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Chapter 25
The reason Vanesha was so furious was simple.
The higher Lianel’s status rose, the more blatantly Vanesha’s own downfall showed.
If she could, Vanesha also wanted to wear a dress from Madame Sillon.
But she didn’t have the finances to match her ambition, so she wore a dress from a shop of a lower class.
‘This is all because of Lianel.’
Vanesha never saved money.
Every month she swallowed the large allowance the duke sent for Lianel’s living expenses, and with her hotel business doing well, she had plenty of money flowing in.
The problem began after Lianel pointed out her unpaid taxes. Somehow news spread, and customers completely stopped visiting Vanesha’s hotel.
On top of that, tax payment notices started arriving every single day.
“Aaaargh! Again, again?!”
Vanesha had no choice but to put her hotel up for sale. But no one wanted to buy a building that had suddenly lost all its customers.
So she had no choice but to turn to—
“Rupert, my love. Look at me.”
“….”
She decided to persuade the easiest person to manipulate to help her raise funds.
“You have a vacation house in the southern coastal district, don’t you? You hardly ever travel anyway, and you don’t even like the salty seaside air, right? So can’t you sell that place? I want a new dress.”
“No…”
Rupert, who would normally hand over the Altin Plains without hesitation, shook his head for once.
His usually hazy eyes held faint determination.
“That’s for Lianel… for your mother, and the—med—ic—”
Already pushed to the edge because of Lianel, Vanesha exploded.
“What does Lianel have anything to do with this?! I’m the one you love! You’re supposed to love only me!”
She tried giving Rupert more holy water and asked again, but his answer stayed the same.
“Sigh…”
If she didn’t want to show up looking shabby, she could simply skip the ball, but Vanesha had a reason she had to attend.
‘But father is coming to this ball.’
Since being kicked out of the ducal household, she hadn’t seen Duke Vincenheim. Vanesha had been waiting for a chance to approach him and somehow win his forgiveness.
But instead of the duke, she ended up facing Lianel first….
‘Good thing I didn’t bring Rupert, but this is still unbearable.’
“Who’s that supposed to be?”
Evan tilted his head when he saw his cousin frowning.
Unlike his father, the Minister of Finance, Evan wasn’t bright enough for civil service exams and had failed them multiple times.
He also preferred to play around and hated formal events, so this was the first time he had ever seen Lianel.
“You don’t know her? That’s Lianel.”
“That’s her?”
Vanesha grumbled as if speaking the name was distasteful, but Evan’s eyes widened.
From his father’s description, he’d expected a loud, brash, ill-tempered, unattractive woman.
‘…She’s pretty?’
Lianel wasn’t as glamorous as the women Evan usually met, but she caught the eye in a completely different way.
Her quietly shining black hair and pure white dress combined into a beauty marked by serene elegance.
“At that level, she’s not bad…”
“What?”
Vanesha’s eyes snapped up at the muttered remark, but Evan didn’t care.
“Actually, you two know each other, right? Perfect. Can’t you introduce me?”
“Her?!”
Vanesha was scandalized, but Evan was serious.
“Think about it. If I manage to win over the Vincenheim lady, that could help you too, right? The duke might let you back into the house.”
Vanesha almost refused, but then paused.
Not because she believed Evan could sway Lianel, but because of Evan’s defects.
No matter how hard his father, Royhem, tried to cover things up, Evan was a notorious philanderer.
He had a long record of violent behavior, even injuring former lovers who tried to break up with him.
He was the worst possible man to introduce to anyone.
‘But for Lianel, he might be perfect.’
A crooked smile spread across Vanesha’s lips.
And conveniently, Lianel’s partner, Director Asil, had stepped away.
Only small fry hovered around her.
‘Now’s the moment.’
Vanesha approached with Evan in tow.
“Newbie, today you really—”
“Do I look strange?”
“Strange? What? You look amazing! Why would you even ask that?”
“Oh, that was a compliment. Thank you for the positive feedback.”
“Hearing that weird way of talking really confirms it’s you. Reality sets in.”
“My speech is not weird. It contains no grammatical errors and no logical fallacies.”
“That! That’s exactly what’s weird! Normal people don’t think about that while talking!”
While the Special Tax Division was having their usual chaotic time—
“It’s been a while, Lianel.”
Vanesha opened fire.
The tax officers who didn’t know her looked between Lianel and Vanesha.
“Who is she…?”
“Lady Violen.”
Lianel simply stated the fact.
Vanesha, who’d feared Lianel might mock her, quietly sighed in relief.
‘Right, she’s not stupid enough to cause a scene here.’
But it wasn’t Lianel who humiliated her.
“Oh, the delinquent taxpayer?”
Vanesha’s face turned red.
“I—why am I a delinquent—?!”
“Because you have yet to make payment.”
Lianel replied flatly.
Her unwavering tone made her sound like a civil servant processing a case, which only made her words more credible.
“I—I can’t help it! A building that big doesn’t sell easily! And I don’t have that much cash!”
“Regardless of the reason, if you fail to pay taxes on time, you are a delinquent taxpayer.”
Vanesha heard the whispers around her.
“So she’s the one…”
“The unpaid taxes…”
“Seriously? Wearing a dress that expensive?”
Voices full of ridicule and scorn.
‘How dare these people humiliate me in public?!’
Vanesha glared at the Special Tax Division staff. Her face burned with shame.
She sincerely believed the Empire needed a law against factual defamation.
Ignoring her seething, Evan stepped forward.
“Just as I heard—your personality’s entertaining.”
Even seeing Vanesha mocked beside him, Evan didn’t care.
Why should he? He wasn’t the one being insulted.
Evan looked Lianel up and down.
Up close, her slender figure and refined features stood out even more.
‘Her personality’s a bit… unusual, but a sharp woman can be fun. There’s pleasure in taming someone like that.’
Thinking about all the benefits of getting close to Lianel, Evan stepped forward.
“It’s an honor to meet you face to face, my lady. I am Evan, eldest son of House Martis. Many say I resemble my father quite a bit—though I’m not sure how you would see it.”
“Lianel of House Vincenheim.”
Lianel introduced herself briefly and fell silent.
Evan found it odd.
Normally, people recognized that he was the finance minister’s son and reacted—either with awe or by trying to cozy up to him.
But Lianel didn’t react at all.
‘Does she not know who my father is?’
She worked in the Ministry of Finance—how could she not know?
He felt awkward bringing it up himself, so Evan scratched his neck.
“How do I appear to you, my lady?”
“I do not understand the intent behind your question.”
“I’m asking for an objective evaluation.”
Evan asked with subtle anticipation.
“You appear to be a man in his mid-thirties, 169 cm tall, with abdominal obesity and severe halitosis.”
Lianel answered with perfect objectivity.
“Not that kind of evaluation!”
Having his exact insecurities pointed out without mercy, Evan flushed bright red.
‘Her hell-mouth is working overtime again.’
‘And she only speaks the truth. That has to hurt even more.’
The Special Tax Division staff were deeply impressed.
