After 10 minutes, Dalia realized her mistake.
‘It’s boring……’
It can’t be fun to simply thread beads.
‘I’m here to play.…..’
When she asked the employees at the villa, they all suggested this, but she didn’t know why they chose this.
Dalia looked at the boy and the girl sitting to her left and right.
Everyone is working hard.
But Dalia knows that no one dares to make it obvious that they didn’t like it when a noble girl was sitting beside them.
What should she do? Why did the employees recommend this?
Dalia thought for a while and finally realized why. She was so delighted and called the children.
“Umm…….”
“Yes?”
“Yes!”
The two of them raised their heads with military discipline.
Dalia looked at the two alternately and said,
“Beads that you thread like this are in fashion these days and you can make it as dress decorations at the boutiques.”
The two tilted their heads, unaware of Dalia’s intentions.
“So this……maybe you can take it to the boutiques and sell it. Because there’s also the cost of the beads……maybe one dillon for every 30 beads.”
“R, really?”
“Yes, I’ll leave everything that I brought today. Let’s work hard together.”
The reason why the employees recommended this.
It was because it could be sold immediately later, there is also some left over.
It was then that the children’s eyes showed true enthusiasm. The speed at which the beads were threaded was different. Dalia also started to work hard because of the competition.
The more she did, the more she became addicted to this bead threading.
There is a unique fun in this simple work that has no meaning.
She remembered when she was in elementary school during her previous life, she collected items by catching 1,000 monsters in RPG games. Rather, the younger you are, the more energy you have to carry out that obsession.
Before they knew it, Dalia and the two were in a trance threading the beads. She didn’t even realize the sun was going down. Before she knew it, she could hear Hikan telling her to go home after work. The plan to see Hikan make the children cry has already gone.
“I’ll just finish this bunch and go.”
Dalia said, with her reddened eyes.
“……Alright, then I’ll wait in the carriage.”
Even after everyone left, the three of them were still absorbed in threading beads. The three of them would have earned 30 dillons already.
* * *
After confirming that all the visiting nobles had left, the young Viscount, Arthur Pendleton entered the church.
At a glance, there were only similarly small children. It was a sight that he had always seen.
He erased his gentle smile and left nail marks on his face.
Surprisingly, the skin was torn like paper.
He ripped the skin off his face and threw it off to the floor. The face that appeared was at most a young boy in his mid to late teens.
His tall height and dark hair seemed to belong to him. When he removed what was attached to his shoulder and shed his body like a dog in the rain, the thick chest muscle, broad shoulders, and strong arms and veined wrists that had been hardened by labor were revealed.
After removing the fake skin on his arms and neck, instead of pale, he had dark skin.
“Oh, I can’t use this because it’s so stuffy.”
“You’re complaining about using something that’s horribly expensive. Pick it up, wash it, and use it again tomorrow.”
Taras, whom he thought had left, appeared and scolded him.
Her real name is Mary, and she was one of the accomplices in the young Viscount Arthur Pendleton fraud.
She was kind of a flirt, pretending to have a crush on Arthur.
He took the envelope and counted the insides, while still brushing off the skin on his arms and legs.
“Wow, it’s pretty savory, isn’t it?” (*t/n: it’s a slang I guess…)
“A lot of rich people have come this time. Duke Pesteros put in the most.”
“The younger sister got a good hunch. I had to be careful.”
Come to think of it, was his sister with the Duke Pesteros when he left? Somehow, his memory was hazy.
“I robbed them once anyway, so I should keep my mouth shut for a month.”
“Well, you should.”
“You’re lying. You were gonna rob the Count one more time, weren’t you? I know you want to escape from your dad, but you tend to be too hasty, Meldon.”
The boy with the name of the second male lead in the original story, smirked and then laughed.
Then, pretending not to hear, he turned to the children and flapped the envelope.
“Guys, thank you for your hard work. You guys made money this time, so let’s get something delicious…….”
“…….”
“Why are you all frozen?”
The eyes of all the children turned to one place.
Meldon followed their gaze. And his body stiffened.
“Damn.”
Only then did Mary realize the situation, muttering that behind his back. Then, she fainted.
Meldon managed to get Mary’s body as she collapsed without looking back. He then stared blankly at one of his guests who hadn’t left yet.
‘I should have been careful since she was the same height as the others here.…..’
A 16-year-old girl and smaller than her peers, she was invisible even among the children.
The fact that the dress she wore at the resort was not as fancy as the dresses of other aristocrats also contributed to the illusion.
Dalia Pesteros was looking at Meldon with a stiff expression. Still holding the beads that were threaded in one hand.
“……I guess I have a good hunch.”
Dalia put the bead down.
* * *
At first, Dalia was going to report to the guards right away without hesitation.
‘What, good hunch?’
It’s unbelievable.
But the children who had been with Dalia all day grabbed her feet.
“M, miss! Please! We were all wrong!”
Dalia’s heart was weakened when they said that, crying and grabbing the hem of her clothes.
She sat down again.
Besides, after thinking about it, the name ‘Meldon’ is……isn’t he one of the original male leads?
Following Hikan and Aceras, the original male lead appeared again.
Dalia looked at him with a slightly strange feeling.
He’s handsome. And he was a lot younger than what Dalia remembered when she played the game. He is about two or three years apart from Adrisha, so he must be nineteen to twenty now.
‘Meldon, it was my favorite route.’
Because it’s the hardest.
Dalia lowered her eyes, recalling the days when she was not so innocent.
Meldon Artus.
It’s probably not Meldon Artus now, it’s Meldon Verix.
Now he’s the adopted son and the heir of Verix, the ruler of the underworld who persecuted Adrisha.
However in the Meldon route, he later becomes Duke Artus after being recognized as a transcendent and the illegitimate son of Duke Artus.
After that, he carried his identity on his back and became more……our Adrisha…….
For some reason, she felt that she was sexually harassing a real person, so she stopped thinking about that. In any case, it has not happened yet in this world.
‘But why is he in Vesta now…..?’
At that moment, a lightning bolt of realization struck Dalia’s mind.
‘R, right! Vesta!’
She was wondering why this name was familiar, and it was a name associated with his past that was briefly mentioned in the Meldon route.
It seems that this route was the most fun. Even the name that appeared for a while is familiar enough for her.
This is where he swindled around to raise money.
Under the circumstances, Meldon could not devour the innocent and frugal Count Williams, but he turned him into a partner and chose to devour and swindle the nobles.
To save this money and get away from his adoptive father, Verix.
‘Why was that?’
She didn’t remember the reason.
However in the original, he becomes more brutal than his adoptive father as he reunites with Adrisha and begins to covet her.
Meldon, who was originally not a very innocent human being, has since taken the path of corruption and crime.
‘…… Adrisha, run away.’
Perhaps Adrisha doesn’t really want to meet him either.
For Adrisha, her past related to Meldon must be a secret she wants to bury forever.
Meldon was the only male lead in the original story who knew the young Adrisha.
Furthermore, Adrisha who terribly hated Verix, and his adopted son, Meldon, couldn’t have been on good terms with each other.
To be exact, she remembers that they were close at first, but when Adrisha found out that Meldon became Verix’s adopted son, they hurt each other and their relationship became irreversible.
While Dalia was reviewing the original work, Meldon, who quickly regained his calm expression, swept his hair back and sat in front of Dalia.
To be more precise, he politely knelt down.
“Cough.”
Dalia coughed in surprise.
Meldon knelt down and looked up at Dalia calmly and said,
“I’m sorry, Miss Dalia. You were so small that I didn’t realize your presence.”
‘……Are you making fun of me now?’
Whether or not Dalia made an absurd expression on her face, Meldon continued his smooth talk.
“I made up my face to look a little sickly for circumstances, but I am indeed the young master of Viscount Pendleton. These children are also poor children who have lost their parents. But if you want, I will give you the money back.”
That title must have been taken from a noble in need of money somewhere.
Dalia knew that his real name was Meldon, not Arthur.
Dalia answered coldly.
“……I’ll continue to be respectful to you since you’re calling yourself the young master. But that’s not the problem. This is outright fraud.”
“…….”
“Where did all these children come from? Sally, Aiden, you answer me.”
She and the children who had threaded the beads together looked at each other, and the girl opened her mouth first.
“We, we’re from the capital…….”
“F, from the capital to here?”
“There are more kids like us out there. It’s getting more competitive……He, ah, Arthur Pendleton, the young Viscount, brought us here. Thanks to him, we weren’t hungry.”
The child lifted her eyes gently and chose words that evoked sympathy.
She was a very clever kid. Dalia wasn’t confident in saying that two years ago if she was in that position.
Perhaps Hikan was aware of this fraud. As he said on their way back yesterday.
“That’s weird. As far as I know, there were no casualties in the landslide on that territory.”
Still, since Dalia was with him, it was clear that he pretended not to know because he was considerate of her feelings during the trip.
Dalia spoke seriously.
“If you’re this sloppy, you’ll be found out soon enough, even if it’s not us.”
“…….”
“What are you going to do if you get caught next time?”
He probably won’t get caught. If you think about the original story. There are so many holes, but she doesn’t know how they didn’t get caught in the original.
Meldon smiled awkwardly.
“That’s…….”
“That’s?”
“I’m personally acquainted with the Second Prince. We can just cover it up with that..….”
Second Prince Cedric Vercelona Michelio.
‘…..Why is that name coming out here?’
It’s getting more fantastic.……Dalia felt dizzy.
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