The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 74

‘Yuri isn’t herself right now.’

Where could she be?

Could you be the one sending me those messages?

‘I was half-certain, actually…’

But how do you know me? I didn’t realize you could send messages into the void like that.

To confidently declare you’re my future husband. Really?

‘I’ll find out everything when I meet Yuri. I’ll definitely go find you.’

Solving things one step at a time.

“Then, shall we head out now?”

Once you’ve made a plan, you have to commit to it.

And you had to address what was in front of you, today, this very moment, to move forward.

My first step was none other than emptying my bank account.

* * *

I never imagined that the money I’d scammed from the Emperor by tricking him into buying Luxoria, and my cut of it, would be used like this.

“I’ll buy all the gold dresses in this store!”

“As expected of the Dribryane family!”

The employees lined up and bowed deeply at my spirited announcement.

I then looked at the store manager and repeated the words I had already said for the eighth time. Now I could rattle it off like a machine gun without even taking a breath.

“The payment can be billed to the family bank under my name. I’ll write you a check.”

“Yes, of course. How would you like the delivery? Since it’s banquet season, many are staying at the Imperial Palace. Shall we deliver it there?”

“Yes. Within today. And enclose a card saying that I hope they wear this dress ‘tomorrow’.”

“Understood!”

That should roughly cover the numbers.

As soon as Ian and I arrived in the city, we checked every clothing store on the street for gold dresses.

Gold, a glamorous yet elegant color, was a staple for balls, so most stores carried them, but they were by no means cheap.

Since the unit price of gold-colored fabric was high, the dresses made from it were naturally more expensive than other colors. Therefore, there wasn’t much demand, so each clothing store had less than ten dresses.

‘Thanks to that, I had to run all over the place until my feet were blistered!’

If I were to summon this many store managers to the Imperial Palace, rumors would spread immediately. And then it would be pointless.

It had to be done without Celine knowing.

“Next was the fan store, right?”

“Yes, Ian…”

“If you’re too tired, shall we rest for a while?”

“No. The fan store should still have a lot of fans. Any color is fine for those.”

The reason I bought dresses of the same color earlier was to send them not only to the Dribryane faction but also to the neutral faction’s noble ladies.

Since a trusted maid could handle the fitting, one day was enough time to tailor the gifted dress to their body shape.

Everyone will be able to wear a gold dress tomorrow evening.

Then what about the fans?

‘This is for winning over the children.’

Children, by nature, hate being called children!

I was planning to buy pure white and pretty adult fans and give them all to the girls.

This doesn’t matter even if they are from the Empress faction.

What’s so difficult about giving them an extra cake?

‘Except for those who follow the Roibaium family.’

The girls who received gifts from me wouldn’t be able to be very hostile toward me. There might be Empress faction families so upright that they return the gifts, but most would accept if the condition of wanting to be ‘friends’ was attached.

‘Gold is no longer your color.’

The color that used to make only Celine shine will now signify ‘belonging’ to Dribryane.

I’m looking forward to how ridiculous it will be when she wears the gold dress, which she must have put so much effort into preparing.

‘Let’s see how far we can go until my bank balance is empty.’

After all, you need money to fight a war of nerves.

* * *

“Ah, so refreshing!”

Soon, Ian and I sat on a bench in the square, each holding an ice cream cone.

Ian seemed shocked that I was holding a cone instead of a cup, and even licking it while walking around instead of in a store, but he eventually gave in when I pestered him.

‘Even though I’ve completely become Florin, the real me still surfaces from time to time.’

It was my dream to hold and eat an ice cream cone, and it was so nice to do it with Ian like this.

“The other kids looked really bored yesterday. Everyone must be bored today too.”

“Ah. I guess so. Because there’s nothing to do.”

“Right. There’s a limit to how much you can eat.”

Before I knew it, the whole sky was ablaze with the sunset.

As I blankly admired the breeze that swept across my face and the colorful sunset, I listened to the sound of a group of children chattering.

“Acrobats are here!”

“Let’s go quickly!”

Acrobats? That’s right, it’s like someone with a skill that I need right now.

Just in time, the ice cream was dripping down and soaking the cone, so I quickly stuffed the cookie part into my mouth. Then I roughly washed my hands at the water fountain and called Ian.

“Let’s go too!”

“You were looking for acrobats earlier, right?”

“Yeah. Think about it. The kids who came to the banquet are all bored. But what if a fun performance suddenly unfolds when they’re so bored?”

“Ah, their attention will be drawn there. Florin, you’re a genius. So that’s why you asked.”

“That’s right. No matter how much they try not to look, they’ll keep glancing over, right? Kids originally like to laugh.”

It wasn’t difficult to find the place where the acrobats were. There were swarms of children gathered, looking forward to it so much.

“Ahem! Listen, people. Long ago! A true king was here… He ruled the people with benevolence and wisdom!”

The tightrope acrobat wearing white clothes was a very ordinary-looking person. So ordinary that if you passed by him, you would forget him.

But it was amazing that such a person was moving freely on the rope with fans in both hands.

The rope that crossed the square from one tree to another looked very sturdy, but that doesn’t mean it’s the ground.

“Ian, can you do that too?”

“Huh? Yeah. But I’m not as skilled as that person.”

“Is that person very good? How would you rate him? Out of 10 points!”

“Then 10 points. I’m about 3 points.”

“Wow.”

If that’s the rating, he’s a tightrope master.

In fact, he deserves 10 points; the master was now juggling not fans but daggers. And at the same time, he’s breathing fire…?

The children clapped and wiggled their hips, saying they were having fun.

‘Yes, that’s the person. I have to take that person to the Imperial Palace banquet.’

No one can be invited to the Imperial Palace easily, and commoners can’t enter at all, so how?

‘Forget it, push through with power.’

Ah, I feel like I’m starting to resemble Father more and more… It’s just my imagination, right?

Afterwards, when the performance was over, I ran to the master.

The master was diligently stuffing the tools used in the acrobatics into an old bag, and then straightened up when he felt a presence.

“Hmm? What brings you kids who look like they have money to me?”

“Wow, the master has an accurate eye!”

“It looks like you’re about to make a proposal that smells like money?”

Does he have mind-reading abilities? Or has he experienced this a lot?

If it’s the latter, it was very good for me.

I didn’t hesitate and made a proposal right away.

“I’m Florin Dribryane. I would like to ask you to perform at the Imperial Palace. I’ll match the conditions that suit a great artist as much as possible.”

“Hmph, I don’t want to.”

The master rejected me flatly in 1 second. But I wasn’t surprised because I had already considered that he might refuse.

You see, I’m not the kind of kid who trembles and shouts, ‘Do you know how important my family is!’

‘The better the skills of a true master or artisan, the less they care about noble families or the imperial family and the more they assert their pride.’

So I didn’t hesitate and immediately continued.

“There are children dying of boredom in the Imperial Palace too. Noble children are still children. I want you to give them laughter.”

“That’s a bit… tempting.”

“Just perform once tomorrow night. The entry procedures won’t be a hassle. After all, I’ll make you appear with a teleport, ta-da!”

Did he start doing this because he likes seeing children laugh?

I don’t know, but if so, there was enough room for this to succeed.

It seems like he would listen if I just swallowed my pride as a noble once.

“I’m asking you.”

What’s so difficult about that.

I’m not a Roibaium, I’m a Dribryane!

To get what I want, I can kneel if necessary. Whether I bow my head, bend my waist, or kneel, that couldn’t tarnish my pride.

Rather, it was worse if I couldn’t perfectly do what I wanted to do because of that damn pride.