The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 18

Somehow, the path Alexis was guiding me through seemed familiar.

She boldly opened the door to the Winter Palace office and declared to Cassian, who had just returned after finishing his external duties.

“I’d like to borrow her, Prince Cassian.”

It was indeed an understandable display of the drive that earned her the title of ‘great calamity’ in the kingdom.

Cassian’s purple eyes, suddenly faced with an unexpected disaster, briefly looked at me.

I suddenly felt a chill.

It was a chill that somehow made me feel like he was about to give me another trial.

“…I wondered what you were saying, barging in so suddenly.”

Cassian sighed as he saw me being escorted, then reached out his hand.

“To think my lovely Rose would captivate someone other than me.”

He gently pulled me into his arms, ignoring Alexis’s presence, and whispered.

“What should I do to monopolize you?”

Aren’t you already monopolizing me enough through our contract?

Both professionally and even part of my private time…?

If anything, I think I have less of my own time.

As I looked at him with questioning eyes, Cassian whispered lowly.

“You’re thinking of something else again, Rose.”

He truly was a mind-reading boss.

I willingly decided to participate in Cassian’s act.

Just imagining the work that would pile up if I left this place even for a moment…!

I can’t let my precious private time be taken away any more.

And Cassian and I are supposed to be loving partners for now, after all.

Although no one seems to believe it….

Maybe if we keep pushing it, some people will eventually accept it.

“How can you say such a thing? Don’t you know I’ve already given everything to Your Highness?”

I answered as calmly as possible, recalling lines from romance novels I had read in my spare time.

“It’s just that there are too many people coveting you for me to know.”

Cassian kissed the back of my hand, then turned his head towards Alexis and spoke.

“Well, I can’t blame my Rose for this. How could it be your fault that Princess Alexis covets you?”

I was really glad that today’s last dessert was a refreshing grapefruit sorbet.

Otherwise, I might have felt a bit too sweet inside.

However, despite Cassian’s sickeningly sweet words, Alexis responded with a rather pleased expression.

“Since the Prince is so protective, I’m even more curious. But since she’s Your Highness’s fiancée, I won’t make the impolite request to have her for myself.”

Alexis straightened her back and opened her mouth.

“For the approximately one month that I’ll be staying in the Empire, I’d like to have your assistant by my side. Of course, this isn’t just out of simple curiosity.”

Alexis’s gaze sharpened.

“As the heir to the Kingdom of Anden, I want to get to know her for the future. What better way is there to know someone than to see the people they employ?”

Unlike her leisurely attitude in front of me earlier, Alexis proposed this with a very serious demeanor.

A glint of anticipation also flashed in Cassian’s purple eyes.

“That’s quite a bold statement you’re making.”

“Well, I’m not blind.”

Alexis responded lightly to Cassian’s words with a small laugh.

If the Empress had heard this conversation, she would have been furious about how Cassian was being valued higher than the First Prince.

I remained silent without adding any words, but I could guess what decision he would make.

“I suppose that applies to me as well, Princess Alexis.”

“Of course.”

As expected, he was quite a good superior.

To bring someone who could bear even a little of the hellfire on my behalf…!

Even as I thought this, I felt a strange feeling.

“I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow, Miss Saliche.”

Having achieved her goal, Alexis left the Winter Palace with a very refreshed expression.

And I,

“You’ll regret it, Your Highness. To lose such a capable assistant as myself.”

I grumbled these words to Cassian.

Even though I knew I would be able to spend about a month in a more relaxed work environment than now.

“Rose, you don’t know me well.”

What, at times like this, he should play along a bit…!

With that thought, I turned my head, and Cassian whispered, burying his head on my shoulder as if to lean on it.

“I’m already regretting it.”

My body stiffened at his low voice.

It probably doesn’t mean anything, right?

Nevertheless, somehow feeling sorry for him, I reached out and patted his shoulder.

Soon, a deep sigh escaped from him.

“…How will I handle all these tasks without you, Rose?”

At those sincere words, I patted his shoulder more vigorously with even more sympathy.

“Ugh, it hurts, Rose.”

It was truly a pat of encouragement.

*

“Hello, Miss Saliche.”

Alexis really came to pick me up as promised.

“…Good morning, Your Highness.”

Although the location wasn’t the Winter Palace office, but in front of my house.

It was truly an ill-fitting scene.

Despite being relatively close to the palace, the area was lined with small yet well-maintained townhouses.

‘The difference in splendor is too great.’

The carriage she brought happened to be the one used for the parade when they entered the palace.

As I looked at it with blurry eyes, Alexis burst into a hearty laugh.

“You don’t seem to like it much. I thought there would be some splendor in the means Cassian used to entice you.”

I raised my head at those words, and Alexis smiled, pulling up her firm lips.

Eventually, she took my hand, helped me board, and then started the carriage while opening her mouth.

“You look at me as if I only think about why Cassian chose you.”

I neither affirmed nor denied that statement.

Although I didn’t know Alexis very well as she wasn’t a major character in the original work, I somehow felt this was the best answer.

“I’m trying not to do that, even consciously. This position often narrows one’s vision quickly.”

Alexis shrugged, crossing her long legs.

“So, Miss Saliche, you don’t need to give me an answer either. Speculating is also part of my qualities.”

I gazed into her wine-colored eyes and then quietly lowered my gaze.

She’s clearly reminding me not to let my guard down, since she’s a foreigner after all.

This person is more impressive than I thought, and also….

“You’re kind, Your Highness.”

“Your character is also excellent. The Empire was full of people trying to misunderstand me.”

Alexis sighed briefly, ruffling her hair.

It seems it was also a test for me.

She probably wanted to see what kind of person I was, and maybe wanted to conduct a kind of job interview.

I relaxed my stiff shoulders and confidently said to her.

“Although it’s a short period, I’ve been appointed as Your Highness’s assistant. I’ll behave in a way that won’t cause you any trouble for such reasons.”

Hearing my words, Alexis’s lips curled up a bit more.

Her eyes gently creased and she spoke playfully.

“Don’t do too well. I don’t want to commit a diplomatic faux pas.”

I felt deeply relieved.

It meant she quite liked the brief attitude I had shown.

*

If the difficulty level of working with Cassian was hellfire, assisting Alexis was certainly at the level of the human realm.

‘To leave work on time for a whole week…! In this situation.’

She said she had received a handover from Cassian, but I wonder what she heard, as she even took two-hour lunch breaks.

Moreover, while other assistants ate in the staff cafeteria, I always had a full-course meal separately with her.

“We’re going to be family, aren’t we? Of course, it should be different.”

I thought I might have brief workplace colleagues here with other assistants, but that wasn’t the case.

Well….

Still, it wasn’t a bad work environment.

Everyone was professionally kind, and they weren’t the type to unnecessarily obstruct work, so…

Well, perhaps the most difficult part was that one of the noble lords who followed Alexis would grumble whenever they saw me?

Originally, nobles grumbling at me was almost a daily occurrence, so it didn’t really bother me much.

Anyway, contrary to my worries, work with Alexis was smooth.

While I worked here directly, I was able to handle tasks related to Cassian more quickly.

And, well….

Actually, I wasn’t even leaving work on time.

I was too concerned about this side.

6:15 PM.

As I quietly entered the Winter Palace office, Cassian slightly furrowed his brow, and Alexis’s assistant, who was suffering from overwork in my place, had an expression like he was about to cry.

“Oh, you’re here, Assistant Saliche…!”

He had a desperate look on his face, unable to put down his pen, or rather, still moving it as he spoke to me.

“Go ahead, Her Highness is looking for you.”

Meaning, you can go home now.

At those words, the assistant gratefully tidied up his documents neatly before standing up.

He must be someone Alexis sent with considerable care, as his work ability was excellent.

I sat down habitually, picking up my fountain pen while checking the day’s work summary left by the other assistant.

Then Cassian stood up and tapped my desk.

“…You seem to be really kind only to people other than me, Rose.”

“Aren’t I very kind to you, Your Highness?”

“I can’t say very.”

“It’s just normal, Your Highness.”

Actually, I passed on the first day. I wanted to enjoy the freedom of leaving work on time.

But when I did that, the assistant who jumped into this hell in my place looked anxious, and Cassian’s golden hair had rarely lost some of its luster…

So I couldn’t help but look in.