The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 164

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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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164.

The Emperor let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.

At least he knew that dealing with his own son had better odds than dealing with Rozelita.

“You must also know that it would take at least 10 years, no matter how short, to resolve the matters needed to summon you back.”

“Will 10 years really be enough?”

Casian replied nonchalantly to the Emperor’s somewhat weighty words.

Despite the calm tone, it felt mocking, and the Emperor nearly burst into anger.

However, the stiffness in his shoulders and the throbbing between his fingers helped him barely suppress his rage.

No, it wasn’t just these physical ailments, but he had somewhat realized the difference between having Casian and Rozelita present or absent for all the difficult state affairs.

Pathetic as it was, no matter how he thought about it, he was the one in need right now.

Blinded by convenience, he had let them grow to this extent – he even thought to himself that he had become quite dull.

Nevertheless, the Emperor had no intention of fully revealing his weak state.

He knew that negotiations couldn’t even begin unless they appeared to be on similar footing.

“Who do you think handled state affairs when you were a child? It was originally my responsibility, and since Salice Advisor was kind enough to organize the items, it would be troublesome if I couldn’t handle even that much.”

The Emperor let out a short breath, contrary to his words.

“If I don’t do that, you two won’t even let me see my grandchildren’s faces. You’re planning to hold the wedding after going to Liarden Estate, when you have the leisure.”

“It’s because I know priorities shouldn’t be confused.”

The Emperor pressed and massaged his brow once more.

Was it because he resembled Maribel’s temperament?

Honestly speaking, he truly didn’t understand his son.

If Casian were to become Crown Prince, he would want to give him a wedding so grand it would go down in history.

Unlike when he got married, the domestic and international situation was stable, so he could proclaim the Crown Prince’s wedding on a grand scale and invite all sorts of state guests.

Not only that, he would invite skilled artists and photographers with advanced techniques to record every single scene.

‘Even though it was the Crown Prince’s wedding, I always felt sorry to Maribel that it was too hastily arranged and modest.’

Casian and Rozelita seemed to somewhat misunderstand his feelings, but he truly cherished and loved Maribel.

It was just that his priorities were slightly different from hers.

That’s why the Emperor thought Casian was making the wrong choice.

A choice made without knowing what would remain as regret until it passed.

But Casian felt inwardly absurd looking at such an Emperor.

He could feel that his father was truly someone who thought about everything only by his own standards.

‘You still don’t know what Mother truly wanted.’

Not only that, he thought the Emperor would dismiss as mere daydreaming the truth that he himself would have noticed long ago.

Casian didn’t want to waste any more time with the Emperor.

The Emperor seemed to think everyone was like him.

So even if all the conditions he and Rozelita mentioned were met, he was anxiously wanting confirmation, worried they might pretend not to know about their promise and not return.

Did he think everyone lacked responsibility like that?

Casian was the first to speak toward the Emperor who was pretending to be troubled.

“Rose personally organized those items for you. Since Your Majesty well knows that I have no choice but to listen to her words, I believe this answers the part you’re concerned about.”

“…You won’t change your word?”

“Reversing decisions without proper reason is what my fiancée hates most. As Mother’s son, Your Majesty should well know what that means to me.”

At Casian’s clear statement, the Emperor finally nodded as if relieved.

Watching this, Casian thought Rozelita’s words resonated even more.

‘Anyway, His Majesty the Emperor will create even greater suffering for himself.’

‘Beyond what we’ve provided?’

‘Because he’s someone who doesn’t know how to trust others, and he’ll definitely think this way.’

Rozelita spoke with a confident face, fiddling with Gaia’s jewel.

‘That he ended up in this situation because he let his guard down momentarily. That if he had monitored the Winter Palace and Lilac Palace as he always did, this wouldn’t have happened.’

‘Because he trusts no one?’

‘Because he only saw everyone as chess pieces.’

He thought it was an accurate assessment of his father.

That’s why Casian wanted to give him even greater despair.

For such a suspicious person, wasn’t there one thing he believed in like an absolute truth?

‘The affection Mother held.’

Because that was a characteristic of the Liarden bloodline.

Recalling the feelings he held toward Rozelita, that blind faith wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

But his mother, befitting a Priestess who was special even among Liarden, had left a gift for the Emperor.

She had changed a dying life into a living one – it had to be called tremendous love.

But she didn’t end it there.

Could his mother really not have known that the proof of love could also become a blade aimed at the Emperor?

Even seeing what kind of personality Rozelita had and how he himself had grown up, his mother never tried to dissuade him.

She just…

‘Think only of your happiness. Love is originally a parent’s love for their child. You’ve done enough as a son.’

When he had pushed his physical abilities to the limit to find the antidote herb to save the Emperor, his mother had said this while recalling that time.

With a bitter expression.

So he should gladly let him know.

‘Of course, since Mother loved Father, she might not have wanted such an ending.’

Hadn’t Rozelita said so?

‘What child grows up according to their parents’ wishes? If that were the case, I would have just stayed in Salice Barony.’

Also, his mother had said the future was something she couldn’t interfere with.

Casian hoped the Emperor would know even a tiny bit of the pain his mother had endured alone.

“Is that really all you have to say to me?”

So naturally, he should gladly feed that mouth some stinging truth.

He looked at the Emperor with cold eyes and opened his mouth.

The Emperor, who had been habitually reaching for his pen due to the intense work of recent days, twitched his eyes.

“It seems you have something you want to say to me.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve conveniently erased it from your memory? I would never have done such a thing.”

“…What?”

“Or perhaps you didn’t notice because you were indifferent to me.”

“What are you trying to say now, you’re not even a child! Are you trying to rebel because I didn’t give you attention?”

He had merely been trying to confirm facts, but seeing the Emperor raise his voice as if hit where it hurt, Casian became incredulous.

Since when did he have such a conscience?

“Your Majesty, you seem to have too high expectations of me. How could I think such thoughts, how dare I? I abandoned such things around age seven.”

At Casian’s emotionless words, the Emperor closed his mouth.

“…Then what is it because of?”

“Have you forgotten the face of the one who intruded shortly after your ascension?”

“…What?”

At the Emperor’s reaction, Casian couldn’t suppress the sigh that escaped.

Because it was the face of someone too ignorant.

Surely if Rozelita knew, she would angrily pour out a stream of scolding, but Casian thought that perhaps a tiny bit of the reason the Emperor treated him coldly lay with himself.

That narrow-minded man might have sprouted seeds of suspicion about Mother’s infidelity after seeing him boldly ask questions shortly after his ascension.

Casian quietly opened his mouth.

“If I were to take Her Majesty the Empress’s life.”

The exact same words as back then.

But the Emperor just stood there stiffly, looking at Casian.

“Don’t tell me, Casian, are you acting so harshly because you think I mistreated you because Bel died giving birth to you?”

It was Casian who was left speechless by the words that followed.

This person intended to pretend ignorance to the end.

Whether it was pride to hide his own insensitivity or what, he didn’t know.

But he had no intention of letting him escape.

“I’m talking about how I met His Majesty the Emperor in the past.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? You’ve been using mages for work, have you become obsessed with something strange?”

“That can’t be. Wouldn’t it be better if you stopped pretending not to know? That way you could at least offer belated thanks to Mother.”

Casian quietly recalled Rozelita’s voice in his mind.

‘Among all the times Maribel summoned us from the past, not a single one was useless. Even showing us those happy times when we doubted His Majesty the Emperor’s claim that he loved Maribel.’

It was because of that experience that Casian had rushed to the Emperor’s side, pushing himself to the limit when the Emperor’s life hung by a thread.

Because he believed, at the very least, that the Emperor’s heart was sincere.

So he didn’t want to just leave the Emperor to pretend ignorance and enjoy only slight hardships.

“Mother, who was a priestess and saint of Riedern, showed me those happy times from the past so that I would save His Majesty the Emperor.”

“…You are my son!”

Seeing the Emperor shout as if in denial, Casian realized.

That this person too had a reasonably functioning mind, and the puzzle pieces that had long been a mystery had finally all come together within him.

Including the fact that originally, he should have died and not been a person of this world.

“And after making me fulfill my duties as a son to His Majesty the Emperor, she revealed all the truth to me. What actions Your Majesty had taken.”

“…Bel, she wouldn’t do such a thing. She must have helped me, and you’ve misinterpreted what she told you!”

At the Emperor’s reaction, Casian felt his throat tighten.

It wasn’t because of pride or anything like that. The Emperor simply didn’t want to acknowledge it.

That his mother was the kind of person who could point a sword at the Emperor.

“You knew, didn’t you, Your Majesty the Emperor.”

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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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