Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 282

“Although you’re an unlikable prince, you’ve made the right decision this time. My sister shouldn’t be tainted with dirty blood.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Ares and Sidrian spoke casually, ignoring Esteban’s anger.

“……Ha.”

Esteban ran a hand through his hair.

“I know the Paeraton Duchy is known for their devotion to family, but I hope you considered your words before daring to call the blood of the imperial family dirty?”

“Well, at least it was a more thoughtful action than when His Highness the Crown Prince dared to lift my sister’s chin.”

“Why can’t you be reasonable? If Ruatisha becomes the Crown Princess, it would be a great honor for Paeraton!”

“Honor?”

Ares openly scoffed, and Esteban’s face flushed red.

“The Paeraton Duchy may be great, but isn’t it a family that has never produced an empress until now!”

More accurately, they didn’t produce one because they didn’t want to.

Until Ruatisha, all the Paeraton Duchesses were born with magical energy.

And if Ares, Ixion, and Zion, whom Ruatisha stabilized, had worse tempers, they were by no means gentle.

Would such people have wanted the Empress’s seat?

Their daily life consisted of hunting monsters on subjugation expeditions.

“It’s an opportunity that will go down in Paeraton’s history. Ruatisha, I can put all the best and most precious things in this world in your hands.”

Esteban looked at Ruatisha with a confident attitude.

However.

“That’s it?”

Pfft!

Ruatisha burst into laughter.

“Is that all you have to offer…? Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Empire, is far too timid.”

“What……?”

“Did you think I’d be tempted by something like that?”

She could get as much of that as she wanted right now if she wanted to.

With Ruatisha’s own power.

“If you were going to bet, you should have bet the Crown Prince position.”

Ruatisha tapped Esteban’s chest and said.

“You……!”

“Of course, I’m not very interested in it.”

“To play with the throne so lightly on your tongue, do you want to be arrested for treason? There’s a limit to how much I can overlook just because you’re cute.”

“Why are you so serious when I’m joking? If it were His Majesty the Emperor, he would have laughed heartily and joked with me, ‘Shall I give you this seat?’”

Ruatisha chuckled, “Ah.”

“I guess the scale is bound to be different. In the first place一.”

Ruatisha tiptoed and whispered in Esteban’s ear.

“If Sid hadn’t disappeared, Your Highness wouldn’t have been able to ascend to the Crown Prince position.”

“……!”

Seeing Esteban’s stiffened face, Ruatisha smiled brightly.

“And the one who needs to be reasonable isn’t Ares, but Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“…….”

“I’m genuinely annoyed and uncomfortable, so stop bothering me. It makes you look really pathetic.”

Ruatisha turned away from Esteban and smiled brightly.

“Sid!”

Sidrian approached Ruatisha like a gentle lamb.

Ruatisha took Sidrian’s hand and began to chatter about trivial things, asking what he had done today, whether he had slept well, and whether he had eaten well.

When Sidrian answered all those questions sincerely, Ruatisha laughed as if she had heard a very interesting story.

Esteban watched the scene before his eyes.

“Am I not even visible?”

“Ares.”

Ruatisha turned to Ares.

At that one call, Ares’ dissatisfied expression melted away.

“My sister.”

Ares opened his arms.

Ruatisha toddled over and nestled into her second older brother’s embrace.

“My sister, I thought I was going to die of missing you.”

“Me too.”

“And yet you welcomed that guy more than me?”

“Oh, come on, ‘that guy.’ To the Prince.”

She was even more critical when Esteban, the Crown Prince, said harsher things, but she pouted just because he called Sidrian ‘that guy.’

‘My sister, who used to follow me around like a baby bird following its mother…….’

Ares’ eyes shook with shock.

Ruatisha giggled and looked up at Ares.

“Just kidding.”

“……I almost cried.”

“Hey, why would you cry over something like this? You’re not Zion or Dad.”

“Then shall I tell you honestly?”

“Yeah.”

“I almost killed that bastard.”

Ares smiled sweetly and confessed shyly.

Ruatisha decided to pretend she didn’t hear it.

“But how did you two come together? I’m glad to see you getting along so well.”

At that question, Sidrian avoided eye contact, and Ares wore a deep smile.

“Just by chance?”

“Chance?”

“Yeah.”

It wasn’t wrong.

Ares, having finished reporting to the Emperor, quickly headed this way upon hearing the news that his sister had come to the Imperial Palace.

Sidrian, who had returned from an outing, also moved immediately upon hearing the news that Ruatisha had arrived.

And the two of them accidentally一though it was inevitable since their paths overlapped一found each other.

Ares first created obstacles with magic, and Sidrian laid ice under Ares’ feet in response.

A common enemy? Until Esteban appeared, they had actually been competitively checking each other, going back and forth, but they just didn’t mention that fact.

Anyway, they met by chance.

“Anyway, it’s good to see. Promise me you’ll get along well without fighting in the future?”

“Of course, of course.”

Ares smiled as brightly as the sun without batting an eye.

* * *

Ruatisha disappeared with Ares and Sidrian.

With the appearance of Ares and Sidrian, the palace staff guarding the waiting room also discreetly left their posts, so there was no one else there.

Esteban remained alone in that spot, clenching his empty fist.

He wasn’t just being ignored but treated as if he didn’t exist.

How dare anyone treat Esteban, the Crown Prince of the Empire, like that!

‘Sidrian……!’

An obstacle that suddenly appeared in his life, which had been a smooth road.

He thought he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore since he had become the Crown Prince.

But even more annoying was the woman who wouldn’t fall into his hands until the end.

‘……Ruatisha Paeraton.’

Esteban’s gaze was sinister as he looked at Ruatisha’s empty space, who had already disappeared.

It was then.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

At the sudden, slender voice, Esteban flinched and turned his head.

There stood a pretty woman with long, shimmering blonde hair.

Clearly, there was no one there, and there was no sign of anyone approaching.

But she appeared as if by a mirage, as if she had been there from the beginning.

“Didn’t I tell you? Ruatisha…… is just that kind of child.”

“…….”

“She takes after her vulgar mother and naturally loves to play with men, so there’s nothing we can do.”

A soft hand wrapped around Esteban’s fist.

“Do you still want that child?”

Esteban had no answer.

The woman smiled slyly.

“Then…… there’s a way.”

She pressed her body against Esteban, with not even an inch of space between them.

A sweet fragrance stung Esteban’s nose.

“It’s hard to break off a noble flower on a high branch一.”

A languid voice echoed in Esteban’s ear along with her breath.

“But picking up a flower that has fallen to the ground and been trampled on is very easy, isn’t it?”

The lips that whispered that drew a deep curve.

* * *

– …….

“I’m sorry.”

– …….

“I’m really sorry, okay?”

“Hey, forgive me and look at my face, huh?”

Even though I was begging so earnestly, Ixion didn’t turn his head.

‘He must be really sulking.’

But this was my fault.

That’s right.

After Dad came back yesterday, so many things happened that I completely forgot to contact Ixion again.

It was only after Ixion contacted me just now that I quickly received the communication, realizing, ‘Oops!’

Seeing Ixion, who usually would have softened by now no matter how sulky he was, acting like this, it seemed like he was really upset.

‘This won’t do.’

I’ll have to use my secret weapon for the first time in a while.

The embarrassment is temporary, but the peace of the family is eternal!

Help me, K-cringe [Korean-style exaggerated or cheesy expressions]!

“Ixion, do you know what?”

– …….

Ixion still didn’t look at me, but I could see his ear twitching slightly on the communication stone.

“I always pay for two people’s fare when I ride the public carriage. Do you know why?”

This time, his head moved slightly before returning to its original position.

‘How cute.’

I chuckled inwardly and continued in a serious voice.

“Because Ixion is always with me in my heart. I’m not alone, so I always pay for two.”

Ixion still didn’t look at me.

But.

‘His cheeks are puffed out. A lot.’

It looked like he had put a hard-boiled egg under his eyes.

“It’s because I always feel like I’m with Ixion. I swear! I didn’t forget to contact Ixion.”

– ……Really?

“Really!”

Only then did Ixion look at me.

Although there was a slight hint of displeasure, he seemed quite happy.

Ixion, who had made eye contact with me, smiled reflexively before hardening his face again.

“Everyone else is at the Duke’s mansion, so why am I the only one here?”

“It’s because Ixion is the most trustworthy. Something big could happen to the territory if we’re not careful. You’re the only one I can entrust with such an important task.”

– Is that so?

“Of course!”

– Well, if that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do.

Ixion grinned.

– Since the cotton ball [term of endearment] trusts and follows me so much, I have no choice but to do my best. ……And if there’s anyone else who’s messing around, they’re dead by my hands.

No, don’t kill them.

Even if you kill them, you have to find out what you need to know first.

It was then.

“It seems like you don’t have anything important to say, so shall we hang up now?”

Turning around at the sudden voice, I saw Crescentio leaning against the doorway with his long legs crossed.

“Whose voice was that just now? It sounds like a man’s voice.”

“Should I give you a compliment? Should I tell you that you are great for guessing it right?”

Crescentio, who approached with a snort, snatched the communication stone from my hand.

“You, who the hell一.”

Thud.

The communication stone lost its light, and Ixion’s figure disappeared.

The communication stone rang again, but Crescentio turned it off completely.

Huh.

“What are you doing?”

“What are you doing? Do you have time to loaf around?”

“At least it’s better than arguing with you like this.”

Crescentio elegantly twisted the corners of his lips.

“If you hadn’t been distracted in the first place, there wouldn’t have been any arguing.”

I frowned and looked at him.

‘I don’t understand.’

What’s so attractive about this jerk?

Are my friends’ eyesight okay?

They are my friends whom I like and trust very much, but this time, I doubted their eyesight and taste.

“Why did you come?”

At my words, Crescentio looked at me as if I were absurd.

“Did you forget that you called me?”

Ah, that’s right.

“……I really must have forgotten. To call someone and not only loaf around but also forget about it completely.”

I felt a little sorry after hearing that, but I didn’t want to apologize.

How unlucky do you have to be?

When I turned my head with a ‘hmph,’ Crescentio sat down on the sofa.

“……Was it Cain?”

I was somewhat surprised at the name that came out after the silence.

Crescentio and Cain have never met.

“Why Cain all of a sudden?”

“Well, why would it be?”

A crooked smile hung on his lips.

But I couldn’t grasp its meaning.

No, it’s not that I can’t grasp it. Rather, it’s full of intentions一.

“You…….”

Do you know that Cain is a demon?

I tried hard to swallow the question.

Crescentio tilted his head as he saw my stiffened face.

“Get a grip. Do you think being with someone like that will help save this world from destruction?”

This was as good as Crescentio admitting that he knew Cain’s identity.

‘How?’

No, there was a more important issue now.

‘What do I do now?’

The moment it’s known that Cain is a demon, my position as a saintess will be shaken.

‘Moreover, because of Liliel’s case, they’ll suspect that I’m a fake again.’

People have learned that there are cases where they pretend to have the power of a god.

Unlike social norms, the demons I’ve directly experienced weren’t exactly beings who opposed God.

But would people know that?

Even if I told them, would they accept it right away?

And although demons can’t be judged as evil, there were quite a few problems from a human perspective.

“Why.”

Crescentio said that and leaned his upper body towards me.

The gray eyes strangely looked as clear as ice.

So clear that they couldn’t contain any darkness, like a mirror一.

“You keep him by your side even though you know it will be a weakness?”

“……Well, it’s because there are advantages that outweigh that weakness.”

If it hadn’t been for Cain, I wouldn’t have been able to find the place where Tiriel was imprisoned so quickly.

In particular, Kiyas Edel is a god who deals with fraud.

In order to counter him, a demon familiar with fraud was essential.

I steeled myself.

There’s no point in denying it here.

“Does being with Cain help save this world from destruction?”

“…….”

“Of course it helps. At least he’s much more helpful than you.”

“What?”

Crescentio frowned.

‘I was genuinely upset just now.’

Even though Crescentio is a jerk, this is the first time I’ve seen him look so upset.

Is it because he’s a priest with strong divine power?

He seemed to particularly hate demons.

‘I see.’

I decided to scratch Crescentio’s nerves.

As a reader who has seen countless romance fantasy novels, I have a feeling.

It’s easier to deal with this kind of guy by confronting him than by backing down.

“You don’t have anything to do, do you?”

Crescentio somehow exuded an atmosphere that was more aristocratic than the nobles.

There was a unique aura of someone who doesn’t work.

That’s why the priests didn’t ask Crescentio to do anything.

‘That’s why I called him.’

“Saying I don’t have anything to do. How much I一.”

“Enough.”

I dismissed Crescentio’s words.

It would be easier to monitor him to see if he was saying that being together was useless.

“Let’s work together.”

“……With you?”

This was unexpected.

I thought he would act prickly, but the reaction wasn’t as bad as I thought.

Rather, a tempting reaction.

“……What kind of work?”

“First, let’s use that handsome face.”

Crescentio’s face went blank.