I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 55
CHAPTER 55
“Will she come today?”
A glance.
The man holding a long-stemmed champagne glass glanced towards the door.
“Who is it?”
“The second princess.”
“Ah.”
The people with him nodded lightly.
With an air of nonchalance, the man raised his voice slightly.
“No, do you still believe whether the rumors are true?”
“Do you still believe in that, so naive.”
A middle-aged man openly chuckled.
“Honestly, isn’t it an exaggerated rumor at first glance? How could the ‘second princess’ be involved with smugglers and illegal gambling dens?”
The emphasis was on the second princess.
And no one present didn’t understand its significance.
“That’s right.”
Clank, clank.
“Honestly, how could that second princess get involved in such things? Just meeting one thug would make her collapse in fear.”
“Honestly, at first, I had doubts… but now, I don’t even have doubts.”
A middle-aged man laughed, showing it.
“That’s exactly the second princess.”
Dirty blood, incompetence, illegitimate child, and disgrace to the royal family.
The second princess seemed like a collection of dirty and disgusting words that could come out of the shining Pandelion royal family.
Revealing his yellow teeth, the middle-aged man spoke again.
“Honestly, we’ve benefited greatly from her. Didn’t His Majesty the Empreror retreat a lot because of her?”
It was a fact.
Originally, the Pandelion royal family did not recognize illegitimate children.
Especially illegitimate children whose mothers were unknown were even less likely to be acknowledged.
It was a taboo, almost a tradition.
“His Majesty the Empreror broke that tradition.”
All it took was one letter to break it and pass on the Pandelion name to a child whose identity was unknown.
The mold had been broken.
The all-powerful imperial authority, which had been strong without a crack, showed signs of weakening.
And the anti-emperor nobles were not ones to miss such an opportunity.
Wasn’t politics inherently a filthy game?
“We benefited greatly from reducing the alcohol tax at that time….”
The middle-aged man stuck out his tongue and licked his lips. His eyes flickered with the glory of the past.
“We did too. Thanks to His Majesty the Empreror’s generous concession, we were able to make a fortune.”
Instead of making a fortune, they scraped together money by the handful.
“Ah, I wonder if such days will come again.”
Someone sighed.
The cunning emperor had been gradually reversing what he had conceded over a decade.
Thanks to that, the gold coins flowing into the nobles’ pockets were gradually decreasing.
“If we wait a little longer, they might even start interfering with the taxes collected from the estates.”
“Tch, in other countries, even if they collect ten times as much, no one would say anything.”
“His Majesty the Emperor doesn’t even know that squeezing the commoners is where the money comes from… Tsk.”
“That’s right.”
Another voice naturally interjected.
It was Marquis Floyd and his son, Eben Floyd.
“Marquis.”
The nobles quickly bowed their heads.
The Marquis greeted them with a smile as if it were natural.
“You were talking about something, and it turns out you were speaking the truth.”
The Marquis nodded lightly.
“His Majesty the Emperor wants laws for the commoners… but honestly, does that make sense?”
“….”
“As Count Letton said, we need to pressure the commoners to make money.”
It’s a bit pitiful, but.
Saying so, the Marquis laughed as he toyed with the ring bearing the family crest.
“That’s because commoners were born to be like that.”
At the Marquis’ statement, the smiles on the lips of the nobles present grew deeper.
Not all the nobles shared the same thoughts.
But at least the nobles present shared the same thoughts as the Marquis.
“Marquis.”
The middle-aged man who had been called Count Letton stepped forward, rubbing his palms together.
“Please speak well to His Majesty the Emperor. If it’s Lord Marquis’ words, won’t he listen?”
Twist.
At Count Letton’s words, the corners of the Marquis’ eyes twitched.
“…I’ll try to do that.”
“Ah, as expected of Marquis! We will only trust you. We’ve been uneasy lately.”
“Uneasy?”
“Isn’t Duke Marcus coming back?”
Duke Marcus, at the mention of that name, the Marquis frowned.
If Marquis Floyd was the leader of the noble faction.
Then Duke Marcus was the leader of the imperial faction.
For the Marquis, he was like a thorn, and for the nobles, he was someone they wanted to avoid.
“Even Duke Marcus’s son, the Little Duke, is said to be coming back in good health.”
“Ah, I’ve heard that news too. It’s a congratulatory occasion.”
What’s there to congratulate?
It would have been better if he had just died.
Why is luck so bad for him?
The Marquis cursed inwardly.
“At any rate, don’t worry too much. Do you think I would just stand by and watch you suffer losses?”
“As expected of the Marquis.”
The nobles who had gathered brightened their eyes.
“In that case, we will only trust Marquis.”
After exchanging pleasantries, the nobles dispersed to the ballroom.
Left alone with his son, the Marquis sighed.
Although he had asserted that he would speak to the Emperor, he had no reason to comply.
“Why should I fulfill that request, Marquis?”
“Your Grace, please look at this brother…….”
“You always ask too much of me, relying on blood ties.”
“….”
“Dear brother, please, don’t forget that I am a member of the royal family.”
It was a firm refusal.
‘Damn it!’
The Marquis tightened his grip on his cane.
‘How dare someone obsessed with power act as if they were born into the royal family just because they’re standing next to the Emperor!’
Born of the same bloodline.
The Marquis trembled with rage.
If the current emperor had been a woman like the previous emperor, he would have been the one carrying the title of imperial family!
Not someone who sacrifices even his family for his power!
‘Just you wait.’
He will elevate either Leonard or Stella to the throne, the one who gets along best with me.
And beside them, he will establish his children.
If his brother and his children become nobles, it’s as good as himself being a royalty.
‘That’s the only way to elevate my lineage.’
The Marquis always wanted to become royalty.
The only lineage on the continent that ruled the strongest and oldest empire.
He wanted to be a part of it.
However, he was born into the Marquis Floyd’s family, not bad, but a lineage with unquenchable desires.
So, he made a plan.
He planned to marry his power-hungry brother and have his children, as well as his grandchildren, marry into noble families.
Then he would be in the ranks of the nobility himself.
‘But…’
His well-thought-out plan started to falter one day.
Aside from the constant interference from Duke Marcus, everything was going smoothly until one day.
His brother, suddenly turned his back on him, but the biggest problem was Lottie Pandelion.
‘I made a move even with the orc horde, but I can’t handle this.’
They had received reports that the orc horde had been led to the tower as planned, but since then, they had received no news. The orc horde and monster hunters had disappeared suddenly as if it were all an illusion.
“Father.”
Eben Floyd, the heir to the Floyd family, called out to his father.
“Calm down, Father, many eyes are watching.”
“Right.”
The Marquis quickly regained his composure and looked at his son.
“So, Eben, what do you think about the second princess?”
“Suddenly talking about the second princess?”
Eben scratched his head, expecting his father to bring up Duke Marcus, at best.
“Well, I should’ve said something. Dirty, cunning, and gloomy?”
Ah, something clicked in Eben’s mind.
“She likes me.”
“You?”
“Yes, every time we met, she peeked behind the pillars and watched me sneakily.”
It was only a few encounters, but it was enough time to discern the second princess’s sly feelings.
Her eyes, always dead, lit up only when they saw him, blushing brightly.
It still made him nervous.
“That’s right.”
Hmm, the Marquis stroked his chin.
This was an unexpected harvest.
Did the second princess have a favorable impression of his son?
“By the way, father. Milia has been acting strange lately. She said she’d be late today-.”
“More importantly, Eben.”
“Yes?”
“Become friends with the second princess today.”
“What?!”
Eben was shocked. Disgust welled up on his face.
Clamping his mouth shut as if he were about to throw up, he asked.
“Can you tell me why?”
“There’s something you need to learn from the second princess. Milia might be wary of me because of a mistake she made, but you won’t be, will you?”
“…”
“…Anyway, you couldn’t find a partner. Go and dance the first dance with her and strike up a conversation… Next time…”
Suddenly, the Marquis’ words trailed off. The eyes that seemed to be fixed somewhere blinked slowly as if refusing to see what was happening now.
‘What’s going on?’
Even Eben froze as he followed his father’s gaze.
“Ahem.”
The ballroom was buzzing with excitement. The reason was simple.
“Her Highness, the Second Princess, Lottie Pandelion, is entering!”
The Second Princess, who was just enjoying herself moments ago, was making her entrance.
But she looked entirely different from usual.
“Oh my, isn’t that Seamstress Miller’s dress?”
“I heard the seamstress has been working day and night on a dress lately, and that seems to be the one.”
The first thing that caught everyone’s attention was the dress worn by the princess.
It was a dress never seen before, combining white, navy, and gold.
“It matches her navy hair color perfectly. Did she dye her hair to match the dress?”
Dyeing her hair to match the color of her hair!
People were mesmerized by Lottie.
But the attention wasn’t just on the dress.
“Was the Princess always this beautiful?”
Her long hair, resembling the night sky, was delicately adorned.
A diamond necklace adorned her white neck, fully exposed.
Her flawless skin seemed to shine under the lights.
“Goodness, I can’t take my eyes off her.”
“Her first dance partner hasn’t been decided yet, has it?”
“She’s so beautiful, isn’t she? Truly a princess.”
People’s attitudes changed from disdain to admiration, from mockery to awe.
A small commotion arose in the ballroom, and at its center stood Lottie.
‘I want to go home.’
That was all Eben wanted.
Just to go home.
Please, let him go home.