There had already been a huge disturbance when news. .h.i.t that the Grand Duke’s heir, Sir La Carte would be visiting.
But the scene that was unfolding right now was one that no one had expected.
The lady of the house was next to the Grand Duke’s son as the Marquis showed them around while sweating?
The maids and servants were busy glancing and whispering in the corners.
The Marquis glared at them as he looked around the mansion.
The Marquis waved his hand as if he was telling the servants to scram, and they immediately ran away.
After moving indoors and sitting across the Grand Duke’s son, the Marquis began calculating furiously in his head.
‘I don’t know what magic that b.i.t.c.h used to lure the Grand Duke’s son, but this is a chance for our family.’
It couldn’t get better than a marriage with the Grand Duke’s son.
‘That useless thing is finally repaying me. And here I thought she’d be useless forever.’
The Marquis, forcefully hiding his inner thoughts, sent a warm look towards Ariel.
“Ariella, you don’t know how worried I was when you disappeared yesterday. I couldn’t even sleep because I was trying to find my precious daughter…….”
That b.i.t.c.h was always dying to earn my love.
So if I just act nice now, she’ll take her father’s side.
And since the Grand Duke’s son was young enough to be his son, it would be a piece of cake to lure him into doing what he wanted.
“Everyone in the house was looking for you. Jerome and I were planning on giving up food and water until we found you.”
It was a shameless lie.
But Ariel wasn’t foolish enough to refute him right then.
She even felt that the situation was very funny since it got this far.
“You’re not blaming your father for not being able to find you sooner, are you?”
The Marquis who always brought her down and abused her was now struggling to match her mood.
Before Ariel could respond, a laugh came from Lucian.
“Isn’t it normal to ask your daughter about her injury first?”
Sweat formed at the Marquis’ forehead.
“T-that’s right! Ariel, how is your injury? Where were you injured?”
He was acting so kindly, but Ariel kept an emotionless expression.
“I’m fine, father.”
Ariel replied in a rigid tone, and Lucian taunted him.
“Oh my. You must not have received that much love from your daughter.”
Darn it, that b.i.t.c.h wasn’t like this before. Why is she making such an unfamiliar look……!
The Marquis was about to come up with an excuse, but Lucian flicked his finger and changed the atmosphere.
He was a mere boy, but he had the power to make everyone look at him.
“I’m getting sick of this. I would like to talk about the marriage now, Marquis.”
He laughed coldly.
“As you know, I don’t have that much time.”
At that moment Ariel thought to herself.
Lucian must have an ability that allowed him to control anyone he faced.
* * *
The Marquis gazed at the marriage papers Dalton laid out in front of him.
A parent consent form for the minor’s marriage, marriage contract, pre-marriage contract…….
Out of those, the pre-marriage contract was not about the contract Ariel and Lucian had.
After all, a marriage between n.o.bles wasn’t so simple.
Because it was a contract between two families, the land, property, succession, and other things had to be properly discussed because it could bring complications in the future.
To prevent these problems, n.o.bles made pre-marriage contracts.
Since it was a pre-marriage contract from the La Carte family, there was bound to be information on the wedding gifts.
The Marquis pressed down his curiosity about the wedding gifts he would receive.
He had to be patient if he wanted something more.
The Marquis foolishly believed that he still had the upper hand in this situation.
“Sir, I’m grateful that you and the Grand Duke have taken a liking to my daughter, but my daughter is too young.”
He made a fake loving expression.
“I don’t want to send off my precious daughter for marriage all of a sudden. So, how about you guys just get engaged instead?”
If they got engaged, he could still keep Ariel in the house and form a relationship with the Grand Duke family.
The Marquis planned on harshly teaching Ariel during the engagement period to bring him fame and power from the Grand Duke’s family to the Marquis family.
Lucian leaned into the chair comfortably. Then he spit out arrogantly.
“That doesn’t work.”
“What?”
“There is no such thing as engagement in the La Carte book. If we say we’re getting married, we’re getting married.”
He frowned slightly.
“Or maybe you have some significant problem why you can’t let your daughter get married?”
The Marquis clenched his fists under the table.
d.a.m.n, how does this young kid not back down even just one bit?
Seeing the hostility pa.s.s by in the Marquis’ eyes, Lucian let out a bit of his powers.
When he did so, everyone in the same s.p.a.ce was trapped in an illusion that they were facing a beast’s shadow.
The Marquis, who felt Lucian’s power from right across, turned pale and was trembling.
You couldn’t stay sane after feeling this much fear.
‘What the h.e.l.l…… This can’t possibly be a young child’s power!’
Lucian controlled his power again after seeing that even Ariel, who was sitting next to him, had frozen up a bit.
He could hear everyone in the room sighing once the power that had been pressing the atmosphere disappeared.
Lucian smiled in a frightening matter as if nothing was wrong.
“If you don’t agree, your business will be impacted. Will that be okay?”
“…….”
Afterall, Marquis Lucilleon was someone who was ‘strong to the weak, and weak to the strong’.
He thought of the fear he had felt just now, and thought of the Grand Duke’s power, which had the possibility of cutting off his business completely.
And he quickly came to a conclusion.
“N-no…….”
“Then it’s decided.”
Lucian said refreshingly and flicked his finger at Dalton.
Dalton pushed the agreement paper towards the Marquis.
The Marquis, whose expression stained with defeat, signed the paper.
Then he appealed to Ariel, who he thought of as a pushover.
“Ariel, you’re going to come and see your father and brother even after you get married right? We treated you so well because you were the youngest child. We’ll be so lonely once you’re gone…….”
He searched Lucian’s face.
“I’ll need a lot of things to distract me from that loneliness.”
He’s demanding money.
Understanding the Marquis’ intent immediately, Lucian tossed the pre-marriage contract at him.
“I’ll give you the sapphire mine at Hilton as a marriage gift.”
A sapphire mine!
The Marquis’ eyes widened.
Not a bag of sapphires or a year’s right to mine at the mine, but the whole mine?
For this one girl?
Then Lucian pointed at Dalton with his chin.
“The details will be covered by our family’s treasurer.”
“T-thank you, sir!”
Lucian twisted the corners of his mouth upwards.
“To me, Ariel’s worth is incomparable to something like a mere mine.”
Ariel looked up at him silently.
“…….”
The situation right now was similar to the past when her father sold her to the villain.
The villain wanted her, and her father had bargained until he reached a price he was satisfied with.
‘They’re bargaining with me just as they did in the past…….’
Somehow, this time she didn’t feel offended by it.
It actually felt like her confidence was being boosted.
Perhaps it was because this boy was treating her like she was a precious individual rather than treating her as an object in order to bargain prices?
The Marquis’ happy expression soon became dark.
“Uh, Sir. About the dowry…….”
Normally, the marriage gift from the groom and the dowry from the bride had to be similar.
But the Marquis could not prepare something worth as much as the sapphire mine for the dowry.
It would be difficult even if he stopped all his businesses and changed it to cash.
Lucian closed his eyes as if he was annoyed.
“No need for a dowry.”
He twisted his chin and looked at the Marquis coercively.
“Those who want a dowry are just men who can’t even care for their own woman or think their woman is not worth too much.”
“Y-you’re right.”
Lucian smiled in satisfaction when the Marquis agreed to match his mood.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the chair’s armrest.
“But since Ariella is a young lady, I will take the things she used in this house.”
“What……?”
The Marquis’ face went rigid instantly.
“I would love to buy a complete new set for her, but I don’t want her environment to change until she gets used to it.”
The boy’s deep blue eyes glinted wickedly.
“Marquis, please lead the way to the room Lady Ariel used.”
* * *
This time, Ariel was a bit surprised as well.
She planned on getting an agreement out the Marquis and leaving as soon as possible.
She thought Lucian felt the same.
Since this was just a part of the contract for him.
So, she believed he wouldn’t do anything to make things bothersome for himself.
But after having taken care of the agreement papers, Lucian’s eyes were gleaming with motivation, more than any other time.
Ariel gazed at the Marquis, who had turned pale.
The room she had stayed in was the terrible attic at the top of the mansion. There was evidence of abuse in several parts of the room as well.
There was no way the Marquis could take Lucian there.
But for some reason, the Marquis began laughing loudly.
“Hahaha, of course! I’ll take you there immediately.”
The Marquis began leading the way with Lucian, Ariel, and Dalton following.
As expected, he was not headed for the stairs that led to the attic.
Heading for the 2nd floor through the large stairs in the middle, he reached a room and pulled the handles to open the door.
“Here it is!”
The room was full of furniture and things that a child would use.
The oakwood furniture polished in oil were luxurious, and there wasn’t a single toy that was cheap.
The only problem was…….
“Ah, Dad!”
This was Jerome’s room.
The Marquis quickly spoke to Jerome before anyone else could.
“Gosh, Jerome! You’re in your little sister’s room again!”
“Huh?”
Jerome, who was slow-witted unless if it was to play pranks on her, did not understand the meaning behind his words.
“What are you talking about, this is my…… heup!”
The Marquis quickly covered his son’s mouth and made a fake smile.
END OF CHAPTER 10.
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I know it’s been a while since we’ve updated any of our novels, rest a.s.sured that we’d be back on track for translating them. Frankly, I’m not the one to post a lot of my ramblings whenever I post because I think people wouldn’t read them.
These days, I just think about how SLC has grown to what it is and we literally have a lot of staff more than even my fingers could count. And to all our amazing commoners, who’s just always active in SLC and also to others who give their silent support and love, I just couldn’t believe how much we’d grown until now.
I honestly just wanted to thank each and every one of the staff for keeping SLC as it is right now, it always gives me a warm feeling to upload every time, because I know the staff has worked incredibly hard on it.
I am not a perfect person by far and I know I make a lot of mistakes, I guess what I wanted to say is I’d strive to be better to always give you guys quality content. This is me just being very emotional at 2:47 am.
I wish you all a good day and good health~ Always take care of yourselves guys and adios! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did.