The Female Lead Takes Care of Everything - Chapter 84

“Has he still not figured out that I’m his daughter?”

What an idiot.

Feeling upset, Rima deliberately opened her book in plain sight.

Her head became a mess, filled with crashing waves of anxiety.

There was no way she could focus on the words in front of her.

“Why is nothing working out?”

It had been nearly a year since she arrived at the De Gladius estate.

And yet, Rima was still just a sponsored orphan. The truth that she was Kallaroff’s long-lost daughter remained hidden.

On top of that, her plans to correct the events of the novel had completely failed. Even the business ventures that any proper female lead should have succeeded in had collapsed.

She couldn’t understand it.

“My plans were flawless. I’ve done everything a main character is supposed to do.”

The color drained from Rima’s fingers as she gripped the cover of the book tightly. She was holding it so hard that she left marks on the thick cover.

“Then why…”

Just as frustration surged within her, Rima bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from snapping.

“I can’t yell in front of Father.”

At least the men of the De Gladius family had started showing interest in her.

If the story had gone as written, they would already be treating her like a princess. Feeding her, dressing her in beautiful clothes, offering expensive jewelry like sacred gifts.

They would kiss her on the cheek and beg her not to get married, asking her to stay with them forever.

“Am I still far from reaching that point?”

Still, she had made some meaningful progress.

“Aal and Rubens are fighting over me.”

Things only began to change once she started interfering directly with the altered storyline.

That convinced Rima she had a responsibility to protect this world as its original writer.

“I created this world.”

No one else. Me.

“That’s why I can’t give up now.”

If she gave up here…

Her toes curled. Her feet had gone cold, and she rubbed them together to try and stay warm.

One uncomfortable truth kept rising to the surface, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it.

“Wow, this writing is total garbage.”

“Someone’s actually publishing this mess?”

“What’s even the point of this setup? This is so frustrating.”

“Is that seriously the only power the main character gets? Has the author even looked at current trends? They need help. Do they even use their brain?”

“If I were the author, I would never write it like this.”

“Screw it. I’m going to write my own version.”

And that version, the one she wrote herself, was recognized by many people.

She was even contacted by a publisher and offered an official book deal.

“I’m the one who wrote it.”

It was me.

Rima forced herself to stay optimistic.

“Lord Petra doesn’t know I was involved in the counterfeit winter coat incident. There’s no way the informant would leak it. I even told him about the egg of the dark dragon Ather, which can cure his younger sibling’s terminal illness.”

Not long ago, her informant told her that someone had been sent to retrieve the egg.

“If the sibling is cured, he’ll value me even more.”

Besides, her informant had recently sent her a letter.

[Just blame it on Lord Petra.]

Remembering that message, Rima calmed herself.

“That leaves two problems.”

The madness of the De Gladius men.

And the existence of Re■.

“To confirm both, I need to visit the Deiamor estate.”

She had several chances to go.

But she didn’t.

Because…

“There must be another transmigrator besides me.”

She was afraid of confirming that her suspicion was true.

Even so, Rima finally decided to visit the Deiamor estate.

Sometime later, after the New Year passed peacefully…

“Let’s see here…”

“Did I grow? Huh? Did I? Tell me already!”

“You have to stay still if you want me to check. And don’t yell at your father like that.”

“Nooo!”

Caleo had begun the traditional New Year height check.

This was a custom unique to the Deiamor family.

Along the hallway on the second floor, the pillars were covered in messy hash marks.

They were the records of the heights of children born into the Deiamor family.

Ardores had his height recorded here when he was young.

Caleo and Armiphera did as well.

Now it was Soles, Nivellia, and Aref’s turn to leave their marks.

“Alright, that’s done,” Caleo said.

At his words, Nivellia quickly stepped away from the wall.

The children stared with amazement at the lines carved into the pillar, comparing their heights.

“Soles and Nini have both grown a lot. Aref doesn’t have a mark from last year, but you can tell he’s grown. He’ll be even taller next year.”

Aref nodded eagerly at Caleo’s comment.

“Wow…”

Nivellia placed her hand on the top of her head, walked to the wall, and lined it up with the mark Caleo had just made.

“It matches! I grew!”

“That’s right, Nini. You grew the most.”

“I hope I grow all the way to the sky. To heaven!”

“That tall?”

“I want to eat the meat I had in heaven again!”

Humming a tune that made no sense to anyone, Nivellia grabbed Aref’s hand and held it tightly.

“Next time, let’s go to heaven together!”

“Okay!”

Aref answered with a big smile.

Caleo watched the two little ones, his expression mixed with amusement and concern.

Soles quietly pretended not to notice what was happening.

Should I say something? Caleo felt torn.

He had expected to worry about Soles’ love life first, but here he was, watching his youngest daughter, not even five years old, acting like she was already in a serious relationship.

She was bold to the point that it sometimes left him speechless.

“Aref, let’s kiss…”

“Ahem!”

But Caleo always stopped her before anything could happen.

“You promised. Only three kisses a day, and only when an adult is present.”

“I’m only doing three. That’s why I’m doing one now!”

“You already kissed him twice today. Think carefully. If you use your last kiss now, you can’t kiss Aref again until bedtime.”

“Then…”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll do it when no one is looking… in secret!”

Caleo stared at Nivellia with a firm, sharp gaze.

Startled, Nivellia puffed up her cheeks and began waving her arms in frustration.

“Eek! Eek!”

She stomped her feet on the ground, making it very clear she was upset.

“I’m mad and I’m sulking!”

“Ahem.”

But Caleo looked even more serious.

“I’m going to kiss him! I’m kissing Aref!”

“A kiss on the cheek is fine. But only three kisses on the lips a day, remember?”

“No! I want to do five!”

“If you kiss five times, your lips will start bleeding. Grandpa told you that, remember?”

“That was a lie! It’s not true!”

Nivellia quickly shared something she had once seen.

“A long time ago, Grandma and Grandpa were always kissing and licking each other!”

“What did you say?”

Caleo screamed, horrified at the unexpected image of his elderly parents’ affection.

“Nini, did you really see that?”

Even Soles was surprised and asked if it was true.

“Yes. I saw it.”

“When?”

“When I was a cat.”

“Oh…”

So, it was part of her imagination play.

The children waited quietly until Caleo finished recovering from the shock.

“Kids,”

Just then, Muniel appeared.

“Grandma!”

Nivellia ran over and immediately tattled.

“Grandma, I told Daddy that you and Grandpa kissed and he almost threw up!”

“What did you say?”

Both Caleo and Muniel asked the same question at the same time.

Nivellia’s tattling lacked a lot of context, but Caleo’s visibly tortured expression left no room for doubt in Muniel’s mind.

“Unbelievable.”

“Dad keeps getting in the way. Weird, right?”

“Exactly. And he has two kids of his own.”

Muttering that it was ridiculous, Muniel dismissed the complaint with ease and called the children over.

“A message came from the Imperial Palace.”

“The palace?” Soles’ eyes widened.

“They have a request for the three of you.”

“Again?” Nivellia pressed her lips together in annoyance.

“Is it about the mana stones?” Aref asked.

“But we already went there and…”

“Yes. You gave your permission for them to use it, remember?”

That was exactly why they were being called again. Muniel explained the situation more clearly.

“Development of the mana stone mine will begin this spring. But before that, they plan to publicly announce its discovery.”

It is a long-standing tradition that when a valuable mine is discovered, the first sample is offered to the Emperor.

To show respect to the Imperial Family.

And in return, to receive protection from the throne.

It was, in essence, a ceremonial contract.

The mana stone mine would be announced in the same way.

“The owners of the mana stone mine are officially you three. So you will be the ones to deliver the mana stone to His Majesty.”

It was a much more important role than they had expected.

“Us?”

“To His Majesty…?”

Soles and Aref gulped nervously.

“How much are they paying?” Nivellia asked, skipping straight to the important part.

Unfortunately, the Emperor’s command did not come with a paycheck.

“That stingy emperor lady! Not even paying us!”

Nivellia grumbled and protested, saying she didn’t want to go. Soles did his best to reason with her.

“You can’t call the Emperor a lady. If someone hears that, you could get thrown in prison for insulting the throne.”

“Would I get out after a long time?”

“Yes, after a long time.”

“…She’s not the emperor lady. She’s just the Emperor.”

Nivellia quickly took back what she said.

“Besides, this is an amazing opportunity. We can raise the status of the Deiamor family in front of all the nobles…”

Soles, his voice full of excitement, turned to Aref.

“Especially you, Aref.”

“Me…?”

“This is an especially important opportunity for you. Do you understand what this means?”

“Um…”

Aref couldn’t answer right away.

He knew it was something important, but he didn’t quite understand why it mattered so much to him.

“It means His Majesty the Emperor will officially recognize you as a member of the Deiamor family.”

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