Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Are we going to have breakfast now?”

Selena looked up, hugging Kalcion’s arm tightly.

Selena was tall. Taller than Fionel and the other actors she worked with. However, Kalcion’s physique was much larger than hers, let alone his height.

“We have to.”

He answered lightly. He wasn’t affectionate, but he didn’t blame Selena for her rude behavior either. Only then did Rosalyn’s eyes turn to Selena.

“Oh my, who is this?”

But her question was directed towards Kalcion.

“I rescued her from the mountains.”

“From the mountains?”

The only mountain range closest to the estate of Renbird was the Sigand Mountains, where beasts gather. A forbidden area to the public, which was only inspected by Lord Renbird and his knights.

Rosalyn briefly thought about it before she replied.

“Is it a human being?”

At her question, Kalcion turned to Selena.

“Is it not a human being?”

“I’m a person and I have a name. My name is Selena.”

Selena took the lead so that no more questions would go to Kalcion.

Rosalyn naturally shifted her eyes back to Selena, trying to maintain an impeccable social look. But Selena noticed a change in her eyes.

“Uh….Miss Selena. Pardon me, but I’ve never heard of such a name. Could you please tell which family do you belong to…..?”

Selena pretended not to act rude, but her words got shorter.

“Is it the family that’s more important than the person herself?”

“Huh.”

Rosalyn’s reaction was lukewarm, even though she tried to maintain her smile.

“How is that possible? His Excellency doesn’t even pick up a Lady’s scarf that falls on the ground.”

But the question that followed immediately was directed at Kalcion.

“Well, I thought she would be useful, unlike a Lady’s scarf.”

Kalcion was not used to making useless excuses.

Rosalyn’s eyes widened while Selena raised her eyes up at Kalcion, saying,

“Pardon?”

Kalcion graciously walked back towards the building, pretending as if nothing had happened.

“Is she as useful as your hound, Your Excellency? You refused the marriage proposals that came in a few years ago, right? You said that you’d marry a hundred times if your fiancée was as useful as your hound.”

“I did indeed and I still think so.”

Rosalyn continued the conversation, struggling to match her pace with him.

“My goodness, so you picked up a hound from the mountains rather than accepting one of the proposals?”

“Well, it is yet to be seen.”

“You’re going to have to train her. This isn’t an ordinary matter, she’s living right under the roof of the Duke’s mansion.”

Kalcion shifted his eyes sideways to Selena, slightly raising up the corners of his mouth.

“Does she need to be trained?”

“Is an untrained hound ever useful?”

“I heard physiognomy is important as well.”

Selena interrupted.

“That’s very funny.”

Obviously, Rosalyn’s snarl implied that she was annoyed, but then she quickly hid it with a smile.

“We were about to have breakfast. Do you have any thoughts about joining us?”

“Is it necessary to join you during both breakfast and dinner?”

“One meal will be enough.”

“Then, I’d rather choose the dinner, Your Excellency.”

Rosalyn chuckled sweetly.

“Very well, I’ll try to make your visit as convenient for you as possible.”

“It’s because of fate that we are all present here. And if His Excellency allows me, I’d like to have breakfast with the two ladies.”

“Isn’t that different from what you just said?”

“If His Excellency doesn’t join us, it will be.”

Everyone seemed to be shaken by Rosalyn’s attitude towards the Duke except for her.

At her answer, Kalcion stood there like a sturdy pillar.

Kakcion, who had said he’d make Rosalyn comfortable, had to respond to her bold proposal and forced himself to part with Selena.

“……If my guests agree, do as you wish.”

As soon as he replied, Rosalyn triumphantly shifted her eyes at Selena and Fionel.

Fionel’s expression immediately turned sour. It was obvious for her to be against this arrangement.

But, Rosalyn seemed unaffected. Because her target was not Fionel, but Selena. Selena had no reason to refuse it either.

“I’ll be fine, Duke. This way, I can come to know a little bit about this world.”

It would be as if she was attending a nobleman’s party.

“Then, Fionel will have breakfast with His Excellency.”

Fionel didn’t miss the chance.

“Of course you can, Miss Fionel.”

Rosalyn said with a smile plastered on her face.

“Then, I’ll be skipping this meal as I have to train.”

Kalcion was also desperate.

“Your Excellency?!”

“Well then, enjoy your meal. I’ll see you in the evening.”

Kalcion ordered Mrs. Jannet and disappeared like the wind, leaving the three of them alone.

“I don’t really need it anyway!”

Fionel fiercely glared at Rosalyn before walking away from the scene.

Flowers fell off her hair as she angrily walked through the corridor.

Now that they were alone, how would Rosalyn behave? She expected an unknown gentle voice.

….But.

Wham!

“—?!”

Selena’s back hit a pillar in the corridor as she was pushed by Rosalyn.

Where did she get that strength from? Her whole back was ringing.

“What the—”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Rosalyn’s clenched hand hit the wall beside Selena’s head.

“……What are you doing, Miss?”

The honorifics came out of her mouth itself. If it was her head instead of the wall, there would have been a hole in her skull by now.

Rosalyn brought her face closer to hers. It was appallingly beautiful, except for her eyes and her expression, which seemed vicious.

Rosalyn opened her mouth, glowering in a manner that suggested it was her beauty and reputation that stopped her from killing Selena right at that moment.

“Hey, how much is it?”

“…..?”

Chaos ran inside Selena’s mind.

Rosalyn repeated.

“You don’t fear losing your life for targeting the Duke and his riches, do you?”

Her tone was so different that Selena wondered if there was a certain button on her body that changed her attitude.

The softness of her voice, which had not disappeared even when she gave a rebuke to Kalcion, was nowhere to be found.

“I’m neither targeting anyone nor anyone’s wealth.”

Selena answered with a smile without even the slightest change in her attitude. It would create a big misunderstanding if she got intimidated by such harsh words and phrases.

Rosalyn unpleasantly raised one of her eyebrows towards Selena, who held out stronger than expected.

“No, no, no, no, you must be after his wealth. But let me inform you of one thing. Even the largest amount in your world would mean a penny in ours. So, tell me, how much do you want?”

Rosalyn was reluctant to believe her.

Ever since the mine was discovered, countless young ladies sought the position of the Duchess of Renbird. The riches of the Duke of Renbird was enough for the opposite party to spend their life in heaven. There was no way that a scumbag, who would have lived by digging up tree roots, would be aiming for it.

In Rosalyn’s eyes, Selena’s answer was nothing less than a slap on her face.

“The money you’ll receive from me will be much more than the unit you can think of. So, how much do you want?”

Selena raised her chin in a haughty manner.

As a matter of fact, she didn’t know how money was counted in this world, but it wasn’t necessary for her to know anyway.

“How long have you been doing this kind of deals?”

“……What?”

Rosalyn stumbled, panicking at her totally unexpected reply. It was clear that she had expected Selena to either collapse down in front of her, out of fear, or happily accept her offer.

As Selena tried her best to hold her ground, she was also restraining herself from collapsing from hunger. No matter how scary Rosalyn was, she just had to close her eyes and ears and say what she wanted to say.

However, Rosalyn had never got a chance to make a deal in her life before.

For Rosalyn, who was embarrassed for being shaken up by someone of no status, Selena once again strengthened her reinforcements.

“Being pre-emptive is the key to making a deal like this. So, how big of an amount can I say? Can I get a hundred of these dresses I’m wearing now?”

Rosalyn’s expression shook once again.

Rosalyn seemed to have known about this dress too. Selena didn’t know about the currency of this world yet, but she could tell this type of dress was obviously rare. No matter how much Rosalyn bawled about it, she wouldn’t be able to produce such a fine dress…….

“Of course.”

“?!”

‘……She can?’

It felt like something was pricked in her stomach.

This type of garment couldn’t even be worn or cherished by the top lady of the country. It would never have been made with a light amount of money.

‘She can provide a hundred times of the amount of this dress?’

If she didn’t have the hope of returning to her world, she would have accepted her offer right away. Unfortunately, Kalcion’s offer was better as he already promised her to send her back to her world safely. But, she couldn’t be honest with herself in this condition.

“I’ll give you all the money and jewelry you want. Try to disappear as soon as you get it. Do you understand?”

“I didn’t even accept it.”

“If you want more, you can tell me. I can provide you anything you want.”

Rosalyn’s expression became relaxed as if she was sure that Selena wouldn’t be able to deny her.

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything you want.”

A grin made its way to Selena’s face.

“Then, I want the Duke’s heart.”

“…….”

In an instant, the surrounding temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. Rosalyn’s cold eyes froze Selena’s bones. She replied in a low voice, freezing the surrounding air.

“You aren’t fooling around, are you?”

“I wasn’t joking. I’ll have them all. The position and the Duke’s heart.”

“…..Haha, when did I ever hear something like…..?”

Rosalyn giggled a little before getting serious once again.

“Do you want to die of your own greed?”