historical

Chapter 27

It was very difficult to respond.

“Goodness.”

When Rosetta replied in this way, her tone tinged with a hint of regret, Blanca clenched a fist in the air, then hid her hand once more.

“Well, that’s enough about that. We didn’t even love each other in the first place.”

Considering the way she spoke about her dead husband, she spoke in a very unfriendly manner.

However, it was impossible to judge how their relationship was because of how affectionately she touched the ring earlier.

“Anyway, what you were about to mention earlier, Princess.. I’m curious about that. My, well you even hastily made a grand proposal.”

As she had conducted herself calmly before, a polite voice spoke to Rosetta.

There was still curiosity there, but that was it.

If she wanted to stop negotiating, she wouldn’t have asked again.

For a moment, Rosetta glanced at Blanca’s hand for some reason, then she opened her lips to speak as she eyed Blanca’s veil.

“Madam Blanca. I hope you say only the truth. Do you know who this man is?”

At the serious question, Blanca thought about it for a moment.

“Only by chance. I already knew his face, so I recognized him at a glance.”

“Alright, then it’ll be easier for me to explain.”

Rosetta paused, then spoke again.

“I’m going to make this man a Duke.”

“Oh my.”

“So, I need your help on this. That is my request.”

Blanca was speechless, but she was covering her lips gleefully.

“You’ll drive the other son out.. and make the eldest son the Duke?”

Blanca spoke to herself as though I couldn’t hear.

Then, as she leaned back on her chair, Rosetta felt the other woman’s reluctance.

“For one request.. There’ll be a lot to do.”

She was a quick-witted merchant.

She would definitely be at a loss if she took on a request as big as this.

If she were to list down the requests that Rosetta had made..

A magic tool to change one’s appearance and an investigation on someone—these were both requests needed to make Cassion a Duke.

“Right. Of course, I’ll compensate you for everything.”

Fortunately, there was no shortage of financial resources.

Although she was an illegitimate child, Rosetta was treated like a ducal princess just like Alicia, except for the fact that her family was uncomfortable around her.

Clothing, food, housing, pocket money, anything else.

And what kind of allowance did a princess have in a wealthy Duchy such as theirs?

There wasn’t even any need to go to a safe to get the money needed. Jewelry boxes filled her dresser drawers.

She could even buy a few houses in the capital with those.

“Even if I look like this, I have some money.”

“..So you say, but you already look like you have a lot of money.”

With a disbelieving tone, Blanca gestured towards Rosetta.

“If you understand, then that’s fine. Anyway, as you know, I’ll need a lot of help to make that man a Duke.”

Rosetta paused.

If there was a teacup in front of her, she would have taken a sip. Then, she shifted her gaze towards the sleeping Cassion.

Even without looking at him, she knew that he would have a calm expression.

Rosetta was doing so much right now, but for whom was it for?

Of course, ‘Alicia’ was the fundamental reason.

She averted her eyes once more, recalling Alicia’s bright smile.

Then, as she looked at the woman wearing a veil, she opened her lips.

“Under the request to ‘make that man a Duke’, I would like to put together a list of smaller requests. To be honest, I’m just doing it this way because it would be annoying to request them one by one. I might need to contact you for a request in the future, and it would be tiring for me to come back here every time. And, the necessary requests I’ll ask of you at that time.. I think you know what to expect.”

“In short, to make him a Duke, you want to borrow ‘me’ myself, is that it?”

“If you put it that way, then it would be like I’m tying you down. How about this—why don’t we work together towards one goal? I just want your helping hand. I don’t care if you continue taking requests from other people.”

The veil moved subtly.

Judging by how her shoulders were shaking, it was a silent laugh.

Then, she straightened her previously lax posture. She slowly turned towards Cassion.

“First, you have to tell me who that person is.”

“You’ve already figured out who he is.”

“If you don’t tell me directly, it’s in my code to continue to pretend not to know.”

It was a code she abided by because she valued clients’ secrets.

“Cassion Carter, the heir to the Carter family who can’t wield magic.”

“Aha.”

It was a soulless exclamation.

Staring at Cassion for a while, Blanca sat up straight.

“The price will be expensive. Will you still ask me to do it?”

“Can I pay the down payment first, then give you the rest later?”

“Why? You said you have more money than I think.”

“I have it, of course, but I don’t think it’s to the degree of abundance that you think. If you succeed later..”

Rosetta raised a finger and pointed towards Cassion.

“You can take more money from him, you know.”

Then, Rosetta cut through the air with the same finger, then pulled it back.

Blanca had no response.

Perhaps the way Rosetta looked as she leisurely sat was suspicious.

Silence filled the room.

Other than the sound of breathing from time to time, there was absolutely no sound.

How long did it stay that way? Soon, the sound of a surface being hit rang across the air.

In the same way that a sudden light in the midst of darkness would be blinking, the sound emitted during this prolonged silence was far too loud.

And the sound came from Blanca’s hand.

Her hand, which was on the glass table, tapped on the surface in a gradually increasing tempo.

Rosetta looked towards the veiled face, wondering if this was Blanca’s way of expressing her rejection, but Blanca leaned back on her seat just then.

“Ahahaha!”

And a burst of loud, boisterous laughter echoed in the air.

It was such a sudden outburst that Rosetta had to wonder where it was coming from.

Just as Blanca had tapped the table for a long time, she gradually stopped laughing only when her throat grew weary of her unruly peal of laughter.

“Huu.”

It seemed to be quite difficult for her to regain her breath. She kept saying, ‘Ha.. p.. pfft..’ while covering her face with a hand.

Only after she stopped laughing that the situation was placed back in order.

“Ah.. Ha. I apologize deeply.”

With her hands still on her sides, she spoke in a breathless voice.

It was a long time before those words spilled out of her lips, and she sounded all the more amused.

“It’s alright. If you laugh, fortune will come to you. You’ll be more blessed.”

“Oh, I think what you promised is already here. I feel like I’ll be living every day in laughter from now on. How long has it been since I felt this way?”

As Blanca said this, she tapped on her chair’s armrest in a calm manner.

Ta, da, da, da, dak.

The sound of her five fingers tapping on the armrest was rhythmic.

“So, did you find an answer after you’ve laughed?”

“..First of all, it’s true that it’s unconventional and unimaginable. At the same time, it’s unprecedented yet plausible. So.. I wonder how it would be possible to do this.”

A merchant’s tongue was very heavy.

With one final tap, a strange tension hovered in the air.

“What do you think?”

When asked briefly, Blanca leaned forward.

She was so close that Rosetta thought that she might be able to see her features through the veil.

“Then first, I’ll treat this as a couple of requests from a regular customer. Collaboration—we’ll decide that later.”

Rosetta didn’t know if she saw it wrong or not, but she thought she might have seen red lips drawing a line beneath the veil.

“This feels like a test,” Rosetta said.

“Not at all. You don’t like this arrangement?”

“Did I say that? I’m pretty good at taking exams, you know.”

“Ah, more than you look again.”

Blanca chuckled, then she spoke in a hush once more.

“Then let me know if you have another request. Your goal is ambitious, so let’s leave it at that for now.”

“No. I’ll leave after seeing your face.”

“Oh? So you have another request.”

Rosetta just shrugged at Blanca’s unenthused exclamation.

Even she knew that it was a lot for a request.

“This man needs a new status. And that person I mentioned before, the one I asked you to investigate.”

“Yes, that person is already under observation by our competent staff.”

There was one person that came to Rosetta’s mind when Blanca mentioned ‘competent staff’.

In the novel, the man who stood by her was entirely loyal and dedicated.

‘Was it Logan?’

She couldn’t remember the name well, but maybe it sounded similar.

In any case, even if she couldn’t remember the name, Rosetta knew that the employee Blanca mentioned was someone reliable.

Rosetta nodded and continued speaking.

“Anyway, Cassion and that person. They both need fake titles. Definitely enough for them to get jobs at my family’s estate.”

“In short, you’re asking me to make new identities for them so that they can enter your family’s estate, correct?”

“Can you do it?”

Instead of answering, Blanca showed the back of her right hand.

Then, she flapped her ring finger.

She fluttered her finger in the air as though it was a butterfly’s wing.

“I’ll take you up on your offer of diamonds. Fortunately, my ring finger on my right hand is empty.”

Meaning, it was an obvious acceptance.

* * *

It felt like a storm had passed by and left.

Her body drooped against the chair’s backrest, but as she remembered the fact that she forgot to check Cassion’s condition, she rose from her seat.

She was overcome with drowsiness.

She couldn’t sleep well for a few nights, so this was inevitable.

After coming to this world, she always somehow lacked sleep.

‘Ah, it’s the same in that place as well, this lack of sleep.’

Because of her chaotic surroundings, she only now recalled the memories she almost forgot.

It was like a silent reminder, a hushed scolding of ‘how dare you forget yourself’.

After pressing down on her throbbing head, she sat down by the bed where Cassion was laying.

“I want to lie down and sleep, too.”

She was so tired that she started talking to herself, and at this, she laughed.

‘Ah, first aid kit.’

Now that she thought about it, she forgot to ask Blanca to prepare a first aid kit.

‘Should I call again?’

She did, and the staff came to give her a first aid kit.

Oh, she felt terribly lazy just thinking about it.

As she looked over to the clock, it was already 2:05 AM.

She laid back on the bed as though she had also collapsed herself.

Even when Cassion was already laying on the bed, there was still a lot of space left for a second person to lay down there.

Her heavy eyelids blinked.

So many things happened today.

She used her strength which wasn’t stable yet, and she could already feel the effects that had on her weak body.

Her senses gradually welcomed the abyss.

‘I can’t do this though..’

She had dug through her distant memories and even did CPR.

Wasn’t it so unfair though that the man she barely saved would get hurt again and get in trouble?

And her blinking eyes barely settled down.

She might have dozed off for a while because the clock’s second hand was now at 15 minutes.

‘I need to pull myself together. Just treat him. Then I’ll sleep, too.’

She propped her arm on the bed and raised her tired body.

But as soon as she rose, something slipped down.

It was a blanket.

‘Did I sleep under the blanket?’

No way. She fell asleep without realizing it, so it wasn’t possible that she slept under one.

As she looked at the blanket in confusion, she slowly turned her head and looked at Cassion.

Though he looked unusually stiff, his eyes were closed peacefully.