Chapter 14
Shwaaa. Rain poured down in a furious downpour.
I faced Askin while getting drenched in the rain in a place without even a single roof to shelter me.
His sky-blue eyes held no sympathy whatsoever—only rage.
“Brother!”
I sensed that things had gone terribly wrong, but seeing Aria made me think there was still a chance.
‘Living in this body really is a one-way ticket to an early grave.’
See? Even in a situation where any normal person would at least hear me out, one slip-up and I’d be on the fast track to the afterlife.
Of course, even now I was tempted to shout that I wasn’t Charlize, that he was taking his anger out on the wrong person, and give him a piece of my mind.
Calm down, Jihu. My hundreds of billions in assets are waiting for their ‘Master’…!
I was just about to open my mouth for a calm explanation.
“What the hell is going on here?”
An angry voice pierced through the rain and rang out.
Turning my head, I saw a brilliant light. It was so bright it made my eyes hurt, and I squinted.
I heard footsteps rushing toward me, and soon someone politely extended a hand.
I grabbed it first, and my body suddenly lifted into the air.
Only then did I realize the one who had picked me up was a knight in the Altizeit family’s knight uniform.
Standing amid the light was, astonishingly, my maternal grandfather, the Altizeit Duke.
“What have you done to my beloved granddaughter right now, Duke Remute!”
Grandfather took in my drenched, mud-caked state and trembled with rage, his shoulders shaking.
Eek, eek? Wait a minute, wait, Grandfather? Let’s calm down first. First…
“What did you do? Answer me this instant!”
Grandfather’s furious, trembling form was honestly quite moving, even if he wasn’t blood-related to me—but this wasn’t the time to get caught up in sentiment.
“Aren’t you my precious granddaughter’s fiancé? As her lowly fiancé, not only do you fail to do your utmost for her, but you dare let her roll around in the filthy dirt like this?”
“…You must have forgotten the engagement dissolution notice I sent you. Or shall I graciously send another one?”
“Ha, you insolent fool. We helped you in your time of need, and now that you’re faring well, this is how you repay us? You think you can dissolve the engagement on a whim? Treat my granddaughter like this, and you expect me to just let it slide?!”
Oh, wait, wait. Grandfather. No more rash acceleration. Stop!
Danger signals flashed in my mind, and I hurriedly tried to stand.
For some reason, my body wouldn’t stop shivering and refused to obey.
“Engagement dissolution, you say? Fine, go ahead and try. Pay back every bit of my money right now—plus ten billion gold for interest and penalties. And for this incident, cough up four times this month’s interest as accountability. If not, we’ll handle it per the contract terms!”
“…”
“If that’s all too much for you, then forget dissolving the engagement—get married instead, and bring the Remute family into the Altizeit family.”
It seemed they’d heard an astronomical sum amid the pouring rain.
Grandfather’s furious voice silenced even Aria, who’d been tugging at Askin’s arm.
With a groan, I pushed myself up.
“Put me down right now.”
I told the knight to set me down, and he hesitated until my gaze turned icy—then he quickly complied.
“…Your family, who only sees people in terms of money, is truly revolting.”
“How amusing. You’re the one who borrowed from such a family, Duke Remute. Consider this punishment for failing to cherish my granddaughter.”
“Grandfather.”
I stepped in front of Grandfather. Rain was still pouring down, and with no umbrella, I got soaked through. Grandfather, startled, hurriedly held one over me.
“Hear me out first.”
“Huh. Baby, Charl, are you all right? That bastard dared to shove you…”
“No. He didn’t shove me.”
Water dripped from my hair in rivulets; I wrung it out briskly and answered brightly.
“I fell on my own. You’ve misunderstood, Grandfather.”
A flash of bewilderment crossed Grandfather’s face.
But soon it twisted into one of sheer disbelief.
Still, when he’d delivered the engagement dissolution news to me, he’d seemed so cold—yet here, rough around the edges as his methods were, it was clear he cared for Charlize.
“…”
Askin watched me, his expression inscrutable.
Over there, with talk of dissolving the engagement in the air, he might well wonder why I was defending him.
It’s all because I need to rack up points with you.
It would’ve been better if there’d been an option to seduce some other guy.
But for me, getting along with you is the only choice available.
“And I have no intention of dissolving my engagement with the duke. So you shouldn’t speak carelessly to my fiancé either, Grandfather.”
“…Huh.”
Grandfather’s beard twitched.
Even so, I’d gotten a good look at how he’d demanded ten billion gold just for getting dirt on his granddaughter’s clothes.
“You’re so immature.”
Grandfather clicked his tongue and turned away. I knew that signaled the end of the confrontation.
I glanced back.
The instant Aria’s eyes met mine, her mouth opened as if to speak.
“Duchess!”
Susan hurried over and held an umbrella over me. I handed it off for her to use alone, then followed behind Grandfather under the knight’s umbrella.
‘Pretty girl over there. Please put in a good word for me with your brother…’
My impression of Aria hadn’t been bad, so maybe I could hope for some good news?
Even if not quite “no dissolution,” it’d be nice if she saw me in a new light.
‘At least enough for us to have a conversation.’
My body shivered faintly.
I felt eyes on my back but kept walking straight ahead without looking.
“Achoo-!”
What I’d fully anticipated came to pass. Right after returning, I caught a cold.
Not just any cold, either—a brutal one, complete with body aches.
But that’s what made money so wonderful.
At my maternal grandfather’s orders, a healing mage arrived, and a priest came by to boost my recovery. What cold or body aches? All that remained was a tickly nose that made me sneeze lightly now and then.
‘Money really is the best…’
The mage who’d healed me this time was one so skilled that in the capital, second place would feel insulted—rumored to reattach even severed limbs.
Calling someone like that for mere cold symptoms was impressive in itself.
“Hmm? What’s this, the duchess is the patient? Not some cleanup from one of the duchess’s escapades?”
That was my reaction to the healing mage’s head-tilt and added comment.
Indeed. Apparently, this mage had been summoned plenty of times before for damage control after Charlize’s antics.
The rain that day had been so relentless I’d wondered if the sky had a hole in it.
Sure enough, word was it had poured catastrophically over the entire Remute Territory.
After I’d left, the downpour continued, bringing floods and severe water damage across the whole territory.
‘…Aria’s okay, right?’
I couldn’t stop worrying, thanks to that brief glimpse from the carriage.
That afternoon, my body finally felt better.
And the moment I recovered, I was immediately summoned by my maternal grandfather.
‘Summoned the instant I’m better, like he knew right away. Someone must be reporting my every move to him.’
The thought crossed my mind, but I buried it deep and went to face him.
“You’re here.”
My maternal grandfather’s expression was as stubborn as if he’d never taken my side back in Remute Territory.
Hmph. But I’d already witnessed his affection overflowing.
I flashed a bright smile. His beard twitched.
I smiled even brighter, and his stern face crumbled with a groan.
“Grandfather.”
“You’re using the right tactics to avoid a scolding.”
“Thank you.”
“…”
“Thanks to you, my cold’s almost gone.”
“…I can’t let my granddaughter suffer from something like a cold.”
For a moment, Grandfather dropped his dignity with a gruff clear of his throat.
Then he pulled on a stern expression that was already pointless.
“Let’s talk about that day.”
“What about that day?”
I feigned ignorance, but it was no use.
“Why on earth did you tear up Duke Remute’s sister’s hair?”
“…Pardon?”
Gasp—I’d known feigning ignorance wouldn’t work, but I hadn’t expected this topic.
My face went slack.
‘Wait, more than that—how does he even know I touched Aria’s hair?’
“Did you have me under surveillance?”
“Surveillance? Hah, that young lady’s state was obviously like someone had yanked at her hair—anyone could see it.”
“…”
Suddenly, I felt terribly sorry for Aria. Had she managed to fix her hair properly since then?
…I should gift her a nice comb next time.
“Who else there would’ve messed up her hair but you? You’ve always found that young lady a nuisance.”
No surveillance after all—relief. I’d nearly suspected Susan for nothing.
But in exchange, I’d earned myself a hefty misunderstanding.
“Hmm, yes. Now that I think about it, I did pay her a lot of attention. I don’t have any sisters, after all.”
I smiled brightly, as if it were nothing.
“So… my way of showing interest came out a bit rough.”
Grandfather’s face pinched slightly, as if he couldn’t comprehend.
“Do you want her as a toy? But she’s someone who could drop dead anytime. If you need something pretty, I’ll procure one for you.”
