This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 47

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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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Chapter 47

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“If I don’t get rid of this, I’ll face corporal punishment and imprisonment, and Hailey needs furniture.”

 

Baron, who had been listening to the conversation from the side, said innocently.

 

“Huh? So you’re saying you want to dump it at our house?”

 

Raven smiled bitterly.

 

“‘Dump’ is a bit of a harsh way to put it, but if you’d allow it, that’s what I’d like to do.”

 

Baron raised both hands high in welcome.

 

“Wow! That’s great! Sure! Feel free to dump it at our house.”

 

“Oh, is that really okay?”

 

“Of course. Our bed just broke anyway.”

 

“What? Your bed… broke?”

 

“Yeah, I got excited and jumped on it once yesterday and it collapsed.”

 

“I… see. Where have you been… sleeping?”

 

“I just pulled the mattress to one side to sleep on, and stacked the frame near the fireplace.”

 

Baron looked at me with sparkling eyes.

 

“Nuna, it’s okay, right? Let’s save our Raven.”

 

“…”

 

“Please save me, Hailey.”

 

“I understand the situation.”

 

I crossed my arms and tilted my head.

 

“I’m just wondering if there could be such a coincidence.”

 

“A coincidence?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I wondered if he was trying to get by with a lie. But even if he was lying, would there be a reason to give me such good items for free?

 

Somehow it reminded me of novels I’d read a lot in my previous world. Like those ‘found by chance’ situations…

 

‘Romance novel chaebols often did this to the female leads.’

 

I thought for a moment and decided to swallow my embarrassment. If he had ulterior motives toward me, I shouldn’t accept these things.

 

“Raven, you don’t… have feelings for me… do you?”

 

“…What?”

 

“Huh? N-Nuna?”

 

Baron’s mouth fell open in shock and Raven’s eyes shook wildly.

 

From Raven’s expression, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard, I understood the answer.

 

I had been terribly mistaken.

 

“S-sorry. The furniture looked too nice for you to just give it to me.”

 

Even though I had asked, my face was burning hot. I couldn’t meet his gaze at all and ended up staring into space.

 

Really, asking the question made it crystal clear. There wasn’t even a trace of romance in Raven’s eyes.

 

But knowing his true intentions made me feel more at ease.

 

Raven, who had been looking at me, soon chuckled.

 

“Hailey is pretty, so it wouldn’t be strange if men had such feelings.”

 

Calling me pretty. That made me feel a bit better. Well, I am rather pretty.

 

“But I absolutely do not.”

 

Well, he didn’t need to use the word ‘absolutely.’

 

Raven smiled comfortably.

 

“If you don’t believe me, we can go to the Lord together and confirm if it’s true.”

 

Since he was so confident, I had nothing more to say.

 

“Thank you.”

 

At my permission, both Baron and Raven’s faces brightened.

 

“Hooray!”

 

“Oh, thanks to you I’m saved! I’m the one who should be grateful! Now I can finally relax.”

 

They were so happy that I couldn’t help but smile awkwardly.

 

Maybe the goddess of luck was helping me.

 

Then Raven told us about his visit to the Lord.

 

“He wants to have dinner together occasionally and talk about worldly matters. He said we’d discuss the children sent to the orphanage tomorrow.”

 

“Tomorrow?”

 

“Yes. He said he was sorry that I tried to send the children to the capital.”

 

He said something about how his reputation would suffer if he did that with a state guest present.

 

“He said he also suddenly found himself in this situation and wants to investigate the current state of affairs more, so he wants to meet with everyone involved in front of the orphanage tomorrow. In the afternoon.”

 

That made me wonder.

 

“Is he trying to improve the orphanage’s conditions?”

 

“Well. I think he belatedly remembered the existence of support funds, but we’ll have to see tomorrow to know for sure. And also, while the workers are fixing and organizing the cottage interior, let’s go buy clothes together, Hailey and Baron.”

 

“Clothes…?”

 

The sudden mention of clothes seemed random, but Raven smiled casually.

 

“Yes. Tomorrow is your first meeting with the Lord, isn’t it? Hailey’s clothes are too worn, and Baron’s clothes are of excessively high quality.”

 

Raven, who explained that it didn’t matter among us but would be rude in front of the Lord and Princess, smiled brightly.

 

“I’ll deduct the clothing costs from the bounty. So please don’t feel burdened.”

 

I quickly nodded at his words that made me feel much lighter.

 

“Yes, please do that.”

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

We bought the necessary clothes and returned.

 

The cottage’s exterior was the same, but the new doors and windows looked very sturdy. And when I checked inside, I was truly amazed.

 

Everything had been replaced.

 

The interior, which looked newly renovated, was beautifully filled with various furniture and household items needed for living.

 

The very large bed looked sturdy enough that Baron could jump and play on it without any problem.

 

Even lamps with magic stones were installed on the walls.

 

“My goodness.”

 

This was almost noble manor-level remodeling, wasn’t it?

 

When I turned my head with my mouth agape, Raven shrugged.

 

“I told you these were originally meant for my house.”

 

Raven, who let out a deep sigh, raised the corners of his mouth.

 

“Still, I can’t tell you how fortunate it is that I won’t be punished.”

 

I expressed my gratitude to Raven several times.

 

Along with my grateful feelings, my plan to save money and buy furniture piece by piece was also revised.

 

‘Hmm, with the money I’ve saved so far, I might not be able to buy furniture but I could buy some traditional food ingredients?’

 

I was thinking about what traditional foods I could make as early as tomorrow when I turned my eyes to the window. I could see the seawater receding under the slowly setting sun.

 

‘Oh! It’s time to go tide pooling!’

 

I called for Serch outside the door, then quickly lit a bonfire and grabbed a bucket.

 

“Baron, I’ll be back. Raven, see you later.”

 

“Yeah, be careful.”

 

* * *

 

Baron, who had been waving while watching Hailey disappear with Serch, called Salamander to increase the firepower of the bonfire burning in front of the house.

 

“Well done, Raven.”

 

At Baron’s praise, Raven’s laughter finally burst out.

 

“Your Majesty acted very well too.”

 

When Baron reacted with such innocent delight like a truly excited child, Raven found it so adorable that he nearly broke into a wide grin. Since he had to hold back, he struggled with all his might to grit his teeth and endure it.

 

“The Lord’s pressure coming at just the right time was also good timing.”

 

Last night, when Hailey had fallen asleep, Baron called out Raven to explain the situation.

 

Baron instructed him to find a way to completely replace everything – the interior furniture, tableware, flooring, and so on.

 

As it happened, a ship loaded with household goods for Raven’s manor had just docked at the port, so everything could be replaced at any time.

 

…If only they could persuade Hailey.

 

However, since neither Raven nor Baron could think of a particular way to persuade Hailey, they decided to think about it more and parted ways.

 

But this morning, the Lord had applied pressure regarding this matter.

 

It was obvious that he had already secured land and was building a house, with the purpose of making Raven uncomfortable so he would obtain a trade permit.

 

‘The merchant guild is just an excuse for disguising our identity, so if we get a trade permit, things will become more troublesome… Ah, I can use this as a reason to persuade Lady Hailey!’

 

Raven took advantage of Hailey being away foraging to send a note to Baron.

 

The content was asking him to react dramatically so that Hailey would find it difficult to refuse, as he would bring furniture and various other things today.

 

“The household goods problem was solved thanks to the Lord’s pressure, but now the orphanage is the issue. He said he would conduct more status investigations, but it seemed like he had already registered the children at the orphanage and sent a report to the Imperial Palace.”

 

The reason the Lord of Snoril handled it that way was obvious to Baron as well.

 

‘He wants to receive the imperial subsidies while also trying to assess Duke Dillen’s wealth further.’

 

Reading Baron’s displeased expression, Raven sighed through his nose.

 

He had wanted to build the manor well simply to create an environment suitable for the Emperor’s status.

 

‘If I had known it would become this troublesome, I should have just roughly stacked logs like Lady Hailey’s house and decorated only the interior to the highest standard.’

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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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