‘Damn it!’
In front of the southern entrance of the Grand Plaza, Klisha habitually pulled at her hair. Even though her nanny had told her not to do it, there was no helping it.
‘Damn it! I don’t have any money!’
Before leaving Myuta yesterday, Klisha threw all the money she had in her possession at [Tomma & Currency] and walked away.
She thought there were two more purses with gold coins in her luggage. However, one purse of coins from her outerwear was given to the poor brothers who were taking care of their elderly mother as money for medicine. But where did the other two disappear?
‘Those bastards.’
Klisha clenched her teeth. Perhaps. Even when the specialized night-time thieves were getting beaten like that, they had managed to steal the other purse containing gold coins in her bag. ‘Specialists’ are different after all.
But. What should she do now….
Klisha looked down at herself and let out a bitter laugh. It was the first time in nearly ten years that she found herself in such an embarrassing situation.
She had first and last visited the capital city of Zekrit, after the end of the territorial war when she followed her father to the title conferral ceremony.
And her situation was almost like that time.
No Shukrim.
No money.
And she looked no better than a beggar.
Fortunately, the two daggers she used like her own limbs, and her always useful sword ‘Greta’, which she treasured like her own self, were still with her….
‘Huh?’
‘No way?’
Maybe.
She must have left it in the carriage of Tomma Ryuiken.
“Ha. Ha.”
Klisha laughed at herself in disbelief. She must have been captivated beyond words by those enchanting red eyes.
‘Wow… really… What should I do now?’
* * *
Eugene’s carriage passed through the winding back streets of the busy capital and eventually arrived at Anga (Private Manor).
Eugene, who usually preferred neat and tidy clothes without a single flaw, was leaning tiredly in the back of the carriage, with his tie loosened and wearing just a shirt.
As soon as Eugene arrived, he kicked open the door to the mansion, and all the startled servants rushed out in surprise at the sudden visit of their Master.
“Master!”
“Prepare some bath water.”
Boom.
Unlike usual, with his handsome eyebrows filled with irritation, their Master slammed the door to the study. An elderly man, whose hair had already turned completely white, grabbed one of the guards following him and asked.
“What happened? Why is the Master in such a bad mood….?”
“Perhaps….”
Noah, Eugene’s secret bodyguard and coachman, hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
“The young lady the Master fancies went to meet another man.”
“What?”
The old man’s eyes filled with shock.
“Who?”
“Well, I have no idea.”
Noah paused for a moment before opening his mouth.
“Since the Master sent someone, they’ll find out soon enough.”
The old man grabbed the guard by the collar and shook him.
“I’m not asking whom the lady went to meet, but who is that young lady!”
Startled for a moment by the old man’s force, Noah placed a hand on his shoulder and said,
“Ah. Her name is Lady Shasha Rin.”
“….”
The old man, Homer Ryuiken, the 14th head of the Ryuiken Merchant Guild and a great business tycoon, who could be considered as one of the top ten wealthiest figures on the entire continent, stared blankly at the study where his Master had disappeared and muttered to himself.
“Who is that?”
The evening sunset, shining through the tall glass windows of the large bathtub, gradually overtook the sky of the capital city of Zekrit.
The sound of a bell from a distant spire, a few birds flying in the sky, and the laughter of children, coming from an unknown source, particularly caught Eugene’s heart today.
“Huuu….”
After stepping into the bathtub and sinking into the water, Eugene tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a moment.
Whenever he came to the capital of Perza, he always felt a sense of gloom.
‘Ian Perza.’
An enemy who must not be forgotten. A name that must be wiped out one day, its blood drunk, its flesh torn, and its existence erased from history. The mastermind of the Karion Massacre. The cruel and merciless Crown Prince of Perza.
However, today, for some reason, another face kept overlapping, disturbing Eugene’s thoughts.
A woman who was bold and absurd at the same time, with a strange way of thinking. One he never wanted to encounter again.
Nevertheless… Eugene’s lips curled into a captivating smile as he remembered the impressionable Shasha Rin.
At the glimpse of Eugene’s figure, partially obscured by the steam behind the glass wall, even the faces of the experienced maids, who were tidying up the clothes and towels, turned red.
His wet hair, resembling the night sky, and her sharp jawline. Droplets of water trickled down the prominent Adam’s apple, which radiated presence at the center of his long, straight, white neck.
Following this line of sight, one could see the smooth and broad shoulders, as if meticulously carved stitch by stitch by a skilled artisan, a firm chest, and the parts submerged beneath the surface…
“What are you still mingling about! If you’re done organizing, get out now!”
The maidservant, unable to stand by any longer, forcibly dispersed the crowd that had gathered.
The Master, with his special and unique status, somehow had the ability to spark the imagination every time one laid eyes on him.
Eugene had finally visited the private manor on the capital after a full six months.
Homer Ryuiken waited for Eugene in the study, with a mountain of work reports and ledgers piled up.
In reality, Eugene shouldn’t have come to the capital at this time. Why had he gone against something…. that had already been decided… If this fact were to be known to the outside world…. No, surely he didn’t come because of a woman, did he?
Click.
“What’s the matter?”
Eugene, wearing a light shirt with a deep, diagonal neckline, entered the study, roughly wiping his wet hair with a towel.
“What could be happening that would make Father (Stepfather) so serious again?”
[T/N: The original text has Dài fù (代父), which actually means Surrogate Father, or more accurately, Sugar Daddy. I may change the title in the future if necessary.]
“Master. I heard that ‘Zenya’ is on the move.”
Eugene’s eyes flashed with irritation.
“What’s wrong with those old men? Do they think that’s possible now?”
“I’ve persuaded them enough. But they’re being stubborn.”
Ten years of living with their heads lowered for the reconstruction and revenge of the Servan Empire.
The nobles and vassals of Servan Empire, who barely survived the Battle of the Karion Plains, known as the Massacre of the Mad Crown Prince, have endured the hardships of hiding in various regions of the Perza Empire.
“No, do they truly think that it’s possible to assassinate ‘that’ Ian Perza? And that too, in the palace of the Perza Emperor?”
Eugene let out a hollow laugh.
“Rather, it might be a good opportunity to get rid of Zenya this time. If they keep getting in the way, that is.”
“….”
“What?”
“That….”
Homer hesitated for a moment, glancing at his Master, before swallowing his words. After all, when it comes to young people’s love lives, they tend to hide things when asked directly… It’s better to find out secretly on his own.
“Nothing.”
Homer, with deep wrinkles between his eyebrows, left the study with a somewhat solemn expression. A short while later, Eugene’s guard knocked on the study’s door with a measured attitude.
“Enter.”
When Noah opened the door and entered, the Young Master was scanning through various reports and meeting minutes.
Eugene asked without even raising his head.
“What is it?”
“That Young Lady from before left her sword in the carriage.”
“Sword?”
Noah held the sword wrapped in old cloth and handed it to his Master.
“I almost threw it away seeing it was wrapped entirely in cloth.”
“….”
Eugene remembered the woman with her crimson hair tied up, holding a sword in one hand and wandering around the City of Myuta yesterday morning.
A man indeed. Eugene, who couldn’t help but chuckle softly, spoke in a teasing tone.
“Hand it over to Tomma & Currency as collateral. She’ll probably look for it when she goes to retrieve the horse.”
As Eugene lowered his gaze to the stack of documents, Noah hesitated before speaking.
“However….”
“….?”
“I mean, just in case, it would be better to keep it around the Master for a while….”
Their Master was fine in everything but since he lacked experience in romance… No matter how insignificant the Lady’s belongings are, he should hand them over personally! They shouldn’t be left as collateral!
“Leave it.”
Noah leaned the sword against Eugene’s desk with a satisfied expression and quietly stepped aside.
* * *
Klisha, who was standing in front of the fountain in the main square and looking like a penniless beggar, slapped her forehead in sudden realization of a brilliant idea and quickly walked away.
‘Yes! The trust funds! I need to find the money first!’
Klisha began to ask around in a cheerful mood before making her way to the Central Royal Bank’s main branch. However, when she saw the sign hanging boldly on the front door of the massive building, she barely managed to hold onto her soul, which seemed ready to scatter in shock.
「Closed for business. Please visit during weekdays from 09:00 ~ 16:00. Closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.」
It was 17:10 currently.
She knocked on the door desperately, but there was no response.
Indeed, the capital is different. A large bank like this operating on a morning to afternoon (9-to-4) schedule and a five-day workweek. Haha. Five-day workweek!
Klisha gazed at the sign of the Central Royal Bank, which filled the entire front of the building, and smiled like a ghost.
‘Today is Friday. What should I do? Ugh. Damn. What am I going to do now?’
With no one familiar around and nowhere to go, Klisha walked and walked until she returned to the Grand Plaza in front of the Royal Palace.
It was 18:10 now.
She was starving, thinking she might as well get some free meals. But she felt a little guilty, as if she was stealing from the homeless people. But honestly, her situation wasn’t exactly great either….
「Today’s meal service is over. Please visit between 16:00 and 18:00 tomorrow.」
“No aaahhhhh!”
Klisha’s eyes were filled with despair.
At that moment.
In a quaint, old-fashioned building standing alone at the corner next to the Grand Plaza.
A large banner hung like a curtain on the wall of this small building with striking red bricks and impressive ivy vines.
「Etiquette Makes Human_ Western Sunset Tailor, S/S Collection 30% (+additional 15%) discount, (excluding some items).」
This was the headquarters of the ‘Western Sunset Tailor’, the birthplace of luxury handmade suits that even the snobbish gentlemen of Zekrit couldn’t help but run to, was located.
The dream workplace of many overseas-educated tailors.
But in reality, its true identity was a cover office for the Royal Knight’s Information Division.
Regardless of the task, the members of the Royal Knight’s Information Division, who always give their best in whatever they do and are inherently capable of anything… Somehow, they ended up putting their main duties aside and became so absorbed in painstakingly crafting clothes, stitch by stitch, that they ended up gaining immense fame.
In the end, His Majesty the Great Emperor, who could not stand to see that, conducted a surprise inspection and caught their doing. Now everyone from the director to the general information agents were called out, getting a good beating and in a tense atmosphere.
“All of you must have lost your minds together. Did you come here to sew?”
“….”
“Get it together. Before I also sew your hands and feet.”
“….”
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
“Yes.”
“Go and bring me some clothes to change into.”
“Yes.”
The young man with blonde hair, who had spent the entire day running around the capital and delivering some much-needed lessons was sweating so much that even his shirt was slightly damp. He headed to the second-floor terrace to cool off for a moment, that’s when he spotted a shabby building at the entrance of the Grand Plaza.
“Free meal service? What the hell is that?”
