Chapter 23
“You need a room if you’re going to stay here.”
“R-right. That’s true.”
Then Luzenbique snapped, saying he hadn’t even made a decision yet.
“Give it a rest, will you? Stop being such a pain.”
At Beatrice’s words, Luzenbique gave a look of disbelief and sighed.
His expression seemed to ask if I had heard what Beatrice just said. I nodded and took the lead.
“Why… what is it?”
“There’s somewhere we need to go.”
“Where?”
“Why, does it matter? If you don’t like it, are you going to refuse to go?”
He looked absolutely dumbfounded and replied that of course he would.
“Well, it might not be so obvious.”
He shook his head.
I took him with me to the stables.
Seeing us approach, the coachman hurried over.
“Deputy Leader. Are you heading out?”
“Yes. Please prepare it.”
“Yes, Deputy Leader.”
Luzenbique looked at me.
“Why is he calling you ‘Deputy Leader’?”
“Maybe because I am the Deputy Leader?”
He looked dumbfounded.
“Do you always talk this half-heartedly?”
“This is me being very sincere, actually.”
Luzenbique would get instantly flustered and irritated whenever I acted even the slightest bit cheeky—and I found that increasingly amusing.
I was beginning to understand how to deal with this man.
“If you just told me where we’re going, we could ride instead of taking the carriage…”
He wasn’t speaking directly to me but muttering under his breath.
Even that had started to seem cute to me now.
“Beatrice will be busy tidying her room, so in the meantime, I’ll teach you what you need to know.”
“What do I need to know?”
“You need to know what Beatrice has been doing all this time. That way, you’ll stop saying ridiculous things to her.”
“…”
Luzenbique had no comeback.
The coachman brought the carriage around, and I asked him to take us to the merchant group’s headquarters before boarding.
Luzenbique seemed awkward being alone with me in a quiet space and cleared his throat as he looked out the window.
Watching him, I finally realized—he must have gone through hard, lonely times.
Beatrice had me, and I had her—but who was there for him?
Still, he seemed like the type to dislike it when others reached out to him.
As the carriage set off, I told him about Beatrice.
What she had achieved in her position—but he didn’t look moved.
“Deputy Leader… should I call you that too?”
“Yes. It’s easier that way. I didn’t need the title, but people kept calling me ‘Your Highness’ even though I’m not anymore. So I took the title for now. I don’t want to be called something just because I’m my father’s daughter.”
He looked at me strangely.
“Prince, I’m not pretending to have a bad relationship with my father to trick you. I was beaten by him constantly. Verbally abused too. If people lined up by how badly they wanted to kill him, I’d be first in line.”
“…”
He stared at me blankly and then turned his head.
“Didn’t you have something you wanted to say?”
Realizing he had forgotten, he continued.
“Beatrice is a princess. Did you think I’d be impressed hearing a princess did all those things? She was never the kind of person to do that kind of work.”
“I’m not trying to deny that. What I’m saying is, Beatrice found what she needed to do in her place—and she did it. Now you have to do the same. We don’t have time to wait until you’re emotionally ready.”
“…”
“How much do you think you know about my father?”
“What are you asking?”
“Let me just answer it for you. You can’t bring him down by brute force. But there might be other ways. We’ve been trying to find one. And I think we’re getting close.”
I explained the people he needed to meet and where we were headed.
He didn’t seem mentally prepared yet, but I brought him to the merchant group anyway.
I was still wearing the veil over my hat.
People knew who I was and probably assumed I wore the veil to hide a disfigured face.
Back when I was sick in the palace, so many rumors had spread about me—especially among the noble faction, which made things worse.
“Sir Cassia.”
Upon hearing I had arrived, he came out in a hurry. I introduced him to Luzenbique and told him Luzenbique would be helping me from now on.
“Helping…?”
Cassia asked, looking confused.
I explained that Luzenbique would serve as my guard.
Luzenbique gave me a puzzled look at the word “guard,” but then nodded as if he understood.
I explained further to Cassia.
Luzenbique wanted revenge on his father, and the person his father would target first was likely me—so staying close to me would give him the best chance at that revenge.
Cassia agreed, saying he thought the same, and introduced Luzenbique to the merchant operations.
“For now, we’ve decided not to let people know the Deputy Leader has recovered. But once some time passes and people can accept that, she’ll start working here. When that happens, Your Highness will have a lot to do as well. What the Deputy Leader needs to know, you’ll also need to learn. Being a bodyguard isn’t just about standing next to someone.”
Cassia handled Luzenbique well.
Even though Luzenbique could’ve found it annoying, he listened to Cassia attentively.
I followed them around and learned how the merchant group worked.
“It’s not that hard. Don’t be too nervous. It may feel overwhelming at first, but you’ll soon realize it’s not. Once you get used to it, it’ll feel much easier.”
As I listened to him, I paid close attention to his explanations.
“Sir Erkan requested a certain medicinal ingredient. There are three places that sell it. But selling herbs isn’t something individuals can do freely. Each supplier runs their own organization, and we have to buy through them.”
Cassia probably knew more than either of us, but he didn’t try to lecture us. Instead, he wanted to figure things out with us.
“As you know, Sir Erkan is trying to create magical tools using magic formulas. So we can’t use low-quality materials just to save money.”
“Of course.”
“But it feels like people are taking advantage of that. It’s not like there’s huge demand, so they must be struggling to sell it themselves.”
Luzenbique listened carefully to what Cassia said.
“Still, they’ve all jacked up the prices. It’s obvious they’re colluding. But we can’t not buy it, so it feels unfair and frustrating. Even if Sir Erkan pays the full price because he needs it, it’s still unfair.”
“Why not get it ourselves?”
Luzenbique looked puzzled.
“Is it that easy?”
“What’s hard about it? Is it because you have to go into someone else’s land? Just sneak in at night, gather during the day, and leave.”
“That’s not the issue…”
As we talked, we realized we had very different ways of thinking.
“You really think you can do it?”
Cassia asked, showing him the herb.
“This is what Sir Erkan said he needed.”
“This is dry wyvern root. I know where it grows in better condition than this. I know a place where the roots are longer and thicker. And I even know what it’s used for. I could gather way better ones.”
Luzenbique spoke heatedly, then suddenly went silent.
He seemed to realize he didn’t need to be getting so worked up over this.
Then he glanced at me—not just a glance, but searching for an answer—and didn’t look away.
“What?”
“Come here. Let’s talk.”
He stepped outside first.
Telling me to talk with him for a moment?
I found it a bit strange and just stood there for a moment, then looked at Cassia, who shrugged like he didn’t know either.
When I stepped outside, Luzenbique approached.
“If I do that… is it a good thing? Will it help? You know I’m not in a position to be doing stuff like this right now, so why did you bring me here? Honestly, I’m not saying I don’t appreciate what you’ve done for my sister… I know I should be thankful. But… will this really help?”
“Yes. I think it will. I believe that to reclaim the Kingdom of Pelmon, we’ll absolutely need the support of the Jaiphron Merchant Group. The Jaiphron family will probably help even without you, for various reasons. But I want you to help them now—to repay that debt in advance.”
Luzenbique slowly nodded.
