“Now that Laila knows about Marlboro’s status… and now, if only Ellen knows the truth…”
Philip, who was muttering to himself, picked up his pen again with a hopeful look.
‘If Marlboro returns to its place according to His Majesty’s plan, it’s over. Then I’ll tell Ellen everything I haven’t told her and restore our relationship.’
(This is a time separator.)
Domingo greeted me respectfully with two pieces of news when I came back home after faithfully finishing work today.
First, the professional appraiser will come in three days. They are the most trusted in the industry, so I should dispose of all the artwork.
This time, I plan to get rid of even the dresses I don’t wear. It’s a chance for quite a large sum of money to come in, so I was secretly looking forward to it.
Second, the number of attendees and budget for Laila’s party were finalized.
The day of the party was a month later. A week before our divorce?
The number of attendees was much less than those who were invited, but there was no helping it, given Ellen’s past deeds.
“Here is the list of attendees.”
As they were names I didn’t know, I replied vaguely while looking at the list.
“Good, you’ve worked hard.”
“And, the master has ordered you to fit a new dress.”
“……Huh?”
Is Philip sane? I know the financial state of the domain all too well.
When I was still, Domingo carefully watched my reaction.
“Er, Madam? Why are you like this?”
“Is the Count ill?”
“Yes?”
“Did he hurt his head?”
Startled, Domingo took out a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
“He’s healthy.”
“Then why order a new dress?”
“He wishes for you and the young lady to stand out most as it is a rare hosting.”
I waved my hands.
“Enough. Stop it. I’ll wear an existing dress.”
“But, Madam.”
“Didn’t I say it’s enough? If you’re going to fit something, just fit Laila’s dress. Pay more attention to not lacking in guest hospitality.”
After dismissing Domingo, I had the maids organize my dresses.
The maids brought all my dresses and showed them to me. I pointed to the right and left with my fingertips.
“The right ones are the dresses to wear, the left ones are the dresses not to wear.”
My maids moved quickly at my instruction.
“And the back ones are dresses to give to Laila.”
At my final instruction, the maids’ footsteps stopped.
“Yes? For the young lady?”
“I can hand down the ones I’ve never worn, right?”
The maids who looked at each other soon bowed their heads.
“Yes, of course.”
“Then, move quickly.”
I merely flicked my fingers and sorted the dresses to organize, but that was fine until I realized it couldn’t all be done in a day.
My dresses numbered over a thousand. The shoes were as many as the dresses.
‘What is this, the epitome of luxury?’
I tried to suppress my expression, but the more I saw, the more my mouth opened.
I didn’t understand why Ellen bought so many dresses. Moreover, there were many dresses she never wore.
‘It’ll be outdated and I won’t be able to wear it.’
But I soon realized I was wrong.
Although Ellen was extravagant, the dresses were still very beautiful, even though a considerable time had passed since purchasing. The preservation status and quality were impeccable.
‘Wow.’
At this point, I had to admire her taste.
‘Could it be that the villainess had quite a taste for dresses and art?’
The more she looked at the dresses, the more refined Ellen seemed to be.
After a whole day’s effort, she managed to sort out the dresses. But then she had to worry again. There were too many dresses that she had chosen to wear.
She had no choice but to choose, and choose, and choose again.
“…….”
But there were still 200 dresses that she had left to wear.
‘This is no joke.’
It was not cheap clothes sold in the market but expensive dresses, and there were 200 left after all the choosing.
At this point, it was surprising that Philip had not gone bankrupt yet.
‘Wow, I’m really into it.’
She just wanted to tell the maids to arbitrarily classify them or sell them all.
‘But it’s not just a penny or two, is it?’
Once started, there was no choice. She wanted to cry but had to continue sorting.
With a short judgement, she gauged the design of the dresses, the purchase price, the time of manufacture, and the value if resold.
It took two full days to categorize everything that way.
And on the morning of the third day when the professional appraiser was to come, she called Laila and had her choose a dress she liked.
“These dresses are given to me?”
“I’ve never worn them, and I picked something that might suit you. Feel free to take whatever you like.”
“I can take them all?”
“Yes.”
At my permission, Laila cautiously looked at the dresses. Then she came close to me, visibly moved.
“Madam, thank you. They are so beautiful.”
Her eyes sparkled so much that it seemed fitting to give her a hug.
“I’m glad you like it.”
I reached out my arms slightly.
‘Would you like to hug as a sign that we are close?’
Laila, who had slightly clenched her hands, jumped into my arms without hesitation. Her round and cute shoulders fit perfectly into my arms.
‘Wow, she really hugged me.’
The feeling that a death flag had been perfectly removed was quite gratifying.
“Wow, I’m just amazed by Madam’s sense.”
Laila ended up taking all the dresses I picked. She seemed genuinely pleased with them all.
After noticeably emptying the crowded dress room, Mildred came in.
“Madam, the professional appraiser has visited.”
I took the storeroom key, the purchase record book, and the record book of the previous buyers’ appraisal results and headed to the reception room.
In the reception room, a middleaged woman with a blue suit, round glasses, and neatly pulledback gray hair was waiting for me.
“Nice to meet you, Madam. I am Clona Hasena.”
As she saw me, she put down the teacup in her hand, stood up, and politely bowed. Deep wrinkles marked her smiling eyes.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ellen Morris. I’ve been waiting for you.”
I greeted her politely, even though I was thinking of using informal language, as she seemed to be about my mother’s age.
She said she had forty years of experience as an appraiser.
The person was calm, and the experience was masterful, so I trusted and liked her.
I took Mildred, Domingo, two maids, and Clona to the goods storeroom and opened the door.
“Then, please take care of it.”
At the signal to start work, Clona looked inside.
“Oh. Madam personally saw and purchased all of these?”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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