“First, it seems I should take precautions and move carefully.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“And…”
As I waited for the next words, for some reason, Franz’s voice did not come. When Stilikov raised his head to look at Franz, he was gazing out somewhere beyond the carriage window.
“Your Highness?”
“Stop the carriage. For a moment.”
“Yes. Halt the carriage!”
At Stilikov’s command, the carriage came to a halt. What could he have spotted to stop the carriage like this? As the driver of the horses brought them to a stop, he opened the door without hesitation, and Franz stepped down. Stilikov followed closely behind.
“This place…”
It was a gathering spot for wholesale merchants looking to conduct backdoor trades due to the commercial ban. The royal knights were even mobilized to manage the bustling crowd, creating a scene of sheer chaos.
Merchants were busy unpacking goods wrapped in various colors.
Occasionally, banquets were held within the palace, and there was a vast square designated for such events.
It seemed they had offered this square to the merchants since there wasn’t ample space to accommodate many of them inside the palace.
Most commoners, who would never have the chance to see the palace in their lifetime, excitedly rushed to the square, surprisingly reducing the merchants’ complaints about the ban.
What is the palace tour worth? Are they really willing to bear the losses for such trivialities? Foolish souls, Franz clicked his tongue in disdain.
“Is there something you want to check?”
Stilikov quickly caught up from behind, asking. He seemed to think Franz had come to confirm where the royal brokers had placed their goods.
However, Franz’s interest lay elsewhere.
“Your Highness? Where are you going?”
“You don’t need to follow. Stay by the carriage.”
“Yes. Understood.”
What was he planning to do, dismissing even his guard? Stilikov took his position by the carriage as instructed and watched Franz’s figure slowly move away.
Approaching the merchants, Franz stood behind someone without hesitation.
“Lady, you’ve dropped something again.”
“Excuse me? Oh my…”
A small blonde woman suddenly appeared. The woman, previously hidden behind Franz’s large back, was Countess Pulcheria’s personal maid.
Laila quickly received the ribbon that Franz was holding.
“When did it fall… Thank you, Your Grace.”
The ribbon she had used to tie her hair seemed to have come undone amidst the bustling crowd. While accepting the ribbon, Laila made every effort not to let her hand brush against Franz’s.
She believed that there was no benefit in being seen near Duke Toskur in such a crowded public place. More importantly, she was almost entirely unaccustomed to physical proximity with men.
“What were you doing that your hair came undone?” Franz asked with a completely different smile than before. It was a warm smile, in stark contrast to the cold cynicism he had shown during his private meeting with Monica.
He was a man who knew just how attractive he was and how well such smiles worked on women. Thus, his smile aimed at Laila had an ulterior motive, suggesting he was trying to charm her.
Whether Laila realized Franz’s hidden intentions or not, she was at a loss after receiving the ribbon.
“I needed to buy some tea leaves for the lady…”
“The tea that Sister Pulcheria drinks, is it?”
When Franz casually referred to Pulcheria as “sister,” Laila’s face went pale. It was the kind of remark that would likely provoke Pulcheria to exclaim, “Why should I be your sister?!”
Remembering that Pulcheria was not around, Laila let out a relieved sigh.
“Yes. There are certain teas the lady enjoys and must have for her health, but as you know, Your Grace, the tea houses in town aren’t open for business right now. That’s why I came here.”
“So, you were waiting in line among these rough men.”
The marketplace was messy, filled with a mix of merchants trying to jack up prices and brokers aiming to haggle down. In this chaotic scene, Laila, resembling a delicate flower among boisterous men and hardened traders, really stood out.
“Yes, it’s something I must buy.”
Laila’s face flushed. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t help blushing in front of the duke.
She recalled the last time she had encountered Franz at Countess Louisette’s estate.
At that moment, the Grand Duke kindly picked up the hat he had lost, but I find myself only showing my awkward side. How embarrassing… With a flushed face, Laila fiddled with her ribbon.
Women who bowed their heads before him with such expressions always had a crush on him, and Laila seemed no exception.
Franz looked down on his mother Marina, who bewitched the Emperor with her beauty to fulfill her own greed, yet he fully utilized the exquisite looks he inherited from her.
Sometimes he felt a guilty conscience creeping in, wondering if he was replicating the very actions of the mother he despised, but he knew he couldn’t escape his lineage.
Simply being of royal blood didn’t grant him much power to wield.
So, he had no choice but to use every weapon available. Franz reached out and lightly brushed the tip of Laila’s hair.
“Your hair flows beautifully like this. However, it would be better to tie it up here.”
“Ah, yes….”
To tie her hair, she had to put down what she was holding.
But Laila felt she couldn’t set the bundle of tea leaves meant for Madame Pulcheria down on the dirty ground, leaving her fidgeting and surveying her surroundings.
Just then, Franz extended his hand to her.
“I’ll carry it for you.”
“Excuse me? Ah, no. I cannot impose such rudeness on Your Highness.”
“It’s fine. What rudeness? It’s only natural for a man to show kindness to a beautiful woman.”
Franz smiled broadly, and who could resist such a smile?
With her ears reddened, Laila hesitated before placing the burden she had been holding onto Franz’s hands.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Let’s tie it quickly. I fear the merchants around here will be distracted by your hair swaying and won’t get their work done properly.”
Suddenly, Franz bent closer and whispered near her ear, bringing his lips close. The scent of Franz enveloped her as Laila flinched and shivered.
She didn’t understand why she felt so shaken simply by him leaning in to joke, and she steadied herself, brushing her hair back with her fingertips.
***
The fact that Franz had visited Monica quickly reached Karl’s ears. As he examined the telegram handed to him by Clovis, Karl muttered,
“It seems they were quite urgent.”
“Yes. I didn’t expect them to head straight to the palace like this.”
“To lift the prohibition…”
“The superficial reason is that the trading posts owned by Duke Toskur have sustained massive damage. But…”
“There’s no fool here who would believe that.”
“Indeed.”
Click. He lit a fire on the telegram that had flown in from Monica. As the paper vanished without leaving a trace, Karl’s expression remained indifferent.
He had assumed that all trading restrictions would somehow impact Franz.
However, he never imagined that there could be such a desperate reason for Franz to come to the acting emperor so soon and implore for the ban to be lifted.
If the black market thrived, it would be easier to trade illegally produced magical stones. So why was he asking for the ban to be lifted? Wrinkles formed on Karl’s forehead as he pondered Franz’s intentions.
“It seems that nobles owning significant trading posts are beginning to push back, and they’ve been subtly pressuring Lady Monica.”
“Are they out of their minds?”
How could they dare to intimidate the acting emperor? Karl scoffed.
“Perhaps…”
“Yes?”
It’s not the case that only black markets can handle illegal items. Something sparked in Karl’s mind.
If the trade is carried out secretly, the amount that can be distributed isn’t that substantial. They must avoid the royal surveillance, meaning they can only transact minimal quantities.
In that case, they would need to route volumes that can’t be filled solely from the black market through another channel, and that routing direction…
“Summon the entire Beta team of the royal search division.”
“Yes?”
“Right now.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Suddenly demanding the search team to be gathered left Clovis bewildered, not grasping the flow of Karl’s thoughts, and as he pondered, further explanation followed.
“How many trading posts officially owned by Duke Toskur are there in total?”
“Four in total.”
“Have a thorough investigation of all those trading posts.”
“Yes, understood.”
If they can’t meet the quantity through clandestine transactions alone, then they must resort to official and legitimate trading.
If they prepare plausible goods, pretending to sell them while secretly distributing the actual items, it would explain both Franz’s absurdly vast wealth and the reason for his request to lift the prohibition all at once.
Karl’s legs moved quickly.
