s room with eyes full of interest and affection.

“Why is it special? The Riarden Ducal Family, as far as I know…”

So I carefully spoke up, trying to sound like an outsider’s curiosity.

“I know there’s no one left to return. But…”

Parker Manager’s gaze quietly turned toward Casian.

“Still, it hasn’t completely disappeared, has it? And I still have work left to do.”

“What kind of work?”

At my question, Parker Manager scratched his cheek.

“It’s very embarrassing to mention this when I failed to properly protect my master.”

At those words, we realized as he had expected that he was a servant of the Riarden Ducal Family.

“There is still work remaining as a butler of the Reardon household.”

“Would it be too rude of me to ask what that might be?”

Manager Parker showed a good-natured smile.

“Of course, there is only one person I can properly answer to.”

Even as he said this, the manager’s gaze was directed solely at Casian.

“You mean Mr. Victor.”

“That’s correct.”

Casian, who had been looking around the room pretending to examine it, answered naturally.

“Since you say so, I should believe you, but no matter how much I think about it, a strange attachment remains.”

The manager spoke while looking directly into Casian’s eyes.

“Aren’t you indeed the son of our Young Duke?”

*

A moment of silence settled over them.

If it were the usual Casian, he would have immediately denied his words.

To reveal one’s identity during an inspection—that was an act similar to abandoning one’s duties.

Even though the schedule was nearly at its end, and no matter how good a person Manager Parker seemed to be.

The Casian Artez I knew would never have hesitated here.

Yet I too did not open my mouth to cover for Casian’s actions.

I felt this was entirely his choice to make and bear the consequences of.

Though when this abandonment of duty was later discovered and the Emperor petty enough to find fault with it, I would be destined to share that fate.

Feels like I’m getting the short end of the stick?

While I was having such thoughts, Casian slowly opened his mouth.

“Is that important to you, Manager?”

Whether he understood this as an affirmation, Manager Parker nodded with a face that showed tension unlike before.

“So please tell me clearly, are you the son of the Young Duke?”

The manager leaned forward and looked at him with an earnest expression.

Casian quietly murmured, “Not the Second Prince, but the son of the Young Duke.”

Soon he opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“If the Young Duke the manager speaks of is named Maribel Reardon, then she is indeed my mother.”

Instantly, the butler’s face filled with joy.

“Finally, finally… I can perform my last duty as a butler. The day I can hand over the Reardon treasure to its rightful owner…!”

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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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