After the Ending, the Villain was Saved with Money

“Episode 19”

After breaking up with Romeo and shortly thereafter announcing her engagement to Psyche, Amber, who had been lying in bed sickly, crossed Daifné’s mind for a moment.
It seemed like she had been quietly working behind the scenes for a year. This time, it was the divorcee prince’s chamber. Prince Consort, Empress?
“The options are indeed diverse.”
Daifné chuckled, loosely folding her arms.
“If it’s sympathy for a blond pretty boy, I’ll gladly marry.”
Amber’s golden eyes glanced upwards for a moment.
The nobility of Azenthar was known for their sun-kissed skin, believed to be loved by the sun for generations, and their silver hair, symbolizing the moon’s grace. Moreover, it was common for each member to have two or three children due to polygamy.
Daifné glanced at her mother, who couldn’t respond, with a smirk.
“Riding camels, making porridge with sheep’s milk, making clothes with fur… It sounds romantic, but would I really live well there if I got married?”
“Try making the royal family civilized. You could do it.”
Amber raised her teacup and took a sip.
She was a mother who showed great pride in her daughter, yet couldn’t seem to stop attaching herself to certain men.
Despite Daifné’s efforts to change that perception, it hadn’t changed in years.
“In that case, I’ll just have a child with Celestian.”
“Your child will have the blood of Rodríguez and Green. That would make them another imperial candidate.”
“Oh, that’s how it is.”
Daifné missed the timing to respond. She acknowledged that she had lost the argument on that topic. With a teasing gesture towards her mother’s face, Daifné placed her elbow on the table and escaped.
❖ ❖ ❖
In a familiar smoky billiards room, a few close university classmates were gathered.
“Why does Teriossa always wear the same clothes?”
And strangely, Celestian was the topic of discussion. Since their gatherings usually revolved around Romeo Rodríguez, it was rare for Celestian’s name to come up.
Thanks to that, Daifné vaguely sensed that this might be a dream.
“Pretty cute?”
They didn’t seem to understand modern slang. Despite muttering quietly, Daifné, completely ignored, lowered her posture as if concentrating and aimed the cue at the white ball on the pool table.
“His face is really half and half. Must be because he’s a bastard child.”
El Algeste, tossing half a cigarette into the ashtray, said.
“Our maid is from the royal palace, right? The operating expenses there are not that great, so there aren’t many servants. Dust gathers in unused rooms. It was really hard to get a job in the royal family, but it was so pathetic that she quit and came straight to our house.”
Even the theater actor Angel Dwight chimed in.
“Everyone wears suits, but it was weird that only Teriossa wore a tuxedo.”
“Wasn’t Teriossa just full of himself?”
“How old is he? Twenty, twenty….”
Two friends continued to add a word or two.
“Because Crown Prince Your Highness will be twenty-three this fall. I don’t know, anyway, he’s not much older than Romeo, right?”
Daifné wanted to immediately tell her friends his date of birth and zodiac sign, but she held back.
“Who wants to marry a bastard like him? Seriously.”
“Why? Men just need a handsome face anyway. I thought Celestian was fine.”
Daifné’s cue slipped.
“So what? She married a guy with just one knighthood.”
“Huh, a knight? It’s all bluff.”
“Yeah, why. My husband is handsome. He manages the household well. Plus, he’s only two ranks lower than Teriossa. Isn’t that impressive?”
“Jenna, even if he’s a skilled prosecutor, he can’t beat a gunslinger.”
“Don’t worry if you get caught. I’ll just die. Don’t mess with men with land, okay?”
Their interest was not in Celestian. Daifné breathed a sigh of relief. The white ball she had mistakenly hit was heading towards the black ball in the pocket.
Daifné’s friends, who grew up in an environment where they lived well and naturally developed high standards, chewed on the flaws of those above them like beating meat with a bat.
“What’s the point of having a face that’s half and half? The goal looks empty. Strangely, all the blondes are like that.”
“Oh, these guys really don’t know anything. That’s the really cute point.”
Standing up straight, leaning her cue, and stacking her hands on top of it, Daifné quietly listened to her friends’ gossip, wondering how far it would go.
“Hey, did you just pocket yourself? What’s going on?”
But because the black ball was sunk inside the pocket, their discussion came to an end.
It was a bet where the loser would pay for all the drinks and buy each person a new outfit.
Whether the drunken sailors obsessed with dress extravagance ended up paying for everything or not, Daifné didn’t care.
“You guys are all hypocrites anyway.”
“What’s with you all of a sudden? Come and pay quickly. Don’t change the subject.”
They all wanted to talk to Celestian, even if it was just for a moment, but they ended up becoming jokers, unable to keep their mouths shut!
“I’ve never danced with Celestian before.”
Her friends didn’t seem to hear Daifné’s words as they were already busy looking at catalogs to decide what clothes to buy. Daifné pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek, then burst into laughter as if she had realized something.
When you think about it, Daifné was the biggest hypocrite of them all.

“Ah… what’s this.”
After the long-distance with her mother, Daifné felt drained, and as soon as she reached her room, she sat down on the stairs and fell asleep. She fell asleep so deeply, just like when she was sick.
Just like Daifné was when she was sick, Celestian sat on the single sofa next to the bed reading a book.
It was obvious who had moved it.
“Cele.”
As soon as she opened her eyes, seeing him made it feel even more dreamlike. Daifné gritted her teeth and placed her palm on her forehead.
“Yeah?”
“Come sit.”
Celestian stretched his legs, closing the book. Most of the books, with pink and gold decorations, were romance novels.
“I’m already sitting.”
“No, down there.”
“Huh?”
“On the floor.”
Daifné’s reaction if it were Celestian would have been to curse and immediately move away, disappearing. So, that’s what Daifné wanted.
He obediently got up and sat on the floor, lowering himself until he was sitting next to the bed. The height difference made Celestian still look down at Daifné.
He lowered himself further, placing his arms on the edge of the bed and resting his face on them. In an instant, their faces were close. Daifné’s temperament and blood pressure, which were about to drop, seemed to skyrocket like a red graph.
“I can’t go down any further than this. The bed’s too low.”
Daifné reached out her hand towards Celestian’s cheek. He flinched, then leaned his head into her hand, placing his cheek against her palm.
“What’s this? Who are you? Is this a dream?”
“What?”
“Ah, is it a dream?”
Daifné raised herself up and lightly tapped Celestian’s cheek to avoid hurting him. There was a soft, light sound. Celestian touched his cheek with a puzzled expression.
“…Why did you hit me?”
“Because I thought it was a dream.”
She sat up completely. Feeling sensation on the inside of her fingers suggested it wasn’t a dream. There was a stack of work documents nearby. It seemed like Misha had returned from work.
“Don’t people usually hit their own cheeks when they think it’s a dream?”
“I hit you because it wasn’t a dream.”
“Why do you keep changing your words?”
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“Then stop being so dramatic.”
“It’s not drama, it’s…”
Daifné, almost stuck to the paperwork, drank a bottle of water in one go and sank onto the sofa. Celestian, leaning against the low bed, looked puzzled and chuckled, getting up from his seat.
Sitting next to Daifné, Celestian found a champagne bottle among the piles of paperwork behind him. After opening it and pouring it into angular glasses, he realized the drink was lukewarm and closed the lid again.
Celestian didn’t drink alcohol. He didn’t even smoke a common cigarette.
So, the alcohol was meant for Daifné to drink along with him.
“Why are you being so nice? Because you’re grateful for what I did with Psyche?”
Celestian’s expression became somber.
“I’ve been curious about something.”
“Yeah?”
“How do you know that I… have that kind of relationship with Psyche?”
It was a contradictory question.
‘Isn’t it obvious? No…?’
Daifné grinned and gave a simple answer.
“I can easily read the eyes of someone I like.”
“When did you see us so close?”
“That day? When was that?”
He fell silent, tapping his lips with his index and middle fingers.
‘That day… she must mean the execution ceremony.’
That’s the charm of a sub-man.
A quite attractive hardware with a fairly attractive software. But the OS is completely installed with the heroine, so other women either look like x or y to the blindly in love lover.
Perhaps Daifné could be z to this man.
“You cried when you went to the concert. Because you saw Psyche, and you liked it.”
Celestian frowned.
“I woke up thinking it was Psyche when I smelled the scent.”
How poignant.
To think that someone’s emotions towards a complete stranger could be so tender. There’s only Daifné, who would continue to live with this man, fight with her mother, and pull out a gun, just for that.
“Ugh, Your Highness.”
Daifné pressed her finger firmly on the prince’s eyebrow and pushed it away. Then she picked up a black folder and brought it forward.
The prince was still sitting next to her, looking out the window. The sound of rain was faintly heard, as if it was raining. Daifné tapped Celestian’s shoulder twice.
“Go and sleep. I have to work.”
“It’s not time yet.”
“Go back and read that pink book. You’re bothering me.”
“Bothering?”
Celestian’s green