CH 59

“I’ll use a vacation day tomorrow, no, I’m taking a day off!”

It was a sudden and contextless change of topic.

Even though she had been absent from work yesterday without notice, Ophelia seemed full of determination to take a day off tomorrow.

Richard answered like he was familiar with her incoherent words.

“I’ll tell you whether it’s okay or not depending on the reason.”

“I’m going to get sick!”

Richard responded at once to her very confident and shameless answer.

“No.”

“Oh, why! It hurts!”

“Didn’t you say you’re going to be sick?”

“No, it hurts… it doesn’t work.”

Ophelia grumbled, but as if she had a good idea, she shouted confidently.

“I’m meeting a guy tomorrow! It’s an introduction! It has the potential to have a huge impact on my future…”

She stopped talking, her throat choked.

This was because Richard had come right up to her nose before she knew it, peering at her and asking her in a low voice, like it was ringing in a deep well.

“The real reason?”

Blue eyes widened as they met those shimmering golden eyes that took her breath away.

“Ophelia.”

At the low call, Ophelia spewed out the truth unconsciously without even blinking an eye.

“The truth is, I’m going to visit the brewery with a secret fund investment plan.”

Richard tilted his head at that.

“Brewery?”

He asked again, but no answer came back. Ophelia was rapidly blinking her eyes and exhaling the breath she had been holding back.

Just now… what was it?

What?

Swaying in those golden eyes…

“…lia. Ophelia.”

“What, yes?”

“I asked what kind of brewery it was.”

“Yesterday, an invitation came from Lord Sheffield. So I asked Catherine, and she said that Lord Sheffield manages it as a hobby, and the return on investment is very good…”

“Lord Sheffield?”

A slight crack appeared between Richard’s forehead.

She said he was a man who would have a great influence on her future, and she actually found a place where secret funds could be invested in.

‘If it’s Lord Sheffield.’

All that remained was a faint memory of an encounter a long time ago.

“Your Highness. You must do well in child farming.”

Richard uttered as the face of Marquis Sheffield flashed by.

“Don’t meet Lord Sheffield.”

“What?”

“If you meet him… No.”

“No, the owner of the brewery is…”

This time there was a crack between Ophelia’s eyebrows.

“You don’t think I’m aiming for Lord Sheffield, do you?”

“Didn’t you say that he is a man who will have a great influence on the future?”

“That’s because the funds will have a huge impact on my future! I’m not interested in Lord Sheffield as much as an ant’s tears!”

For some reason, Richard’s face softened as he looked down at the woman screaming her feelings of unjust. 

Ophelia pounded her chest and cried out loud.

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to touch the Marquisate of Sheffield, the greatest ally of the imperial family!”

Richard opened his mouth at that, but immediately closed it.

The words ‘It’s not such a problem’ only lingered in his mouth.

Taking a deep breath, Ophelia asked with a tired face.

“Can I take the day off tomorrow? I really really won’t touch Lord Sheffield. I will practice social distancing with him.”

“Social distancing?”

“Oh, it’s going to be this far away.”

Ophelia took four steps away from Richard and pointed out the distance between them.

At that, Richard nodded his head.

“Good.”

“Yes! I can say for sure that I am not interested in Lord Sheffield in the slightest! No, I am not interested in the Sheffield family in the least, as much as the weight of a dragonfly’s wings!”

Richard narrowed his eyes.

“Say it right.”

“Yes?”

“Are you not interested in Lord Sheffield, or are you not interested in the Sheffield family?”

In fact, Richard wouldn’t blink an eye even if Ophelia controlled the Sheffield family.

It didn’t matter at all if she swallowed the entire Sheffield family.

What mattered to him was…

“Isn’t that what it is?”

Ophelia was confused, but gave an answer.

“I’m not interested in either. The Sheffield family or the lord. What kind of interest would I have towards a person whom I’ve never seen the face of before?”

“If you see his face, you might be interested.”

“You’re being too much. Aren’t you too wary of me messing with the Marquisate of Sheffield?”

—Then I’m going to pay attention! Such words didn’t come out even as a joke.

The Marquisate of Sheffield was not a stone that could be picked up while passing by.

It was too burdensome to say ‘I’ll do it!’ just because of opposition.

She shook her hand hard.

“Whether I’ve seen his face or not! Whether I’ve heard about him before or not! I’m absolutely not interested. In the first place, right now, my nose is… No, anyway, in this regression situation, how can I care about love and relationships?”

“Why isn’t that possible again?”

“Of course, even if I harass him or have a scorching love, all that time could disappear from the other person with just one regression.”

“Then it’s okay if the other person doesn’t forget either.”

“Of course.”

Ophelia nodded her head in a manner that was like she was asking why he was saying something so obvious. So she didn’t see it.

What shimmered in Richard’s golden eyes shook a little more and then sank.

“No matter what I say, love now is just a headache. I’m pretty much running away if someone expresses interest in me or whatever.”

And how his pupils sank to the very depths at her words.

“More than that, what’s the point of all this? Whether I’m interested or not, Lord Sheffield won’t be interested in me at all.”

Wasn’t this like pouring kimchi soup into a bowl when you weren’t even sure if you would be given rice cakes?

(TL/N: ‘Don’t drink kimchi soup thinking that someone will give you rice cake’ is the Korean equivalent of ‘Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.’ Rice cake is traditionally served with kimchi soup to avoid choking and help digestion, thus when eating kimchi soup, rice cake is expected next.)

When Ophelia thought of that, her mouth suddenly became very dry.

“Ah, yes.”

“Yes?”

“If Lord Sheffield shows interest, we’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

After saying that, Richard smiled, his eyes curved.

And for some reason, behind that smile, flowing life could be felt, and Ophelia’s eyelashes fluttered like hummingbird wings.

But Richard gave no explanation. Instead, he provided Ophelia the answer she had initially hoped for.

“I will grant you a vacation. My aide.”

.

Time flew like a shot arrow, and it was now the morning of Ophelia’s vacation.

After sending a carriage to Ophelia, Lawrence faced an unexpected headache.

“More?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you say they were all dead?”

“The locusts at that time were all dead. These are the new ones.”

“Are you serious?”

“First of all, it doesn’t seem like there are too many of them. It wouldn’t be very nice to let the guest see them.”

“I just have to show the parts without locusts.”

“What a scam.”

“No, we don’t usually have problems with locusts? It’s a scam if I don’t show what it’s usually like.”

At Lawrence’s flowing explanation, the general manager of the brewery blinked and vaguely nodded.

“Oh, it does sound logical… huh?”

“Yes, that’s right. So, blockade the area where the locusts are at, and then–”

“–You mean, catch them.”

“And find out what the cause is.”

“Is there any other cause of a locust infestation besides food?”

“Just wondering.”

Lawrence’s smile grew a little tighter.

“Someone might have artificially released it.”

“Oh, I see… I see.”

The festival was right around the corner, who would dare to touch the brewery under the hand of the next Marquis of Sheffield…

To be able to deliver the alcohol the family handled during the festival, even if it was staking the name of Neir instead of Sheffield, he wouldn’t be able to even identify a family that was blinded by greed enough to play pranks like this.

Lawrence clicked his tongue briefly.

“Anyway, humans. If they’re blinded by greed, they’re bound to stick their hand in it, even if it’s a pit of fire.”

What about Lady Bolsheik that he would face today?

The person of destiny that Catherine found.

Who once went around talking about being with the crown prince.

His Highness the Crown Prince.

Who wouldn’t call him ‘the fateful one’?

Recalling those golden eyes he had met a long time ago, Lawrence stiffened his neck from tension.

He felt as if he was falling endlessly into an abyss of unknown depth.

He couldn’t even remember what they talked about at the time.

After that, he had several chances to meet thanks to the Sheffield’s name.

Lawrence realized.

—This is not someone I could dare judge.

Grasping the logistics flown throughout the empire overnight without exaggeration was just the beginning.

In a matter of days, he became so strong that he didn’t need escorts, and besides that, he did inexplicable things all by himself.

In a sense, indeed…

Well, if the person he would serve as a marquis in the future was such a terribly scary person, then the empire shouldn’t worry.

“Anyway, are the preparations going well? It should look very good to the guest who we will be serving soon.”

Then, the general manager of the brewery answered with a smile.

“Didn’t you tell me to do it as usual?”

“Of course I did, but did you do it after understanding everything I said?”

“Oh, what do you think I did?”

Lawrence, who chatted in a friendly manner for a while, lowered his voice as he grabbed the general manager’s thick shoulder.

“If things go well today, she will invest heavily in the brewery.”

The shoulders of the general manager that was concentrating on Lawrence’s lowered voice shook greatly.

Ame: There’s a new announcement, which you might want to check out.

When in doubt, the culprit is Neir. Always Neir.

…I’m not the only one who laughed and cried at the same time when Ophelia didn’t even see Richard as a potential love interest right!?

Dea: She’s still in denial, i’m sure she’ll come around soon