Chapter 7
Philios Regalo, who had drunk heavily the night before, woke up with a throbbing headache.
With his brows deeply furrowed and his hand pressed to his forehead, that insolent woman’s voice echoed again in his mind.
“Recently, I developed an allergy to ugly men. When one touches me, I get dizzy, short of breath, nauseated… I feel like throwing up. Ugh.“
“Damn it!”
That rotten woman.
He had barely managed to coax her into an engagement with her elegant face and enormous wealth, and now she wanted to break it off over such an absurd reason?
Unforgivable.
The Elemoer Duchy’s assets were more than ten times those of the Regalo family.
“…Besides, the Duke and Duchess of Elemoer are dead now. No matter how highborn the Elemoer girl is, she has no one to back her.”
Yesterday, Etias had suddenly appeared and interrupted things, but those two weren’t especially close…
“No, wait.”
Philios’s eyes gleamed.
“Right, if I spread rumors about the two of them being involved…”
Etias Clyde, the imperial prince, and Lady Elemoer having an affair.
What would happen if the emperor caught wind of that?
A smile crept across Philios Regalo’s lips.
First, he could shatter the emperor’s goodwill toward the Elemoers.
Wasn’t Etias the emperor’s most bothersome thorn?
An Elemoer no longer favored by the emperor’s faction? That was as good as an open vault.
“…No matter how proud that woman is, she’ll come crawling back, saying she was wrong. She’ll beg, throwing money at me, desperate to return to how things were before.”
She had lived her life like she owned the world just because she was lucky enough to be born into the right family.
Unlike himself, who was both artistically gifted and cultured, she was just a stupid, uneducated rich girl.
Imagining that mouth—once used to insult him—pleading for forgiveness made Philios grin from ear to ear.
Soon, he got up from bed, dressed simply, stretched, and called for his servant.
He needed to find out how much it would cost to bribe the newspapers.
But the servant who answered looked deathly pale, clutching a newspaper as he ran in.
“Y-Young Master! There’s an article in today’s paper…”
“Hah. What now?”
Annoyed, Philios snatched the newspaper the servant hurriedly handed over and glanced at the front page.
[Shocking Private Life of Viscount Philios Regalo Revealed! His Fiancée Catrin Elemoer Faints from the Shock!]
“W-What is this?!”
Philios’s eyes flew wide at the article that took up half the front page.
An anonymous source, Ms. A, exposed Viscount Philios Regalo’s shocking sexual preferences, stating, “No one on Earth could tolerate his tastes. It’s truly disgusting.”
Additionally, Ms. B agreed, saying, “All the artworks he claimed to have created are actually forgeries. He hired painters and sculptors under the pretense of sponsorship and published the works under his name more than once. He’s a disgrace to the art world.”
“W-Who dared to fabricate this…?!”
His face turned bright red.
Sure, his preferences might be a bit unique, but they weren’t disgusting.
And those works by unknown artists… he sponsored them—so they were basically his!
This slander could not be forgiven.
“I need to go to that newspaper office right now—no, a different one. Obviously, these people were bribed by that witch Catrin Elemoer!”
As Philios seethed and moved to storm out, the servant stepped in his way.
“Th-The thing is, Young Master… the other newspapers too…”
Philios took the other papers from the servant’s trembling hands.
[Philios Regalo is the Ultimate Liar. Nothing from His Mouth Is Worth Anything.]
[Catrin Elemoer, the Black Rose of Elemoer. Her Evil Image Was All Part of Philios Regalo’s Scheme?]
[Exclusive Joint Interview: Women A, B, C, and D Claim to Be Philios Regalo’s Lovers!]
[Philios Regalo! Truly Ugly!]
“Aaaaaagh…! No way…!!”
One by one, the newspapers slipped from Philios’s hands to the floor.
His complexion, once red, now turned a sickly blue as he clutched his head.
Catrin Elemoer—she may have been nasty, but she wasn’t vicious. She wasn’t cunning or clever.
He had approached her because he believed he could rise above her.
But now, that belief was crumbling before his eyes.
“PHILIOS!”
A loud roar echoed from downstairs in the mansion.
The Marquess of Regalo. His father.
“You bastard, what the hell have you been doing outside?!”
“You are truly amazing, my lady.”
Heros looked at me with a proud and gentle gaze, letting out a word of admiration.
“Well, fights are always won by those with money and power.”
What Philios had been planning was obvious. He intended to link me and Etias together to cause a scandal.
That’s why I had to crush someone like Philios before he could even make a move.
“To have bought off every newspaper and left no room for a rebuttal… I’m deeply moved by your thoroughness, my lady.”
Besides, about 80% of the tips we gave the newspapers were true anyway.
Philios was trash. So let’s just say the remaining 20% of lies are punishment in place of divine judgment.
“Your skill in eliminating enemies truly befits the rightful heir of House Elemoer.”
Heros looked at me with deep, meaningful eyes. Even this guy was a hundred times better looking than Philios.
“You did well too. Going in and out of the newspaper offices all night.”
Heros lowered his head deeply as he responded.
“…It’s nothing. I’m simply grateful to be able to serve you, my lady. I will continue to obey and follow you like a dog.”
‘Like a dog, though…’
I gave him a vague smile.
‘Anyway, now that I’ve gotten rid of that annoying Philios, I’ll soon have to deal with someone even more bothersome.’
The one who introduced that piece of garbage to me—my greedy uncle, Padelmon Elemoer.
Ever since my father’s funeral, he’s been salivating over my inheritance like a hungry beast.
He even bribed a judge and placed what’s essentially a seizure order on part of the inheritance, so Padelmon is someone I absolutely have to crush.
‘Anyway… I wonder what my Etias is up to right now?’
I turned on my watch and selected Etias’s information.
HP: ♥♥♥♥♥♡♡♡♡♡
Still five hearts. Though he appeared dignified and handsome on the outside, he was standing at the edge of collapse due to all the hardship he had endured.
His hands were rough, unfitting for someone of his status, and he hadn’t been able to eat properly like an adult man, so his nutrition must’ve been poor too.
‘At times like this, what I should be doing is obviously…’
“My lady! A new dress has arrived from the Feloire shop!”
Just then, a maid’s voice rang out from outside.
The Feloire shop was the most popular dress shop in all of Oswell right now.
“Looks like my push paid off. It arrived exactly on time.”
At Heros’s comment, I nodded.
The first dress I ordered before the duke and duchess’s funeral had been completed in a week, but Catrin had repeatedly rejected it. She didn’t like the lace, wanted the waist taken in more—no, let out again, and so on.
After seven revisions, the dress was finally completed to perfectly match her taste.
“…”
The door opened, and a mannequin wearing a red dress was brought into the room.
An elegant and stunning dress that revealed one shoulder with a hint of seductive beauty.
It was so beautiful it made my mouth hang open unconsciously.
‘You’ve got great taste in dresses, so why was your taste in men such a disaster?’
Thinking of Philios’s red, flustered face, I reached out and touched the lace of the dress.
The fabric and the design—top tier. I was absolutely pleased.
‘Is this my first ball since I possessed this body?’
My heart was beating a little faster.
‘Etias will come too… right?’
“Hey, Heros. About our orphanage project.”
I glanced back at Heros standing behind me and smiled wickedly.
