Chapter 152………………………………………………………..
The news was announced five days after the Baby Rabbit Trading Company revealed its Warp Gate construction plan.
[Duke Cassius disowns Riena Cassius and removes her from the Cassius family registry.]
It was the moment when Riena Cassius could no longer be called by that name.
Along with this, the duke clearly declared that the Cassius family had no connection whatsoever with the Warp Gate construction project, and that the ducal house could not guarantee the return of any investments.
This caused a shock across the Asteroth Empire that rivaled the chaos from five days earlier.
Everyone in the empire knew how dearly the Duke of Cassius had cherished his daughter.
Because of that, the shock was enormous.
Why would he disown the daughter he had treasured so much?
Given the circumstances—and the duke’s announcement—people naturally connected the disownment to the Warp Gate project.
Public opinion, which had previously been evenly split, quickly tilted against the Baby Rabbit Trading Company.
The company responded to the long line of reporters gathered in front of its building by insisting that the disownment was merely the personal matter of their owner and that the Warp Gate project had no issues.
However, very few people believed them.
Some even went so far as to send inquiries to the imperial palace.
Thus, two days after the disownment announcement, the imperial family made its own statement:
The engagement between Riena and Prince Mikhail was not merely postponed—it was completely canceled.
Now, the only people still defending the Baby Rabbit Trading Company were a handful of Riena fan club members.
From early morning on the day of the imperial announcement, not only reporters but also investors and curious onlookers swarmed the company like clouds of locusts.
Even the expensive security guards hired by the company were powerless to stop them.
“Give me back my money!”
“That’s my retirement fund! At least return the principal!”
“Tell the owner to come out here! Bring out the owner!”
Investors, their eyes bloodshot from fear of losing their money, grabbed employees and caused chaos.
Eventually, the city guard had to intervene to prevent the situation from turning violent.
Once things escalated to this point, the emperor himself stepped in and ordered the guard to investigate whether the fraud allegations against the Baby Rabbit Trading Company were true.
During their raid and investigation, suspicious circumstances were discovered.
The company’s executives had already disappeared, leaving only low-level employees behind.
Most of the company’s funds stored in safes and banks had also vanished.
The ambitious Warp Gate construction plan they had announced turned out to be meaningless as well.
The city guard found no evidence whatsoever that the project was progressing as previously announced.
All they discovered were a few convincing-looking blueprints and several shallow, poorly written plans scattered across desks.
The next day, when these facts were revealed to the public without any concealment, the world exploded in outrage.
The Baby Rabbit Trading Company—once regarded as a pioneer of humanity—was now considered the most despicable trading company imaginable.
Even those who had not suffered direct losses were furious.
Because the Warp Gate project had spread across the entire continent, the Asteroth Empire itself had become a laughingstock to other nations.
In short, it was a national embarrassment that wounded the pride of the empire’s citizens.
The raging public sought someone to blame.
But the remaining employees had only been hired a few days earlier, and it was confirmed they knew nothing about the company’s inner workings. There was no legal basis to punish them.
Citizens demanded that the fugitives be captured, and the city guard began a formal manhunt.
Among all the targets, the most prominent was Riena, the owner of the Baby Rabbit Trading Company and its public face thanks to her former popularity.
One night, I was leaning against Terrence’s chest while reading a newspaper.
“Did you find an interesting article?”
His sweet voice suddenly reaching my ear made my body stiffen for a moment.
I glanced at the smiling Terrence.
Truly—whenever I thought I had gotten used to him, he managed to give me a new kind of nervous tension.
By now, I had already relied on his help to increase my divine power more than five times.
“It’s nothing special. I was just reading an article about the Baby Rabbit Trading Company.”
The newspaper showed the company’s flag, trampled into rags by people’s feet.
The crumpled and torn image of the little rabbit looked somewhat lonely.
“It was a company that was born with such a grand celebration. Life really is unpredictable.”
“I agree.”
After a moment of thought, I spoke.
“Terrence, there’s someone I’d like to meet. Could you arrange it?”
The person I wanted to meet was not someone easily accessible.
In a way, they might even be harder to meet than the emperor himself.
“Yes. I’ll arrange it.”
Yet even after hearing the name, Terrence answered without the slightest hesitation.
“…You’re not even going to ask why?”
“If it’s something you want, Idel, there must be a good reason. Of course, since it concerns you, I am curious.”
As he spoke, Terrence picked a grape from the fruit basket on the side table and gently placed it into my mouth.
I chewed it quietly, then jokingly complained.
“Aren’t you making me too comfortable? At this rate, I might become someone who won’t even eat grapes by myself.”
“Then I’ll simply keep feeding you.”
If I stayed with this man, I might really develop bad habits.
Still, feeling a warm comfort spreading through my chest, I closed my eyes.
That day, the first snow fell.
Meanwhile
“Ha… ha…”
Riena ran through the streets where snow had piled up overnight, breathing heavily.
Her body felt so weak she wanted to collapse immediately, but she couldn’t stop.
Because she had just escaped from Isaac’s mansion.
‘Did you think I’d go down without a fight? It’s not over!’
When she realized that rubbing the jewel on her hair ribbon dozens—hundreds—of times brought no response, her vision had gone dark.
Even Mathis had betrayed her.
“How could you do this after everything I did for you?!”
Tears welled in her eyes from anger and bitterness.
All the kindness she had shown people had returned in the form of betrayal.
After crying for hours, Riena clenched her teeth and swore revenge.
The humiliation she suffered today—she would repay it no matter what.
Her obsession gave strength to her starving body.
Even though she was starving, she refused to touch the fresh carrots Isaac provided.
“Uncle… I’m so sick.”
Whenever she sensed Isaac outside the door, she weakly claimed she was ill.
As if testing her, Isaac later brought proper meals instead of carrots.
The delicious smell nearly drove her crazy, but she endured by pinching her thigh.
Only when she truly couldn’t bear it did she secretly eat a little of the carrots she had hidden and some salad from the tray.
She lay in bed all day like a truly sick person to conserve her energy.
“Are you really sick? What hurts?”
“……”
“Riena?”
After several days of this, Isaac seemed to begin believing her.
Riena smiled inwardly.
Isaac didn’t want her to die.
If he did, he would have killed her long ago instead of going through the trouble of imprisoning her.
When she remained silent, the locked door clicked open.
Riena waited beside the door and smashed Isaac’s head with the lamp she was holding.
Isaac collapsed with a short scream.
Without even checking his condition, Riena ran out of the room.
She needed to get as far away as possible before he regained consciousness.
Fortunately, she encountered no one while escaping the mansion.
It seemed Isaac hadn’t hired servants in order to keep her imprisonment secret.
Once she was far enough from the mansion, her pace slowed.
“…Cold. Hungry.”
Even if someone killed her, she couldn’t run any farther.
Looking at her disheveled appearance—no longer resembling a noble lady—Riena glanced around.
Several carriages passed, but she had no money to ride one.
And honestly, she couldn’t trust the drivers either.
Who knew if that devil Isaac had planted spies among them?
“Damn it… I should’ve hit him with something heavier.”
Unfortunately, the lamp had been the only weapon she could lift in the room.
Still, it didn’t matter.
Now that she had escaped, she would punish both Isaac and Idel thoroughly.
Thinking of her detestable former friend, she sneered.
That woman probably had no idea Riena would escape like this and was relaxing somewhere.
‘Keep relaxing while you can. I’m coming now.’
With a sinister smile, Riena headed toward the city guard station nearby.
Even Isaac wouldn’t have planted spies there.
For now, the guard was the only place she could trust.
When she arrived, the station was extremely busy, as if a major incident had occurred.
“Excuse me.”
Riena stopped one of the passing guards and showed him a ring engraved with the Cassius family crest.
“You may find this hard to believe, but I am Riena Cassius of the Cassius ducal house.”
The guard’s eyes widened in shock.
It was understandable—seeing the daughter of the Cassius family appear in a remote guard station on the outskirts of the capital was unbelievable.
“Due to some circumstances, could you protect me and escort me to the Cassius ducal residence?”
Riena smiled sweetly as she asked.
The guard looked back and forth between her… and the paper in his hand.
At a glance, it looked like a wanted poster.
