The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 55

The Barco family’s problems were still the main gossip everywhere. Rihanna Dimitri hadn’t been to a social event in weeks, so when she walked into the brightly lit hall, all eyes turned to her.

“Rihanna! You’re here!” Lady Elara called out, her voice a little too loud.

“We were starting to think you wouldn’t come!” added another lady, rising quickly from her plush velvet chair.

Around the room, ladies from important families in the northeast, who had been chatting in small groups, stood up and smiled happily as Rihanna approached. Expensive perfumes filled the air as they gathered around her, eager to greet the woman who was now the center of attention.

This gathering was hosted by Helena from the Meloke family.

She was known to be pro-Dimitri from the start. As the Barco family’s influence weakened and Dimitri’s rose, she quickly arranged the gathering.

It was a kind of display, to show that the northeastern region would thrive with Dimitri at its center. Many ladies from important families came together.

However, there were new faces that weren’t part of the existing members.

Ladies who had been more pro-Barco than pro-Dimitri greeted Rihanna’s arrival with fake smiles.

“Oh my, you seem to become more beautiful with each passing day.”

“Rihanna, I’ve prepared a special wine just for you. Please think of it as my heart and enjoy it comfortably.”

The intention was obvious: with the fall of Barco, the ladies of the aristocratic families who had lost their backing wanted to attach themselves to Dimitri in any way possible.

They didn’t care about pride anymore.

They visited Helena of the Meloke family every day to build rapport, begging for a chance to meet Rihanna Dimitri, even if it was just once.

Rihanna had been forewarned about this situation.

She didn’t particularly enjoy such cheesy conversations, but she knew how to act now.

“Thank you.”

She gave a sweet smile, as if it were natural, and received the surrounding hospitality and gifts.

Many people didn’t understand something important about the Dimitri family: it is thought to have risen to its current position due to the wealth of Baron Romero, but behind that was the dedication of Rihanna Dimitri.

Rihanna attracted the ladies of the northeastern region and created her own power.

That was a political skill that Baron Romero could not have done, and the ladies who usually associated with Rihanna formed a pro-Dimitri faction.

If she hadn’t created the groundwork in advance in that way, Dimitri might have collapsed before even establishing itself due to the Barco family’s checks.

She orchestrated the hosting of this gathering and naturally proved Dimitri’s changed status in a small society.

“Thank you all for attending this gathering. The reason we’ve gathered here isn’t for any special purpose, but because I thought that as people living in the same region, we need time to at least understand and get to know each other. Of course, we haven’t all been looking in the same direction until now. But as the situation has changed, changes to the changed reality will be necessary.”

Her words were strong and clear. Rihanna subtly poked at those who had been on Barco’s side, while also showing the generosity to accept them.

Thus, after the gathering, the ladies would go home and tell their families to be nice to the Dimitri family.

It was a small but very big difference.

Rihanna knew very well from her past experiences that calling in Barco’s ladies and showing the possibility of cooperation would later return as a great result.

The Dimitri family became a powerhouse in the northeastern region thanks to Rihanna’s support. To others, it may just seem like ladies gathering and chatting idly, but this will further solidify Dimitri’s power.

Like that, they spent a long time chatting about trivial things and enjoying refreshments.

The ladies, who were asking about each other’s well-being and sipping tea, soon began to focus on one area of interest.

“Rihanna, what do you think of our Veronica? I think she would be a great match for Roman.”

Helena’s words instantly made the ladies’ expressions stiffen.

Political marriage is a very common occurrence in the world of nobles, and it often starts at ladies’ gatherings.

Regardless of how others reacted, Helena, who had first brought up the topic of political marriage, immediately added, “Roman is already twenty-five years old. For the sake of his promising future, I think he needs to quickly marry a wise wife and start a family. And this is me praising my daughter, so it’s embarrassing, but I think our Veronica would be a good match for Roman. Am I just being nosy? Haha.”

Helena covered her mouth and laughed.

The atmosphere became strangely cold.

Six years ago, Roman Dimitri was a burden in the aristocratic world.

The Dimitri family was tempting, but the fact that he was the eldest son who could not inherit the family held him back.

At that time, Helena clearly said this: “Veronica is still too young to be Roman’s match. Let’s think about it when she grows up a little more.”

Even she, who was pro-Dimitri, was reluctant to have a political marriage with Roman, even to the point of subtly mentioning a marriage with the second son. No family welcomed Roman.

It was the same for others.

People who had shown similar attitudes to Helena showed discomfort at Helena’s remarks.

“Hey, aren’t Veronica and Roman a bit much? I know that Veronica had a political marriage with the heir of another family not too long ago. Helena, I understand your greed, but Roman is too much.”

Lady 1 was the one who had been severely scolded by Rihanna for speaking ill of Roman in the past. She even asked if she wasn’t upset by Dimitri’s fool-like behavior, but now she highly valued Roman’s worth.

“That’s right. Rihanna, Roman’s marriage needs to be carefully chosen. Don’t limit the choices, and it would be good to meet various people. In that sense, please visit our family later. Actually, I didn’t say it on purpose, but our child said she fell in love with Roman at first sight.”

Lady 2 was also someone who used to hate Roman.

As if she had completely forgotten her past actions, she readily recommended her precious daughter as Roman’s spouse.

Suddenly, everything became chaotic.

The fight that Helena ignited showed the ladies’ greed for Roman. That wasn’t just limited to parents with daughters. If they didn’t have daughters, they coveted Roman even to the point of mentioning their cousins.

It was a very interesting sight.

As a result of the Barco incident, Roman’s stock soared.

It couldn’t be helped. Roman proved his potential as a 4-star swordsman by defeating Homerus. That meant a future on the fast track, and if he even inherited the Dimitri family, there would be no better son-in-law.

This was the moment Roman changed from being seen as a problem to being seen as the most desirable man.

Just a while ago, the broken engagement with Lawrence remained a big flaw, but now, the atmosphere was such that they didn’t care about that flaw at all in light of Roman’s potential.

Rather, they thought it was really fortunate that Lawrence hadn’t snatched Roman away.

Clink.

“I’m glad that everyone thinks so highly of my son,” Rihanna said, placing her teacup down.

The current atmosphere wasn’t bad, however, she had no intention of using her son politically.

“Roman recently went through a great deal of pain. He was promised in marriage to the Lawrence family, but he had no choice but to break off the engagement for unpleasant reasons. At that time, I had this thought: Let’s not give Roman, who has experienced pain because of love, the same pain. So, it’s meaningless to talk to me about political marriage. I hope Roman meets someone who he truly loves, and who also loves Roman. That’s all I want as Roman’s spouse.”

She drew a firm line: there would be no political marriage.

The problem was that statement, on the contrary, fueled the ladies’ competitive spirit.

‘That means whoever takes Roman first, regardless of conditions, is the owner, right?’

The expressions of the aristocratic ladies changed ominously due to their greed for Roman.

After the war, Flora locked herself in her room.

Fortunately, Lawrence was able to overcome the crisis of annihilation, but the things she experienced on the battlefield shocked her.

‘You need power to live in the world.’

Lawrence and Barco was essentially a battle that Lawrence had lost.

Lawrence didn’t have the capacity to handle the Flare that Barco had prepared, nor Homerus.

The knowledge she read in books said that if she held out until winter, she would have a good chance of winning, but in the face of the reality that had suddenly struck, there wasn’t much Lawrence could do.

The sense of powerlessness at that time was indescribable. Looking at the enemy troops swarming in like ants, Flora felt like she was mentally collapsing completely.

However, Roman was different.

The power of a single individual destroyed Barco and snatched victory from a battle that was heavily colored with defeat.

‘How can I become as strong as him?’

It was amazing. It’s not just about individual martial prowess.

Roman showed the boldness to attack Barco’s rear with a small number of troops, and even after hearing the name of Homerus, the 49th-ranked warrior, he said he would face him.

It was truly an astonishing amount of courage.

It was the confidence of someone with power, and at that moment, the person named Roman looked different.

Once, she had an ideal type that she dreamed of.

That imaginary being, who was confident in everything, began to overlap with Roman little by little from some point on.

She shook her head.

“No.”

She didn’t like the person Roman himself.

She didn’t think that someone who was very selfish and only cared about his own interests was her ideal type.

However, she had a desire to find out a little more.

How could he be so strong? What kind of person was Roman?

The problem was that the relationship had already been severed when they broke off the engagement, and there was no way for Flora to meet Roman again.

‘Let’s focus on my reality now.’

She turned her gaze to the book.

She wanted to become stronger too, like Roman. She wanted the power to solve problems in any situation.

That’s why she locked herself in her room even after the war ended, and books piled up like mountains near her.

Books are not a perfect solution, but at least she wanted to relieve the feeling of being lost in a maze, even if only a little.

How many days had passed like that? She came out to get some fresh air and discovered an unexpected visitor.

“Sister, it’s been a while!”

“Silvia……?”

It was a familiar face: her cousin, Silvia, a woman with sky-blue hair and the features of a typical beauty.

‘What’s she doing here?’ It was unexpected.

Silvia’s father was the younger brother of Viscount Lawrence. He gave up his chance to be Viscount and became a merchant in the capital city.

Perhaps because she spent her childhood in the capital, Silvia hated returning to her hometown of Lawrence.

Like Flora, she inherited Lawrence’s blood and had a pretty appearance, but some people called her ‘Lawrence’s picky lady’ because she was nervous and very fussy.

For her to appear in Lawrence was sudden, as Flora knew how much Silvia hated Lawrence.

“What brings you to Lawrence? And……” She scanned the other person up and down. She was pretty, and looking at the beautiful dress, it didn’t seem like she had visited for ordinary purposes.

“And what’s with that outfit?”

“What do you mean? I heard they’re throwing a grand party for the eldest son of the Dimitri family. My uncle contacted me and told me that pretty me should brighten up the place, so I rushed over. But sister, is Roman Dimitri such a great and wonderful man? Everyone is so proud of him, I’m dying to know.”

Silvia made a fuss, and Flora felt a slight discomfort at the sight of her showing off her appearance and acting coy.

“……A party for Dimitri’s eldest son?”

It was not small news, something she should naturally know.

If even Silvia was coming to Lawrence, she should be preparing for the party by now.

But why was she hearing this for the first time?

Flora didn’t know anything about Dimitri’s party.