My Dream is to Get My Own House

“What did you say?”

“They want me to return the wallet and bag she gave me! Can you believe this? It’s ridiculous!”

As Pedro raged, Mrs. Masha, Ishael’s mother, tightly bit her lip as if she had a guess about something.

Mrs. Masha tore open an envelope that came from a moneylender.

And inside that envelope…

“Oh my goodness! We also received this filthy warning, no, it’s actually a notice!”

The warning and the notice were different.

The warning was just a simple warning.

But the notice meant they actually had a legal obligation to pay compensation.

“Huh? A compensation notice? You can’t send something like this without consent.”

In Mrs. Masha’s hand was the compensation lawsuit notice sent by Ishael.

“Could it be that ancient language notice I received back then…!”

Mrs. Masha and Pedro furrowed their brows as they examined the letters they received.

Pedro murmured in a helpless tone.

“For me, it might be possible, but according to imperial law, we can’t demand compensation from family members, right?”

Mrs. Masa furrowed her brow.

Soldika also spoke up.

“Besides, Ishael is no longer our family.”

“What do you mean…”

Unlike Mrs. Masha and Pedro, Soldika had a sharp mind.

“I think she got married to someone else not too long ago. That’s why we’re completely separated from each other.”

“What? How long has it been since we broke up… and she got married…!”

Mrs. Masha also clenched her fist with a rare expression of anger.

“After all I’ve done, raising her, caring for her, looking after her, you betray us like this?”

“Sigh!”

“Not just me, but the family also wanted to do something good, but this fool who knows nothing… ruined everything!”

In reality, it was difficult for Mrs. Masa to say that she raised Ishael.

Ishael had received scholarships and attended an academy since they were young.

Even while attending the academy, Ishael managed to support the family.

But she didn’t care about such realities.

Only her tragedy of being betrayed by her daughter mattered to her.

“Ishael, this brat! How could she betray her family so heartlessly!”

“Oh my, maybe she was deceived into a fraudulent marriage? Because of her infatuation with a man…”

“That might be possible. Soldika, what should we do now?”

“Well, we’ll have to think about it. It’s going to be difficult without my sister…”

Ishael, the ugly duckling, believed herself to be a beautiful swan.

She had to illuminate Soldika beautifully as her sister.

She gently comforted Pedro.

“Pedro, I know it upsets your stomach when you see my sister.”

“Huh?”

“Sister is not attractive. With those glasses and that messy hair… She doesn’t meet your aesthetic standards.”

Pedro nodded uncomfortably.

“It’s not that upsetting.”

“Really? Then, help me with the divorce, Pedro!”

“What can I do? With notices like these flying around!”

Soldika giggled and covered her mouth.

“There’s no way love can change in such a short time, right?”

“We even got engaged…”

“Jealousy could have led to that marriage. As Pedro knows, sister’s personality and behavior are quite immature.”

Somewhat unsightly, Pedro nodded his head.

How dedicated Ishael had been to Pedro all this time.

With a strangely relieved expression, Pedro lightly replied, “So, do you have a specific plan to get her divorced?”

“First, we need to find out where Sister is living.”

“And then?”

“Next, Pedro, you have to seduce Sister again.”

There was a time when Sister ran away because she couldn’t bear it anymore.

At that time, Soldika didn’t act excessively.

She simply sent Mother to be with Sister and made her shed tears.

To allow the weak-hearted Sister to return to the family.

A similar approach could be used this time as well.

“Oh, and lastly, we need to find out more about that contract husband.”

A beautiful smile curved on Soldika’s lips.

“I’ll take care of that. He probably won’t be a decent man.”

The man who would meet Sister wouldn’t be so amazing.

“He wouldn’t even like Sister.”

She smiled like blooming cherry blossoms.

“Where else would Sister go if not our house, right?”

“Well, that’s true. Who would accept Ishael?”

They couldn’t know the exact circumstances of how Sister got married.

But soon, that husband would also abandon Ishael.

Just like the people who passed by Ishael over the past twenty years.

But it didn’t matter.

If she married a good man, he would pay off Sister’s debt.

Good things were good.

“I have a friend at the palace. They will trace Sister’s whereabouts for us.”

Her lips rose as if painting a smile.

“I’ll find out her whereabouts and let you know, Pedro. Then what?”

“Starting the seduction again, I suppose.”

Sister would come back. Definitely.

Because that’s Ishael.

* * *

The next morning arrived.

I went to work at the Knights Management Bureau today as well.

But…

There were letters from my family in our office’s mailbox at the Knights Management Bureau.

“Sister, come back. I’m so worried that you’re caught up with a strange man… Suing for compensation, what does that mean? We’re family.”

I crumpled the letter with a wry smile on my face.

“What’s this? Even dogs can write letters.”

Now that I had come back to life, it became clear.

To Soldika, I was the fish-shaped cake from the street stall, the mist flower among a bouquet of roses, a background in a painting.

Just a tool that could illuminate her beautiful self.
So that’s why she’s trying to persuade me like this.

Because I’m not yet a noble, haven’t married a decent nobleman, and haven’t secured a dowry.

But now that I, the source of money, have left, it will be inconvenient for her.

“Really… she’s putting up a fight.”

I chuckled.

I had no intention of falling for it again.

* * *

Time flew by, and the weekend arrived.

Emmanuel, the current director of the Housing Supply Management Bureau, arrived at the picnic site.

“Today, we have come here with a noble mission.”

The officials standing beside him looked dull.

“What’s with the sleepy faces?”

“What? Coming to work on a weekend morning for useless things… Oh, the filter isn’t working. I’m sorry.”

“It’s about living passionately. Passion, passion, passion! Shout the slogan!”

The administrative officials retorted like dried fish struggling on the beach.

“Passion, passion, passion…”

“Ha, this is something. It wasn’t like this in my time.”

“We will make improvements.”

Emmanuel narrowed his eyes and said.

“Yes. The slogan inside that placard looks quite good, doesn’t it?”

[Yo! Married couples have gathered!
Fun! Fun! Let’s have a picnic! Cheers!]

He looked at the placard with a proud expression.

That catchy phrase was something he had put a lot of effort into.

It was a catchphrase created after dedicating valuable lunch break time.

Hence, the answer was predetermined.

But…

“Wow, who made that? It’s really not good. It’s tacky…”

“…”

Emmanuel silently lowered the administrative official’s performance rating in his mind.

That’s right.

Emmanuel, he was an old-fashioned person.

He turned his gaze away from the administrative official who yawned incessantly.

He asked Mora, a subordinate administrative official who volunteered to work on the weekend.

“How are you? Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes! I’m fine.”

“Don’t be nervous. The newlywed couples will be here soon.”

“It’s certainly a momentous occasion. Wasn’t the construction of these townhouses something our Housing Management Bureau has been wanting all along?”

At a time when the proportion of married couples was decreasing and the Empire’s family-centered ideology was wavering.

They were moved to be able to cooperate with the Welfare Bureau and specially provide these townhouses to newlywed couples at a reasonable price.

There was also some political calculation involved.

Housing management in the Empire was divided into two main areas.

One was the Housing Management Bureau that issued rental permits.

The other was the Supply Bureau, which supplied public housing called Council Houses to commoners and the impoverished fallen aristocracy at reasonable prices for residential safety.

Therefore, the Housing Management Bureau couldn’t directly intervene in the public housing project in the capital.

But ambitious Emmanuel had set his sights on the public housing supply task.

Then, one day.

“The number of newlywed couples is decreasing! We have to stop it!” The Welfare Bureau came crying for help.

Emmanuel didn’t miss the opportunity.
Thanks to that, he was able to release the townhouses specifically for newlywed couples under the name of the Housing Management Bureau.

So how could today not be a momentous day?

“Though the beginning may be modest, the end will be grand!”

Sorbon awkwardly clapped his hands.

“We know our purpose, right?”

“Everyone gathered here will be responsible for determining if the couples are genuine newlyweds.”

They planned to closely monitor whether the so-called “contract couples” who were rampant these days were among the residents.

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why we came up with this picnic idea.”

One of the administrative officials, who had been staring with frozen eyes, made a facial expression that said, “I know it’s an idea that goes beyond common sense.”

He couldn’t even manage his facial expressions properly.

His work performance rating just went down again.

But right at that moment.

“Hey, the newlywed couples are here!”

Emmanuel stared at the people approaching from a distance with sharp eyes.

Actually, he was slightly excited.

Emmanuel was a severe workaholic, and because of that, he still had some grand fantasies about dating and marriage.

“Seeing the newlywed couples chickening out would be quite amusing. …No, no.”

He cleared his throat and watched the approaching newlywed couples.

But, what’s this?

They were keeping their distance, observing social distancing measures.