Will I Eventually Become a Capitalist Tycoon?

Chapter 14: Let Everyone See Who the Real Drama Queen Is

That Kiana girl was even more perverted than he had imagined.

Russell watched the girl who had directly buried her face in his upper abdomen; he was quite a bit taller than Megumin, and judging by the current position of her face, the target she was aiming for should have been Megumin's chest.

One glance, verdict delivered—a pure, dyed-in-the-wool yuri dog.

Russell arrived at this conclusion very quickly.

If word of this got out, the Kaslana family's already meager reputation would probably be wiped clean.

But then again, that had nothing to do with him.

He was just here to deliver something.

Thinking this, Russell calmly pulled a bank card from his pocket and held it out.

"Your living expenses. From now on, Megumin won't have time to prepare your meals."

From now on, won't have time to prepare your meals?

Like a bolt of lightning striking down.

Kiana froze solid, as if she had been hit by a thunderbolt.

Why... wouldn't she have time to prepare her meals anymore?

She took a step back in disbelief, looking at the apartment that had almost become her second home. In her mind, it was the love nest she shared with Megumin.

Was she... not allowed to come here anymore?

Her brain trembled.

Her heart convulsed.

Kiana looked around frantically, as if trying to locate the source of this unexpected disaster.

Naturally, her gaze locked onto the man who had opened the door.

Sharp features, a straight brow.

Even the sloppy action of opening the door with a piece of bread in his mouth carried a kind of unrestrained, carefree charm when he did it.

If one were to ask why he earned the label of "dashing" rather than "lazy"...

It was naturally because he was good-looking.

When Xishi clutched her heart, she inspired pity; when Dongshi did the same, she made people feel their sanity drain to zero.

Russell was clearly closer to the former.

Without a doubt, he was a remarkably handsome fellow.

If he were to invite someone for a drink at a street-side café, ninety-nine percent of women would probably be willing to give him a chance.

For someone like that to show up at Megumin's home...

"This is... my husband. Kiana, you should introduce yourself too."

In a daze, Kiana seemed to see a girl in a wedding dress shyly holding the shoulder of the man beside her, speaking to her.

Aaaaaah!!!!

No way!!!!

Kiana felt as if a thousand Ottos were galloping wildly through her head.

Is this kid stupid?

Looking at the girl frozen stiff as if she had been stared down by the legendary Medusa, Russell looked a bit puzzled.

"Do you want it or not?"

"If not, I'm leaving."

Russell said this.

Like a sculpture in a horror story being cracked open to reveal the human body inside, Kiana finally snapped out of it and regained her ability to function as a living creature.

"Who the hell are you!!"

Kiana felt her entire body burning up.

Desire coursed through her blood.

Mm, the desire to attack.

You take Megumin away from me, and then you have the nerve to humiliate me with a handout?!!

How outrageous!!!

Her azure eyes nearly turned crimson on the spot, making one suspect she was about to start breathing fire like Talulah and roast Russell into barbecue.

This guy... he probably sees me as some kind of imaginary romantic rival, doesn't he.

Ah...

Feels like he's about to pick a fight with me any second now.

Russell looked at the guy who seemed like he could draw twin guns and perform a Kaslana gun-fu demonstration at any moment, his expression somewhat troubled.

He wasn't really fond of fighting.

He needed to quickly distance himself from this, or else a fight would break out. But explaining his relationship with Megumin involved the chat group, and that would be a hassle to clarify.

So, he'd let himself tell a small lie.

"Russell, Megumin's distant cousin," the boy answered simply.

"Due to various reasons, she was taken away, but she couldn't stop worrying about a friend named Kiana, so she asked me to look after her."

The boy looked at Kiana once more, his gaze carrying a scrutinizing quality.

Like an elder sizing up a son-in-law.

"Megumin said she was a lively, cute, and very polite kid... said I'd really like her. From the looks of it, her judgment might be a bit off."

Ah...

Kiana froze on the spot.

Not an enemy, huh.

Well, he knew her name, clearly really knew Megumin, and was close to her, even claiming to be her cousin.

Wait...

Cousin!

That meant, this was her brother-in-law?!!!

Wait...

That also meant she'd just been all set to beat up her brother-in-law?

Like a reservoir sluice gate bursting open, Kiana's anger dropped straight to zero.

No, not just zero.

It plummeted straight below zero!!!

Help, please. When meeting your brother-in-law for the first time, you look ready to beat him up—is there any saving this?

If brains could be networked, Kiana would instantly type out that question, along with a GIF of herself kowtowing for help.

Just begging for a sliver of hope.

She believed the all-powerful netizens would definitely come through, definitely!!!

But—

"Miss Kiana Kaslana, how much longer are you going to keep that fist clenched?"

In her perception, the boy, towering like a titan, looked down at her, his tone like King Yama declaring that this blind fool should be sent straight to the eighteenth level of hell, to stand alone on one floor.

Kiana's lips twisted into a stiff smile.

"Haha... Brother Russell, hello there."

"I am not well."

"The card's PIN is Megumin's birthday. If you don't even know that, you can just get lost."

The boy placed the bank card on the table, let out a cold snort, then turned around, giving Kiana no chance to seize the opening.

Ah!!!!

This was really doomed!!!

Kiana's brain worked faster than ever before.

At a speed that even startled Russell, That maiden swiftly pulled out the best tea from Megumin's house, brewed it, and then presented it to Russell with an expression of utmost sycophancy.

"Hm?" Russell made a sound.

"I don't recall asking you to make me tea."

This guy was even putting on airs!!

"Megumin mentioned you to me. Yeah, Brother Russell is someone who seems a bit cold on the surface, but is actually a really good person."

Kiana thought on her feet, directly deploying the cold-reading trick.

Since he claimed to be Megumin's cousin, she'd use Megumin's identity as a middle ground to ease the tension.

Russell didn't look like a lively person, so someone must have said he had a cold personality. Besides, most people had a pretty good self-image.

A lot of major corrupt officials thought they were clean officials who'd only made one or two small mistakes.

That was a self-perception issue.

Kiana believed Russell would think of himself as a gentle, easygoing person.

Yeah, first use Megumin to build rapport, then subtly flatter him!

I'm a genius!!

Kiana gave herself a mental thumbs-up.

?!

Russell stared at the person who was blatantly lying through her teeth, stunned. For a split second, he almost believed he really did have a cousin named Mei.

Good fellow...

She's just going all in with the act, huh.

"You two are that close?"

Russell's expression seemed to relax a little, then he frowned and pressed a hand to his own shoulder.

Kiana jolted, then, with utmost obedience, circled around behind Russell and began tapping his shoulder with extremely precise force.

"Mhm mhm, Mei and I are the best of sisters!!"

This white-haired puffball had maxed out her ability to read the room, even trying to pitch her voice a little sweeter.

"By the way, Brother Russell, how's your neck? You must work really hard every day, huh."

Good fellow.

She's going full tea mode now!

Russell gained a new understanding of this seemingly carefree single-celled organism.

This girl had maxed out her skill at saying whatever suited the audience—speaking human words to humans and ghostly words to ghosts!

Things were starting to get interesting.

Feeling the perfectly measured force on his shoulder, a strange smile curled at the corner of Russell's mouth.

"A bit too light, put more into it. My shoulders aren't sore—instead of pounding my shoulder, help me loosen up my neck."