The Owner of the Golden Goose (4)
“You turned out to be far more emotional than I expected, Kayla Angel.”
Somnia lifted her fan to her face, wearing an expression of pure pity.
“...Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
After all, the sin of opening her heart to Ian had led to her death at his hands.
The price for truly loving one person is death.
The thought struck her that it was an excessively steep cost for a single emotional lapse.
“As you said, let’s drop the pointless, sentimental chatter.”
I set down my glass and looked at Somnia.
“You hate long introductions too.”
“Indeed, Miss Rachel Brown.”
Somnia pronounced my name slowly, one syllable at a time. She seemed to find the ordinary, respectable name ill-suited to me. With an expression that barely contained her amusement, she continued.
“What brings you to me?”
The fan made of peacock feathers froze in mid-air.
“Mentioning a life debt suggests this is no trivial matter.”
“Correct. I need your power.”
“My power?”
Somnia let out a soft laugh and tilted her head.
“What power could a merchant born into slavery possibly have? Why not just admit you came to wring money out of me?”
“To be precise, I need the information you possess.”
“Hmm. Information, is it?”
A suspicious gaze settled on me. Those purple eyes scanned me carefully from head to toe once more.
“Strange. From the look of you, it seems you’re trying to live as an ordinary human now. What possible use could you have for my information?”
Somnia raised both eyebrows.
“The kind of information we deal in here is hardly suitable for an ordinary woman to handle.”
“The moment I gave my name, I’m sure your investigation into me was completed.”
At my words, she wrinkled her nose. It was the mischievous face of a child caught in the middle of a prank.
“Well, that’s true enough.”
Somnia chuckled and swept her hair back.
“That alias of a name was surprising, but to think you’d be working as a nanny, of all things. I was genuinely shocked when I heard it.”
At her gesture, another figure emerged from behind the layered veils. It was a second girl who looked identical to the one who had guided me here. Their features were the same, yet their eye color, hairstyle, and clothing differed.
“Ah, is this your first time seeing one? It’s a collaborative masterpiece we created with the children working downstairs. Well? Doesn’t it look like a real living person?”
“No. I didn’t think it was human.”
“What? Why? I thought it was flawless.”
“I could sense magic power, but there was no pulse.”
At my answer, Somnia’s eyes widened as if she had received a revelation.
“A pulse… that’s a flaw I never considered. I’ll have to tell those inventor fellows to come up with a solution.”
As expected from a mage.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Why is it that every single mage bastard has such a deranged way of thinking?
Somnia wasn’t a formal mage, but she knew how to wield magic. She had a hobby of creating bizarre magical tools with several talented mages under her command. Some of them had even gained enough popularity to be sold commercially.
“These aren’t just similar in appearance—they’re all linked. You could call them communication orbs in human form. Oh, and there’s one hidden in the imperial palace as well, you know?”
To have planted something like that in the imperial palace and confess it so casually… It was bold, considering she could be torn limb from limb if discovered.
Meanwhile, Somnia smiled brightly at my unsurprised face.
“So there’s something I’m curious about. Why on earth did you choose the position of the third prince’s nanny?”
If she wanted to change her fate, she could have taken a comfortable post as a nanny in a wealthy noble household and earned easy money.
Somnia frowned.
“You’re not still living with that ridiculous mindset that there are things more important than money, are you? People like us who crawled up from the bottom tend to starve to death with that kind of attitude.”
“It seems you’ve forgotten that there’s nothing I hate more than unsolicited advice.”
When I lowered my voice, Somnia flinched. She sniffed once, then smoothly changed the subject.
“That temper of yours, honestly. So, what information does the prince’s nanny want from me?”
“Everything.”
“What?”
Somnia furrowed her brow.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
I spoke in a calm, level voice.
“I intend to make the third prince the emperor of the Ventrum Empire.”
At my declaration, Somnia’s face visibly stiffened.
“To achieve that, I need your strength, Somnia.”
Silence fell.
Somnia wore an expression of utter disbelief before she suddenly burst into roaring laughter.
“Puh—puhahahahaha!”
She laughed until her back bent, then wiped away the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes.
“So you’re asking me to join the fight for the imperial throne? And on the side of the candidate with the absolute lowest chances, no less?”
“Correct.”
“Listen here, Kayla Angel.”
Somnia’s face grew serious. She slammed her hand down on the table with a loud bang.
“I’m a merchant. I don’t make losing deals.”
Her sharply narrowed eyes gleamed with cold light.
“Many of my long-standing clients are nobles who support the first and second princes. Give me one good reason why I should abandon them all and side with you.”
“I will pay a fair price.”
“My life’s worth? Just kill me instead. That would be far more profitable.”
Somnia crossed her arms and stretched her lips into a thin smile.
“Of course, if you truly intend to kill me over something like this, I’ll stake everything I have to fight you.”
“You’d even try to kill me.”
“There’s nothing stopping me.”
At my words, Somnia bared her teeth in a grin.
“Your skills don’t seem completely rusty, but you look weaker than before. Is it because you’re trapped in that pathetic body?”
“……”
“In the old days, you had Angel’s Breath behind you. But now? If a mere nanny dies, the world won’t bat an eye.”
They said merchants would do anything for money. Sometimes they were even more terrifying than those who made killing their profession. In that sense, Somnia was the most merchant-like person I had ever known.
“Appointment of your merchant coalition as an imperial direct trading company, along with a count title. That is the limit.”
Once again, silence descended. This time, however, it carried a strange tension.
“…What did you just say?”
Somnia’s face slowly, but unmistakably, twisted. With shock. With disbelief.
“You’re going to appoint my coalition as an imperial direct trading company?”
“And I will grant you the title of count.”
In a society defined by class, one’s birth was more important than anything else. No matter how much wealth or connections one possessed, a lowly origin placed a hard limit on advancement.
Moreover, Somnia was a former slave and a woman. While a man might marry a fallen noblewoman and inherit a title as a son-in-law, the same path did not exist for women. No nobleman would take a former slave as his wife, no matter how far the family had fallen.
Even if marriage were possible, that option does not exist for her.
From the start, Somnia despised men and preferred intimate relationships with beautiful women. Therefore, the only way for her to become nobility was to be granted a title directly.
“I know your status creates obstacles for your business. That’s why you started an information guild. Though no one expected it to succeed so spectacularly.”
Despite her success, Somnia could only become a major player in the underworld. No one knew her name or recognized her business talent. Because she could not reveal her identity as the true owner, she could not expand her coalition further. She had to take on the businesses others avoided just to keep money flowing in.
“Becoming an imperial direct trading company would grant you significant tax exemptions. You would still turn a profit even after paying the tributes demanded by those greedy officials.”
I continued while watching Somnia’s reaction.
“Furthermore, no matter how much money you earn, the highest rank a former slave like you can obtain through your own power is baron. And a remote country baron is barely considered nobility at all among the capital’s elite.”
“This hardly seems like a losing deal for you.”
Somnia had been frowning the entire time she listened, but she did not refute my words.
“To be completely honest,” I said, glancing around the room, “don’t you think it’s absurd for the master of a major merchant coalition to be hiding away in a place like this simply because of her status?”
“Ha.”
Somnia let out a long sigh, then pressed a hand to her forehead and burst into hearty laughter.
“Goodness, I think I’ve laughed enough today to last a lifetime.”
“I wasn’t trying to amuse you.”
“Well then, am I supposed to believe that ridiculous empty promise?”
“Rather, it means you should believe in me.”
I added the words in a perfectly casual tone.
“Believe in me—the one who saved the slave who killed her master from being hunted down.”
“...How arrogant.”
Somnia bit her lip hard at my words. After drinking in silence for a long while, she seemed to be thinking deeply. No doubt calculating whether siding with me would be worth it.
“Fine.”
How much time had passed?
Somnia finally spoke.
“We only live once. Living boldly for a change doesn’t sound so bad.”
Her long, slit eyes curved into crescent moons.
“Very well, Kayla. I accept your proposal.”
“Thank you. We’ll set a date and discuss the specific details elsewhere. We have someone on our side who is quite skilled in negotiations as well.”
I straightened my clothes and raised one eyebrow.
“And my name is Rachel Brown.”
“Ah, yes. Miss Rachel Brown. My mistake.”
Somnia offered the apology with an expression that showed not the slightest hint of remorse. Then she winked and changed the subject.
“As a token of our new partnership, I’ll give you one piece of information for free. What are you curious about?”
I wasn’t the type to refuse a free offer. After a brief moment of thought, I asked the question that had been on my mind all along.
“I want to know the weaknesses of the Radcliffe Marquisate.”
“My, my. Going straight for such a big fish? I really shouldn’t have been so generous.”
Somnia chuckled and swirled the liquor in her glass.
“Let’s see. The weaknesses of the Radcliffe family… Well, that household has done all sorts of outrageous things. Don’t you already hold some leverage over them?”