Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 40

☆ Chapter 40 ☆

From the moment Ares first saw me, he recognized me as a competitor for the position of the next Duke Paeraton.

That means he acknowledges me as a member of the family.

‘But why isn’t the quest completing?’

I was lost in thought.

Tap, tap.

How many more times did Hermes Jjak’s sound of diligently pecking at the cookie echo?

‘Ah, I see.’

Subject to purge.

To Ares, I’m not a member of the family, but someone who needs to be expelled from it.

When Ares becomes the Duke of Paeraton, there will be no place for me in the family.

In the future he envisions, I am not a member of the family.

“……”

It can’t be helped since he hates me by -444.

Still—.

At that moment, a warm and soft sensation brushed against my palm.

Hermes Jjak was rubbing his tiny head against my palm.

“Hermes?”

“If you meet me just three more times, I’ll let you call me by my nickname, Jjak!”

Is he comforting me right now, perhaps?

“I-It’s not that I hate you so I’m not allowing it, Jjak! It’s just too early, Jjak!”

“You want to play hard to get a little.”

“I was told I shouldn’t seem too easy, Jjak!”

What on earth did they teach a bird?

Still, thanks to him, I smiled.

‘……Ares doesn’t have a real family.’

Not having a family at all.

Or having one but closing the door and rejecting it.

Both are sad.

At that moment, the door burst open.

“What are you doing?”

“Ixion!”

I jumped up and ran to Ixion, grabbing his hand.

“Family is good, right?”

“What’s with you all of a sudden……”

“Right, it’s good, isn’t it? Ixion is good too, right?”

Ixion stared down at me intently.

He averted his gaze and muttered, “Ugh, seriously. Why am I……,” but eventually nodded.

“……Y-Yeah, it’s good.”

“Ixion, your ears are red.”

“They’re not red!”

“Are you embarrassed? How cute.”

“You really!”

Ixion shouted, but he didn’t let go of my hand.

Hehe, teasing Ixion is so much fun.

“More than that, I heard you have a favorite bread.”

“……”

The corners of his lips, which had been raised high, immediately drooped.

“What is it? Everyone’s making a fuss about it.”

“……”

“No matter how much I ask, no one will tell me what kind of bread it is.”

Of course, they can’t tell me! Absolutely not!

“What is it, tell me.”

“Y-You don’t need to know.”

“What. Are you not telling only me?”

Ixion frowned.

He was making an angry and intimidating expression, but I know.

That’s actually a hurt expression.

‘Ugh…….’

Am I being punished for teasing Ixion?

“Ah……”

“Ah?”

“O-Opp…….”

“Opp?”

Ugh, forget it!

The first time is hard, not the second!

“Oppa!”

Huhuhu.

I was contemplating ending my second life just like this.

Bang!

A loud noise erupted, and a hole appeared in the wall of my room.

A huge hole that three people could pass through.

“Damn it! It’s so cute!”

“……”

Whoosh—.

A cold winter wind rushed into the room through the hole.

Should I really die?

Chapter 9. My Brother is Crying

Knock, knock.

A light knock on the door was heard.

I hid the novel I was reading, , between the cushions.

I was re-reading it after being summoned to Akitoos.

‘It was right at the climax.’

It was the scene where the male lead, the second male lead, the original female lead, the mastermind, the tower master, the father, the older brother, the younger sibling, the grandfather, the aunt, the uncle, and even the dog they were raising all started to regret it after the female lead ran away.

It’s thrilling even when reading it again! Heart-pounding!

Hiding my disappointment, I lifted my head, and a boy with dazzling beauty that made me forget even that disappointment was entering the room.

“Ares, you’re here?”

“Since I said I would cooperate. Temporarily, though.”

That’s right.

Today is the day I agreed to meet with Ares to expose the traitor.

I waited for Ares to sit on the sofa and then asked.

“So, who is the traitor who was in contact with Tarenka?”

Ares looked at me with a dumbfounded expression for a moment, then chuckled.

“I didn’t know my sister had such a desire to get things for free.”

Of course.

Who wouldn’t like getting something without lifting a finger?

“You must have already found out who the traitor is. So, it would be easy if you just told me, right?”

“You’re completely sure that I’ve already found out.”

“Ares, you’re smart, aren’t you?”

Ares smiled instead of answering. It was a beautiful smile with his slightly drooping eyes curving softly.

“I’m just a collaborator, after all.”

I knew it.

He already found out.

Well, I didn’t expect him to tell me right away if I asked, with a favorability of -444.

Seriously.

……Still, I was hoping just a tiny bit, gee.

“Okay, this is my job, so I have to do it myself.”

At that moment, Ares’s favorability changed.

[-439]

He escaped -444!

It only went up a little, but anyway, it was good to escape the death flag-like ‘die’.

“So, what are you planning to do, my sister?”

Ahem!

I put my hands on my hips and puffed out my stomach.

“If Ares just brings me one work log, then poof! Everything will be solved!”

A smile deepened on Ares’s face.

“That requires an explanation.”

It was a face that didn’t need any explanation at all.

Still, I started explaining one by one.

What Ares is curious about isn’t ‘why the work log is needed’ but ‘how I came to that conclusion’.

“In Paeraton, they entrusted me to Tarenka and sent a huge amount of alimony every quarter.”

It’s money I’ve never even seen.

“Was it really just sending money and that’s it? Absolutely not. Of course, they would have received reports on whether I was doing well and whether the alimony was being used properly.”

“Indeed.”

“But since Paeraton didn’t take any action, it must mean that Nicholas Tarenka created double books well. At least to the extent that they would think it was being used well for me just by looking at the documents.”

“In fact, the documents from Tarenka that came to Paeraton were perfect. They even randomly compared them with actual purchase details in case buying your things was a lie.”

Random comparison, huh.

He worked much more meticulously than I thought?

“But still, he wasn’t caught……”

“He probably recorded the money spent on his daughter as being spent on you. Both are girls and about the same age.”

Ares’s eyes narrowed with a dark light.

He leaned languidly, resting his chin on his hand and tilting his head.

“The father and that daughter dared to steal the things of the Paeraton princess without knowing their place.”

Ares was still smiling, but somehow, a menacing aura filled the air.

Worried that something might happen, I hurriedly continued the story.

“If the report was perfect, then those in charge aren’t traitors. I can exclude those related to that from the work logs I was going to request from Ares.”

“Then what do you want?”

“The flower of gratitude is an on-site inspection, right? Surely the inspector came to the Tarenka estate for an actual audit. Right?”

“Indeed.”

“……I see.”

An inspector was really dispatched.

Our family didn’t forget and kept watching over me. It’s just that their eyes were rotten.

A sense of relief washed over me, draining the strength from my body.

“What’s wrong?”

I peeked up at Ares’s question, and he continued.

“You were the one who reasoned that an on-site inspection would have been carried out, right?”

“Uh-huh, that’s right.”

“Then why are you reacting like that?”

Even though I thought they would have come for an on-site inspection, a faint doubt remained deep in my heart.

While I was at the Tarenka estate, I thought I had been completely abandoned.

It’s understandable if they don’t give alimony if they can’t afford it.

So just once, just once, please come and find me.

I’ll work hard as Uncle tells me to, and I’ll earn what I eat, so please just show your face once.

Please tell me my name.

You don’t have to take me back, just tell me that you haven’t forgotten me, that you haven’t abandoned me.

I prayed every night with both hands clasped together.

And at some point, I stopped even praying for that.

“I guess so. Why is this happening? I know well enough now that I haven’t been abandoned.”

“……Did that bastard spew such nonsense to you?”

“Huh?”

What bastard?

I looked at Ares in surprise, but he was still wearing an elegant smile.

“That you were abandoned.”

“……Yeah.”

Feeling a little ashamed, I nodded hesitantly.

“Lift your head, Ruatisha Paeraton.”

As I quietly lifted my head, Ares met my eyes.

“There is no one in this world who can abandon you.”

Ares’s red eyes were like a brand.

A brand that is stamped so that it cannot be denied.

“No one?”

“Yes, except for me.”

“……”

No, I was almost touched.

Why do you exclude yourself?

Usually, in this situation, you should say, ‘I will never abandon you,’ right?

“When I become the head of Paeraton, I might be able to abandon you.”

“……”

“But other than me, no one, no being can abandon you.”

I quietly stared at Ares.

His face was endlessly serious.

So, I realized.

“Ares, you really like me.”

Even though the favorability is still negative.

But still—.

“Ares has definitely started to love me.”

[-444]

The favorability dropped again, becoming -444, but I wasn’t discouraged.

“4 isn’t the ‘die’ but the ‘love’!”

“What?”

“Right?”

Ares couldn’t take his eyes off me as I smiled brightly.

The boy’s long eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Ares’s lips moved, but his voice was so small that I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Ares covered his face with one hand and lowered his head.

“Ares?”

“……Just continue with the story. That’s all we met for.”

It was a calm voice, but somehow, I felt a sharp edge.

He’s trying to push me away again.

It stings, my heart hurts.

But the reason he’s trying to push me away is definitely because I’m getting closer and closer to Ares’s heart.

That must be it.

I clenched my fist tightly and said in a bright voice.

“The inspector who came to the Tarenka estate must have known that my alimony was only adding more fat to my uncle’s belly!”

Of course, Nicholas Tarenka didn’t just embezzle the money.

“Not only that, but he must have also known that I wasn’t getting proper meals and was working all day long.”

“You weren’t getting proper meals?”

Ares raised his head sharply.

“That bastard starved you? Someone who eats as well as you?”

“No, I don’t eat that much…… Well, I did eat a lot, but still……”

I was embarrassed.

But babies need to eat a lot.

No matter what anyone says, I’m a four-year-old baby!

I quickly regained my confidence and continued.

“Uncle would have offered the inspector a deal. If he reported the audit results well, he would give him a portion of my alimony.”

A rebate [kickback or bribe].

A very clear collusion.

“I want to say, ‘Just for money……,’ but many things happen just for money.”

“Yeah. And Nicholas would have used his silver tongue.”

“……”

“That girl is not the Duke’s real daughter. Doesn’t she lack mana?”

“What?”

“It’s proof that the Duchess had an affair, so the Duke of Paeraton will hate that girl even more.”

It’s a word that can’t hurt me anymore.

Because I’m Daddy’s daughter.

My name is Ruatisha Paeraton.

I’m okay.

So, I can speak calmly, as if it’s nothing.

“Even if she is his real daughter, the Duke of Paeraton wouldn’t cherish a flawed daughter like that so much. The Paeratons originally lack family affection.”

Plausible words and the gold in front of his eyes.

That glittering light, the money that can be grabbed as soon as you reach out, would have sweetly paralyzed his reason.

Or maybe he was just thoughtless from the beginning.

“……I see now.”

Ares’s voice, which opened his mouth after a long silence, was strange.

A mechanical voice with no inflection.

“The reason you asked me if I hated you because you were a bastard [illegitimate child].”

The moment I lifted my head and faced Ares, I gasped.

His face had no warmth.