🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 06
I was caught with a bruise on my wrist during the evening dinner.
Tara muttered in a low voice.
“Evelyn. What happened to that wrist?”
I tried to hide it with a bracelet, but as expected, I couldn’t fool Tara’s eyes. Judging by her expression, it looked like she was ready to take on not only Ulysses but even the Emperor himself.
Of course, that would be treason.
Before my life could meet an early end, I hurriedly waved my hand.
“Don’t worry about it. I already got an apology in a different way.”
“How can I not worry!”
A thunderous shout erupted from Tara. I flinched without realizing it, and she quickly regained her usual composure after realizing her mistake.
“…I’ll call a healer immediately.”
“…Yes.”
Looking at my family’s faces, I felt a bit guilty. I am the precious jewel of this household, yet I came back with an injury on my own.
Not that it was an injury I wanted, though.
I sincerely hope Ulysses became a eunuch in exchange for my wrist. I finished dinner feeling as if I were sitting on a bed of nails.
And the next day.
As expected, a letter arrived from the Imperial Palace—but unfortunately, it wasn’t what I wanted.
I crumpled the letter and threw it on the floor, then stomped on it with my heel.
“So the princess forgot me? Are you kidding me?”
Your Majesty, I gave up my wrist on the condition that you keep that bastard from doing anything reckless.
As expected of the Emperor. He simply ignores the desperate pleas of ordinary people. Of course, the one I was truly furious at wasn’t the Emperor—it was Ulysses.
“Unbelievable? You were the one who told me to stay away, so I said I didn’t like you either. Now you say you can’t believe it, you bastard?”
Evelyn had been humiliated in front of everyone. No normal person would like someone who humiliated them.
Well, Evelyn wasn’t exactly normal either—but still, it was early in the original story, so those traits probably hadn’t fully surfaced yet. Quite the confidence.
He really thinks he’s some kind of homme fatale.
And that guy who said those things after getting kicked at the center—he was just as bad.
I had planned to go out today to rescue my fake fiancé anyway, but it seemed I needed to hurry even more.
The Emperor had favored Evelyn all this time, thinking of her as a future Crown Princess. But the moment my lies were exposed, I was screwed.
Getting beheaded was one thing—but the relationship with the Emperor was the real problem.
Even if things with Ulysses were ruined, I still had to maintain a good relationship with the Emperor. For that, I needed to turn my lies into truth.
I needed money.
As I said before, Evelyn had no personal assets. Of course, the items in the dressing room counted as assets, but they were meaningless unless converted into cash.
And I couldn’t ask my parents.
Everything that had been delivered to my dressing room over the past three days had been bought with their money.
That meant there was only one remaining source.
“Asil.”
I went to Asil’s room. He greeted me with a flower-like smile, so much like Henry’s.
“Evelyn! What brings you here? Is your wrist okay?”
Asil exaggerated his concern for my wrist. I held it up to show it was fine. Thanks to the healer yesterday, the bruise had completely disappeared.
Asil looked relieved. I took the chance to get to the point.
“Give me allowance.”
“How much?”
Even after my sudden request, Asil kept smiling brightly. I thought for a moment and held up five fingers.
Asil asked cheerfully.
“500 gold?”
…For reference, 500 gold was equivalent to 50 billion won. No matter how much he adored his sister, giving away that much money was insane.
I barely suppressed my shock and corrected him.
“No, 50 gold.”
“Will 50 gold be enough?”
“How would I even know what I’ll spend it on?” Asil asked with a worried expression. His face somehow made me feel guilty, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.
Without thinking, I added:
“Then just 50 more gold.”
“Will 100 gold be enough?”
“…Then another 50?”
“Will 150 gold be enough?”
“…?”
“200 gold?”
“…”
“300?”
At this rate, it was going back to 500 again. I stopped him seriously.
“Stop. That’s enough.”
“I don’t think it’s enough…”
Asil still looked worried. How much money did he have to casually raise the amount every time his sister asked for allowance, like an auction?
At this point, I needed to check whether his liver and gallbladder were still properly attached.
He was really the opposite of that bastard Kim Geum-soo.
That bastard didn’t give me allowance—he demanded it from me. And he never even bought me fried chicken.
I sighed and stopped Asil.
“200 gold is enough.”
I was only going to use it for the initial contract payment anyway.
“Are you sure that’s enough?”
Asil still looked pitiful, brows furrowed. That made me uneasy too.
“…Yeah. Is it really enough?”
The fake fiancé I was planning to buy today was Raphael—the secondary male lead of the original story and the ruler of the underworld.
I knew this. I knew I was not just interfering with the story, but actively twisting it.
But no matter how I thought about it, there was no one more suitable than Raphael.
Luckily, he hadn’t yet fallen for Dahlia.
The reason Raphael ran the underworld wasn’t money. He created it out of necessity, but it just happened to suit him, so he kept it going.
Ugh. Thinking about it again, it really did sound insane.
Still, the thought of succeeding in this made me feel reassured. A madman is best countered by another madman. Raphael could completely neutralize Ulysses.
Just then, someone entered Asil’s office.
“Asil, I need to talk to you—Evelyn?”
It was Douglas. He stared wide-eyed at the money pouch in my hand.
Ah, here comes the nonsense again.
He was definitely going to complain about me extorting allowance.
“Do you need money?”
But strangely, his reaction was different. Douglas looked unusually serious.
What’s going on?
I narrowed my eyes at him. Douglas rummaged through his pocket and pulled something out.
“What is that?”
A key.
No explanation needed.
“Take whatever you need from my vault.”
“What?”
“If that’s not enough, tell me. I have hidden funds.”
…Was he serious?
He used to mock me as a freeloader, and now he was offering me money?
Before I could react, I was practically pushed out. He said he had something to discuss with Asil.
“…Has he lost his mind?”
I almost checked if Douglas still had his sanity intact.
I didn’t know why they were suddenly handing me money, but I had it now.
And I didn’t have time to hesitate.
I ended up taking an additional 300 gold using Douglas’s vault key.
A modest mansion in the capital. A clean, restrained office.
An aide knocked and entered.
“Boss, a guest has arrived.”
“A guest?”
At those words, Raphael’s smile vanished instantly.
“Boss, not even Master—but Boss?”
He removed his monocle.
“Why is the head of Pagrasium being sought at the Marquis’ residence?”
He was mildly irritated. No one was supposed to know he was the leader of the underworld organization Pagrasium—so how?
The aide swallowed nervously.
“They didn’t say much, but… they brought a heavy money pouch.”
At the mention of gold, Raphael raised an eyebrow.
“Who is it?”
“Princess Evelyn Pravice.”
That surprised him slightly.
Evelyn Pravice.
A woman who had been obsessively in love with the Crown Prince. And the woman who had been publicly humiliated at a royal banquet.
So she had been holed up for a while—and now she suddenly came to Pagrasium?
Raphael became interested.
“Where did you place her?”
“The innermost reception room in the main building.”
“I hope that place doesn’t offend the Princess, who grew up in such luxury.”
The Celestian Marquis residence was modest. That made sense—it wasn’t Raphael’s main residence.
The aide replied,
“She seemed fine on the surface.”
“Then guide me there.”
A faint smile returned to Raphael’s lips.
Lately, everything had been dull. But now, something interesting seemed to be starting.
He loosened his tied hair. The wind from the open window scattered his mint-colored strands.
“I don’t know how she found out, but we must treat our guest properly.”
Adjusting his tie, Raphael narrowed his eyes with amusement.
