The Villainess' Ending Was Death

“You want to meet that strange guild master?”

Lycaon, who was sitting across from the table, paused for a moment after hearing Fresa’s plan. Fresa cut the boiled egg in half and nodded with an indifferent expression.

“I think we need to increase the size of the business a little.”

“Hmm.”

Lycaon’s expression was similar to usual, but somehow strangely different. Was he in a bad mood? Or maybe there were still aftereffects of poisoning. When Fresa looked at Lycaon with concern, Lycaon cleared his distraught expression.

“Shouldn’t we first check if he is a trustworthy person, Resa?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.”

Fresa smiled brightly. The person who knew the guild master better than anyone else was Fresa. Of course, it was natural because he knew the contents of the original work. As Fresa remembered, the home-buying guild master would never be able to refuse this offer. Even putting aside the fact that he had already made a mistake in the deal with Fresa, it was clearly an attractive deal to the greedy and thoroughly capitalist guild master. Moreover, the medicines made by Fresa had already become well-known in Paro Village. She also gave some medicine to Scala Michi as a gift, so Presa’s work was done. Now, all she had to do was get busy making medicine until her appointment was scheduled.

But Lycaon had no choice but to worry. Because he didn’t know anything about the original work that Presa knew.

‘I can’t explain this.’

Bringing up the absurd story of being possessed in a book was no different from calling someone crazy. She might be accused of being a witch and burned at the stake. Being Lycaon, the magic that called on fire would be easy, so she only had to be careful.

“But what about Mr. Zed?”

Fresa turned her words around before Lycaon could question her again. Come to think of it, she definitely asked Zed to come with her, but Lycaon was the only one who showed up at the appointed time. In response to Fresa’s question, Lycaon furtively turned her gaze to the side.

“I heard I’m taking a break because I’m not feeling well.”

Fresa stared at Lycaon with bewildered eyes.

“You were fine until you left work.”

“I guess I overdid it a bit.”

“Then I need to get some medicine.”

“It’s not that bad and it will get better if I rest. Don’t worry about it.”

Presa’s eyes narrowed as she couldn’t hear Lycaon’s repeated excuses.

“…Mr. Lycaon told you not to come, right?”

If he pretended, she was pretending. It was obvious to her that Lycaon couldn’t meet her eyes. But Lycaon said something else as she ate her vegetable soup.

“If you want to scale up your business, how about the upper Grenadines?”

“The top of the Grenadines? I think I’ve heard this a lot somewhere…”

Fresa muttered absently and then closed her mouth again. Lycaon was looking at her with an amused expression on his face.

“Because it’s the top of my property.”

“It’s because I’m still unfamiliar with the fact that Mr. Lycaon is the Grand Duke.”

Fresa was embarrassed and picked up her fork and stabbed her fried carrots.

“Anyway… If it’s Lycaon’s top, I’d welcome it, but before that, I want to try it as an experiment.”

It would definitely be easier to rely on Lycaon. Fresa was sure Lycaon would help her under the pretext of returning a favor. However, business originally meant that you had to be more careful when dealing with people you knew.

“It’s okay because this village is small, but it can’t handle the size of an empire yet. It will require a lot of labor.”

Moreover, the Kanzer Empire was several times larger than the Pilz Kingdom. Lycaon, Zed, and Fresa alone would not be able to handle that amount. But that didn’t mean they could only get a few nudges to the top of the empire scale…

“Then how about first distributing it through the kingdom’s guilds, and then, after achieving success, advancing to the empire through my merchants. I don’t think there will be any big problem at that level. Before that, I’ll just take a small amount and show it to the people at the top first. They won’t say anything if they see the effect.”

Lycaon hinted at a solution. In other words, the plan was to start selling in the Kingdom first and then take samples to the Empire to check the reaction first. Even if it was a Grenadine merchant owned by Lycaon, it would not have been possible to conclude a contract exclusively on its own. Fresa nodded without even being able to read Lycaon’s triumphant expression.

“Then, can I ask Mr. Lycaon to conduct a demand survey later? Not right now.”

“Sure. Leave it to me. You won’t be disappointed, boss.”

Lycaon grinned and answered quite trustingly. Fresa felt a little relieved because she felt like she had a reliable partner. Without fully knowing Lycaon’s true intentions.

* * *

Zed, who had to eat a lonely and simple dinner alone thanks to Lycaon, could not help but be taken aback by the news his superior brought upon his return.

“Are you going to import the drug from the top? Do you even provide support?”

“Why are you surprised again? Then you think I would just come back?”

Lycaon glanced at Zed with cold eyes and answered roughly. Zed groaned at that shameless attitude. Lycaon always had many enemies. The emperor’s dog, the white devil… It was enough to guess just by looking at the negative names that followed. If you suddenly say that you are going to entrust a big business to an unknown pharmacist from the Kingdom of Pilz, those who were watching with their eyes lit up will immediately stand up. It was not just a business, it was a pharmaceutical business. Since it is directly related to the health of the people of the empire, permission from the emperor would be required. Of course, Zed was not unaware of Fresa’s capabilities. Just looking at the treatment of Lycaon, who was terminally ill right next to him, his talent was outstanding. However, getting caught up in political issues was not good for either Lycaon or Fresa.

“Anyway, Your Highness, isn’t there a procedure? I’m sure they’re gritting their teeth trying to catch the pods.”

“Old people grind their teeth for a day or two.”

Lycaon replied harshly, and threw one of the peppermint water Fresa had generously given him to Zed.

“They said it was a gift to say thank you to everyone since they will be busier starting tomorrow. Drink with a grateful heart.”

“Yes, thank you so much… How long do you have to work as a pharmacy employee? Now that your health has recovered to some extent, you should return to the empire, Your Majesty.”

Zed looked down at Lycaon and showed a somewhat tired expression. The reason Lycaon came to this small village in the first place was to recover. However, Lycaon was lucky enough to meet Fresa and his body recovered greatly, so he was now at a stage where he could rest assured. However, since he did not return to the Empire, Zed became curious about Lycaon’s change of heart.

Lycaon had to pay special attention to Fresa, but he was suspicious of the reason why the living pretended to be dead. Now that he had something to gain, couldn’t he just stop living in the country? As Zed thought so, Lycaon spoke softly.

“Lady Thorpe said she would not leave for the Empire, so there is nothing we can do. As business expands in the empire, she will have to go even if she doesn’t want to.”

“…yes?”

“Have you lost your hearing due to seasickness?”

Zed gaped at Lycaon’s sharp remarks. So his boss was saying he wouldn’t go back unless it was with Fresa Thorpe. Zed, who was rolling his eyes here and there in confusion, only realized what Lycaon was thinking after a while.

‘You are coveting Resa because she is a great talent.’

Talent was the power of a nation. When he thought of the countless magicians and pharmacists of the empire who had not been able to cure Lycaon, he immediately understood Lycaon’s attitude. He was, after all, the Grand Duke of the Grenadines, without the slightest hint of humanity.

Zed stuck his tongue out at Lycaon’s coldness and took a sip of his ment water.

* * *

After some time, Fresa was able to make an appointment with the master of the home improvement guild. The meeting place was the home improvement guild in the Kingdom of Piltz. Fresa was going back to the kingdom after a long time, but he was not excited at all. To her, her hometown was a place filled with only bad memories. It was a level of disgust similar to avoiding poop because it is dirty. But the guild master might refuse to meet with her, and she didn’t want to use one of her minor mistakes as an excuse to have him come to her house.

‘Because I really don’t want to become a customer.’

People in the same service profession should help each other. However, unlike Fresa, Lycaon seemed reluctant. He showed a shaky reaction right up until the moment he left.

“Do we really need to go to the kingdom?”

Reese, who had always respected Fresa’s decisions, also expressed his concerns.

“Humans are really… It’s a difficult animal. He’s going back to the place he came from so hard.”

Even though he didn’t necessarily reveal the story of his past in detail, he seemed to have roughly figured it out with the wisdom of the world tree spirit. Well, Rowan and Jerome came and made a fuss, but it was even weirder not knowing.

“The guild said they would send a ship, and Mr. Mitch will personally come pick you up. As soon as we disembark, we will take the carriage to the guild, so there can be no other problems.”

Fresa calmly persuaded one human and one spirit. Lycaon, who had been listening to her silently, stared into her eyes.

“I will go too.”

“Mr. Lycaon is seasick.”

When she first met Lycaon, he clearly had motion sickness medication. He wouldn’t have taken care of it without meaning to, so she couldn’t help but think he was also seasick.

Lycaon looked perplexed for a moment, but then shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t have motion sickness.”

“Then why did you take motion sickness medicine?”

“That’s Zed… Resa is really suffering from motion sickness. How are you going to get to the kingdom?”

Lycaon, who was constantly making excuses, quickly changed the subject. Oh, come to think of it, Fresa also suffered from severe motion sickness at that time. But it was because of the poison she drank to fake her death.

“I don’t have motion sickness. I was tired that day and didn’t feel well.”

However, Lycaon did not seem to believe Fresa’s words. He simply opened his lips slightly and then closed them again. Fresa got nervous at his attitude as if he was swallowing what she wanted to say, so she called out to him, ‘Mr. Lycaon?’ Then Lycaon spoke with a stern expression.

“If Resa goes, I will go too. I’m asking you to please, so please don’t refuse.”

How could she refuse when his shoulders droop like a puppy caught in the rain?

In the end, Fresa had no choice but to accompany the Grand Duke of the neighboring country. Nodding her head, Fresa took the medicine and light luggage made the day before and boarded the ship for the first time in a long time.

 

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