The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 6

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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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The Villainess Establishes a Department Store

Chapter 6

Water shooting up from the fountain scattered like mist in the wind.

The man didn’t care that his bushy curly hair was getting wet from the water as he stared blankly up at the sky.

Water splashing from the fountain continuously left dark, round stains on the man’s shabby clothes.

The man, who had let his beard grow as carelessly as his disheveled hair, would look exactly like a beggar if you just placed a chipped bowl in front of him.

But I know this man’s true identity.

Guillaume Hedebeau.

A god of commerce who used his instinctive, brilliant business acumen to grow a small trading company into a massive trading house that deals with the entire world.

And he was Father’s old friend.

But there was another reason I remembered Mr. Hedebeau.

He was one of Antoine’s and my benefactors in my previous life.

Mr. Hedebeau’s trading company, which seemed like it would last forever, would collapse around the time Antoine became an adult.

His one and only heir took the lead in causing a major incident by committing fraud while using his father’s name.

In the end, Mr. Hedebeau fell so far that he could barely maintain his livelihood.

Even so, Mr. Hedebeau never turned his back on us until the very end.

Why are you being so good to us?

On the day I finally couldn’t hold back and asked that question, Mr. Hedebeau smiled and patted my head.

‘Aren’t you Charles’s children? A friend’s children are no different from my own children. This old man will help you as much as he can.’

‘But why is such a person looking like a beggar?’

Could it be that his business failed once along the way?

If that was the case, this was an opportunity to repay his kindness. New father, I’ll be filial to you.

Just as I was about to make that resolution, someone approached Mr. Hedebeau before I could.

“Mister, what are you doing here?”

Aah! Antoine!

Didn’t you learn not to carelessly approach strangers?

Of course, Mr. Hedebeau isn’t a stranger or a bad person, but still!

“Me? I’m sunbathing.”

“Sunbathing? Sunflowers are flowers though. Are you a flower, mister?”

“I’m sorry. My younger sibling was rude, Mr. Hedebeau.”

Screaming internally, I ran over in one breath and quickly took Antoine into my arms.

And the next moment, I bit my tongue with an “oh no.”

“How did you know I was Hedebeau?”

Oh no. My first meeting with Mr. Hedebeau was several years later than now.

If I hadn’t followed Antoine out today, I probably wouldn’t have encountered him.

Anyway, that’s not the point… As I couldn’t answer and fumbled around, Mr. Hedebeau grinned, showing his bright red gums.

I was naturally impressed by his healthy teeth, which were rare to see in this place where dental technology was lacking.

But no matter how I thought about it, it was still a smile closer to a bandit trampling flowers than the flowers themselves.

“Um, I saw your clothes.”

“Clothes? These rags?”

As I desperately searched for some plausible excuse, I noticed the clothes Mr. Hedebeau was wearing, or more precisely, the brooch that fastened his tattered scarf.

“Yes. To be precise, I recognized you by seeing the brooch.”

“Is there some problem with this brooch?”

“That’s a brooch the Merchant’s Guild only gives to excellent merchants, right? Father has one too.”

Mr. Hedebeau fingered the brooch with its large gemstone.

“And… well, um. I know this sounds rude, but please forgive me. There’s a smell.”

“A smell?”

Mr. Hedebeau raised his arm and sniffed.

Antoine had been burying his nose in my embrace, wary of the unfamiliar smell.

I too felt a sharp sensation in my nose from the pungent spice scent.

But it’s naturally difficult to notice smells coming from your own body.

“Yes. The smell of the sea and unfamiliar spices. An excellent merchant who smells of spices came all the way here without any interference… who else could that be besides Guillaume Hedebeau, Father’s business partner?”

“Ha!”

At my answer, Mr. Hedebeau let out a hollow laugh and just stroked his beard with meaningful eyes.

Is this wrong? Did I mistake him for someone else? But the future Mr. Hedebeau didn’t grow a beard like this!

“Well, let’s say that’s true, but what if I’m not Hedebeau?”

“Then it would mean you knocked down all the guards of this estate to get here, so I’d have to guide you to Father for that reason too.”

If you cooperate obediently as a hostage, you might be able to save your life.

As I shrugged my shoulders,

“Uhahahaha!”

Finding something so amusing, he bent over and laughed heartily.

Hey, isn’t he going to fall backward like that?

Huh, what?

Splash!

“Ugh, puha!”

“Oh my! Are you alright? Antoine! Quickly call someone!”

“What kind of fountain is this big…!”

…Well, at least this should get rid of some of the spice smell.

* * *

“Guillaume!”

Charles jumped up from his seat and spread his arms wide.

“I heard what happened. The children were rude to you.”

“Rude, my foot. Thanks to them, I got to remove the salt from my body after a long time.”

“Let me see, the salting is done and the rinsing is finished, so now I just need to hang you in a breezy place to dry?”

“Oh my? Should I add some ham for the next voyage too?”

Exchanging silly jokes back and forth, Charles seated Guillaume Hedebeau.

“She’s an interesting one.”

“Hm?”

“Your daughter. She recognized who I was at a glance.”

Even while dealing with nobility, Guillaume spoke casually without hesitation.

Charles also accepted such behavior from Guillaume as natural.

“Adelaide did? Have you two met before?”

“Just saw her sleeping a couple times when she was younger than your second child. She probably doesn’t even remember.”

“Hmm… So what did she say?”

“She recognized that I belonged to the Merchant’s Guild by my brooch, then said I smelled.”

“Smelled?”

Charles’s brow immediately furrowed.

Guillaume calmed Charles down, saying he didn’t mean it that way.

And he calmly explained what happened at the fountain.

“My daughter is quite clever. She takes after her mother. You can tell just by looking at her face.”

“That’s fortunate to hear.”

“What?”

What’s wrong with my face? While brushing it off as a joke, Charles’s eyes were trembling faintly.

Adelaide had changed somehow, beyond simply having matured. And she had observational and insight skills that were unbelievably sharp for her age.

Though he had casually dismissed it as being clever like her parents, Charles kept worrying about how Adelaide had changed.

“Anyway, what did you call me here for today?”

“Look at you changing the subject…?”

Though bewildered, Charles brought up the main topic.

“I’m thinking of giving my daughter a toy as a gift.”

“A toy? Are you kidding me? You called me here for just something like that?”

“Well, it’s just that since you happened to return to the country… I wanted to give you something that good. You know?”

“Wow, seriously. If I had known you’d work people to the bone like this, I would have refused that investment money back then!”

“That’s what you get for completely gobbling up a runaway teenager’s entire fortune like that.”

Guillaume beat his chest in lamentation while facing Charles, who was giggling.

Before they knew it, the two had returned to being the runaway young master and the greenhorn who had nothing but passion from when they first met.

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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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