If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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If the Villain’s Secretary Suits Me
Chapter 19
***
Norbert slammed the table with a thunderous crash.
“How on earth did this happen!”
It was maddening enough that he’d spent 420 million gold on a decrepit pendant.
But the situation only spiraled further downward from there.
Wracking his brain desperately, Norbert issued an order.
“That ash-haired woman must be a participant recruited by La Mar. So create as much confusion as possible.”
-Confusion, sir?
“Bid recklessly on every other item to hide the fact that we’re trying to win the dress as well!”
Norbert never imagined that Crimson’s target items had been leaked. He’d never told anyone.
So he assumed La Mar was simply following whatever items Crimson bid on first.
Thus his plan was to bid on everything and create confusion through misdirection.
-We have a serious problem!
Norbert had overlooked one critical detail: the pendant auction was the first item.
Because of this, the entire subsequent auction began to spiral out of control.
The Imperial Family’s worn furniture and crumbling ancient tomes—items that would normally settle for mere millions of gold—were skyrocketing in price due to Crimson’s misdirection strategy.
“We should have bid moderately and withdrawn!”
-But sir, wasn’t this your instruction! You said if we only bid once, our smokescreen would be exposed, so we had to keep pretending to bid!
“If we win at this price, we can’t even cancel! If we don’t pay, we’ll be flagged as fraudulent bidders and banned from future auctions!”
As a result, Norbert found himself stuck with some knight’s ancient chair for 60 million gold.
His remaining budget was a mere 200 million gold.
“Item number nine is the dress of the founding empress! We’ll start bidding at 10 million gold. 20 million gold, 30 million gold… Yes, Bidder Number 15! You’ve bid 200 million gold again!”
Yet he couldn’t abandon the dress and focus on the timepiece instead.
This was something the Chairman’s daughter desired.
Knowing how terribly the Chairman regarded his daughter, Norbert felt that disappointing her was like receiving a death sentence.
The Countess had even contacted me separately, emphasizing that I must bring back both the dress and the pendant.
‘I boasted so confidently that I would definitely win the auction!’
So Norbert ultimately….
“The founding empress’s dress is finally sold to Bidder Number 77 for 350 million gold!”
He had exhausted a total of 830 million gold.
His remaining budget was now 1.47 billion gold. This fell short of Walton’s budget of 1.8 billion gold by over 300 million.
As he stared blankly at the stage, a panicked employee hastily reached for a communication device.
“S-sir. We need to contact the Chairman right away…!”
“No!”
Norbert snatched the device away with lightning speed.
“Absolutely not.”
“But, sir!”
“Should I report to the Chairman that I couldn’t even handle something this simple? Should I tell the Chairman myself that I’m useless!”
Norbert’s anger flared as he recalled what had become of Jeremy Sand, now rendered ‘useless’.
He bit his lip and muttered in a low voice.
“It’s not over yet. Not yet.”
“Yes? But—”
“Shut your mouth! I’m thinking!”
Norbert’s head snapped up, his gaze fixing on Imperial Bank Branch 1, located just beside the Plaza.
Norbert pulled a seal and bankbook from his jacket’s inner pocket and hurled them at his subordinate.
“Go to the bank right now and withdraw 400 million gold from this account.”
“400, 400 million gold? What on earth is this money—”
“Do I need to explain that to you? Just withdraw it already!”
It was Norbert’s slush fund account.
He had been receiving bribes bit by bit from clients and partner companies in exchange for brokering contracts using his position as Kaileb Crimson’s secretary.
If the source of the funds were exposed, Kaileb would never forgive him, but once the watch auction succeeded, Kaileb was the sort of person who wouldn’t care where the difference came from.
‘This will work. It has to. The money hurts to spend, but I can replenish that amount quickly enough!’
Norbert stared anxiously at the stage where the watch auction was beginning.
“Finally, we have the last work from master clockmaker Tate—’Tate 81′. We’ll begin accepting bids from 10 million gold.”
Sighs erupted from all corners.
If they’d known Tate’s watch would appear last, they wouldn’t have spent so much in the previous auctions—that was the sentiment.
Damn it, he’d even eliminated Walton’s other competitors for him.
“Bidder Number 1, 1 billion gold!”
-Walton has bid! What should we do?
“Follow his bid for now.”
1 billion gold, 1.1 billion gold, 1.2 billion gold…
Soon the amount climbed to 1.5 billion gold.
“Bidder Number 1 has bid 1.5 billion gold! If there are no further bids, we’ll conclude the sale!”
Hurry. Hurry.
It was then, as Norbert waited while gnawing at his fingernails.
“Secretary.”
“…What, what is it? Why are your hands empty!”
The employee who should have returned with 400 million gold appeared empty-handed.
“The bank refused.”
“What?”
“The moment they looked up your account, they refused the withdrawal! I was thrown out!”
Norbert’s blood ran cold as his own words from moments before echoed in his ears.
“Even if Walton is upset, the worst he can do to us is deny us loans or bar us from the branch, right?”
“‘Tate 81’ has been sold to Bidder Number 1! Congratulations!”
Cheers and applause rang out.
Norbert collapsed where he stood.
Complete defeat.
At that same moment, his communicator began to flash.
“C-Chairman….”
It was Kaileb Crimson’s call.
Norbert’s face drained of all color.
***
“Haha, thank you so much! I’m truly grateful! Owning this watch has been my lifelong dream!”
Walton grasped Lenox’s hand in a firm handshake, cradling the “Tate 81” carefully in his other hand.
“This is all thanks to you! I made the right decision entrusting this matter to La Mar!”
“…That’s not quite right, Branch Manager.”
“What? Not right?”
“I didn’t do anything. All the credit belongs to the Protagonist here.”
Lenox gestured toward the Protagonist, who stood a step behind him.
He meant it sincerely. Without her today, they wouldn’t have secured the watch at all—they would have been manipulated by Crimson.
Yet the Protagonist waved her hand dismissively.
“That’s not true. It was because you quickly shared the Crimson employee roster with the Branch Manager that we could prevent the additional cash withdrawal. I hadn’t even thought that far ahead.”
“How admirable, the way you both defer credit to each other. You’ll make excellent colleagues.”
Walton beamed as he watched the two of them.
Lenox started to respond but fell silent.
‘Excellent colleagues,’ he thought.
Walton handed the Protagonist a handful of candies as well.
“By the way, is that Bidder Number 15 also a La Mar employee? The one who helped me win the bid?”
“Ah, well….”
That was something Lenox had been curious about too.
This auction had a fixed number of attendees and required advance registration.
Yet even Lenox didn’t know who Bidder Number 15 was. She wasn’t someone La Mar had arranged.
Which meant the Protagonist must have recruited her on the spot….
As Lenox pondered this, he suddenly realized the Protagonist had stepped closer.
“Branch Manager. Surely you didn’t think La Mar would just secure the watch for you and say ‘our job is done’ before leaving?”
“Hmm?”
“What?”
Walton and Lenox responded simultaneously in confusion.
‘That was exactly what I had in mind,’ Lenox thought, caught off guard.
Just as he was about to stop the Protagonist’s unexpected declaration—
She poked him in the back and continued with perfect composure.
“Considering everything Crimson has done so far, they might resort to another despicable scheme. Since they failed to win the precious ‘Tate 81’, they might try to steal or seize it.”
“Ah….”
She had a point.
Lenox found himself nodding involuntarily.
“Is the ‘Tate 81’ the only concern? You’re known as a collector, Branch Manager—what if Crimson is also targeting your other treasures?”
“Huh…! That’s certainly possible!”
“So I’ve prepared an additional solution to safely protect your entire collection.”
“Such a thing exists?! Introduce her to me at once!”
But something about this felt off.
‘It’s such a perfect pitch that it almost feels like I’m selling snake oil….’
Should I really just leave him be?
Lenox, having missed his chance to interject, could only roll his eyes.
“Actually, an introduction shouldn’t be necessary. The branch manager already knows her.”
“…You don’t mean…?”
The Protagonist clapped her hands together.
Then Bidder Number 15, a woman with ash-gray hair hiding behind the Fountain, peeked her head out.
The woman, waving cheerfully with a bright smile, seemed far removed from anything resembling a ‘solution,’ yet the Protagonist spoke with deliberate solemnity.
“She is Delilah, a master of protective magic and the Mage Tower Master of the Eastern Region.”
“Oh!”
Lenox flinched.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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