Raising my Fiancè with Money - Chapter 44

Richard and Stella

TL: Jasmine

“Oh, right. It’s a present.”

Lilia held out a small paper bag in her hand.

“What?”

“Check it out for yourself.”

Heinley, who received the paper bag, pulled out a box. When he untied the ribbon and opened the lid, there was a pen with navy feathers on a silver stick.

“I bought it because I thought of you while passing by. Of course, you’re probably using something more expensive and better than this, but I think it suits you…..”

As she talked, the explanation got longer and longer. Heinley said, covering the lid of the box,

“Expensive doesn’t mean it’s great.”

Perhaps because he felt that his tone was blunt, Heinley closed his lips tightly. Soon after he coughed, out, he rubbed the lid of the box with his finger.

“I had to buy a new one……. I’ll use it well.”

Lilia watched him carefully put in the flag point pen. Heinley, who even tied the ribbon perfectly, spoke in a softer voice.

“If you haven’t had dinner yet, let’s eat together.”

Lilia nodded.

My brother and I, who felt far away, seemed to have gotten a little closer.

-End of Chapter 6

Chapter 7

A few days ago, Richard went to the noble meeting as usual. With his appearance, attention was focused, and countless people surrounded Richard and flattered him.

Richard enjoyed the meeting as if he were the main character. While laughing and talking, he heard unpleasant words.

– Did you see the tabloid?

(T/N: sorry I forgot to add this note in the last chapter where this word was used, tabloid means a newspaper having pages half the size of those of the average broadsheet, typically popular in style and dominated by sensational stories.)

– I saw it. I heard they’re breaking off their engagement.

– Did the Young Lord Tersian do something wrong? The Bloden Young lady is nice.

Richard was concerned about those who were whispering about him. Then there were people who secretly stabbed him.

(T/N: not literal stab but provoke kind of thing)

– I don’t see the Young lady Bloden these days…..

He pretended to be worried about what’s going on and tried to ask if the rumor was true. Richard responded skillfully after fixing his expression

– She said she wanted to spend time preparing for the upcoming wedding.

– I see. I was worried because of the rumors.

– I saw the tabloid too. After all, it doesn’t do well to deal with gossip articles and scandals.

He said he was going to sue, and Richard made excuses and bluffs.

And today Richard attended a dinner. It was an event held irregularly by high-ranking aristocrats to build friendship. Before entering the dinner hall, Duchess Evantheon called him,

– I heard that Young Lady Bloden is breaking up with you.

It was the first time someone asked openly. The opponent was the Duchess, but Richard expressed his unpleasant feelings.

– It’s a false rumour. I didn’t know that the noble Duchess would believe such rumors.

– Is that so? I heard it from her.

At the moment, Richard couldn’t say anything. Then she tilted her head and whispered softly like the wind,

– I hope you can wrap it up soon.

Richard clenched his fists under the subtle pressure to break the engagement. He didn’t know Lilia would go so far as approaching the Duchess of Evantheon.

Richard, who returned home after dinner, took off his coat. His patience had reached its limit and he could no longer stay waiting and trusting only his father.

Still, there was no response from Lilia’s side. All the letters sent were ignored, and even if he tried to meet her, he failed repeatedly. At this rate, it was really only a matter of time.

He wished he could figure out a weakness of Karhan Evanteon. He paid quite a bit of money for information, but the trail went cold because it was so veiled.

Nervous, Richard went back and forth from the room. After hanging around for a long time, he stopped.

“Stella Delotta….”

It was a name that suddenly came to mind. There was nothing that involved her, but he had heard the news through someone else.

He heard that Stella was on her way to form a relationship with Karhan Evantheon. However, considering the Duchess’ attitude this time, it was highly likely that the engagement talks had already been broken.

“She is definitely not the type to stay still either.”

He met her several times at the banquet, so he roughly knew what she was like. She was a woman of great ambition. He suddenly remembered the people who were gossiping that Stella was already pretending to be the duchess.

Richard smiled as if he had a good idea. With a moderately plausible proposal, Richard thought he should dig up Karhan’s weaknesses through her.

The employees bowed their heads with their backs attached to the wall. Broken glass was rolling at her feet, but no one was able to move and clean it. Lina, who serves Stella closest, was far away.

Stella, who messed up the room, breathed heavily. No matter what she did, her anger did not go away. This morning, the Duchess of Evantheon visited the Delotta mansion. Stella was very excited because it was the first time the Duchess came first.

When she finally met the Duchess with anticipation, she quietly wondered if she was trying to set an engagement date. However, what came back was a story that hit like a bolt out of the blue.

– I want us to act as though the engagement talks had never happened.

– W, What was that……?

Stella asked back because she thought she heard it wrong. The Duchess wedged very calmly,

– I found someone that suits my family.

At the end of her words, Stella recalled Lilia.

– No way….is it Lilia Bloden?

The Duchess replaced her answer with silence. Stella cried and hung on, saying she couldn’t accept it. However, the Duchess looked at Stella with cold eyes, The Duchess, who welcomed her affectionately, was nowhere to be found.

-I’ll tell Count Delotta separately. Well, I have to go now

The Duchess stood up mercilessly after finishing only what she had to say. Stella was going crazy at the unilateral notification.

What are these circumstances?

It’s already been months since the engagement talks first began. Everyone believed that she would be the fiance of the Young Duke of Evantheon. However, she changed her attitude overnight as if a switch was flipped. The Duchess who went back home was not the one who used to cherish her.

Stella, who had been sitting down for a long time since she returned, burst into anger.

“How can I……!!”

There were a lot of cracks in her voice as it rose up to a chirping sound. She threw things and shouted, but her resentment did not go away.

She wanted to visit the Duchy right away and argue with Karhan.

Why is it Lilia Bloden?

What’s better about that girl than me?

However, the string of reason, which remained thin, held Stella in place.

Even if she stepped up emotionally now, she will only be humiliated. It wasn’t even an engagement, so there was nothing to say about the breakup. It was difficult to protest properly because her status was lower than their side.

“How can I show my face around now…..”

Everyone would laugh at her or sympathize with her. It was clear that those who were jealous would not miss the timing and talk. Stella huffled and wrapped her face in both hands.

The fact that she was pushed out by Lilia Bloden again was more terrible than anything else.

I lost my last chance to beat her up.

Then someone knocked on the door. She heard a voice from outside.

“…Lady, Richard Tersian is here.”

Stella paused at a familiar name. She slowly lowered her palms that was covering her face. Her head, which was full of anger, began to spin slowly.

“Why is Richard Tersian……?”

Richard was Lilia’s fiance, and there has been no interaction between them so far. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t think of a reason for visiting her.

Stella tried to tell Richard to go back. At that time, the employee added a word,

“He said that he would like to ask for private discussion regarding issues related to the engagement.”

Stella paused for a moment.

“Matter of the engagement issue……”

Did he happen to know something? Nervous, Stella bit her lips. It would be better to hear what he came to talk about.

“Let him in.”

Stella immediately left the room and fixed her makeup. Stella, who even changed her clothes, headed to the drawing room. As she entered, she could see Richard sitting down. At the moment their eyes met, Richard raised himself.

“I’m sorry I came out of the blue.”

Contrary to those words, he didn’t look sorry at all. Stella looked at him with a sign of discomfort. She was curious about the reason why he came to her, but it wasn’t nice to come so suddenly unannounced. Stella asked, lightly scanning Richard up and down,

“So why did you come to see me?”

“Let’s sit down and talk.”

Stella’s forehead wrinkled as she frowned at his attitude that seemed like he was making himself at home. She was just thinking about sending him back, but Richard said again,

“Isn’t your engagement with the Young Duke Evantheon canceled?”

Stella looked at him with her eyes wide open.

I haven’t told anyone yet. / was even notified by the Duchess today……

Richard gestured at the empty chair telling her to sit down. When she reluctantly sat down, he continued

“I’m in a situation where I’ve been unilaterally notified of the breakup, so I know how the Young Lady is feeling.”

Stella was interested in the story of his breakup. It was because Lilia mentioned it herself the last time she visited Bloden’s mansion.

“To begin with, I’m trying to separate those two.”

Stella opened her eyes wide. Richard spoke quickly, lowering his voice a little,

“Since Lilia and Evantheon have just started dating, there is a lot of room to dig between them.”

“Are you saying you want them to break up?”

“That’s right, and then everything will be back to normal. The Young Lady will be able to get engaged safely to the Young duke.”

“……. What do you want?”

Richard grinned as it was good to communicate well.

“Please cooperate a little bit. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Stella was lost in thought for a moment. It was unclear whether Richard’s plan would succeed.

However, she was at loss. It was better to do something than stay still. If things went well, she would take revenge on Lilia and connect with the Evantheon family again. Just in case, she could also cut off Richard pretending to know nothing.

Stella, who made the decision, raised her chin and asked him.

“So what do I have to do?”

T/N: Hello readers! I will be using “Young Duke” instead of the title “Little Duke” for Karhan Evantheon!