The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 7

“Oh my, oh my. It’s not that precious.”

The Empress seemed pleased with my answer, looking even more virtuous and sympathetic.

“I heard that the Saliche territory is struggling a lot. Is that why you’re working in the capital at such a young age, away from your parents?”

“…Yes.”

I pretended to be very embarrassed.

Usually, noble young ladies wanted to hide their poverty, and most wouldn’t even consider working outside like this unless it was an honorary position.

At this, the Empress made her ladies-in-waiting step back a bit further, as though she’s being considerate of me.

“I’ve been too inconsiderate, Miss Saliche. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I really wanted to care for you as an elder of the imperial family…”

The Empress said this while taking my hand.

Her skin was smooth from being well-maintained, and unlike mine, her fingers were straight without any bumps.

“You understand my feelings, don’t you, Miss Saliche?”

“…Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

I deliberately didn’t add any flowery words.

Although I was pretending to be not so smart, I thought the Empress would half-realize it was an act, given the work I had done with Cassian.

The Empress silently looked at me for a moment, then patted my hand.

“It’s too pitiful.”

I quietly bowed my head.

For some reason, what Cassian had said in the evening echoed in my ears.

“Surely the Baron and Baroness Saliche would want to be with you. Even I feel like my heart would be torn if I thought about our Prince being far away…”

That’s why she always dumped all the difficult, dangerous, and unpleasant tasks on Cassian whenever the First Prince had to go out.

“As a parent myself, I feel so sorry for Miss Saliche. I’m not usually one to say such things, but…”

The Empress placed her hand on my shoulder as if telling me to raise my head.

I looked up at the Empress with eyes that had become slightly warm from trying hard to think sad thoughts while keeping my head down.

I could sense satisfaction in her eyes.

“I’d like to help the Saliche territory a bit.”

“…Yes?”

I deliberately let out a voice half-mixed with air, as if I hadn’t expected this at all.

“You must have heard many unpleasant things since coming to the capital, and Prince Cassian is thorough with work, so it must have been tough.”

The Empress let out a deep sigh.

“Prince Cassian hasn’t learned how to be considerate of ladies, Miss Saliche should understand. He’s been so busy because of His Majesty’s orders.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, no. You can be honest in front of me.”

The Empress’s hand on my shoulder patted slowly.

“I’ll help you so that you can be with your parents.”

It was a very sweet, tempting voice.

“Did you enjoy standing me up, Rose?”

Cassian greeted me with a smile when I returned from the Empress’s palace.

“Thanks to you, I had to be a wallflower all alone.”

“Surely there were many young ladies hoping you’d ask them to dance?”

“I’m quite devoted to one person.”

While in reality, he just hates the hassle.

Unlike the First Prince who had widespread rumors of his affairs with all sorts of noble young ladies, Cassian was really clean in that aspect.

He was famous for never dancing at balls even before I came to the capital.

So I thought today would be the same, but he casually danced the first dance with me.

“So, do you need a bonus for overtime?”

Cassian held out his hand to me.

I hesitated for a moment before nodding and taking his hand.

I wanted to erase the taste that had been so sweet it made my tongue curl, even though she said she had reduced the sugar.

*

I cut a large piece of the tender roasted beef and put it in my mouth.

The fragrant aroma of well-grilled asparagus and the deep, rich wine followed, washing my mouth.

Even until I had eaten half of the steak, Cassian silently drank only wine and didn’t rush me.

Instead.

“I was thinking I wouldn’t blame you even if you fell for the temptation, Rose.”

He did say something that slightly hurt my pride.

What do you take me for!

“That’s too much, Your Highness. To think you saw me as such an easy person.”

I’m only easy for money I earn fair and square!

At my tone, which was no different from usual, Cassian stretched out his arm.

The sound of him arbitrarily clinking his glass against mine rang out.

“That’s too much. You’re a very difficult person, Rose.”

You seem to know too well how to move me though.

I put down the utensils that had been moving aggressively and began to report to Cassian.

“It seemed that Her Majesty the Empress wanted to remove me from Your Highness’s side. She said she would pay off all the debts of the territory if I just informed her in advance of what Your Highness would be doing for the next three months.”

It would have been better if she had asked me to find Your Highness’s weakness.

Just aiming to remove me, it somehow felt more unsettling and irritating.

“Don’t be so upset, Rose. It means the Empress isn’t a fool.”

“…Pardon?”

“After you came, His Majesty has been passing more work to me.”

I thought about that for a moment.

It was true that there was a big difference in the workload between when I first started working with Cassian and now.

“The Empress has been trying not to assign me a proper assistant.”

“But the First Prince has five assistants.”

“Yes, all chosen from sons of families known to be smart in the capital.”

Cassian smiled sinisterly.

“Yet she didn’t do anything about you.”

Of course. I’m a noble young lady from a territory stuck in a corner of the empire.

Besides, since I have no experience, there was no need to be wary.

“But that was outside the Empress’s calculations. She didn’t think you would do the work this well, even working overtime.”

For some reason, I thought I heard Cassian mutter, ‘Though I wasn’t like that.’

“Since you came, a lot of important work that used to go to the First Prince has decreased.”

Cassian moistened his throat lightly with wine before speaking again.

“His Majesty the Emperor is a bit narrow-minded, but he’s not a dull monarch.”

I see, I agreed inwardly.

If I said it out loud, I’d be guilty of insulting the imperial family.

“So the Empress wants to get rid of you. If the amount of work I handle decreases, she can save face for the First Prince while putting me down.”

Cassian shrugged his shoulders, then asked me again.

“So why did you refuse that offer, Rose?”

With a face that seemed confident I wouldn’t have accepted it.

So, among various reasons, I deliberately mentioned the strangest one.

“Because she said she would give me the second son of the Irenol viscounty, who is rumored to be ill-tempered and ugly, as a husband.”

Viscountess Irenol, who was the Empress’s lady-in-waiting, made a face as if she was losing out.

That kind of trash was unacceptable to me.

But Cassian, whom I thought would surely burst into laughter as if teasing me at my words.

“…They dared to suggest such a thing to you.”

For some reason, he had chillingly deep eyes.

*

On a quiet night after the imperial ball had ended and most of the guests had returned.

Cassian provided a carriage to take me home.

Whether he had read my mind or because he had prepared high-proof wine, I was a bit hazy.

Still, I tried to somehow keep my heavy eyelids open, thinking I was in front of my superior.

“It’s okay, Rose. Go ahead and sleep. I won’t cut your precious allowance for something like that.”

Because Cassian said such sweet words.

Even though it was just a short 10-minute carriage ride, I fell asleep.

Perhaps because it was a night when so many unusual things happened, I had a strange dream.

A dream where the voice of a very young Cassian seemed to whisper in my ear so vividly.

‘You are still the only one for me.’

What kind of nonsense dream is this.

There’s no reason for young Cassian to say such things to me.

The moment I thought that, I woke up with a start, wondering if I had actually been dreaming in the original world.

Cassian smiled slightly as he saw me open my eyes suddenly.

“It seems the wine I specially gave you has gone to waste?”

I hoped it was somewhat real.

I felt rather relieved at that playful and familiar voice, making me feel ridiculous.

*