Chapter 54
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
Chapter 54
* * *
My family had consistently made donations to the Temple System and maintained devout religious practices.
Well, except for me.
In any case, when the Grand Temple caught fire, my family made a substantial contribution toward its restoration, and in return, the Temple System granted the Lockhart Family an extraordinary gift.
They allocated a large portion of land so that only members of the Lockhart Family could access the cemetery where our ancestors were entombed, eternally and exclusively.
A place where even the priests were strictly forbidden entry—only direct descendants of the Lockhart Family could enter.
I discovered the flowers blooming across that vast expanse several years ago.
Medicinal herbs had scattered their seeds on the wind, taking root around the cemetery grounds and sprouting in small clusters.
Most were rare herbs cultivated by the Temple System, and one of them was Cerestella.
Cassion rubbed his eyes and asked me, his mouth falling open in disbelief.
"How did that end up among your possessions?"
"If I'd left with nothing, I'd starve to death within days. I brought what could be converted to money."
Physical goods could be lost to robbery, but no one would steal bundles of seeds or dried herbs.
So they became my personal safety net.
Cassion, still marveling, regarded me with curious eyes.
"You're brazenly declaring that you've embezzled family assets?"
"These belong to the Temple System, not the Empire or my family. I personally removed Temple property."
There was nothing institutionally wrong with what I'd done.
The items belonged to the Temple.
And the Temple had granted us the land.
"My parents don't even know I obtained these."
I also had samples I'd cultivated and refined after bringing them out.
"What specifically would you like? I can tailor something for you, customer."
I spread my bag open in all directions.
"I have Cerestella seeds and the improved variant, specimen B-1367."
"...Hah."
Then laughter erupted.
Cassion threw his head back and laughed loudly. If a dead spirit laughing sought resurrection, the timing would be now.
If a spirit possessed Cassion's body at this moment, the possession would succeed with one hundred percent probability.
Cassion's body convulsed as he wiped tears from his eyes.
"Now I understand why Dale can't live without you. Being beside you would never be boring."
Cassion chuckled and cleared the laughter from his expression.
"Fine. Let's make a deal."
Cassion, who had been sitting with his legs crossed, switched to the opposite side as he spoke.
His sharp gaze gleamed with intrigue. He was ready to conduct serious business.
"You wouldn't simply hand that over to me. What is it that you desire from me, Lady Adeline?"
Marquis Cassion Schultz was every bit as astute as I'd anticipated.
"The moment you accept this, you become someone who deceived The Emperor."
"For now, yes. I'll pay you a price, and unlike the Temple System, I have no convenient cover story to hide behind."
"Tell me everything you know about The Emperor."
Marquis Cassion Schultz was The Emperor's man, and such individuals were fiercely loyal.
"...What exactly do you wish to know about His Majesty? You may well know more than I do."
"I don't know The Emperor's true name, nor what he looks like. Nothing."
"Hmm..."
Marquis Cassion Schultz raised his eyebrows with evident suspicion.
"I see. Continue, Lady Adeline."
"I was actually proposed to by The Emperor. But I fell in love with Dale, a commoner, and chose to marry him instead. So you're friends with Dale, aren't you? We share a common purpose—we must protect Dale from The Emperor."
"...Ah."
Marquis Cassion Schultz lowered his head and cradled it in his hands. His body trembled like an aspen leaf, as though he might weep.
Had he become too invested? Why was he reacting like this?
Was The Emperor truly so frightening? Or was it because he was close to The Emperor?
"So you're saying—tell me everything about The Emperor so we can avoid him and devise a way to protect Dale together, correct?"
"Exactly."
"Ah, this is really..."
Marquis Cassion Schultz clenched his teeth and wiped away tears. I thought I heard a faint laugh escape his lips, but perhaps I was mistaken.
"This could become quite dangerous if handled poorly."
He rubbed his temples as though nursing a headache.
"Very well. Would this price suffice?"
Marquis Cassion Schultz wrote the number 2 on a piece of paper and slid it toward me.
2? So two million?
"Pardon? These seeds can save the lives of the Magic Tower's mages and the Marquis himself, yet you offer only this?"
"That's the price per seed."
"Even so, two million is far too cheap. I can't do business at that rate."
I rose from my seat without hesitation. In negotiation, striking first was everything.
"Who said two million?"
Marquis Cassion Schultz gestured calmly for me to sit. He held up two fingers with precision.
"Twenty million."
"...!"
"Surely that reflects its true worth?"
"..."
I looked down at Marquis Cassion Schultz.
His smile was suspicious, and I still had no certainty he would fulfill my request thoroughly, but there existed one thing in this world that never lied.
Money.
Material value was absolute.
There was no need to refuse.
I spread my hand wide to show him.
"2,500."
"2,200."
"2,500."
"...2,300. My lady, won't you take pity on me?"
"Deal."
When I clasped the hand Marquis Cassion Schultz extended, he burst into laughter with wide eyes.
"It's been a long time since I've met someone as relentlessly shrewd as myself."
"And."
I gently released Marquis Cassion Schultz's hand.
"I'm adding one more condition."
"That's unreasonable...."
"What? If you're going to be like that, I'm calling off the deal."
"...."
A faint trace of regret flickered across Marquis Cassion Schultz's expression.
* * *
In a corner of the dark Grunvalt Forest, a curtain of green light unfurled before vanishing in an instant.
Dale, who had used a scroll to traverse the long distance, stumbled momentarily as his body lost its balance.
"Still the same."
Though it seemed to have improved for a moment, my physical condition itself had not recovered.
Dale felt a quiet anger at his weakening body and exhaled a sigh.
But Enya was here.
The place I would always return to was beside Enya, and now I was grateful that could be so. Though I could not boldly reveal that I was The Emperor.
"How adorable...! Is this all? Don't you have more?"
By the time I arrived near the house, I heard Enya's voice.
It made no sense that Enya, alone in the house, would be speaking to someone.
The moment I open the door, Enya will truly be there, yet I'm already hearing things. What should this illness be called?
Lovesickness?
"Isn't it good that you have this much? You're in a position where you have nothing, yet your desires are endless."
"If you're going to be like that, I won't make the deal. Did you forget we haven't signed our contract yet?"
"People in society call someone like you a bandit, my lady."
For a hallucination, it was remarkably vivid.
Bang!
Sensing something amiss, Dale opened the door and stepped inside, where he saw Enya and Marquis Cassion Schultz each pulling on opposite ends of a single sheet of paper.
"Dale!"
At that moment, Enya greeted Dale with a radiant smile.
The paper went with her as she pulled.
It was Enya's victory.
Kyaaah!
The moment the force sent Enya tumbling, Dale rushed forward and caught her.
"Ugh... thank you for catching me!"
"Miss Enya."
"I'm sorry. Were you startled? You came home early today?"
Dale, his expression bewildered, removed his outer coat and handed it to the Servant.
As Dale tilted his head in confusion, the Servants explained the general situation. They also informed him that Marquis Cassion Schultz had arrived at the house some time ago.
The feeling of walking through the clouds descended like a plummet to earth, turning into displeasure.
"Why are the two of you together?"
And during the time when I wasn't here.
Enya and a strange man alone.
Whatever had happened, the sight from just moments ago remained etched in my memory. The natural way their conversation had flowed.
It was only their third meeting, yet they seemed to have grown remarkably close compared to before.
For a moment, veins bulged in Dale's neck, but outwardly he remained composed and still.
"Miss Enya. Did Marquis Cassion Schultz break into the Mansion?"
"It wasn't a break-in, just some business to conduct. Merchant to merchant, you know? Something like that? Haha."
She hid the paper she had taken from Cassion behind her small frame.
Whatever it was, it was clearly an important item—something she could not show him.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org