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Chapter 34
Only now did Bazel seem to realize he was being mocked, and his face stiffened.
“So, you’re just another vain person?”
His eyes, visible between his brown hair, glinted sharply.
“Women should always be modest and avoid luxury.”
Crack. His fist clenched so tightly it made a noise. Then suddenly, Bazel laughed.
Angry one moment, laughing the next.
Is he insane?
“It’s okay. I’ll fix you. You’re just momentarily bewitched. You weren’t like this before.”
“Was I? I don’t remember.”
“You weren’t. You were the kind of woman who’d be happy if I picked a roadside flower for your birthday. Yeah, you’re definitely under some kind of spell.”
He stepped toward me, reaching out his hand.
“I’ll keep you on the right path, Ermia.”
As Bazel reached out to grab me—
Slap!
I immediately slapped his cheek.
And again!
SMAACK!
What a satisfying sound and even more satisfying impact!
Bazel’s head snapped to the side, and all the chatter around us abruptly stopped.
“Oh my.”
All that remained was the hushed gasp of the shocked onlookers.
“Sir Bazel.”
I raised my voice. My words echoed powerfully in the now-silent shop.
“Don’t blame others for your lack of ability.”
Smirk. I laughed, making sure he heard, then looked at Bazel with pity.
“How pathetic.”
“……!”
Blood vessels popped in Bazel’s eyes, his pride shattered.
“You came here to buy that as a gift?”
I looked at the spot where Bazel had been sitting. A ribbon of similar price to the one he picked for me was wrapped and sitting there.
If it wasn’t for himself, then it must’ve been for some new woman.
Trying to win her over by buying the most expensive thing he could afford, probably.
“Who’d feel good receiving a gift like that anyway?”
“You think you deserve even that much?”
He ground his teeth.
“You shabby, pitiful thing?”
“Yep.”
I grinned and raised my voice.
“Your Grace! No—Tezer!”
I turned to look at Grand Duke Leandro, who was calmly sipping tea and watching me.
“I want this shop.”
I smiled brightly. I couldn’t help but smile.
“You said the basis for a purchase was whether I liked it or not, right?”
His tightly closed lips curved into a faint smile.
As if saying this moment was too amusing to resist.
“I like this shop!”
With a very cheerful tone.
“Buy it for me.”
“Of course.”
He agreed easily, as though he’d been waiting.
“You there.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The senior clerk who had shown us around earlier came running in a panic.
“Bring me Baine. I know he’s always here at this time.”
“But…”
The clerk hesitated. Understandable, given the chaos.
“Bring him.”
“Yes, right away!”
At the Grand Duke’s command, the clerk immediately ran off.
I watched the clerk disappear before turning to Bazel, who was still staring blankly between me and the Grand Duke.
“See?”
I whispered to Bazel.
“A man far greater and more exceptional than you loves me.”
“You’ll be abandoned.”
Bazel spoke like a curse, grinding his teeth.
“Someone like him—how long do you think he’ll love you? Soon, just like me, he’ll get bored and then…!”
“Miss Ermia.”
Before I noticed, the Grand Duke had approached and gently took my hand, as if shielding me from behind.
“How much longer will you waste time listening to the likes of him?”
He whispered low enough for Bazel to hear, but still gently.
“If you have time for him, give it to me instead.”
You could practically see Bazel’s soul leaving his body in real time.
“Of course. Let’s go, Tezer.”
I turned to leave with him, then stopped for a moment and glanced back at Bazel.
“Oh, there’s something you didn’t know.”
I flashed a smile.
“This was my choice.”
It might’ve been a bit of a bluff, but not completely untrue.
I was the one who approached Grand Duke Leandro. It wasn’t just him reaching out to me—I reached out to him, too.
So, our relationship was fairly mutual.
“Stop worrying about me and take a look at yourself instead.”
“What?”
“You look ridiculous.”
I tilted my head slightly and glanced around.
“Everyone’s watching you, you know? Oh my, I bet it’s quite the show.”
“……”
“Playing around with your fiancée’s younger sister, then crawling back to your ex-fiancée and getting rejected? That’s what they’re seeing.”
Finally, Bazel seemed to realize how he looked. His face turned bright red.
“You’ll see! Just you wait!”
Wow, what a classic villain exit line.
I watched as Bazel ignored everyone and bolted toward the door, waving at his back.
Let’s never meet again, okay—!
I collapsed into my seat.
“That was so satisfying! Thank you for going along with it, Your Grace. I really wanted to teach that jerk a lesson.”
“I’m glad you feel better. Also, here.”
Grand Duke Leandro handed me a sheet of paper.
Hm? What’s this?
Is this the document he was looking at in the carriage earlier?
As I lifted the paper to check, I froze.
“It’s the ownership certificate for this shop.”
“……”
“I bought this one for now, but if you give me a little time, I’ll purchase the entire Eddie brand for you.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as I stared at the certificate.
I… I can’t refund this, can I?
*
I was exhausted.
I collapsed on the sofa.
Completely drained.
So drained that even though the sun had risen the next morning, I still hadn’t recovered.
Was shopping always this tiring?
‘Of course not.’
Yesterday’s shopping had just been especially draining.
‘I just wanted to buy a velour dress and a few small things…’
After all that shopping, all I had were two sheets of paper.
I reached over and picked them up from the table.
One was the certificate of ownership for Eddie’s main store. The other—
‘Why is he giving me more money?!’
It was a bank deposit slip.
Didn’t I already get one?
No!
The first one from Grand Duke Leandro was still tucked away safely in a drawer.
This was a new one. He’d handed it to me after we left Eddie and went somewhere briefly.
“You didn’t end up buying everything you needed. Consider it in place of the dress.”
“W-What? But you bought me an entire shop! Isn’t that more than enough?”
“That was a store, not an item.”
He shook his head firmly, looking at me with cold eyes.
“You should hurry and spend that money. Otherwise, I’ll just give you more deposit slips.”
“Just… just one question. Why are you giving me all this money?”
“Well.”
The corners of Leandro’s lips lifted.
“Because, Miss Tekins, I’m sure you’ll give me scenes far more entertaining than the money is worth.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…”
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
Am I your toy? Why are you getting amusement out of me?
And what’s with threatening to give me more money if I don’t spend it?
Seriously, I never imagined being threatened in this way. Truly…
‘The scariest thing is he might actually give me unlimited money.’
Another tear rolled down my cheek.
