The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 29

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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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“She still says nothing.”

“She’s just as stubborn as her sister, I swear. But… that ends today. I have no intention of indulging Katarina any longer.”

Crodil was delighted.

A country that moved according to his will with just a single word.

Could there be any amusement more entertaining than this?

The Princess would be the same. Until now, she had been acting defiant because he had shown her mercy.

But Crodil had no intention of showing mercy any longer.

‘If I starve her, what choice will she have? Katarina will eventually offer me my sister’s pendant.’

Thinking of the emerald pendant that was both the family treasure and a sacred relic, Crodil licked his lips and pushed the maid aside to open the door.

Someone was sitting in the middle of a room far too small to be called a Princess’s chamber.

She didn’t turn around even at the sound of footsteps.

“Princess Katarina.”

No response.

Crodil chuckled and approached, looking at her arm tied to the bed leg, then sat down beside her.

“Lina.”

Then he lifted the Princess’s chin with his fingertips.

“Just how much of a villain are you trying to make this Uncle of yours, hmm? If you would just speak, I could stop all this. Do you think I want to do this? So let’s stop now. Speak, please speak.”

Crodil, who had been speaking coaxingly, suddenly grabbed the Princess’s throat tightly.

“My sister’s pendant. Where is it?”

Katarina’s lips, which had been tightly sealed all along, finally opened.

It was then that Crodil looked at her with anticipation.

“It’s not your sister’s pendant.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s my mother’s pendant. You’ll never find it, Uncle. Because.”

The Princess smiled.

“I swallowed it.”

Her green eyes were bloodshot.

“What…!”

“So if you want to take it, you’ll have to cut open my stomach. Go ahead and try if you can, Uncle.”

Crodil was taken aback by the thorny words spat out by the Princess, who had lived timidly like a dead mouse since the death of her mother, the Empress.

Katarina, watching him, murmured.

“…I will protect it.”

Though her voice was so small it could barely be heard, the Princess’s eyes were clear as she repeated those words.

“So please protect the Customer. Just as you have until now, please cherish them in the future too.”

It seemed as if she had been pondering someone’s words all along.

Crodil, who had been backing away hesitantly as if he had seen a ghost, bit his lips.

He shouted.

“Call the maids immediately!”

It must be a bluff. Surely it was a lie.

There was no way that doll-like, timid and foolish Princess could have done such a thing. At most, she must have hidden it somewhere.

But even as he thought this, somehow his breathing became labored.

“Turn this room upside down, no, turn the entire Imperial Palace upside down to find that pendant!”

Crodil shouted even louder.

Like someone trying to hide his bewilderment at the change in the Princess he had always regarded as insignificant.

***

Early dawn.

The place the Old Minister headed to after being tormented by the Regent all night was the Royal Knights Headquarters.

Before opening the door, he let out a deep sigh. He had come to deliver extremely troubling news.

However, before the Old Minister could even grasp the door handle, the door swung open.

“Please come in.”

“Ah, Sir Ailren. Of course, there’s no way you wouldn’t sense my presence, yet I hesitated needlessly.”

The Old Minister looked at Ailren, who gestured politely without a word.

He was the commander of the Imperial Palace’s Royal Knights. A person who had reached the highest position a knight could attain.

Nevertheless, Ailren’s office was modest.

Except for a black hourglass, his desk was completely empty.

The Old Minister, who had always viewed the young knight who was always precise and faithful with half reverence and half pity, cleared his throat.

“Did you hear about what happened at the Imperial Palace last night? The Royal Knights have been… assigned to shop inspection duties.”

It was work that could be done by the abundant security guards.

But there was a reason the Regent had specifically designated the Royal Knights.

‘He wants to break their spirit with this opportunity. Since they won’t bow down and submit at all.’

The Royal Knights were loyal to the Imperial Family.

To the Imperial Family, not the Regent.

The intention was clearly to trample the pride of the knights who constantly hindered the Regent by citing principles and saying ‘That cannot be done’ and ‘That is not possible.’

That’s why he was deliberately assigning them inspection work that even lower-ranking knights wouldn’t do.

‘If they don’t perform properly… he’ll definitely use that as an excuse to try to downsize the Royal Knights.’

“Yes. I heard.”

Ailren, who surely understood this, remained calm.

“I have no intention of being negligent. Please don’t worry.”

“…Right. It’s you we’re talking about, so I was worrying needlessly. You’re the palace’s greatest principled person, aren’t you.”

The Old Minister forced a smile and cleared his throat.

“However… there’s one more order that has been issued.”

“Please tell me.”

“Princess Katarina has apparently lost the pendant that Empress Her Majesty left her.”

The emerald pendant that the Princess treasured was a treasure known to both the Old Minister and Ailren.

“All personnel searched the Imperial Palace throughout the night but couldn’t find it. So they think it might have been… leaked outside.”

The fact that the Regent had been coveting that treasure was also something that didn’t need to be said.

In this obvious situation, Ailren lowered his eyes.

“He wants it retrieved.”

“That’s right. As you know, that’s no ordinary treasure. It’s a sacred relic. So it’s unlikely that some individual would have it, and it probably was secretly sold through a shop that professionally deals in stolen goods. So.”

The Old Minister pointed to a spot on the map.

“Shops in crime-ridden areas like this. It’s also the area you’ll be inspecting.”

It was Ashen Street.

The Old Minister handed over a pouch.

“It’s a sacred relic tracking tool borrowed from the Temple of the World Tree. As you know, it can’t detect only specific sacred relics, but it should still be helpful. And…”

The Old Minister looking at the map sighed.

“It is a crime-ridden area. Even if it’s not the pendant, if you succeed in finding and returning other sacred relics.”

It would be an achievement.

An achievement that could protect the Royal Knights.

The Old Minister, swallowing his last words, watched Ailren reverently accept the pouch.

Though his face was shadowed, his answer was straightforward.

“I will carry out the order and conduct a preliminary inspection.”

“Good. You’ll have a hard time.”

“To return the pendant to Princess Her Highness, I will do my best.”

For the Princess, not for the Regent, Ailren made that point clear with those words.

It was an answer that seemed like it would break rather than bend. The Old Minister nodded instead of adding anything.

“Go well.”

***

“Really? The stamp I consigned sold for such a high price?”

“Of course. It’s the Emperor’s Birthday Commemorative stamp with only a thousand copies issued. A collector bought it with gleaming eyes.”

“Wow… I didn’t expect much since it was from a dusty stamp book in the warehouse. I’m so glad I chose consignment sales!”

“Bring other stamps too, there might be treasures among them. I’ll appraise them well for you.”

“I should! My goodness, this is such wonderful news.”

A stamp that cost three thousand gold sold for a whopping 800,000 gold.

The consignment fee was 10%, which was 80,000 gold, but what ended up in my hands was nearly double that amount in cash.

“Oh, the commission is 80,000 gold.”

“Come on, who do I have to thank for being able to sell it at such a high price? If you had just bought it outright, you could have made more than this, but you recommended consignment thinking of me, right? So please take it.”

Since they insisted this much, refusing would only hurt their feelings, so I accepted with a smile.

I gained 150,000 gold. My cash reserves had accumulated quite nicely.

‘I started with ten million gold, but my income has already exceeded thirty million gold.’

All the busy running around for auctions, consignments, purchases, and pawning was worth it.

Money begets money. All that’s left now is to multiply the money further.

‘It’s about time to start investing too.’

As I was thinking, a customer suddenly spoke to me.

“Manager. You’re coming to the general meeting later, right?”

General meeting.

It was the Merchant’s Guild’s regularly held conference.

“Of course.”

As soon as I heard the news, I thought I absolutely had to attend.

It wasn’t the meeting itself that interested me.

What mattered was the agenda of the general meeting.

“I can’t miss such an occasion.”

I smiled meaningfully.

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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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