Chapter 15

Her words meant that she didn’t care about him at all, and she smiled widely, enjoying Raphael’s crumpled expression. For the past few weeks, she hadn’t even spoken to him unless she had to. But his suspicion towards her still remained.

Of course, Amelia had a reputation, but wasn’t this enough to acknowledge him? She wasn’t interested in Raphael Lloyd Siegfried. Naturally, she wasn’t immune to his face and physique. He had a good-looking appearance she had never seen before.

But that man was like a tempting treat. Just as a beautiful flower hides poison, Raphael is the same. The dangerous scent emanating from him made her become infatuated and forget everything else.

“Grand Duchess.”

“Yes, did you call me?”

He disliked his wife like that. Raphael would always refer to her as Grand Duchess. That was enough to drive the original Amelia crazy.

“What are you planning this time?”

“Me? I just want to spend money wisely.”

Even in response to her answer, Raphael said nothing and simply looked at her quietly. Every time that man looked at her like that, a cold sweat ran down her spine. Especially those eyes, it felt like they could see through everything.

“…Then see you tonight.”

He stared at her intently and then turned away without saying anything else. Although she didn’t like his reaction of staring at people and only speaking for himself, she couldn’t help it. See you tonight? Amelia felt a sense of anxiety about the statement, which could be misunderstood if someone overheard it. If May heard this conversation, it would cause a commotion.

“May…?”

“…….”

“Were you waiting?”

Just as the saying goes, even a tiger comes when called. May was standing behind her. She tried to keep her expression as casual as possible, but it was obvious that she was angry. Amelia knew the reason why May had been so kind to her lately. It was because she seemed uninterested in Raphael. There was a reason why May had been particularly harsh with Leonel.

May and Amelia didn’t get along. The two of them were rivals, fighting over one man.

“Your Highness! Why are you moving as you please?”

It would have been strange if they had gotten along.

“Do I need May’s permission to go wherever I want?”

“It’s not about that, but after you’ve said…”

“Do I have to wait for your permission?”

It was an unreasonable outburst. It might have worked on the previous Amelia, but not on her.

“Why does a wife need a reason to meet her husband?”

It was what May disliked the most. May always told Leonel that Amelia was no different from a lowly commoner. That’s right. She thought she could fill the spot next to Raphael. Even if Amelia was a viscount’s daughter, she was still a noble. It meant she was different from a common-born maid.

“You saw it too. His Grace welcoming my visits.”

***

She gracefully left the room, leaving the speechless May behind. It must have been quite a shock because she couldn’t see her face the next day either.

“See you tonight?”

What do you mean, see you tonight? The person who said that fell asleep without saying a word as soon as he entered the room. She didn’t say anything either. It was a bedroom filled with the usual silence.

“Why did he have to provoke May by saying unnecessary things?”

Did he do it on purpose? If it’s that person, he could easily do it. At this point, I guess I’m going to get a lot of hate from May.

“We’re going to leave, anyway, so what’s the point?”

No matter what happens, we will leave the ducal estate. That was an unchanging fact.

“Your Highness, may I come in?”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Edward. Your Highness.”

Edward came to visit after she finished her breakfast with Leonel and rested in her room. Honestly, she thought it would take a few days, so she didn’t expect him to come so quickly.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Edward was the only person in the Siegfried family who treated her with respect. It seemed like everyone disliked her, but Edward didn’t show it as much.

“As you mentioned yesterday, I brought a portion of this month’s budget in cash.”

“A portion?”

“Yes, bring it in.”

At first, Amelia frowned when he mentioned that it was just a portion, but she couldn’t close her mouth when she saw the appearance of the servant who came in next.

A pile of money.

The servant brought a money pouch filled with gold coins. No, could it even be called a pouch? Amelia blinked her eyes at the overflowing leather pouch that couldn’t fit on the table.

“How rich… “

Raphael Lloyd Siegfried, that man was seriously rich. Much more than she had imagined.

“I had arranged for you to use checks each time because I thought it would be difficult for you to handle cash.”

“T-That… yes…”

If this was only a portion, how much was the entire budget? Amelia’s mouth opened wide at the glittering gold coins in front of her.

“His Grace the Grand Duke has increased the budget, so from now on, you will receive 10,000 gold coins each month.”

“10,000 gold coins…?”

“You could buy a small castle in the provinces with that amount.”

Buy a castle? So, you’re saying that right now, I have enough money to buy a castle every month?

“…Should I just settle down.”

Where could she go to earn such a large sum of money. Her wish had always been to earn money while lying down and doing nothing. She finally fulfilled that wish, but she had to leave now.

“Yes? What did you say?”

“No, nothing.”

But her life was more precious than money. No matter how much she dreamed of being a wealthy, unemployed woman, she wasn’t foolish enough to bet her life on it.

“How much is this gold worth?”

“I don’t know how much you’ll need, so I brought 3,000 gold coins for now.”

If 10,000 gold coins are enough to buy a castle in the provinces, then 3,000 gold coins is also a considerable amount of money. Just how much did Raphael increase her budget? Even Amelia, who had been spending large sums of money on extravagances, was impressed.

“I’ll tell you if I don’t have enough money.”

“Yes, please feel free to tell me anytime.”

She pretended as if she lacked money, but she had no intention of using up the budget. From now on, she must not rely on Raphael, even a little bit. While initial funding might be necessary, she also needed to prepare money to give back to him if there were profits.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

“Sure, thank you.”

The problem was that she didn’t know how much Amelia had indulged in luxury all this time. Could it be that he wanted her to ask for all the money, even though she already had a lot? Just in case, she needed to accumulate as much wealth as possible.

“Even if I have money, there’s still a problem.”

All she knew was information that was at least a decade in the future. It was when the Third Prince began to make his move. Right now, Aaron, the protagonist, is the same age as Leonel. So she would have to snatch away the plans of a young child.

Because of her, Aaron might not become the Crown Prince.

“Considering what happened to Leonel, this is a small price to pay.”

She intended to find everything that Leonel would never get in the future. Hesitating due to guilt is something only fools do. Amelia poured a pile of gold coins into her largest bag.

Clink.

The endless stream of gold coins sparkled brilliantly. Just like that man, Raphael.

“I will use it very effectively.”

There’s a saying that even if you hate people, you shouldn’t hate money. She was a person born in a highly capitalist society.

“Can you prepare for a trip outside?”

“Are you going out?”

“Yes.”

She must have received a lot of money. There was no reason for her not to move anymore.

“Is the carriage ready?”

Ignoring the maids who followed behind in surprise, Amelia adjusted her bag. This bag was so precious that she couldn’t entrust it to anyone else.

“Y-Your Highness!”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to the city.”

“If you want to shop, I will call the merchants to the castle.”

No matter how many times she said it, they still didn’t understand. He must have clearly told them to let her do as she wished. She hoped that Raphael wasn’t a man who spoke with a forked tongue.

“I…”

Amelia almost snorted at the reaction of the maids, who couldn’t say no and followed her in tears. How long had it been since her last outing?

“Ma-Madam?”

“Take me to the city.”

“Yes…?”

“Don’t just stand there with your mouths wide open, go and do your jobs.”

While some would hold a lady’s hand every time she got on or off the carriage, she had to climb in by herself. Fortunately, she was wearing simple clothes instead of a fancy dress.

“Your Highness, I will hold your hand.”

“No, it’s not necessary. Besides, I don’t want anyone touching me.”

Still, the knights followed her, wondering if the Grand Duchess was given permission to go out alone. When one of the youngest knights plucked up the courage to offer to hold her hand, Amelia roughly waved her hand. The disgust towards her from the people in this household was so familiar that it made her head ache.

“Y-Your Highness…!”

“You’ve never really gone out before.”

“Really.”

She expected that Amelia hadn’t gone out much, but she never thought she hadn’t tried it even once.

“Where are you planning to go?”

“I need to do some shopping.”

Amelia responded gruffly to the maid’s nervous reaction, even though she had ridden in the carriage with her.