The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 75
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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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75.
“Come here, let me see your face, your face.”
Father fumbled and touched my face while unable to stop the tears flowing down.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Any injuries? Have you been eating well?”
“Of course, I’m very healthy. His Highness has taken such good care of my meals that I’m worried I might have become a picky eater.”
He was so different from the father I usually saw that I was honestly flustered when he even grabbed my face.
However, the thought that followed was a mix of slight guilt and gratitude.
‘I thought he was really fine since he only said he was okay in his letters.’
Apparently that wasn’t the case.
If the person who always told me to stay calm was showing this much emotion.
I took out a handkerchief, wiped Father’s tears, then spread my arms and hugged him tightly.
“I’m back, Father. So please stop crying, okay?”
“Yes, yes.”
Of course, despite my comforting, Father barely managed to stop his tears only after several minutes had passed.
*
“You cried enough for both of us, so my tears have completely dried up.”
Father looked sheepish at Mother’s scolding.
“I’m sorry for this unseemly display, Your Highness. If it’s not too presumptuous, would it be alright to continue our conversation at dinner time?”
“Of course, Baroness.”
Mother, who had sorted out the situation, told the coachman to guide us to our rooms, then took Father inside with her.
Soon the coachman told another servant to follow with the luggage, then guided us to the second floor.
To begin with, the Salice Baron family wasn’t wealthy, and even as a country house, the manor wasn’t very large.
The first floor had a reception room and dining room, a hall and study that were adequately furnished, and the second floor had only about five bedrooms total.
Therefore, Casian’s room wasn’t very far from my bedroom either.
The west wing of the second floor was my parents’ area, and among the three bedrooms in the east wing, the innermost one was my room.
Diagonally across and closer to the stairs was this manor’s only guest room.
Naturally, it was cramped compared to Casian’s private space within the Winter Palace.
“Even though this was a sudden visit, they prepared this much – I can tell how much Rose’s parents have been waiting for you.”
My superior wasn’t the type of narrow-minded person who would judge something by the size of a room.
I hadn’t worried much since he was even less particular about sleeping arrangements than I was, but our servants seemed different, as they finally showed signs of relaxing at Casian’s words.
“If you need anything during your stay, please call for someone anytime, Your Highness.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
After saying that to the coachman, Casian also said to me,
“Rose, don’t think you need to worry about me until dinner time – just rest well, I’ll do the same.”
His considerate words impressed the coachman.
Soon the coachman who had brought me to my room relaxed his expression and spoke with relief.
“Even knowing how much journalists exaggerate rumors, I was secretly worried since there were so many frightening stories about Prince Casian.”
Speaking of which, I think I was the biggest victim of strange articles over the past two years?
Of course, I had emphasized several times in letters to my parents not to worry-
“But seeing today, it seems like you’ve got His Highness well under control, so I’m relieved! I knew you wouldn’t be pushed around anywhere!”
Huh…?
When I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, the coachman laughed heartily and said,
“I was slightly worried since you seemed to be pretending to be docile after making the Terodima Count’s heir cry badly in childhood, but I’m so glad that was just my concern.”
That was when I was ten years old.
Then the coachman clearly explained about the other servants who had originally been here.
“You heard that Jane, who used to serve you, married a merchant who trades with the Kingdom of Anden half a year ago, right?”
“Yes, Mother told me in a letter.”
But that merchant guild felt suspicious, so I was worried.
Naturally, I had also replied to Mother about that part.
“Jane finished settling all the household affairs before the new year started! She said the flaws were so obvious that once she got permission to examine the books, it was quick, and sent word.”
“What about the stepfather? He was the most suspicious.”
“He got kicked out when his embezzlement was exposed. That Merchant Guild Master has a fiery personality, doesn’t he? No matter how pretty someone is, she doesn’t need a husband who damages the guild’s credibility.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried because I remembered the Merchant Guild Master being quite scary.”
“Don’t worry about it. Jane is well-loved, saying she learned well from you, miss.”
The coachman then cheerfully informed me that thanks to that incident, after the baron family fell into debt and other servants had to quit their jobs, they would likely be able to find good marriages, get salary raises, or move to better positions.
When I felt relieved at those words, the coachman also smiled brightly and spoke.
“Now you can rest peacefully, can’t you?”
At those words, I felt like I’d been caught off guard and just scratched my cheek.
“As expected, Madam knows you best, miss.”
The coachman said that and left the room with a smiling face.
It seemed Mother had anticipated my thoughts like a ghost and told the coachman in advance.
Thanks to that, I was able to flop down on the sofa with peace of mind.
Dinner time would be around 8 o’clock, so I should lie down for a bit then wash up and go out.
His Highness said I didn’t need to worry about him, but still, he’s a guest…
With such thoughts, I didn’t resist the drowsiness that came over me due to my relief and fell asleep just like that.
*
How long had I been asleep?
“…Huh.”
When I opened my eyes to someone carefully tapping my shoulder, I heard playful laughter.
“It’s okay, Rosie. It’s only just past 7 o’clock.”
Mother patted my back with warm laughter and helped me sit up from the sofa.
“You looked tired from the moment you entered the house, so I thought you might be sleeping like this again.”
At those words, I smiled foolishly and stretched fully.
“Rather, I was more surprised by Prince Casian.”
“His Highness? Why?”
Had he been going around checking various parts of the manor?
He was someone who would infiltrate and map out the internal structure first when going to battlefields or tax investigations…
“Dinner time starts at 8 o’clock, right? So I was coming to wake you up around this time when I ran into him.”
“Ah…”
“At first I thought he might need something, so I asked, but he said he thought you’d be upset if he didn’t wake you up.”
At those words, I could only let out a hollow laugh.
My superior has an uncanny ability to figure out all my behavioral patterns…
“So, about that.”
“Yes?”
Suddenly Mother’s eyes became serious.
“Mom and Dad always trust you, you know that?”
“Of course.”
“Still, ahem, even though you’re engaged, you’re still unmarried.”
“…Pardon?”
I looked at Mother in surprise at the sudden turn in conversation.
Mother finished her words with an even more stern expression.
“You must think carefully and only do things you can take responsibility for, and be careful about what you need to be careful about!”
Then, perhaps feeling embarrassed herself, she pushed me into the bathroom.
What does Casian figuring out my daily patterns have to do with ‘that’ topic…?
It’s just that we often had to pull all-nighters together because we were swamped with work.
‘Besides, it’s not even a real engagement.’
At first it was for money, now it’s for the safety of me, Wilma, and Casian…!
We’re entangled in many ways, and I just couldn’t tell them because I was worried they’d worry more if I called it a contract.
I sank my body into the bathtub filled with warm water with a slight sense of injustice.
…Surely she’s not giving Casian the same kind of warnings, is she?
I splashed water on my face, desperately hoping such a terrible thing wouldn’t happen.
*
At the very moment when Rozelita was relieving her unjust frustration with a bath after being misunderstood, the culprit(?) who had provided the cause was slowly touring the modest garden of the Salice Baron’s mansion.
Though it was a bit bothersome, Casian felt he had truly made the right choice in switching duties with the First Prince.
‘Hmm, if I trade this, Mother would be pleased, but I’d have to work overtime, wouldn’t I?’
‘Is it not possible?’
‘Hey, of course it is. My cute little brother is asking his big brother for something for the first time.’
‘Are there conditions?’
‘If you say “Big brother, please!” I’ll switch with you.’
It wasn’t even a difficult condition.
As soon as Casian heard those words from the First Prince, he immediately said “Big brother, please” in his characteristically dry tone and was able to easily switch duties.
What value could there possibly be in that one meaningless phrase?
Rather, he felt it was a shame that Rose couldn’t see how the idiots from the Summer Palace who had come to report on work stood there with their mouths agape due to his dry voice.
Anyway, thanks to that, he was very pleased to see Rose looking happy.
So much so that he thought it would be fine for the First Prince to use that strange title “big brother” for the rest of his life.
Casian, who had been lost in thought for a moment, soon cleared away some protruding stones in the garden, moving them to one side as he turned around.
He had already noticed the presence that had been lingering around for a while.
“Would you mind giving me a brief tour of the garden?”
At those words, Rozelita’s father, Baron Salice, cleared his throat and nodded somewhat awkwardly.
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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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