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Chapter 24
“Our Morgans family has its pride!”
Hobson, patriarchal and plagued by an inferiority complex about being a nouveau riche, flew into a rage.
“You won’t even dress her properly! Is that a beggar or a noble?”
“Well, dear…”
Sophia looked frightened by his shouting, yet also wronged.
She, too, must have realized in advance how shabby my dress was.
But having a new dress made in just five days was practically impossible.
All dresses were handcrafted in salons.
First the measurements, then fittings, then sewing…
No matter how rushed, it would take at least a month.
Borrowing Sophia’s clothes wasn’t an option either.
Nothing looks more pitiful than showing up in clothes so big they hang loose.
Of course, a woman who cherished her luxuries so obsessively would never have lent me her belongings anyway.
“No, I clearly told you not to have an outing dress made since you’re not supposed to go out—”
“How dare you talk back to your husband!”
Another day where nothing passes quietly in this villainous household.
I didn’t miss the chance and quickly added,
“Um, I’ll be visiting the Arrington estate quite often from now on.”
“What? How dare someone like you?”
“My goodness, is that really true?”
Hobson and Sophia’s reactions couldn’t have been more different.
Hobson looked delighted, while Sophia seemed ready to die of frustration.
“Yes. She even told me to come for lunch next weekend.”
“Oh, my heavens…! Lady Vanetta is of royal blood, isn’t she!”
Hobson’s complex stemmed from his commoner origins and the Morgans family’s lack of pedigree.
Of course he’d covet a connection to an old, prestigious house like Arrington.
And even though Lady Vanetta was resting for the time being, she had once ruled the social scene.
Earning her favor would surely prove useful someday.
“A dress! Can’t we have her wear a glamorous dress next week?”
“E-even if we pay extra and rush it now, it would take at least three weeks…”
“Tsk, tsk…”
After contributing plenty to my humiliation, Hobson now looked dissatisfied as if Sophia alone were to blame.
Then, finally, he bellowed,
“Then hand over one of your valuables!”
“W-what?”
Sophia’s face went pale.
He was telling her to give up the jewels she treasured like her own life.
And to the daughter-in-law she despised, no less.
Unable to endure it any longer, she shouted back at Hobson,
“Why should I give that to that girl?! This is too much!”
But that was her mistake.
“Are you talking back to your husband again?!”
Crash!
There it was—Hobson’s specialty: flipping the table.
Well, not the dining table, but the one in front of the sofa.
Crash!
The vase on top shattered, water splashing everywhere along with the roses.
The place turned into utter chaos.
“You always take it out on me…!”
“How dare you speak to your husband…!”
Watching the two of them shouting at each other in front of their daughter-in-law, I narrowed my eyes and quietly shook my head.
Maybe it’s because I visited the Arrington estate. The difference in class feels even starker.
Once again, I was reminded what a hopeless, dysfunctional mess the Morgans family was.
Fortunately, the fight ended quickly.
Sophia was the loser.
In the end, she had no choice but to whimper and bring out the box of valuables she cherished.
“Give her the most expensive one! What if the Morgans family loses face in front of royal blood?!”
Noble dignity doesn’t come from jewels—but it was such a nouveau riche way of thinking.
Instead of correcting his misguided notion, I clasped my hands neatly and exclaimed,
“Thank you, Father!”
Clink, clink.
It was a shining moment of second-life survival skills.
Facing Sophia, whose face was flushed red with barely contained rage, I smiled brightly, pretending to know nothing.
“I’ll wear this next weekend. You know—when I visit a family of royal blood!”
A week passed quickly, and the weekend arrived.
The reception room of the Rose Palace, where the Empress resided.
In the lavishly decorated space sat Taeyon on a sofa, with Andreas standing behind him.
Outside the window, the sky was dark, as if rain might pour down at any moment.
Andreas chatted away while glancing at the weather.
“Looks like it’ll rain again today. It did last weekend too—why does it always rain on weekends these days?”
“……”
“That’s terrible news for couples. Ah, though I suppose Your Grace wouldn’t know, since you’ve never been on a date.”
“……”
No reply came from Taeyon.
Usually taciturn, he seemed even more sullen today.
It wasn’t because of the weather.
He wasn’t delicate enough to be affected by something like that.
Knowing the real reason, Andreas dropped the jokes and let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh… Her Majesty suddenly summoned us on a weekend and then makes us wait an entire hour.”
Summoned abruptly by the Empress, they had been waiting in this empty reception room for a full hour.
One of the things Taeyon hated most in the world was wasted time.
That was why his mood was so low.
“She probably knows Your Grace sides with His Highness the Crown Prince and is trying to assert discipline—”
“Watch your words.”
Taeyon cut him off, speaking for the first time.
“Remember, the imperial palace has many eyes and ears.”
“And yet you’re wearing anti-eavesdropping magic tools for exactly that reason.”
Andreas replied smoothly.
In their pockets were extremely sophisticated magical devices that disrupted sound waves and prevented recording.
Their price was beyond imagination.
“…When you enter a raccoon’s den, that much preparation is necessary.”
Taeyon, usually expressionless, revealed a flicker of emotion.
Just then—
“Her Majesty the Empress enters!”
With the solemn announcement of a chamberlain, the doors finally opened.
Taeyon rose slowly from his seat.
“I’m sorry, Grand Duke. I was handling something urgent and ended up being a bit late.”
The Empress smiled beautifully as the hem of her ornate dress rustled.
Carlotta, the Empress from a foreign land, was a strikingly beautiful woman.
Silver hair like melted silver, and a pure impression despite her age.
But Taeyon knew what lay beneath that exterior.
“…It’s quite all right.”
A brief reply.
Polite, yet somewhat stiff for someone addressing the Empress.
But he was the head of House Roderick and the master of the Roderick Trading Company.
Even before the Empress, there was no reason for him to bow his head.
Moreover, as a cousin of the current Crown Prince, his position in the line of succession was higher than that of the Empress, who hailed from the Duchy of Benetia.
Well aware of this, the Empress lifted a glass teapot with a perfectly composed smile.
“Today, I prepared coffee instead of tea. Is that acceptable?”
Pour.
She poured the coffee into a white cup.
Taeyon accepted it without hesitation, took a sip, and swallowed.
Watching him closely, the Empress smiled brightly.
“You aren’t afraid of the tea I serve, Grand Duke.”
Coming from a foreign land, she was famous not only for her beauty but also for her exceptional skill as an alchemist.
There were even rumors that she could brew not just poisons or medicines, but drugs capable of controlling the human mind.
Under such circumstances, being served a coffee with such a strong aroma and color would make most people tremble in fear.
No one knew what might be in it.
“Well, if something were to happen to me after a private audience with Your Majesty, people would surely grow suspicious.”
Taeyon replied calmly.
“I should be more wary when I’m alone in my own reception room.”
With that, he elegantly drained his coffee.
Despite his towering, muscular build, he carried himself with the grace of a white crane.
Seeing this, Empress Carlotta narrowed her eyes.
As if she found him desirable.
No wonder my Seirian is so impatient over him.
Hiding her covetous gaze, the Empress smiled radiantly.
“How is the coffee, Grand Duke?”
“It’s very fragrant.”
“Thank you. I’ll have some strongly brewed coffee prepared in a magical thermos for you to take on your way back.”
“That’s quite unnecessary.”
It was a polite way of saying, Why go out of your way when I didn’t ask?
At that response, the Empress lifted the corner of her red-tinted lips.
“I heard you’re preparing to start a coffee business. I thought it might help.”
So the news had already reached the Empress.
Taeyon didn’t bother asking how she knew.
“Yes.”
He simply answered.
“As you know, my homeland—the Duchy of Benetia—is a major coffee power.”
Unfazed by his curt manner, the Empress continued.
“Coffee isn’t just about importing beans. The people of the southern continent are quite closed off and keep their brewing methods strictly secret.”
Only after laying out this lengthy preface did she finally get to the point.
“Though I’m terribly busy with state affairs, my daughter may be able to assist Your Grace.”
