<CHAPTER 8>
With a leisurely smile, Alosha raised her hand and extended the finger wearing the Phoenix Ring toward that handsome, infuriating man.
“Do you understand what this means now?”
“And what exactly is tha—”
Raos let out a scoff, but the moment he recognized the ring on her finger, his eyes widened.
Got him.
Alosha slowly lowered her hand, admiring the ring on her finger with quiet satisfaction.
“Ahem. Since you say you’re busy, I’ll keep this brief. Starting today, I’m going to visit the Empire’s most prestigious merchant guilds—beginning with the O’Claire Trading Company, the one you despise the most—and find someone willing to buy this ring.”
“…Do you really think anyone would purchase such an old antique?”
“Don’t bother pretending otherwise. I know you’ve been searching for this ring for a very long time.”
“Me? And who told you such a thing?”
She bit her lip.
She couldn’t exactly say that she’d read it in the novel her friend had written.
“Was I mistaken?”
“Who knows? Do I really look like someone desperate to own the ring you’re talking about, my lady?”
The man merely shrugged with maddening composure.
Outwardly, he looked perfectly calm, but Alosha was certain his mind was racing, trying to figure out her intentions and just how much she actually knew.
Don’t let him control the conversation. Stay calm.
“I don’t like talking in circles. I know that this ring belonged to your parents… and that it’s the proof needed to cross the desert.”
“…I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Even after she’d laid everything on the table, Raos continued to feign ignorance.
Alosha frowned.
“Then you’re saying you don’t mind if this ring ends up in another merchant guild’s hands?”
Raos simply smiled faintly, offering no reply.
“You should think this through. I don’t make empty threats. If I say I’ll do something, I do it. I’m serious. I’ll really sell it to another guild. I mean it.”
She had intended to remain calm, but the longer he refused to react, the more anxious she became instead.
This is your parents’ keepsake! Won’t it be a problem if someone else gets it? Please… just ask me what I want already!
Contrary to her desperate internal plea, Raos merely curled one corner of his lips into a smirk.
“Did you come here to threaten the Raos Trading Company, my lady?”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“If you intended to threaten me, you should have chosen something your opponent actually values. Making such a fuss over a single ring… I must admit, it’s rather bewildering.”
A single ring?
His dismissive words made Alosha clench her fists.
If the guild master intended to be stubborn, then so was she.
After all, as a novelist, she’d always believed that when a character refused to follow the planned story, that character deserved every hardship and punishment that followed.
“If that’s how you feel, then I suppose there’s nothing more to discuss. My apologies for causing such a disturbance.”
She gave him a perfectly polite bow before turning away.
As she did, she noticed one of the employees watching her with unmistakable sympathy.
I even bribed the staff to act all cool and confident when I came upstairs… and now I’m getting thrown out this openly?
This is so humiliating! In romance novels, when the heroine acts this boldly, the male lead always says, ‘I’ve never met a woman like you before,’ and immediately becomes interested. So why doesn’t it work when I do it? Is it because this is a fantasy novel instead of a romance? If that’s the case… I’m in serious trouble.
“Piz, escort the young lady home safely.”
Hearing Raos’s order behind her only bruised her pride further.
Forcing a smile, Alosha replied,
“No, thank you. I appreciate the thought.”
Even if she had to walk all the way home, she had absolutely no intention of riding in his carriage.
“It’ll be difficult to find a carriage around here, my lady.”
“I still have several merchant guilds to visit. It would be awkward to ride in one guild’s carriage while visiting its competitors, wouldn’t it? By the time I return home, one of those guilds will surely lend me a carriage, so you needn’t worry.”
“…Very well. Then I wish you a safe journey.”
He’s actually letting me leave?
Even while the employees escorted her outside, Alosha expected someone to call out,
“Wait a moment!”
Instead—
Bang!
The heavy doors slammed shut behind her.
She stared blankly.
Maybe… maybe he’s watching to see what I’ll do? Right? There’s no way he’d actually let me go like this.
Surely the wind had closed the doors.
It had to be.
Thinking that, she proudly turned toward the second-floor window.
The curtains were tightly drawn.
“Unbelievable!”
Staring up at the window, Alosha silently hurled every curse she could think of before boldly raising her middle finger.
No wonder you’ll spend your entire life as the second male lead—you can’t even seize the right moment!
Still fuming, she stomped away.
A moment later, the curtain on the second floor shifted open ever so slightly.
Emil quietly watched her retreating figure.
Looking down at the young woman, who had blown through the guild like a spring storm, he struggled to suppress the laughter threatening to escape.
“I was told she was quiet and well-mannered. It seems that information was completely wrong.”
When he’d first become guild master, he’d regularly received reports about every noble family.
According to those reports, Alosha of House Nocturne had been utterly unremarkable.
Quiet.
Reserved.
A perfect example of a noble young lady.
Scoffing at that laughably inaccurate description, Emil decided he’d need to investigate her all over again.
“I’m back.”
Still standing by the window, Emil turned toward Piz, who had just returned.
“Piz. How did that young lady find out I’ve been searching for the Phoenix Ring?”
“I… couldn’t say.”
Though smiling, Piz could tell Emil was in a foul mood.
Carefully, he spoke.
“Where could the information have leaked from…?”
Among the living, only Piz knew that Emil was the sole surviving heir of the Phoenix Trading Company.
When Emil slowly turned and stared directly at him, Piz immediately understood the implication.
He frantically waved both hands.
“It wasn’t me!”
…
“I’m innocent! I swear!”
“I didn’t say anything.”
After silently suspecting him anyway, Emil acted as though nothing had happened.
Piz felt deeply wronged.
Working under a boss like this… If he didn’t pay so well, I’d have transferred to another merchant guild ages ago.
Grumbling inwardly, he sighed.
“More importantly… do you think the ring she has is really the Phoenix Ring?”
“…It’s genuine.”
“What? Then why did you let her go?”
Instead of answering immediately, Emil sat behind his desk piled high with documents and picked up his pen.
“I don’t enjoy making deals where I’m the one at a disadvantage. And I dislike being manipulated even more. She left in anger, but she’ll be back tomorrow or the day after to negotiate. We can make the deal then.”
“What? Didn’t you hear her say she was going to another merchant guild?”
Emil let out a derisive snort.
“You fool. Didn’t she say she knew the Phoenix Ring belonged to my parents? If she knows something that isn’t public knowledge, then she has a reason she absolutely must negotiate with me. Otherwise, she would’ve simply leaked the information and waited for me to come to her.”
Only then did Piz realize what he meant.
“Ah… I see.”
He nodded.
“Find out what she wants to trade for that ring.”
“Yes, sir…”
—
Having gained nothing from the Raos Trading Company, Alosha marched straight toward its greatest rival—the O’Claire Trading Company.
Still fuming.
“Welcome to the O’Claire Trading Company! How may we help you?”
“I’d like to meet your guild master.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No. But could you tell him I know a way to strike a devastating blow against the Raos Trading Company?”
Just as she had done before, Alosha quietly slipped a banknote into the employee’s hand.
Unlike the fiercely loyal staff at the Raos Trading Company, the employee at O’Claire was far more flexible.
For 1,000 krona, he became extraordinarily understanding of her situation.
The employee had barely gone upstairs when heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs.
A short, balding, middle-aged man came hurrying toward her, panting for breath.
“Huff… huff… I heard you have something to say about the Raos Trading Company?”
A guild master rushing down in such a panic just because of something a complete stranger said…?
Remembering Emil’s calm, measured demeanor, Alosha couldn’t help shaking her head.
How is someone like this supposed to beat him?
Truthfully, she had never intended to hand the ring over to another guild.
Her only plan was to make sure word reached Emil that she’d visited O’Claire.
Surely he’d make a move on his own.
“This won’t do. Please, allow me to escort you to our VIP room upstairs.”
Following the guild master—who bowed so deeply it looked as though he might fold himself in half—Alosha arrived at the lavish VIP room on the second floor.
Luxurious carpets covered the floor.
An extravagant chandelier hung from the ceiling.
Oil paintings adorned every wall.
Elegant porcelain decorated the tables.
There wasn’t the slightest sense of balance or restraint anywhere in the room.
The interior felt as unsettling as a document with no spacing, center-aligned from top to bottom.
It’s actually impressive how someone can spend this much money and still make everything look so tasteless…
Seated on the sofa, Alosha quietly observed the guild master sipping his tea.
Whether his tiny eyes, nose, and mouth were naturally small or simply buried beneath layers of flesh, she couldn’t tell.
Even with a broad smile plastered across his face, the greed in his expression was impossible to hide.
People like this always stab you in the back when it matters most…
Firmly believing that a person’s face reflected their character, Alosha forced down her unease and returned his smile.
