《The Male Lead I Raised Is Obsessed With Me》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 As a child, my dream was to have my own shop. It didn¡¯t matter if it was a convenience store, a bakery, or a stationery store. Born as an orphan and living in poverty, I thought that if I became a store owner, I would be able to get whatever I wanted. Growing up, I realized that being a store owner didn¡¯t mean I could have everything I desired, but I worked hard and tried to have my own store. The day when I finally opened my store with the money I saved, I died. The cause of my death was a heart attack. But, my life was not over. When I opened my eyes, I possessed the body of a 15-year-old girl. In a normal novel, isn¡¯t it the norm to possess a precious body like the daughter of a Grand Duke or a saint? But I was still an orphan. My appearance wasn¡¯t the same compared to my previous life. Fortunately, in this country and empire, if you study hard, even an orphan can become an official, so there was no problem in making a living. I decided to live this life with the goal of becoming a civil servant early for a comfortable future¡­ ¡°So, you should choose. Stamp here. If you don¡¯t¡­¡± The eyes of the man in front of me shone dangerously. Treon Ivaropa. Contrary to his handsome looks, he was a man with no blood or tears and was a loyal vassal of the Duke of Valruga, the male lead in a romance novel I read. I swallowed my dry saliva and looked at the paper in front of me. Looking at the atmosphere, it looked like either human trafficking or a private lens was going on, but what was in front of me was a marriage certificate. Damn it. It was then that I remembered who I possessed and what this world was like. I think I¡¯ve reincarnated into a romance novel with a rather childish title, ¡®How to Train a Beast Boy¡¯. My name is Felia Foldvich. In the original story, Felia, like me, was an orphan and married a ten-year-old boy at the age of fifteen. During my sensitive period of puberty, I suddenly had a little groom. Felia was not interested in her young husband, and settled in the outskirts of the castle and lived quietly with the fact that she could provide food, clothing and shelter for herself. I don¡¯t know what Felia thought of her life. But she didn¡¯t know what happened to the Duke and the male and female leads who fell in love. Then, the day her husband asked Felia to divorce her in order to marry his lover, she saw him for the first time and fell in love with him. Felia tried to divide the relationship between the two, telling the heroine that she and the male lead have been in love since childhood, and that the heroine is only a brief background person. Of course, Felia¡¯s tactics didn¡¯t work, and she died at the hands of male lead. Felia was the villain who was only used for the love affair of the two main characters, but was not the final villain. I loved the scene where Felia dies and the male and female lead confess their love. In a way, Felia was a poor woman too. In the first place, Felia and the male lead got married because of his need. After the male lead¡¯s parents died, the young boy could not inherit and take over the family yet. They said he could get it back when he becomes an adult. So, the male lead married Felia and inherited his family¡¯s assets using the Imperial Act, which stated that a married couple can inherit their fortunes. It was a marriage that was easy to use and throw away from the beginning. If it were not for this reason, Felia, an orphan with no connections, and the male lead, a high-ranking nobleman, would not have married. ¡°If I refuse to do this¡­¡± I took a little chance. Of course I would see his face when I get married, and once I become a member of a noble family, it will be easy to manage. Still, as a passing villain, I didn¡¯t want to die after being stabbed by the male lead. If I refuse this marriage, I could live peacefully without being involved with him for the rest of my life. But before I could finish saying that, I saw the hand of the knight next to me resting on the sword handle. It is an expression saying I won¡¯t be left alive once I¡¯ve heard the story. ¡­I probably could have avoided this if I had known where I was reincarnated to and who I possessed. If only I didn¡¯t follow the directions from the orphanage director who secretly gave me chocolate bread. ¡°I¡¯m kidding. Why would I refuse this great opportunity?¡± I smiled a lot. ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± The man also smiled at me. Hahahaha. We laughed at each other for a while. You guys are so mean. As expected, he was loyal to the male lead¡¯s family. I asked with a servile smile. ¡°Do I put my fingerprints down here?¡± ¡°Yes, right next to your name.¡± The family seal was already stamped next to the male lead¡¯s name. I swallowed my tears and put my finger on the marriage certificate. It makes me cry to see myself enter the depths of evil. Now that this has happened, I have to live quietly so I won¡¯t die, and get a divorce right away. If it¡¯s the Duke, he won¡¯t even know I¡¯m there, so if it goes as it did in the original, I¡¯ll be sent to the outskirts of the castle. Still, if I live alone, I¡¯ll feel a little lonely, but can¡¯t I just live in a village? Exactly a week later, as soon as I arrived at the Duke¡¯s Castle by myself in a wagon, my determination faded away. * ? * ¡°Wow, why is it so c-c-c-cold?¡± My teeth shook and I put on another layer of clothes. Even though I wore thick fur coats in two layers, white breath still came out of my mouth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, madam. I couldn¡¯t buy firewood because I didn¡¯t have enough money¡­ Please use this as a cover for now.¡± The maid covered me with a thick blanket. I was still cold, but it was better than nothing. As soon as the male lead saw me, he said, ¡®Your outlook is not good. Send her to the abandoned palace.¡¯ I haven¡¯t even seen his face since then. It¡¯s just that this family is poor. The male lead had a precious status. The Duke was the founder of the empire, but now the duke¡¯s family was in a state of collapse. ¡°Ha¡­¡± I touched my forehead. The original story started when the male lead had grown up. As if passing by, he was said to be a genius who brought up a fallen family again. However, after saving the family in the original story, the male lead spent a lot of money. He was a man who fetched 1 billion marks when his opponent bids 100 million marks at the auction house, and he bought and dedicated expensive dresses and jewelry every day for his wife. He had never shown such a poor figure. And there is a degree of poverty. Isn¡¯t it a duke¡¯s family? A family with a vast territory and a mountain of jewels and artworks accumulated over the years. I never imagined it would be ruined this much. I looked around the room. Although it was the Duchess¡¯s room, none of her valuables were found. Neither the maids nor the servants entered this spacious castle and had only seen this child until now. Usually, when it comes to the duke¡¯s family, the employee¡¯s clothes are also shiny and nice, but her clothes were all over the place. ¡°Hey.¡± The maid replied with a smile. ¡°Call me Bella, Madam.¡± ¡°Yes, Bella. Are you the only maid? ¡°No, there are a few more.¡± ¡°Are there more than ten?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Bella didn¡¯t answer. It¡¯s not over. I decided to ask directly. ¡°Bella. Why is this duke so poor?¡± Riches should last for generations! Looking at the castle now, it seemed that the private lenders had already come in and wiped it out three times. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± This is what Bella told me. The ancestors, or the male lead¡¯s great grandfather, was properly photographed by the emperor. At the Emperor¡¯s command, his great-grandfather then left to hunt down the dragon that disturbed the empire. If he didn¡¯t leave, it would have been treason, so he had no choice. But dragon hunting was only possible if you poured money and people into it. Still, catching dragons was not a losing business because they could get the treasure they have accumulated little by little. His great-grandfather used all of his wealth to hunt dragons¡­ The problem was that the dragons were much stronger than expected. All those great-grandfathers and their vassals were exterminated. The investments and money disappeared into thin air. The emperor, who had always regarded the duke family with honor, criticized the family for failing to carry out the imperial orders. As such, the duke family became a family with no talent, no money, and no political backing. Still, I ran back and forth trying to save my life and money, but the bad luck that started didn¡¯t end easily. The businesses I invested in were either a fraud or disgrace. Talented people who were attracted to the family¡¯s name either betrayed them or ran away at night. In order to save the family, they sold out the remaining property to put out the fire, but the duke¡¯s family became more and more on the decline. In the end, the male lead¡¯s parents, who had been running day and night, died and he was left alone. After calculating the numbers, the male lead is the fourth generation. Damn it¡­ ¡°Bella, when do you get the money to buy firewood?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that¡­¡± ¡°Bella, I¡¯m really, really asking you just in case.¡± I asked Bella, hoping she would give me even a little positive answer. ¡°When was the last time you bought firewood?¡± ¡°It was a year ago.¡­.¡± I wanted to rip my hair out. The duke¡¯s family is at the northernmost point of the empire. The room inside was barely breathable even if you wear layers of clothes. There¡¯s no money to buy firewood, but is there any to buy food? At this rate, the male lead will either starve to death or freeze to death. I took a deep breath. It¡¯s not even a fraudulent marriage! Now that I think about it, it¡¯s for use and disposal, but I think it¡¯s okay to marry a noble family who is moderately weak since the name of the duke family is worth it. There was a reason why he had to marry me, an orphan. A parent wouldn¡¯t marry their daughter into this ruined family! I opened my mouth pretending to be calm. I think I¡¯m a little nervous, but I can¡¯t help it. ¡°Bella, I have a question, and I want you to answer it honestly.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Bella looked me in the eye and replied. ¡°What would happen to this family if I hadn¡¯t married my husband?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s a little land left¡­ to be absorbed into another family, or his Majesty will take it away.¡± ¡°So my husband will no longer be a nobleman?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Bella added more quickly with anxious eyes. ¡°Well, ma¡¯am, if you get married when you¡¯re a minor, you can¡¯t divorce until you¡¯re an adult.¡± I guess she was afraid I¡¯d say I¡¯d divorce him. It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t think about it, but I decided to give up on Bella¡¯s words. Now that I¡¯m 15, I still have five years left until I become an adult. ¡°It¡¯s not like that. Then what about the Emperor? He still doesn¡¯t like the family very much¡­is that so?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to like it that much.¡± Oh, come on! What do you have to do with an already ruined family? ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that¡­¡± I had a headache. I cannot leave this family for the next five years anyways. The male lead¡¯s age was 25 when the novel began. He was even a sword genius, and once he swung a sword, the mountain collapsed and it¡¯s almost as if he could cut through the sea¡­ In the novel, the emperor and other duke¡¯s couldn¡¯t raise their heads in front of him. So it¡¯s not impossible to save him. However, it was not possible to trust him right now. When will the male lead save his family earnestly? I¡¯d rather go back to the orphanage, I can¡¯t even live in this environment for a year. I¡¯ll freeze to death if I try to wait for a 10-year-old boy to support me. After all, there¡¯s only one way. I¡¯ll have to save him. Save the duke, raise him well, and then get a divorce. If I save his family, he¡¯ll give me money as alimony. If the female lead appears, I can divorce him coolly. Then I can enjoy a happy second life with the wealth I received as alimony. It¡¯s a perfect plan. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 I got out of bed wrapped in blankets. I had to come and see the face of the man who was praised so much in the novel. It¡¯s a face I¡¯ll be seeing for the next 5 years, so I¡¯m curious. Before going to meet the male lead, I looked in the mirror one last time and checked on my outfit. I couldn¡¯t go out with a weird look. Looking at myself in the mirror objectively, I was quite lovely. The only thing I was satisfied with was this appearance. Pink hair that is fluffy like cotton candy. Large, round, pale water-colored eyes. The girl, who had just turned fifteen, looked as lovely as a baby rabbit. I didn¡¯t ask for anything, and if this is enough, I won¡¯t be ashamed to meet the male lead. I made up my mind and asked Bella. ¡°The male lead, no, where is my husband?¡± ¡°Yes? Ma¡¯am, what about the duke?¡± ¡°He¡¯s still my husband, so why can¡¯t I look at his face?¡± Seeing Bella¡¯s worried face, I added a word. ¡°I won¡¯t want to divorce him until he¡¯s at least grown, so don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Ah! Yes! I will guide you!¡± I may feel a little bit sad that they care more about him than me, but I was satisfied with Bella¡¯s attitude. Of course, the master they serve is more precious to them than me than who they just met today. Such loyalty to this poor family. After all, working in this ruined family isn¡¯t usually a matter of loyalty. ¡­By the way, are the employees here on paid salaries? Wouldn¡¯t that be unpaid work? When I think of my bosses from my part-time jobs in my previous life, my body twitched again. Apart from the exciting start, we quickly arrived at the male lead¡¯s room. His room wasn¡¯t too far from mine since it was right next to it. ¡°Isn¡¯t this pretty close?¡± The castle I saw on my way in was so big that I thought I had to walk for a long time. ¡°Oh, I purposely made it close. That makes it easier to manage.¡± Ah. I understand. Now, the servants cannot manage this huge castle. I knocked on the door. There was no answer. I knocked on the door again. Still, there was no answer. I felt something strange and turned to Bella. ¡°Uh, well. He¡¯s usually in his room by this time¡­ I¡¯ll find out and come back!¡± After Bella left, I waited a moment before opening the door. I tried to wait outside if possible, but the hallways in this castle were very cold. When I entered the room, I saw blankets on top of blankets on the bed, which had clumped like worms. Wait, you were in the room? But why didn¡¯t you answer? ¡°Excuse me¡­¡± I tried to speak carefully, but there was still no answer. I took a step closer and looked. I tried to poke him with my fingers, but he still didn¡¯t respond. Is this actually the corpse that the male lead had killed, not he himself? In an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped by 5 degrees. I closed my eyes tightly and rolled up the blanket to erase the terrifying imagination running through my head. And I was horrified. The male lead was inside, but his body was like a ball of fire. ¡°Bella, Bella!¡± * ? * ¡°The salary has always been paid on time, but how can you run away without saying a word?¡± Bella sniffed. The maid in charge of the male lead ran away. She must have been done so secretly in the middle of the night. ¡°I thought she would be taking good care of him¡­ I haven¡¯t paid much attention because of the Duke¡¯s burial these past few days¡­¡± I wiped my fingers through the white dust on the bedhead. It¡¯s been a while since the place had been cleaned up. ¡°How long has the Duke been dead?¡± ¡°A week or so.¡± ¡°Then she must have taken the opportunity to run away.¡± Bella burst into tears at my words. ¡°But I should have taken better care of him. It was my job¡­¡± ¡°Stop crying. Go ask if there¡¯s any firewood.¡± I said while wiping the male lead¡¯s face with a cold wet towel. Fortunately there is snow everywhere outside, so the water didn¡¯t cost much. As soon as the crying Bella left the room, I sighed deeply. What a mess. When the cold wet towel touched his skin, his eyes flinched in a hazy state. When I brushed back the black hair that covered his eyes, my expression relaxed a little. He was very cute even though he was suffering from pain. In the novel, he was described as a good-looking man. Even if it didn¡¯t hurt this much, he might have applauded as soon as he saw Nam Joo for the first time. Although I have seen all kinds of handsome men on my phone, the male lead¡¯s beauty was different. I could see why the writer worked so hard to describe his appearance. A simple description could not express his face. He was the ultimate utopia of the face of everyone. [pr/n: wut ahahaha] I had a lot on my mind. What I¡¯ve seen in the novel was the male lead who had a good physique and was strong, not this frail young boy. ¡°Ugh¡­ Mom¡­¡± He sobbed as he grabbed my hand. A part of my heart ached. Come to think of it, he lost both of his parents at the age of 10. It wasn¡¯t a good situation. They were both busy trying to save the family, so they couldn¡¯t care less about the child. There was no leader to take charge of the family, and they didn¡¯t pay a lot of money. ¡°It¡¯s really crazy¡­¡± I kept sighing. Abuse does not necessarily just mean hitting and harassing a child. Indifference to the child and failure to provide adequate care to the child are also a type of abuse. The clothes worn by the young duke now were too old and too small for him. I felt even more sorry for him than when I looked back at myself before. Still, I only had to take care of myself, but the male lead was also under a huge obligation to take responsibility as the Duke. I forgot that this child was only 10 years old now because of his good performance as an adult in the original book. I then held his hands in the air. Due to the hot body temperature of his hands as I held them, I realized that this child was not just a ¡®male lead¡¯, but a person who was actually alive. The child clenched his fingertips until they were white, afraid to let go of my hand even for a second in his dream. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡± As I patted his chest and whispered to him, the child¡¯s expression became a little more relaxed. As if he understood what I was saying in his sleep. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere so get well soon.¡± And show me what color your eyes are. * ? * A day had passed. The child¡¯s feverish condition didn¡¯t go away. Bella made a fire with the firewood she had barely saved to warm her room, and changed the towel on his forehead from time to time, but the fever didn¡¯t subside. ¡°I think I should call a doctor.¡± Bella¡¯s face darkened at my words. Calling a doctor was expensive, and there was no money in this castle. And I didn¡¯t even have a coin to my name. Even though I knew he would survive if I followed the flow of the novel, I wasn¡¯t at ease when I saw his pain in front of me. I fastened my collar and got up from my seat. ¡°Who is in charge of housekeeping now?¡± ¡°The butler isn¡¯t here right now. Madam, are you going to get some money?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just let it go. I need to do something.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come with you.¡± Bella followed. I pondered for a moment whether it would be beneficial to take Bella. Will she get in the way of what I¡¯m trying to do? But there were no other options. I opened the door first and looked back at Bella. ¡°I don¡¯t mind you coming with me, but if I want to call the doctor, you have to be quiet.¡± * ? * The main area of ??Frug was the office where the butler resides and was in charge of housekeeping in the castle. The man who occupied the large office space where dozens of people would have worked in the past was sitting there with an arrogant attitude even when I, the hostess of the family, had arrived. ¡°I need money to call a doctor¡­¡± Hearing my words, Frug stroked his mustache as if he was contemplating it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it will be difficult.¡± ¡°Why?!¡± Bella screamed, stomping her feet. ¡°Right now, the master, no, the Duke is in danger! We need to call the doctor right away!¡± Unlike Bella, who was in a hurry, Frug couldn¡¯t be more relaxed. ¡°Oh, Bella. Don¡¯t you know that our castle is in the mountains, and there is a lot of snow outside? In such a situation, to call a doctor will cost around the amount it takes for a commoner to live per month. Right now, the family doesn¡¯t have that much extra money.¡± Bella knew the cost of living of a poor family very well, so she couldn¡¯t say anything for a moment. ¡°Well, then, what about the Duke?! If his fever doesn¡¯t drop, then, what should we do¡­!¡± Bella finally burst into tears. Frug said he was really sorry, and he comforted Bella. But in my eyes, it looked like he was making fun of her. ¡°I hope the master gets over it soon. He¡¯s a strong person, so he will be able to overcome it.¡± ¡°Do you really have no money? What did the former Duke leave behind?¡± There was an unpleasant look on Frug¡¯s face from my comment. ¡°If I had money, why would I deliberately hide it?¡± I saw a shiny mustache on his face compared to the poor Duke. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 When I first heard the name Frug, I was confused, but the description of the novel came to mind when I saw his face. Frug Lempel. A villain who appeared in the beginning of the original novel, he secretly stole property from an unknown family and even touched the legacy left by the male lead¡¯s father. The male lead, who belatedly learned of the fact, tried to kill him, but he quickly ran away. ¡°So if I had money, I could call a doctor, right?¡± ¡°Of course. I meant what I thought of you, so if I had money, I¡¯d like to call you right away.¡± ¡°Really? Okay.¡± I took Bella out of the office. ¡°Ma¡¯am. Now, uh, now what should I do?¡± ¡°What do you mean, I¡¯ll go get the money.¡± ¡°What?¡± Bella looked at me with a puzzled face. ¡°For now, you go check on the Duke.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am? Ma¡¯am!¡± I walked away without hesitation, recalling what I saw in the novel. Frug¡¯s room was at the end of the second floor. Others won¡¯t care, but I knew why Frug locked his room. He¡¯s been saving all the money he¡¯s been sneaking away in his room! As I saw in the book, there was a shiny key when I lifted up a nearby pot. It was the key to his room. The inattentive Frug would keep the key in a place he only knew after losing it several times. ¡°It¡¯s common to keep a key under a pot in the other world too.¡± When I opened the door with that key and went inside, I saw a bed full of all sorts of things and books piled up on the floor. ¡°Ugh. What an odd smell.¡± I covered my nose with my hands and frowned. Then, I took a step while being careful not to mess things up in the room. ¡°How can I find it here?¡± In the original story, the male lead came into the room and found the hidden space at once, but he did not explain how he found it. I raised my toes and tapped the floor with my heel for no reason. The heel of the shoe hit the wooden floor, making a crack. I tried knocking on the wall, but it didn¡¯t move. ¡°What the hell?¡± If I had found it as soon as I came in, it wouldn¡¯t have been such a complicated trick, but I couldn¡¯t figure it out. ¡°This isn¡¯t supposed to be the case¡­¡± My mind became nervous. If I don¡¯t find the money he has been hiding here, then no money could be used right now. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen if I don¡¯t get a doctor by tomorrow. ¡°Argh!¡± As I scratched my head, I noticed dust on the floor. Strangely, only certain areas were less dusty. Just like there was something there. My eyes turned to the carpet on the floor. If I moved the carpet, I thought the dust would disappear just as much as it did. It seemed like a light bulb went off in my head. As I moved the carpet and lifted the wooden board to match the shape of the dust, I saw a small wooden box hidden in an empty space under the floor. When I opened the box, I saw a pile of jewels. ¡°Wow¡­¡± The price of firewood, medicine, clothes for employees, and male lead¡¯s legacy. You¡¯ve been frugal enough to steal it. At the same time, I felt both happy and bitter. I looked around at the jewels, but they didn¡¯t seem to have astronomical value. Now, the duke was so poor that it felt like this was a large amount of money, but this amount of jewelry was not worth a single dress that the male lead gave to the female lead. The other nobles could use it for a night¡¯s entertainment for what the Duke of Valruga had left for his succession. Then there was a ring bearing the seal of Duke Valruga. It was a ring handed down by the Duke from generation to generation. According to the original book, Frug, who obtained the belongings of the Duke who had been in an accident, seemed to be sullen. The male lead knew that he lost his ring when his father died in the accident, but he found it while investigating after noticing that Frug was embezzling. His anger was really huge then. ¡°I owe it to him.¡± I thought for a moment, took one of the smallest and most unnoticeable emeralds, and snapped the box shut. ¡®Let¡¯s just get the money to call the doctor and pick up the rest later. There¡¯s nowhere to hide, and right now I¡¯m at a disadvantage.¡¯ My current status was a newly married orphan and a common girl. In this situation, it¡¯ll only sound like slander to say that Frug, who has been in charge, was secretly stealing property. If the male lead said it, no one would have doubted it, but I¡¯m in a different situation. ¡®I¡¯ll take care of this when I get closer to the male lead later.¡¯ After that decision, I left the box in the empty space under the wooden board, and returned the carpet to its original state. Finally, I checked if anything had changed before I came in, put the key back in place, and headed back to his room. Bella, who was nursing him by the male lead¡¯s bed, welcomed me. ¡°Madam, where have you been?¡± ¡°Just a quick walk. How¡¯s the Duke?¡± ¡°His fever hasn¡¯t gone away at all. What should I do¡­¡± The child still couldn¡¯t open his eyes and breathed out heavyily. Bella seemed genuinely worried about him. At least Bella could be trusted a little. ¡°Bella, go get a doctor.¡± ¡°But ma¡¯am, the money¡­¡± I handed over the jewelry I just found. Bella¡¯s eyes opened wide when she saw the jewel. ¡°I found it while walking to the castle. I don¡¯t know how much it¡¯ll cost, but it¡¯ll be enough to call a doctor because it¡¯s jewelry.¡± ¡°Eeh? Found this from a walk?!¡± Bella came out in surprise and looked at the jewel alternately. I couldn¡¯t believe you¡¯re reacting to this kind of jewelry. I think she¡¯ll faint if she saw Frug sneaking it away. ¡°Yes, exchange it for money, call a doctor, and if you have any left, bring it to me, not to anyone else. If someone asks where the money came from, tell them it¡¯s my dowry.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± To be honest, it would be a lie if I wasn¡¯t worried. Like a maid who ran away at night, Bella should not run away. But I need someone to help me in the future. There¡¯s another gem, so I can test Bella at this time. I handed the jewel to Bella¡¯s trembling hand. ¡°Well, well, well¡­¡± I urged Bella who was still dazed. ¡°What are you doing? Hurry up and go! How long are you going to keep the Duke sick?¡± Bella squeezed the jewelry and ran outside. There was a loud sound of a fall in the middle, but soon I could hear her getting up and running. I sat on the chair next to the bed, held my hands like I was going to pray, and looked down at the male lead¡¯s face. ¡°Just hang in there a little longer. The doctor will be here in a minute.¡± Shortly after, Bella returned with a doctor in a white gown. The doctor gasped for a long time even when Bella arrived. ¡°Doctor! Come on! Come on! Look at the duke!¡± Bella still urged the half-deaf doctor. The doctor hurriedly opened the examination bag and examined his condition. Seeing the doctor¡¯s expression, my face grew more serious. What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s in bad shape. The doctor opened his eyes to check his condition, listened to his heartbeat with a stethoscope, and checked his body all over. The more he did, the more anxious I became. What the hell is going on? Hurry up and tell me. The doctor finally checked his ear and said, ¡°Fortunately, it¡¯s not that bad. It¡¯s like a fever that kids of this age get.¡± ¡°Phew¡­¡± As soon as I heard the doctor, a sigh of relief came out. ¡°There won¡¯t be any aftereffects, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that. I think it¡¯s a disease caused by a lack of nutrition these days. I¡¯ll give you some medicine, so if he eats well, his fever will go away quickly.¡± Bella saw the doctor off, and I was completely exhausted and sat next to the child. The country¡¯s duke is malnourished. Does this make any sense? Listening to the doctor, I was heartbroken by his slimmer cheeks. I ordered Bella to call a doctor and bought meat with the rest of the money. Like the doctor said, the fever quickly dropped when he took the medicine. I fell asleep watching the child¡¯s side all night. Then I opened my eyes to the rustling sound. ¡°Uh¡­¡± The child¡¯s eyes slowly opened as he was tossing and turning. My eyes met with the red eyes that looked at me, twinkled like a star in the sky and fluttered like a flame. It was a beautiful and mysterious color that I had never seen before. ¡°See, I knew it would be pretty.¡± I said hello with a smile. He looked at me with a wary eye at my greeting. ¡°I¡¯m your wife who got married to you. My name is Felia Foldvich.¡± The child tilted his head slightly. Oh, how cute. I asked, holding back what I wanted to do right away. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°¡­Lucius Valruga.¡± ¡°Okay, can I call you Ruth?¡± The child nodded slowly as he hesitated. A wary face just like a wounded young animal. ¡°Ruth, how are you feeling? Does it hurt?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m fine now.¡± ¡°You can talk comfortably. You¡¯re a duke now.¡± Ruth shrank as if he had been scolded by what I said. You don¡¯t like being a duke? I added urgently. ¡°Before that, you were my husband. We¡¯re like, uh, friends. A very close friend. Friends are supposed to talk comfortably! But if you want to use honorifics, you can do whatever you want¡­¡± I added timidly. ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask Bella to take care of your meal since you¡¯re up. The doctor said you need to eat well to get better quickly.¡± ¡°You called a doctor? Doctors cost a lot of money¡­¡± Ruth¡¯s face turned pale. I felt sorry for the child who was sick and worried about money rather than his safety. I made eye contact with Ruth and spoke softly. ¡°That¡¯s fine. And your health is more important than money.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll take care of everything.¡± I saw something in the original novel, and I¡¯ll fill your meal with meat side dishes for three meals a day. ¡°So you just have to eat well and grow up healthy.¡± And save me. I don¡¯t want to die. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 ¡°Madam. Madam is really like a blessing for our family. I couldn¡¯t even find a coin if I looked on the floor every day, but you picked up the jewelry right away on your first day here.¡± Bella babbled in excitement next to me. Every time she spoke, her breath was still white in the cold air. If I make money, the first thing I¡¯ll have to do is make the castle warm. ¡°So that¡¯s the thing, ma¡¯am. Do you have any plans to pick up jewels again?¡± ¡°Bella. It was just luck.¡± I asked calmly to Bella. ¡°Are you not working?¡± ¡°My job is to follow you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡± I couldn¡¯t assign a maid to the poor duke¡¯s family just to help me. ¡°That¡¯s my job. Making meals for the Duke and Madam, cleaning the room, and washing clothes. I have more work to do because the maid that served the Duke ran away. She was the nanny for the children.¡± I turned around and ignored Bella¡¯s twinkling eyes, lest I ever pick up jewels again. ¡°Well. Come to think of it, isn¡¯t it time for lunch soon?¡± ¡°Yes? Oh! The time has already come! Madam, would you like something to eat?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Do you still have some leftovers from the meat you bought last time? Please make a dish that will revive energy.¡± I still haven¡¯t recovered from the shock of malnutrition. ¡°Madam always only takes care of the Duke. Do not worry! I will cook with all my heart!¡± After sending Bella off, I was able to think more clearly. I need to get back what Frug stole as soon as possible, but I don¡¯t know when to talk to Ruth. It would be better to talk about it after seeing how much Ruth trusts Frug. Just then, Ruth was passing by in the distance. ¡°Ruth!¡± I waved my hand in greeting. Eyes that were as cold as the stars in the winter sky looked at me and warmed up like the spring breeze. Oh my, you¡¯re so cute! I threw away the determination to stay far away from the boy that I had met when I first signed the marriage registration form, and I waved my hand even more enthusiastically. But he is so adorable. If I could stay away from such a kid, I¡¯ll probably be the kind of person to ignore a kitten when I see one. I was quite impressed that I took such good care of the sick and from that day on, Ruth followed me around. Ruth ran, stopped in front of me, and asked with his arms wide open. ¡°Can I hug you?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± I stretched out my arms and hugged Ruth tightly. His warm body temperature felt good to the touch. ¡°You don¡¯t have to ask for things like that and can just hug me right away.¡± ¡°But if I run to you like this and hug you right away, you¡¯ll be sick.¡±¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Oh my god. Did you care about me because you thought I¡¯d be sick? Our Ruth is so cute and sweet. I can¡¯t even imagine the iron-blooded man who had never laughed properly before he met the female protagonist¡­ Is puberty that scary?! I got a little depressed. ¡°Are you depressed?¡± ¡°What. No¡­¡± I tried to shake off my thoughts. Someday he will marry the female protagonist, but it was a little comforting to think that she would never see such a cute Ruth. ¡°Ruth. Is there anything you want?¡±¡± ¡°Something I want?¡±¡± ¡°Yes! You can say anything!¡± Kids this age always had everything they wanted. I have to buy Ruth¡¯s favor and I still have some money left from selling the jewelry. Actually¡­I think I just wanted to buy something for Ruth. Ruth, who had been agonizing over what I said for a while, whispered in my ear. ¡°Then can you buy you for me?¡± ¡°What? Me?¡± I shouldn¡¯t laugh. Imagine how hurt little Ruth would be if I laughed at him! I desperately held back my laughter and spoke to him seriously. ¡°You can¡¯t buy or sell people. Is there anything else you want?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Ruth shook his head with a gloomy face. ¡°Why did you want to buy me?¡±¡± ¡°That way, I can stay with you for the whole time.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been together for a while now.¡± We were together almost all day as I stayed with Ruth until he woke up in the morning and fell asleep at night. Ruth shook his head stubbornly. ¡°These days, we¡¯re apart.¡±¡± Oh my. Cute. I had to bite my lips hard not to squeeze Ruth too hard. Otherwise, Ruth may be crushed in my arms. Ruth must have been very lonely in this castle because there were no kids his age and all the people around him were busy working. I was just adoring Ruth in my arms as much as I could, but a face that I hate appeared. It was Frug. He approached us with a flat smile. ¡°See? You must have recovered from your illness. What did I say? I said it would be okay if we didn¡¯t spend the money to call in a doctor.¡± Wow. I can¡¯t believe a person would say that. Frug didn¡¯t seem to have noticed that I secretly called the doctor with the money he stole. I stood in front of Frug while hiding Ruth behind me. He laughed at us and left as if he was looking at a young cat doing a bad job. After confirming that he had disappeared, I looked at Ruth¡¯s complexion. ¡°Are you okay, Ruth?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Looking at Frug¡¯s reaction, their relationship doesn¡¯t seem to be that good but I asked him anyway. ¡°Ruth. Are you close with him?¡± ¡°¡­Not really. I think my father liked him, but I don¡¯t like him.¡± A sharp voice informed me that Ruth and Frug¡¯s relationship was not good. Okay. I could talk to Ruth and implement the plan. ¡°Then, Ruth. Can I kick him out?¡±¡± He¡¯s a very bad person who steals from your inheritance and embezzles your property secretly! I was going to add that, but Ruth nodded first before I could even bring it up. ¡°Yes. If you want to then you can do it.¡± The way he looked at me was so sweet and full of trust. I eventually ended up hugging Ruth tightly. I decided to give this lovely child a gift. ~*~ After Ruth¡¯s illness got better, I couldn¡¯t be with him as much as before. In order to better adapt to this world, I was busy thinking about the contents of the original story and reading books in the library. But today, I decided to make time for Ruth. ¡°Really? Really?!¡± Ruth couldn¡¯t hide his excitement at my words and continued to ask. These days, Ruth has become more adorable as he has gained some weight to balance out his hollow cheeks. ¡°Huh? Really.¡± Seeing Ruth running around in excitement, I was immersed in thought. How do you play with kids? The blizzard has stopped. Shall we play outside? I put on my thick coat, gloves, a scarf, and finally a fur hat to go outside with Ruth. Ruth, who had suffered from prolonged abuse, looked like a tiny round ball now. I took his hand and went outside. The garden was not properly maintained and usually had a gloomy atmosphere. Now it was covered with white snow and was quite charming. Every time I stepped on the snow-covered ground, there was a crunching sound. Snow sledding would be wonderful on a day like this! After finding a suitable wooden plank to replace the rice sacks, I took Ruth up the steep hill. I sat down first on the wooden plank and then placed Ruth in front of me. A small body was snuggled into my arms. ¡°Come on, Ruth. Hold this string tight. Your legs should be lifted. If you don¡¯t do that, you won¡¯t be able to speed up.¡± I grabbed the string that controlled the sled, gathered Ruth¡¯s legs to put it on the sled, and asked. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°Huh¡­?!¡± ¡°Then count to one okay? Three, two.¡± As I started the countdown, I laughed playfully at Ruth peeking back at me. Then he shouted the last number and kicked off the ground. ¡°One!¡± The sled shot straight ahead like an arrow. ¡°Oh my god!¡± ¡°Ahh!¡± We screamed joyfully at the same time. However, there was one thing that I didn¡¯t expect. ¡°It¡¯s too fast!¡± I thought we were going to collide with the tree in front of us. Fortunately, when I desperately put my feet on the ground to slow down, the sled¡¯s speed gradually began to decrease. However, in the end, we couldn¡¯t overcome the rebound and fell down. ¡°Oh, my. Ruth!¡± Ruth raised his head with a ¡®hah!¡¯ sound. With the tip of his nose and his bangs covered with snow, his eyes sparkled. ¡°Ruth! Are you hurt? Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± I carefully checked if Ruth was injured anywhere, but there were no scratches thanks to his thick clothes. Ruth pulled at my hand as if he wanted to go again quickly. I was proud to see him having so much fun because he had never asked me to actively step up and do something. We decided to go to a lower hill this time and sled more safely. As we sledded up and down the hill a few times, Ruth soon showed signs of exhaustion. His physical strength was weak because he hadn¡¯t recovered that much yet. ¡°Let¡¯s play again next time.¡± Huh? When I tried to appease Ruth, he grabbed my fingertips as if he was disappointed. ¡°¡­Will you be with me then, too?¡±¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Ruth smiled broadly at my answer. It was a bright smile like a flower blooming on white snow. ~*~ (3rd person pov) ¡°Oh my.¡± In the end, it seemed that the wife lost to the husband¡¯s stubbornness last night. Bella, who came to wake Ruth up first in the morning, laughed at the two children sleeping side by side one another. Felia was stretched out on the wide bed. Ruth, who rolled his body like a puppy, stuck tightly next to her. It was a lovely sight just by looking at it. Bella reached out to wake Felia up. Then Ruth, who was right next to Felia, opened his eyes and grabbed Bella¡¯s hand. ¡°¡­¡± The red eyes staring straight at her were frightening. Bella completely forgot over the past few days. He was the owner but Ruth was actually a difficult person for Bella as well. It¡¯s a huge cold Valruga castle. And Ruth was a pale child who was always expressionless like the last ghost left. It seemed like it was a joke until she looked at his red eyes, and Bella felt like Ruth was something else. Not a human being. But he had changed when Felia came. Ruth was gentle in front of Felia like a well-tamed puppy. Before Felia came, he was a difficult owner to talk to, but now he looked like a child of his age so Bella was relieved. ¡®I forgot because of his wife.¡¯ Bella looked at Ruth with fear. He then let go of Bella¡¯s hand and whispered. ¡°I went to bed late yesterday. Let her sleep in more.¡± Then he settled back down next to Felia. It looked like a faithful beast protecting its sleeping master. ¡°It¡¯s a relief that the Madame came.¡±¡¯ Ruth, who was always alone, was scary. But when he was next to his wife Felia, he was not so frightening. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 When I opened my eyes, the sun was already high in the sky. I jumped up in surprise, and somehow my side felt hot. Oh, right. While patting Ruth until he fell asleep yesterday, I also fell asleep because I had ran all day long. ¡°Ruth, why did you sleep there like that? Without a pillow? ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°Oh my.¡± I rubbed Ruth¡¯s cheek, which had a mark from the blanket. The warmth and the soft texture of his skin felt good. Ruth showed no signs of distaste from being touched by me . ¡°What about Bella? She should have come to wake you up in the morning. How long did you sleep? I know I overslept.¡± ¡°She came, but I sent her away. You went to sleep late last night, so you can sleep in a little more.¡± I felt tired when I stretched . It had been a while since I last moved like that, and the muscles all over my body didn¡¯t hesitate to complain. When I got out of bed, Ruth followed along with me. We found Bella cleaning my room. After we ate the meal Bella prepared, I sat in front of the dressing table. I will definitely deal with Frug today. Now that I have the male lead¡¯s permission, I have nothing to hesitate about. Bella asked while combing my hair. ¡°Madam, how can your hair be so soft? Did you know that everyone is making a fuss trying to see who would serve the Madame?¡± ¡°Why me?¡± ¡°What do you mean why? It¡¯s because you¡¯re so lovely. When you walk around holding hands with the Duke, everyone swallows their tears because it¡¯s so cute. I¡¯m proud that I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s this close to you!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes! So can you not change your maid?¡± ¡°If Bella makes me pretty today, I¡¯ll let it slide.¡± ¡°Madam is beautiful no matter what she does. Hmm. What should I do?¡± Bella seemed to be really worried. I tied my hair in pigtails while I was busy thinking about how to handle Frug. This hair was awkward because it was the first time I¡¯ve done it in decades, including in my previous life. ¡°Isn¡¯t this weird?¡±¡± Bella shook her head adamantly when I asked as I fiddled with the pigtails. ¡°Not at all! You¡¯re so lovely! If we go out like this, everyone might faint because of your cuteness.¡± ¡°Is that so? Ruth, what do you think?¡± When I asked Ruth, who was waiting next to me, he put his hands on both his cheeks and said. ¡°So pretty.¡± That kid already knows how to please a person¡¯s heart. Listening to the two, it did look really good. Yeah. I¡¯m still young and this body is naturally very pretty. I¡¯m going to keep this hairstyle then. Okay, today is pigtails day. I smiled happily and headed to the office with Ruth. Frug sat in the chair in the office today, and looked quite arrogant as Ruth came in. ¡°What brings you here?¡± ¡°Moving forward, I will be taking over the housekeeping duties of the castle as its hostess¡± I¡¯m also here to make you throw up the money you had embezzled. Frug thought my words were childish and only replied with a smirk. ¡°It¡¯s very complicated to live in and take care of a castle. Children like you won¡¯t be able to do it.¡± ¡°You never know.¡± ¡°Madam, you haven¡¯t been married that long. You must first get permission from the Duke.¡± ¡°Ruth. Can I be in charge of housekeeping?¡± I saw Ruth holding my hand tightly and asked. ¡°Yes! If you want it you can do it!¡± ¡°Did you hear that? The Duke told me I can do it if I wanted to.¡± ¡°But Duke, your wife is an outsider¡­¡± Ruth then cut Frug off. ¡°Frug. Noona is not an outsider. Are you going to go against the order of the Duke?¡± How smart of Ruth. This was to be expected. ¡°Duke. I¡¯m just worried about you and your family. Do you know how difficult it is to live here? It¡¯s all thanks to me that things are able to keep going like this. It¡¯s not hard to hand it over to your wife. But what if she fails?¡± Frug impersonated a fairly good loyalist. I stepped forward. ¡°So¡­what you¡¯re saying is that I don¡¯t have any abilities to do so.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then all I have to do is prove that I have the abilities to handle the family affairs. Wouldn¡¯t you say so?¡± I pretended to think for a moment and then said. ¡°How about if I earn 1 million marks in a week?¡± A million marks was a lot of money that ordinary people would have to work for a full year in order to earn it. ¡°A million marks?¡± Frug¡¯s face was filled with ridicule. It was clear that he thought I, as a child, was bluffing. ¡°Well okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± Frug said yes smoothly. You can laugh a lot about it now. In one week, you won¡¯t be able to smile anymore and can only beg for help. How dare you aim for the Duke¡¯s money? ~*~ ¡°Madam! Tomorrow is already the last day of the week we had promised!¡± I stopped reading to Ruth and looked at Bella. Ruth followed my gaze and stared at Bella. ¡°Yes, I know.¡± I didn¡¯t really do anything during the week I promised Frug. I just read books to Ruth as usual, learned about the layout of the castle, and greeted other servants. Bella was rather frustrated by my calm response, so she continued to urge me. ¡°Ma¡¯am! We only have 50,000 marks left after you sold the jewelry last time! If this continues, the madam will lose!¡± Bella shouted like she was crying. ¡°Then Mr. Frug would be really mean to you! Should I go out and earn some money?! Everyone knows that a million marks is too much, but it¡¯s not like you can¡¯t earn anything at all!¡± ¡°Thank you, Bella but it¡¯s really okay.¡± ¡°But ma¡¯am!¡± ¡°Oh, my. Will you look at the time already! Ruth! It¡¯s time to go out for a walk!¡± I escaped with Ruth because I thought I would tell Bella all of my plans if I had stayed any longer. ¡°Whew. Bella worries a lot. Right, Ruth? ¡°I know.¡± I made eye contact with Ruth, who knew all my plans, and laughed openly. Then Ruth held my hand. ¡°Huh? Ruth, is everything okay?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much if it goes wrong, noona. I can still kick him out then.¡± I smiled and tapped Ruth¡¯s nose. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Still, it was always nice to hear sincere support. ¡°Let¡¯s just take a walk rather than talk about that. Now¡­where should we go today? Since we went to the east last time, should we go to the west instead today?¡± We walked around the castle holding hands. After a while, we arrived at the large hall. A space that used to be filled with luxurious things was now empty. ¡°Lady! Duke!¡± The cleaning maid saw us and made a friendly face. ¡°Hello!¡± ¡°What are you doing here? I heard that you were betting with Mr. Frug!¡± ¡°Where did you hear that from?¡± ¡°I heard it from Mr. Frug!¡± He must have had the intention to embarrass me. Instead, it was rather helpful for me though. ¡°I am always on your side! Cheer up!¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I saw a big sword that was framed, hanging in the center of the hall. The sword pattern across the center was quite exquisite and delicate. ¡°It symbolizes that the founder of the family helped the first emperor defeat the demon king, who was terrorizing the world and then became a duke.¡± Ruth explained the origin of the sword when he noticed that I was interested in the engravement. ¡°Demon king?¡± ¡°It was about a thousand years ago. He was so strong and evil that he brought the world to the brink of extinction. It was the first emperor and the first Duke of Valruga who managed to save it.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I nodded and touched the sword as if possessed. ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡°Hey! Are you okay? You¡¯re bleeding!¡± The soft skin was rubbed against the rough side, and blood was oozing out. ¡°It¡¯s okay. What if blood gets on it?¡± ¡°Blood on the sword is not the problem now¡­!¡± Ruth grabbed my hand and screamed. What? Something feels strange. Why does it sound like Ruth is talking from far away? My vision was getting blurry. ¡®Come on.¡¯ Someone had called out to me¡­ ¡®Come on, come on.¡¯ Ruth¡¯s voice became more and more faint, but the strange voice became stronger and more distinct. A low, majestic, and powerful voice was heard. Thump. Thump. Thump. A heartbeat was heard. ¡®I¡¯ve been waiting.¡¯ The last words I had heard coming from the mysterious, I had blacked out. ~*~ When I finally opened my eyes, I was in a dark cave. ¡°Where the hell am I?¡± The cave was high enough for a small mountain, but the entrance was blocked off by a huge wall of ice. I was about to touch the ice wall in front of me, but I hurriedly pulled my hand back as I felt the cold air before I could even get closer. It felt like I was going to get frostbite if I had touched it. Where the hell am I? Is this the space prepared for the male lead? So should I go bring Ruth? Wait¡­how could I even bring him?! I don¡¯t remember anything like this in the original. ¡®How do I get out of here?¡¯ No, wait. ¡®This was not an ice wall!¡¯ I thought it was an ice wall because it was so big and huge, but when I looked closely, I saw tiny reptile scales. It was a crouching dragon. As I slowly moved forward, I saw the dragon¡¯s head with its eyes closed. It was so huge that I just mistook it for a wall. The dragon¡¯s body was white bit transparent like ice. There was also a dark light like the deep sea emanating from it. ¡®What the hell is this?! What should I do? Do I have to go through it to get out? How do I get out without touching the dragon if this was the only exit?!¡¯ It looks like the dragon was asleep, but if I touch it, I just might become the dragon¡¯s food. It was then that I heard that voice again. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to touch.¡± Chapter 6 I quickly turned my head towards the sound. I was distracted by the dragon, so I didn¡¯t even realise there was someone else present since there was barely any presence. He was nearly 190cm tall and had tan skin. pr/n: 6¡¯2¡± for you americans haha His white hair was braided into one long braid and his buttons on his clothes were fastened all the way to his neck. He didn¡¯t say anything, but instinctively, I could tell that the man in front of me was a dragon. From the cool atmosphere that surrounded him and his long serpentine pupils couldn¡¯t be missed. He looked at me with an expressionless face and asked. ¡°How did you get in here?¡± Eyes void of emotion stared at me. As if he was a life-size doll moving, strange goose bumps crawled up my spine. ¡°May I ask, where are we? I was definitely just in the castle a moment ago¡­..¡± ¡°Castle? Do you mean the Castle of Valruga?¡± His blue eyes flashed with suspicion. ¡°Yes. Was it you who brought me here?¡± ¡°It may or may not be me that did.¡± Well, your tone sure made it sound like you did. I swallowed the words before they could escape from my throat. It was better to avoid saying anything that could suddenly irritate him. He strode towards me. I wanted to avoid him by stepping away, but there was no place to escape since there was the body of the huge dragon behind me. Approaching me, he bent down and made eye contact with me. Even his breath felt cold. His eyes observed me like a cobra with a snake charmer. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Felia Foldvich. No, I¡¯m married now so it¡¯s Valruga.¡± ¡°That name is too short to be called yours. Isn¡¯t there a name that has been with you for much longer?¡± I observed the man¡¯s face, but I still couldn¡¯t find any expressions. Did he know I was reincarnated? What was his real identity? Unconsciously, I took a step back but ended up tripping and as I stumbled, he grabbed my arm to prevent me from falling. ¡°If you want to be called by that name in the future, then it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± After that, he turned around while moving me away from the dragon. It was only a brief moment, but my entire body shivered from the cold air he left on my arm. Perhaps he was trying to show that he had no intentions of harming me, because he took a step back and distanced himself from me. He patted the body of the dragon that seemed like a giant snow mountain and said. ¡°Name me.¡± ¡°What? Name you?¡± ¡°Hurry up. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± I was so confused by the situation. There wasn¡¯t anything like this in the original. It was hard to tell whether this was a dream or a reality. So I just said it randomly. Ever since the first black puppy I raised in an orphanage when I was young, all my other pets at the orphanage had the same name. ¡°Then¡­.Black?¡± ¡°What? Wait a minute¡­.!¡± For the first time, an emotion flashed through the man¡¯s face. pr/n:¡­.poor Black. Condolences hahaha. But right at that moment, my vision became blurry, similar to when I was brought here. £ª £ª £ª When I opened my eyes, I found myself on the bed in my room. ¡°Noona!¡± When I opened my eyes, Ruth hugged me with a teary face. Seeing Ruth¡¯s face made me feel relieved. It was only a strange dream. ¡°I was worried sick when noona suddenly collapsed. The doctor said you had only fallen asleep¡­.Was it because I have been too pushy these days?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not like that.¡± I patted Ruth to reassure him, but Ruth refused to leave my side because he was extremely anxious. ¡°Besides that, Ruth. What time is it now? How long have I been asleep?¡± Ruth stayed silent and stared into my eyes. ¡°Ruth?¡± ¡°¡­¡­It had already been a day since my noona fell asleep.¡± ¡°I see¡­..Huh?¡± ¡°Noona, the time limit is ending soon.¡± Oh no. I wanted to see if Frug had secretly moved the jewels in the end. Ruth came closer to me and whispered. ¡°Frug didn¡¯t do anything.¡± How did he know? Perhaps because I just had a strange dream that I stared at Ruth curiously. ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about, right?¡± However, my Ruth smiled innocently as usual. Well as the male lead, Ruth was pretty smart so he would know all my plans. ¡°Good. Then, all that¡¯s left is to carry out the plan.¡± I held Ruth¡¯s hand and smiled. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± Ruth nodded. £ª £ª £ª Ruth and I headed to the office. The castle crowded with all the servants showed how wide Frug had spread the rumours. ¡°Lady, are you feeling well?¡± ¡°Madam, you¡¯re very weak. What should we do?¡± ¡°Should I add more wood?¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t have money to buy more firewood.¡± Amidst of the people who clamoured around, Frug had a triumphant look on his face. ¡°Alright, madam. The deadline is about to end. Have you prepared the 1 million marks?¡± He seemed convinced that I had no money in hand. But then again, there must have been a lot of rumours that I had been rolling around and lazing about in the castle this past week. I shook my head lightly. ¡°Not yet, but I can earn a million marks in a blink.¡± ¡°How could you all entrust the household to a girl like this?! Look at this everyone! She said she could earn a million marks that quickly. Can you believe that?¡± Frug looked around and saved his hands about exaggeratedly. I turned away calmly without being shaken. ¡°If you are all that curious, I¡¯ll show you how to earn a million marks right now. Everyone, follow me.¡± The servants followed after me, murmuring at my confident attitude. ¡°Madam, where are you going?¡± ¡°You can earn 1 million marks in the castle?¡± ¡°There¡¯s only 30 minutes left until the time limit!¡± I led the people to Frug¡¯s room. Frug, who was initially laughing at me, gradually turned uneasy. When he was certain that I was heading towards his room, his face turned red. When I grabbed the doorknob of Frug¡¯s door, he hesitated before blocking me with his whole body. ¡°Wait! What are you doing?! No matter how furious you are, you can¡¯t enter my room as you please!¡± At that moment, Ruth spoke up. ¡°Frug. Move.¡± ¡°Duke!¡± ¡°Are you going to disobey me? Get out of the way.¡± ¡°No! I won¡¯t move! This was a bet that madam had lost in the first place! What does my room have to do with it?¡± As Frug¡¯s defiance intensified, the people who stared at me with a puzzled look at first gradually shifted their gaze over to Frug. ¡°What¡¯s in your room?¡± ¡°Why did we come to Mr.Frug¡¯s room?¡± ¡°But¡­isn¡¯t Mr. Frug¡¯s reaction quite strange. There¡¯s no reason to defend your room like that.¡± Frug, who heard people¡¯s words, only then realised his mistake. He stared at me for a long time before slowly stepping aside. ¡°¡­It was just to protect my privacy, so I hope everyone doesn¡¯t misunderstand. Once you enter my room, I hope you don¡¯t touch my things randomly.¡± Frug stared at me and singled me out with his warning. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Since there won¡¯t be anything else after searching. Frug¡¯s room remained dirty as before. When a cluttered pile of paper was caught on the corner of my skirt, Frug made a fuss. ¡°Wait! Please be careful! This is my room¡­¡­!¡± ¡°You¡¯re noisy.¡± I disregarded him and rolled the carpet. The people were wondering about my sudden action, but Frug seemed as if he was about to faint right away. ¡°Hold on! That¡¯s¡­..!¡± Frug tried to stop me, but Ruth had already ordered someone to grab him. ¡°No! You can¡¯t! That¡¯s mine! How dare a mere orphan touch my things!¡± I lifted the wooden board, ignoring Frug¡¯s screams. ¡°No!¡± When I lifted out the small box from the empty space under the board, a jewel emitting a dazzling glow appeared in front of the crowd. An astonished gasp broke out among the people, either in awe or bewilderment. ¡°That¡¯s my property! It¡¯s my personal inheritance! How dare a girl like you¡­..!¡± Frug struggle amongst the crowd. I dug through the box and displayed the ring inside it. ¡°Is this also part of your inheritance?¡±¡± Any person who was loyal to the Valruga family would recognise the ring. The ring was engraved with the family seal belonging to the Duke who would lead its territory. ¡°That¡¯s the former Duke¡¯s¡­.!¡± ¡°I heard the Duke passed away from an accident, so why is that with Mr.Frug¡­.?¡± ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°T-this¡­..!¡± Frug elbowed the person holding him and rushed through the shocked crowd. ¡°Catch Frug! Don¡¯t let him escape!¡± At my cry, the people began to block Frug. He tried to run away secretly but the people gradually came to their senses and held onto him tighter. In the end, Frug was forced to kneel before Ruth and I. Frug stared at me resentfully, his mouth was gagged with a cloth. I ignored Frug¡¯s gaze and handed the small box to Ruth. ¡°This inheritance does not belong to you, it belongs to Ruth.¡± Only then did people seem to realise what had happened. ¡°Wait a minute! Did Mr.Frug steal the Duke¡¯s property?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the only explanation. Or else, why would he kept it a secret?¡± ¡°What are all those piled up jewels?¡± The answers to those questions came from Ruth. ¡°He had secretly stolen the family¡¯s property and it was my wife, Felia, who figured it out.¡± ¡°The new madam figured it out?!¡± ¡°So you¡¯ve been spending a fortune while watching us struggle to eat properly?!¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be starving if I sold those jewels!¡± ¡°Yes, indeed! That¡¯s right!¡± ¡°It, it¡¯s a miracle¡­..!¡± Someone said. ¡°M-Madam is our saving grace! You are the castle¡¯s blessing!¡± ¡°Right, right!¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for Madam¡¯s actions, I would still be fooled by that thief!¡± Suddenly, someone raised their arms. ¡°Long live the lucky lady!¡± ¡°Long live the lucky lady!¡± Those who couldn¡¯t contain their joy lifted me and tossed me up in the air. ¡°W-Wait¡­..!¡± ¡°Long live the madam!¡± ¡°Long live the madam! Hooray! Hooray!¡± I tried to stop them, but it was futile. How do I describe the joy that they must have felt when one of the causes of their long-term poverty, as well as the issue of struggling to feed themselves, had finally been resolved? Still, seeing people hugging and rejoicing together made me feel warm. A few days later, a formal investigation on Frug was conducted and evidence of what crimes have been committed was discovered one after another. Frug was trapped in prison and denied his sins at first, but eventually admitted. Instead of the death penalty, he was banished from the grounds. He will never be able to return to this land again. I stared at Frug¡¯s pitiful back from the window as he left the castle alone. It¡¯s been two days since I was in charge of the household. And currently, I was now stuck in a position where I had to pay off a debt of 1 billion marks. Chapter 7 ¡°Come on, Ruth! One, two, three, and four!¡± I stretched my arms widely and Ruth followed after me, stretching his arms out widely as well. ¡°Five, six, seven, and eight!¡± At my command, we moved our bodies in sync. These days, Ruth and I have been doing exercises every morning. I started implementing it to help Ruth develop his stamina and to take care of his health since he had been neglected for so long. It turned out much better than I imagined. I felt as if I¡¯ve become more productive ever since I started exercising in the morning. The maids were delighted and watched us from a distance. Once they discovered that we have been exercising in the training hall every morning, they started to come visit one by one. Now the amount of visitors has considerably increased. ¡°Madam is such a blessing.¡± ¡°Indeed, she is the castle¡¯s saving grace. Thanks to the Madam, the Duke is also getting healthier.¡± I¡¯m still a little embarrassed by that title though. After we finished with our exercises, with an embarrassed face, I pointed towards the field. ¡°Okay, Ruth. Now go and run.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Ruth nodded his head and started running. Whenever Ruth ran, there would be dust everywhere. It was a rare sight to see for a high-ranking noble family. Most wealthy nobles would use special stones that had been casted with magic instead of soil in the training hall. That wasn¡¯t possible here. I had to manage the training hall as well as many other places that required money for upkeep. ¡®I also need to get a sword instructor for Ruth.¡¯ Our Ruth is a sword prodigy. He¡¯s a genius but¡­. The problem right now, was that there was no one in the castle who could teach Ruth. There were a few people to consider that had good swordsmanship skills, but it would be a struggle to correct bad postures and habits learned incorrectly down the line. I wanted to find the perfect teacher for Ruth from the beginning. ¡®There were a few people whom I¡¯ve been considering.¡¯ Ruth ran around and then stopped in front of me. He doesn¡¯t even lose his breath anymore so his stamina has definitely improved. ¡°Good job, Ruth!¡± I hugged Ruth and patted his head while complimenting him at the same time. As I did so, Ruth embraced me back. ¡°Now, go and run one more lap.¡± ¡°Yes, Noona!¡± He answered me obediently, but Ruth kept turning around and glancing my way as he ran. ¡°Oh, Ruth! You have to face forward! You¡¯ll fall if you don¡¯t!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Then¡­5 seconds later, he turned his head again. In the end, I just kept laughing. Ruth¡¯s physical strength was growing steadily. £ª £ª £ª After the morning¡¯s exercise, Ruth went to reading lessons while I headed to the office for estate work. I was slightly regretting my past decisions. Not a lot, though. Just a little bit. No, this was actually something I should regret a lot¡­ If anyone saw the amount of reports stacked in front of me now, they would applaud me for not swearing up a storm. ¡°¡­Why are we in so much debt?¡± We were in a lot of debt from more than one location. A high-ranking noble family, second to the Imperial family¡­was in considerable debt. They borrowed every single penny they could get a hold of. ¡°We have a lot of debt¡­.?¡± The man standing next to me glanced at me. His name was Naol. He was the man in charge of the estate¡¯s accounting before Frug came along. Naol was also the man in charge of Frug¡¯s embezzlement investigation last time. After kicking Frug out, he was instructed to gather all of the Duke¡¯s debts and profits. Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. He had a pale complexion, as if he could collapse at any second and dark circles under his eyes. Only his eyes that stared at me glistened. He looked at me and spoke in an earnest tone. ¡°Madam! Our lucky madam! Maybe there¡¯s still more property hidden somewhere¡­!¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any left.¡± ¡°But¡­!¡± Problems don¡¯t magically disappear just because we had managed to retrieve back what Frug had stolen. ¡°Why the hell do we have so much debt? Even if I were to gamble, I would hardly be in this much debt.¡± ¡°It costs a great deal of money to finance the maintenance of the estate. We have to pay taxes to the Imperial family every year and subjugate the monsters when they appear. Not to mention¡­.¡± Naol added timidly. ¡°The second son of the previous Duke was also highly addicted to gambling¡­¡± ¡°Okay, enough.¡± I looked at the report and asked. ¡°Is there any debt that we need to pay up soon?¡± That was the important issue. If we make a mistake and fail to pay off the debt, we can kiss the castle and land goodbye. Then¡­we might really have to sleep on the streets. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any that are urgent?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Naol averted his eyes. ¡°It should be about time to pay back the 50 million marks borrowed from Fox Merchants Association¡­but I don¡¯t think we have to pay much attention to it?¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes, we borrowed from them 30 years ago, but they never came by to ask for it. Maybe they were shut down? If they went bankrupt, we won¡¯t need to pay our debts.¡± ¡°Then, that¡¯s a relief¡­.¡± But what is this uneasy feeling? As if my bout of anxiety was not for nothing, Bella entered the office and caused an uproar. ¡°Madam, madam! We¡¯re in trouble!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Bella? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°De-Debt collectors are here! They want us to pay off the debt immediately!¡± ¡°Is it one or two debt collectors? Don¡¯t tell me all of them came? Then forget about saving the castle and land, we have to run right away! ¡°No, no! They¡¯re from the Fox Merchant Association!¡± I glanced at Naol. Naol glanced back at me. Even if we didn¡¯t say a word, we were able to understand each other¡¯s thoughts. ¡®We¡¯re doomed¡­¡¯ Speak of the devil and he will appear. We were just talking about the Fox Merchant Association a moment ago. ¡°You said they would never come to ask for the debt¡­..¡± Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks I stared at Naol with resentful eyes, Naol looked as if he was about to cry. ¡°No, it has always been like that¡­really¡­..¡± £ª £ª £ª Naol and I decided to meet them for now. The first thing we had to do was to figure out their purpose. While they were taken aback to see a little girl appear, Naol introduced me. ¡°This is the Duchess. Please show respect, everyone.¡± ¡°Oh, yes¡­.!¡± Only then they bow their heads in embarrassment. After receiving their greetings, I leaned back in the chair and asked. ¡°Well, what is the purpose of your visit to our castle?¡± ¡°Like I said before, debt payment is due soon. We are here to collect the money.¡± The man with narrow eyes replied to my inquiry. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± At my question, he bowed his head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m Rwan.¡± Naol spoke up. ¡°But the payment is due next week, right? You didn¡¯t have to come here so soon.¡± ¡°We came early because we really need the money back.¡± The two faced each other without wavering. Indeed, it was not an easy amount to let go. When Naol and I heard that the Fox Merchant Association had arrived, we already made a decision. We had owed them a total of 50 million marks. It was a large amount, but it was enough to repay back if we sold all the jewels. It was better to pay off the debts that can be repaid quickly. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll pay off the debt.¡± ¡°Excellent choice, thank you Duchess.¡± Rwan smiled and bowed his head. ¡°Bring it out.¡± Naol pulled out a small box. ¡°It¡¯s a necklace adorned with blue diamonds and pearls. It may depend on the seller¡¯s judgement, but 50 million marks should be about its worth. What do you think?¡± Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. At Naol¡¯s words, the Fox Merchant Association subtly shifted. What is with this change of atmosphere? Rwan opened his mouth with a troubled face. ¡°Duchess, the Valruga family has to pay back a total of 1 billion marks.¡± What? A billion marks?! ¡°Th-That¡¯s absurd. The family only borrowed 50 million marks¡­¡­¡± When Naol panicked, Rwan explained in a calm tone as if he was talking to a child. ¡°It looks like you didn¡¯t read the IOU properly. Yes, the Valruga family did borrow 50 million marks initially.¡± ¡°Then why¡­..¡± ¡°You have to keep in mind that there is also interest. The interest and additional money accumulated over the past 30 years, when added up, are quite large in sum. If you don¡¯t believe me, you may check the IOU I¡¯ve brought here.¡± Naol snatched the IOU from Rwan¡¯s hand. After a while, Naol faced me with despair. Those desperate eyes meant that what Rwan had said were true. In an instant, the situation had changed. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll have to discuss this with my husband first.¡± Operational retreat is best for now. £ª £ª £ª ¡°Wow! I can¡¯t believe they are only coming now to demand back what we had borrowed 30 years ago! This is impossible, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes, don¡¯t you think they were trying to suck a lot of money out from us? If we don¡¯t repay them back, they are going to tear down every brick of this castle!¡± ¡°Rude bastards. That¡¯s why they haven¡¯t appeared for 30 years! Interest!¡± Naol and I went back to the office and dug through the pile of documents. Finally, I was able to find the original IOU shoved in the corner of a bookshelf. ¡°Was that bastard insane? How could you agree to borrow money under these conditions?¡± Naol swore at the former Duke without hesitation, but I didn¡¯t stop him. If I opened my mouth now, I felt like I was going to curse him as well. The Fox Merchant Association did not lie. The total amount of money we borrowed was 50 million marks. But it was also true that an interest will be charged after 30 years and the amount would be two-folds. Making the loan now a total of 1 billion marks. Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. They weren¡¯t debt collectors, they were loan sharks! No, even loan sharks wouldn¡¯t place such vicious terms. I rubbed my forehead and asked Naol. ¡°What if we don¡¯t pay them back and just endure it?¡± If it¡¯s possible, it would be better to pay off using a collateral. I had no idea what was secured as a collateral, but nothing in this castle was worth more than 1 billion marks. ¡°I want to, but¡­what we agreed as the collateral is quite a big deal, Madam.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The castle.¡± ¡°What?! Did they really want to drive the family¡¯s name into ruins?!¡± ¡°I know¡­¡­¡± Naol stared at the document with unfocused eyes, having no energy to curse anymore. ¡°If we sell all the jewellery and borrow money from other places, the most we can get is 100 million marks, let alone 1 billion marks. It would be impossible! With that, it should be enough to put out the fire first and ask the rest to be delayed.¡± Naol tapped the calculator and said, ¡°But if we had to pay off all the debt now, we would have to pull weeds to make a living.¡± Then¡­there¡¯s no solution that would work to save the family. I¡¯d rather give up the castle¡­. ¡°But if we give up the castle, we would have nowhere to go. Not to mention, it would be considered a huge joke across the continent.¡± That¡¯s right, it would be a disgrace to the family. ¡°Why did we even borrow money?¡± I said it out of grief and didn¡¯t really expect an answer, but somehow a reply was returned. ¡°If I remember correctly, the Fox Merchant Association was originally run by the Marquis of Reholas, home to the former Duchess.¡± ¡°Marquis Reholas?¡± ¡°Yes, the wealthy Marquis Reholas. No, the more I think about it, the more I believe he was just a nouveau riche.¡± ¡°Wait, so the Fox Merchant Association was originally by Marquis Reholas?¡± Perhaps wondering about my strange reaction, Naol answered me with a puzzled face. ¡°Yes? Originally, it was not a merchant association, but a business owned by Marquis Reholas. About 20 years ago, he sold the ownership to the merchants because he had said that his financial situation was getting difficult. Since the owners had changed, our debt was also passed to the merchants.¡± Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only In the original story, Marquis Reholas was killed by the male lead, Ruth. Because Ruth found out he was scammed. The Marquis of Reholas had used the merchant association to fraud Ruth and reaped a considerable amount of profit. So, if it was a scam¡­.. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t have to pay this money back!¡± Chapter 8 ¡°What? Really?! Madam, you must have something up your sleeve! I trust you and your great insight!¡± ¡°In the first place, the contract itself is a fraud.¡± ¡°What! A fraud?!¡± I explained it slowly to Naol. ¡°Think about it. Something is strange about this. No matter how foolish the ancestors were, would they have borrowed such a large sum of money under these conditions?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°They would not have fallen to the extent where there was no firewoods to be burned then as we have to do so now. At that time, 50 million marks could have been lent by other families. Why would they need to borrow from the Fox Merchant Association under such unfair terms?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. After listening to your words, there is indeed something strange going on.¡± ¡°Yes, clearly there is a trick in this IOU that we are unaware of. If we are able to prove that we¡¯ve been scammed¡­¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have to pay the money back!¡± ¡°And we can even receive damage compensation!¡± Naol clasped his hands together as if he was praying to God. His eyes bore a glimmer of respect. ¡°Madam is truly amazing! I only thought you would have a way to pay back the money quickly and never did I suspect that the contract itself was strange. How did you figure it out? I really don¡¯t know how fortunate we are that madam is in charge of the household.¡± He took out his handkerchief and wiped his tears away. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, what would have happened to this castle? It¡¯s terrifying just thinking about it. Isn¡¯t this evidence that God hasn¡¯t abandoned the Valruga Duchy?¡± ¡°The important thing now is to find the evidence quickly. How long do we have to pay off the debt?¡± ¡°Since it¡¯s next Monday, there¡¯s five days left.¡± ¡°Alright, stop all tasks for five days and focus on looking for evidence of the fraud! I hope you know that you have to keep this a secret, correct?¡± ¡°Of course! I¡¯ll keep my mouth shut. If they knew what we were doing, I don¡¯t know what those foxes would do!¡± ¡°Good!¡± The search continued for three days. Naol and I spent all day and night trying to find the evidence that we had been scammed. ¡°What about looking at the family seal?¡± ¡°It¡¯s legitimate!¡± ¡°The contract paper?!¡± ¡°Also legitimate!¡± ¡°Any signs of the numbers changing?¡± ¡°No signs of tampering!¡± ¡°Then¡­where is it?!¡± Eventually, I threw away the documents I had been staring at. No matter how much I inspected the documents, I still couldn¡¯t figure out how they cheated. Outside the window, I could see the people from the Fox Merchants Association walking around freely. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at them intensely. As if I could read their inner thoughts. * * * ¡°Achoo! Why the hell is it so cold here?! Besides, what about that little kid? Isn¡¯t he completely ignoring us?!¡± One of the people from the Fox Merchant Association sneezed. They didn¡¯t like this castle from the first moment they saw it. The Duke¡¯s castle was built on a steep mountain that was difficult to climb, and so they struggled coming up. Not to mention a young girl, around the age of fifteen, came out to deal with the contract. Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. Her soft hair and blue eyes were as lovely as a doll. But she was, after all, still a child. The Fox Merchant Association completely ignored Felia. ¡°It must be true that the Valruga Family is completely ruined if they allowed such a young girl to rule as a duchess! Can we actually get 1 billion marks from them?¡± ¡°I heard that they had just received a lot of money for the first time in a long while. Isn¡¯t this the perfect moment to grab the money?¡± Rwan, the man leading the merchant union, replied with a smile. ¡°Haha! Who cares if they don¡¯t have money? This castle is the collateral! We¡¯re probably the only ones in this continent who could manage to snatch the Duke¡¯s castle as collateral! But can this castle really be sold?¡± He thought about it a little more. ¡°It¡¯s white in colour and very pretty so it makes for a beautiful sight, but the location¡­is it just because of the weather or is there actually something good around here? The entire land surrounding the castle is ruined and there are only monsters in the mountains.¡± ¡°Hey, you shouldn¡¯t underestimate the Valrugas. I heard that the stones used to build this castle were from a rare material¡­¡± Another merchant interjected his words. ¡°When you say rare materials, what do you mean exactly? Is it a stone that blocks magic? Wasn¡¯t there a rumour about that?¡± ¡°Scoff. Do you know how expensive that is? Just because the Duke of Valruga¡¯s castle is so grand, people are now joking about it! If that was real, I would have torn down the bricks of this castle and sold it off the moment they were in debt!¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that the case? Why else would Sir Rwan want the castle so badly?¡± Rwan had appeared before them suddenly one day. Although he had inherited the management from his predecessors, no one in the Fox Merchant Association recognised a man named Rwan before. It was an unusual case in the merchant industry, where connections were very important. Usually, one would bring their heir around and introduce them to other merchants much earlier. Of course, he operated the upper management very well. If you overlook the fact that he had dragged them out claiming that they could earn 1 billion marks from a loan they had forgotten about, he seemed to be quite capable. Rwan made one condition before they came here. If they receive 1 billion marks, they will have to divide it according to their shares. But if they do not receive the 1 billion marks and instead receive the castle as collateral, they would sell the ownership of the castle. Rwan seemed more interested in acquiring the castle than the 1 billion marks. Rwan smiled calmly as he looked up at the castle. ¡°Don¡¯t you know about the Valruga?¡± That was the answer. A white castle built on top of a snowy mountain. It boasts delicate beauty, but anyone who had studied the history of the empire would know how strong this fortress is when a war breaks out. When the Empire was in turmoil, the Valruga Family faced off against the enemy from the North who had invaded the Empire. They defended the castle from 100,000 troops with merely a thousand men strong. Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. The gatekeeper and the sword towards any threat against the empire. That was the kind of family the Valruga were. The Fox Merchant Association looked at the castle with a new perspective. Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks Any person born and raised in the Empire could not have known the name, Valruga. And such a family was about to end by their own hands¡­ One person asked, worriedly. ¡°Is it really alright for us to demand the debt like this?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. After all, the duke is ruined.¡± Rwan confidently replied. ¡°I¡¯ve said this several times before we arrived. If you¡¯re not confident, you can leave. But remember, the money we¡¯ll receive is one billion marks.¡± At Rwan¡¯s words, the people¡¯s eyes lit up with desire once again. 1 billion marks. Even after dividing it, it would be 100 million marks per share. That is a lot of money for a family of four to prosper without working for the rest of their lives. ¡®Yeah. After all, the Valruga family was already doomed.¡¯ ¡®No matter how great the Valruga family was, how can they survive from a situation like this? It¡¯s impossible.¡¯ ¡®If I close my eyes for a moment, my family will be able to live without worrying about money for the rest of their lives.¡¯ There was an unspoken agreement between them. * * * In the end, Naol and I failed to find their method of cheating. I had put off reading fairy tale books to Ruth to work hard, but I still couldn¡¯t figure out how they deceived us. Generally, a common method that was used for fraud were forging the family crests, seals or letters. After inspecting the IOUs several dozen times, Naol confirmed them all to be legitimate. ¡°I really have no clue. The contents of the IOU are the same on our end. I¡¯ve been away from this job for a few years, but not enough to verify this.¡± Argh, I¡¯m going to go crazy. Time keeps ticking yet nothing has been found. What should I do?! Naol said anxiously. ¡°Madam¡­it¡¯s already Saturday. We have to come up with a solution in two days. Shall we get some money now and delay the deadline a bit?¡± ¡°Do you think they will delay it?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°¡­Then, forget about it.¡± ¡°Understood¡­¡± Naol and I were completely exhausted and collapsed in the office. ¡®The original story shouldn¡¯t just write about the relationship between the female lead and male lead. It should¡¯ve told me about this too¡­¡­¡¯ I want you to write a whole biography of the male lead! Who, when, where, what, how and why? Describe it according to the 5Ws and 1H principle! When I read the original story, I was dissatisfied with the settings and descriptions that were written with too much detail. Now, the current situation is making me regret that I ever thought that. I really wanted to become a bird and fly to the author to question their sanity. ¡°We know we were scammed, but we don¡¯t even know how we were scammed. This is so frustrating.¡± ¡°Say, should we give them fake money¡­.?¡± ¡°Madam, you¡¯ll be arrested if you get caught! Forging money is a serious crime¡­¡­¡± We both let out a long sigh at the same time. ¡°Now that it¡¯s come to this, it couldn¡¯t be helped.¡± I got up from the desk where I had been lying with a solemn expression. ¡°What? As expected of the Madam. You have a secret weapon!¡± I really didn¡¯t want to use this method since I wasn¡¯t sure if it would be successful, but now that it has come to this, it couldn¡¯t be helped. If it¡¯s all ruined, then it¡¯s ruined. In the end, even if we fail, we have to try something before being defeated like this. ¡°We have no choice but to use the panic bomb operation.¡± ¡°Huh? Bombs?¡± Ah, that¡¯s right. There¡¯s no gun in this world. ¡°There is something like that. Don¡¯t you trust me?¡± ¡°I always believe in you, Madam.¡± ¡°Good! Then call the Fox Merchant Association. But before that¡­¡­¡± * * * The Fox Merchant Association, who were suddenly gathered, looked rather puzzled. In particular, they couldn¡¯t grasp the atmosphere in the drawing room, which was different from last time. I was heavily adorned with colourful jewelries and soldiers of strong spirits were lined up behind me. Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. Even if they were aware of the circumstances of our castle, people were weak against what they saw. Today, just like before, Rwan was the first to open his mouth. It appears that that man was the representative of this operation. ¡°I know there is still some time left¡­I guess you¡¯ve already obtained the money, is that correct? As expected of the Ducal family.¡± ¡°No. I did not obtain any money. Since there¡¯s no need for it at all.¡± I said boldly. Today, my concept was a noble Duchess. Splendid hair styled in a grandiose manner, an arrogant gaze, and a necklace that was heavy enough to hurt your neck. I wasn¡¯t sure if this would work well, but I¡¯ll try as much as I can. ¡°What?¡± Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only Rwan made a puzzled face and tried to explain the situation again. ¡°Duchess. You do realise that if you don¡¯t pay us back, you would have to hand over the Duke¡¯s castle, right? In other words, is it alright to simply hand over the Dukedom to the merchant association? We plan to sell the castle right away to get the money. There are many families who are interested in buying the Duke of Valruga¡¯s castle.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need to worry about that at all but rather, would you all be alright?¡± I nudged my chin and yelled at the merchant association. ¡°How dare you try to commit fraud against the Duke of Valruga! Did you ever think you could survive?¡± Chapter 9 At my words, the Fox Merchant Association roared. I continued to strike while it was hot. ¡°Do you know what the punishment is for frauds? Naol! These people seem unaware, so please enlighten them!¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± Naol began to explain gravely what he had memorised beforehand. ¡°The offender who is charged with a fraud offence will be punished to compensate the victim twice the amount they were scammed for. According to the Empire¡¯s Civil Law, if the compensation cannot be paid, the offender along with their family, will have to work as slaves for as much as the compensation was stated.¡± ¡°That is what it states.¡± I tilted my head and stared at the Fox Merchant Association in arrogance. It was all human psychology. Even a good citizen who has lived without committing a single crime would likely shudder when they face laws. Besides, this was between a high-ranking noble Duke and a self-made Viscount. They couldn¡¯t help but feel pressured. ¡°The amount you demanded from the Valruga family was 1 billion marks. Double that would be 2 million marks. Do you all have enough money to be able to pay the compensation fee?¡± It¡¯s impossible. After Naol and I decided to carry out the panic bomb operation, we stopped examining the IOUs. Instead, we investigated the Fox Merchant Association. The Fox Merchant Association was an organisation made up of small merchants that operated in the vicinity of the territory. Two of them were Viscounts, but had no estates. They were not poor, but they weren¡¯t wealthy either judging by how they climbed up the rough mountain roads in the middle winter, just to obtain the money. Even if they combined all of their fortunes together, they would not be able to compensate for the 2 billion marks. In other words, just as the penalty for fraud had stated, their entire family would have to work as slaves. Finally grasping the situation, the Fox Merchant Association raised their voices with a pale complexion. ¡°Wh-What nonsense are you talking about! When did we cheat?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! What fraud?! Even if you¡¯re the Duke, you can¡¯t frame people like this!¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t afford to pay us back, just say so! Don¡¯t threaten us like this!¡± When Naol winked, the soldiers behind me struck the ground with the spears they held. Thud! Fear flashed in the eyes of the merchants in an instant from the fierce action. It was worth it to simply have them practice hitting the ground for an entire three hours yesterday. ¡°How dare you raise your voice! Right before you is the Duchess!¡± Naol also raised his voice from the pits of his stomach. Instantly overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the members of the Fox Merchant Association quickly faltered. Although their thoughts can¡¯t be heard, I knew very well that all sorts of scenarios were unfolding in their minds. While the room was pindrop silent, I spoke as if it was a monarch¡¯s last mercy. ¡°Of course, it would be correct to deal with this according to the civil law. But since it is such an old contract, there are bound to be mistakes.¡± The faces of the ten merchants changed sporadically. ¡°I¡¯ll give you tomorrow as the deadline. Those who confess will be spared, but if not¡­¡± The soldier¡¯s spears pointed towards the merchant association. The sharp blade of the spear gleamed brightly under the light. Of course, this was also a move that was well practised yesterday. ¡°I will deal with this situation according to the civil law.¡± Although there were a mixture of expressions consisting of fear, confusion, and doubt while the Fox Merchant Association reflected on the past, there was only one person who held an enraged expression. He was also the man Naol and I were the most suspicious about. The man who had led the Fox Merchant Association all this time. Rwan. He stared at me with an infuriated face, as if I had ruined his plan. ¡°What kind of fraud did we commit to the Duke?! We are innocent!¡± Rwan exclaimed desperately. ¡°Must I even answer that? Those of you who have cheated should know this better than I do.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t cheat, what the hell are you talking about?! Are you trying to intimidate us with your power? I can¡¯t believe this is really the Valruga!¡± His howls were comical and made it appear as if we were stomping down on them with our rank. It was ironic to say such a thing while knowing that the Duchy was in ruins. I laughed mockingly. ¡°So? Weren¡¯t you the ones who came to the Castle of Valruga like that?¡± Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. I looked at the window and muttered. ¡°A blizzard is approaching. Did you know that? There were a lot of people who went missing during a blizzard in our estate once. Once you¡¯re gone, it¡¯ll be difficult to find any trace left of you.¡± I turned back to the merchants who turned blue with a sly smile. ¡°You guys as well. Do be careful not to get lost on your way out.¡± £ª £ª £ª Before carrying out the bomb operation, I prepared a lot of things. Investigating the Fox Merchant Association and training the soldiers to set the atmosphere. And the last thing I prepared was this man. ¡°Wow¡­Woahh¡­¡­¡± Although the continent¡¯s greatest Duke was ruined, there was still something left. All of the important figures and people that have been loyal to the Duke for nearly a thousand years. Of course, many of them had betrayed the Dukedom or had left, but there were still some talented people who remained until the very end. And this man was the strongest person in our castle¡­ He was in charge of tracking, assassinating, and threatening. ¡­¡­At least, that¡¯s how he was introduced as. I stared at the man in front of me with doubtful eyes. He wore a thick rubber apron, which was messy with blood. The way he stared at me with rapture while in such a state was a little terrifying. He looked like a harmless young man with light brown hair, resembling a kindergarten teacher. However, his bloody clothes were the only thing that gave off an even more terrifying atmosphere. The man, who had been staring at me in trance, suddenly came to his senses and greeted me with a cheerful smile. ¡°Ah, I have to greet the Madam properly! Hello, Madam! I¡¯m Bircher Crimson.¡± [T/N: ?? can both mean ¡®Butcher¡¯ or ¡®Bircher¡¯] Yes, if you were a member of a secret organisation, you wouldn¡¯t be able to live a life that doesn¡¯t include blood. You couldn¡¯t be afraid of blood. While I was struggling to calm my startled heart, he continued to look at me with sparkling eyes. ¡°Madam, I really wanted to meet you¡­Can I shake your hand?¡± When I held out my hand, Bircher grabbed my hand tightly with both hands and shook them in excitement. It was as if he had met a celebrity he admired. ¡°¡­¡­Is he really reliable?¡± When I glanced back and asked, Bella answered confidently. ¡°Of course! As Madam requested, Mr. Bircher is an expert in tracking, assassinating, and threatening means!¡± I glanced at the man who was staring at our shaking hands with an excited face. ¡°¡­¡­Really?¡± ¡°Actually, he¡¯s a bit¡­¡­he¡¯s a bit of a dangerous person, but his skills are credible. He was originally the head of a secret organisation that did covert and dangerous things for our castle.¡± Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks ¡°What does he do now?¡± ¡°Slaughter animals.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t have enough money to run the organisation, and he still has to make a living. But he was truly an unprecedented genius in the organisation! Even when the Duke¡¯s grandfather was still alive¡­¡­!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I cut off Bella¡¯s words and faced Bircher. ¡°Bircher.¡± At my call, he looked at me like a puppy whose name was called. ¡°Yes, Madam!¡± ¡°Bircher, I need you to do something for me.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Follow someone and listen to everything they say.¡± Lighting flashed in Bircher¡¯s eyes. If the previous Bircher had been in a sleeping mode, the current Bircher appeared to be wide awake and switched on. ¡°Really?! Are you serious? Am I really going hunting after so long?¡± Instead of a serious atmosphere, Bircher went into a state of frenzy. Like a dog about to be let off their leash. ¡°Who? Who? Who should I eavesdrop on? Wow, Madam. I really like it! I can¡¯t believe I get to do a mission assigned by Madam¡­¡­I am so happy!¡± I guess Bircher was a really good fit for the job of a secret organisation. I didn¡¯t know he¡¯d like it that much. ¡°The one who stood behind and the last person I looked at. Follow him and find out what he says and does. Remember to report everything back to me.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Bircher, who was about to run away excitedly, turned back to me and asked. ¡°Madam, if I do this job well, can I serve Madam for just a day?¡± Bircher pouted his lips. ¡°Bella is always with Madam¡­¡­I also want to have a cute Madam to serve. I¡¯m tired of always slaughtering animals.¡± ¡°Hey! It¡¯s my job to serve her! This ungrateful bastard! I already allowed you to meet Madam¡­¡­!¡± Before I could say anything, Bella yelled at him. ¡°You¡¯re the only one who has the cute Madam all to herself! I want to serve Madam, too! Stingy!¡± Suddenly, the two of them began to fight over who gets to serve me. I¡¯m better at braiding Madam¡¯s hair than you do. I¡¯m neater, so I¡¯ll be better at cleaning her room. I had a headache listening to the fight. ¡°Stop!¡± At my words, the two of them stopped fighting and looked at me. ¡°Alright. If you do it well, I¡¯ll allow you to serve me for a day.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± ¡°Madam¡­¡­!¡± Bircher cheered at my words while Bella was in despair. ¡°But only if it¡¯s handled well, alright?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes! Don¡¯t worry!¡± £ª £ª £ª I have to do well. Bircher clenched his fists. This was the first mission given by his master after a long time. When he heard the Master¡¯s wife was coming, he didn¡¯t expect much. It¡¯ll be the same as the previous Madam anyway. The previous Duchess was sick of the castle every day, and when she saw Bircher and the other children in the castle, she had a disgusted look on her face. She was hysterical and indifferent to the children she gave birth to. She even had an affair with another man and received jewellery from him. ¡®If she hadn¡¯t died, I might have killed her then.¡¯ But this time, the Madam was different. Her appearance was so lovely that it made everyone smile the moment they saw her, but the spirit she possessed inside was no less than that of a lion. Moreover, she even gave him such an interesting mission. Under the pretext of lacking money, the secret organisation was disbanded and it was the first mission he had taken on after a long while. Bircher hid in the ceiling and saw the Madam leaving and only the troubled Fox Merchant Association¡¯s members remained. ¡°I did as you said, but what is this?!¡± ¡°A scam?! We never heard about that! No wonder the conditions were so good¡­¡­!¡± ¡°I¡­I, I can¡¯t die like this! This is all on Rwan, if you confess that you made this up yourself¡­¡­!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Rwan slammed the desk and shouted at them. ¡°That was just a lie. What scam?¡± ¡°But¡­¡­¡± ¡°My life is at stake too! If you die, I die too! Those were all lies they told us. They¡¯re lying because they don¡¯t want to give us the money. I don¡¯t even know what the fraud is, so how could you all believe it?¡± Rwan responded calmly, but the rest of them were already engulfed in fear. ¡°But the other side is a Duke! If they really wanted to kill us and throw us away in the snow¡­I-I don¡¯t know. What should we do?!¡± ¡°Then, did you think you¡¯ll be able to get such a large amount of money in vain?¡± Rwan¡¯s eyes gleamed terribly. The plan can¡¯t be ruined like this! ¡°Do you think you all would be saved if I confessed? We¡¯re already been on the same boat. Keep that in mind!¡± Fan translation by Dropped Inks. Rwan exclaimed coldly and left the room. Bircher hid in the shadows and followed Rwan. Rwan returned to his room, erased his previous calm demeanour, and kicked the chair roughly. ¡°Damn it!¡± He paced around the room nervously. ¡°No¡­did they figure out the trick? It¡¯s impossible. Not with how much preparation we had made. This is ridiculous.¡± It couldn¡¯t have gone wrong now! The plan his master had meticulously prepared for. Devouring the castle of Valruga was something that had been planned for several decades. There was no way the Valruga would possess 1 billion marks. Their name was the only thing left! The Valruga family only had to give up their castle and retreat. It didn¡¯t matter if they had been able to prepare 1 billion marks or not. As long as they spent all the remaining funds of the Duke, he would be able to obtain the castle easily. Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only He wasn¡¯t afraid of the threats from that arrogant Duchess. If this fails regardless, he was going to lose his life. Then, someone knocked on Rwan¡¯s door. He was another member brought into the Fox Merchant Association to accomplish the plan with Rwan. ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡± Chapter 10 At Rwan¡¯s question, the other person replied with a solemn face. ¡°¡­Not good. Everyone has become very frantic when it begins to concern their lives.¡± ¡°What if all those idiots gave up?¡± ¡°Then¡­¡­we can only offer 200 million marks from our shares. Since requesting for the castle would be too much. I think we can offer 200 million at most.¡± ¡°You have to be more persuasive! It¡¯s 100 million marks each! Do you think those assholes would be able to touch 100 million marks in their lifetime?! It¡¯s alright to give up our shares, so try to tempt them more! I¡¯ve brought us this far. We can¡¯t just give up like this! Where the hell did it go wrong? This was the perfect plan!¡± ¡°I wondered about it too. I heard that the Valruga¡¯s intelligence team was disbanded a long time ago. No, even with an intelligence team, how did they figure out it was a trick?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I don¡¯t get! Her grace had a hard time secretly planting the IOU of money that they never borrowed in the first place! They never even noticed it for the past 30 years! So how¡­¡­!¡± This was it! The information master wanted! Bircher became excited. Now that the information the Madam wanted was obtained, all that was left was to go and get praised. £ª £ª £ª When we heard the information Bircher had obtained, Naol and I were astonished. ¡°We never even borrowed money?! How is that possible?!¡± ¡°This is my first time hearing it. How on earth could that be possible? Why do we have IOUs of money we had never borrowed?!¡± ¡°I assure you that is what they said, Madam. To be more precise, he said ¡®Her grace had a hard time secretly planting the IOU that they never borrowed in the first place! They never even noticed it for the past 30 years!¡­¡­So how¡­¡­!¡¯ was what he said.¡± Bircher said, imitating Rwan. ¡°Wait, wait¡­her grace? Who is ¡®her grace¡¯?! Do you know of any noble woman from the Fox Merchant Association?¡± ¡°The Marquess of Reholas¡­¡­¡± I grunted. ¡°The former married lady who is now the Marquess of Reholas¡­and the Fox Merchant Association that was originally founded by Marquis Reholas¡­¡­!¡± ¡°¡­¡­!¡± The former Duchess was involved in the fraudulent claim and stole the family¡¯s seal. This is why supervising the seal was important. Fan translation by Dropped Inks. Unlike Bircher, who quickly calmed down and quietly lowered his eyes, Naol couldn¡¯t erase his shock from his eyes for a while. ¡°W-wait a minute! So, does that mean the previous Duchess manipulated the IOU in the first place?!¡± ¡°Even if she wasn¡¯t a Duchess, she was definitely involved.¡± ¡°That¡­¡­that¡¯s ridiculous! How?! Even so, she was married to the family so¡­¡­Why¡­¡­¡± [pr/n: there there Naol. bishes like that aren¡¯t worth your time.] ¡°It must have been a better choice to side with the Reholas who were rising. Rather than the Valrugas, who has been collapsing even before they were married, right?¡± ¡°Come to think of it, the previous Duchess had returned to the Reholas as soon as the Duke had passed away.¡± At Bircher¡¯s words, Naol staggered in shock. Despite the collapse of the Valruga Family and being casted out of the castle by Frug, even he did not leave the Valruga. Since he was a loyal man, it must have been hard to accept the fact that the Duchess had betrayed the Valruga Family. Naol buried his face into his hands and remained still for a while, sighing deeply. ¡°I¡­¡­I see. Alright. Betrayal is something I have to come in terms with but I will deal with this matter first.¡± Fortunately, Naol was a man who knew his priorities well. Initially, he may appear to be tired and pale but just in 10 minutes, he seemed to be 10 years wiser. ¡°The former Duchess, no, I don¡¯t even want to call her the Duchess anymore. The fraudery trick would have been easily accomplished if Lady Reholas was involved.¡± Naol continued heavily. ¡°In the first place, the previous Duke wouldn¡¯t have taken a look at those documents. At that time, even when the Valruga Duchy was in disorder, 50 million marks was nothing big. It was not a huge amount and the repayment date was due 30 years later then. It would not be that hard to detect any suspicion. Besides, he wouldn¡¯t have imagined that his trusted wife would secretly steal the seal and make a fake IOU.¡± ¡°I think so too.¡± It was a plan that lasted for several decades. That was how persistent Marquis Reholas had been in preparing to overthrow the Valruga Duchy. Come to think of it, these bad guys really were persistent. I¡¯ll need to get rid of them before Ruth grows up. Of course, the adult Ruth would destroy them in the future, but I still wanted to lay a flowery path for my little one. ¡°This is really¡­¡­if it weren¡¯t for the Madam realising it, I wouldn¡¯t have ever figured it out. I thought they would have manipulated the amount of money at most¡­¡­¡± Naol stared at me with touched eyes. ¡°Indeed, Madam must be our family¡¯s guardian! I had always believed in you, my lady, but from now on I will be even more loyal!¡± ¡°I will be loyal too!¡± Beside him, Bircher also bowed his head. It was all thanks to the original story line. Otherwise, I too might have also been fooled by Marquis Reholas¡¯ scheme. ¡°Now that it has been confirmed it was indeed a fraud, we should take care of it quickly. If we look at the Duke¡¯s ledger, it would be revealed that he never received 50 million marks from Marquis Reholas. Once we find the evidence, we should contact Marquis Reholas as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡­¡± ¡°Since they cheated, wouldn¡¯t they have to pay double the compensation?¡± Naol¡¯s expression brightened. ¡°Madam! I¡¯m really glad you¡¯re our Madam! Truly glad!¡± He proceeded to bow with an emotional face. ¡°Thank you so much for coming to the Duchy.¡± Seeing his sincere face, I felt somewhat embarrassed. I replied while rubbing my neck awkwardly. ¡°No, well it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m hungry, so I¡¯ll go eat now. Take a break before you start working again. And Bircher, put the Merchant Association in prison. We¡¯ll have one last talk tomorrow. Hmm, speaking of¡­¡± My smile turned eerie. ¡°I hope the merchants will cooperate well with me. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡± After pondering for a while, Bircher smiled broadly in realisation. ¡°Yes! It will be taken care of!¡± £ª £ª £ª He felt his heart burning up. This was the Madam of the Duke¡¯s family. When he first heard about her discovery of Frug¡¯s embezzlement, he had simply thought she was a girl with a bit of luck. As he had been loyal to the Valruga family, he thought it was natural to do his best to be loyal to the Duchess as well¡­¡­ That was no longer the case anymore. Take the bomb operation for example. It was his first time hearing such a term, but the Madam had led the operation brilliantly. Of course, it was risky. If the other party had been thinking rationally, it would have been difficult to make them falter. Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks So the Madam trained the wild soldiers of the Duke¡¯s castle to create an atmosphere that brought fear. It was still hard to believe that the Merchant Association, who had regarded the Madam as a mere child, had trembled in fear. Even thinking about it again made him laugh. How dignified she looked as she confidently strode towards the Merchant Association from the chair! She was truly a person who did not lack the abilities to rule a family. Contrary to her lovely appearance, she had the spirit of a monarch on the inside. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this kind of person was only 15 years old¡­¡­¡± What a great person Madam would become once time passes by and she comes of age. Although he had devoted his loyalty to the Valruga, he had never expected the family would be able to regain its former glory. He thought it would be alright to just live moderately without starving. But for the first time, he became greedy. With Madam on their side, the Valruga Duchy may reclaim its former glory. No¡­it would become even greater than before. Naol saw hope in the Duke¡¯s castle for the first time. £ª £ª £ª After rummaging through the records, we quickly found the evidence that we had not borrowed any money at all. The next day, I took Bircher with me to the prison. ¡°Euk.¡± The moment I arrived at the prison¡¯s entrance, I barfed. The musty smell was felt as though it was directly piercing into the brain rather than the nose. ¡°What¡¯s with this smell?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t manage the prison for a while so I stopped¡­¡­¡± Bircher said with a frown. Oh, right. Since the family didn¡¯t have any money, there was no way he could have managed the prison. After all, the prison was a place where bad guys were placed, so there was no need to spend money when there wasn¡¯t enough. Every member of the Fox Merchant Association was placed into prison. Although one day had passed, their faces appeared as if they had been locked up in a haunted house for a month. ¡°Sp-spare me Madam! We really didn¡¯t know anything!¡± ¡°I-it was all his idea! I will do anything, so please spare my life!¡± ¡°Madam! I was wrong! I was blinded by greed!¡± Their hands reached out to me over the bars and begged. Hearing their pleas never made me feel good. But I had made up my mind. I couldn¡¯t show them any empathy. Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. Even if they were swayed by greed and deceived, they still had attacked our family. If I hadn¡¯t been able to stop them¡­it would be Ruth, me, and the people of our family who would be behind those bars. I noticed two men staring at me, their stares contrasted with the people that were begging. In particular, Rwan was staring me with murderous eyes that could kill a person into eight pieces. ¡°You don¡¯t need to beg me for your wrongs. I will deal with this in accordance with the Empire¡¯s Law.¡± At my words, the people cried out. ¡°Madam! We can¡¯t pay you back!¡± ¡°Please spare me, Madam!¡± Of course they had no way to pay the 2 billion marks, so my words meant their death. I smiled with a calm face. ¡°Why would you need to pay with your own money? Isn¡¯t your master the Marquis of Reholas?¡± Confusion flashed on the faces of the merchants at my questions. On the other hand, Rwan¡¯s face appeared stunned. He rushed toward me. ¡°Y-you¡­¡­!¡± When he reached out his hand in an attempt to attack me through the prison bars, Bircher grabbed his hand and twisted it. ¡°Aaargh!¡± I spoke as his screams echoed. ¡°Your master is the Marquis of Reholas. So it would be natural to claim the compensation from the Marquis. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± £ª £ª £ª The merchants instantly became confused when they saw Felia smiling before them in the prison. What do you mean Marquis Reholas? They couldn¡¯t understand her words at all. However, at any case, their lives was about be sold as slaves. Marquis Reholas was wealthy, so he could easily repay the 2 billion marks. They still don¡¯t quite understand the situation, but seeing how the Duchess had mentioned the Marquis¡¯ name, she probably had a plan in mind. If they testified that the mastermind behind all this was Marquis Reholas, they wouldn¡¯t have to die at the hands of the Valruga or pay the compensations. Of course, they could still be killed by Marquis Reholas, but they had no idea how the little girl would be able to seize anything from the Marquis. More importantly, their first priority was to avoid the danger that was in front of them. The young man¡¯s face that was smiling next to his master looked obedient, but to them, it resembled a devil smiling. Coming to a conclusion, the merchants shouted in unison. ¡°T-that¡¯s right! It was Marquis Reholas who had sent us here!¡± ¡°Marquis Reholas sent us!¡± ¡°Shut up! That¡¯s nonsense!¡± Rwan shouted at merchants. ¡°W-what? That¡¯s right! It was Marquis Reholas¡¯ doing!¡± ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re also suspicious! Turns out you were Marquis Reholas¡¯ underling after all?! That¡¯s why you brought us here!¡± They might have roughly guessed it, but that was indeed the truth. ¡°Madam! I¡¯ll tell you everything! I¡¯ll tell you anything you want, so please just spare me!¡± Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only The Fox Merchant Association relentlessly clung onto their only saviour. Rwan and his ally tried to calm the people down and cover their mouths, but they couldn¡¯t stop those who had their lives as well as their families¡¯ lives at stake. The tables have turned against them. When the Fox Merchant Associations testified and the evidence from Rwan¡¯s as well as his ally¡¯s room was gathered, there was no room for escape. All that was left was to confront Marquis Reholas. Chapter 11 Marquis Reholas. Things might have been different in the past, but now they were a much wealthier and stronger family than the Valrugas. In terms of power, he was one of the most powerful men in the empire! Unlike Frug and the Fox Merchant Association that I¡¯ve dealt with before, he was a man worthy of being called a tycoon. ¡°Huu¨C Haa¨C Huu¨C Haa.¡± I took a deep breath for a while. Compared to the small-fry Frug, I couldn¡¯t calm down at the thought that I was suddenly about to deal with a powerful man. ¡°Madam, here¡¯s a tea to help calm you down.¡± Bella noticed and quickly served a warm tea. ¡°Yes.¡± I reached out to pick up the teacup. The teacup trembled as if I was in the middle of a typhoon. ¡°Sister, are you okay?¡± Luc[1] held my hand. The moment I saw those red eyes staring at me worriedly, the trembling stopped. I made up my mind. [1] TL/N : I changed the spelling Ruth to Luc (pronounced as ¡®Lus¡¯ from ¡®Lucian¡¯). I have to do this. Right now, I was the only person who could protect Luc. Luc¡¯s cheeks have become plumper these days and his body isn¡¯t as thin as it used to be. He began to read and write the country¡¯s official language, and on the training grounds, he would run ten laps effortlessly. If I fall now, Luc would fall along. I have to protect him. ¡°Luc. Come here. Give your sister a hug.¡± When I stretched my arms out, Luc fell into my arms. He was slightly taller, but he still perfectly fitted my arms. I hugged Luc tightly, feeling the warmth in my arms. I could feel Luc¡¯s pounding heart. ¡°If you¡¯re having a hard time, you can just let it go. About this¡­¡­I¡¯ll be fine, sister.¡± ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s fine?¡± If Luc had dared to rebuke the Marquis for ignoring the Duke, I would have ignored him as well. Do you know how much hair I lost over worrying about that debt?! If I simply let it go this time, I would have thought ¡®I should have gotten that money!¡¯ even after 10 years had passed by. ¡°Luc. Don¡¯t say things like that. Instead, cheer for your sister to do well. Or is it because you think I¡¯ll lose?¡± ¡°Unh-uh. No!¡± ¡°Then, do you think sister will win?¡± ¡°Yes! Sister is the strongest person in the world!¡± ¡°Perfect! Luc¡¯s support has given me strength! Sister will be back after everything is settled!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. With Luc¡¯s support, I headed to the office. If he feigns ignorance, the answer is to simply move on. I sat down on the chair in the office and pressed the button on the communication device. Communication devices were magical items that enabled people to communicate with others over a long distance. However, it was only available in certain regions and installing one was expensive. Moreover, it was practically a money-eating ghost that lasted for only 10 minutes, even if you used a million mark mana stone. Fortunately, the one that was installed back when the dukedom was rich, still worked well. It¡¯s a little old, but it should work just fine. Thanks to the letter I sent in advance, Marquis Reholas¡¯ face soon appeared. He was an old elderly with grey hair and held a strong aura that flowed throughout his entire body. ¡°A pleasure to meet you, Marquis. My name is Felia Valruga.¡± ¡°I am Tallin Reholas.¡± When I greeted him first, he returned the favour. ¡°I had heard that the new Duke of Valruga was married recently, but I did not expect to be greeted like this.¡± He said and smiled with a friendly expression. As he was a sharp person, he might have already guessed my intention for contacting him. ¡°The duke has yet to come of age, so he hasn¡¯t been able to hold a wedding.¡± ¡°Is that so? Do invite me to the wedding later. Hahaha.¡± We looked at each other and laughed. What a pleasant atmosphere¡­¡­ ¡°So, what brings you to the Reholas?¡± ¡°As a Marquis, you must be a busy person so I¡¯ll get straight to the point. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve heard about it, but recently, I caught a merchant association that was trying to scam the Valruga.¡± ¡°Hmm? But I don¡¯t know why you have contacted the Reholas. Isn¡¯t that a matter between the Valruga and the merchants?¡± His innocent acting was truly top-notched. Had a bystander seen it, they would really think that I was bothering an innocent person. ¡°I am contacting you to solve the issue. According to the merchants, they claim to be taken advantage of, and the mastermind behind this was the Marquis of Reholas. Therefore, according to the Empire¡¯s Law, the Valruga demands a compensation of 2 billion marks from the Marquis of Reholas.¡± Don¡¯t be scared. You can¡¯t be scared. Debating is all about confidence! I pretended to not notice my heart that was pounding again and smiled calmly. ¡°Did those merchants say that? They said that I had scammed you and so, the Valruga believes them?¡± ¡°Yes. With clear evidence and witness, what reason is there to not believe so?¡± ¡°Do you have any evidence?¡± ¡°Would the Valruga contact the Marquis without any evidence?¡± ¡°Considering the Valruga¡¯s situation, it¡¯s quite possible.¡± That old man. Are you saying that because our family doesn¡¯t have any money right now? A fire lit inside of me, but I remained smiling calmly. The smile in front of a terrible customer in my previous life~ I love you customer~ This was the experience of working in the customer service industry that I had been through. ¡°If the Reholas does not intend to pay the compensation, we will handle this matter in accordance with the Empire¡¯s Law. I believe the Marquis is well aware of how frauds are handled.¡± Despite my provocation, Marquis Reholas smiled calmly instead of being angry. Since he was a prideful noble, I had thought he would definitely become angry. Did he think a child¡¯s provocation was ridiculous? He certainly looked like an old man who had been dealing with politics for several decades. ¡°Would the Valruga be able to handle that matter?¡± It was a piece of advice to stay silent and not do anything ridiculous. ¡°The Valruga is only following the Empire¡¯s Law established by His Majesty, the Emperor. Everything would be up to His Majesty, not the Valruga.¡± Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks Yes, I had a feeling this would happen so I followed the law and wrote a complaint letter. I raised the document that was stamped with our family seal and presented it to the Marquis. As I turned the pages of the document, testimonies written by the merchants from the Fox Merchant Association could be seen. They wrote a long statement of how vicious Marquis Reholas was, how hard he tried to trick the Valrugas, and lastly, how they were threatened by the Marquis and had no choice but to do what they did. Rwan and his men had refused to testify to the very end, but the remaining eight members of the association combined their heads together in order to survive. Resulting in a wonderful story. Perhaps, the calculator in Marquis Reholas¡¯ head was working hard by now. As he said, the Valruga was within his control. But, what about the Emperor? A nobleman who holds too much power is bound to be restrained by the Emperor. It just so happens that there has been a minor dispute between the Emperor and Marquis Reholas these days. Therefore, if this matter was informed, the Emperor would be delighted and start to pressure Marquis Reholas. ¡°His Majesty will not be able to protect the Valrugas.¡± That is also true. There was no way Marquis Reholas would be ruined over such an issue. Since he couldn¡¯t relieve his anger on the Emperor, Marquis Reholas would vent his anger on us. At that time, I wasn¡¯t sure if the Emperor would choose to protect our family. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why I¡¯m having this conversation?¡± I tapped my lips with my index finger. ¡°It¡¯s the information that the Marquis would be willing to pay more than His Majesty.¡± It meant that we were willing to close our mouths if we were paid adequately. Would you use money to end it, or would you give the Emperor a card? Marquis Reholas was clever. He replied with a big smile. ¡°Haha. Good. Alright. If something can be solved with money, then it¡¯s best to do so. How much do you want?¡± ¡°3 billion marks!¡± I replied with a large smile. ¡°According to the national law, the compensation would be 2 billion marks.¡± ¡°A billion marks is for silence. After all, we would earn 2 billion marks anyway if we file a complaint, so you have to pay more than that.¡± For the first, the Marquis¡¯ poker face cracked. I asked with a smile. ¡°What will you do, Marquis?¡± Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. £ª £ª £ª A cold expression appeared on Marquis Reholas¡¯ face, who had ended the communication. ¡°What a smart girl. I was defeated.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Marquis.¡± The subordinate knelt down and begged mercy for his mistake, but his expression remained unchanged. ¡°Where did you say she was from?¡± ¡°I heard a butler named Treon, who works for the duke, brought her from an orphanage.¡± ¡°She¡¯s well aware of her place and knows how to use her cards wisely even in an unfavourable situation. She achieved everything she needed. She has a mind that is unlike a child. Had it been my child, I wouldn¡¯t have minded.¡± It was the best compliment uttered by the Marquis. The plan had failed, but the Marquis seemed quite amused. The subordinate looked at the Marquis and said, ¡°It¡¯s a ruined duke family anyway. You can ignore her. If you are concerned, shall we send an assassin now?¡± ¡°Nevermind. There¡¯s no need to nitpick over trivial things now. It¡¯s better to pay 3 billion marks than to deal with the Emperor over nothing. If it was that sly snake, he might use this as an excuse to investigate the family¡¯s property.¡± The Marquis replied, recalling the snake-like Emperor. ¡°But if that duchy comes back to life¡­¡­¡± ¡°If they were able to save that castle with only 3 billion marks, they would have survived a long time ago. It¡¯s just a fluke anyway. The Duchy of Valruga is a place incapable of surviving that long.¡± The Marquis spoke resolutely. ¡°More importantly,¡± The Marquis¡¯ cold eyes turned towards his subordinate. The subordinate held his breath and bowed his head. His disposition for failing his task was far from over. The fraudulent scheme using the Fox Merchant Association was his responsibility. ¡°You better handle that money.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± That¡¯s a relief. His life was saved. The subordinate¡¯s back was damped with cold sweat. ¡°What is the situation of the treasury?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going smoothly. If nothing special occurs, the Archduke will take control.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± When the Marquis beckoned for him to step back, the subordinate backed away and observed the Marquis. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Y-Yes!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget to deal with that person you entrusted with this task. You won¡¯t disappoint me this time, will you?¡± The Marquis¡¯ eyes, which resembled blades, stared at his subordinate. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will take care of it swiftly.¡± The Fox Merchant Association has now disappeared from the world, but it didn¡¯t matter. They were simply one of the many trivial humans for the Marquis. Fan translation by Dropped Inks. £ª £ª £ª ¡°Marquis Reholas sent 3 billion marks to the Valruga?¡± Treon Ivaropa asked his servant again in disbelief. He was the man who had gone to the orphanage and wedded Felia to Luc. As soon as Felia stamped the marriage certificate, he headed to the Capital to report to the Emperor, while Felia was sent to the Duchy of Valruga. The news that Luc was officially recognised as the Duke was shocking. ¡°Has Marquis Reholas gone senile? What on earth happened?¡± When Treon asked the servant again, the servant mumbled. ¡°Well, they said they¡¯ve received some kind of compensation¡­¡­I don¡¯t know of the details either.¡± ¡°Receive compensation? Who handled that? Frug? Or Duke Lucius?¡± ¡°No. I heard it was the duchess¡­¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only The girl he brought to play as a scarecrow? Something was odd. He had intended to stay for a few more days and observe the situation in the Capital, but he thought he should return. Treon faced north to where the Duchy of Valruga was located and gave out an order. ¡°Head back to the castle as soon as possible.¡± Chapter 12 Marquis Reholas was also quite generous. As soon as he agreed to pay 3 billion marks, he immediately paid the money. Seeing the cart that was filled with sparkling gold coins and jewels, the people of the duchy shed tears of emotion. ¡°Did madam receive all of this?¡± ¡°Goodness. She received this much against the terrifying Marquis Reholas?!¡± ¡°As expected of the madam! She¡¯s incredible!¡± ¡°Oh, she¡¯s yet to be an adult, but she is very smart and wise. God hasn¡¯t abandoned the Duke yet.¡± I went out while holding hands with Luc and stared at the pile of gold coins. ¡°Luc! These are all ours!¡± Luc shook his head at my words. Oh, right. The Valruga family belongs to you, so these are all yours. Our Luc is smart. ¡°No, it¡¯s all yours!¡± Luc insisted, contrary to what I thought. ¡°Sister earned it, so it¡¯s all yours!¡± Aww, I¡¯m very touched. Since your sister earned all the money, don¡¯t pretend to not remember that later, okay? The two of us held hands and twirled around together. Seeing the money piled up like a mountain made me feel like dancing. ¡°How can those two get along so well?¡± ¡°They¡¯re such a cute couple.¡± The maids looked happily at the two of us. After dancing excitedly, I became a little embarrassed and released Luc¡¯s hand. Luc decided to go to the library to study today, while I decided to go to the office for some work. Thanks to the firewood, I could now breathe easily even while walking down the hallway. Luc blew the wind with his mouth and laughed. ¡°I can breath now.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it great?¡± ¡°Yes! It felt like my hands were freezing because of the cold, but now they don¡¯t get cold.¡± Luc stretched out his bare hands without gloves and wiggled his fingers. ¡°It will continue to be like this.¡± I will make sure that you can continue to live in a warm house. With that promise, Luc came and held my hand. ¡°But holding sister¡¯s hand is the warmest.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°When I hold sister¡¯s hand, it doesn¡¯t just warm my hand.¡± Luc pressed his chest with his other hand. ¡°It gets warm here too.¡± After saying that, Luc did not let go of his tight grip until we reached the library. £ª £ª £ª Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. When I sat down at my desk in the office, Naol reported the money sent by the Marquis. ¡°It is exactly three billion marks. It may differ depending on how much you sell the jewellery, but I don¡¯t think it is any less than that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better than losing face if they don¡¯t give us enough. But I¡¯m not going to let it go just because they gave us plenty.¡± Just because we received the money, it didn¡¯t mean that the resentment disappeared. I¡¯ll have to remember this clearly. There might still be some tricks left by the Marquis that I haven¡¯t noticed, so I have to be vigilant. ¡°Did Marquis Reholas take those people from the Fox Merchant Association?¡± ¡°Yes. They kept begging endlessly to save them.¡± It was probably difficult to have their lives spared. But if we hadn¡¯t figured out the Fox Merchant Association¡¯s plan, we would be the ones dead. The chilly sensation made me rub my neck for some reason. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of leaving only a few precious gems behind, including the ones you recovered from Frug and selling the rest. Would that be alright? If we sell them later, it might be difficult to get a good price, so I think it would be better to sell them quickly.¡± ¡°Yes. Do that.¡± ¡°Then we will sell everything except for these jewels.¡± Naol placed a jewellery box on my desk. The size of the jewellery box was slightly larger than both of my palms combined. ¡°How much would this be?¡± ¡°Probably around 500 million marks.¡± This little thing was worth 500 million marks. It was the money I had earned, but seeing it before me again felt like I was dreaming. ¡°Then let¡¯s use the money we get from selling the jewellery to pay off our urgent debts. I know it¡¯s impossible to pay all of them back, but I don¡¯t want to get another sudden visit from a debtor like last time.¡± The mere thought of it already gave me goosebumps. While I was talking about this, I was afraid that another debtor might actually appear. As if he was thinking the same thing, Naol suddenly glanced at the door. Then, someone knocked on the office door. Naol and I looked at each other in blatant surprise. ¡°Co-Come in¡­¡­!¡± Bella entered, carrying a tray of teacups and looked at us with a puzzled expression. ¡°What are you two doing?¡± ¡°Is the debtor¡­¡­?¡± Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks ¡°Huh? What debtor?¡± When Bella asked, with the puzzled expression remaining on her face, Naol and I let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Relaxed, I leaned back in my chair. The aroma of the tea Bella brewed, which she said was good for recovering from fatigue, spread in the office. I tapped my pen on the white paper, thinking about what I should do next. ¡®The first thing I need to do is make money.¡¯ The money we received from Marquis Reholas was a large sum, but it was undeniably not enough to support the family. ¡®If we don¡¯t have a stable source of income, we would just be going back to the beginning.¡¯ The place where the Duchy of Valruga was built was on a winter land where snow would even fall during the middle of summer. I couldn¡¯t even dream of planting a fruit which needed plenty of sunlight in a land like this. Instead, money was mainly made by selling the hides and meats of animals or monsters. Of course, there was not much money that the people of the duchy could make from that, but the Valruga had a bigger source of income. It was the money obtained from the frontline. It all began a thousand years ago when the Duke of Valruga helped the first emperor of the empire defeat the demon king. After defeating the demon king, the emperor greatly cherished the first Duke of Valruga and wished for him to stay by his side. However, the Duke of Valruga said, ¡°I am deeply honoured to receive your kindness. But, Your Majesty, I am your sword. I exist to cut down your enemies and protect you. Please allow me to do so until the very end.¡± So the duke remained in the cold winter land. Beyond the white walls, where only the corpses of the demon king and monsters lie. When I first heard about this touching story, which had also been made as a children¡¯s fairy tale a few decades ago, my reaction could be summed up in one sentence. ¡®He¡¯s crazy.¡¯ No, if you¡¯re a contributor to founding the country, you should think about eating to the fullest! If it were me, I would definitely ask for the best land. Such as the southern land where anything you plant grows well. It would be difficult to ruin a place like that, even if you tried. Just because one of the ancestors made the wrong choice, all kinds of trouble now fall to our Luc? Even when all his comrades who defeated the demon king alongside him had left, the first Duke of Valruga remained alone and defeated the monsters that crawled over the fortress wall. Although the demon king has died, his body still emitted magic that created monsters. Bizarre-shaped monsters constantly tried to cross the white wall. Slash, slash, slash and slash them down again. Monsters tried crossing the wall, but Valruga blocked them. And because of this, he became a part of the leading politicians and built up greater wealth and power. ¡®But I can¡¯t use the same method anymore. Not only does hunting and advancing to the frontline require a strong army, but it also takes a lot of money to build a strong army!¡¯ It¡¯s not about whether the chicken or the egg came first[1]. [1] Idiomatic expression : when it is not sure what or who caused something. I had to find a new way to make money in a land where it was difficult to grow an apple tree. ¡®From what I saw in the original plot, boating was popular in the future, so it became a tourist attraction. Should we try that first?¡¯ I pondered over it for about 10 seconds, but when I remembered the thin ice of the northern sea, it seemed that my debt would only increase. As I recalled what I had read in the original story, there seemed to be only one item that I could try during this current situation. ¡°Naol. Is there a place that is in charge of farming in this castle?¡± ¡°Do you mean the Agriculture division? I will call for him now.¡± ¡°No, I will go there. I think it would be good to see how they work at this time.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡­¡± As Naol led me to the room, I heard a loud quarrel that could be heard from afar. After exchanging eye contact with Naol, I simply opened the door and walked in. A bear-like man and a skinny man stood up and raised their voice, unaware that we had entered. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re so frustrating! How many times do I have to tell you that we need to plant a badam tree this time?! It will be warm this year, so the badam tree will grow well!¡± ¡°What if it¡¯s cold? What are you going to do if it gets cold? Don¡¯t you remember last year when you said that we should plant a Badam tree and the frost ruined the farm? It¡¯s going to be cold this year, so I argue that we should plant Rellong flowers!¡± ¡°Ha! Where did you steal that argument from?!¡± ¡°What did you say? Steal?!¡± Naol clapped his hands and intervened in the increasingly intense argument between the two of them. ¡°Now, now! Calm down, both of you!¡± The two of them turned their eyes towards the sound Naol made, and finally noticed me. ¡°Just in time! The smartest lady in our castle has arrived, so why not ask her! Talking to someone like you would just be a waste of time!¡± ¡°What? I should be the one saying that! I can¡¯t talk any longer because I¡¯m pissed at you! Alright, let¡¯s just leave it to our lucky madam!¡± ¡°Madam! What do you think, Madam? Should it be a rellong flower or a badam tree?¡± I asked back to the two of them who were staring at me intensely. ¡°¡­¡­So, what are you two talking about again?¡± Thus, to sum up what the two of them were talking about. There are only two managers in the Agriculture division in the estate, Ron and George, who have been arguing in front of me for a while. The two of them usually clashed over differences in opinions regarding grain and crop farming, but as the winter ends and spring approaches, Naol says that the 653rd round of argument will then take place. The topic of the debate is what crops to plant this year! Once again, I was in tears. If this was a warm southern land that would flourish well no matter what you planted, we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about this. Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only Then again, if it were like the original Valruga duchy, it would have been fine to plant different things at the same time. Even if one crop fails, it¡¯s considered a success if the other crop survives. However, the Valruga family had a lot of debts, and the lands which were taken as collateral were transferred to other families. In other words, only one crop could be planted! The two people who were in charge of the castle¡¯s farm argued about what to plant this year, and it felt as if I had dragged myself into their argument. ¡°So, what do you think, Madam? Do you think the weather will be cold this year?¡± Chapter 13 ¡°No need to ask! Of course, the madam thinks it would be warm! Isn¡¯t that right, madam?¡± No, I still have no clue. When I couldn¡¯t answer and smile, the two men who were fighting followed along and smiled. You guys, I really don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not the weatherman, so how would I know what the weather would be? The original story was not even the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty[1], so why would it write about the weather? [1] A collection of annual records of state affairs and activities of rulers during the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. Where I lived, it usually rains when it¡¯s cloudy, snows when it¡¯s winter and gets hot when it¡¯s summer¡­¡­ When the time came to farming, nothing was more important than the weather. Now I understood why the previous kings were so obsessed with the weather. ¡°Can¡¯t we just plant a Badam tree?¡± To my question, the bear-like man who insisted on the Lelong flowers answered. He was convinced that the weather would be cold this year. ¡°We can¡¯t. Badam trees won¡¯t grow well unless it¡¯s warm. It would be great to sell them if the weather was good, but isn¡¯t that a gamble?¡± ¡°Then¡­Is there any plant that would grow fine regardless of the weather? Such as wheat or something¡­¡­¡± This time, the skinny man who insisted on the Badam tree, answered. ¡°Wheat is risky. I planted wheat last year with that in mind, but it didn¡¯t rain at all, so they all died.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡± In the end, it all depends on the weather. It would be nice if we could make a greenhouse or artificial rain, but that would be impossible right now. ¡°For now¡­¡­¡± The sparkling eyes of the two people who were looking at me felt burdensome. When I saw the eyes of the two people who wished for me to side with them, I shut my mouth tightly. ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ll have to think about it first.¡± After managing to stall for some time, I returned to the office with Naol. The moment I returned to the office, I leaned against the chair and sighed. ¡°Ah, my head. Naol, what do you think?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel too pressured, you can choose any of them.¡± ¡°But¡­¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t take a day or two for those two to fight, and no matter what you choose, they won¡¯t blame the madam.¡± Naol added as if to ease my worries, but it didn¡¯t help in the slightest. ¡°No, if I simply picked one, the crops may be ruined. That¡¯s what worries me. If the farm fails, the costs will increase. We don¡¯t even have a proper source of income yet.¡± Only then did I remember that I couldn¡¯t even manage to bring up the original purpose of visiting them. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t give an answer, won¡¯t they decide it on their own? After all, they¡¯re both experts, so it¡¯s better than what I decide.¡± Then, I remembered the rumour that the two of them had messed up the crops they did last year during a fight. Ugh, I just wanted to meet them to mention something. Why can¡¯t I remember these minor things well? Instead, it only made my head complicated. After thinking about it for a long time, I gave Naol a command. ¡°Naol, go and bring me some records of the duchy¡¯s weather. If I look at them, it might help me a little.¡± Anyway, damn that lord. I think I¡¯ve cursed the first duke 10 times today alone. I let Naol out and sighed again after being left alone in the room. ¡°Haa¡­¡­If I knew this would happen, I would have learned how to observe the weather with constellations in my previous life. I don¡¯t know what the temperature was, but I wish I could at least find out if the weather would be hot or cold this year.¡± ¡°I can tell.¡± I looked around in horror, but there was no one in the room. ¡°¡­¡­What?¡± I was completely terrified, so I tried to smile. ¡°Haha. I must have misheard it. I guess I¡¯m really tired these days, that I¡¯m hearing things.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a hallucination.¡± I froze when I heard the voice again, and the handsome tanned man that I saw in my dream appeared in front of me. ¡°I-It wasn¡¯t a dream?¡± White braided hair, tanned skin and blue eyes. Not long after I came to this castle, I fainted when I saw the great family crest. Then, I saw a strange man and a giant dragon in my dream. He hasn¡¯t appeared since then, so I thought I just had a strange dream¡­¡­ The man in front of me looked exactly like the person I saw in my dream. The man tilted his head at my words. ¡°Dream? No. It was real.¡± He was not as great as our Luc, who possessed a male lead beauty, but objectively, he was also quite a handsome man. Even though he looked pale as if he would faint under the sunlight, I couldn¡¯t easily take my eyes off the heavy presence as if I was witnessing the deep sea when I met his blue eyes. ¡°Then, how¡­¡­No, about that. Where should I begin asking?¡± I pondered for a moment before asking. ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a divine beast.¡± He replied casually. If it was a divine beast, I was well aware of them. Because I read the female lead¡¯s life in the original story. The heroine¡¯s divine beast was a green deer, strong enough to shred a huge monster like a piece of paper. In addition to the heroine¡¯s divine beast, there were often other divine beasts who appeared in the story, all of which were powerful and possessed unique abilities. It was hard and difficult to sign a contract with a divine beast who had strong abilities. ¡°Why did you show up in front of me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. I want to know how you woke me up and managed to sign a contract with me.¡± ¡°We signed a contract? What contract?¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a master-servant contract.¡± ¡°¡­¡­How?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Instead, I¡¯m curious as to how on earth you managed to get to where I was?¡± He didn¡¯t seem to know anything about this sudden contract either. Since I fell unconscious while I was reading the Valruga family crest, was it related to the Valruga? For now, it¡¯s just speculation. The man continued with a blank face. ¡°I was sealed on that land a thousand years ago. You broke the seal.¡± Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks ¡°I didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I figured, but regardless, you broke my seal and we signed a contract.¡± I suddenly realised something. This man was handsome, but he didn¡¯t have a single facial expression. It was creepy because it felt like a well-made doll was moving. But there was no harm in having a divine beast anyway. ¡°Okay. So that means I¡¯m your master?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Yeah, so what if his expression was a little dull? It¡¯s a divine beast! ¡°Then, what should I call you?¡± For the first time, an expression appeared on the man¡¯s face. ¡°¡­¡­You already named me.¡± ¡°When did I? Ah, no way¡­¡­Blackie?¡± ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡± I¡¯m truly sorry about that, okay. No, I thought it was really a dream. If I knew that we would sign a contract, I would have given a better name. Like white dragon. Or hope. Destiny sounds pretty good too. I faced the man and asked. ¡°¡­¡­Would like me to rename you again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s too late. Once you sign a contract with a divine beast, you cannot change the name you have given. Until I find my real name.¡± ¡°Real name? How do you find that?¡± ¡°I will you when the time comes. You are currently too weak.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡­Alright.¡± That is undeniable. ¡°I will greet you formally, master.¡± The man knelt down before me and greeted me with his hand on his chest. ¡°I am the first to acquire the crest, the one who ends the season.¡± It was clearly a normal office room. However, the moment the man spoke, the air rumbled and I felt drawn to an unknown divine force. ¡°As the ruler of the water, the one who sees through the cracks of time, and the one who guards it eternally.¡± The man leaned over and kissed my foot. ¡°I swear here and now to live for the master, as long as the master permits it.¡± ¡°¡­¡­I allow it.¡± As though he was possessed, the man¡¯s body began to scatter away like white snowflakes. His figure grew smaller and smaller until it finally became a small white dragon about the size of my palm. ¡°¡­¡­Huh?¡± [The human form is too much to use with master¡¯s current ability.] A man¡¯s voice came from the young dragon. He had a long tail and small wings on his back. He walked up to me on all fours. [Even this figure is too much for master now. But I¡¯m glad master has fragrant things.] ¡°What do you mean fragrant?¡± [Something from master smells delicious.] ¡°Lizards have a good sense of smell, too?¡± [I¡¯m a dragon, not a lizard. I¡¯m different from a lizard. Look, I even have wings.] He stretched out his wings on his back. Then, he tried to fly by flapping his wings, but his chubby body could not easily rise into the air. I knew his original form was a grown man, but watching him do that in the form of a small dragon, I felt somehow pitiful for him. When I lifted my hand and placed him on my lap, he moved his body slowly and settled down. ¡°So what exactly are your abilities?¡± [It¡¯s hard to explain. But I can make it rain whenever master wishes to, or I can keep master safe from getting hurt by any weapon.] Rain? Artificial rain? Hearing the man¡¯s ability, I literally felt like my heart was going to explode. I think I¡¯ve signed a contract with something incredible. This is truly the biggest jackpot for a rookie. I couldn¡¯t believe I was so lucky! Now, it¡¯s only a matter of time before we can save this land! But Blackie immediately shattered my expectations. [But I can¡¯t use it now because my power is sealed] ¡°What? How do we break the seal?¡± I¡¯m in a rush. Hurry up and tell me. Is it training? Or was it like some kind of meditation? I¡¯m completely ready. [Money.] ¡°¡­¡­What?¡± [To be more precise, it¡¯s a type of gem. The reason I was able to open my eyes was thanks to the gems master received.] [Gems? What kind of gems?] [Master¡¯s desk smells good] Blackie wriggled on my lap, perked his nose and sniffed the drawer of the desk. I opened the drawer as he wished, and a small jewel box appeared. Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only It was a box that contained only the most expensive jewels obtained from Marquis Reholas. When I opened the jewel box, Blackie dunked his head and rummaged through the jewels. Then, he grabbed a ruby as red as blood from the bottom. [I want to eat it.] tl/n: rip Felia for getting a high-maintenance dragon. Chapter 14 The little dragon holding a red jewel in its mouth was quite cute, but no, that jewel cost so much¡­¡­ Blackie, who noticed my hesitation, spoke again. [If I eat jewels, I can gain new abilities.] ¡°New ability? Like what?¡± [Make a cup of water¡­] ¡°A cup of water¡­¡­.¡± [I can freeze water in an instant¡­] ¡°You only have to leave it outside for an hour.¡± Spring was coming, but it was still freezing. What¡¯s this? I thought it was a golden pet, but it turned out to be a prickly one. Give me back my expectations. ¡°Do you have any other abilities?¡± Blackie became restless with the jewel in his mouth. ¡°What do you mean when you said you can know the weather?¡± Blackie raised his head. [I¡¯m a divine beast who is sensitive to water and ice.] ¡°What?¡± [As master said just now. I can tell how rainy or cold it will be. That¡¯s my speciality. But this ability is really useless. I can¡¯t control the water yet or even create a blizzard¡­] Blackie became depressed and lowered his head. ¡°What do you mean useless! This is the skill I need the most!¡± I cheered as I lifted Blackie. I don¡¯t have to think too hard anymore! I won¡¯t need to worry about the crops failing this year! Because I have a weather station! ¡°Eat, Blackie! Eat!¡± As soon as my permission was granted, Blackie chewed and ate the red jewel as if it was candy. ¡°But were every divine beast originally raised with jewels?¡± [No. I¡¯m unique. Originally, I could use all of my powers the moment I signed the contract, but I woke up and realised it was sealed. Jewels are a way to lift the seal.] ¡°So if you eat a lot of jewels, you will be able to lift all the seals?¡± [Not quite. I can only eat jewels that contain certain energy, just like this one. A gem that contains lots of human filth and desire, or a gem with rare powers.] ¡°¡­That would be extremely expensive, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± [I guess? Ordinary diamonds are useless, but diamonds that have seen a lot of blood due to human greed helps me grow.] ¡°Ah, capitalism.¡± Sigh, do I have to raise a pet when I barely have a territory anymore? I picked up a luxurious pet that felt like winning a lottery, but the pet needs to be raised from level 1. Using cash, too. I patted Blackie¡¯s head and spoke. ¡°Go ahead, eat it and write down on a piece of paper what you can specifically do.¡± I¡¯ll just have to deduct the price of the jewel. Suddenly, I wondered how much the jewel Blackie is eating right now cost. Maybe I should¡¯ve asked Naol first before feeding him. ¡­¡­Can I even earn enough to feed him? £ª £ª £ª Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. Nevertheless, I succeeded in obtaining something similar to a weather station. Weather is important for farming. If the crop succeeds, it can bear the expense of the jewel Blackie ate. I vaguely asked Naol about it, and when I heard that the gem Blackie ate was worth 30 million marks, I regretted it a little bit, no, I regretted it a lot. Well, I can¡¯t undo what he¡¯s already swallowed. When Black heard the 30 million marks, he looked at my expression. Then, he grabbed a pen and a paper with his paws and scribbled something intensely on the corner. I hope your powers can give me a big prize. I immediately called for the Agriculture Department officials, Ron and George. At my call, the two of them rushed up. ¡°Madam! Did you call me?¡± When I called for them, the two of them were in the middle of a fight, so the button near their collar was all torn. I cleared my throat and spoke. ¡°Uhuh. Have you both discussed it?¡± ¡°I have nothing more to say to this man!¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s what I was about to say! It¡¯s a waste of time talking to a jerk like you!¡± ¡°What do you think, madam?¡± I figured. In fact, it was easier to convince someone who didn¡¯t have an answer. ¡°Actually, I know how to observe the weather.¡± ¡°What? How?¡± Right. I know it¡¯s hard to believe. But I continued confidently. ¡°There¡¯s a way to figure it out by looking at the sky. I don¡¯t know what the weather will be every day, but I can roughly figure out the weather this year. It¡¯s a method that¡¯s been used in continents across the sea and has started to become popular, but I guess it hasn¡¯t reached here.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± The two nodded in agreement. For now, I¡¯m glad that the Valruga is late to most news since the dukedom is ruined. If it were like before, I would have been kicked out for talking nonsense. ¡°So, if the two of you agree, you must go along with it¡­¡­¡± I looked at the two people with dishevelled appearances and asked. Come and read on our website wuxia worldsite. Thanks ¡°Both of you will yield to the other, won¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Of course!¡± ¡°Great. Then, it¡¯s decided. It will be quite cold this year. And there will be a lot of snow and rain.¡± I glanced at Ron, who kept insisting on the Badam tree and spoke. ¡°So it shouldn¡¯t be the Badam tree that needs warmth.¡± George, who claimed that the weather would be cold and insisted on the Lelong flower, smiled triumphantly. I expected Ron, who was firm on the Badam tree, to protest, but surprisingly he nodded obediently. ¡°¡­I see. If that¡¯s what madam thinks, then I will go with it.¡± Rather than completely believing that I knew how to observe the weather, they looked more tired of fighting among themselves. ¡°Well, it¡¯s rather good. I can¡¯t hold on to it forever. If we miss the time to farm now, that¡¯s an even bigger issue. Since you said you can observe the weather, I¡¯ll trust you for now.¡± ¡°Hahaha! Right, the final farming competition all depends on hope and prayers. No matter how hard a person tries, the crops determine their worth.¡± George, who insisted on the Lelong flowers, patted Ron on the shoulder in hopes of making him feel better. Regardless of everything, the relationship between the two did not seem to be really bad. ¡°So what should be planted?¡± The answer was quick. ¡°I would also recommend planting Lelong flowers.¡± ¡°Lelong flowers? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s one of the native plants that grow in this territory. The roots are used for medicine and the flowers are great for potions, so there¡¯s nothing that will be wasted but the flowers must remain buried in the snow. Hence, they can only be grown in cold, snowy weather. No matter the territory, if the weather is not right, they cannot grow. Therefore, they are worth a high price.¡± ¡°Then we can plant it! Alright, let¡¯s focus this year¡¯s crop on that plant. But it is still risky to just plant one type, so if there¡¯s any room left, I¡¯d like you to plant other crops that are resistant to cold.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°No one in this castle knows crops better than we do.¡± It was only then that I was able to confess the original purpose of finding them. ¡°Right. Since you know a lot about crops, there is one plant I would like you to find¡­¡­¡± As I eagerly tried to describe the plant that was popular in the original story, the two of them asked with a confused expression. ¡°What are you going to use the weeds for?¡± ¡°So it does exist. Can you get it for me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll find it.¡± Because that item is what will make the castle prosper. £ª £ª £ª Fan translation by Dropped Inks. After exiting the office, Ron and George glanced at each other. George asked Ron. ¡°I know madam had decided on what I had insisted, but do you really agree with madam¡¯s decision?¡± ¡°Does it matter?¡± Ron said with a shrug. ¡°And I want to trust madam this once. I thought it was pure luck when she discovered Frug¡¯s embezzlement, but the successful deal with the Marquis Reholas couldn¡¯t be considered a coincidence.¡± ¡°She looks so lovely and is very disciplined with her work.¡± ¡°Since she came from an orphanage, I never expected her to be like this.¡± ¡°Haha. That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a problem if we can¡¯t get an answer even after discussing it for a few days, so wouldn¡¯t it be better to leave it to Heaven¡¯s will, no, to our lucky lady?¡± ¡°Are you finally being cooperative?¡± Ron nodded bluntly. ¡°Well, what can I do? It¡¯s all thanks to madam that this hallway is warm right now.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± George, who was grinning, ceased his laugh and turned his eyes over the castle before speaking. ¡°This is a bit embarrassing, but¡­I¡¯ve been thinking about it lately.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be possible for madam to end this damn poverty of the family¡­¡­Imagine returning to the brilliant duchy as it was before.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡± Their eyes moistened. It was never a great feeling to be poor in the estate they were born and raised in. ¡°Alright, now that we have the answer, let¡¯s get to work! Do you know how much time we¡¯ve wasted because of our fight?¡± ¡°Yeah! We should at least make history for growing Lelong flowers and reviving the estate!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll also go get what madam had requested!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± The two went back to their work at a competitive pace. £ª £ª £ª Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. After the Agriculture Department officials were sent out, I received a paper written by Blackie. The handwriting was crooked, but not unrecognisable. ¡°Let¡¯s see, what can our Blackie do now¡­¡­Make a cup of water, instantly freeze water. Yeah, I don¡¯t need this right now, so let¡¯s move on¡­¡± Our Blackie¡­¡­Needs to be raised well¡­¡­ As my eyes dimmed, Blackie immediately protested. [But I can block any attack.] ¡°How many seals do you need to unlock to do that?¡± [¡­¡­About 10?] I smiled wryly without replying. Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only ¡°What does this mean? You know everything about water?¡± [Just as it says. I know everything about water.] I tilted my head, not understanding Blackie¡¯s words. Blackie stammered to answer. [It¡¯s very natural to me, so I don¡¯t know how to explain it. I¡¯m a water divine beast. The reason why I can make rain or know what the weather will be as master wishes is because I¡¯m a water divine beast. Master, did you know that the rain varies from day to day?] Chapter 15 Blackie continued. [Although to master, all water looks the same, but to me, it all feels different. Just as the water master drinks and the rain that falls from the sky is different. I can sense all of them.] ¡°So you¡¯re like a water expert?¡± [You can say that. But I can turn the water that master drinks into rainwater from the sky.] ¡°Then, is it possible to purify polluted water?¡± [Yes.] If this had been in my previous life, that would¡¯ve been incredible. Since water pollution was a huge problem in that world. In this world, the water from the rain outside is clean enough to drink. Even so, I think I can tell that Blackie is a powerful divine beast. [But, purification requires a lot of power, so I can¡¯t do it now.] Blackie became sullen. [I¡¯m telling you, I am originally a great divine beast. I can protect master from any threats, and¡­] ¡°I know. You¡¯re really a powerful divine beast. My little Blackie is a great divine beast.¡± When I stroke him in hopes of comforting him, Blackie rubs his face in my hand. He had a cold impression when he was in his human form, but in his animal form, he acted very cute. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about the seal. I¡¯ll work hard to earn money and raise you. Aren¡¯t you the strongest divine beast in the world?¡± Of course, this was great. Even if his powers were sealed, he¡¯s still helpful. Raise Luc, raise the family and raise Blackie. There are so many things to raise. For now, we decided to keep it a secret that Blackie was a divine beast. A contract with a divine beast itself was news that would bring an uproar to the whole continent. Any family would not hesitate to spend a lot of money to attract a divine beast¡¯s contractor. But Blackie was still weak and the Valruga was not a family that was strong enough to protect me. Someone might go mad and try to achieve a divine beast by killing me, trample the family or kidnap me. So for now, Blackie is only a lizard I picked up from somewhere. As soon as I found Bella who had came to the office looking for me, I raised my eyes. ¡°I want to raise a lizard.¡± Blackie¡¯s large wings became small like a tiny limb that was attached to his back. The ice white body was mysterious, but I thought I could simply claim it as a well-fed lizard. ¡°Lizard? Where did you get it?¡± ¡°I found it in the castle.¡± ¡°In the castle? A lizard in such a cold place. It¡¯s my first time seeing one. Are these wings? So lizards have wings too.¡± Bella pointed to the small wings attached to Blackie¡¯s back. ¡°Yeah. It could be a mutation caused by the cold climate. Anyway, I want to raise him. I already named him. It¡¯s Blackie.¡± In contrast to its name, Bella stared at his white body and blue eyes, and gave a slightly puzzled expression, but nodded her head as if she was convinced by my words. ¡°Well, it is said that if you name something contrary to what it looks like, it will live for a long time.¡± When I think about it again, it¡¯s really a foolish name. I once again apologise to Blackie. ¡°So how do you raise a lizard? Do they eat bugs?¡± Blackie in my hand shook his head desperately. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± ¡°Yes, but does the madam have to take care of it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°The lizard is so lucky. To be the madam¡¯s pet.¡± Bella smiled and looked at Blackie. ¡°Oh, right. I came to tell you something, madam. Mr.Treon is back.¡± ¡°Who is Treon?¡± ¡°Oh, well he¡¯s the person who went to the orphanage to pick you up!¡± ¡°Ah, that guy¡­!¡± Wait. Does that guy like me, though? £ª £ª £ª Upon hearing the news of Treon¡¯s return, Luc and his servants gathered in the castle¡¯s huge hall. The huge family crest behind Luc made it look as if the contract between Blackie and me was all a lie. Luc and I sat next to each other on the highest platform to greet Treon. Normally, I wouldn¡¯t be so concerned about the return of a subordinate, but this time, I needed to consider the specificity of Treon¡¯s mission. ¡°I, Treon, have received the letter of appointment from His Majesty the Emperor under your command, my lord.¡± Treon politely presented the letter of appointment to Luc. In the letter of appointment, it was written that Luc was recognised as the Duke of Valruga. As soon as the marriage certificate was stamped, Treon rushed to the Emperor in the capital and made Luc the official Duke of Valruga. My first meeting with him wasn¡¯t very good, but his loyalty towards Luc was real. ¡°Good work.¡± Luc spoke to Treon in a firm tone. He then took the letter of appointment from Treon¡¯s hand and handed it to me. ¡°Felia, this is yours, you should keep it.¡± When I placed the letter of appointment back in Luc¡¯s hand, Luc tilted his head. ¡°What¡¯s mine is all yours, right?¡± As usual, I wanted to repeat ¡®Our Luc is great, cute and lovely.¡¯ but Treon¡¯s gaze stung me. As if he was saying, ¡®How dare this stray cat aim for the Duke?¡¯. It was a brief meeting, but I was certain. That guy, he hates me. £ª £ª £ª Fan translation by Dropped Inks. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying the Treon was originally the butler of this castle?¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Bircher said as he brushed my hair. I thought it was a joke when he asked if he was able to serve me for a day as a reward if he did his job of eavesdropping well. But Bircher really asked for his one-day serving as a reward. ¡®Why is it a reward for you to serve me?¡¯ I asked, but the Bircher, Bella and even other maids¡¯ reactions were intense. ¡®Being by madam¡¯s side is the greatest reward!¡¯ When they insisted, I had nothing to say. After arguing with Bella for a few days, it seemed that they had finally agreed on today as the date. Thanks to that, I was receiving a luxurious treatment that I would never experience in my life again. Normally, Bella was the only person who served me, but today, when she¡¯s not in charge, the maids along with Bircher gathered around me. Suddenly, I was being served by seven people. As I drank the tea that Bircher had brewed, admiration burst from those around me. ¡°How can our madam be so elegant when drinking tea?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because she¡¯s full of grace at her age. She is going to become the mistress of the family, after all.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the previous duke¡¯s wives would have been this elegant at their age, right?¡± I think everyone has a loose screw¡­ As I listened to the maids chatter, my mind was filled with thoughts about the man I saw today. Treon Ivaropa. He was a handsome man with a refined impression who appeared in the original story, and is one of the vital vassals of the male lead. In the original story, as the male lead¡¯s butler and retainer, he was a quick witted man despite working on household affairs and continental situations. If it weren¡¯t for me, wouldn¡¯t he be leading and taking care of the male lead? Although he doesn¡¯t seem to like me, he understood the situation. He brought me here in the first place because he wanted a scarecrow to buy time for the male lead to safely become an adult and take control of the Valruga family. In the original story, when the male lead fell in love with the female lead, he took the responsibility in removing me. The worst case scenario I could think of was if the male lead and I fell in love. It was a passing thought, but the thought of Luc¡¯s pure lovely face made my conscious ache. Being in love with Luc. It was absurd. ¡°Our madam is so kind that she even takes care of a stray lizard.¡± ¡°Madam. The lizard isn¡¯t eating anything. Is it okay?¡± One of the maids shook the grass in front of Blackie. Blackie, with a pink ribbon around his neck, stared at me ruefully. [I don¡¯t like grass¡­I can see the insect bite marks there¡­I don¡¯t like this ribbon either.] ¡®I¡¯ll take it off for you later. Just bear with it¡­¡¯ I replied to Blackie in my mind. ¡°Yes. He only eats what I feed him.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lizard that recognised its owner! So you¡¯re a smart one too!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it necessary to have this level of loyalty to become the madam¡¯s pet?¡± ¡°As expected of the madam. The pet you raise is not ordinary either.¡± As they chattered for a while, a knock on the door was heard. ¡°Come in.¡± It was Treon who had opened the door to my answer. He frowned in displeasure at the sight of us gathered in the room. ¡°What are the maids doing? Bircher, what are you doing here?¡± Ack, this sight was completely misleading. A duchess with seven attendants in a poor castle. ¡°Serving the madam?¡± At Bircher¡¯s carefree reply, Treon¡¯s face darkened with an unpleasant look. ¡°Who is going to handle your work¡­¡­¡± ¡°What are you doing in front of the madam? Hurry up and greet her. It¡¯s not the time to be talking to me, is it?¡± At Bircher¡¯s words, Treon glanced at me with a pair of frightening eyes. And although he didn¡¯t like me, he greeted me with perfect etiquette, showing consideration of my status as the duchess of the family. ¡°Pardon me, madam.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Ah, this is difficult. It would be more convenient to deal with Treon if I could kick him out. However, Treon¡¯s help was needed in order to raise Luc and the family well. Treon glanced at the maids in the room and spoke. ¡°Madam. Considering the housekeeping of the castle, having so many attendants here is¡­¡± ¡°Hey, butler! I¡¯m the madam¡¯s only attendant!¡± Before Treon could even finish his words, Bella shouted. ¡°That¡¯s right! We just came to see the madam!¡± ¡°Today is not even a working day anyway! There is no need to report to the butler what you are doing on your days off!¡± The maids spoke up all at once, completely shutting Treon¡¯s mouth. When I glanced at Treon again, I couldn¡¯t find any trace of his graceful smile. At this rate, Treon would not be able to keep his mouth shut. I looked into Treon¡¯s eyes and opened my mouth. ¡°So why did the butler come all of a sudden?¡± ¡°I heard that madam had found out that Frug was embezzling money and kicked him out. May I ask how you found out about it?¡± His words were polite, but his eyes and tone were challenging me. Treon was suspicious of me. He wondered if another family was giving me information or if I was joining hands with another family to devour the duchy. I pretended not to know of Treon¡¯s suspicions. ¡°I just figured it out by looking at the records. After that, it was dealt with according to the procedures.¡± ¡°But madam, you can¡¯t just kick him out like that.¡± ¡°Luc, no, the duke allowed it.¡± ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡± Treon nodded, confirming something in his suspicion. Then, he bid farewell and left the room. ¡®Ugh¡­¡­¡¯ I can¡¯t believe I have to work together with someone who hates me. My head already hurts. £ª £ª £ª Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks. What the hell happened to this castle? It was only a month. During Treon¡¯s brief absence, the castle changed drastically. In the castle, where it was normally freezing cold, warmth circulated and repairs were made here and there. The number of servants and maids he had never seen before has increased, and Frug, who was originally entrusted with the management of the castle, was said to have long been banished. In addition, the agreement with Marquis Reholas gained money for the family. The most distinct change was the meals. The usual meal in the Valruga castle was small amounts of plain soup and hard bread. But now, people were able to eat warm soup made full of ingredients and soft breads. The most surprising news was the orphan girl he brought as the marriage partner. ¡®Did you say Felia¡­¡­¡¯ Bright pink hair and clear blue eyes. He chose her because he thought it would not be bad to flaunt a clean and pretty appearance. He thought that nothing would happen if he sent her to the castle alone, but now the whole castle was under her control. No matter who he asked, the only words that were returned were ¡®Madam is the best!¡¯ and ¡®Thanks to her, our castle has improved!¡¯. There was not a single negative word. Of course, what Felia has done was incredible, but the more surprising it was, the more suspicious it became. Was this something a 15 year-old orphan girl could do? Most orphans he had met had no proper education, so even writing their names was difficult. It was important to break the servants¡¯ illusions, but there was something that had to be done first. ¡®The most important thing was to get the Duke back.¡¯ How surprised he was when the Duke naturally handed the Emperor¡¯s appointment letter to Felia and said it was all hers. ¡®He¡¯s still young, so he¡¯s just confused for a moment.¡¯ If the master goes astray, it is a servant¡¯s duty to correct it. Creak! The sound of the door opening was heard. Treon, who had been sitting alone in the study, rose from his seat and gave his courtesy. The owner of the Valruga duchy and Treon¡¯s lord. ¡°Thank you for giving me the honour to educate you, duke.¡± Luc¡¯s gaze turned towards Treon. Chapter 16 Treon marvelled at the progress noted by the previous teacher. ¡°You¡¯re amazing, Duke. I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve already reached this far in the History of the Empire while I was away.¡± An average 10 year-old would have been happy when he was praised, but Luc still had a sullen expression. If anyone else had seen his curt attitude, they would have been uncomfortable, but in Treon¡¯s eyes, it was an attitude befitted of a true ruler. A king had to control his emotions and thoughts without flinching at every compliment he receives. In the meantime, he has been busy assisting the Duke¡¯s regiment so it was only about two months later that Treon managed to supervise Luc¡¯s education in earnest. Luc, whom he has observed, was very fast and excellent in learning. ¡°Then, let¡¯s learn about Emperor Kuser¡¯s achievements today. Emperor Kuser was the 13th Emperor of the empire¡­¡± Treon¡¯s class was tough, but Luc followed the lesson without complaint. After the class was finally over, Treon opened his mouth carefully. ¡°Duke. I have something to tell you regarding the madam.¡± ¡°What?¡± As soon as Felia was mentioned, Luc¡¯s eyes lit up for the first time. ¡°Did you know that the madam is managing the duchy¡¯s household?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Did the Duke entrust it to her?¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Take that privilege back.¡± ¡°What?¡± Luc¡¯s brows furrowed. Sensing Luc¡¯s anger, Treon quickly spoke. ¡°The family situation is at stake right now. If someone tries to take over the family, we have no choice but to surrender to them. I¡¯ve been looking into it and the madam¡¯s behaviour is very suspicious these days. Not long after she came to the family, she found out about Frug¡¯s embezzlement and Marquis Reholas¡¯ fraud. It is clear that there is a family that is after you. If we leave it as it is, there¡¯s no doubt that the duchy will be swallowed by other families that are connected to the lady.¡± It was clearly suspicious. Treon believed that Luc would obey him. However, Luc¡¯s answer was the exact opposite of Treon¡¯s expectation. ¡°So what?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Did he have trouble understanding the situation? Bewildered, Treon spoke again. ¡°So if this continues, the family behind the madam will become the Duke of Valruga¡­¡­¡± ¡°I know. It means that the family behind her could take over the duchy.¡± It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! The true owner of the duchy is the duke. Therefore¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°¡­¡­What?¡± He didn¡¯t know how many times he¡¯s already made a fool of himself today, contrary to the butler who always remains calm under any situation. Luc spoke again clearly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if sister becomes the Duke of Valruga. Neither sister, nor the family behind her, or anyone. If sister decides to do that, I¡¯m completely fine with it.¡± PR/N: ¡®sister¡¯ is Felia ¡°What¡­No, wait a minute. Duke, please reconsider. If this goes on, the Valruga family is over. It will completely vanish from the duke¡¯s generation.¡± This was ridiculous. He was the owner of the family and he¡¯s letting the family bloodline go extinct. Luc looked at Treon with cold eyes. Although he was a child much smaller than himself, Treon felt as if Luc was looking down on him. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m too young to understand the situation?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°I am well aware of the family name and the weight of the title that I carry. If I, the owner of the family, decide to do so, then you must obey my decision.¡± Treon realised. Luc understood the situation clearly. And regardless, Luc made such a choice. ¡°Sister is not a person who will conquer the family. No, rather. Like you said, if sister really decides to conquer the family, break it or sell it anywhere, I will support her decision.¡± ¡°Duke! Have you gone insane?¡± Treon screamed. ¡°Insane?¡± Luc smirked. In the midst of despair, Treon shuddered. It was the image of an arrogant and domineering ruler he had always wished to see from his predecessors. But he didn¡¯t want to see it in this situation. ¡°Then I must be crazy about her. If sister wishes for it, I would wrap this family with my own hands and hand it over to her. After all, sister had saved both the family and me, she even made me who I am today.¡± Treon was utterly devastated. Luc¡¯s words were not over yet. ¡°Besides, butler.¡± A pen swung in Luc¡¯s hand. ¡°I think a butler who tries to separate the duke and the duchess is more suspicious. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Luc¡¯s pen pointed to Treon. It was just an ordinary pen held in the hands of a child, but strangely, Treon couldn¡¯t move as if he was being pointed by a sword at that moment. ¡°If you ever try to touch my wife, I¡¯ll kill you with my own hands before you could even do so.¡± It looked like a warning at first glance, but Luc was serious. Raised under indifferent parents, Luc was imprisoned in the cold castle that was slowly dying. His wife was a strong, beautiful, and wonderful person. But he was young, weak and a burden. So what if the butler offends her and she decides to leave? If Felia said she wanted to break up with him, Luc had no means to hold her. ¡°I won¡¯t be attending any more classes. And if you¡¯re going to keep thinking like that, leave the castle.¡± After those words, Luc concluded that there was no need for further discussion. Treon tried to grab Luc¡¯s arm as he passed by him, but Luc calmly avoided Treon. Only Treon was left in the room. £ª £ª £ª ¡°This¡­Is really absurd¡­¡­¡± Treon hugged the bottle and rolled on the floor. ¡°No¡­I have to save¡­th-this family¡­so¡­Hic!¡± There was the stench of booze along with his red face. He looked very drunk. Bircher kicked Treon with an annoyed look. If he¡¯s drunk, he should go to his room and sleep. Why did he come and do this in someone else¡¯s room? ¡°Hey. It¡¯s annoying, go back to your room and sleep.¡± ¡°No¡­It doesn¡¯t make sense¡­Why did¡­the Duke say he would sell his family¡­Does that even make sense¡­¡­?¡± ¡°What? Sell the family? To whom?¡± When Bircher asked in surprise, Treon sobbed. ¡°To the madam! Hu, huhu¡­¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s all. You surprised me. So what if it¡¯s the madam¡­No, the madam is the duchess anyway, so how can he sell her the family? Is she going to be the duke?¡± ¡°What, you¡¯re also on the madam¡¯s side! Ha!¡± Treon pointed his finger at Bircher. ¡°What? After all, madam is our duchess. What¡¯s wrong with me being on her side?¡± ¡°Madam¡­Madam is¡­Not with the duke¡­!¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± Bircher rubbed his ear with a hand. This is why drunkards are annoying. ¡°Madam¡­No¡­madam¡­Ah! If she devours the duchy¡­What will you do then!¡­Huh?¡± Bircher replied instantly. ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? Everything is doing well right now.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Ah, what?!¡± Bircher shouted no less. ¡°You¡­You¡¯re supposed to take my side, you bastard¡­¡± Bircher looked down at Treon with a pathetic gaze. Treon clung onto Bircher¡¯s legs and sniffled. When he was sober, he was irritating and serious with his work, but he was still a good guy. However, every time he drinks, he spouts the truth. Still, he has spent a long time with Treon. Bircher spoke, recalling their friendship in the past. ¡°Hey, Treon.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°Stop doubting the madam. If the madam was suspicious, I would have noticed.¡± Bircher said, rather seriously. ¡°You¡­You¡¯re not convinced¡­¡­? That¡¯s it! It must be easy to figure out if we¡¯re being scammed so¡­?¡± ¡°Ah seriously, this punk!¡± Bircher kicked Treon hard with his foot. ¡°Hey, who said that madam figured it out easily! Do you know how much trouble the madam had to go through?! You bastard! What spy?! Do you know how much the madam has run around with that delicate body of hers and how many nights she¡¯s stayed up?¡± The more he talked about it, the angrier he became. Bircher kicked Treon with his other foot this time. ¡°Eugh¡­¡­¡± Treon couldn¡¯t even resist, he was struck by Bircher¡¯s foot and rolled away. ¡°It¡¯s because you didn¡¯t see it. Everyone in the castle is aware of how much effort she puts in and how much she thinks about this castle! Every single person in the castle is useless!¡± Butcher saw it all clearly. At 3 in the morning, when everyone was asleep, the sight of the madam looking at the documents while forcing her sleepy eyes to stay open. Before meeting the Fox Merchant Association, she practised several times with Naol all day long to avoid making a mistake. Before the appointment with Marquis Reholas, her trembling did not subside so she hugged the Duke for a long time. How can anyone doubt the madam after witnessing all that? ¡°If you¡¯ve ever looked at madam clearly, you would never be able to say such a shameless thing.¡± Treon looked at the ceiling without saying a word. ¡°I understand your situation, but don¡¯t be prejudiced and look properly at least once at what kind of person the madam truly is. And if after you have observed her and still think she¡¯s not trustworthy, come to me.¡± Bircher raised his fist. ¡°It just means that your head is wrong, so I¡¯ll fix it for old times¡¯ sake.¡± Look ¡®properly¡¯. Wouldn¡¯t that be really difficult? But Treon loved the castle and the family. If everyone kept on saying the same thing, then it would be the butler¡¯s duty to think about it once more. £ª £ª £ª The next day, Treon woke up on the cold floor. Bircher left Treon to sleep on the floor. He couldn¡¯t even open his eyes properly and was urged to the dining room as if he was kicked out. But this time, the maids served him breakfast without even making eye contact with Treon as if a rumour was going on. ¡°Hmph!¡± The maid placed the bowl down so roughly that the soup in the bowl had splashed all over. There wasn¡¯t even a single thing in the soup. Treon became a little depressed. ¡®Was this also the madam¡¯s influence¡­¡¯ After eating, Treon headed to the study. He waited for a long time, but Luc really did not come. ¡®¡­¡­I¡¯m going to have to beg the Duke for this too.¡¯ He didn¡¯t realise he would actually refuse education. The castle, starting with the duke, had all fallen in love with the madam. Yes, with such a strong reputation, there must be something going on with the madam. It was then. As he left the study alone, Treon saw the duke and duchess.