Elise gulped down ice water, something she usually didn’t drink.
Sitting on a luxurious sofa, she still seemed unsettled, even chewing on the ice.
Crunch, crunch.
For a while, only the sound of ice being chewed filled the office of Pawnshop K’s owner.
But how much ice could fit in a small cup? Soon, the ice was gone, and silence fell between Karan and Elise sitting across from each other.
Karan’s insides were burning up. This wasn’t the reaction he had expected from Elise when he revealed that he was the owner of Pawnshop K.
He had only imagined her exploding in anger. But Elise was far from fiery; she was like a calm lake.
He needed a reaction to make excuses, negotiate, or offer up Pawnshop K, but Elise said nothing.
“Karan.”
Just as Karan was growing weary of waiting, Elise parted her lips.
“Yes, Elise.”
“Explain.”
Anger could be felt in Elise’s monotone voice. Karan, to put it crudely, was intimidated by this woman half his size.
Karan felt he understood why the sun won in the old story of the wind and sun’s competition.
The quiet one is stronger than the boisterous one.
Karan began to tell a story he had never shared with anyone.
“Pawnshop K was just a small, insignificant hole-in-the-wall when I first started venturing outside.”
His father, Tyllo, who was obsessed with power, didn’t want the handsome and capable Karan to stay within Tetris.
But he couldn’t cast him out because Cowett was too young, and above all, Karan was too useful.
Karan traveled to various conflict zones, chasing after monsters whenever they appeared, which left him out of touch with Tetris’s domestic affairs.
And seeing his warriors’ poor equipment made him realize the need for money.
“I needed to gather information and make money.”
Getting the resourceful Dimitris was a stroke of luck, though he had never once openly praised him.
At first, it was an errand center that took requests and solved them. Because all they had was their bodies.
There was money he received as a prince, but all of that went into taking care of his warriors.
Some warriors who learned of Karan’s work helped him.
Before long, they became famous as an errand center.
“You can’t make big money just running errands,” Dimitris advised. Let’s grow the business, he said.
Karan sold information that he could only know as a prince.
In the process, there were times when he gained great profits by obtaining key foreign information. Of course, the information Karan sold was not harmful to the kingdom even if revealed.
With the money earned this way, he started small businesses. This, too, utilized information he could only know as a prince.
For example, if there was word of large-scale construction in a local territory, he would buy up all the timber in Tetris.
Through the collusion of information and capital, Pawnshop K grew fearsome.
After that, Karan established Pawnshop K branches wherever he went.
As Pawnshop K branches appeared in major areas of the continent, more people sought them out.
From then on, Karan put Dimitris at the forefront and stepped back.
It was problematic for a prince to openly run a business, and if this became known, it was clear that the checks from his father and stepmother would intensify.
“I didn’t intentionally deceive you. For the past few years, it’s no exaggeration to say that Dimitris has been running all of Pawnshop K’s affairs.”
It was true. If Elise hadn’t insisted on the hair loss remedy business, he had been planning to gradually reduce Pawnshop K’s branches and scale down.
Because he now had Elise as his wings. He had already made enough money, and there was no longer a need to reach into dark places for information.
But then Elise appeared, wanting to do business with Pawnshop K.
At that time, Karan completely cancelled his plans to scale down Pawnshop K.
If she wanted to fly, wasn’t it natural for him to give her his wings?
“When I first heard that you had come looking for me, I was so flustered that I sent Dimitris out.”
After that, he kept quiet, worried that if he got involved in what Elise was trying to do, it might cause her trouble.
“After missing the timing to reveal that I was the owner, it became difficult to say. I didn’t know you would continue to be interested in Pawnshop K.”
Karan honestly confessed everything.
“But these are all excuses. Not knowing doesn’t mean I’m innocent. Whether intentional or accidental, deceiving you was my fault. I’m sorry.”
Karan bowed his head, hands on both knees. As he bent deeply while seated, his hair nearly fell into the teacup.
He could feel Elise’s gaze on the back of his head. He was dying to know what she was thinking.
He had no intention of raising his head until Elise forgave him, but once the desire to look at her once arose, it became difficult for Karan to resist.
Elise’s eyes were hot. And at the same time, cold.
Can these two feelings coexist? Just as he was about to question this, Elise let out a deep sigh.
“I was foolish.”
Self-blame? The situation had taken the worst possible turn. A chill ran down Karan’s spine.
Elise’s long downcast eyelashes lifted.
“You, who would become uncomfortable at the mere mention of Leber, were unusually generous when it came to talk of Pawnshop K’s owner.”
Karan kept his mouth tightly shut.
“Usually, when I praised someone, you would offer a contrary opinion.”
Karan had been jealous of everything Elise liked. Not just people, but things too.
The incident where he glared at a vase Elise cherished was still talked about among the court people.
“Once, you even agreed with my praise of Pawnshop K’s owner.”
When she said he had good business acumen, didn’t he say the owner must be a smart person?
Elise chuckled softly.
Karan had been giving hints all along. That he was the owner of Pawnshop K. At least he wanted her to be suspicious.
She hadn’t realized it.
“So you don’t need to feel too sorry, Karan.”
“Elise…”
He wished she would just get angry instead.
Karan grew increasingly anxious.
“I need to become smarter and more astute. So, let’s sleep in separate rooms for a while.”
“…! Elise, that’s…”
“I need to take some time to look around. There might be other things I haven’t noticed despite the hints you’ve given, like this situation.”
“No, Elise. It’s not your fault. How could you not be fooled when someone is deliberately deceiving you?”
“Karan, did you deliberately deceive me?”
Elise’s eyes flashed sharply. Karan frowned. No matter what answer he gave here, it wouldn’t be good for him.
Still, there was a lesser evil.
“No. I didn’t intend to deceive you. It was the situation that was the problem.”
Elise nodded. Choosing the lesser evil had been the better choice.
“I’ll be going now, Karan.”
“Elise, shouldn’t we talk about the business? The Deboa business…!”
Elise, who had stood up, turned around abruptly. Karan closed his mouth at her icy glare.
“You know everything. What I was going to say to the owner of Pawnshop K, how I was going to negotiate.”
She had been telling him her business plans for days, not knowing he was the owner of Pawnshop K.
Not only that, but yesterday she had even asked him what clothes she should wear when meeting the owner of Pawnshop K, trying on several outfits in front of him.
She should have realized when he was smiling contentedly! She should have noticed when he dressed her in his favorite outfit!
She had even practiced what to say today in front of Karan.
When she asked Karan to act as if he were the owner of Pawnshop K, he had frustratingly responded with “That’s fine” to every proposal she made.
The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed Elise felt, wanting to hide in a mouse hole.
She knew and believed that he hadn’t deliberately deceived her.
But he had clearly enjoyed it!
The moments when Elise praised the owner of Pawnshop K, when she was anxious about not being able to meet him, and when she occasionally envied his business acumen.
So she wouldn’t forgive him easily.
Karan, well aware of his sin, said,
“…I’ll send you the contract. We’ll proceed with the business immediately.”
And so began the couple’s separate room living arrangement.
****
“I feel like I’m going to die.”
Warrior 1 said.
“You’re still alive? This body is already in the afterlife.”
Warrior 2 said.
“Aaaaargh!”
Warrior 3 shouted. He flew through the air and crashed to the ground. There was a dull thud that wouldn’t be surprising if something had broken.
The person who threw Warrior 3 was Karan. He was in the midst of a ruthless sparring session under the guise of training, having summoned the warriors.
Next to the fallen warriors were rows of groaning warriors.
“We’re going to die at this rate. It’s been a week already. You said it was dawn training? Why does dawn training continue all morning? And why is there sudden training at night too! Is a war about to break out?”
Unable to bear it anymore, one warrior clung to Bernard and whined.
Bernard, who was catching his breath while sweating profusely, barely raised his hand to pry the warrior off.
“We are at war. The war between Her Majesty the Queen and His Majesty.”
“Gasp.”
The warriors were the least sensitive to rumors in the palace. Sounds of surprised inhales burst out here and there at this unexpected news.
And an ominous premonition rang in their heads.
“It’ll end soon, right?”
The warrior’s voice shook severely.
Bernard closed his eyes and shook his head. Having heard from Haltbin about the reason for Karan and Elise’s fight, Bernard was pessimistic about a quick reconciliation between the two.
“Then I quit.”
Warrior 1 said.
“Me too.”
Warrior 2 said.
An unprecedented mass resignation request from the Tetris warriors took place.
The sudden wind of resignation didn’t blow only among the warriors.
At that time, in Elise’s office.
“I’m quitting!”
Even from Haltbin’s mouth, who had shared life and death with Elise, the words of resignation finally burst out.
In his hands were resignation letters from over fifty people.
