“Bolonico, I was surprised. I rarely get surprised, right?”
“Surprised, really surprised.”
“Bolonico, I’m certain. There’s something about the Peliesse.”
“Something in the Peliesse. Something in the Peliesse.”
“Bolonico, I’m about to seek an audience with His Majesty the Emperor. Would you like to come along, Duke Compagni?”
Duke Compagni was startled twice: first by the news that the Abandoned Emperor had personally brought the new bride home, and then by the rare interest twinkling in Prince Bolonico’s face.
‘There’s something about the Peliesse.’
The Emperor’s sudden decision to give a Peliesse woman as a bride to the Abandoned Emperor.
The reason why the royal family insisted on bringing a Peliesse woman to the Black Mansion, even after being deceived by Garett Peliesse.
The reason why the irritable Bolonico, who had not been appointed Crown Prince despite being 23, was rushing to the Emperor to report the Peliesse bride’s admission by the Abandoned Emperor.
It was suspiciously evident.
‘There really is something about the Peliesse.’
Something significant enough to intrigue the nutcracker-like Bolonico!
Duke Garett Peliesse had been spending sleepless nights in his laboratory for several days.
Even though he couldn’t immediately receive ‘special’ guests in the next room, there were still lucrative opportunities at hand.
“Yuan Peliesse. Do you think I, Garett Peliesse, would just collapse without you?”
He gritted his teeth, thinking of Yuan, who had not sent even a single letter.
This laboratory, handed down from generation to generation, was a treasure trove of wisdom, more valuable than the grand library of the Academy.
With a mere reach, he could access research materials filled with the wisdom of his ancestors.
Unfortunately, Garett Peliesse lacked the expertise to understand such specialized materials. He focused instead on manufacturing medicines and commercializing them for delivery to merchant guilds.
Although this move had sometimes drawn criticism in academic circles, accusing the Peliesse of straying from the noble path of medicine to that of merchants, Garett Peliesse saw it as mere envy.
He had enhanced the Peliesse fortune through commercialized medicines and special treatments for particular clients.
He was a worthy head of this great family.
With a groundless confidence built over 10 years, Garett Peliesse didn’t believe the absence of Yuan’s abilities would immediately bring him to ruin.
“Why isn’t this working when I followed the instructions exactly?”
This realization dawned on him only after noticing that the medicines he was supposed to deliver were all far from normal.
Looking at the new products that Yuan had been developing, the Count became irritated. The color of what Yuan had previously made differed from what he had just produced.
It was a simple fever medicine recipe developed during his father’s time, the previous Count Peliesse. It was popular for being sweet and effective without side effects.
“Ptui! Ptui!!”
The color wasn’t the only difference. The taste was horribly bitter, and strange granules were felt while chewing.
Garett Peliesse then remembered Yuan’s voice, flashing through his mind, remarking that the proportions seemed off and rewriting the prescription.
“Damn it! I can’t remember anything correctly!”
Naturally, he had been overly dependent on Yuan Peliesse.
“Prisilla! Prisilla!!”
As the delivery date approached, he hurriedly sought his wife to check the ledgers.
He had been planning to divert some of the less important medicines intended for lesser families to more influential ones.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Regina. You’re just in time. What do we do about this?”
Regina approached her mother, who looked noticeably more haggard than usual, with a start.
“You’re good with numbers, help your mother out.”
“What?”
Prisilla nervously unfolded the ledger she had been clutching.
The ledger, which maintained a neat handwriting up to the middle, became a mess with scribbles and gaps towards the end.
“What is this?”
“The ledger!”
Prisilla whispered very softly.
“Your father was looking for it to check something, and I got in trouble because I hadn’t organized it in advance!”
“Why didn’t you take care of this earlier, Mom? If you keep postponing it…”
Regina’s eyes widened as she alternated her gaze between the bundle of documents and the ledger handed over by Prisilla.
She was shocked to see the household finances noticeably dwindled in just a few days.
“Why are the earnings like this?”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
