Ch. 50
The Young Master I Carefully Raised Became ObsessiveThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Notes
TL's: It's me again, hihi. If you're loving this novel, give it a review and comment down! ~
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
TL's: It's me again, hihi. If you're loving this novel, give it a review and comment down! ~
“Laila!”
“Hello. How have you been?”
“I’ve been good. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
The fruit shop owner greeted me warmly. She handed me an apple that she was selling.
“I’ve got a new variety this time. It tastes great.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, thanks to you delivering those apples back then, the palace has officially started sourcing its apples from me.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Are you still serving as a personal maid? Speaking of which, I heard something about the crown prince being accused of a crime.” The fruit shop owner seemed to know all the rumors.
I slowly bit into the apple.
“If you look closely, it’s all the crown prince’s fault. He’ll be clearing up the misunderstanding soon.”
Right now, what Ardion was working on seemed to involve this very thing. First, he was provoking Jonok and Rowell to bring the Duke Orchid incident to the surface, then he seemed to be planning to reveal all the crimes Rowell had committed.
“Oh, have you heard about the Duke Orchid incident?” I asked, feigning curiosity.
The shop owner’s eyes lit up as if she had been waiting for this topic. “I’ve heard about it. It was a huge scandal, wasn’t it? Everyone in the market knows about it now, especially with all the attention it’s been getting in the newspaper.”
“Has it spread that fast?”
“It does around here. All the rumors spread quickly.”
“So now, no one is unaware of the Duke Orchid incident?”
“I didn’t know much about it before, but when I heard about it, it seemed the people who died there were all wronged. I still don’t understand why they had to die…”
“Yeah…”
“Also, I heard that the case ended so quickly without anyone really knowing the reason. The families of the servants are the only ones who have suffered. It seems like the crown prince’s recent actions have been making people uneasy.”
I nodded strongly.
The shop owner quickly added, “Even though the crown prince has been treating the people from the border poorly and hasn’t been kind to those already with livelihoods, there’s still something suspicious about it.”
“That’s true. All the rewards have been going to the nobles.”
“Exactly. Of course, there’s no problem with someone like Ardion, who’s been wiping out the monsters in the frontier and receiving praise for it. But the issue is when nobles who haven’t done much are given such big rewards.”
I nodded.
It seemed that Rowell hadn’t been thinking about the common people. Just as the shop owner had said, all the rewards likely went to the nobles.
The shopkeeper waved her hand at a fly buzzing around and grabbed a dusting cloth to wipe down the area around the fruit. “By the way, we’ve formed a merchants' association recently.”
“A merchants' association?”
She nodded. It seemed like she was taking it for granted, indifferent to the idea. “Didn’t you notice how much cleaner the street has become? It’s all because we manage it ourselves now. We handle things autonomously, and we make sure our rights are protected.”
“Wasn’t there a merchants' association before?”
“There wasn’t. But now that people are returning from the frontier, and since the palace isn’t treating the common people well, we’ve set it up. Everyone’s interested in the Duke Orchid case, so if it goes to retrial, we’ll support it.”
“Can I help too?”
“Of course. They’re distributing petitions for the retrial at the court. I’ve already signed one. We common folks need to act somehow.”
I was a little surprised. I had thought that people’s attention was only gathered through the newspaper, but it seemed like they were already distributing petitions at the court.
It seemed that the common people were really displeased with Rowell’s reign.
“By the way, Laila, if you're not serving the prince anymore, I can help you find a job.”
“A job?”
“I hear there are plenty of jobs in the border regions now. They’re building new buildings, and the empire is also planning to build cities, so if you’re interested, let me know.”
“I’m fine. Thank you for the offer.”
The shop owner nodded. She finished wiping the area around the fruits and turned back to look at me. “How was the apple?”
I smiled as I looked at the apple I had already finished. “It was delicious. It definitely tasted different because it’s a new variety.”
“Right? Lately, people are looking for more expensive apples, so we’ve started bringing in these varieties.”
Just then, a carriage stopped in front of the fruit shop. The shopkeeper looked up, startled. The carriage looked like it belonged to a prominent noble family.
The black carriage with sturdy wheels and no family crest still radiated an aura of nobility.
The carriage door opened, and as the person stepped out, I couldn’t help but cover my mouth in surprise.
Even Derol, who had been hiding in my pocket, peeked out and squeaked. “Is it… No, it’s Ardion!”
I quickly glanced at the shopkeeper to see if I had made a mistake, but she seemed enchanted by Ardion’s appearance and couldn’t take her eyes off him. In fact, her eyes were even wider than before.
But soon, she smiled brightly and stood beside Ardion. “Are you looking for fruit?”
Her tone was much more polite than when she spoke with me—soft and sweet, and a distinctly merchant-like attitude.
Definitely a merchant.
She had clearly been in business here for a long time. Ardion walked directly over to me, and the shopkeeper glanced at me in surprise.
I quickly said, “Your Highness, this is near the palace. If any palace guard sees…”
Suddenly, Ardion grabbed my hand gently. His touch was incredibly soft.
I looked up in surprise, and Ardion gave a smile that could make anyone fall for him. It was as though light was radiating from him.
“It’s fine. But I told you to stay at the mansion because it’s still dangerous.” His voice was slightly lower than usual, almost like he was scolding me, as he looked me up and down.
I muttered softly, “I just couldn’t help it. I was curious about what was going on outside while being stuck in the room…”
“…”
Ardion didn’t respond but simply stared at me. His green eyes were darker than usual. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had done something wrong.
Although he had told me to stay at the mansion because he was worried, I knew my body better than anyone.
I murmured an excuse in a small voice. “Still, it’s probably less dangerous than staying with you, Your Highness. Even if you say it’s okay, this is still near the palace.”
“Laila, are you worried I’ll get caught?” Ardion emphasized the word ‘worried’.
I was sometimes embarrassed whenever Ardion got obsessed with something strange. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.
While I was silent, I heard a cough out of nowhere.
When I turned around, the fruit shop owner was smiling awkwardly. She was even looking at me curiously.
Only then did I realize that we had been whispering to each other without thinking about the fruit shop owner.
It must have seemed quite strange to her. Moreover, Ardion was dressed as a nobleman right now, and I was clearly a commoner.
The fruit shop owner looked at us two, twiddling her fingers here and there, and tilted her head. “Maybe Your Grace’s…”
Before the shop owner could finish speaking, I spoke first. “He’s my precious little brother!”
I grabbed Ardion’s arm tightly. He frowned in disbelief and looked at me. I shook my head slightly. It was a silent gesture telling him to stay quiet for now.
Fortunately, Ardion turned his head absentmindedly.
“Your dear little brother? Then, this carriage…”
“Oh, my little brother once wanted to wear clothes like a nobleman and ride in a carriage, so I paid for it with the money I saved.”
The shop owner’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Laila, is that the salary of a prince’s personal maid?”
I nodded quickly.
“I guess it’s pretty good because it’s the palace.”
“Well, come to think of it, the cooks who work at the palace seem to get paid quite a bit. Even the people who deliver goods get paid a lot.”
“Yes, the palace is definitely rich and powerful. I guess that’s why people want to work at the palace,” I said with a smile. Fortunately, the fruit shop owner didn’t suspect Ardion anymore.
However, she looked at Ardion and said in admiration, “But your younger brother is quite handsome. If he were a nobleman, wouldn’t he have made a name for himself in high society?
“Even so, there must be a lot of people who stare at him when he goes out on the street.”
Ardion’s gaze was focused on me. He whispered softly in my ear, “So, you care?”
I looked back in surprise. Ardion looked at me with a leisurely smile. I quickly turned my head.
The store owner snickered when our eyes met. “Now that I think about it, you two seem to go well together!”
“Hey, he’s just my younger brother, my dear little brother.” I laughed out of embarrassment.
At that moment, Ardion grabbed my hand. My face stiffened. As I looked at the hand wrapped around mine, I heard Ardion’s voice from above.
“Well, she does care about me, her younger brother, so she holds my hand and—”
I covered Ardion’s mouth. Ardion stared at me without showing any sign of surprise.
I quickly took my hand away from his mouth, then almost grabbed his arm and dragged him away. “Okay, goodbye. We’re leaving.”
“Yeah, yeah, be careful. Be sure to come back later to buy some fruit.”
“Of course!”
I immediately got on the carriage with Ardion. As soon as the carriage door closed completely, I said to Ardion, “Your Highness, why did you say something like that there?”
“Something like that? What did I say?” Ardion smiled.
“And you even held my hand…”
At that moment, I stopped talking. I felt embarrassed when I tried to say something, and I couldn’t get used to this situation.
Ardion came up next to me. “Why don’t you say that we’ve kissed too?”