I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
‘Damn it, if I had been late, it would have been a big problem.’
There was a sense of accomplishment in leaving the mansion, bearing the burden of meeting with the debt collector.
If I don’t shut my mouth now, the Empress might realize the reality of the situation.
Who is the Empress?
She was the hidden figure of this empire, still a person who decided policies alongside the emperor.
‘Just a moment, deciding policies? Hidden figure?’
That means having valuable information.
He never even dreamed of being someone in the clouds.
Now, sitting in front of the Baron was someone who had a close relationship with the Empress.
It was to the extent that she received an amulet that the Empress cherished.
“……!!”
Just a little bit of information would do.
Just getting information about the upcoming policies or where they are developing-.
‘I can pay off all my debts and become wealthy!’
Not only that, but it would also be good to line up for the high-ranking nobles.
‘They say the gambling done by the high-ranking nobles is on another level.’
In such places, even a little bit could earn a tremendous amount, right?
The Baron swallowed his saliva.
That guy he saw earlier, Viscount Leron, grabbed him and demanded money.
He felt good imagining pouring gold coins on Viscount’s face.
No, he should scatter the gold coins on the ground and then kneel and pick them up.
‘I can also get revenge on the masked guy.’
Thinking of the bizarre guy who recently made him lose and took all his property, the Baron gritted his teeth.
“Baron?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
With a smile full of courtesy, the Baron looked at Lottie.
“Is something wrong?”
“Uh, no, I guess you misunderstood.”
The Baron tilted his head at Lottie’s question.
“By the way, Your Highness.”
The Baron leaned towards Lottie.
“I’ve heard that you’ve been close to Her Majesty the Good Empress lately.”
“Um.”
Lottie’s face brightened.
“She’s been taking care of me since I lost my memory. She gave me this too.”
Lottie held the amulet as if it were precious.
“She told me many stories. About policies, history, and stories from the streets. I don’t understand most of it, but.”
As expected!
The Baron’s eyes twinkled.
He felt like the Empress was comfortable enough to confide in her because she thought she wouldn’t understand anyway.
“I see, what stories did she tell you?”
“Um, can I tell you?”
“If something happened before, you often told me about it.”
The Baron patted his chest.
“I, Leold Dean, will never disclose the secrets told by Her Highness the Princess. Isn’t ten years of proof enough?”
The Baron laughed brightly. It was a smile full of affection to anyone who saw it.
“I love talking to Her Highness Princess Lottie. Will you please speak a little for me?”
“Really?”
He’s not interested in her information.
He just wants to talk to her.
Lottie’s face brightened at the words filled with affection.
Her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks flushed.
“Then only the Baron should know. Her Majesty the Empress said not to tell anyone else.”
For a moment, her pupils swayed back and forth before she whispered the secret.
“Her Majesty the Empress said she would soon raise the tariffs on Benthian tobacco leaves.”
“……!!!”
It was tremendous information from the beginning.
Benthian tobacco leaves were the most preferred imported product among the nobles.
If the tariffs on such products suddenly increased, the prices would skyrocket for sure.
‘I have to buy them all!’
He needed to buy all the leaves available on the market and even those owned by other nobles.
He was sure that he could make a tremendous profit by monopolizing them for a while and then quietly releasing them into the market.
‘No, buying them all won’t be enough!’
Because the quarantine was strictly enforced.
The Benthian tobacco leaves coming in through regular channels were always in small quantities.
Even if he bought all the leaves available on the market, it wouldn’t be much.
Then…
The Baron’s mind began to spin rapidly.
The words he heard at the gambling den, the harbor, dawn…
“Hehehe.”
This was a jackpot.
The Baron laughed out loud, even revealing his gums.
“Baron?”
“Ah, no. Your Highness. But I have an urgent, urgent matter to attend to.”
With a thud, the Baron quickly stood up, causing the chair to make a loud noise as it fell backward.
“In that case, I’ll take my leave. Until next time.”
“Um, yes. Safe travels, Baron.”
She stared at him with wide eyes, but he didn’t have time to pay attention to that.
He was now a wealthy man!
* * *
“That bastard is going to be fleeced now.”
I got out of bed and stretched my arms.
Ugh, moving at the level of that idiot made my mind and body feel stiff.
“Did he leave?”
Betty, who had pretended to be absent for a while as I requested, peeked her face out.
“Yeah, he’s gone.”
“Really gone.”
Betty blinked a couple of times in surprise, as if amazed, then came quietly to my side.
“Lady Lottie”
“Yeah, ask away.”
“How did you know I wanted to ask?”
Betty’s eyes widened. Did she really not know?
“If you have something on your mind, you always come to me quietly, don’t you?”
You did the same last time and the time before that.
At my words, Betty’s eyes widened in surprise as she said, ‘Really?’
“No, that’s not it. If Baron Dean embezzled Lady Lottie’s money.”
“Yeah.”
“Can’t we just tell His Majesty the Emperor or the Good Empress? They’ll take care of it if we tell them, won’t they?”
“No, we can’t.”
I replied shortly.
“If we report it now, all of Baron Dean’s money will go back to the state treasury.”
I was the victim who was robbed, but all of Baron Dean’s money would go into the state treasury.
Of course, I would receive some compensation, but it would be minimal.
And then they would tell me to watch and learn?
Absolutely not.
Everything had to be done effectively.
“Betty, we’re going to catch three birds with one stone.”
“Three birds?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded and extended three fingers.
“Money, and…”
One finger folded.
“Valuable medicine, and…”
Another finger folded.
“Now, only one thing left.”
“The Emperor’s trust.”
Now was the perfect time.
Let’s go, to meet the Emperor!!
* * *
His head hurts.
Aaron Pandelion.
The Emperor of this country had cleared his headache with a casual gesture.
No, it would be more accurate to say he concealed it with familiarity.
It had been a headache that had persisted for ten years since he saw the child left in the rain.
“Aaron.”
But he couldn’t prevent hallucinations from occurring on top of his auditory hallucinations.
Stopping his steps in the corridor, the Emperor turned his gaze to the illusion.
It was a sight he could only see now.
She, with her silver hair shining in the sunlight, her jewel-like pink eyes twinkling brightly as she smiled.
Walking beside him was her, still young.
She held his hand, blushing in embarrassment.
One day, she, who unilaterally decided to break up, suddenly disappeared.
And…
[Your child.]
She had left behind a child who was too young for her age.
She had left, claiming that the five-year-old child was her child. Her 26-year-old lover left him a 5-year-old child and said.
[I can’t raise her anymore. Please raise her by your side. Don’t send her away, stay by her side, please.]
Was it telling him to keep thinking about her, who left the child behind?
The Emperor tightly closed his eyes.
“It’s not the Princess!!”
“Although she has indigo hair, it’s not certain, Your Majesty.”
Even the child who appeared in the rain couldn’t remember anything except her age and the name Lottie.
Although there was a suggestion to conduct a paternity test, it couldn’t be done.
“Ahh!”
The child’s body was too weak.
Even with a little mana injection, the child would collapse as it was.
But he couldn’t ignore it.
How could he ignore it when the child looked at him with eyes resembling hers?
“You don’t need to adopt her as a princess. Just let her eat well and grow up well in a good place.”
“His Majesty the Emperor already has two children with Her Majesty the Empress. Please make a wise choice!”
“You show such affection only to her, without speaking to Prince Leonard and Princess Stella! Are you considering her as the next Empress?!”
The nobles fiercely opposed it.
In particular, Marquis Floyd, the Empress’ steward, asked this.
Unless it was from the legitimate bloodline of the Emperor and Empress, he wouldn’t acknowledge it as a royal family member.
The Emperor knew.
Sending this child away would be more beneficial to him than keeping her in the palace.
In the Pandelion Empire, no illegitimate child has ever been acknowledged.
He cannot be in debt to the Empress.
I can’t give in to Marquis Floyd.
“It is my child.”
Still, he would admit it.
“Lottie is my child.”
He had known it all from the moment he first saw the child.
‘Is her body getting healthier?’
Since the opposition had grown stronger, he could only watch from a distance.
If other nobles found out that he cherished the child, they would immediately send assassins.
‘She seems to be getting bigger, but then again, maybe not.’
Though ignorant about the child, even the Emperor thought her growth was slow.
Sometimes he would secretly leave herbs and food by the garden, but the Emperor was always anxious.
He hoped she would grow up quickly and be healthy.
But what if she disappeared like her?
His heart was torn.
Recently, a small war that had been dragging on for years had ended.
During the cleanup, while the Emperor had briefly left, the assassination attempt on the Empress occurred.
The Emperor had returned, but he was the head of the empire.
He couldn’t get out of it easily either.
‘So I was also looking for evidence to clear your name.’
Could he clear her name and walk out of prison?
“Your Majesty?”
“No.”
Ignoring the chamberlain’s question, the Emperor resumed walking.
To others, it would seem like he was just taking a moment to enjoy the garden in the nice weather.
“So how’s the search for smugglers going?”
The question from the Emperor was promptly answered by the Royal Knight Commander standing to his left.
“It’s been difficult. It seems there are many hiding them, so we’ll need more time.”
“We must eradicate them this time. Capture all smugglers, their collaborators, and those associated with them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And as for the illegal gambling dens-.”
The Emperor stopped walking again.
The chamberlain and the Knight Commander briefly looked at each other before noticing the girl standing across the corridor.
A girl with the Emperor’s indigo hair and the pink eyes of a long-lost lover.
It was Lottie.
“Hello, Your Majesty.”
Lottie curtsied gracefully, then subtly tightened her grip on the hem of her dress.
Wrinkles appeared on the Emperor’s forehead.
A sharp headache returned, almost causing him to go deaf.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ve come to ask a favor.”
A favor? Hmm, a favor?
Lottie rolled her pink eyes as if she didn’t like the word she had just used.
The Emperor suddenly had a thought.
“No, I’ve come to negotiate.”
The word changed, but the situation remained the same.
“Princess.”
“I’ll help you catch the smugglers.”
The Emperor, as well as the chamberlain and the Knight Commander, were surprised.
As if expecting that reaction, Lottie’s smile deepened.
“But once we clean up the smugglers, grant me one wish.”
Simple, right?