CHAPTER~15
“Excuse me?”
How was I supposed to react to him asking me to find him a new wife, complete with specific requirements?
…More importantly, remarriage all of a sudden?
Well, it had already been five years since we divorced.
Anyone would find it difficult to remain single forever.
Besides, the Decart family valued harmony between husband and wife above all else.
The fact that Frezen still hadn’t taken a new wife after all these years must have been a constant source of dissatisfaction for them.
“Regrettably, Your Grace, our guild does not handle requests related to private relationships.”
I was curious about his circumstances.
But it was better to cut this off before we became any more entangled.
Frezen was far too perceptive.
He might uncover my identity in no time.
“Is that so?”
“That’s unfortunate.”
I rejected him with the most professional smile I could manage.
For some reason, the look on Frezen’s face became oddly unreadable.
“But money changes everything, doesn’t it?”
With those words, Frezen pulled something from his inner pocket and slid it across the table.
“What’s this?”
It was a document bearing the Decart family seal.
More specifically, it was an authorization to access the family treasury.
The amount section had been left blank.
I stared in confusion before immediately realizing what that meant.
“Write whatever amount you want.”
“I don’t mind if you’re greedy.”
“This is just a business transaction.”
“W-What?”
“Then let me offer an advance payment first.”
“How about five hundred million gold?”
Five hundred million gold.
The number was so absurd my eyes nearly popped out.
Compared to the wealth and prestige the Decart family had accumulated over generations, it was probably insignificant.
But for someone from a declining, insignificant house like mine…
It was an amount I could never earn no matter how hard I worked.
The imbalance of wealth felt painfully obvious.
With five hundred million gold, I could finally finish all the delayed repairs.
I could even redecorate Mela’s room into something much nicer.
She was currently using the room that had once belonged to Russ Leella.
It was dark and dreary.
That had been bothering me for a while.
Had such an opportunity really fallen into my lap?
Get a grip, Evlyen.
Your opponent is Frezen Decart!
However, there was one thing I had overlooked after being dazzled by the promise of five hundred million gold.
Frezen was not the kind of man who handed out money for nothing.
The reward was far too large for a simple matchmaking request.
“I’m grateful for the offer, but I’ll have to decline.”
“Right now, I need to focus entirely on securing the Andra Fruit.”
“As you can see, ours is a very small guild, and we simply don’t have enough people.”
“…”
I was convinced he had another motive.
I firmly refused and stood up.
I’d rather finish writing the contract and leave before he found something to hold over me.
“Then how about this?”
The moment I reached the desk, his next words froze me in place.
“This isn’t a request.”
“It’s a favor, Countess Evlyen Leella.”
Frezen had known my identity from the very beginning.
“…”
No wonder something had felt off the entire time.
The realization that he had known who I was and had deliberately tested me made irritation well up inside.
I forced a laugh and tried to salvage the situation.
Maybe I could still bluff my way through.
“Haha…”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean, Your Grace.”
“Though of course I know who Countess Leella is.”
“Well, if you insist on pretending…”
“We can discuss the contract another time.”
“W-Wait!”
“Just a moment, Your Grace!”
“You can’t do this!”
I hurriedly grabbed Frezen’s arm before he could leave.
“I have no interest in doing business with someone who hides behind a mask.”
“Don’t you think that’s rather one-sided?”
Honestly, this damned Frezen.
He had clearly been trying to force me to reveal myself from the start.
We had been talking perfectly fine just moments ago.
My insides were boiling.
More importantly, since he had come here already certain of my identity, no amount of excuses would change anything.
I’d only be wasting my time.
Left with no other choice, I stepped back, removed my mask, and revealed my face.
“…”
I saw his crimson eyes tremble ever so slightly.
“When did you find out?”
“That I own the Carencia Merchant Guild?”
I calmly brushed my hair back into place after removing the mask.
I pressed the sweat on my forehead away with the back of my hand, but it hardly helped.
“Well…”
“Let’s sit down first, Evlyen.”
Oddly enough, the confident Frezen from moments ago suddenly looked flustered.
He even avoided my gaze.
I couldn’t figure out what had gotten into him.
Had I done something wrong?
“…”
His ears had turned bright red.
Well, even he probably hadn’t expected me to reveal my identity so readily.
“Fine.”
I quietly sat back down across from him.
Now that my identity was out in the open, part of me actually felt relieved.
I no longer had to worry about being exposed.
“To explain…”
“I didn’t know you were the guild master from the beginning.”
“You must have had a very capable little pigeon delivering information.”
“Its bloodline is rather special.”
Frezen simply nodded without denying it.
Once again, I was reminded just how terrifying the Decart family’s intelligence network was.
Though honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised.
“So that’s why you came personally instead of sending a representative?”
“That’s right.”
“I needed an excuse.”
“An excuse to come see you.”
“…”
There wasn’t a trace of teasing on his face.
Feeling strangely embarrassed, I looked away and grumbled.
“Then what was that remarriage business?”
“You even specifically mentioned a woman with a five-year-old daughter.”
“You were testing me, weren’t you?”
I knew Frezen well enough.
Even I wasn’t dense enough to miss something that obvious.
Confidently confronting him, I watched as he nodded again.
“That was part of it.”
“But I also genuinely intended to make the request.”
“The remarriage, I mean.”
“As you know, the elders of the Decart family are… rather persistent.”
“…I know.”
“Very well.”
“That’s why I need your help, Evlyen.”
“A great deal of it.”
“My help?”
“Don’t tell me…”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Once again I jumped to my feet, already sensing where this was headed.
Before I could refuse with my entire body, Frezen spoke.
“Whatever you need the Andra Fruit for…”
“You need it.”
“And I need someone.”
“…You mean…”
“I’ll hand over everything.”
“The exclusive distribution rights included.”
“Everything related to the Andra Fruit will belong to the Carencia Merchant Guild.”
“On one condition.”
I already knew what he was about to say.
My throat went dry as I swallowed nervously.
Please…
Don’t say it.
But as always, my bad premonitions never failed.
“Become my remarriage partner, Evlyen.”
This was enough to drive anyone insane.
Of all people, Frezen was asking me to remarry him.
Even after some time had passed and everything settled down, it still didn’t feel real.
After hearing the whole story, Hubert asked,
“So?”
“Did you accept his proposal, My Lady?”
“Of course not.”
“I told him I’d think about it…”
The offer was simply too enormous to reject without hesitation.
Money really was the greatest weapon for making people compromise.
Even the most stubborn person would waver.
After all, who wouldn’t?
He was offering complete authority over the Andra Fruit.
I glanced at Hubert and pouted.
“It may sound like a pathetic excuse, but you would’ve done the same.”
“When it comes to money, you’re the quickest to move, aren’t you?”
Hubert chuckled.
“My Lady.”
“Please don’t go selling my backside.”
“Normally, I know when to sit firmly.”
I briefly wondered whether “firm” was really an appropriate adjective for someone’s backside, but decided not to dwell on it.
I kept thinking.
Honestly, I regretted not refusing him outright back then.
Then I wouldn’t be dealing with this headache now.
“Ugh!”
“Seriously!”
“Why does this keep happening to me?!”
Faced with yet another impossible choice, my head felt ready to explode.
At that moment, Hubert spoke.
“I doubt His Grace made such a proposal without reason.”
“Could it be that His Grace believes Miss Mela is his biological daughter…?”
“Hubert!”
“Have you lost your mind?!”
I immediately covered his mouth before anyone else could hear.
Hubert struggled beneath my hand.
“Mmph!”
“My Lady…”
“Why are you so strong?”
“I only meant…”
“Doesn’t Miss Mela resemble you?”
Unfortunately, she did.
Her hair color.
Her eye color.
She looked far too much like me.
That’s exactly why this misunderstanding had happened.
“Sigh…”
“As if I didn’t already have enough problems.”
“Anyway, there is absolutely no way I’m taking Mela with me to the North—”
Just then…
Creak.
The wooden door slowly opened.
A pair of tiny little feet appeared.
Mela clung to the doorway, sniffling as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
“Aunt Evlyen…”
“Sniff…”
“Did… did something happen because of Mela?”
