The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 175

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story 02-5.

“This isn’t fair.”
Casian, who had remained silent the entire time with Maribel, unable to hide his tension as though observing a Silent Meditation, finally opened his mouth with a look of relief.
“What isn’t fair?”
“I wanted to see Rose from the past too.”
I watched him pout genuinely for a moment before breaking into laughter.
As I approached, he naturally drew my hand down and settled me on his lap.
“Were you that nervous?”
“Yes.”
Casian embraced me tightly as though he could finally breathe, pressing his cheek against my shoulder.
“If I hadn’t been nervous, I might have told Mother right away.”
“Told her what?”
“Not to see Father. That your face is only youthful for one season, so it’d be a waste.”
His words mixed petulance with genuine feeling.
As I stroked his hair, he tilted his cheek against mine adorably, asking for more.
“But Pea said I shouldn’t tell Mother such things directly.”
“Right. And perhaps….”
“Perhaps?”
Casian lifted his head curiously.
Of course, I would never choose a man like Emperor Ernest Artez.
Even less so if the future were fixed, and especially knowing that seeing the future and trying wouldn’t change his essential nature.
Casian had courted me with utmost devotion, and even knowing his heart held not a shred of falsehood, I had hesitated while considering what came after romance.
He was not someone I could love lightly, but it was because I treasured myself and my family above all else.
Yet Casian had already become someone different from his original self because of me, and more than anything, I possessed enough in myself to navigate the future, so I had chosen him.
The greatest reason, of course, was that I loved him.
Then what choice would Maribel, knowing this place was the future and destined to experience so much, make?
Even knowing it was a future already unfolding, I had considered the possibility that our very existence might vanish when I called her with Pea’s help.
Yet I deemed that possibility low because I already understood well enough what Maribel Reardon held most dear and what kind of person she was.
I held Casian tight and laughed softly.
“Maribel seems to have more ambition than Casian does.”
Understanding my meaning, Casian gave a bitter smile and leaned deeper into me.
Soon, in a voice full of childish affection, he whispered.
“Stay beside me today too, Rose.”
*
The next day, Maribel realized the Manor’s festive atmosphere stemmed from preparations for something momentous.
The young man she had seen yesterday, who resembled a younger brother, and the Miss Rozelita who was so beautiful that Maribel felt it almost a waste, were preparing for their wedding.
When the Attendant Maid told her this news, Maribel could not suppress a glow of satisfaction.
A woman so lovely, so kind, and even seeming so wise was getting married!
Maribel felt the urge to applaud his choice.
If Casian were truly her younger brother, she would have wanted to learn about Rozelita beforehand and even help with the love that would blossom in the future.
In any case, in her original timeline, she who had not yet made her debut had no place intruding in such matters.
A wedding among the nobility was far more than a simple family affair.
The Riedern she knew managed well enough with its closed nature, concerning itself only with neighboring estates and vassal houses, but this Riedern seemed different.
In such times, she could not cower in her room, afraid of the sudden upheaval.
Part of her wished to prove her worth as a guest, but more than that, she was eager to insert herself into this grand undertaking and gather whatever information she could.
So Maribel had her Attendant Maid convey that she wished to speak with Rozelita—that presumed younger brother seemed to have little say in decisions—and word came back that she could join for lunch if she wished.
“I don’t need to wear a proper dress?”
As Maribel settled to prepare for the midday meal, she was taken aback by the Attendant Maid’s words.
“Yes. She prepared something similar to what you were wearing, and said she’d prefer something not too cumbersome for a dress.”
At that, Maribel’s fondness for Rozelita jumped considerably.
She had heard from her parents that soon she would be a Debutante and would need to grow accustomed to heavy, ornate evening wear, so for now she should get used to wearing proper tea dresses daily.
The dress Rozelita had prepared was elegant enough for tea time, yet it looked far lighter and more comfortable than what Maribel was used to.
She wondered if perhaps this was merely her opinion, and people from her original time might say she looked ready to go riding.
For that reason, Maribel chose the dress.
Before worrying about propriety or such things, she was genuinely curious whether it would feel as comfortable as it looked.
And the actual feeling exceeded her expectations.
“Is it true that Rozelita is quite active?”
“Active, you say?”
“Yes. The sleeves aren’t cumbersome and roll up easily, and the skirt is cut to such a clever length that comfortable shoes would be perfect.”
After dressing fully and checking herself in the mirror, moving this way and that, she found the dress even more comfortable than it appeared.
Moreover, the Maid made no great effort to style her short hair to match the dress.
She showed her a few hair accessories, but none of them were cumbersome, and she even said she needn’t choose any if she didn’t want to.
She recalled how Rozelita wore her hair bound high in one simple knot yesterday, like a knight accustomed to training.
Maribel became certain that true authority in this place belonged to Rozelita.
With such expectations, when she looked at the Attendant Maid, the woman smiled warmly.
“In that sense, yes, she is quite so.”
Yet she felt a strange twinge of regret.
After preparations were complete and she went to lunch, the two from yesterday were waiting for her.
Men who seemed to be their Advisors had been discussing some matters, but they hurriedly wrapped up and stepped outside the Dining Hall when she entered.
In truth, Maribel had been curious about what they were discussing, so it felt a bit disappointing.
But she quickly shook off the regret. She had come here to ask directly, so she could simply seize the information herself.
“It must have been strange for you. Did you rest well last night?”
Soon Rozelita began the meal by asking the customary greeting.
My presumed younger brother, Casian, attended to every detail of the meal in a way that made her roll her eyes, though she had to admit he was doing well.
It was far more clever to fawn devotedly over someone you cared for than to second-guess them.
As various conversations passed between them and congratulations for the wedding were exchanged, the dessert arrived at just the right moment.
Maribel ate a pretty, sweet-and-tart dessert she had never tried before and spoke to Rozelita.
“Well, I’ve had Heir Training myself, so I know how to work reasonably well. I’m sorry to be treated so well without contributing. Is there anything I might do?”
She spoke carefully, though her voice trembled with nervousness.
She worried that they might discover the unnecessary fact that she was not yet a Debutante.
But the moment she spoke of “working,” Rozelita’s smile suddenly felt unsettling.
As though she had opened a door she should never have touched.
“How kind of you. But first, might we confirm how much you can handle?”
When the easy permission came, Maribel shook her head at her own unnecessary worry.
Someone who looked so gentle and affectionate would not give her anything unreasonable.
And yet.
“…There’s a devil in there.”
It took less than a week to discover why the dresses were tailored to that precise balance between comfort and beauty, and why she seemed so delighted, and why the Manor—indeed, the Capital City of Riedern itself—had developed so much.
Maribel Reardon collapsed into bed with barely the Attendant Maid’s help to finish bathing, muttering as she lay there.
“But if I could do what she does….”
How wonderful that would be.
She was such an impressive person, so skilled at what she did.
Enough to make one admire her naturally.
*
“Simply put, Rose needed a skilled worker who understood Riedern well and had the talent for strategy, didn’t she? She must have even found some documents from the Late Empress in the Imperial Archives that didn’t sit right with her.”
It was now just two weeks until the wedding.
After the final adjustments to the Wedding Dress were made, Wilma spoke to me with a cheerful smile over tea.

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