His face was so ordinary and commonplace that it wouldn’t easily be memorable, and his voice was equally unremarkable, but when I heard him, I knew. It was him. The very suspicious guy who completely ruined the banquet Beatrice had prepared.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at the silhouette in the distance.
While the newspapers were highlighting the massive debt of Beatrice and the Monde Duchy that had been disgraced by the ruined banquet, Beatrice was grinding her teeth and investigating this merchant group’s background.
Then she unilaterally sent a notification that she would visit their address in Avenro and came looking.
The fact that he was waiting for her with no signs of life and no lights turned on seemed like a trap, but Beatrice was equally determined.
Her eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, confirmed a familiar face. A few dim lights were gradually being turned on. There was nothing inside the building.
Beatrice carefully studied that ordinary yet somehow dangerous face, etching it into her memory. Is this guy the leader of the merchant group that has a stranglehold on the Monde Duchy’s enormous debt? Or is there someone else behind him?
“So, have you come to pay off the debt?”
He said he would either arrange a meeting with the Duke of Monde or wouldn’t meet until some of the debt was repaid, yet he was here today. So she decided to endure this cheeky provocation. Besides, his words were indeed true.
“Coincidentally. Isn’t there anywhere to sit here?”
“No, there isn’t.”
The man, claiming to be part of a merchant group, responded indifferently. Despite merchant groups supposedly being eager for profitable ventures, he hadn’t even placed a single seat in this empty building. It seemed he hadn’t given any thought to receiving guests.
“For now, I’ll transfer Hillhouse as notified and put it up for auction. We’ll use the sale proceeds to initially repay the debt.”
“Very well. Though I think it’ll sell for less than expected. It’s become quite infamous.”
Beatrice gritted her teeth and smiled.
“If you hadn’t ruined the banquet, we could have gotten a much higher price. Why didn’t you come the day after the banquet? You could have gotten a better price.”
Though she was a debtor with massive obligations, she provocatively suggested the loss wasn’t her fault.
“Moreover, I was planning to choose a potential husband there. The Crown Prince’s engagement is coming up, so I was trying to schedule carefully. So I’ll have to postpone the marriage.”
“Selling one Hillhouse to delay the date will only accumulate more interest.”
“With many guests and a grand wedding, I’ll become a topic of conversation and earn enough to repay the debt. Are you really running a merchant group? How can you be so lacking in understanding?”
Beatrice looked around the empty building in disbelief, her expression questioning. There was no furniture, no household items at all.
“However, I do regret that the substantial debt has continued for so long.”
“That’s typically what noble lords say. ‘I regret.'”
The man curved his lips, playing with that phrase.
“I should have said that when I interrupted the well-prepared banquet.”
That ignorant man seems to always have a comeback. Beatrice narrowed her eyes at his clearly sarcastic tone.
“Then remember this for next time and definitely do it.”
“Of course.”
An ordinary person wouldn’t have engaged in such back-and-forth with Beatrice.
But this man wanted to somehow surprise her, to make her look shocked, to make her feel like she’d been hit. He wanted to make her kneel before him.
Beatrice walked and abruptly emerged outside, moving to the window where she made someone sit. Whether dust had accumulated on the window seat or not wasn’t clear. Anyway, she began to pat the seat with her handkerchief.
“It’s quite interesting that a merchant group established in Avenro is mentioning 8.3 million liquettes in front of me. Because here, there’s nothing. If I had to point something out, it’s just the hot springs and a hot spring villa, and even that villa is nothing special. Wealthy nobles don’t build villas in places like this.”
“What’s your point?”
The man’s expression indicated he wouldn’t waste time on pointless chatter.
“Among the nobles who own hot spring villas in Avenro, the most famous family is the Marquis Alemichi’s family. And His Imperial Majesty absolutely never comes to Avenro. He detests it.”
She patted her handkerchief and sat by the window.
“Because the Empress, who came here for treatment, became pregnant here.”
The Emperor had never wanted to mention that incident.
“I’m hearing this for the first time.”
“The Empress was the daughter of Marquis Alemichi, who was a Count at the time. Obviously she was neither an Empress nor anything else back then, so naturally you’d be hearing this for the first time.”
But Beatrice had discovered everything. She had, of course, conducted thorough research on the woman who had taken the position she wanted.
“There were rumors that the man the Empress met back then wasn’t human.”
Beatrice spoke this absolute secret, unknown to anyone, without hesitation before the man. He listened to her words without changing his expression. Since he didn’t stop her, this was clearly a good sign.
“Interestingly, this merchant group’s name is ‘Insenidraken’. It’s an ancient language, almost forgotten even among wizards, the language of magicians.”
She laughed, “Hmm.”
“Means a dragon went crazy, perhaps?”
The man corrected her matter-of-factly.
“It means ‘a mad dragon’. Slightly different.”
It was an ancient language that Beatrice had barely discovered, buried in wizards’ libraries, avoiding journalists.
“Whether a dragon went crazy or a mad dragon, it’s the same thing. Do you know any dragons? They even boldly put up a sign mentioning dragons in the Crania Empire.”
The empire’s greatest threat was a evil dragon, so mentioning a dragon in a merchant group’s name was completely insane.
“If His Imperial Majesty knew this, he’d shut down the merchant group’s doors. Understand?”
“Oh, I’ve heard he’s quite narrow-minded.”
The man spoke without fear. Beatrice looked at him as he said something he shouldn’t and chuckled.
“Right. Narrow-minded. That’s why I don’t care about the merchant group’s name. What I’m curious about is whether my guess is correct.”
She spoke playfully.
“I told you. I came to pay off the debt. I’m not interested in anything else. But I do enjoy making somewhat absurd speculations.”
All men love women who live slightly dreamily, who imagine and speak outlandish stories.
So they would laugh off strange statements. No matter how blunt or revealing an ugly truth.
“For instance, I wonder if you might have some relationship with the evil dragon.”
Beatrice smiled, her pink eyes sparkling.
“Because the merchant group is wealthy and you’re charming, I just imagined.”
The men she’d encountered had all been enchanted by her smile and impressed by her sharp eyes that exposed truth.
But they also knew her words weren’t just to be laughed off. This was also a threat. It meant she could immediately report to the Emperor that he might have connections with the evil dragon.
“Perhaps, do you know the dragon?”
“What if I do?”
“Don’t misunderstand. I already said I don’t care. If I meet the dragon, I want to propose a deal.”
The man remained silent. Some answers could be understood without speaking.
“I can bring the dragon something it desperately wants.”
“And what would that be?”
“The Empress, of course.”
“The Empress?”
“The Empress.”
The man didn’t laugh and ask what nonsense she was talking about, but instead quietly gazed at her, as if measuring her.
Beatrice realized that while she might not know everything precisely, she had definitely hit the mark. She was right to follow the prophecy and the fortune she had cast this morning.
“I think this is an 83 million liquette deal. What do you say?”
The evil dragon wouldn’t stay still. It seemed that Lusenford had been quiet for a while, but it looks like they had started making moves, using humans to infiltrate the empire. They must have wanted to take the empress by any means.
It was a proposal that would make the dragon rush over immediately if it were listening.
“Let’s hear the conditions first.”
In an instant, chairs and a table appeared out of thin air and silently settled on the floor. The man sat in the chair and gestured.
Though it was an utterly unbelievable deal with nothing verified, Beatrice instinctively realized this was her lifeline. It was her intuition.
The intuition that had never failed and had kept her reigning as the queen of social circles. This man was definitely connected to the dragon.
When Beatrice’s banquet was ruined, people had said they were ‘pushed out like being swept away on a boat on a river’. Even in a drunken state, it was clearly an incredible magic.
“It’s simple. The Emperor wants a wizard to protect the Empress. The Emperor is quite anxious now.”
She came down from the window seat, removed the chair, and sat at the table, leaning her upper body naturally towards the man.
“I have permission to enter the imperial palace and can manipulate this situation naturally. I’m saying I can let the dragon take the Empress without any incident. I promise to finish it perfectly and ensure no harm comes to you.”
“The price?”
“Debt settlement.”
“That’s quite extreme.”
“Ask the dragon how much the Empress is worth.”
Beatrice spoke confidently.
“If it’s true love, that would be nothing. Love can’t be measured by value.”
“You speak as if you know.”
“Love is my specialty.”
She smiled and blew a kiss with her hand. The man stared at Beatrice without any expression, then finally spoke after finishing his thoughts.
****
Kaela suddenly opened her eyes. It was still midnight, and having her consciousness return so clearly was extremely rare. She looked at the empty space beside her and sat up.
Strangely, she wasn’t sleepy anymore. And yet, to sit up and move – it was unusual. Normally, she would lie listlessly or forcibly grab work. But now, she was walking normally towards the door.
Honestly, she was curious. Where had Peon gone? The man who always stayed by her side, desperately holding onto her, couldn’t have just left her.
She heard water sounds from somewhere that shouldn’t be heard. Where was he? Could he have really left? So she was alone again……
Kaela sighed and forcibly pulled open the heavy door. She opened it just enough for her to slip through and was about to enter the pitch-black darkness.
“Where are you going?”
Cold water droplets hit her, and a solid arm completely captured her from behind, accompanied by a heavily cracked voice.
“Hm? Where were you going, Kaela? It’s still dark.”
As Peon gently pulled her, the door automatically closed again. He wasn’t properly dressed, and his hair was completely wet. A faint smell of blood wafted by.
“Did you wash up?”
“Yes, I was a bit dirty. Where were you going?”
His questioning eyes wavered. Peon, desperately holding onto her, didn’t intentionally apply force to his arm, but the hand embracing her was trembling.
“I was thirsty.”
A slight relief flickered across his pale face. But compared to the persistent underlying anxiety, the relief was minimal.
“I’ll bring you water. Stay seated.”
He lifted Kaela and sat her back on the bed. Then immediately conjured a clear, cool glass of water from thin air and handed it to her. After taking a few sips and glancing at Peon, she placed the glass on the bedside table.
“Will you sleep?”
“I should.”
He seemed somehow exhausted. Not physically tired, but mentally worn out.
Kaela simply lay down. He, whose hair had somehow dried completely, lay beside her. Even as he lay down, his large hand held her tightly, and he buried his face unilaterally into her narrow shoulder.
Peon had been vomiting until bile came out right after Beatrice left. When he realized Kaela was moving, he doused himself with cold water, washed up, and barely managed to hold onto her.
He felt disgusted. Disgusted with himself for having offered pure devotion to such a repulsive being without any emotion.
The woman he truly liked would immediately teeter dangerously and try to disappear somewhere if he vanished for a moment. He was even more disgusted that he was the one who created this situation.
A small, dry hand patted his back. Slowly tapping two or three times, stroking a few times, then stopping with the hand resting in place.
Following the warm temperature and her even sleeping breaths, the churning disgust inside him gradually calmed down. Peon felt his familiar self-loathing and fought to keep his eyes from closing.
