The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 73

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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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73.

 

Though this was the Imperial Palace from a time when he didn’t exist, it didn’t feel particularly unfamiliar.

 

He knew the structure thoroughly, and there were hardly any places where the layout had changed.

 

Casian recalled the scene he had just witnessed and headed toward the Peony Palace, not the Sun Palace where the Emperor usually slept.

 

In reality, he had only secretly visited once before, so it felt strange to be visiting twice in a timeline that wasn’t even his own.

 

Moreover, visiting a place that still held human warmth, rather than the closed Peony Palace that had been maintained like a perfect model garden.

 

Looking at the position of the moon in the sky, it was already near dawn.

 

Though it should be a night when everyone was deeply asleep, Casian had an intuition.

 

“-Can’t even catch a single rat properly, you’re all useless.”

 

This man would not let his guard down.

 

Unlike when he came with Rozelita, he hadn’t intentionally concealed his presence this time, so he would have been disappointed if the man hadn’t noticed.

 

“Isn’t it because there’s no proper training instructor?”

 

“How dare you stand before me, you have quite the nerve.”

 

Emperor Ernest Artez looked at him as if incredulous.

 

Of course, he was standing cleverly in a spot where the moonlight didn’t reach.

 

“I’m stronger than you, so why would I need to hide?”

 

It was an undeniable fact.

 

Why else would the Emperor have driven eleven-year-old Casian to the battlefield?

 

Though he hadn’t grown properly yet and was clumsy at using his strength, his lightness and natural agility alone surpassed the martial prowess of mediocre knights.

 

Among all the emperors in history, Casian possessed far superior talent than Ernest, who was counted among the top ten in terms of martial prowess.

 

That’s why his father had been wary of him.

 

Being proof of infidelity itself would be an eyesore, but if he gained fame and built power, it would become even more troublesome.

 

Of course, the relationship with the Temple couldn’t be completely ignored either.

 

‘That’s what I’ve speculated until now.’

 

He wanted to fill that gap where he couldn’t be certain.

 

Anyway, if it was something that had already passed, and if he was perceived as just some ruffian who passed by one night, it wouldn’t particularly affect reality.

 

“What do you want?”

 

Though Casian hadn’t released even a hint of killing intent, it was rather the Emperor who displayed an ominous aura.

 

Evidence of weakness…, he thought.

 

Perhaps if he hadn’t met the current Rozelita over ten years ago and had grown up remaining childishly impetuous, he might have thought that way.

 

“I have something to ask, Your Imperial Majesty.”

 

Thunk-

 

Casian threw and embedded the dagger he had snatched that evening in front of his father and spoke.

 

The Emperor fell silent for a moment.

 

He could definitely feel that his father was young. Now, he would have cunningly pretended to be weak like a snake, or intimidated and driven him away.

 

‘No, is that not it?’

 

Casian noticed the Emperor’s momentarily scattered gaze and let out a hollow laugh.

 

Since Maribel was sleeping peacefully in the bedroom behind him, he had no choice but to use tactics to protect her.

 

At the moment of realization, he suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu from the way the Emperor looked at Maribel.

 

“-If I were to take Her Imperial Majesty’s life.”

 

That expression of the Emperor felt familiar, making him even more curious.

 

So he had no choice but to ask directly and resolve his curiosity.

 

Whoosh-!

 

As soon as he spoke, the Emperor’s hand filled with killing intent approached as if to break his neck.

 

Casian, who barely dodged, stepped back further and raised the corner of his mouth obliquely.

 

Surely his battlefield experience and martial aptitude should be far superior.

 

The prowess he had just shown was movement that far exceeded his original abilities.

 

“I’ll cut your life short by any means necessary.”

 

To think it would give him such a sense of déjà vu.

 

During the Flare Dragon subjugation, when Rose disappeared before his eyes, the sensation that had boiled up in him was felt piercingly throughout his entire body.

 

That’s why he found his answer.

 

‘If he really thought mother was unfaithful and lost affection for her, he would have killed me, or if not that, he would have stripped me of my imperial status and found me a decent guardian.’

 

But because he didn’t think that way, the Emperor had kept him alive.

 

Disturbingly, the way he looked at mother was so similar to how he himself looked at Rose that just one word from him resolved all his doubts.

 

If he had been in His Imperial Majesty’s position…

 

‘Rose miraculously married me, and I’d let her heart be stolen by another man?’

 

Though the sincere and pretty Rozelita, who was his type, wouldn’t do such a thing anyway.

 

Even if that were the case, it would be his fault, never hers.

 

Terrifyingly, Casian was someone capable of self-objectification, so he knew all too well in what aspects he resembled his father.

 

Having resolved one doubt, Casian stepped further away from the Emperor and showed proper respect to his father.

 

“-I had no such intention. Truly.”

 

Apologetically explaining a story that was the past for him but the future for the current Emperor.

 

“What do you-,”

 

Just as the young Emperor was about to say something, he felt the air beginning to distort.

 

Casian hurriedly headed toward the Winter Palace without looking back.

 

‘I need to return to Rose quickly.’

 

So he didn’t hear Ernest’s muttered voice.

 

“Of all places, the Winter Palace…?”

 

*

 

When I opened my eyes, I was inside the carriage.

 

…What?

 

I had definitely fallen asleep in the Winter Palace bedroom, and quite an old Winter Palace bedroom at that.

 

When I opened my eyes, both the stopped carriage and the boss in front of me were all familiar sights.

 

“I’m really worried, Rose.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“That you might be this defenseless in front of other people too.”

 

Moreover, Casian was saying strange things to me as if the fact that he had traveled to the past had never happened.

 

Did I, perhaps, just dream it?

 

Did I drink mulled wine during the ball and get tipsy from fatigue?

 

As I was looking around in disbelief, I heard a light laugh from Casian.

 

“Rose, it’s not a dream.”

 

“…Pardon?”

 

“Unless you and I fortunately had the same dream.”

 

Saying this, Casian got out first through the carriage door that opened at perfect timing and extended his hand to me.

 

The scene immediately visible outside the carriage was also the all-too-familiar sight of My Sweet Home.

 

“May I ask for a cup of tea?”

 

While I was bewildered, he who would usually escort me only to the front door and return at such a late hour specifically asked for tea.

 

Like someone who had no intention of keeping what I was curious about as a secret alone.

 

‘Joan is on vacation so she’s not here, but can I properly serve tea?’

 

Though I had such concerns, I had no will to refuse the suggestion.

 

*

 

Casian told the coachman to unhitch just one horse and leave, then came into the reception room.

 

As I was clumsily fiddling with the tea set, he covered me with a knee blanket as if telling me to relax and took it from my hands.

 

“You said you were asking for tea.”

 

“The preparations are yours, so I’ve asked enough.”

 

It seemed to make sense somehow…

 

Since my tea-brewing skills were honestly terrible, I didn’t particularly try to stop him.

 

He would prefer tea that suited his taste rather than drinking bitter and astringent tea in the middle of the night.

 

Before long, a warm and cozy fragrance wafted from the filled teacup.

 

“It’ll be time to sleep soon.”

 

Casian told me he had chosen a light variety.

 

After warming ourselves with tea for a while, Casian slowly began to speak.

 

“After Rose fell asleep, I went to see His Majesty the Emperor for a moment.”

 

“…In person?”

 

“Yes, because I had something I wanted to ask.”

 

I asked in shock, but his expression was completely nonchalant.

 

Then Casian told me what they had discussed, his manner as gentle and leisurely as the warm, comforting tea.

 

Though for me listening, it was one surprise after another.

 

“So His Majesty the Emperor’s first love statement was true after all, and the scandal about the late Empress…”

 

“At least His Majesty the Emperor didn’t believe it. If that weren’t the case, then probably.”

 

Casian’s eyes turned cold as ice.

 

“No matter what achievements I made, he wouldn’t have given me a proper position. No, I probably wouldn’t have even had the Second Prince position to begin with.”

 

After hearing the whole story, I thought Casian’s speculation was probably quite close to the truth.

 

In fact, even during the serialization, there were often opinions that the Emperor only seemed to ostracize Casian in words, or that while he claimed to cherish the Empress above all, he somehow seemed to protect Casian when he was in danger.

 

‘Though there were also opinions that it just turned out that way as the plot developed.’

 

Since it was none other than Casian who confirmed it, this must be the truth.

 

That didn’t mean the Emperor wasn’t cunning or that he wasn’t actually a bad person, and Casian didn’t seem to think so either.

 

“So, Rose.”

 

“Yes.”

 

I thought Casian was going to say he wanted to properly learn about the past or buried truths through the scroll given to me.

 

Since he was a very rational and logical person, my instincts honed over two years as his aide suggested that—

 

“It’s a bit embarrassing for me to see His Majesty the Emperor right away. Seeing your parents’ romantic scenes is still a bit awkward, you know?”

 

He said…?

 

Casian Artez has an emotion called embarrassment?

 

That Casian Artez who would probably shamelessly carry out his schedule even if he wore a dress prepared for me…?

 

As I stared in bewilderment, Casian made a mischievous—there really was no other way to describe it—expression and spoke in an enchanting, almost wheedling voice.

 

“But after meeting both parents, I thought you might want to see them too.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“So won’t you come with me? To the Salice Barony.”

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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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