Lord Baby Runs a Romance Fantasy With Cash

Chapter 8

What should I do...? Wasn’t it a little weird for a baby to come to this conclusion?

“U-Uncle did it!” I shouted suddenly.

“Are you referring to Marquess Tarenka...?”

“Yes! I saw Uncle telling a big man wearing super fancy clothes that Daddy invested in his business!”

It wasn’t a lie.

At the time, I didn’t know exactly what the word “invest” meant in this world, so I couldn’t comprehend what they were discussing. But I came to realize it soon enough when the marquess kept having the same conversation over and over again.

“Uncle showed the man something as evidence...”

I continued to talk just in case they didn’t believe me because I was a baby or thought that I was lying. After all, if my account of what happened was detailed enough, it’d have more credibility, even if it came from a little child.

“Evidence?”

“It was a really pretty card! Very black and sparkly... Ah, it looked just like that one!”

The card on top of the aide’s desk caught my eye.

“This is...” The aide held up the card. “Did Marquess Tarenka really show this card and say that?”

“Yes, this is the card!” I nodded at the card that the aide held towards me.

It was my first time seeing it up close, but I was sure. Depending on where the light hit, the patterns on the black card flashed differently, and a red abbreviation was displayed on the face of the card.

Let’s see now... Issuer... Duke Phaeraton. Huh? As I read the words on the card, my eyes widened.

That looks like a check! The unissued check was missing a numerical amount, but it was definitely a check under the duke’s name.

Does that mean the duke gave money to Marquess Tarenka? Or maybe it was a fake check? While I was surprised at this realization, the retainers began to talk amongst themselves.

“I can’t believe he used this as proof of investment!”

“That’s something a madman would only do!”

“If a mana stone exists within the lode deposits, it wouldn’t matter. But if it doesn’t, it’ll cause a big problem.”

“Indeed, Duke Phaeraton’s involvement in a fraudulent business will be the talk of the town!”

A ruckus ensued in the office, but oddly enough, Duke Phaeraton remained quiet.

Finding his silence strange, I slowly turned my head. Right away, the duke locked eyes with me. He was looking down at me with his chin resting on his hand.

Had he been looking at me this entire time? The duke’s red eyes darkened, and I crouched my neck, unable to look away.

He parted his lips.

“How did you overhear their conversations?” He questioned in a low and icy tone. It almost felt like he was interrogating me.

Huh, interrogating?

Oh! I took a deep breath at the sudden realization.

Was this the typical situation where the tyrant father becomes suspicious of his daughter? My romantic fantasy senses were telling me that this was a very important moment. Usually, the lead heroines of romantic fantasies would successfully navigate this situation and survive. But what about the characters who weren’t heroines?

I had to clear his suspicions. Or else…

A character before she is possessed by the lead heroine or the lead heroine before she reincarnates... those are the kind of characters that usually fail to get past the tyrant’s suspicion and end up dead.

I’ll be killed...! Goosebumps consumed my body.

I can’t have him be suspicious. I have to prove my innocence! The minute he starts questioning my authenticity as a child is when I’ll die! My body began to tremble at the thought of the brutal and ruthless tyrants that I had read about.

I quickly opened my mouth. “W-When uncle was meeting with the other man, I was polishing his shoes. T-that’s how I heard them talk.”

Marquess Tarenka only ever made me do chores around his residence, so all his guests knew me as just another servant. Most of the other employees thought the same, too. Only a very few of his closest associates knew the fact that I was the daughter of Duke Phaeraton.

“You overheard it while polishing his shoes...?”

I tightened my fists at one of the retainer’s sudden questions. Yeah, even I knew it was hard to believe that he would commit such fraudulent acts while I was watching.

The marquess often enjoyed the sight of having me—the duke’s daughter—acting like a servant in front of his other guests. That’s why whenever he invited someone to his mansion, he would always call for me.

He probably thought that I wouldn’t know what they were talking about even if I overheard them because I was young and uneducated.

“Hah! I can’t believe Marquess Tarenka would do something so heinous...!”

“From my knowledge, all the checks that have been issued towards Marquess Tarenka for the past few years were supposed to be used as...”

“Indeed. As child support.” My eyes widened at his words.

“Child support?” I asked.

“Yes, child support for raising you.”

I gazed into the distance with my mouth open and quickly shouted, “No, that can’t be! I never got any child support, ever!”

The retainers scowled.

“What do you mean? The House of Phaeraton always sent over an astronomical amount of money to him!”

“Did Marquess Tarenka not tell you anything? Did he really go around claiming that the money from His Grace was an investment for his mining bu—”

“R-Really!”

I was so shocked that my lips began to quiver.

“I always washed the dishes, cleaned the halls, and only ate a little because I didn’t have any money. That’s the only reason why Uncle fed me and let me sleep in his mansion.”

Shocked by what I said, the retainers scowled even more.

“How could he ever order around a baby like you to do all of that...? I just find it very hard to believe.”

“Moreover, everyone knows how much of a fool Marquess Tarenka is for his daughter.”

Why won’t they believe me?!

“Uncle said it to me all the time. That Daddy left me there without any money. That I was... abandoned...” I started tearing up as I said those words.

I widened my eyes so that the tears wouldn’t blur my vision. I was even abandoned by my own parents.

It was the first thing I was told ever since I was old enough to comprehend what people said. But I’m sure those words circulated much earlier. My life was the same after I was reborn.

Even so, verbalizing the mistreatment that I had experienced with my own mouth and telling them that I was abandoned was truly…

“But all the reports we received from the marquess definitely said... I mean, he even sent us a detailed breakdown of all his childcare expenditures.”

“No! He only gave me two meals a day because I couldn’t work a lot. Most days, he only gave me one meal a day because I never finished my work on time. There were times when I didn’t get any food, too...”

I was frustrated by the retainers, who seemed to be in denial of the marquess’s wrongdoing.

I couldn’t bear to look at the duke. What if I was really in a situation where my tyrant father found my words highly suspicious?

I sounded too much like an adult earlier! On top of that, I cut the duke off while he was speaking...!

Normally, I would’ve brushed off the idea of a father being suspicious of his child, but I was in a romance fantasy world. It was more than possible. I had to remember to speak as innocently and as age-appropriately as possible.

I clasped my hands.

“Uncle said that I should be thankful to him. He said that I would never be able to pay off my debt even if I started working before the sun came up and until the moon was as high as the highest roof in town.”

I glanced at the duke’s face.

His red eyes shone brighter than ever as he glared down at me.

Goddamn it. I felt like I was about to cry. I really didn’t want to die. I had made it so far up until now! And now, just because of one small slip up…

“R-Really!”

I quickly climbed down to the floor and began to polish the duke’s shoes. I could feel his feet flinch inside his shoes.

“Like this! I was cleaning Uncle’s shoes”—sniffle—“when he told the big man that the card was evidence of your investment. He also said it to another grandpa”—sniffle—“and a man with red hair!” Sniffle. “I’m really telling the truth....”

Overwhelmed by my sorrow, I eventually burst out crying.

Surprised by the sudden rush of emotions, I buried my head and covered my mouth with my other hand. No one liked a crying child.

It was dead silent around me.

Drip. Drip. Tears smudged on the duke’s shiny black shoes.

My chin started trembling, and I bit my lip and tightened my hands so that not even the faintest sound of my sob could escape my mouth.

I couldn’t bring myself to raise my head and instead started rubbing the duke’s shoes as if rubbing them was my only lifeline.

Even as I wiped away the drops of tears on his shoes, new drops would form. Right then, I heard a low and deep voice coming from above me.

“That’s enough.”

It was a tone that brought chills down my spine.

I looked up blankly. Duke Phaeraton was looking at me with eyes I couldn’t quite describe.

“Who dares to question her?”

His words weren’t aimed at me. They were aimed at the retainers. I couldn’t understand what was happening at that moment.

Was the duke not the first to question me? He was the one who asked me how I knew.

“Pardon? Your Grace, we were never questioning her. We were simply...” The retainer couldn’t finish his sentence.

A dark energy completely void of light was violently floating around the office without a sound.

What is that...?

It looked similar to the dark aura that had wrapped around the seal book, but it wasn’t the same. The aura back then wasn’t as unnerving as this one.

Tsh.

I ended up falling hard on my butt, and like an illusion, the dark energy disappeared at that very moment. The pale-faced retainers were frozen in place, barely able to breathe.

“There’s no need to say anymore,” the duke said to me.

I looked up to him, and he reached his hand towards me. However, he caught himself and started to retract his hands as I grabbed onto them before I realized it.

Flinch.

The duke’s body slightly stiffened, and with a firm hand, he held me up to his eye level.

“They reminded you of an unnecessary memory.” He clicked his tongue quietly.

His disapproving words made it sound like he didn’t want me to remind myself of any bad memories. Perhaps the duke wasn’t questioning me from the start… Perhaps he was... worried about me?

The duke’s eyes brushed past my face and fell to my wrists. He scowled at my wrinkled sleeves.

“Call for the tailor.”

While the retainers were flustered at the unexpected request, the chief butler lowered his head in a professional manner.

“I shall call for the tailor, Your Grace.”

The duke sat me down on his lap. As I was about to look up, he pressed his hand on top of my head.

Ahh! It’s too heavy if you press on me like that!

It felt like he was patting me, but his hand movements were much too rough and strong. It was to the point that I couldn’t properly keep my head up.

Nevertheless, it still felt warm.

* * *

“Mmm...” I opened my eyes as I tossed over.

Huh, did I fall asleep?

I remembered being at the office, but now I was in my bed with a blanket over me. Did Anna bring me here?

I sat up, tilting my head.

The maids, who always appeared right when I woke up, were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were busy doing something else. That meant…

This is my chance! I pushed the canopy aside and jumped out of my bed.

My book!

I looked around me and found the seal book gently placed on the nightstand next to my bed.

I grabbed the book and slowly examined it.

A book that had been with the Phaeraton household throughout history. Its antique exterior made it look like it wasn’t just any old household item—was how I wished I could describe it, but...

This thing is way too old and worn out! To be quite honest, it looked like a piece of trash.

The cover looked like it was going to give out if I opened the book. Although I’m a little worried, I don’t have any time to waste right now.

Fast progress and rapid development were the words that were written on the quest window, but I was an avid romance fantasy reader. Obviously, I was also an advocate for rapid development.

Without any hesitation, I opened the book. Right then...

Fwaaaaa! The book’s pages flipped on their own, and a ray of stars began to pour out.

“Wow...” I said in amazement.

The starlight floated around the room like a galaxy and wrapped around me. My hair was blown back by a sudden breeze that appeared out of nowhere. More stars filled the room until it was blinding. Mesmerized, I reached to touch it and—

Flash!

Light burst from the star, and the world turned white.

Unable to endure the intense light, I closed my eyes and held onto the shaking book as it flipped to the last page.

Chak.

With the closing of the book, the stars and wind disappeared. I carefully opened my eyes. Next to me was...

“T-this...”

The old, worn-out book was gone, and in its place was an incredibly shiny book.

A soft leather that was easy on the hands covered the outside, and the corners were protected by a gold plate. Sparkling stars decorated the cover, along with a delicate heart-shaped gem. The decaying book that looked like it would rip at any given moment had completely transformed.

A summoning medium, seal book, the founding duke’s treasure—those were among its many names, and I could tell it was an extraordinary book for sure.

It’s not like it ripped, and it’s cleaner now. Hopefully, it’ll be okay...? I winced at the thought of the duke’s cold face.

Argh! I can’t change what happened already. I’ll think about it when the time comes!

I wondered what was written inside the book. Perhaps it contained forbidden spells or instructions on how to borrow the powers of a god? The duke said it was a seal book, so maybe it could also contain information on how to seal a devil?

It can’t be a book that shows how to summon devils, right...? I examined the cover and, with a big gulp, opened it. And that’s when…

I saw nothing.

Looking at the blank white pages, I frowned in utter disappointment.

“What is this?!”

At that moment, a notification went off.

[The <Summoning Medium> has been unsealed.]

[The usage restriction on attribute <Rush and Cash> has been lifted.]

Along with the notification, an attribute window appeared. The messages that read “unable to use” and “warning” had disappeared.

Whoa! I can use it now! My ability! Finally!

[A new quest has arrived.]

[<The path of a good reader (1)>]

[Congratulations, dear reader! You have finally obtained the <Summoning Medium: Book>! I hope you uphold your duties as a reader and start diligently reading from now on.]

[After all, a reader is only called a reader because they read books. A reader who does not read is a bad reader. I hope that you’ll become a good reader.]

[Condition: Use your cash to summon a novel and extract an ability to use.]

[Reward: 1000 Cash]

Oh, why is he actually giving me a quest I want this time?

Though, the information that came with the quest was still as annoying as ever. Either way, I accepted it.

[You have accepted the quest.]

“Hmm, but how do I summon a novel? Come on out, I summon you! Hyah! Or maybe it’s something more fantasy-like...?”

I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat. It’s a little embarrassing, but there’s no one here... I looked around to make sure that the door was closed and then fixed my stance.

Like a heroine wielding her magic, I began to chant my spell.

“You, with the blood of a refreshing cold soda, I summon thee to appear before me and give me the power to defeat this cruel sweet pota—”

[Please say the name of the <Novel> you want to summon.]

A notification sound went off again as if to stop me from finishing my chant.

Why does it feel like I can feel emotions coming from these words? I’m getting the feeling that it thinks I’m pathetic...

How embarrassing. I clasped my blushing red cheeks and read the pop-up that appeared.

[You can only summon romance fantasy novels that you have already read with your current level of <Rush and Cash>.]

“Hmm, then… summon <Running Away from Rich Silver Spoon>.”

I’ll extract the abilities of the heroine from that novel and devour the duke! With her skill, I won’t have to worry about dying or being kicked out anymore!

I confidently looked ahead. However...

[You do not have enough cash.]

Sniffle.

A notification with a very familiar message appeared.

I can’t believe I’m lacking cash even in this world...! As I despaired, a new notification appeared in front of me.

[Currently, you have 1000 Cash and a 5000 Cash drawing ticket.]

[Would you like to use the 5000 cash drawing ticket?]