Winter took Violet's hand and helped her up.
"Get up slowly."
"I will. By any chance, Winter, have you heard from Miss Marian of Heston Street?"
"There has been no progress on the drug trafficking case. It seems it is taking more time because it is being dealt with secretly."
"Oh, I see... I wish I had heard from her before the family meeting. Too bad."
The mansion was in a state of excitement for its first major event, as a family council was scheduled to be held in the gardens a few days later. Winter said, hugging her waist.
"That son of a bitch is trash enough without drugs."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. But can I also participate that day?"
"I appreciate your consideration, but I don't think we should have anyone who would succeed the Blooming family at the Lawrence family council."
"But."
As she said, it was a meeting of the Lawrence family. Winter regretted not taking his wife's last name.
He understood it in his head and backed off, but he felt uneasy inside. He knew that his wife was a person who had firm resolve but was afraid of the decisions she made and would mull them over again.
Violet looked as if she had something to say, pulled away from Winter's embrace, clasped her hands together, stood up straight, and lifted her chin slightly.
"That day, Ash will appear with royal protocol. It is rumored that all the royal protocol officers have been summoned."
"He does it harder. I already calculated and put aside the amount Hayel will spend that day."
"Was it so?"
"Yeah. Write it all down at once. And if there's anything you want from the company, take it and use it."
"The company is not personal property."
"I knew you'd say that. Eglin was quit. Take that guy. He's unemployed."
Winter had thought his wife was hard to predict, but now he realized that there were few people easier to understand than her. She was a person who walked the right path, and once she understood the direction, she didn't stray far from it.
Before Violet could respond, Winter waved his hand.
"I'm going to work, so don't come out. It's cold."
"You just get dressed like that every day and go back to bed."
"Then you can greet me in the morning."
Winter said it as if it was a given and left her bedroom. Violet had pushed him away because he was so clingy when they were together, but after Winter left, Violet quickly felt lonely. He wanted to hurry up and be with him so that night would come. He was worried that he might go on a business trip.
"...They say that when you love someone, you become a child."
She shook her head, dismissing her loneliness as childish.
***
Violet stopped by the bank near the Kanik headquarters on the island at the mouth of the Reck River where Winter had deposited the money.
Violet sighed as she checked the party expenses at the bank. She had estimated that they would have been more than she had expected, so she had been generous, but it was ten times more than that. She guessed that it was more than the money spent on the Heston family's succession ceremony.
As Violet and Jen left the bank, Eglin was standing in front of the carriage. She ran towards them, waving a piece of paper.
"Violet, I have stolen the protocol list from Lord Ash that you will need. It is the protocol list to be used at the upcoming family meeting."
"Oh, thank you. But I don't think I ever asked you to do that."
"Actually, you didn't ask me to do it, but you need it anyway. And since I resigned again, please hire me."
"I heard the story. You're really not serious."
"Your husband is giving me too much work to do. I'm sure he'll have a lot of work to do, including the family meetings."
Eglin was smirking. Violet had no choice but to agree. Even she, his sibling, had not found a way to obtain the list. Jen was curious so Violet handed it over to her, and when she read the list, her eyes widened.
"Young Madam, does it take sixteen horses to transport one Lord Ash?"
"Yes. The Crown Prince gets eight horses, and the other direct descendants get four horses."
Jen, who found out that Ash Lawrence was trying to treat himself like a King, felt a sense of pity in her own eyes and then glanced at her little lady, who seemed to have no desire for power at all.
"Then our little lady has about twenty fils!"
"Now that there is no royal family, I guess there is no need to follow such formalities."
"Yes! Since there is no need to follow the formalities, you can do twenty, right? Right, Eglin?"
Eglin paused at Jen's aggressive question and then opened her mouth.
"CEO, he looked at this list first and wanted to buy a cruise."
At those words, Violet asked with wide eyes.
"Why do you need a cruise for a garden party?"
"Well, I guess he had a grand plan. Anyway, I tried to persuade Hayel that the young lady would hate it, so it unfortunately fell through."
Violet still couldn't figure out why the cruise was necessary, but she was relieved that it had fallen through.
"My husband bought the entire airship business and now he wants to buy a cruise ship too."
"That's right. Come to think of it, I heard that airship research is booming these days."
Listening to Winter's story from the bed, it seemed that his research had progressed incredibly quickly since the day he took the airship out into the rain. It was an ironic story that he had learned things that he had never known before because no one had thought of taking the airship out into the rain.
The group from the bank planned to go to the fancy shops on the island to buy tableware and tablecloths to decorate the family meeting. They had never had a party before, so they had almost no party supplies at home.
Violet was particularly interested in the trendy light bulb decorations of the day. As electricity became more widespread, light bulb decorations for the upper class were entering the stores. Light symbolizes wealth, and in recent years, it has become one of the most important decorations for parties.
Violet, who was passing the headquarters on her way to the shopping district, suddenly remembered something and said to Eglin.
"Eglin, come to think of it, it seems like my husband always travels with Hayel."
"Oh, the CEO. The CEO really hates it when he always has his own carriage waiting and his employees stop what they're doing and run over to greet him. It's a waste of money."
"Ah."
"That doesn't mean there is no protocol at all. If all the company's work isn't documented so that it can be seen, then that day..."
"That day?"
"... It's a day that will end when someone loses their ball."
Eglin shivered as she thought about it. Jen nodded in agreement.
"Eglin, do you remember that time? When the report on the wallpaper inside the Sollet Hotel didn't come up and all the staff was called in..."
"Was Jen there at that time? It was really horrible."
"I quit that day. After the little lady left, I tried to go around looking for money, but it was just too horrible..."
"Even the devil would run away..."
Just remembering that day made the two of them think at the same time. Violet felt nervous for no reason, so she put her hands on her chest and blinked. As she was walking, she felt pain in her lower back, so she gently pressed her lower back with her hand.
Then, Jen reacted sensitively and said.
"You're a little late now, and I think you're starting to get period cramps. Should I give you some medicine?"
"Ah... Yeah. Can I have some tea later?"
"Okay!"
Jen nodded vigorously. As she said, Violet, who had been unconsciously paying attention because her cycle was a bit late this time, smiled, hiding her bitterness.
***
James, who had just left the tea party, was returning from a tour of the brewery with his butler. The situation in Blooming Family was even worse than Mrs. Landon had said. No matter where he looked, there was no one working, and it was completely empty. He could hear the whispers of people passing by, which made him nervous.
"Five schools were built in buildings purchased in Princess Violet's name."
"Huh, school? Really? But the tuition is..."
"Don't you know what kind of person the Princess is? If you're not a noble child, you're exempt from tuition."
"Oh!"
Among people with children, the story of the establishment of a school seemed to be a very important topic.
James returned to the mansion and shouted at the butler in anger.
"How on earth did you manage the tenant farmers! If there were no people in the brewery, you should have made them take responsibility for the work there too!"
"Yes, yes?"
"Shouldn't we drag them in and make them work even if we have to beat them up?"
"Th, what is that...."
"Right now!"
"Yes, yes! Master!"
The butler ran frantically. When James looked into the garden, he saw that today's tea party had ended a little earlier than usual, and had not even led to dinner as usual. Everyone had left to check on the situation.
When he entered the mansion, Catherine was fidgeting and moving around, and Dieb was sitting on the sofa with a pained expression on his face. James, sensing another problem arising, asked Dieb.
"What brings you here, Dieb?"
Then, Div, whose face turned pale, said.
"Mother's trust funds are tied up, Father."
"...What? What does that mean?"
"Winter had been putting all the rent from the land in Kapitan into a trust for my mother, so she could withdraw it whenever she wanted. But he just froze that trust."
"That, that... The trust is your money anyway, so how can he freeze it?"
When James asked, Catherine said with a look of despair.
"I have decided that Dieb's business is not profitable. I have consulted with the Southern Bank President and have decided to freeze it for three years. I see that he is trying to lend to Dieb because he thinks I cannot manage money."
Catherine's cornerstone was the two trusts she had, one from her parents and the other from Winter.
Up until now, she had taken this money for granted. But when one of them was cut off, her mind went blank.
Dieb said angrily.
"So, Mother, why did you hit Violet? That weak person."
"Dieb, whose side are you taking now!"
"I really need this money. Without it, everything I've invested in my business up to now will be for nothing!"
Realizing that he could no longer get any more money from his mother, Dieb now looked at James with an earnest face.
James, who had already heard a tremendous amount of criticism from the Blooming family council, was left with only one conclusion when his wife's trust fund, which he had trusted, was frozen.
"Catherine, apologize to Violet and ask her to at least release the trust."
"I beg your pardon?"
"There is no other way."
"Oh my God."
When Catherine looked shocked, her son added his words.
"Mother, please. Please tell her to at least release this trust."
Catherine felt devastated, but she absolutely needed Winter's help to get out of this situation.
She would feel like apologizing to Winter, but she had no intention of apologizing to Violet, who had previously destroyed the peace that she had maintained without any worries.
It was Violet Lawrence who made Winter throw his money away, and it was Violet Lawrence who made him not even act like a son.
Catherine hated her so much that she wanted to kill her. She even thought that if Violet disappeared, Winter would come back to her. Even her husband seemed to secretly love his biological son, Winter, and Diev had harbored ill feelings toward Violet for a long time. No one understood her feelings.
She glared at James in anger.
"So this is the price you pay for taking in that lowly bastard."
"Catherine... please."
Knowing that making her even angrier would not help in getting her to apologize, James soothed her with a much softer voice. Catherine let out a shaky breath of sorrow and turned around to go into her room. She did not respond when James tried to persuade her from outside with a kind voice.
Now she misses Winter.
A New Series, For You Even Regret Is Luxury, is out now! It's such an interesting story, so I hope you will like it like I do! You can check it HERE!
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