In the dark alley adjacent to a main street, the sounds of loud shouting and things breaking could be heard repeatedly.
People dressed in fine clothes and walking with dignified expressions stopped in their tracks. They quickly understood the situation upon seeing the large carriage standing at the alley’s entrance.
The carriage bore the crest of Duke Eisen’s house.
“It seems Duke Eisen is angry again after a long while. I wonder who the target of his anger is today?” Someone muttered.
Before Duke Eisen made a fortune speculating on Morning Glories, he often vented his frustrations on the powerless commoners when his position weakened.
But recently, since he had regained his influence, such incidents had been rare.
“If he came in person without sending his underlings, it must be something that really pissed him off.”
“I wonder who will die today.”
The nobles and wealthy merchants spoke as if it were none of their concern. Some even seemed intrigued, as if they had found an interesting spectacle.
In contrast, the poor commoners huddled together in the alley were in a different situation. They were terrified, nervously pacing outside their doors.
“What on earth is happening? Why did Duke Eisen come here?”
“They say a kid from this house stole something from Duke Eisen.”
“The only kid from this house is ten-year-old Tommy, right? What could he have possibly stolen that would make them take his mother?”
“The kid ran away, so they came to vent their anger on his mother. Looks like they plan to break her arm or something.”
“If breaking her arm is all they do, we’d be lucky. Do you think that’s where it will end?”
At that moment, Duke Eisen emerged, dragging a woman by her hair. The woman couldn’t even stand up and was being pitifully dragged along. Her face clearly showed signs of illness.
“You really don’t know where your son is? Then you’ll have to pay the price for him.”
“If I take the punishment, will you forgive Tommy?”
“Don’t make me laugh! This is the punishment for your cunning son running away. He’ll pay with his life for stealing my property.”
“No, please! Ah!”
Duke Eisen kicked the clinging woman away. He looked coldly at the fallen woman and then ordered his guards.
“Beat her until she wakes up from the pain. Make sure even if the boy returns later, he won’t recognize his mother’s face!”
“Yes, sir!”
The guards approached the fallen woman but suddenly staggered as a strong wind from nowhere hit them precisely.
It was the power of magic.
The bewildered guards were flustered, and someone walked out from among the gathered crowd.
Duke Eisen also turned his head that way.
‘Who dares…’
Two silhouettes gradually became clear to Duke Eisen’s eyes.
‘Hellas and Mut?’
“Are you alright?” But the clear voice that followed belonged to someone else.
Duke Eisen, blinking his stinging eyes, responded, “I am alri…”
“Are you hurt badly?”
But the person ignored Duke Eisen and ran to the fallen woman. The people had come for the woman lying on the ground. Duke Eisen looked dumbfounded at Hanelope, who was supporting the woman.
A man in a black mask lightly patted Duke Eisen’s shoulder as they passed.
‘That’s not Mut.. Wasn’t he Princess Hanelope’s knight? What are they doing here?’
Duke Eisen was bewildered.
He didn’t realize he had caused such a commotion that he couldn’t go unnoticed.
Hanelope took out a small vial from her sleeves and gave it to the unconscious woman. Soon, the woman slowly opened her eyes.
Seeing this, Duke Eisen snapped, “Your Highness! What are you doing! Get out of my way!!”
Hanelope looked at him coldly, “What do you mean by ‘get out of your way’? To let you kill someone?”
***
I glared at Duke Eisen’s hideously twisted face. He was doing something even worse than I had imagined. Trying to assault a sickly person whose bones could be felt just by holding her.
‘If those burly men had hit her, she might really have died.’
It was good that I rushed here. I helped Tommy’s mother to her feet.
“This woman is a patient. We need to call a doctor.”
“Who are you to interfere!”
Duke Eisen reached out toward me. But his hand was instantly stopped by Brantley. The guards tried to stop Brantley, but it was futile. As they were no match for Brantley.
In the blink of an eye, the guards were down. Duke Eisen was horrified.
“Why are you blocking my way?”
“My guard was merely trying to protect me. And I am only trying to protect a sick commoner.”
“She’s not just a sick commoner, she’s a thief who ate my precious bulbs!”
“She ate Morning Glory bulbs?”
I feigned ignorance as if hearing it for the first time.
Duke Eisen huffed and spoke, “This woman and her son stole my bulbs and roasted them. Do you have any idea how much those glowing variant bulbs cost?”
The crowd murmured in surprise.
But I only tilted my head in confusion, “They must have thought they were onions.”
Duke Eisen was momentarily taken aback. He hadn’t expected me to hit the mark.
“W-what?”
“Morning Glories bulbs look similar to onions. They probably got confused.”
“Similar? How dare you!”
“Of course, they should take responsibility for touching someone else’s property. But demanding such an excessive penalty is unreasonable. Even as a duke, you cannot administer private punishments.”
“Being confused? Do you not know the difference between onions and Morning Glories? Do you know how much the price difference is?”
Duke Eisen was fuming with rage.
I looked at him calmly and spoke, “You probably know the difference best, Duke. You’re the one who created such an abnormal price difference.”
Duke Eisen was speechless. It was likely the first time someone had spoken so bluntly to him in front of others.
The spectators murmured, and Duke Eisen, realizing this too late, flared up.
“Do you not understand how valuable my bulbs are once they fully grow?”
“When they fully grow, they become beautiful flowers. Just like onions bloom into flowers. Flowers that are no different from the ones blooming by the roadside.”
I pointed to a white flower bravely standing between the dirt clods on the ground.
“Are you saying an onion flower is the same as a Morning Glory?”
“Onion flowers are just as beautiful as Morning Glories. They can be used as ingredients to enhance food flavors and have medicinal uses. Moreover, it’s still possible to create a mutated onion flower even now. What’s the difference?”
“T-that’s…!”
“Someone inflated the value of Morning Glories to make them seem more valuable, but in essence, they are the same. There’s no need for Morning Glories to be so expensive. Have you ever thought it odd that they are traded at such high prices, Duke?”
I asked, looking Duke Eisen straight in the eye. Then I turned to the gathered crowd.
“It seems other people already realize this. That’s why the price of Morning Glories has started to drop. People don’t see the need to buy a single flower at such a high price anymore.”
“That’s nonsense…!”
Duke Eisen yelled, but his heart sank.
The crowd’s expressions were unusual.
Both the poor commoners who had originally resented the speculation on Morning Glories and the nobles and wealthy merchants who had enthusiastically joined the speculation but began to question the prices as they peaked now had a look of realization.
Duke Eisen looked at me as if something had gone terribly wrong.
“N-no!”
But all he could do was deny it. Admitting it would mean everything he had built would crumble.
I spoke without blinking an eye, “I don’t care what you think, Duke. But I cannot allow you to personally punish this woman here and now. It violates the empire’s laws.”
“This woman’s son stole my property! Isn’t that against the law?”
“Then handle it according to the law.”
Duke Eisen gritted his teeth at my words. If handled by the law, it would merely be classified as a theft without malicious intent. Depending on the circumstances, it could even result in an acquittal.
“You think I will let it end so lightly? Absolutely not. I’ll sue them and make sure they suffer!”
He intended to sue them, extract a huge compensation, and if they couldn’t pay, enslave them.
Duke Eisen stormed out of the alley in a huff.
“Y-Your Highness, do you think the duke will really sue me?” Tommy’s mother asked, terrified.
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
“You will, Your Highness?”
“The Duke decided to sue because of me.”
I spoke kindly, trying to reassure her.
She looked relieved but still worried.
“Your HIghness did it to save me…”
“It’s fine. I have personal matters to settle with Duke Eisen as well.”
“Pardon?”
I smiled brightly at the confused woman.
“Let’s go find Tommy. He’s probably waiting for you in a safe place.”
***
Duke Eisen indeed sued young Tommy. It was a hasty lawsuit without proper preparation.
‘Because the price of Morning Glories started dropping again.’
The argument between Duke Eisen and me spread rapidly throughout the empire. At the scene of our argument were poor commoners, wealthy merchants, and noble aristocrats.
Therefore, our story spread to all sectors of society.
A dispute between the emperor’s granddaughter and the Duke easily piqued people’s interest.’
Some newspapers even published the story verbatim. And the spreading argument awakened a truth that had been dormant in people’s unconscious.
