(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 50

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 50

 

After successfully selling honeycomb scrub insoles to the Basar Trading Caravan employees, I brought Felix inside the shop.

 

It was to discuss the ‘route’ to Benu.

 

Don’t bark, don’t bite, don’t break anything, don’t drool.

 

Despite giving him stern warnings, I couldn’t feel at ease.

 

I couldn’t tell if I was raising a brother or a wild wolf.

 

“…Grr.”

 

“No, don’t do it.”

 

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

 

“What do you mean ‘yet’? Don’t even think about doing it later.”

 

Felix’s handsome face twisted with injustice. Talk about turning the tables.

 

The employees slowly backed away from Felix, eventually pressing their backs against the wall. They looked like they wanted to run away immediately but were troubled by their blocked escape route.

 

Meanwhile, the owner of Benu remained calm.

 

He was looking at Felix with interest, his glasses gleaming.

 

It was fortunate that he showed no wariness or hostility, but that made me even more anxious.

 

Usually, people like this get bitten when they try to touch without knowing better.

 

The employees who had been watching us with bated breath asked in trembling voices.

 

“So, so, what did you want to tell us?”

 

“We, we’re busy, so we need to go quickly.”

 

I spoke with the most gentle smile I could muster to reassure them.

 

“You all know about Cromwell Castle’s notorious fees, right?”

 

“Ah, we know. The, the reason we haven’t traded with Ruden Village until now is because of the tariffs.”

 

“To, to be precise, it’s the tariffs and distance. It’s far and the roads are rough. It wouldn’t matter for people adapted to mountain paths, but you can’t even ride horses, so it’s troublesome.”

 

The employees looked like they were about to cry, but they still spoke their piece well.

 

Yes, this is what it takes to be a worker for the Basar Trading Caravan.

 

The Mayor was also listening seriously to our conversation. The evidence was that his slightly narrowed eyes had widened.

 

To think that Benu’s mayor was present at this meeting where I was explaining my brother’s plan.

 

I was initially flustered when I learned his identity, but ultimately it was tremendous luck.

 

I even thought that heaven was on our side.

 

I carefully lowered my voice and brought up the main point. My gaze remained on Benu’s mayor, not on the trading caravan employees.

 

“What if there was a way to travel between Luden and Benu much faster without paying fees to Cromwell Castle?”

 

The employees asked back in bewildered voices.

 

“Is there… such a method?”

 

“You’re not asking us to fly through the sky, are you?”

 

Oh, that’s a novel idea too, but fortunately, no.

 

I poked my brother’s side with my elbow to force him to smile, then showed an even brighter smile myself.

 

“My brother has something to show you directly. Would you like to come with us?”

 

***

 

The Basar Trading Caravan employees followed my brother out, trembling like livestock being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

 

I tried to soothe them with all sorts of honeyed words like “there’s something amazing” and “Kaiden will praise you if you go,” but their frightened feet wouldn’t move easily.

 

Finally, only after seeing Benu’s mayor follow Felix out first did the employees cautiously take their steps.

 

Indeed, the courage of a ruler of a territory differs from that of employees working under them.

 

No matter how gentle he looked, Lucas Aden surely had a giant hidden within him.

 

‘Why did such a person come to our general store?’

 

That question still remained unsolved.

 

Even the trading caravan employees seemed not to know the reason.

 

When I asked the Mayor directly, the answer I heard was—

 

‘I came to meet the owner.’

 

That was all.

 

I had heard that Benu’s mayor was a customer of the ‘Sleep Series,’ but it was absurd that he came all the way to Luden just to meet me.

 

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

 

For problems that can’t be solved no matter how much you think about them, not thinking is the right answer.

 

I brushed away my complicated thoughts and swept the messy shop floor.

 

Thinking of the poor trading caravan employees, I wanted to follow them too, but it was business hours now.

 

Someone had to watch the shop, right?

 

Honestly, that was an excuse—the real problem was money.

 

Money…

 

There was too much of it.

 

I had lived my whole life hiding my entire fortune in my skirt, but now it was difficult to hide even half my wealth.

 

Three money pouches seemed to be the limit.

 

“Should I dig up the ground and bury the money…”

 

This was my first time having such worries, so it was refreshing yet troublesome.

 

I had heard that rich people in cities deposit their money in banks, but banks don’t exist not only in Ruden Village but even in Cromwell Castle.

 

Most people barely make enough in a month to eat for a month—where would they have money to save?

 

“I should divide the money pouches and hide them, right?”

 

Two money pouches in my skirt.

 

One by the bedside.

 

There were places to hide two in the shop.

 

Four should be set aside for additional payments.

 

The remaining two were the problem.

 

‘Should I entrust them to my brother?’

 

If I entrusted money to my brother, he could protect it in any dangerous situation. Felix is strong, after all.

 

The problem was that he himself was the most dangerous.

 

“I’d rather just spend it.”

 

Better to squander it in the village than entrust a cat with fish.

 

But as they say, only those who have tasted meat know its flavor, and only those who have spent money know how to spend it—having lived as a pauper my whole life, thinking about spending big money made my head go blank.

 

Nothing came to mind except my brother’s bed.

 

“Hmm…”

 

While looking around the shop, an old label printer caught my eye.

 

A light bulb went off in my head.

 

“Ah! Why didn’t I think of that?”

 

When manufacturing the ‘Sleep Series,’ the most time-consuming process is label printing and attachment.

 

Since the printer is old, I have to watch to make sure the paper doesn’t jam, there’s no automatic cutting function so I have to shape each one individually, and the process of applying glue and drying also takes considerable time.

 

“If I get new machines from the city, the manufacturing time might become much faster.”

 

When the trading caravan employees return later, I should ask them about printers and glue-applying machines.

 

My heart fluttered with excitement.

 

Seeing that printer shopping made my heart race more than dress shopping, I guess I’m not normal either.

 

“When I heard there was such a thing as happy worries, I thought it was a lie, but it was real.”

 

As I was left alone in the quiet shop, enjoying my happiness—

 

Crash!

 

My beloved peace destroyers.

 

Sara and Maribel burst into the shop without even knocking.

 

“Hazel! Hazel!”

 

“Crazy amazing news!”

 

“…”

 

Kids, couldn’t you come in quietly? I thought my eardrums were going to bleed.

 

But since I was in a very good mood, I greeted them warmly.

 

“Good morning. My beloved friends.”

 

“…?”

 

“????”

 

My friends, who had been making all sorts of fuss, simultaneously shut their mouths tight.

 

They stared at me with faces as if they’d seen a ghost, then opened and closed their mouths like fish.

 

“Hey, did you eat something wrong?”

 

“No, Maribel. I think it’s that, that thing.”

 

“What thing?”

 

“The power of love.”

 

“Ah, that makes sense. When you’re in love, the world does look beautiful.”

 

“….”

 

You’re wrong, kids.

 

It’s the power of money.

 

Since I made a lot of money, the world looks beautiful? I’m learning this for the first time too.

 

After correcting my friends’ misunderstanding about my internal state, I kindly asked about their business.

 

“So why did you come here? Are you buying Purification Water?”

 

My friends seemed to finally remember why they had visited, raising their voices in unison.

 

“Another handsome man appeared in our village. A man with blue hair and a pale face, who looks like a fairy?”

 

“But that Handsome Man was apparently with the Most Beautiful Woman of Ruden Village.”

 

“….”

 

Sara’s eyes sparkled brightly. A sinister smile spread across Maribel’s lips.

 

“That beauty’s name was Hazel, wasn’t it?”

 

“So we came to confirm the rumors.”

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