The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 183

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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 03-2.

“Probably.”
It was an uncharacteristically hesitant answer from Casian Artez.
After finishing our meal, we’d taken a light walk before settling into leisurely rest on the bed.
As I gazed at Casian’s eyes for a moment, I couldn’t help but smile softly.
“So you let it show because you were curious?”
“Yes.”
I was beginning to understand why he’d been acting a little off these past few days.
“You could have just asked.”
“I thought I was being too preoccupied with these strange recurring dreams.”
“Strange dreams?”
“A dream where I work all day beside someone who looks like Rose and speaks like Rose, but is a different person from who you are now.”
“Ah….”
On the surface, it sounded like the sort of dream where I’d thoughtlessly ask him, ‘You miss work because you’ve been resting lately, Casian?’ in response.
“And in the dream, Rose knew how I felt but pretended not to notice.”
“Hmm?”
“Since you were my superior there, I resented you the way Rose would. So you acted as if it were all a misunderstanding.”
He spoke as though a dam had burst, and his expression grew plaintive.
It was only a dream, not the reality of right now.
His expression was too endearing, so I cupped his face and patted it gently, and soon a smile returned to him.
“Is that really true, Rose?”
“Well, probably? It seems there was someone who resembled her….”
“I never expected even Rose to answer like that.”
“As you know, it’s true that I was reborn.”
When I spoke with Gaia and Pea, and when I talked about Mariel, I eventually laid everything bare to them.
I didn’t think there was any need to hide it from Casian.
“Like I said then, my memories aren’t vivid. I only remember working hard.”
“Proof that I love you more than Rose, then?”
Casian chuckled softly.
“Judging by how I hold more memories of you in this life and the previous one.”
I studied his expression, wondering if he was upset, but I saw only contentment.
He turned his head and pressed his lips to the palm of my hand cradling his cheek.
“But you know what, Rose?”
“Hmm?”
“What I really wanted to confirm was because of a dream I had today.”
“What was it about?”
He clasped my hand in both of his and smiled.
“Even in the dream, my unrequited feelings came true. So I wanted to tell you.”
His violet eyes looked happy.
“I’m grateful that no matter when, I’ve always been at your side.”
He soon shifted himself up slightly and leaned toward me to kiss me.
“Isn’t that what it means—that I’m definitely included among the things you love?”
He wore the satisfied expression of someone who possessed everything in the world, and yet soon drew close again as though even that weren’t quite enough.
As the familiar warmth touched my skin, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders in return.

*

Though we spoke of these things, neither of us harbored vivid memories of our previous lives.
And that didn’t trouble us much.
“I suppose I lived a simple, good life. Working hard, just like now.”
Since he said I was his superior then, perhaps this life was meant to reverse our positions as some kind of reckoning.
As I pondered this, Casian laughed quietly.
“I don’t know—but it seems I’ve never been able to refuse you, whether then or now.”
And he revealed an unusual preference, asking that I continue to be that way going forward.
That was where our conversation about past memories ended.
There was nothing left to discuss but work, and since it was a different life, there wasn’t much we could apply to our current existence.
As it was, we’d already drawn out and used what we could.
“If anything, it reassures me.”
“Really?”
“An ordinary, humble life has always been my dream.”
I had no intention of denying now that I deeply love my work.
But that aside, ever since I was reborn into this world and remembered the original work, my wish had remained the same.
And since living ordinarily well is never the easiest thing, the fact that I remember nothing vividly except working hard suggests that in my previous life, I must have achieved that goal.
And so, satisfying my curiosity, spending time with family and the people of Salice Domain, and staying close to Casian, the time we’d planned for this place slipped away quickly.
As I looked back at the cottage where we’d stayed before packing and departing, I felt as though I’d miss it dearly.
“Will we be able to come back again next year?”
“Whenever Rose wishes, as often as you like.”
His voice held such determination that it seemed he’d stretch a single day into forty-eight hours if it would please me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Yet I thought that even without such extremes, we could make time for this.
Reardon Domain was stabilizing, and Clupea Territory had never been a problematic estate to begin with.
Moreover, the chronic staffing shortages that had plagued the Winter Palace were now virtually gone.
As a result, both we and the administrators who’d come with us could now enjoy lives with evenings of our own.
Annual leave, which we’d once never had the nerve to use and had to accept as additional wages, had also become freely available.
And besides, the very person who’d been the root cause of all our grievances was far too busy these days to cause us any more trouble.
“I really should send some nourishing things to the capital.”
“His Majesty the Emperor, laboring under the scrutiny of the dukes, certainly deserves that much loyalty.”
Casian agreed cheerfully.
Since he’d placed himself under the wheel of verification and was working harder than ever, I planned to send generous gifts as a way of saying we’d continue to steadily support his throne.
Well, he’d probably receive them in good spirits anyway—a rather excellent gift strategy all around.

*

We spent the following time visiting places we’d been too busy to see recently.
Of course, we also visited the estate of my dear friend Wilma, and during that period, Casian showed a generous spirit by relinquishing about half his waking hours to her.
“You like spending time with the priestess, don’t you, Rose?”
He even gently teased, saying that the books he’d brought wouldn’t be a burden but rather a worthwhile opportunity.
Moved by his affectionate consideration, I went out of my way to kiss him several times, and each time he eagerly drew it out before settling into a satisfied expression.
After our time with Wilma, we stopped by the Ashwood Duchy.
Francis, true to his nature, acted as though our visit were a planned inspection.
“I was hoping to consult with you about something anyway, Clupea Marquis. Seeing the recent road improvements in Reardon, I thought Ashwood Territory might also—”
On the final day of our stay, Duke Ashwood visited the estate, and at the sight of him, I could only shake my head with amusement.
“It seems my grandson has quite forgotten how to make friends, though I’m grateful he’s at least learning how to be a good lord.”
Francis felt a bit sheepish at his grandfather’s words, though he also looked relieved.
When I asked him out of curiosity before we left the duchy, he smiled faintly and explained.
“He praised me as being somewhat useful as a minor lord now, so it feels like I’ve climbed a small mountain.”
A perfectly fitting answer from him.
After visiting here and there, the last place we headed was an estate near Soremte.
It was to celebrate the joyful news that Prince Charley’s wife, Count Soremte, had given birth to their first child.

*

It had been half a year since I’d last seen Prince Charley—not since the wedding.
I’d seen the Emperor making a fuss loudly in the banquet hall.

‘I often think about it, but His Majesty really does resemble my mother. Would that be an unpleasant topic for Casian?’

He’d said the Emperor was just as greedy as Empress Scaletti, with a narrow vision because he put himself first above all else.
After that, Prince Charley, showing no interest in getting involved, didn’t wait for the Emperor to wake and returned to Soremte.

‘I don’t want to leave my wife alone for too long. I don’t want to be a husband who takes his ease while she struggles.’

Back then, Prince Charley had told us the child would be born in about three months.
Fortunately, the child was born at a time not greatly removed from the expected date, and word reached us that Count Soremte was also in good health.
Three months later, when the child had passed a hundred days, we were able to decide to visit Soremte.
And too, we were curious to see how Soremte, which they had built, had changed from before.
So we knocked on the door of the manor house on the Soremte Territory estate.
“Welcome, Casian, and Clupea Marquis.”
Prince Charley, whom we saw for the first time in months since the wedding, had distinctly darkened shadows beneath his eyes.
It was a face that bore the clear marks of devoted participation in raising his child.

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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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