TNMN 07

Chapter : 7

‘Who could that handsome man have been?’

[“You suddenly opened the carriage door and came in, saying something incomprehensible. Could that accident just now have done something to your head?”]

Remembering the man who had spoken to her so sharply, Alosha felt terribly depressed.

Judging by the face and voice that remained increasingly vivid in her mind as time passed, not to mention his arrogant attitude toward other people, he was clearly an important character. But she had no idea who he was.

“If only I had read more of it.”

“My lady, are you all right?”

“Yeah…. By the way, are you all okay?”

“Yes. None of us were seriously injured.”

The knight, who had just witnessed the coachman and maid rolling around as if they were about to die from the pain, felt somewhat uneasy.

“First, I’ll keep the business card. As for this carriage….”

Alosha frowned as she looked at the carriage, which had been completely destroyed, then turned her head toward the knight.

“I have somewhere to go from now on. If you don’t mind, could you take care of things here?”

“But I’m supposed to escort the young lady….”

When the textbook example of a stubborn knight argued with her, Alosha shook her head.

“Because there’s no one else I can trust with this.”

“My lady, what about us?”

“Once everything here has been taken care of, return to the mansion. I’ll make my own way back.”

“But….”

Before the knight could say anything else, Alosha hurriedly headed toward the village at a brisk pace.

After somehow paying for and renting a hired carriage, Alosha headed toward the Laos Trading Company as originally planned.

Inside the rattling carriage, she stared intently at the ring on her middle finger and bit her lower lip tightly.

‘Is it because the story hasn’t started yet that this important ring from the story managed to come into my possession without any trouble? Or is it because this ring was destined to end up in the hands of the head of the trading company anyway?’

If the former was true, it would be easier for Alosha to change the flow of the story. If the latter was true, Alosha would eventually die anyway.

But rather than doing nothing, it was better to challenge and try something—anything.

Her plan to seduce the villain, change the genre into romance, and survive remained unchanged, but she did not want to marry him.

‘I’ll live as long as possible and somehow make sure I meet that man from earlier again.’

Just as she was strengthening her resolve, the carriage came to a stop with a loud rattling sound.

“My lady, we have arrived in front of the Laos Trading Company.”

Alosha got out of the carriage without the coachman’s help and looked up at the signboard bearing the same emblem as the ring. Then she took a deep breath.

“I would like to meet the head of the Laos Trading Company.”

“I’m sorry. Our head does not meet anyone without an appointment.”

It had been less than five minutes since Alosha had decided to change the story, and was the force of the original plot already at work?

Having been rejected so easily, Alosha clenched her molars.

‘Well, I was expecting this much rejection. No matter how much of a noble I am, I’m not important enough for the head of the trading company to come out and meet me.’

With that, Alosha steeled herself and attempted a direct approach one more time, even though she already knew it probably would not work.

“Then could you please tell him that I have something very important to discuss with him and would like to make an appointment?”

“Even so….”

Seeing the employee’s genuinely troubled expression, Alosha took a banknote from the bag she was carrying and placed it on the table.

It was an extremely blatant bribe.

“Um… Miss?”

The employee looked flustered at the sudden appearance of the banknote. Alosha responded by taking out a bundle of bills and began counting them right in front of the employee.

One, two, three, four.

‘Seriously, how much do you want just to pass along one message?’

When the number of bills she was counting exceeded five, the employee’s eyes became fixed on Alosha’s fingertips.

And when the number of bills reached seven, Alosha saw the clerk watching her swallow nervously.

‘This should do it.’

For the noble Alosha, it was merely a little spending money, but for an ordinary commoner, 7,000 krona was roughly equivalent to two weeks of wages. She placed the money on the table.

“Tell him I want to trade the Phoenix’s Ring, and he’ll meet me.”

The employee flinched slightly at Alosha’s words. After thinking for a moment, he nodded.

“If that is the case, I will pass on your message.”

“I’ll wait here.”

The clerk quickly pocketed the money and went upstairs, as if worried that Alosha might change her mind.

‘Having lots of money really is the best.’

If she could solve the ring issue with 40,000 krona and the bribe with 7,000 krona, that was more than enough.

She waited for the clerk to return. A little while later, the employee came back down from the second floor with an extremely apologetic expression and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry. The head of the trading company says that, as expected, he still will not meet anyone without an appointment.”

At this unexpected response, Alosha’s mind became confused.

The clerk bowed his head, worried that Alosha might ask for her money back.

“…I understand.”

Her thoughts became complicated as she wondered if this was also because she was not an important character in the novel.

But even if she stood there any longer, it did not seem as though the head of the trading company would come out. With a determined expression, Alosha looked toward the door the clerk had come through.

If he would not come out, then she could simply go in.

“M-Miss?”

The clerk, who had accepted an excessive bribe, did nothing to stop Alosha as she passed him and went up the stairs, other than shouting that this was troublesome.

He was truly an excellent person who managed to remain loyal to both his employer and the bribe.

“Is this the place?”

“You can’t just barge in like this! The head of the trading company said he wouldn’t meet anyone without an appointment!”

The clerk turned toward the closed door and shouted, but at the same time, he made an okay sign with his hand toward Alosha, answering her question.

Alosha opened the door so forcefully that it made a loud bang. The man sitting at the desk was difficult to see because of the backlighting, but she shouted toward him.

“Are you the head of the Laos Trading Company?”

“Piz, I believe I told you that I wouldn’t meet anyone without an appointment.”

A languid voice echoed through the office as the man who had been sitting on the sofa stood up.

He was well over 185 centimeters tall, with dark green hair that fell all the way to his waist.

He was a handsome man with copper-colored skin that reminded her of a desert tribe.

‘She put handsome men like this into the story and wrote a brutal fantasy that wasn’t even romance?’

Alosha could not understand why the author had wasted such a handsome character by putting him in a traditional fantasy instead of writing romance. If she hated cringey romance fantasy, she could have at least written BL.

‘This man! At first glance, he’s obviously a kind but sly, scheming playboy. But whenever the female protagonist gets into danger, he helps her using his money and connections. He’s the kind of second male lead who would make readers buy his stock while saying, “I don’t care if I go bankrupt!”’

“I did try to stop her, but the young lady was so determined that….”

The clerk called Piz performed an Oscar-worthy act in front of the trading company’s head, who was smiling only with his mouth and looked genuinely troubled.

Soon, the head of the Laos Trading Company slowly turned his head toward Alosha.

‘To all the readers who love second male leads, please forgive my past self, who mocked you by asking why you would buy a stock that was obviously destined to be delisted, and accept me as one of your comrades. I don’t care if I go bankrupt! I’m buying stock in the second male lead who is the head of the trading company too!’

They say that people suffer from short-term memory loss when they see someone extremely handsome or beautiful.

As if to prove that saying true, Alosha nearly forgot for a moment why she had come up here.

“…Young lady?”

“Ahem. My apologies. You were so handsome that I lost myself staring at you without realizing it.”

“…To receive such praise from the lips of such a beautiful young lady is an honor. My name is Emil Laos, and I am the head of the Laos Trading Company.”

The head of the Laos Trading Company looked dumbfounded for a moment at Alosha’s words. Then he put on a professional smile, placed a hand over the left side of his chest, and slightly bowed his waist.

“I’m Alosha of House Nocturne.”

“I assume you didn’t cause such a commotion and come all the way here just to see my handsome face….”

The head of the Laos Trading Company trailed off, tilting his head slightly to the side as he gently touched his lips.

Did he know exactly what kind of effect each one of his actions had on the other person and act like that on purpose?

For a moment, Alosha began running through a happy fantasy in her head, wondering if it might be better to marry the head of the trading company and leave the Empire rather than marry the terrifying duke whose face she had not even seen.

‘Get a grip! You must not fall for such temptation!’

To avoid being bewitched by the devil’s temptation, Alosha slapped her right cheek with her own hand.

“Young lady?”

The head of the Laos Trading Company opened his eyes wide, apparently surprised by Alosha’s sudden action, and looked incredibly cute—

‘I told you to get a grip!’

Before the flow of her thoughts could descend into shameless fangirling, Alosha slapped her cheek once again with her right hand.

The stinging sensation in her right cheek brought Alosha fully back to her senses. She raised her chin toward the head of the Laos Trading Company, straightened her shoulders, and adopted the most confident posture she could manage.

“Does it make sense for someone who claims to be in business to send a customer away without even finding out what kind of person they are?”

“…Doesn’t it?”

“Of course it doesn’t! You never know, I could be someone important to you according to the story—no, I mean, at least you should meet me before deciding….”

“Usually, people who can be of help to me do not arrive in an old hired carriage like you did and barge in without an appointment.”

His words struck directly at the heart of the matter, and Alosha pressed her lips tightly together.

“Then, shall we have you leave now? I am very tired today.”

At his continued dismissal, Alosha bit her lower lip tightly in anxiety.

“So you’re saying you won’t do business with me?”

“Is there anything you have that would make it worthwhile for me to do business with you, young lady?”

“The Phoenix’s Ring!!!”

You want that, don’t you!

Alosha brought up the ring, but Emil merely shrugged with a relaxed expression and said,

“I don’t know what you mean.”