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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Rima's Confidence
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Pelsone instructed the man to stay put until she secured a building for his shop.
The man bowed obsequiously and withdrew.
The moment he was gone, Pelsone wiped the smile from her face and removed her mask.
But just then, clouds drifted over the sun, casting a dark shadow across her features once more.
...It won't be long before he starts blabbing everywhere.
She'd chosen him precisely because he was that kind of guy.
Pelsone left the alley and headed to the meeting spot.
She entered a private room on the second floor of a trendy dessert shop in the imperial capital lately and greeted the person waiting there.
"Hewwo."
Rima, munching on strawberry cake, welcomed her with a childish lisp.
Adorned with flashy accessories shaping her hair into bunny ears, dressed in an expensive frock, and sparkling in enamel shoes, Rima looked every bit the noble young lady.
The girl pointed to the empty seat across from her with a bright smile.
"You're the real deal, Lady Rima."
Pelsone sat down, clicking her tongue in admiration.
"Just as you predicted, Lubeo's president turned down the proposal."
"Hmph. What a shame. I was offering her such a huuuge opportunity..."
Rima nibbled her fork with her front teeth, feigning regret.
Pelsone recalled what Rima had said earlier.
Lubeo's merchant guild leader, huh.
Of course, Lubeo had started as a merchant guild.
But no one in the empire called Seletrina Dayamor "merchant guild leader" anymore.
Yet Rima had never once referred to her as president. Just "merchant guild leader." Nothing more.
"Hmm, so where should we set up the shop...?"
"I have a recommendation. There's a spot for rent on the first floor of the building right across from Lubeo Department Store. The rent's a bit steep, but the location is perfect."
"Oh yeah? Right in front of Lubeo Department Store means they'll have to watch our shop thrive with their own eyes."
Pelsone discussed future plans with Rima a bit longer, then stood first.
"Shall I send the follow-up report in writing?"
"Nooo!"
Rima shook her head vigorously. Her pink twin tails, tied high like bunny ears, slapped against her cheeks.
"Daddy might misunderstand."
"Daddy?"
"Oh, I mean, he'd get the wrong idea!"
Rima hurriedly corrected herself.
Fortunately, Pelsone didn't press further.
"Haha, looks like the duke treats you like a daughter."
"Y-Yeah, something like that!"
After Pelsone left the room...
Left alone, Rima started finishing the half-eaten cake.
Hmm, kinda sick of it now?
Plus, the whipped cream had dried out a bit during their talk.
She set down her fork without a second thought.
"Rima!"
At that moment, Rubens opened the door and came in. In the boy's hand was a box of pudding bought from the shop across the way.
"Made you wait? Check this out! The pudding you said you wanted."
"Wow!"
"Huh? You're not finishing the cake?"
"Ugh, well..."
Rima gently rubbed her tummy as if it were full.
"Are you stuffed?"
"Yeah..."
"Can't be helped, then. Ready to head home?"
Rubens held out his hand.
"Yay!"
With all her business done anyway, it was fine to head back "home."
Rima, cradled in Rubens's arms, descended the second-floor stairs.
"Rima can walk fine..."
"Nope."
Rubens set her down on the first floor and said,
"You're still just a seven-year-old baby. What if you trip on the stairs and shatter your leg bone!"
"I-It's not that bad..."
She glanced away, blushing with embarrassment, but her protest was half-hearted at best.
In the end, Rima beamed and thanked him.
Rubens grinned back.
Once in the carriage, Rima fiddled with the pudding box Rubens had wrapped for her.
"You like it that much?"
"Of course!"
Rima declared,
"Because it's a gift from Rubens."
"Aw, it's nothing."
"It's a secret, but keeping it makes me happier than if you knew."
"Is that so?"
Rubens grinned again.
Silence fell over the carriage.
Rubens gazed out the window, while Rima stole glances at him before returning to her pudding box.
This really was the right choice.
Rima finally felt certain of her decision.
If this novel world deviated from the story, it was her duty as the author to set it right.
So Rima took action.
And meaningful changes appeared.
Kalarop started showing interest in Rima, bit by bit.
He even set aside pocket money for her to spend freely.
The moment she got her allowance, Rima stuffed her pay ledger into the back of a drawer.
And Al and Rubens began fighting over who got to play with her alone. They got punished for squabbling so much that it became routine.
This is it...!
The moment she intervened personally, the world started reverting to its proper course.
Now Rima was confident.
Just keep going like this.
Her first intervention was to bring down Lubeo.
Lubeo just stole the wealth that was supposed to go to the heroine. So it has to fall. That's how the original story goes.
For the heroine's brilliant future, it had to fade away.
Expecting to thrive after snatching someone else's happiness? Way too brazen.
Reaffirming her goal, Rima closed her eyes.
...This is my world.
The novel I wrote.
The world where I'm the protagonist.
Like a zealot, she repeated it to herself over and over.
"......"
At some point, Rubens turned from the window and gazed silently at such a Rima.
The boy's smile had long vanished.
Ever since arriving in the capital, Leticia had visited the Dayamor mansion every day.
"Mom and Dad scolded me. Said I'm visiting too often."
"Nini wuvs when Leti comes!"
Nibelria grabbed Leticia's hand tight.
Leticia's wilted mood brightened in an instant.
"What about Solles oppa?"
"Studying. He's studying a lot lately."
"As expected of Solles oppa. Nini goes to kindergarten, right?"
"Yeah! With Arep! But Arep goes to cram school. It's above the kindergarten."
Arep, who had been reading the "Romantic Fairy Tales for Children" book Leticia brought, looked up.
Leticia asked,
"What do you learn at kindergarten?"
"Words and arithmetic. Lately, memorizing multiplication."
On top of that, history, reading, and how to read newspapers.
Recently, he'd consulted with the adults on whether to take art or music lessons.
Kaleo had suggested learning an instrument, so he was leaning that way for now.
"If it's instruments, we can play together later!"
Leticia clapped, excited at the thought.
"I can play the viola."
Arep nodded, even if he wasn't sure what a viola was.
"Then Nini will sing!"
Suddenly climbing onto the sofa, Nibelria burst into song.
It was the squirrel song she'd learned at kindergarten.
"Rowl rowl acorn! Nibble nibble munch!"
The squirrel goes pororo!
Acorn goes rowl rowl!
"Off to autumn picnic!"
Arms twirled like yarn reels,
Bottom wiggling like a squirrel's tail.
With full choreography, Nibelria finished and bowed to her audience.
Like a famous singer, one hand on her chest, the other lifting her skirt hem as she curtsied daintily.
Arep and Leticia cheered and applauded.
...I've gotta learn an instrument.
Arep resolved to do so. He wanted to gift Nibelria's wonderful singing with equally wonderful accompaniment.
"How was it? Cool, right?"
Nibelria approached Arep with eyes full of expectation.
Arep poured his heartfelt sincerity into his words.
"It was super, super cool!"
"For real?"
"You sang it the best. The coolest squirrel lullaby ever. I could never sing it like that."
"Heehee! Love Arep!"
Grinning ear to ear, Nibelria hugged him tight.
Arep hugged her back just as preciously with both arms.
"......"
Watching the sweet pair, Leticia's cheeks flushed pink.
"Are you two dating?"
Nibelria and Arep tilted their heads.
"What's that?"
"Like, when two people love each other like this!"
"Nini wuvs Arep!"
"Kyaa!"
Leticia stomped in excitement.
"Nini acts so grown-up! More like a big sis than me."
"Kinda, yeah."
Even Nibelria agreed.
Meanwhile, Arep blushed at Nibelria's love attack, flustered beyond words.
His head felt hot enough to steam like a kettle with water boiling over.
"Does Arep love Nini too?"
Leticia leaned in abruptly and asked.
"Y-Yes..."
Arep answered shyly.
"Kyaa! You're lovers! Such a cool couple!"
Leticia fetched the "Romantic Fairy Tales for Children" book Arep had been reading.
"See, it has lovers who love each other in here?"
She opened to the middle, revealing a new tale.
"My favorite story. The prince and princess love each other so much, but their families are against it."
So the two convince their families by defeating the demon king threatening the world together.
"Demon king!"
Nibelria narrowed her usually gentle eyes fiercely.
"Bad! Demon king bad!"
"What's a demon king?"
Arep asked.
Leticia calmed the excitedly growling Nibelria and explained.
"The king of monsters. There was a big war forty years ago, right? The Crepatna War."
"Yeah. The war where the Saintess wiped out all the monsters?"
He recalled what he'd learned in history class.
Forty years ago, the war between humans and monsters on the Crepatna Plains, the continent's central heartland.
Led by Saintess Muniel and Holy Knight Ardores, the heroes exterminated the monsters completely.
"He invaded our world, leading monsters to attack humans. The king of monsters. Supposedly terrifying."
"Demon king suuuper scary!"
Nibelria shuddered as if she'd seen it herself with her own eyes.
