CH 7

“We need to talk.” I grabbed the sleeves of Sylvester, who sitting on the sofa, talking to various nobles

“Look at that, my wife wants to be with me.” Sylvester grinned and rose from his seat. He seems to have been drinking since he looks a lot less reserved than usual. However, the captivating masculine charm he had in him did not disappear—it was, in fact, more prominent than ever.

I was scared for a moment, but I pulled myself back, quickly recalling what I had to say. “Yes, I’d like to be with you, so please come with me for a moment.”

“Did you hear that? I’ll be on my way then.” Sylvester greeted the people he was with and grabbed my hand. I didn’t expect us to hold hands, so I grew stiff. He brought his lips close to my ears and whispered, “You pulled me out at the right time.”

His breathy voice tickled my ears. 

‘Ugh’ 

I struggled and pulled my hand out from his grasp, but he only continued to talk, paying no mind to anything but what he wanted to say. “They’re trying to pick up on the market price. It’s expensive compared to the cost it took for production, but if they were going to complain, they should just sell the products themselves.”

He frowned as he loosened the tie that was holding his neck. “But you pulled me out right before we had to talk about the money in detail, so I want to say thank you.” Then he smiled at me. 

I paused for a moment, but I snapped out of it and shook my head, pretending to be calm. “I didn’t do that on purpose, I guess the timing was just right.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

I led Sylvester to an empty terrace and as soon as we stepped out onto it, I closed the latch and drew the curtains. When the window was fully covered, I rested my hand on my hips and looked at Sylvester. “Why did you do that?”

Sylvester tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you say that in front of the Crown Prince?” He still looked like he didn’t understand me, so I raised my voice, “When you said you liked me! Why did you say that?”

“Ah.” Sylvester looked up as if he finally just understood and replied casually, “So the Crown Prince would be more interested in you.”

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

I was dumbfounded and looked at him with my mouth wide open.

“If we’re in the middle of a fight, and I suddenly say you’re the woman I like, wouldn’t that pique his interest?”

My mind went blank. I barely grabbed my spirit who attempted to run away. “So that was part of your plan for me to seduce the Crown Prince?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s not enough to say that you have no shame, but that’s all I can say—you have no shame.” 

“What?” Sylvester’s handsome face distorted, perhaps shocked by what I said, but I didn’t mind. I was annoyed! “Thanks to you, I had to keep going back and forth between the ladies. They were talking about how I stole the Duke’s heart for two. Hours. In. A. Row. Oh, how polite I am!”

“You were listening to them? You should’ve just hit them with the soles of your shoes like you usually do.”

“—I will not be doing something so uneducated ever again.”

Sylvester snorted. “I guess the sun will rise in the west.”

I got more frustrated. I didn’t think I’d be able to do as Sylvester wished. “Didn’t you see the Prince’s reaction earlier?”

“What reaction?

“The reaction that screamed ‘I hate it and I don’t know what to do with it’!”

“He always has that expression. Your presence is the main cause of his struggle.”

“You know that, but you’re still asking me to seduce him?”

Sylvester came a step closer to me. “You can do it, you.” He gently took my hair that had flowed down in front of my shoulders and tucked it behind my ears. “Because you’re the most beautiful woman on the continent.” The moon was visible behind him and the illumination of the pouring moonlight surrounded him, making him shine amid the darkness of the night. I tried to suppress my pounding heart and persistent thoughts. His face was dangerous.

“That’s enough,” I said after pushing his hand away.

“You’re pretty but your temper is the worst.”

“An unexpectedly, you’re narcissistic.”

“It would’ve been perfect if you just kept your mouth shut.”

“Huh?” 

Sylvester snorted as if he was full of energy. I ignored it and came to my senses, looking straight into Sylvester’s eyes. “Fine, let’s do this.”

Sylvester was desperately against divorce and there was nothing I could do about it, so there was only one way I could attain my goal. “I will seduce the Crown Prince.”

As Sylvester said, I had to seduce the Crown Prince over to my side, then I would get the divorce. Besides, if I brought Callian over to my side, I would be able to prevent any unwanted situations that would appear in the future. It was a plan that produced nothing but good results if done well.

‘But Callian hates me.’

So I had to plan how to seduce him. 

‘And I need to be careful of Sylvester.’

Sylvester was a highly cunning character worthy of the title ‘villain’, so I couldn’t afford to be relaxed. 

‘This won’t be easy.’

“How about…” I started, lifting my chin, “you give me money every time His Majesty expresses his liking to me. 10 gold coins for a letter and 20 gold coins for a bouquet. What do you think?”

“What?”

“Wouldn’t I need money to live a leisurely life after a divorce?”

Sylvester opened his mouth, but closed it back, choosing to keep silent. He seemed to be processing my words.

He eventually broke the silence, saying, “You are a very unusual person.” He put his hand inside his pocket and took something out to give to me.  “I’ll make a downpayment first.”

I looked down and saw gold—the gold coins bearing the imperial seal on it. One was worth about 50 ordinary gold coins. With 50 of these special gold coins, you could keep spending money and eat nonstop for five months.

My eyes sparkled. “I’ll receive it with gratitude.”

‘Hehe’

I hurriedly put the gold coins in my pocket. 

Sylvester turned around after he saw me as if he was about to go back into the hall until he stopped and looked back at me. “Do you know what they say in the back alleys of Ryzen Castle?”

“What?”

“You have to do as much as you get.”

“…”

“Or that’s off with your wrist.” Sylvester raised the corners of his mouth. “Just wanted to let you know.”

I raised my middle finger quietly instead of answering. (T/n: LMAO OPHELIA.) 

‘Screw you.’