Episode 9
A 5,000 cash draw ticket!
Just hearing those words made my heart flutter. I nodded with a bright smile.
‘I’ll use it!’
[You are using the 5,000 Cash Draw Ticket.]
At the same time, a spinning wheel appeared in front of me.
A damn devil was drawn on the wheel, winking and waving at me.
‘That scammer!’
I wanted to complain right away, but it was only a picture on the wheel.
‘……Could the draw rates be rigged too?’
A reasonable suspicion crossed my mind for a moment, but I shook my head.
‘No. Don’t jinx it. Let’s think positively.’
As I watched the wheel spin around and around, I swallowed nervously.
I had read it in a book before.
Strong desires could become reality.
‘5,000 cash! 5,000 cash! Give me 5,000 cash!’
[Congratulations!]
‘Oh!’
At the congratulatory message, I clenched my fist.
‘Okay, it’s a devil and all, but it can’t be that bad…… huh?’
[You have won 100 Cash!]
I froze when I saw the message that followed.
‘What are you congratulating me for?! Are you making fun of me?!’
100 cash! Not even 1,000 cash, but a measly 100 cash!
Wasn’t that the smallest amount of cash I could draw?
‘Even in my previous life, while everyone else was getting 1,000, 2,000 or 5,000 won, I always got 100 won…… and now it’s happening here too!’
What the hell was I supposed to do with 100 won?
A rotten reality where the 500-cash reward was much better than the 5,000-cash draw ticket!
I threw myself face-down onto the bed and flailed my arms and legs.
Uwaaaah!
[Your current cash balance is $1,100 Cash.]
As if it were mocking me, the notification appeared right in front of my face.
Haah. So I can’t summon a novel? Even if I try to summon one with 1,100 cash, it’ll just tell me I don’t have enough.’
How long would it take to collect the cash if I only got 100 or 200 at a time?
With an annoyed expression, I lightly poked the cover of the book, then suddenly lifted my head.
Oh, right! There was a notification I hadn’t checked yet, wasn’t there?’
As soon as I thought that, a notification appeared, continuing from where I had stopped reading.
[Because the satisfaction level of the persuasion target, Duke Phaeraton, is at its highest, an additional reward will be given.]
[Would you like to receive the additional reward now?]
‘Yes.’
I didn’t know what the additional reward was, but I hoped it would just give me cash instead of another draw ticket.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much.
I lazily lay on my side and looked at the notification window.
[Calculating additional reward… Calculation complete.]
[Additional reward has been granted.]
[Would you like to use it to summon a ? It can be rented for three days from the day of summoning.]
‘Huh?’
I shot upright in bed.
I was disappointed when I saw it was a novel rental ticket, but I could rent the entire novel, not just one chapter?
Oh my gosh! That’s even better than getting 5,000 cash!!’
Duke! Thank you!
I honestly couldn’t understand why, but thank you for being so satisfied with me!
I bowed toward the direction of the duke’s study.
‘Now then…….’
I stared at the notification window that was still floating in front of me.
Until just a moment ago, I had been planning to summon <I’m Running Away Despite Being a Rich Heiress>, but now I hesitated.
‘It looks like collecting cash is going to be harder than I thought…….’
I was lucky enough to get an additional reward this time, but who knew what would happen next?
After experiencing the miracle of a 5,000-cash draw ticket turning into 100 cash in an instant, I couldn’t help worrying.
Let’s save it for now.’
I never knew when I might need a certain ability, so it seemed better to keep it as insurance.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Knock, knock.
I quickly hid the book under my blanket.
If they saw that the book had changed and questioned me about it, I wouldn’t know what to say.
Soon, the door opened, and the maids came inside.
“I’m sorry, my lady. We were all away when you woke up.”
“No, it’s okay!”
I shook my head and quickly climbed down from the bed.
“You must be hungry, right? You were sleeping so soundly, so we didn’t wake you for mealtime.”
As soon as she said that, my stomach growled.
“Yeah. I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep.”
It seemed like the only thing I was getting better at since coming here was sleeping, which somehow made me feel embarrassed.
As I scratched my cheek, Anna nodded as if she understood.
“Hehe, you must have been tired.”
With Anna taking my side, I became confident again.
That’s right. I had every reason to be tired! So many things happened today!
I cleared an insane quest and even survived being interrogated!
And most importantly, I’m a little kid!
The maids laughed when they saw me proudly sticking out my stomach.
But the warm atmosphere didn’t last long.
Nancy suddenly dropped a bombshell.
“Still, we were all so surprised. We never imagined you would fall asleep so soundly on His Grace’s lap.”
“……Huh?”
I slowly turned my head toward Nancy.
“I, I fell asleep on Dad’s lap?!”
“Yes. You were sleeping so peacefully.”
“Peacefully……?”
On the duke’s lap?
“First, you were nodding off, but later you were completely sprawled out on His Grace’s lap, sleeping like a baby.”
Wow.
I really slept well.
“The study became so warm and cozy for once. It was colder than the northern snowfields before.”
“I don’t know about that, but I’m sure everyone had a hard time holding back their laughter.”
I didn’t think so.
Those men who had been making choking noises like their necks were being strangled didn’t seem like the type to laugh.
Why had I even done that?
At that moment, a bad feeling crossed my heart.
“So Anna brought me here?”
Anna brought me here, right?
Please say yes.
“No. His Grace personally brought you here.”
Why did my bad feelings always turn out to be right?
“Next time, Anna, you bring me here.”
“Pardon?”
“What if Dad gets annoyed with me?”
Annoying children were hated.
“My lady……”
Anna made a strange expression.
Then, as if she had made up her mind, she knelt and met my eyes.
“His Grace could never be annoyed with the youngest lady.”
“That’s right. You saw him call the tailor today, didn’t you? I’ve never seen His Grace look for a tailor first in my life. He even hates having his measurements taken, so the butler has always had trouble with that.”
“His Grace truly cherishes the youngest lady.”
The maids each tried to comfort me.
They all had the same expression as Anna.
‘That wasn’t something worth making those faces over.’
It wasn’t like I was hungry for my father’s love.
I felt sorry for making them worry about me for no reason.
“I’m really okay!”
I deliberately said it brightly, but for some reason, the maids’ expressions became even more pained.
Anna carefully took my hand.
“His Grace is just…… very awkward.”
“No, I really am…….”
“It must be difficult for you to understand. I didn’t know either, even after working at the ducal estate for several years. But now that I think about it, I think he’s just awkward.”
It was a vague statement, but the more Anna talked, the more certain she seemed.
Like she had just realized something.
“I thought His Grace was a perfect man without a single flaw. Someone who never needed other people and couldn’t understand people who needed others…”
That’s not what being perfect meant.
My lips moved, but I didn’t say it out loud.
“But after seeing how His Grace treats the youngest lady, I realized something. He’s simply awkward.”
“You realized that by seeing how he treats me?”
“Yes.”
“I keep seeing sides of him that I’ve never seen once during all my years working at the ducal estate.”
“Honestly, even the way I’m talking with the youngest lady like this feels strange to me.”
“Everyone in the ducal family is different from ordinary people……”
“Different from ordinary people?”
At my question, Anna looked flustered and gave the others a look.
The maids hurriedly shut their mouths, and I tilted my head as if I hadn’t noticed anything.
“Why? What’s different?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. By different, I just mean special.”
“That’s right. A family this great isn’t exactly common, is it?”
The maids smiled awkwardly, and I narrowed my eyes.
‘Something is going on. As I thought, the Phaeraton ducal family isn’t an ordinary ducal family.’
But the maids didn’t seem willing to tell me.
‘Well, I guess it would be wrong to tell a little kid things like, ‘Your family is like this and that.’’
Especially if those things were bad.
Seeing the maids looking uncomfortable, I changed the subject.
“I’m hungry!”
The maids smiled in relief.
As I watched Nancy’s back while she went to get the food, I thought to myself.
‘Hmm. I need to find out more about the ducal family.’
It really didn’t seem like an ordinary family.
