Chapter 53

Chapter 53

“Go out together and buy the clothes you want to wear.”

“Yes? Then, that means…”

“You have to buy something worthy of Rubellin’s name, got it?”

When Richard asked if she needed anything else, Elisha decided to buy new clothes for the maids and knights instead of buying more dresses or accessories for herself.

In addition, a batch of silver brooches engraved with the Rubellin symbol was also made to order.

‘After all, the main characters of the hunting festival are the Emperor and Empress, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess.’

No matter how expensive the dresses and accessories were, the spotlight will go only to them.

So Elisha decided to make the maids and knights of Rubellin stand out instead of herself.

Thanks to that, the maids and knights were in their best mood for the past few days.

“I work in a place that treats me like this!”

Not only did they feel the joy of buying new clothes, but they also felt a strong sense of belonging to the Rubellin Duchy who treated them kindly.

The glances of the nobles looking at Elisha and Rubelin’s maids were displeased, but the expressions of the maids standing behind them were different.

The maids of the other nobles looked at Anne and the other maids escarting Elisha with envy.

‘If the rumors that the Duke of Rubellin treats his servants well, talented people will flock to him.’

Then the knights and maids of Rubellin will work harder so as not to lose their current position. Elisha looked at them and smiled satisfied.

‘This is how you brag about money.’

That was her intention.

Elisha answered with a natural-looking expression as if it was a given.

“It is summer soon, and I bought this to repay those who have worked for the family for a long time. Appropriate rewards boost motivation.”

And now, it was time to sneak out the real purpose of this ‘money brag’.

“Besides, I recently discovered another mine in the southwestern part of the territory with glowstone.”

“Oh, right. I heard it a while ago. I heard that the mine is quite large.”

“Do you have any plans to expand any other businesses with the proceeds from the glowstone?”

Some ladies were fascinated and listened to the story of the glowstone mine.

On the other hand, some ladies thought Elisha was just bragging about money and still showed displeasure.

Elisha looked at their expressions and filtered out those who would benefit her and those who would not.

‘The ones who are not interested in this story are just mistresses. People without real economic power.’

From a realistic point of view, friendship with them was not helpful.

It may be helpful to be able to hear about the gossip going around from them, but it will be a relationship with no practical benefits.

‘On the contrary, those who show interest are the wives of families with substantial economic power and those who have some power in their households.’

Friendship with them would be helpful, both in business and politics. Elisha, who filtered out the beneficial persons in her head, threw the next set of bait.

“But I’m still thinking about finding a family to cooperate with and expanding my business in various directions. They say that interiors using glowstone are also coming out, and some craftsmen say they can make ornaments with tiny glowstone grains.”

“Handwork? If it’s craftsmanship, then our family…”

Glowstone was a precious gem that can only be found in Rubellin, and it was a business item that everyone coveted.

A noble lady, who hurriedly brought up her family because it would be a wasted opportunity if someone else took up a collaboration position with Rubellin, shut up when she saw the expressions on the faces of the Empress and Princess Rose, showing displeasure.

The same for the other ladies who read the strange atmosphere.

Eventually, all talk about the glowstone business stopped.

However, Elisha was not disappointed. All of them were expected reactions.

“It will be difficult to openly bring up collaboration here, so I’ll give them a personal call soon.’

In any case, it was worthwhile to participate in the hunting festival, since she had roughly filtered out those who could be useful.

It was Rose who broke the awkward atmosphere.

“Oh, right. I have prepared something for you.”

“What did you prepare?”

“It’s a small thing, but I hope you like it.”

The maids who received Rose’s instructions brought out baskets. Inside the baskets were brownies and cookies.

“The new head chef is very good at making brownies. I wanted to share it with all of you, so I asked for a special request. It would be nice to have it with tea.”

“Oh my, how kind.”

Brownies and cookies cut beautifully in triangles were nicely placed on a plate and placed in front of everyone.

The ladies gladly received the sweet treat, but Elisha was concerned.

‘The smell of butter…”

The child in the womb recognized the smell of butter like a bloodhound and rejected it. Even taking the medicine didn’t work.

It was the same today.

Elisha covered her nose and mouth with her hands to contain her nausea.

What would happen if she vomited in front of the snacks prepared by the Crown Princess herself?

However, the feeling of nausea, once raised, did not subside.

‘Should I just reveal that I’m pregnant at this point?’

Eventually, Elisha, who couldn’t stand the feeling, stood up to leave. The sudden movement made her feel dizzy and her body staggered.

Just before she collapsed, a broad, solid body appeared from behind and embraced her back and shoulders.

As she looked up in amazement, she saw a familiar face.

‘Richard…?’

His handsome face was slightly distorted out of concern.

“I am grateful for the heartfelt feelings of the Crown Princess, but I think it will be hard for Elisha to eat something because she is not feeling well these days.”

Richard hugged Elisha, who staggered helplessly.

Normally, she would have escaped from his arms conscious of people’s gaze, but Elisha now had no such option, considering her condition.

“Excuse me.”

Richard left the place, leaving behind the ladies who stared at him with a puzzled expression, embracing Elisha tightly.

Elisha suddenly seemed to recall the fifteen-year-old boy who saved her from Christian by pouring juice on him.

 

Elisha, who moved around the hunting ground and found a place where there were few people, threw up to relieve her upset stomach and sat down afterwards as if exhausted.

Richard hugged Elisha and pulled out a handkerchief.

As he tried to wipe the corners of her mouth, Elisha forcefully pushed his hand away.

“It’s dirty. Stop it.”

Whether it was the constant morning sickness and the effects of hormones, an irritated tone came out.

Elisha looked into Richard’s eyes in surprise after she spoke. But he didn’t show any sign of discomfort and put the handkerchief close again.

“It’s not dirty.”

The words seemed sincere, and the tone was soft but firm.

Elisha looked blankly at him, while he finished wiping her lips.

She felt weird when he was being sweet. It felt good but she didn’t like it. It was strange.

After wiping Elisha’s lips, Richard took a fruit-flavored candy from his pocket. He took off the wrapping paper and put it in Elisha’s mouth.

When she ate the candy that had a fresh taste, her morning sickness got better.

‘You also have morning sickness, so that’s why you have it.’

Elisha thought that was the reason he had the candy although he hated sweets.

Richard asked while hugging her, wondering if Elisha would feel dizzy and faint again.

“Shall we go home?”

Elisha shook her head.

“It will end soon.”

Elisha, who had been chewing on candy for a while, asked Richard as if she had suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, what about hunting? Why are you here?”

“No one is interested in my hunting skills anyway.”

After all, they wouldn’t even doubt the hunting skills of those who defeated thousands or tens of thousands on the battlefield.

Elisha looked at Richard, who had escaped without being faithful to his duties but didn’t say anything.

‘It would be right to say thank you in this situation.’

As she was about to express her gratitude to him, she heard an unwelcome voice from behind.

“I wondered where you were going without hunting, but you were covered in your wife’s skirt like some idiotic bastard.”

After Richard left the hunt, Christian, who had cooled down, had just returned from hunting.

He approached condescendingly. There were also two young nobles of similar ages who always stuck together with him.

Richard’s gaze at them changed dramatically from when he looked at Elisha.

He hugged her tightly as if protecting Elisha and looked at Christian with murderous eyes.

When he faced Christian alone, Richard’s face always remained aloof, but now he, who had been ignoring the Crown Prince as if looking at a chicken, lost his composure and his fierce vigilance was revealed.

All because of the small woman in his arms.

Christian, who saw it, was satisfied and raised one corner of his mouth. When he saw Richard’s reaction, he wanted to push even more.

Christian mocked Richard with a sarcastic tone.

“I remember our Duke was a henpecked husband when he was young, and I guess it’s still the case now?”

“…”

“By the way, rumors say that you didn’t even spend the first night together.”

“…”

“Even so, you have to act like a man. Wouldn’t that make your wife happy?”

“If the first night has not yet been spent yet, can’t the marriage be annulled at any time?”

At Christian’s mocking, the noble lords responded with vulgar laughter and remarks.

The air around Richard quickly started to drop in temperature as he glared at them.

Elisha spoke first with an exaggerated voice.

“Oh my, you’re saying things that our baby would be sad to hear.”

“…Baby?”

When Christian asked the question as if he did not understand, Elisha took Richard’s hand and wrapped it around her stomach, speaking shyly.

“I am ashamed to tell you this, but a blessing came to me on the first passionate night we spent together. Would you like to congratulate us?”

Among Elisha’s words, there was a strange emphasis on the words ‘the first night.’

‘You rolled around with several women back in the day to give birth to the male lead, but my husband is the king of energy who did it all and scored in the first round, you bastard!’

Elisha raised her chin with a proud expression and looked at Christian.

Only then did Christian and the noblemen, who understood Elisha’s meaning, open their mouths and stared alternately at Richard and Elisha’s belly.

They weren’t the only ones surprised by Elisha’s unconventional words.

Richard’s eyes, looking at the proud Elisha, also widened in surprise.

“Haaa…”

Richard buried his face in his hands and sighed.

This time, the embarrassed one was him.

—

(e/n: Lmao Elisha is such a mood, it’s so cute how she defaulted to immediately bragging about Richard. Just admit you love him already…smh)