TLWFL 03

Chapter 03

The fatigue from last night hit me.

Thanks to spending hours dealing with people while keeping my shoulders stiff and tense, my whole body ached. Rozelle was quite well-connected in high society.

The young ladies of her age admired and loved Rozelle.

Actually, Rozelle was also exceptionally good-looking, so she naturally drew people to her.

It seemed the female lead adapted quickly because Rozelle, who was practically the queen bee of high society, accepted her.

Dealing with people who were acquainted with Rozelle was also quite a demanding task.

I rolled over once in bed and got up.

“Miss. The Count is looking for you.”

A maid with green eyes and deep auburn hair urged me. On the maid’s chest, her name was embroidered in thread. Jane.

“The Count’s mood seemed really bad, so you’d better go quickly. Did something happen at the ballroom last night? The maids were saying the Countess cried all night without sleeping.”

…It seems I was the only one who slept well in this household.

Probably because of the engagement announcement not happening yesterday. Why is that such a big deal? It was a bit troublesome that I possessed the body at such an ambiguous time. I scratched the bridge of my nose.

“Just throw on a robe and go quickly.”

Prodded by Jane, I left the room. Thankfully, Jane led me all the way to the Count’s study. As Jane said, the Count was urgently looking for me.

His face was ashen, and his hands were trembling.

Judging by the smoke-filled room, he must have been smoking cigars all night.

When did indoor smoking become banned?

Oh, right, this isn’t South Korea.

I pinched my nose slightly.

The Count, ignoring my reaction, opened his mouth.

“I heard you were talking with Reston yesterday. What did you talk about?”

“Nothing much.”

Ah, I sound nasal.

“Did you talk about the engagement? We were supposed to officially announce your engagement to Reston yesterday, but there was no news at all.”

“Have you spoken with the Grand Duchess? Reston said the Grand Duchess thought it was too soon.”

I carefully watched the Count’s expression change. Yesterday, I only exchanged light greetings with the Grand Duchess.

I needed information about the Grand Duchess.

The Count spoke, grinding his teeth.

“That damn old raccoon. This is how she plays it. She dares to back out now?”

My heart dropped at those words. What? What’s going on? Tell me too.

The Count paced the same spot. He seemed unstable and very angry. And before I could even ask what was going on, the Count exploded.

“Do you remember our merchant guild supplying wood to the ducal family for a new tourist attraction development?”

“Pardon? Yes.”

Given the atmosphere, it seemed right to act like I knew.

“But damn it, they discovered ruins there! The tourist attraction development is as good as dead for now! We recklessly logged trees to supply that wood, and it even caused a landslide that ruined the crops! Now that word is spreading that an audit will come from the capital, that old raccoon is pulling out!”

…I think I just heard something huge.

Wait, is the Earldom on the verge of collapse right now?

I haven’t heard anything about that.

“…Then what happens to us?”

Let’s just follow the original story, please. Please, just follow the original!

“Hoo, it’s not without a solution. Fortunately, a distant relative of ours reportedly discovered a gold vein while farming. There’s someone offering to give us the rights to develop that gold vein and a portion of the profits in exchange for adopting their daughter as our own.”

At that moment, my heart pounded.

Could this be, by any chance, about the female lead?

As expected, if you just wait patiently, you’ll get there! So that’s how it happened. That’s why Rozelle’s family sponsored the female lead!

“That’s great news, Father.”

“Hoo, but that’s not the real issue. Still, we need to sell the wood to the ducal family. The loss is too great. Rozelle, try talking to Reston. It won’t be easy with that guy, but there must be a way.”

“…Does it have to be Reston?”

“Of course! You’ve been saying since you were young that you would never marry anyone but Reston. Are you planning to let go of your marriage to Reston like this?”

“That sounds great, actually…”

“Rozelle. This is an order from the head of the family. See Reston and resolve this issue.”

The Count cut me off without even listening to the end of my sentence.

No, let’s think positively.

I’ll try to reform Reston. This could be an opportunity.

Still, what’s a little sad is that my happy, healing life of a well-fed, warm-back leisure-seeker seems to have gone out the window.

How on earth did the original Rozelle get through this crisis?

Help me, original story.

—

After emphasizing several times that the Loterua Earldom would suffer great losses if this matter wasn’t resolved, the Count sent me out.

Rozelle, are you really going to just leave me like this and watch?

Well, if they were going to help me, they wouldn’t have passed this body on to me in the first place.

Besides, since the Grand Duchess of Cheskant was involved, to resolve this, I needed not only Reston but also grounds to persuade the Grand Duchess.

And it was clear that the original Rozelle had succeeded.

If she had failed, the Earldom would have suffered a major blow. It seems like it’s already suffering a big blow, though. Anyway, in the original, Rozelle was characterized as a ‘spoiled young lady raised without wanting for anything.’ Plus, she was quite smart and even led some of Loterua’s business ventures.

I thought she was just the male lead’s genuine ‘female friend’ who was totally cool.

Ah, anyway.

There’s definitely an answer in the novel.

My literature teacher back then used to say that. The answer is in the text.

I recalled and re-ran the contents of the novel.

Even if it’s just a family that sponsors the female lead, if there was a family crisis, there should have been at least a brief mention.

“…Rozelle, Aileen. Aileen Sperling, Sperling’s gold mine, Loterua merchant guild’s wood… Ah!”

I remembered.

Loterua dumps its surplus wood onto the Sperling family. The Viscount Sperling fell for it hook, line, and sinker when Rozelle coaxed him into building a resort hotel for tourism on Sperling’s territory.

Why this came to mind is because the novel had mentions like ‘Aileen’s father was so absorbed in building the resort hotel that he had no interest in his daughter’s affairs’ or ‘Viscount Sperling invested a lot of his fortune to build the resort hotel. If Viscount Sperling fails, Aileen will also suffer great losses.’

Aileen was endlessly grateful to Rozelle for that matter. Saying that a generous great noble lady cared even about the affairs of a mere country bumpkin.

But wait, does this even make sense?

The Sperling territory was mostly comprised of gold veins, mines, and rugged mountain ranges. A resort hotel in a place like that? Who on earth would go there?

To get to a resort hotel, you’d have to be a wealthy noble, and they wouldn’t be interested in something like a mine. Unless it was refined into jewelry.

“Wow, Rozelle…”

I thought she was kind, but she was a total jerk.

In the end, Rozelle passed the bomb the Loterua should have absorbed onto Sperling, while winning the favor of the innocent female lead.

Of course, I want everything to go according to the original story.

Our Loterua survives perfectly intact, and I enjoy a YOLO lifestyle. Living comfortably while experiencing a wealth I’ve never felt before was my life’s goal.

But passing this bomb onto Sperling just doesn’t sit right with me.

There must be another way.

Aileen often visited an information broker.

What was that information broker’s name again.

“…Lindberg.”

He appeared quite frequently, so I could remember it at once. I need to go find Lindberg and get some relevant information first.

I need to know something before I can come up with a plan. I never knew possessing a body before the original story began would be this hard. You’d only know if you’ve possessed someone before. Phew.