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Chapter 44 Part 2 – The luxurious carriage runs under the moonlight. And then all sorts of motives begin to stir.

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Aquilegia

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Later, when Seraphy took a glance at this luxurious carriage, with a smile he said to me
「….. If you had built a sailing ship instead of this carriage and leased it to our trading company, you would have made a fortune as a shipowner.」
I was left rolling around on the ground in regret.

You should have told me about such a wonderful idea earlier!!　

But when I fake cried, Seraphy got flustered and gave me all kinds of foreign goods as an apology. Free of charge, of course. When I was a baby, I was chagrined when my cries were mistaken for a need for a change of diapers, milk, or a nap, but now that I got a version upgrade to a child, I immediately used my tears as a weapon. I am such a villainess. Seraphy even apologized to me. For both of our sakes, I’ll accept it all in a good mood. I made a big profit. He’s got good taste, so he made sure to get me something that I like. I was overjoyed.

And among them was an extraordinary potted plant.
To a stranger, it looked like an ordinary large, wrinkled, thick-leaved plant.
A person with good intuition would have associated it with 「a certain plant」, but the size and softness of its leaves would have dismissed the possibility and made them forget about it. Even I would have overlooked it if I didn’t have the memory of my previous 「108 times」.

「….. I think this looks exactly as what you described to me. It was recognized locally as a type of camellia. It took me a lot of effort to find it.」

Seraphy had a smile filled with satisfaction as he looked at me being unable to take my eyes off of it.

That’s right, I was the one who gave Seraphy the details of this plant and requested him to search for it.
As I danced, I put my hands around his neck, hugged him, and rained kisses of gratitude on Seraphy’s cheek.

I never thought he could find it so quickly!!
I have to express my gratitude!!
This will change the history of taste in this kingdom!!

Seraphy was also happy to see that my mood had improved, so he took a light guts pose.
I understand that feeling!
It feels great when a negotiation succeeds as planned!!

But still, Seraphy is so easy to fool, even though he is a genius.
Next time he comes, I’m going to cheat him again and get a lot of money out of him.

At first, every time I saw him, I had flashbacks of the previous 「108 times」 when I got slaughtered by him, but I’m completely used to it by now. It seems that, like Pavlov’s dog, I have created a schema in my mind that Seraphy = presents.

After all, that guy is such an easy target. I can’t wait for him to visit again.

After Seraphy left, Mary saw me grinning at the pile of presents and said to me.

「Seraphy-sama is one or two steps ahead of you, young lady. They say that a merchant always gains from his losses, but it seems that that saying is right. Bradd needs to be more conscious of the crisis …..」

Mary sighed, but I don’t know what she meant.
I was the only one who gained. Oh well.

And so, the carriage ran at full speed on the road at night.
Just like the giant motorcycle with a throne on it, the legendary champion of the fin-de-siècle.
Bradd, please slow down a little more …..
If I stand out any more than this, I’ll die mentally ……

Thank goodness it’s nighttime now. If the people from our fiefdom saw this carriage in the daytime, they would treat us as show-off and eccentric nobles. The trust that we have painstakingly regained through our food policy could be lost again. Even Marquis Vygod and his wife, who had been the target of so many grudges from the people due to their double punch of exploitation and selfishness, would not have ridden in such a crazy carriage. But our family doesn’t squeeze or steal from the people. In fact, our taxes are absurdly low compared to other fiefdoms. We make enough money that we don’t need to rely on tax revenues.
So, if they happen to see us ….
Dear God, please don’t let us encounter the people from our fiefdom…..

「 ….. let. ….. Scarlet, I have something to tell you.」

「Hyaa! Hyaii!! What is it!? ….. Aah!?」

I was so absorbed in praying that I was late in noticing mother’s call and rushed to reply.
In my panic, I bit my tongue and screamed in agony, 「Fugoohhh!?」, and mother patted my back with concern.

「Are you alright? Open your mouth and let me see. Well, there’s a little blood.」

「I-It’s alright!! Rather than that, what did you want to tell me, mother?」

The carriage just so happened to glide through a bump when I was opening my mouth for my worried mother to look at, with that timing, I couldn’t help but step away from mother. I jumped back too far and smashed the back of my head against the carriage window and once again writhed in pain.

「Fuoohhh!?」

「Scarlet!? I heard a loud thumping sound …..!!」

「T-This is a self-defense exercise!! It’s the manifestation of my raging soul!! If Countess Rosenthal tries anything, I’m going to send her flying with a headbutt!!」

After making excuses while blushing, I was exhausted and sighed.

「…..I have to get a hold of myself. From now on, I want to be able to protect mother, not just be protected by mother …..」

Outside our fief, I am called the 「Demon King Princess」, but I’m actually nothing more than this.
I am still far behind mother, father, Bradd, and Seraphy, who fought against the demon dog Gallam. I swore when I got out of diapers that I would graduate from always being protected, but in reality ……

As I muttered in self-loathing, unexpectedly, mother’s eyes went wide in surprise as she looked at me.

「….. I’m impressed. I can’t believe you had already noticed before I told you. Yes, Scarlet is going to become an older sister. See, your older sister is so dependable.」

Mother put her hand on her stomach and spoke gently.
My eyes widened in shock as if struck by lightning.

That means!! That, that ….!!

「….. Mother!! Congratulations!! Yayy!!」

I forgot about the pain in the back of my head and jumped up with joy.
My buttocks failed to land on the chair and I rolled around on the floor.

Well, as expected of my design for a luxurious carriage!!
Even though I’m just a little girl, there is plenty of room for me to roll around!!
Oh my!! I rolled so far that I hit my nose!! But I’m fine!!　

「Scarlet!!」

I held out my palm with a firm hand gesture to stop mother from standing up and hurrying over to my side.

「…. No need to worry about me, mother!! I am an older sister and I will take care of myself. Mother only needs to be at peace and think of the baby inside your stomach!!」

….. A baby!! That’s right!! A baby!!

I smiled widely. I couldn’t stop grinning.
I lay sprawled on the floor and started laughing out loud.
Mother started to laugh too, and we laughed as hard as we could.
It didn’t matter if I looked like a lady or not.
There was no way I could remain calm after such a miracle.

A wonderful event that I have never experienced in my previous 「108 times」.

I’m going to have a little brother or sister!! This will be my first time becoming an older sister!!

If the baby is a little brother, we would run around together. Climbing trees, rolling hoops, I’ll play whatever he wants to play.
If the baby is a little sister, we can wear matching outfits. I’ll help her dress up.

I’m sure Bradd, with his signature blood technique cheat, would have known that mother was pregnant. How dare he keep quiet? I’m going to knock him out with a special ruby shot later. I vowed revenge even as I couldn’t hold back my smile.

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