Chapter 58
Jane’s shop had a solid contract with the Duke’s household to supply food ingredients. She also gained popularity among locals for selling high-quality goods at reasonable prices.
Just last winter, the number of restaurants she contracted with had already exceeded what one could count on both hands.
Thanks to that, the business boasted impressive profit margins despite its small scale. If things continued this way for another year, moving to Central Avenue would be entirely possible.
Moreover, Jane had made a name for herself among her fellow merchants.
“Didn’t she steal a client from the Doman Trading Company?”
“I heard Doman surrendered. Did she threaten them or something?”
“There are even rumors they’re pulling out of all capital trade…”
Whenever a newcomer enters the market, existing merchants—regardless of degree—tend to give them a hard time.
Doman, a well-known trading company in the west, had been wary of Jane’s growing influence and constantly interfered in her operations.
Given that Doman and Goldrail were similar in scale, Doman’s behavior seemed like a direct challenge to Goldrail.
But Jane forced Doman into submission. Most assumed she must have used some trick—but no one could figure out what.
That incident greatly boosted Jane’s reputation.
She had become the kind of merchant that trading companies paid attention to—and cautiously so. Only then was she truly recognized as a legitimate player in Layton’s business world.
And now that she was supplying goods to the Duke’s household, rumors began to swirl that she might become the next successor of the Goldrail Company.
Then one early morning—
Jane unlocked her shop.
“Oof… huh?”
She was about to begin the morning cleaning before her employees arrived when she noticed an envelope wedged in the doorframe. The moment she read its contents, she let out a dry chuckle.
[Unless the traitor is revealed, we will retaliate…]
There was no sender written, but it was obvious—Doman Trading Company’s threat.
She crumpled the note and tossed it in the trash.
“All I did was leak a rumor about exposing their ledgers, and they react this strongly?”
The real reason Doman backed down was because Jane had discovered that they were profiting through accounting fraud.
They sold both food ingredients and medicinal herbs, and yet, for years when there were barely any colds or flu outbreaks, they still posted consistent profits.
Just those few clues led her to suspect foul play—and once she dropped subtle hints, Doman surrendered first.
They probably assumed Jane had planted a spy in their company.
“I wonder if other companies suspect the same… or are they truly clueless?”
Through her conversations with Wilhelmina, Jane had come face to face with the reality of white-collar crime in business.
She learned how frequent financial crimes were—exploiting loopholes in trade and imperial law—and how the empire’s economy was built like a sandcastle.
When she voiced these concerns, Wilhelmina had responded with a complicated look and said:
“Don’t compare common sense with rationality.”
As if to say: not everyone acts rationally.
Jane nodded in understanding, though she couldn’t fully agree with Wilhelmina.
The more she absorbed Wilhelmina’s knowledge like a sponge, the more her way of thinking began to surpass the limits of this era.
“Come to think of it, Father contacted me yesterday too.”
Her father, Yulcus Goldrail, the head of the Goldrail Trading Company, constantly criticized her.
Telling her to stop this nonsense, to return home, to stop playing merchant. To Jane, his scolding was incomprehensible.
But she believed that if she proved herself with solid results, he would come to understand.
After all, her father was a cold and ruthless man—but also calculating. If she could contribute meaningfully to Goldrail, he would have no choice but to acknowledge her.
“Let’s do our best today, too.”
As she cheerfully got to work opening the store, she heard a familiar voice from outside.
“Noona!”
“Johan?”
It was Johan, a boy from the neighborhood.
The bright-eyed boy beamed and waved. Jane opened the door for him.
“Here to buy herbs again today?”
“Yes! Can I get two pouches?”
“Of course. Just a sec.”
Jane retrieved a pre-packaged bundle of medicinal herbs—good for throat ailments—she had prepared for him.
Johan’s younger sibling had chronic health issues, so he came regularly to buy herbs.
“Thank you! Here’s the money!”
“Thank you.”
As Johan put the herbs into his bag, he glanced around the shop.
“Is that guy not here today?”
“That guy? Oh, you mean Rohan?”
Rohan had taken a leave of absence for work in the east. Now that she thought about it, Johan had always seemed wary of him but also curious.
“Want me to tell him you were looking for him?”
“Hmm, that’s okay. But… is he, like, above you?”
“…Why do you ask?”
“Just… got that feeling.”
Johan must’ve picked up on how Jane used honorifics with Rohan.
She let out a bitter smile and shook her head. Rohan’s true identity was something she’d take to the grave.
“We’re just colleagues. I owe him a favor, so I treat him with respect.”
“A favor?”
“Well… a few things.”
If Wilhelmina had awakened her potential as a merchant, then Rohan was her first teacher—who taught her the basics of commerce.
He had needed a place to stay in Layton, and Jane offered him that in exchange for lessons in product appraisal and negotiation.
“But he gets so quiet around the matriarch…”
It was obvious what Rohan’s goal was.
Jane wanted to help him, but she couldn’t disregard Wilhelmina’s position either. So she had forced an opportunity for them to meet—but there hadn’t been much progress.
It felt inappropriate to meddle further, so she hadn’t mentioned Rohan’s name around Wilhelmina since.
“Ah, right. I was supposed to deliver something to the matriarch today.”
Jane pulled out a box from the corner.
“What’s that?”
“Mushrooms. I’m delivering them to the Duke’s estate.”
These mushrooms were native to the west, and Wilhelmina was particularly fond of them. Jane had personally selected the best ones.
She hadn’t been able to attend the reading club today due to a packed schedule, so she thought to include some herbs that paired well with mushrooms as an apology.
“Next up is Cello’s Restaurant—potatoes, oil, and…”
As she began reviewing her delivery list, Johan, sensing he might be in the way, started to leave.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“Ah, sure. See you agai—”
Just as she was about to say goodbye, the shop door burst open.
A man stepped inside—thick eyebrows, a stern mouth drawn into a line, and bulging cheekbones that gave away his stubborn temperament.
His flashy clothing clashed with the shop’s humble interior. Embroidered on his chest was the insignia of the Goldrail Trading Company.
Jane recognized him immediately.
“F-Father?”
It was Yulcus Goldrail, the head of Goldrail.
“What brings you here?”
“…Is this how you greet your father? No proper bow?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I just…”
“Enough.”
She quickly tried to tidy the store and straighten her posture, but he glared and marched inside.
Johan, caught in the moment, retreated awkwardly to a corner.
Yulcus slowly looked around the store.
“…Still running this kind of shop, I see.”
“Father, even if it looks modest, the sales are—”
“I know. I saw the reports before coming.”
Hearing that her father had reviewed her financial statements, Jane’s face lit up.
She had never expected praise, but she couldn’t deny she had hoped for it—just a little—each time her profits went up.
She was confident that, for the shop’s size, the earnings were impressive.
“Just one more year and I’ll be fully established. I even secured a contract with Cello’s Restaurant, which is in the city center! From there, I plan to expand into partnerships with other restaurants in the market.”
“Cello’s Restaurant?”
Yulcus’s eyes widened. Taking that as a good sign, Jane excitedly continued.
“I found a new oil supplier! Doman’s pressed oil had foreign substances in it, and I just happened to—”
Cello’s was a well-known restaurant in the region.
Though it catered to commoners, its size alone put it among the city’s top five.
Stealing it away from Doman was a huge achievement for any branch manager.
Naturally, Jane believed her father would be impressed.
She imagined him shocked that the daughter he always overlooked had grown so much.
But the words that came from Yulcus’s mouth were nothing like what she had hoped for.
“What a pointless thing to do.”
