Recently, Viscount Dier’s greatest joy in life was giving treats to Ruatisha.

He came to the sanctuary regularly on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Every time, Viscount Dier would buy treats from a famous dessert shop and give them as gifts to Ruatisha.

Today is Tuesday.

As soon as the meeting was over, Viscount Dier headed to Ruatisha’s room.

His hands were full of treats, the weight of happiness.

He imagined the youngest miss enjoying the treats and couldn’t help but hum a tune.

That’s when it happened.

Kurrrung.

At the sound of the low explosion, Viscount Dier stopped in his tracks and looked out the window.

Someone approached him and spoke.

“Ah, I thought it was thunder again. It seems that Lord Ixion is training.”

It was Allen, one of the butlers at Phaeraton Palace.

Viscount Dier nodded his head.

“Yes, I can see the direction is towards Lord Ixion’s training ground.”

“Recently, Lord Ixion has been training tirelessly.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, once he goes to the training ground, he stays there for a long time. Perhaps it’s because His Excellency has returned?”

“Maybe there is a difference between His Excellency’s presence and absence.”

Viscount Dier nodded his head and walked on again.

“Are you going to see the youngest miss today as well?”

Allen asked, gesturing towards the dessert shop bag hanging from Viscount Dier’s hand.

“Yes. Today’s dessert is a cherry-filled foret noire! She’ll want to eat it right away just by looking at it!”

“Haha, the young miss will surely love it.”

“Well then! I’m doing this to see that reaction. Sometimes she greets me like a pure child with sparkling eyes, and other times she’s on high alert with her fur standing on end… Sometimes I feel like she’s looking at a crazy kidnapper.”

“Yes….”

Is it a good thing? Allen tilted his head.

“It’s really exciting. I wonder what kind of reaction she’ll have today!”

Seeing Viscount Dier bouncing with excitement, Allen took a step back.

“Will you eat in the room or should I set up a tea table in the greenhouse?”

“Hmm, that’s a tough one. Both the young miss eating in the room and the young miss eating in the greenhouse are cute… Which one is better?”

“Haha, I don’t know. If that’s the standard, wouldn’t it be better for the young miss to try the one she hasn’t been to?”

“That’s a great idea! Which one would be better?”

“Well, since the youngest miss likes flowers, the garden… Oh, but it’ll be difficult in the winter.”

“If it’s flowers, how about the greenhouse? But she’s been there often… Come to think of it, isn’t there a heated gazebo in the east garden?”

“Oh, you’re right. As expected of Lord Viscount Dier. The heated gazebo is a pride of Phaeraton Palace, so the young miss will surely like it!”

“Then prepare it there.”

“Yes, understood.”

Viscount Dier hurried his steps.

He was already happy at the thought of spending a pleasant time with the young lady in the gazebo.

And what kind of reaction would she have today!

He definitely wanted to see her greet him with a big smile!

“I’m going to eat it! I’m going to eat it!”

“Miss, let me have some too—.”

“Wow! It’s cake!”

As expected, the young miss greeted him with a big smile.

The young lady was fascinated by the gazebo and enjoyed the foret noire very much.

Viscount Dier was happy.

But happiness was always short-lived, and the time to part ways quickly arrived.

“Viscount Dier, where is Ixion?”

The youngest lady as, getting up after eating the foret noire.

Without any hesitation, Viscount Dier replied, “

He should be at the training ground.”

“Yeah, thanks! Bye-bye! Bring more next time!”

“Yes, bye-bye!”

Viscount Dier waved his hand and smiled.

* * *

“That’s yesterday’s news.”

Viscount Dier said.

Amidst the silence, Dad spoke.

“Bring that bastard here.”

Allen denied the accusation, but it was a futile gesture.

Soon, evidence of his contract with the Dark Guild was revealed.

Kwakwak!

In the moment when the black magician attacked Allen, a gentle hand covered my eyes.

“Shh.”

A tender voice echoed in my ear.

It was Ares.

“Your Excellency, Ruru is amazed.”

“…First, confine him to the Ice Thorn Tower. We’ll deal with the newspapers later. I’ll handle it personally.”

As soon as Dad spoke, the hand that had been covering my eyes slowly withdrew.

I saw Allen being dragged away, bound by Ares’ fingers.

Dad turned around and hugged me tightly.

“There you go, it’s all thanks to our youngest miss that we were able to apprehend the culprit so quickly!”

“Even though you must have been scared, you remained calm and handled the situation. You’re truly amazing, miss!”

Amongst the chaos, there was one person causing the most commotion.

“Miss, our youngest miss…! She trusted me!”

It was Viscount Dier.

“I was the most suspicious person! I was the one who thought of the gazebo! I suggested it to you! I even said that the young master would be at the training ground!”

Viscount Dier approached me, tears streaming down his face.

He looked deeply troubled.

Father held me tighly, as though protecting me from Viscount Dier, while Ares stood in front of him.

“But it was you, miss! You asked me who the culprit was!”

Father, he’s scary…

“Because you believed in me, everyone did!”

No, not at all.

“That’s right! Because the two of us, you and I, shared exciting snack times together! Love and trust overflowed!”

It was a statement that destroyed even the nonexistent love and trust.

“Take him away.”

“Yes.”

“Miiiiiiss! I love youuuuuu!”

As he was dragged away by Father’s command, Viscount Dier shouted his love for me as if it were his last words.

“I felt it from the first moment I saw him, but it seems his sanity truly is not intact.”

The reason I suspected someone other than Viscount Dier was simple.

‘He may not be on his right mind, but he’s not stupid.’

The last person I met before being kidnapped was Viscount Dier.

Whether the abduction succeeded or failed, it meant that he couldn’t escape suspicion.

Especially if it failed, he would be immediately pointed at as the culprit based on my testimony.

Besides, Viscount Dier was there when I received back the fortune that the former Marquis of Tarenka had taken from me.

He’s seen everything I’ve done to the former Marquis, did they think I would be foolish enough fall for shallow tricks?

That’s only possible if they’re as foolish as my uncle.

Then it happened.

With a chime, the window began to pop up one after another.

[You have completed the quest ?Avenging Magpie (1)?.]

[Since the quest has ended, penalties will be reapplied.]

[5000 cash lottery tickets will be given as a reward.]

[Linked Quest ?Avenging Magpie (2)? has arrived.]

[You cleared the quest in the shortest time possible, one hour after it was issued!]

[Additional rewards will be given!]

[The Duke of Phaeraton is proud of you!]

[Ares is amazed by your reasoning skills!]

[Viscount Dier feels love, gratitude, admiration, and loyalty towards you!]

[Viscount Dier’s loyalty is at its maximum!]

[The Duke of Phaeraton’s vassals will see you again.]

[The employees of the Duke of Phaeraton are in awe of you.]

[You showed the dignity of a noblewoman from Phaeraton! Your reputation echoes throughout Phaeraton!]

[Your influence within the Phaeraton family has greatly increased!]

[As your influence grows, you can receive special benefits?Try drawing up 20,000 cash lottery tickets now!]

‘Wow….’

There were so many notifications that it was overwhelming to read them all.

But among them, there was a message that caught my eye.

‘It’s 20,000 cash lottery tickets….’

Awesome.

Of course, it’s a lottery ticket, so I’ll have to be lucky.

…I suddenly feel uneasy?

‘Oh, right, there was that!’

The potion of good luck!

I received it as an additional reward for properly confiscating the property of the former Marquis of Tarenka before.

‘I see it.’

The sight of me after getting 20,000 cash lottery tickets!

I was so eager to draw it quickly that I bounced on the bed.

* * *

“Miss, the young master has instructed us not to let anyone in his room.”

“But you said the same thing earlier.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I want to say thank you. I was saved by Ixion.”

“The young master also knows that you are grateful. Please go back now.”

I looked at the aide who bowed his head and turned around helplessly.

I stopped by Ixion’s room on the way back to my room from the conference room, wanting to draw the cash right away.

But foolish Ixion wouldn’t even open the door.

‘What’s wrong…’

Earlier, I went to see Ixion before going to the conference room, but it was the same then.

‘I thought we were getting closer.’

Was I the only one who thought that?

Sigh.

“Haha, the third young master seems to like you a lot, Miss.”

“That’s right. I was surprised when he suddenly came to see you yesterday.”

“Did you feel like you were in danger?”

My sisters who were watching me carefully next to me comforted me.

I wanted to act bright even if it was just because of that, but my heart wasn’t in it.

“What’s the point. He won’t even open the door.”

I could feel my sisters being embarrassed by my sulky reaction.

I felt sorry for that too, so I walked heavily.

It’s all because of the penalty.

I keep acting like a child and sulking.

“I want to be alone. Everyone, get out.”

As soon as I entered my room, I collapsed on the bed.

“But Miss, if you’re alone…”

“I’m in my room!”

“Still…”

“I understand, Miss. I’ll be waiting, so please call me if you need anything.”

“…Okay.”

Anna went out with the other sisters.

This isn’t right.

I should have said ‘thank you’ instead of ‘okay’ at the end.

I should tell my sisters that I’m not angry with them.

But my childish heart was venting again, hitting the bed with a thump.

“Ixion, you fool! Stupid! Idiot! Bastard!”

…But why is ‘idiot’ a swear word?

“Ugh…”

I flipped over and lay on my back, looking up at the ceiling.

“My status.”

[Loading…]

Ruatisha L Phaeraton – The Contractor of Aphthanes

Trait ?Rush and Cash?

Trait Rank: F

Summoned Novel –

Extracted Abilities 0/5

Applied Abilities –

Penalty ?Sour Cider?

Quests in Progress
1. ?The Path of a Good Reader (1)?,
2. ?My Fortune Never Stops (1)?,
3. ?You Must First Manage Your Household (1)?,
4. ?????* Opens after completing prerequisite quests,
5. ?Avenging Magpie (2)?

View Completed Quests ?

Available Cash
6100 cash /
3000 cash lottery ticket,
5000 cash lottery ticket,
20000 cash lottery ticket

Owned Item ?Potion of Luck?

?You Must First Manage Your Household (1)? still hasn’t been completed.

It means that Ixion doesn’t recognize me as family.

“…….”

It wasn’t a big deal before, but now my heart stings.

“You bad guy. Naughty kid.”

What’s wrong with accepting me as family?

“It’s not my fault that I don’t have magic.”

Sniff.

Tears welled up in my eyes from the sadness.

If this was going to be the case, why did he bother rescuing me at all?

‘No, I’m grateful for being rescued.’

Ugh, if Ixion hadn’t rescued me, I would have been in big trouble.

‘Let’s stay strong!’

I clenched both fists.

‘I have so many cash lottery tickets!’

A 3000 cash lottery ticket, a 5000 lottery lottery ticket, and even one that’s worth 20,000 cash lottery ticket!

Of course, if they all give out only 100 cash, I’m screwed.

But I have the Potion of Luck!

I touched the ?Potion of Luck? in my status window.

A description appeared.

?Potion of Luck?

This potion originated in Britan, circulating around once a year, bringing luck to those who receive it…

‘What is this?’

The scent of a familiar letter came from the strange potion.

‘I-Is it really okay to read it all? It’s telling us to make seven identical potions and circulate them, right?’

I was a little uneasy, but I continued reading the description.

The potion that has been transferred to you now will give you luck as a reward.

— Effect: After consumption, luck will increase in all draws for one hour.

‘Ooh!’

That was scary for no reason.

I was surprised.

[Would you like to use ?Potion of Luck??]

I hesitated for a moment.

Wouldn’t it be better to complete more quests and collect more lottery tickets before using it?

‘But if I do that, I might hit rock bottom in life.’

If the quest ends without being recognized as family by Ixion, I’ll be screwed.

‘I saved it and it went bad.’

“I’ll use it!”

As soon as I replied, a new window appeared.

Inside it was a green potion.

It looked like a picture, but when I reached out to touch it, I caught it.

‘How interesting.’

I removed the cap of the potion bottle.

There was no hesitation.

I took the potion in one shot.

‘Wow! This taste is…!’

It was mint chocolate!

Just by tasting it, I felt like luck was going up.

Oh, by the way. Who doesn’t like mint chocolate?

Bam!

Now, it’s gone, right?

Mint chocolate is truly the taste of luck!

“Hooray! 20,000 cash!”

I shouted confidently.

[Using 20,000 cash lottery ticket.]

With a notification, a familiar roulette appeared.

The devil was shaking his hand, but even that looked cute today.

The roulette started spinning round and round.

[Congratulations!]

[You won 20,000 cash!]

“20,000 cash?!”

Even when I looked again in surprise, there were still four balls!

I did it!

I made it happen!

I spun the remaining lottery tickets with this momentum.

[Using 5000 cash lottery ticket.]

[Using 3000 cash lottery ticket.]

[You won 3,500 cash!]

[You won 2,000 cash!!]

It was a little disappointing that I didn’t get 5,000 cash or 3,000 cash, but it was still a satisfying result.

— Current cash: 31,600 cash

Just looking at it made me feel full.

“Okay, I can summon one novel with this.”

I took out Architus from the drawer.

[Would you like to use cash to summon a novel?]

“Yes.”

[Please tell us the ?novel? you want to summon.]

There was no need to hesitate.

Since I didn’t know what Ixion was thinking right now, I needed to check his ?favorability rating.?

“?The Time-Limited Villainess Who Doesn’t Want to Be Loved.?”

[Summoning the novel ?The Time-Limited Villainess Who Doesn’t Want to Be Loved? with cash.]

[Using the attribute ?Rush and Cash? to extract the abilities of the heroine in the novel.]

Zzzzz.

As the book shone, letters began to be engraved.

And from that book, five gems came out.

It was the same sight as before.

[One ability can be used at the current level.]

[Please choose one of the extracted abilities.]

‘Great! Since the luck increases in all draws, it should be the same here too!’

I believe in the Potion of Luck!

It’s the reward!

I reached out confidently.

And.

[You have selected the ability ?Cough Cough, Bleurgh!?]

Huh? What?