/
I almost confessed my love to the maid who was threatening me.
‘Isn’t this too dangerous of a function setting?’
As I panicked inwardly, Charlotte stomped her way to me in no time.
“Milady, have you seriously gone crazy?”
She spoke in a considerably provoking tone.
“I thought you were only pretending to be crazy because you were afraid to get in trouble later. Well, come to think of it, that’s still actually crazy. After getting swindled out of your money like that, right?”
“……”
“But don’t worry, I’m the only one in this household who knows you’ve got duped out of that huge fortune.”
And if I can get some pocket money, too, I’ll keep my mouth shut forever.
Charlotte smirked and whispered the last part.
Just as she said, I was in a position where she had a card up her sleeve against me, and that card was my weakness.
To be precise, it was Roella’s weakness from before I transmigrated as her.
Charlotte had been consistently asking for money while acting like a jerk as she blackmailed me.
She hadn’t tried to get close to me these past few days because I was acting crazy, but now that she could see me slowly getting back to my senses, it seemed like she was planning to exploit money from me again.
“Instead of me staying quiet, you should at least bear with this much,” she said.
“……”
“Oh, and among the gems you bought this month, can you give me the sapphire? I think it’ll suit me.”
I hadn’t even answered her yet, but Charlotte continued yapping on excitedly to herself.
Perhaps she’s thinking that I had no choice but to stick with her.
Unfortunately for her however, that blackmail material of hers had already come to an end. I’m not the same Roella she knew.
‘To tell or not to tell.’
Just as Charlotte said, the weakness that she got ahold of was investment fraud.
And the culprit was the second son of Count Siever.
Hargan Siever.
‘We found a good mine this time. There are so many precious jewels that we’re trying to mine in secret, but… Money is scarce. Any amount at all that you’ll invest will be tripled, I assure you. This is a limited offer that’s exclusive only for you, Your Ladyship.’
Hargan enticed Roella with such saccharine words.
And the foolish Roella was reeled right in.
She borrowed the duchy’s name and guaranteed the investment with that.
And the amount was equivalent to three months’ worth of allowance to keep up appearances that would maintain her dignity as a duke’s daughter.
The result was, of course, that Hargan ran.
Apparently, he had already been disowned and taken off from his family register because of his gambling addiction, but this fact was uncovered too late.
Roella couldn’t tell anyone about this.
It was embarrassing, and at the same time, frightening.
Besides that, she had already been swindled many times before as well.
Her father was always the one covering for her and shouldering the debt.
Eventually, after the duke handled the previous scam Roella got duped into, he couldn’t bear it anymore.
‘If you invest one more time without properly dealing with it, you will not be given any allowance any longer.’
And yet here she was, causing the same problem and ending up with the same predicament for the nth time. She thought that it wouldn’t be easy to recover from it this time.
Apart from that, there’s one extra person who shouldn’t know about it but nevertheless found out about it.
It’s her crush.
‘Demos Killian.’
He was the new male lead candidate in 〈 Lily Field 〉.
No, well, he was the real male lead in the original novel.
* * *
It was about two years ago when Roella fell for Demos.
That happenstance was trivial.
Demos constantly approached and tried to get her attention.
He whispered sweet nothings and showered her with an abundance of gifts.
Actually, he wasn’t all that into her, but the attention he gave her was enough to cause Roella to fall for him.
However, Demos’ attitude changed 180 degrees the moment he found out that she started liking him.
—You said you loved me. But was it a waste that I invested that much in you? With all the gifts that I’ve given you so far.
—I detest stupid girls, Roella. Do you get what I’m saying?
—Ah, of course you’re a waste. Look at how you keep ruining my expectations of you.
He gaslighted Roella and painted her out to be the only one who made mistakes.
Regardless of how much of a villainess Roella was, she was always obedient in front of Demos.
Therefore, instead of getting angry at everything that Demos said, Roella believed everything and thought she was the reason he changed.
She endlessly repressed herself, endlessly blamed herself.
And yet, she still kept clinging onto Demos.
That’s why she was very scared that this recent matter might reach his ears, too.
‘What if he thinks I’m stupid? What if he gets disappointed in me again…?’
Ironically enough, however, the person who introduced that scumbag—I mean, Hargan Siever—to Roella was, in fact, Demos.