chapter 12
Claire stepped out of the alley with a refreshed expression. She lightly tapped Teddy, who had been guarding the entrance until then, on the shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
“Did you take care of it properly?”
“Yes.”
Despite her confident answer, Teddy glanced into the alley, where faint sobbing could still be heard.
“They seem to be in decent condition, though.”
“What, did you expect me to beat the kid up? That wouldn’t solve anything.”
“Don’t they deserve to pay for the trouble they caused your trading company?”
“…When did I ever mention the trading company to you?”
A peculiar silence fell between them.
Claire stared quietly at the blank eyes of his mask, then gave a casual shrug.
“As expected of the head of a crime guild. Anyway, don’t worry. It’s done.”
Teddy tilted his head slightly toward her, then slowly turned to face forward.
“You’re not as soft-hearted as I thought.”
“…Is that an insult?”
“In this case, it’s a compliment.”
There was a trace of amusement in his voice.
Soon after, Teddy vanished like the wind, leaving behind a simple goodbye. Watching him go, Claire thought:
What an odd man.
I wonder if we’ll meet again.
Jean Pierre, the owner of the Pierre Trading Company, was humming cheerfully as he organized documents.
“Once I send this off, I’ll get investment from the Mutan Company!”
It was a business proposal outlining how they’d sell Starlight Cream under a new name—if the Minerva Company went under.
“Hmph! I was planning to make that cream anyway!”
He too had planned to create a cream using bluetroot, just like Claire.
But while he was waiting on a reply to his investment request to the Mutan Company, Minerva had launched Starlight Cream first.
Panic setting in, Jean decided to sabotage Minerva before they could take over the Devar market.
“Hahaha, what a brilliant move. Better to crush them before they grow too big!”
He felt no guilt about ruining an innocent company.
After all, how could they have obtained an extinct plant without help from the powerful Duke Mutan?
They must’ve used fake bluetroot.
Just as Jean was about to send his proposal to the Duke’s house—
“Master Jean! There’s a problem!”
A staff member burst into the office.
Jean frowned.
“What’s all the fuss?”
“P-Please read this!”
“What is it?”
When Jean saw the newspaper, his eyes widened in shock.
He snatched it from the employee’s hands.
“What the hell is this?!”
His eyes flew to the massive headline:
[Exclusive] Side Effects of Starlight Cream Actually Caused by Pierre Trading Company’s Product?
The article explained that the rashes customers had blamed on Starlight Cream were actually caused by Pierre’s product, and in fact, Starlight Cream had helped mitigate the reaction.
The real culprit was Pierre’s signature item, Floral Essence Oil.
This time, Jennifer had revealed her identity and given an interview, greatly increasing the story’s credibility.
“This is nonsense! Our Floral Essence Oil passed safety tests!”
(So had Starlight Cream, but Jean raged on shamelessly.)
“Jennifer betrayed me?! No one’s going to believe this crap!”
“A-Actually… people are lining up saying they got rashes from using the Floral Essence Oil.”
“WHAT?!”
Hearing that the controversy was growing, Jean clutched his chest and staggered.
Who the hell did this?!
“It must be the Minerva Company! They’re protecting Starlight Cream and attacking us!”
Enraged, Jean shot up from his seat.
“I’ll go wring their necks—!”
But the moment he opened his office door, what he saw was hell.
A crowd had gathered, furious and shouting.
“Refund us! We want our money back!”
“We’re not leaving until you give us refunds!”
“Refund! Refund! Refund!”
Jean’s face drained of color as he backed away in shock.
He slipped out the back door and rushed toward Minerva’s headquarters.
He stormed through 4th Avenue until he reached the building at the end of the alley.
“Now what is this…?”
Even there, a crowd had gathered.
They weren’t angry—they were in awe.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“I never thought I’d see this with my own eyes!”
Curious, Jean squeezed into the crowd—and his eyes went wide.
Inside a glass display case, a mysterious bluish-green plant sat on a long table.
The bluetroot containing starlight.
He recognized it immediately. He had begged the Duke for it.
“H-How is that a real bluetroot…?”
As he stood frozen in disbelief, a cool voice rang out:
“What are you doing here, Master Jean Pierre?”
He turned. A woman wearing oversized glasses stood before him.
“I heard your Floral Essence Oil caused a scandal. Yet here you are, leisurely admiring bluetroot.”
Her soft tone was sharply barbed.
Jean scowled.
“Are you from Minerva?”
“Yes.”
“I need to speak to the company head!”
“You’re looking at her.”
Frustrated by her vague reply, Jean snapped:
“I know you started the rumor that our Floral Essence Oil caused side effects!”
“We didn’t do anything of the sort.”
“Don’t lie! You’re just trying to shift the blame since your cream got bad press!”
“Why would we do that? Unless Pierre caused the controversy, we have no reason to.”
“…!”
Her words hit him like a knife.
He stammered for a moment, then forced a rebuttal.
“You just want to eliminate competition!”
“Oh? We never considered Pierre to be competition.”
She tilted her head with a sly smile—cutting Jean’s pride deeply.
She then asked,
“Unless you have proof we spread the rumor?”
“W-Well…”
Jean had no evidence. He had come to confront them right after the article came out.
Realizing his blunder, he clenched his eyes shut in regret.
But when he looked again, that woman was still there—calm and composed.
“This is troublesome. Without proof, it’s almost like you’re trying to frame us on purpose.”
Claire folded her arms and said it loud enough for the surrounding crowd to hear.
The onlookers murmured in agreement.
Without evidence, Jean now just looked like a desperate man trying to pass the blame.
“Tsk. Is he just scapegoating them because his own product failed?”
“Think about it. Didn’t it seem weird how fast he blamed them?”
“Wait… maybe he planned to dump the blame from the start?”
The tide was turning fast.
Jean panicked, waving his hands.
“N-No! That’s not what happened—”
“Then how about we team up?”
Claire’s voice cut him off—calm, but suggestive.
Everyone stared.
“…Team up?”
“Someone falsely reported our bluetroot was fake. We’re going to sue and claim damages.”
The moment she mentioned money, Jean’s eyes nearly popped out.
He stuttered,
“B-But the whistleblower said it wasn’t your cream, it was our oil that caused problems—”
“That was a victim who misidentified the cause. The person who spread the fake bluetroot rumor is someone else. You know that, right?”
“…!”
Jean’s heart sank.
He had submitted an anonymous tip himself, to divert blame from Starlight Cream.
Had she figured that out?
Claire gave him a dazzling smile.
“Let’s sue them together.”
“I-I… H-How much are you planning to claim?”
“Let’s see… Since our company suffered mentally and financially—”
Claire slowly folded a finger.
Jean swallowed hard.
She opened and closed her pale hand once.
“Maybe… 5 billion gold?”
“That’s outrageous!!”
He recoiled in shock.
“Who gave you the right?!”
“We’re the victims. That gives us the right.”
“Still—”
“Why are you so upset? It’s not like you’re paying.”
Jean froze.
Claire stepped forward and gripped his shoulder, whispering sweetly:
“I know it was you.”
“……!”
“You enjoyed framing others, but now that it’s your turn, you’re angry and hurt?”
Her cold gaze pierced him through the lens of her oversized glasses.
A formal lawsuit and proper explanation of the side effect controversy would take a long time.
And some people would only remember the scandal, not the truth.
So Claire used Jean’s own tactics against him:
She created an even bigger scandal to divert public attention.
Now, the public’s ire was focused on Pierre and Floral Essence Oil, while Starlight Cream was safe.
The crowd admiring bluetroot in front of the Minerva shop said it all.
“Jennifer’s gone on a trip. The customers with reactions will be unavailable. And good luck reaching any newspaper editor now.”
Claire had plugged all the holes Jean overlooked.
By the time he could clear his name, people would have long since moved on.
And he couldn’t sue her company without implicating himself.
Watching him tremble, Claire offered kindly:
“You reap what you sow. Keep that in mind, and we won’t bother suing you directly.”
“……”
“Now get lost. And drop the rude tone.”
She’s so cool!!