TVEWD 48

The day after the Thorpe Mansion officially became Fresa’s property, news also reached the Guilespie Count’s residence.

Surely Fresa hadn’t meant to buy the Thorpe Mansion.

With the Thorpe family now having lost their home, the others would have to find some way to live on the meager wealth they had scraped together.

“Soon those tiresome leeches will fall away completely,” Rowan muttered after rereading the newspaper article several times and placing it back on the table.

That turned out to be a good thing for him.

He was already tired from the Thorpe family constantly coming to him, begging to borrow money.

Since the mansion had passed into Fresa’s hands, their last holdout had become Fresa’s as well.

It was good for Rowan, but it would undoubtedly be a troublesome situation for Fresa.

If only someone could be by her side right now, it might be easier to win Fresa’s heart.

“I want to meet Fresa soon to have a talk, but Alicia has been so sensitive it’s turning into a problem.”

If Fresa had shown such prowess earlier, he would have married Fresa rather than the humble maid Alicia—and he would only regret it.

“Why have I been living in hiding all this time?”

Ever since Fresa pretended to be dead and returned, she had been behaving like a completely different person.

The more Rowan watched her actions, the more a strange sense of unease grew.

If Fresa had deliberately deceived everyone? What on earth could be the reason?

Why did Fresa quietly accept being ignored by her family and having her fiancé taken by a maid?

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

“I’d like to know the reason.”

To do that, he would need to win Fresa’s heart, but no method came to mind.

In the old days Fresa showered affection even if Rowan did nothing, so this was even more disheartening.

He considered giving expensive jewels or dresses as gifts, but Fresa’s current means were enough to buy the Thorpe Mansion, so that wouldn’t have much effect anyway.

“All of this gives me a headache.”

While Rowan was lost in thoughts about Fresa, Alicia finished her morning wash and entered the bedroom.

She looked at Rowan with moist, clear eyes and smiled, unaware of anything.

“Rowan, let’s go to breakfast.”

“All right.”

Rowan answered dryly without realizing it and stood up.

“Is something wrong? Was there something bad in the newspaper?”

Alicia wouldn’t have missed such a change.

She cautiously grasped Rowan’s hand again, looking worried.

“I’m a little tired, Risha.”

Rowan quickly wrapped his arms around Alicia’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to her forehead to smooth things over.

Even with that warm kiss, Alicia couldn’t shake her lingering suspicion.

She glanced quickly at the table and soon found Fresa’s name on the front page of the newspaper.

There, too, there was the reason Rowan had grown cold toward Alicia.

Alicia naturally pulled away from Rowan’s embrace and said, “Oh, I’ll just go fix my hair for a moment. You go to the dining room first.”

“…All right, come slowly.”

Rowan left the room without any particular suspicion.

As soon as the door closed, Alicia hurried to read the newspaper article.

“Thorpe Mansion… Fresa…”

Her head already hurt from worrying about last time, and now Fresa owning the Thorpe Mansion sent her heart sinking.

Surely she wasn’t thinking of returning to the capital, right?

Alicia could not bear the anxious feeling and gnawed at her nails.

This was all because the foolish Thorpe siblings had failed the plan she had proposed.

If Fresa returned to the Thorpe Mansion and grew closer to Rowan, it would be a disaster.

For some reason, Rowan had clearly fallen for Fresa.

“That must not happen.”

Alicia had been racking her brains for a way to separate Fresa from Rowan for so long that she had forgotten about breakfast.

~·~·* . *^.^* . *·~·~

It had been several days since Fresa, shunning the clingy Thorpe siblings, returned to Paro Village.

Fresa designated Loren as the owner of the manor.

Loren looked extremely surprised and refused many times, but Fresa would not yield, and he eventually accepted.

The tedious feud with the Thorpe family was finally coming to an end, which was a relief, but part of her still worried about the matter with Count and Countess Guilespie.

That Loren had been the one who had framed him last time was Alicia’s plan, after all.

“Alicia is watching me, trying to keep me in check.”

Alicia seemed to genuinely believe that Rowan had turned his heart toward Fresa.

Since she couldn’t attack the man she loves, she likely decided to turn her arrows toward Fresa.

Alicia pretended to be kinder than anyone, but in truth she harbored poison in her heart.

Fresa was the only one who truly understood her.

“If you hadn’t meddled at first, they could have fought or done whatever they wanted, and Fresa wouldn’t have minded.”

But with Alicia interfering, Fresa’s plans were unlikely to go as she wished.

Alicia would surely do whatever it took to get what she wanted, and Rowan’s foolishness only made Fresa’s life harder.

Anyway, those two had been obstacles to Fresa’s path from start to finish.

Fresa picked up the sprayer, thinking of the unwelcome faces of the Guilespie Count and Countess, and sprayed a fine mist over the fresh herbs, letting out a soft sigh.

“Why are you worrying about every little thing again? Everything has gone smoothly.”

Reese, who had been hovering daintily around and savoring the vitality of the plants, swooped over and perched on Fresa’s shoulder.

“There will probably be another issue to deal with soon.”

“What’s the matter? This time I’ll help.”

“Reese, focus on recovery. The fate of this world may depend on it.”

“Hm. Even now you’re all right.”

Reese didn’t look as gloomy as before, but she was still likely worrying about the World Tree.

Fresa shared the same worry.

If this world went wrong, everything she had achieved and the people she cared about could be harmed.

Fresa hoped nothing like that would happen.

By the way, what happened to that black lump?

Fresa thought she should ask Isaac soon, so she moved to the side and watered another herb.

Then Lycaon suddenly stepped forward and looked up at her.

“Resa.”

Chik.

Startled, Fresa sprayed Lycaon’s face with the sprayer.

Lycaon instinctively closed his eyes, but he had to endure all the water that sprayed him in fine droplets.

His handsome face was soaked in an instant.

Fresa hurriedly rubbed his face clean with her apron, apologizing.

“I’m—so sorry. I didn’t mean to shove my face in like that…”

“…It’s all right. It’s nice that the boss let me wash my face; it’s refreshing.”

“I’m sorry.”

Fresa pouted and intentionally scrubbed Lycaon’s face harder.

Soon, the man straightened his back, gently caught her wrist to stop her, and blinked slowly, water-filled lashes glistening as he asked,

“Are you okay now? You’ve been having to stay underground; I came to see you. Is there a lot of work?”

“Just thinking about a few things. Is there anything unusual upstairs?”

“Yes, well. It’s just that there are more people here, so there’s some commotion, but nothing else.”

Certainly, ever since Isaac and Loren became part of the apothecary, the place had become quite crowded.

Lycaon didn’t seem too fond of that.

He seemed to prefer quiet places.

“Seems you’re the center of all the commotion.”

Fresa studied his eyes for a moment before suddenly speaking.

“Mr. Lycaon, do you prefer quiet places?”

“Not particularly; I don’t especially mind quiet places.”

Huh.

Fresa found his answer far from what she had expected.

Her ears felt hot, and she found it awkward to look at Lycaon.

“Good times, good times indeed,” Reese muttered with a click of her tongue as she lay on the herbs.

Fresa quickly averted her gaze and sprayed the sprayer again over the already watered herbs.

Lycaon looked at her face, smiled faintly, and quickly changed the subject.

“If the Thorpe Mansion is sorted out, how about living there? This place could be used only for the apothecary. I can install a magic circle connecting the mansion and the apothecary. Then moving around would be easier.”

Fresa found the idea of a magical bridge between spaces enticing, but she shook her head.

“I don’t really want to go back to the kingdom. There are memories there, but there were also more dreadful things there.”

The Thorpe Mansion was a place Fresa both loved and hated.

There were precious memories with Loren, but it was also a place where she had been tormented by the Thorpe family.

But Loren would manage the mansion better than anyone.

If her beloved siblings grew a little more, they could come up to the capital and live together, so she would not be lonely.

If someone precious appeared, Loren might have a new future there.

So Fresa did not change her mind.

“That mansion will belong entirely to Loren. But could you install the magical circle? It would make Loren’s coming and going easier. Could you do that, please?”

“I had planned that from the start. You don’t need to ask.”

Lycaon smiled as if he had expected Fresa to say that.

Then the urgent footsteps came down the stairs.

“Your Grace, His Majesty the Emperor requests your presence.”

Jed delivered the news quickly even before reaching the bottom of the stairs.

Fresa turned her head toward the stairs to check his face; his complexion was darker than usual.

“Is something happening?”

But it was a matter from another country, and if she went deeper it would involve Lycaon’s family, so Fresa did not press for details.

Lycaon looked at Fresa with a puzzled expression and finally moved his lips.

“…I’ll be right back.”

“Yes, please be careful. And don’t use magic for now.”

Lycaon disappeared behind Jed as soon as Fresa finished speaking.

Fresa glanced once at the stairs where he had disappeared, then at the empty space where he had been, and let out a soft sigh.

~·~·* . *^.^* . *·~·~

Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉

Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

~~~Next Chapter~~~

Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.

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