The Male Lead I Raised Is Obsessed With Me

“Y-You’ve arrived, c-child. C-Come sit.”

Blant continued to stammer his words without stopping.

Strictly speaking, I was not their child.

I sat down as they asked.

“C-Congratulations on your wedding. H-How was your marriage life with L-Lucius?”

“Great. Thank you for your concern.”

After that, trivial chatters continued such as whether I was having a hard time marrying in the North and how Luc was doing.

“I-It must have been very c-cold in the winter.”

At first glance, it seemed like they were concerned about me, but it was not what they really wanted to talk about.

“I apologise, but I have more pressing matter after this. Would it be alright if we have this chit chat another time?”

There was a very important schedule to praise Luc for his hard word during swordsmanship training today.

“I, Is, Is that so?”

Blant glanced back at his sister, Catherine, in uneasiness.

Catherine pouted her mouth and poked Blant on the side with her hand.

“Cough. Ehem. T-That, pardon me, actually……”

Blant, who stretched his words as though he was trying to sell a sob story, kept clearing his throat.

“C-Can you lend us some money?”

“Technically speaking, it’s not lending, rather, we’re taking back what was originally ours. We were certainly part of the Valfruga family.”

Catherine stepped out with her claws.

As expected. 

There was a reason why Luc’s relative, who had never been seen before, suddenly appeared.

When our hair loss medicine was a success, our debt was cleared and we seemed to be well-off, they immediately came to leech off us.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot give you any money.”

“Y-You really can’t? W-We’ve already been starving for days.”

“That’s right. You have a lot of money anyway, so can’t you lend us some? We’ll pay you back once things get better. 10 million marks will do.”

When the main topic came up, Catherine, who had been calm and polite, actively added her words.

10 million marks was not a small number.

It was obvious that they had no intention of paying back, and I couldn’t simply hand over such a large amount of money.

“We still have a lot of bills to pay here and there. A few areas in the castle need to be repaired, and we have to hire more knights…”

When the Valfruga family collapsed, all the decent knights left for other families, and the only remaining knights were some sloppy ones.

But Catherine cut me off, and started to lose her temper.

“So you’re saying that hiring knights is more important than us now? We are Lucius’ one and only family. We have the Valfruga blood!”

“I’m aware.”

I answered calmly.

Haven’t I shown my sincerity when I welcomed them in person despite being busy handling documents?

Catherine folded her arms arrogantly at my obedient demeanour.

It was obvious what she was thinking.

Looking at my gentle face, she must be thinking that she just has to push me a little bit more.

“I’m glad you’re aware. Wasn’t it thanks to my family that you were able to succeed in the first place? The fact that you are eating and living well now was all thanks to the inheritance left by my eldest brother. Isn’t that right, brother?”

Catherine asked as she turned to Blant.

Blant nodded and agreed with Catherine.

“T-That’s right! I-It was all the inheritance left by my brother!”

“When our father died, we didn’t receive any inheritance from the family, so we definitely deserve it now. I could file a lawsuit, but wouldn’t that be too troublesome and complicated between families?”

Catherine spoke in a friendly tone, as if she was being considerate of me.

“Give me 10 million marks. Then, we won’t have to trouble ourselves with the lawsuit within our family.”

It was a lie.

If they receive 10 million marks this time, they would definitely ask for something bigger next time.

I smiled brightly at them.

Catherine must have sensed her victory as she smiled triumphantly.

I looked at them and spoke clearly.

“I refuse.”

“……What?”

One of Catherine’s brow twitched.

“I said no. Did the two of you helped us succeed?”

At my words, Catherine’s face flushed red with anger.

She slammed the table and shouted.

“Call Lucius! I really cannot communicate with you! Ha, speaking so ignorantly! Where did you get that nasty thing from!”

“T-That’s right! I-It’s our m-money! W-What rights d-do you have!”

Once again, I thought it was fortunate that I hadn’t brought Luc into this mess.

I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I pulled out the card I had hidden.

“Then, shall I tell Blue Story where your children are?”

“H-How do y-you know that name?”

Blue Story was the name of the gambling house they frequently went to.

If they were owed money, they were famous for chasing people to the very end of the continent to collect the money, so the two must already be running away with a huge debt now.

I had predicted that Luc’s relatives would come someday. 

If you make money, the adults who never existed will appear.

I refused to let a single penny of Luc’s fortune be lost to these wild dog relatives. 

So, while starting the hair loss medicine business, I investigated the weakness of the people who might appear to ask for money one day.

If they had taken good care of Luc despite the difficult times, I would have been happy to help them.

But I wouldn’t give a penny to those who were aware that Luc was being abused and neglected. 

I rose from my seat and spoke to the servant.

“The guests will be leaving, please send them off.”

“Y-You…!”

At that moment, Blant’s eyes widened as he suddenly jumped from his seat, stepped over the table and lunged at me.

“G-Give me my money…! My money! It’s my money! My…!”

The knights around him tried to restrain Blant’s sudden seizure, but the money-crazed man was quicker than they expected.

He grabbed me and raised his fist.

If I got punched by a man twice my size, I would definitely break a bone or two somewhere.

I closed my eyes tightly and shrank.

[Master!]

Blackie called me urgently.

At the same time, all the strength on my body was drained.

‘Blackie must have used all of his power.’

As soon as Blant’s fist touched me, I heard the cracking sound of a shield breaking.

And my consciousness faded as I watched the knights forcefully restrain Blant.

＊  ＊  ＊

Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks.

“Wh, W-What was that! You said she’d give me 10 million marks!”

Blant yelled at his sister, Catherine.

When Felia lost consciousness, they were immediately detained in the duke’s prison without being given a chance to speak.

“Why are you blaming me for that? I could have coaxed the little girl even further if brother hadn’t rushed to her in the first place!”

“Wh, W-What?”

“Then why did you betted on three weird things! We wouldn’t be here doing this if brother hadn’t betted three times back then!”

Catherine nervously bit her nails.

“Damn it. They said if we don’t pay back 10 million marks right away, they’ll come to my house this time.”

Catherine recalled her husband, Viscount Schtrim.

By now, her husband would have called different women over for a drink without knowing the trouble she was going through. 

She didn’t mean to fall into a gambling addiction as she watched her husband drink with another woman every day.

At first it was merely for fun, but when she came to her senses, her gambling debt had grown beyond her control.

“This should’ve been the last time! I wasn’t going to touch it ever again if I won a big one!”

If her husband found out about this, it was clear that he would ask for a divorce right away.

It was only a matter of time before she got kicked out without any money.

“It’s all because of that wench.”

Catherine’s eyes turned vicious as she recalled Felia, whom she just met.

“If it weren’t for that wench, Lucius would have given us 10 million marks.”

A gentle and lovely face with a small and slender figure as if she had never experienced any hardship.

Her well-groomed and glossy skin along with her beautiful sky-blue dress was overflowing with wealth.

If they had that much money, couldn’t they give them some?

It belonged to the Valfruga in the first place.

How can a girl, whom she doesn’t even know where she came from, act like she owns those properties?

“Right, why don’t you ask Lucius about this?”

“L, Lu-Lucius? N, N-Never! H, H-He’s the devil!”

“What are you talking about? He’s only ten years old. It’s strange, brother, you’ve always been so afraid of Lucius. What’s so scary about that little boy?”

Catherine snorted, but Blant shook his head stubbornly.

Unbeknownst to his dull sister, he was dangerous.

Blant was originally someone violent, and he liked to bully small and young things.

Yet, he couldn’t lay a hand on his nephew due to those red eyes that were so terrifying.

“L, L-Let’s just kill the wench.”

Blant said, recalling Felia with her bright pink hair.

“S, Sh-She ignored me! A-And mocked me! I, I had been nice to her, yet she d-dare……!”

Blant scratched his chest with his hand.

Catherine’s eyes sparkled.

“Shall we? Kill that girl and we can live in this castle. Lucius is only ten years old, so he knows nothing. Now that his parents are dead, shouldn’t we take care of him?”

A joyful imagination flashed through Catherine’s mind.

She kicked out the arrogant Felia and entered the castle as Lucius’ aunt.

Then, all the Valfruga family’s wealthy assets would belong to them, and they would no longer have to worry about their gambling debts.

A cold voice intervened between their frantic conversation.

“Stop talking nonsense.”