Chapter 49

The reason DinDin came here was simple.

The moment he regained his memory, he couldn’t hold back anymore.

“……”

Laura was at the scene.

But her eyes were tightly closed.

She had been supervising until the very end, and once things were more or less settled, she had fallen asleep on a blanket, tucked into a corner of the tent used as a warehouse.

Instead of grandeur, exhaustion draped her, and it was almost pitiful.

DinDin couldn’t suppress the words rising within him.

“Hey, sis, where did you sell the promise you made to me? Did you pawn it off as collateral and can’t use it now?”

“……”

“You said throwing away this kind of money wouldn’t be a big deal. You’re the one who said you were crazy about gold and had loads of it.”

“……”

“If you needed money, I would’ve scraped the bottom of the warehouse, that’s me.”

He knew why Laura hadn’t asked him for help.

She must have thought that, with her memory lost, she was no different from the people who called her a villain, so she wouldn’t expect any help from him.

“Really, so suspicious.”

Thinking about how Laura must have suffered on her own, DinDin couldn’t help but laugh.

“She’s cute, though.”

The reason DinDin was drawn to Laura was simple.

When he was a novice merchant with nothing to his name, it was Laura who reached out a hand to him.

[Giving money to a pitiful person is called charity, but giving money to a promising person is called an investment, they say?]

[Remember, today, I didn’t donate, I invested.]

There was another reason, too.

Wherever Laura went, gold seemed to explode.

‘Someone who is loved by gold more than me… that’s cool…’

Laura was worth following.

But now, she was here, sleeping like this.

In such a pitiful state.

DinDin beckoned Haru, the deputy manager, with a wave.

“What is it? Again?”

Haru, knowing that he was about to be sent on an errand, reluctantly approached.

“Go and bring a blanket.”

“The one you used, Master?”

“Not that ragged thing.”

True to his love for gold, DinDin was extremely frugal even with his own belongings.

“Why? Are you going to sell it?”

Only then did Haru notice Laura and say, “What are you going to get for a blanket?”

“Then why… are you offering it as a customer service? Well, you did buy a lot of sugar for her. That alone could bring in quite a bit of money…”

“Why would I charge for the sugar I used to hire people? I’m not crazy about money.”

“What?”

To hear such words from DinDin? Unbelievable.

“Shouldn’t you be careful with such words, Master? When others begged you to find sugar, you sold it at double the price, claiming there was no stock…”

The saying that salt and sugar could cure illnesses made people rush to hoard those items.

While salt was controlled by the royal family and didn’t see a price spike, luxury items like sugar weren’t so regulated.

DinDin took advantage of that and sold sugar for ten times its usual price.

“That’s a different matter.”

“Are you really crazy? Seriously?”

Haru, dumbfounded, still brought the blanket.

“Now, shut up and leave. If she wakes up, you’re dead.”

“Wow…”

Without a word, Haru mouthed a few times before leaving.

DinDin covered Laura with the blanket.

He had no intention of waking her up or making a show of having come and gone.

‘Isn’t it also an investment to endure losses in order to win someone’s heart?’

DinDin was confident.

His investments had never failed.

Meanwhile, Asel was on top of the castle wall. The moment he saw Laura returning, he immediately ran down.

“You’re back.”

“Did you come out to meet me?”

Laura looked up at Asel in surprise.

“How could I not wait?”

He had sent someone to their doom.

Laura, who had been silently staring at Asel, asked,

“You don’t look well. Did you have an uncomfortable bed?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Young Lady.”

In truth, Laura’s words were right.

He hadn’t slept well, fearing that Laura might return as a corpse or that he wouldn’t even get to see that.

‘I thought ‘I’m going’ would be her last words.’

Of course, this was Asel’s personal issue.

While Laura was away, he wanted to pretend nothing had happened, but it left him feeling awkward.

In reality, he wanted to be at the scene.

No, he wanted to go in her place.

But he knew that as the crown prince, his presence would only cause chaos throughout the empire, so he had held back.

The wait had been long, and he was grateful and impressed that Laura had returned safely.

“You must have had a hard time.”

However, not knowing how to properly commend her, he just muttered a few words and fell into silence.

“So, will you pay me a bonus?”

“Of course. I’ll immediately call the treasurer and make sure it’s provided.”

“Finally, you’re speaking sense.”

Laura smiled brightly.

“After the contract ends, make sure I get enough to live comfortably.”

Even though she clearly knew how to make him feel guilty, Laura purposely shifted the focus to money, trying to distract from the real issue.

Despite knowing what was in her heart, Asel felt his heart pound at her words.

‘Do we really need to end the contract…?’

At that moment…

• A fragment of memory returns.

Along with an incomprehensible message, forgotten memories returned.

[To be honest, I would personally like to maintain my engagement with His Highness.]

[To leave the Marquis family and become independent, I need another guardian…]

[Sadly, many are interested in exploiting my abilities as a spirit master… and those who have the ability but lack the strength to protect themselves are often taken advantage of.]

Memories that Asel didn’t even know when he had forgotten them quickly settled into his mind.

[There is one way to avoid an annulment.]

[You could seduce His Highness.]

The face of the woman, which had always appeared blurry, suddenly came into focus.

“I have something to say.”

Asel realized what he needed to say.

“I don’t want to end this contract.”

“……”

“Would you officially court me? I’m asking if you’ll become my true Crown Princess.”

Laura widened her eyes in shock, unable to say a word.

Asel bitterly smiled.

Now, there was no denying it.

He couldn’t hide the fact that he liked this woman.

The situation was one where even the most direct approach had failed.

After some contemplation, I called Esha to the Leweiz mansion.

“So what’s the conclusion?”

Esha, who had been listening to me until the tea grew cold, asked.

“Do you want to reject the Crown Prince?”

“No… That’s not it.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t trust him.”

Esha slammed her palm on the table.

“What, is His Highness cheating?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Originally, Asel was supposed to be with Seraphina.

Although I twisted and broke the original plot, that fact could not be denied.

Because of that, I started to think:

‘Am I the one taking the love that should have gone to Seraphina?’

After knowing all the facts, I couldn’t help but wonder if Asel’s feelings would change. Would he think I had deceived him?

I like Asel. That’s true.

Since I read this world in print, he was always the male lead, and even when I fell into this world, it was still the same.

Even though I disliked Laura, I tried my best to maintain boundaries.

‘But that was kindness because I thought of her as Laura.’

What Asel would do after learning the truth was uncertain.

“Didn’t you go on a date? How was the atmosphere back then?”

“A date? What His Highness and I had was an inspection.”

After staring at me for a while, Esha clicked her tongue.

“Is this what they call self-inflicted?”

For a moment, she paused.

“At this point, just break it off. That fool will figure something out.”

Esha, with her cryptic words, chuckled and quickly changed the topic.

“By the way, isn’t it great that the plague situation got resolved? When the princess said she brought a cure, I thought she was going to make a big splash. I was nervous thinking she’d actually do something, but then you solved the issue first…”

Esha excitedly explained how Princess Marien was humiliated in the square, but then I interrupted her.

“Cure?”

That was the first time I’d heard of this.

“What, didn’t they make the cure to keep the princess in check?”

“No?”

I didn’t even know what Marien was doing in the imperial palace.

The infected area had been completely isolated from other villages, so no news had come in from the outside.

“His Highness must have a long way to go. To never have received even a hint of jealousy…”

Esha clicked her tongue and suddenly crossed her arms.

“By the way, was there really a problem with that well?”

“Hmm?”

“One of the princess’s maidservants said that you put something in the well to spread the plague or something. When I asked if there was any evidence, she shut up immediately. It’s always the same with the masters and their servants, I don’t know why…”

Esha seemed to think it was just a simple misunderstanding, but…

“That maidservant spread such rumors?”

Cholera bacteria can occur naturally. If the water is stagnant and the weather is warm, it’s bound to happen.

‘But to think that the rumor was spread saying I was the one who spread it…’

“By the way, where did the princess get the cure from?”

“I don’t know. She said she made it herself…”

“How could someone who’s been locked in the guest room do that?”

“Right?”

The guest room Marien had was spacious enough for one person but wasn’t suited for experiments.

It wasn’t a sterilized space, and the temperature wasn’t consistently regulated.

More importantly, Marien had no knowledge of such things.

So how could she develop a cure overnight?

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

People seemed to think of Marien’s cure development as nothing more than a quack’s boast, but I had a different thought.

‘Marien must have known from the start that this disease would spread.’