Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 258

아기님 캐시로 로판 달린다-258화(258/353)

☆ 제258화 ☆

* * *

“Didn’t Her Majesty cause a stir before by using the royal seal incorrectly!”

“The Empress’s seal is not to be taken lightly! To use that weight for such personal gain! And not just once, but twice!”

“It’s only been revealed twice. There may be more misappropriations that haven’t come to light yet.”

Committing the same mistake twice leaves no room for extenuating circumstances.

“And it’s about the water management project, of all things! To plot such a scheme!”

“It’s fortunate that Princess Paeraton made a deal with Ardella; otherwise, there would have been problems.”

“Doesn’t she care if dams and waterways collapse and people die? The Empress, of all people!”

The people didn’t even try to lower their voices as they vehemently criticized the Empress.

Naturally, the arrows of criticism weren’t only aimed at the Empress.

“Besides, ‘as soon as Esteban ascends the throne.’ Doesn’t this also imply there’s a problem with His Highness Esteban?”

“To already be making promises about what he’ll do once he ascends the throne……”

“In the end, he’s not interested in managing the country but only in securing his own interests.”

Esteban gritted his teeth.

He was already dumbfounded that the nobles, who had been fawning over him, had changed as soon as Sidrian returned.

And now they were even criticizing him!

‘To dare to do this to me, the Crown Prince……!’

The Emperor looked down at the noisy hall and pressed his forehead.

He had a headache just thinking about how to resolve this situation.

He wanted to immediately dismiss the Empress, who had created this mess, but it wasn’t that simple.

In any case, there had been many deals between the Emperor and the Empress.

It was then.

“Your Majesty.”

Count Aizelle stepped forward with his wife, both wearing grave expressions.

He knelt before the Emperor and cried out earnestly.

“Please reveal the truth about my daughter’s death, Your Majesty!”

At that sudden request, the Emperor, as well as the others, couldn’t hide their bewilderment.

To bring up such a private matter, which had occurred long ago, in front of such a significant issue.

“The truth about your daughter’s death? I heard that Lady Ophelia Aizelle had an accident?”

“If it were truly an accident, I wouldn’t be asking Your Majesty to reveal the truth.”

Count Aizelle’s eyes were bloodshot.

However, his gaze, expression, and voice were unwavering and firm.

“The Empress is involved in my daughter’s death!”

“……!”

* * *

Holes in the Imperial Palace’s defenses? The identity of the culprit is shocking!

A tragedy created by ambition for the throne

What is the identity of the Imperial Palace’s mysterious Obangjin [Five Directions Formation, a defensive magical formation] ?

〈Fraud〉 that has infiltrated the Imperial Palace!

Lady Aizelle, a noble life that stood against injustice

The truth does not sink – Ophelia Aizelle

I folded the newspaper so that the articles were easily visible and placed it in front of the grave.

“Look. Everyone is talking about Lady Aizelle. They’re praising her, saying that the young lady maintained her integrity and pursued the truth even in the face of power.”

The grave was filled with all sorts of flowers, making it hard to tell if it was a grave or a flower garden.

It was evidence that people had come to express their condolences.

“Lady Aizelle.”

I traced the name written on the tombstone.

“It took too long, didn’t it?”

I’m now about the same age as Lady Aizelle.

Following Muriel, the Empress will also pay the price for her crimes.

Now the people of the world will also know.

How wonderful Lady Aizelle was.

How courageous a life someone who once gave up on her own potential, believing she had no talent, lived.

But.

Drip, drip.

Tears fell and soaked the tombstone.

“I can’t, this doesn’t solve anything. I don’t need these wreaths and praising articles, just一.”

I wish Ophelia were here with me now.

Alive and breathing with warmth.

“The Lady said she had no regrets about her choices and decisions, but一 I still regret it so, so much. If I had been just a little more attentive, paid more attention.”

Instead of just telling her not to say things, if I had assigned her a separate escort.

If I had.

“This is my choice. I will never regret my life. So.”

“Don’t regret it.”

“I wish, I wish the Lady would come back. I miss her.”

So, so much.

Ophelia’s image was still vivid in my eyes.

That sparkling, confident smile.

I collapsed and sat down, clutching the tombstone and sobbing.

My breathing was ragged, as if I were about to suffocate.

Even so, the tombstone, bathed in sunlight, was warm.

Just like Lady Aizelle.

* * *

“You’ve worked hard, Princess.”

Count Fermain reached out his hand to Ruatisha.

Ruatisha smiled, shook his hand, and sat down.

“I never thought I would be joining hands with the Princess.”

“Isn’t it said that yesterday’s enemy can become today’s friend?”

“That’s right. Besides, it’s been seven years since then. Soon, even the landscape will change, so it’s not unusual that we’ve become friends.”

Ruatisha responded to his words with a light smile.

Count Fermain took a sip of his tea, carefully observing her.

Sentencing an Empress to death has only happened twice in the long history of the Empire.

Both times were due to treason.

Even though it’s practically an inviolable area, Ruatisha managed to bring about a death sentence.

To be precise, she hasn’t been sentenced yet, but if it weren’t for the death penalty, the entire empire would rise up in protest, so there was no other choice.

Even though she succeeded by setting up multiple layers of plans, Ruatisha’s face now showed no joy of victory, nor any agitation, but was the same as usual.

‘Indeed. Paeraton, who handles politics and diplomacy. She’s not just amazing, but terrifying.’

The opponent has to be appropriate to grind your teeth and burn with revenge, but in this case, it’s better to ride along.

The fact that the Paeraton Duchy has Ansur’s head merchant was enough to make him raise both hands in surrender.

Clang.

Count Fermain placed his cup on the saucer.

Even if he joined hands, he had to secure his own benefits.

“But I never imagined you would trade Aquilem [a rare and valuable mineral] with Ardella. I naturally thought you would trade with our West.”

“There’s no reason to refuse if I can buy better goods under better conditions.”

“……Still, didn’t the West help the Princess this time?”

Ruatisha laughed as if it were amusing.

“Have the Empress Dowager pay you for that. I only received the Empress Dowager’s sincerity.”

Count Fermain clicked his tongue at her clean-cut attitude.

‘She expected me to negotiate in favor of the West after this is over.’

In any case, Ruatisha’s words were correct.

Count Fermain had no connection to Ruatisha and had only fulfilled the Empress Dowager’s request.

Still, it was a shame.

“Then has Ardella changed its policy to export Aquilem from now on?”

How much had he profited from the fact that Ardella hadn’t exported Aquilem overseas until now?

Has the era of competition arrived?

“You don’t have to worry. This case is an exception, and Ardella has no plans to release Aquilem after this.”

“That’s very good news for me. This is my personal question, but…… how on earth did you persuade Ardella?”

At those words, Ruatisha smiled.

‘Thanks to the stepping stone called the Duchess Poshette.’

She had maintained a good relationship with Marquis Poshette due to their connection during the Black Death cure.

However, she didn’t have much contact with Duchess Poshette.

But the relationship changed drastically with the Camellia incident last time…….

Duchess Poshette came to Ruatisha with tears in her eyes.

“Our Melli admitted her mistake on her own! This is really the first time since she was born. How did you do it?”

“Rather than me doing anything, Camellia did it first……. By the way, I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but you should properly scold her when she doesn’t admit her mistakes.”

“B, but it hurts my heart…….”

“…….”

“Okay. I will make sure to listen to the Princess’s words.”

The princess, holding her hands tightly, made a firm resolution.

The Princess of Ardella was still like a girl, even though she was a middle-aged woman.

A person like a frail bird.

‘And a tremendous power holder.’

As the Duchess Poshette and also holding all the titles she had as a princess of Ardella, her authority was enormous.

‘Let’s stay close in the future, Princess.’

Ruatisha was smiling slyly as she thought that, when Duchess Poshette asked, shyly putting her index fingers together.

“And um, can I call you Ruru like my father?”

“Of course.”

“It’s amazing. Our Yeobong is very shy. But she’s so proactive with the Princess. Of course, her shyness is also Yeobong’s charm.”

“Oh, our baby is so cute.”

Kyarareuk, kyarareureuk!

The Poshette couple flaunted their marital harmony.

For reference, they were doing this after coming to someone else’s room in someone else’s house.

Ruatisha felt like she knew why Lady Poshette went astray without listening to her parents.

‘I must never do that.’

“一Paeraton Princess. Princess?”

Ruatisha snapped out of her thoughts at the voice calling her.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Your complexion…….”

“No. I’m okay.”

Ruatisha shook her head, but Count Fermain was worried.

How bad must she be feeling for someone who doesn’t even blink an eye and doesn’t show her emotions to have such a face?

“I should get going. Please rest.”

He seemed to be misunderstanding something, but Ruatisha didn’t bother to correct the misunderstanding.

‘If you leave, I’ll be thankful.’

In any case, things went smoothly thanks to the Princess of Ardella becoming a stepping stone to the King.

Above all.

[Congratulations!]

[Camellia Poshette, under your influence, has manifested her ability!]

Just in time, news that the King of Ardella would like to hear was created.

The current King of Ardella was from a collateral line.

Whenever the cooldown was over, the opposing forces would bring up the weakness of his bloodline, and it was even more criticized because none of the King’s children had manifested any abilities.

But his granddaughter had manifested an ability.

There couldn’t have been better news for her.

‘Thanks to that, it was practically a bargain purchase.’

Ruatisha smiled and got up from her seat.

Leaving the lounge and entering the hall, people were enjoying the party.

‘But it seems like they’re enjoying gossiping more than enjoying the party.’

Well, how much there is to talk about.

There are people who say that when problems arise, you should maintain normalcy by proceeding as scheduled, and the Emperor was definitely one of them.

The Imperial family’s authority had already fallen to the ground because of the Empress’s actions, and he thought that if Viatranje [a major social event or festival] was canceled, it would be uncontrollable.

So Viatranje was planned to continue until the end of the period as scheduled.

At Ruatisha’s appearance, people were about to approach her immediately but hesitated.

They had spotted the Paeraton Duchy family and Marquis Tarenka heading towards Ruatisha on one side, and Sidrian heading towards her on the other side.

‘If I go now, I’ll definitely get caught in the crossfire.’

No shrimp wanted to get caught in a whale fight.

* * *

“Don’t worry too much, Saintess.”

Liriel was frustrated at the priest’s words.

‘Why did the Empress have to do something unnecessary……!’

When she was fiercely criticizing Ruatisha for not being able to do her job properly because of a man, she heard people saying everywhere that it would have been different if it were the Saintess.

Now that everything had been concluded as Ruatisha intended, Liriel was facing the backlash.

“If it were the Saintess, she wouldn’t have been able to trade with Ardella, so what.”

“I know those Saintess fanatics always do that, right?”

“If you know, isn’t the Empress and the Saintess plotting this together this time?”

It was concluded that it wasn’t, but the suspicious gazes continued.

‘Anyway, you bug-like humans……. There’s no point in staying any longer. I should leave now一.’

“Your Holiness, if you leave here, people’s suspicions will only grow stronger. They’ll say that you’re leaving because you have something to hide.”

“Such gossip wouldn’t be a big deal to the Saintess, the daughter of God, but if you stay even a little longer for the sake of the temple…….”

Liriel was about to get frustrated again when she saw the priests blocking her way.

‘But what they’re saying makes sense. It’ll be worse if I’m not here.’

She still needed to win the favor of humans and gain influence.

Liriel looked at Ruatisha, who was caught between her family and Sidrian.

‘It’s better to face it head-on.’

Liriel started walking towards Ruatisha.

* * *

I frowned when I saw Liriel approaching this way.

“Why?”

Sid asked, gently rubbing my forehead.

Zeon quickly slapped Sid’s hand away, but it was a familiar sight, so I didn’t really care.

“Because I hate seeing her face. Why does she keep hitting on you?”

I even stamped my lips on you!

“……Rather than hitting on me, it seems like she’s sincere towards you.”

What are you talking about.

Sid tilted his head towards me and asked as I chuckled.

“Does it bother you? Her talking to me.”

“No?”

“Are you jealous?”

“Not at all?”

Even though I was pouting, Sid smiled slightly, as if he liked it.

Then he spoke to Liriel, who had approached.

“Liriel.”

“Sid?”

Liriel looked surprised, as if she didn’t expect Sid to speak to her first.

Soon, a deep smile appeared on her face.

“Sid, are you over your anger now? Now we can be like before一.”

“You said it before. To use you for Ruatisha’s jealousy.”

Did she really say that?

I looked at Liriel in surprise, and her face stiffened.

“I’m sure I said it then.”

A crooked smile hung on Sid’s lips.

It was a smile he didn’t show me.

“Isn’t jealousy something you feel towards someone on the same level?”

“……!”

“Of course, I’m jealous of even an ant.”

Sid stroked my hair.

Before I knew it, he had a bewitching smile on his face.