I Will Become the Queen of the Enemy Country

“…You’re going to repay all the money? Now? Right away?”

Dimitris thought that if his heart could jump out of his chest, it would have leapt over a hundred meters when he saw Elise appear with Karan.

He fervently hoped he wouldn’t experience such a shock again in his lifetime, if only for the sake of his heart health.

But before he could soothe his heart startled by Karan’s appearance, he was shocked again by Elise’s words.

To repay such a large sum in such a short time?

Too stunned, Dimitris asked Elise again, even with Karan glaring at him.

“Surely…you didn’t use the money?”

“Of course I did. Thanks to the money you lent me, I was able to do many things. Out of gratitude, I’ve added more than I needed to repay. And this is a gift.”

Elise held out a small vial to Dimitris. Schule, standing behind, craned his neck and asked:

“What’s that?”

“It’s medicine. Very good medicine. I’d like to discuss business if the owner likes it after trying it.”

“Medicine? What kind?”

When Dimitris hesitated to take it, Schule grabbed it. Such a young fellow showing great interest in health. Dimitris glanced at Schule with disapproval before shifting his gaze.

“Well… I lent you money as agreed, so there’s no need to thank me.”

He shouldn’t accept more money from Elise. Dimitris’ instincts worked diligently for once.

“But it wasn’t a normal transaction, was it? Perhaps because of His Highness Karan.”

Elise smiled softly, looking at Karan.

“You lent me a large sum at an unreasonable interest rate.”

“Of course it was because of His Highness Karan! Certainly. We would never do anything to displease His Highness Karan. Everything was for His Highness…”

Dimitris suddenly raised his voice, proclaiming his loyalty to Karan. He spoke so vehemently that Elise had to lean back to avoid the flying spittle.

Watching this silently, Karan’s brow furrowed increasingly. Schule, who had put down the vial and was observing the atmosphere, quickly covered Dimitris’ mouth.

“Mmph, mmph, what are you doing, you fool? I haven’t finished speaking yet! Mmph, let go, mmph.”

Dimitris roughly pushed away Schule’s hand, but Schule kept covering his mouth every time he turned his head.

‘Hey, I just saved your life.’

Schule thought he’d make sure to be well-rewarded for this later.

“Enough.”

It was Karan who silenced their squabbling.

When Karan’s baritone voice flowed out, time seemed to stop, and Schule and Dimitris’ movements froze.

They remained in their frozen positions, only rolling their eyes to look at Karan.

“How long do you intend to keep Elise waiting? I heard you were quite competent at your job…”

“Pardon? You heard?”

Once again, Dimitris responded tactlessly. Karan’s eyebrow raised. Dimitris quickly babbled.

I need to fix this, I need to do well, or else I’m dead.

“Ah… We’re not that well-known, so I was wondering where you heard about us…”

“That’s not important.”

Perhaps because Karan answered through gritted teeth, it sounded like “Tha’s no’ impor’an’.”

“Ha, ha, ha, I see. We should get to work quickly. So Miss Elise is repaying her debt and also gave me a gift, and what else did you say?”

Dimitris wanted to smack his stupid head. How could he not properly remember Elise’s words?

“You must be flustered because I came so suddenly. I hope you’ll consider distributing the medicine if you find it effective after trying it.”

“Hmm, may I ask what kind of medicine it is?”

As the business talk began, Dimitris became serious. Schule and Karan looked at Elise with curious eyes.

“It’s hair loss medicine.”

“Pardon? Hair loss medicine?”

Dimitris clutched the medicine tightly and stood up abruptly.

“Yes. It’s a hair loss medicine with guaranteed effects.”

“Ah… hair loss medicine… the one those bald people use…”

Dimitris gazed at the medicine ecstatically as if it were a treasure. Then, suddenly, as if realizing something was odd, he shuddered and looked at Elise.

“How…did you know I was bald?”

The fact that Dimitris was bald was top secret, known only to Karan and Schule. Dimitris immediately glared at Schule. Schule waved his hands frantically.

“It, it wasn’t me!”

The only suspect left was Karan. Dimitris looked at Karan with resentment.

‘It’s not His Highness, so how did she know?’

Seeing the boredom in Karan’s eyes, it was clear he knew nothing about this situation.

“Isn’t the effectiveness of the medicine more important than how I knew?”

“It’s just that my baldness is a top secret…”

“Trust me and try the medicine. You won’t even need to keep it a secret anymore.”

“Why should I trust your…”

Thump.

Karan pretended to cross his legs while thumping the table. Dimitris made a strange “Hic” sound and closed his mouth.

“Your Highness, are you uncomfortable?”

Elise asked kindly.

“I’m fine for now, but I think I’ll be uncomfortable soon. When will this end, Elise? It’s a bit stuffy in here.”

Feeling the silent pressure to finish quickly, Dimitris turned to Schule.

“What are you standing there for? Quickly bring the loan document! Didn’t I tell you to bring it right away?”

“When did you say that?”

This was news to Schule.

“I did. I told you to bring it right away. Hurry and get it.”

Dimitris slapped Schule’s behind repeatedly. Schule frowned deeply and headed to the inner office to fetch the loan document.

“Shouldn’t we also wrap up the business talk?”

Karan spoke to Dimitris while pretending to ask Elise.

“Of course. You’re saying you’ll distribute it if it’s effective after I use it, right? But will it be effective? Even magicians couldn’t make such a medicine…”

“That’s what makes it even more remarkable.”

“If it’s effective, certainly. But as you know, we’re just a simple pawnshop…”

“Dimitris, I’ve been wanting to ask this for a while. Where is the real owner?”

“Pardon?”

“The real owner of Pawnshop K. If the medicine proves effective, please arrange a meeting with that person. We’ll discuss business then.”

Dimitris wanted to blurt out that the owner was right beside them.

“I-I’m the owner…”

Dimitris wanted to say it nonchalantly but ended up stuttering. He could imagine how pathetic Karan must think him without even hearing it.

“Dimitris, I know more than you think. I even knew you were bald, didn’t I? I could find the owner myself, it would just take time. The reason I’m asking you is for efficiency.”

Elise was bluffing. In fact, all Elise had recalled from her past memories about Pawnshop K was that someone else gave orders to Dimitris.

Even this she had only remembered recently.

“T-The owner delegated authority to me, so…”

“So there is a separate owner, I see.”

Karan inwardly swallowed a groan. That stupid fool, falling for Elise’s leading questions.

“Haha, h-here comes the loan document. Schule, can’t you bring it any faster?”

He interrupted the conversation, firmly stamped the document to indicate the debt was fully repaid, and handed a copy to Elise.

Elise received the document, put it away, and stood up.

She was confident that if Dimitris found the hair loss medicine effective, the owner would contact her first.

‘If they let this goose that lays golden eggs slip away, my assessment of Pawnshop K must have been wrong.’

“That’s all done now. I-If you need money again, feel free to drop by next time.”

Inwardly begging her never to come back, Dimitris and Schule saw them out.

“I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Even as she left in a hurry, Elise gave Dimitris and Schule a bright smile.

****

After leaving Pawnshop K, Elise and Karan headed to a small cafe. Their drinks arrived quickly. Elise and Karan quenched their thirst with their respective beverages.

“You’re not asking, Your Highness?”

“About what?”

“About what happened at Pawnshop K.”

Karan was uncomfortable with Pawnshop K being a topic of conversation. It was because he himself was the owner that Elise was so eager to find.

“Well…”

“Don’t tell me Your Highness already knows who the owner of Pawnshop K is?”

“Ah…”

Momentarily flustered, Karan almost lied by saying he didn’t. Fortunately, thanks to Elise speaking first, he was able to avoid directly lying to her.

“Even if you know, please don’t tell me. I’ll find out myself.”

“…Alright. You seem very confident, Elise.”

“Yes. The hair loss medicine is truly remarkable. The owner of Pawnshop K will have no choice but to be interested.”

Elise expressed her high expectations for the hair loss medicine, mentioning the clinical trial results from Leber.

“It’s an opportunity to make an enormous amount of money. Anyone with good business acumen wouldn’t miss this chance. If they do miss it, they’re not someone I need to know.”

Karan’s plan to hide his identity by claiming he lacked the capacity for business, regardless of the medicine’s effectiveness, had gone seriously awry.

Although it was set up under a fictitious person, the owner of Pawnshop K was, after all, Karan himself.

So he didn’t want the owner of Pawnshop K to be remembered by Elise as an incompetent person who made money by luck rather than business acumen.

“It has to be Pawnshop K.”

When Karan didn’t agree with her opinion, Elise spoke emphatically, as if she thought he was opposing her.

“Is there a reason for that?”