The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 20

“You should be grateful, I could immediately report this to Her Highness Princess Alexis–”

“The one who should be grateful is you.”

I cut off his words and stepped closer, whispering.

“His Highness Cassian and I prevented a diplomatic dispute for you.”

“W-What…?”

“Don’t play dumb, we have evidence.”

I looked at him with a villainous smile.

His simple face turned pale.

There are many types of persuasion.

Exploiting weaknesses is also a very legitimate and clean method.

“…How cowardly!”

“I don’t agree with that statement either.”

Come on, it’s a very reasonable method.

People like him always say things like that when they have nothing else to say.

“Isn’t being cowardly better than causing harm to your own country?”

You made a deal with the Empress to become a concubine, didn’t you?

I spoke to him even more professionally.

To ensure he couldn’t find any openings in me.

“Let me return your words to you, be grateful. I’m giving you advance notice of what I’m about to report to Her Highness Alexis.”

Lord Gache’s lips pressed tightly together.

Then his face turned from white to blue, and he soon declared his defeat.

“…Ah, no! Please, don’t let Her Highness know, at least not her!”

*

“It wasn’t a bluff.”

After the negotiation with Lord Gache concluded, Her Highness Alexis revealed herself from wherever she had been hiding, startling me.

“Hmm, even your reactions are impeccable.”

“…You heard everything, didn’t you?”

At her playful remark, I merely shrugged my shoulders slightly and turned around as naturally as possible.

“Yes, as expected, you deceive your opponent without batting an eye. You truly are the sole assistant of His Highness the Second Prince.”

Why does it feel like I’m being insulted even though I’m being praised?

If it had been in front of Cassian, I would have expressed my displeasure with my eyes, but the situation was different this time, so I quietly lowered my gaze.

I couldn’t cause a diplomatic incident.

With the matter of Lord Gache, I had smoothly negotiated with Her Highness Alexis.

It was unfortunate for him, but from the moment I realized what was happening, I never intended to exclude Her Highness Alexis.

If it were about exploiting our country’s nobles, it might be different, but if I got caught trying to manipulate a foreign noble, things would only become more complicated.

“So next, is it the turn of the one who is to become my new mother?”

Alexis leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, looking at me leisurely.

Her wine-colored eyes showed a subtle depth.

There was a peculiar familiarity in her gaze, as if she was urging me to fully satisfy her curiosity.

‘It’s just like….’

It was eerily similar to when Cassian discovered a new prey, or rather, a corrupt noble.

Thanks to that, the slight tension I felt calmed down.

“Yes, Your Highness. It’s always more entertaining when the protagonist reveals at least a bit of their hair.”

The bait was none other than Lord Gache.

Alexis lifted the corners of her mouth in satisfaction.

“The weakness of the one to become my new mother and the weakness of the presumptuous Gache family.”

With the face of a predator before its prey, she spoke.

“I’ll make sure the return gift is equally satisfying.”

*

The night air was chilly.

Lord Gache stood at the outskirts of the capital in a deserted temple, his face filled with fear.

It was a place even the priests only visited when they were to be punished for their sins, so its desolate appearance was eerie.

Tick-tock, the sound of the clock that the woman with the angelic face and demonic whispers had given him echoed unusually loudly.

Lord Gache took a deep breath.

‘I must handle today’s matter well so I can escape from that demon-like woman.’

She was so particular, insisting he mustn’t make any mistakes, and had him memorize three contingency plans for different scenarios.

Even up to an hour before coming here today, Lord Gache had to sit upright in a chair and answer the test questions posed by Roselita.

Each time he got one wrong, the green eyes that should have felt warm turned so cold.

‘Prince Cassian must be insane. To take such a woman as his fiancée!’

As he repeatedly took deep breaths to vent his frustration inwardly, he heard the sound of someone elegantly stepping through the grass.

“Calling me to such a place, how very cultured of you.”

Even though a long veil was draped to cover her face, her gait, tone, and distinctive posture clearly indicated her high status.

Lord Gache recalled the lines he had rehearsed with Roselita countless times and slowly opened his mouth.

“I apologize, but it was such an urgent matter that I had no choice.”

“Couldn’t you have sent a message through a subordinate?”

“…Regrettably, there is no one I can trust. Your Highness, the Empress.”

He deliberately emphasized the words ‘Your Highness, the Empress.’

At that moment, the Empress’s gaze shifted to the faintly moving grass.

Seeing this, Lord Gache hurriedly continued speaking.

“And Your Highness!”

Even though her face was covered by a veil, he could feel the Empress’s displeasure at the raised volume of his voice.

Facing her attitude that seemed to criticize him for being careless, he continued to speak, though feeling wronged.

“…Our meeting… and what Your Highness ordered me to do has been exposed to Her Highness, Alexis.”

“So? Is there any evidence that I ordered you?”

But the Empress maintained a relaxed attitude.

As the mother of the Third Prince, most would believe her if she claimed she never gave such orders.

Most nobles knew that the Empress was distressed after her son was chosen as the groom for the national marriage.

Even though Lord Gache anticipated her attitude from what he heard from Roselita, he couldn’t hide his inner turmoil.

‘I must be truly blind!’

With the power of the Gache family and his own beauty, he could have aimed for the position of Her Highness Alexis’s concubine.

This was why he needed to secure evidence that the Empress had harmed the daughter of a noble from her country, as Roselita suggested, to hold it as leverage.

That way, they could silence each other, and he could somehow negotiate with that vicious assistant.

He secretly activated the magic recording device Roselita had given him in advance and began to speak.

“I told you, I have no one to trust. One of my servants threatens to tell Her Highness Alexis everything he witnessed. He…”

Lord Gache couldn’t hide his trembling heart and took a deep breath.

“He even knows that Your Highness ordered the kidnapping of Assistant Saliche and that I met with Your Highness!”

Lord Gache slowly gathered his hand that operated the recording device.

It was soaked with cold sweat, making him feel uncomfortable.

“He claims to have recorded our conversation. As it stands, Your Highness will not be able to escape either.”

After his words ended, silence filled the space.

There was a sound of the Empress grinding her teeth, followed by a sigh and a chilling voice.

“So, what do you want from me?”

“I will not fail a second time. I will handle Assistant Saliche cleanly as Your Highness ordered.”

“Hmm, and then?”

“Please deal with the servant.”

“Ha!”

The Empress let out a short, sarcastic laugh.

“You can’t handle a mere subordinate and now you want to borrow my hand for this trivial matter?”

“I’ve already failed once. Can you trust me to handle everything if I take responsibility?”

Lord Gache paid attention to his tone.

That crazy woman had emphasized countless times not to seem stupid at this part.

“…Very well, at least you didn’t ruin everything by trying to handle it alone.”

The Empress’s hand clenched and unclenched several times.

“Fine. Making a subordinate disappear without a trace is not difficult for me.”

She approached Lord Gache slightly.

“Remember that you owe me for this.”

As if issuing a threat, Lord Gache barely met her gaze and spoke firmly.

“No, Your Highness owes me. Isn’t this something that could have gone completely awry without being disclosed? I am giving you a chance.”

“…….”

The Empress glared at him in disbelief.

Even though her eyes were veiled, he felt as if her golden eyes would pierce through him.

‘Crazy, she really made me say such things!’

She was indeed a crazy woman.

Lord Gache cursed Roselita inwardly while trying to calm his trembling body.

Just endure now, just endure now!

“So don’t forget, Your Highness, in exchange…. for me dealing with the trash…! And your promise to give me the position of Her Highness Alexis’s concubine!!”

His voice rose, thinking it was the last part.

Now, he had essentially finished all the lines Roselita instructed him to say, and he only needed to hear a positive response from the Empress.

Roselita had said she would handle everything afterward once he handed over the recording device….

Several seconds, which felt like a thousand years, passed.

The Empress broke the silence and slowly opened her mouth.

“Yes, I will keep my promise.”

It was all over.

Lord Gache repeatedly told himself not to collapse until the Empress left.

But at that moment.

“…What, what do you mean by that! Mother!!”

From the grass that had rustled earlier, instead of the evil assistant with brown hair….

“To me, who should be enjoying a sweet newlywed life!! You want me to accept a consort?!”

The Third Prince, who had striking black hair with a hint of red and resembled the Empress with his extraordinary beauty, appeared.

And he was arm-in-arm with Alexis.

‘…Why is the Third Prince here?!’

That woman, her nickname was Demon!