The Villainess is a Millionaire Solver - Chapter 19

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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 19

‘Second Prince?’

I stared at the figure before me, completely dumbfounded.

‘Why is the Second Prince appearing here?’

Siegfried Valcarde. Zikren for short.

The ancestor of the royal family, the ‘Mother of All Dragons’, passed down the bloodlines of every dragon species to her descendants, just as her name suggested.

Among them, Zikren, as evidenced by that red hair, was one who manifested the Red Dragon bloodline.

He was the complete opposite of Aldensis.

Unlike his brother who buttoned his formal wear all the way up to his neck, he complained about the heat and only wore clothes that looked like they were made from insufficient fabric. He was also hot-tempered, quick to use his fists before his brain.

The only thing he had in common with his brother was perhaps his incredibly strong presence?

With the appearance of the Second Prince who always stirred up controversy, the hall became as noisy as a disturbed beehive.

“What brings Your Highness here? Shouldn’t you be at the Imperial Palace ball by now? What on earth is going on?”

“It’s because of this old woman.”

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the suddenly heard voice.

A short elderly woman who had been sitting quietly in the corner, unnoticed by anyone. The old lady stood up and removed her wide-brimmed hat.

“Lady Peruvian!”

The people gathered in the event hall hurriedly paid their respects.

Lady Peruvian.

It was a name I had seen in the newspaper.

A 70-year-old Imperial elder attending this Guild Leaders’ Assembly as a distinguished guest. She was related to the Emperor as his great-aunt and was close to the Crown Prince brothers.

She was only interested in directing the Imperial Workshop to manufacture music boxes.

However, the guild leader who had been selling music boxes for the past 30 years was retiring, so she needed to find a new guild leader.

‘From this explanation alone, she seems like someone completely unrelated to that night’s murder.’

I observed Lady Peruvian closely.

This old lady, also simply called ‘Royal Great-Aunt’ in newspapers, appeared cheerful and modest. She spoke with her blue eyes sparkling brightly.

“Yes. I came. Don’t mind me, everyone, just continue with what you were doing.”

“But…”

The event organizers were flustered by this unexpected situation.

“If you were coming, you should have told us. Why were you hiding in a temporary seat?”

“I came early to observe the atmosphere.”

Zikren replied.

“Royal Great-Aunt’s music box business may seem trivial to others, but it’s a very precious pastime and pension for her. We must find the right person. And…”

He paused there for a moment.

“This was supposed to be secret, but actually, this assembly has another important purpose.”

“Yes? What is that?”

Instead of answering, Prince Zikren walked over and swept aside a curtain on one side of the hall.

Large written characters were revealed.

【Selection of Imperial Top Secret Project Contractor】.

The hall became noisy once again.

“Imperial top secret project?”

“That’s right. My brother and I are planning to jointly undertake an important project. Due to circumstances, we can’t reveal the details, but we plan to select a contractor through today’s assembly.”

“But why did you hold such an important assembly on the same day as the Imperial ball? Did you deliberately schedule it that way?”

“That’s right. It was this old woman’s idea.”

The Royal Great-Aunt said with a bright smile.

“My music box business is precious to me. I told people who prefer dancing to business to go enjoy themselves there. I wanted to talk only with shrewd merchants whose eyes light up at the prospect of making money. When I told them this, both the Crown Prince and Second Prince agreed it was a good idea.”

Ah.

The various guild leaders looked at each other.

There had been rumors that the old woman had made a mistake because she was out of touch with the world and didn’t know about the ball’s date. But it turned out everything was planned.

They deliberately overlapped the dates so that the Crown Prince would handle high society figures at the ball, while the Second Prince attended the Guild Leaders’ Assembly where only merchants gathered to find a contractor.

“This itself was a test! We accidentally passed!”

“Exactly.”

Zikren replied.

“Even cutting it off at C-rank would be too many, so we wanted to filter out the flies first. But…”

He turned his head with a very displeased expression. At the end of his gaze was me.

“I didn’t expect we’d fail to filter out the biggest fly.”

Our gazes collided in mid-air. Zikren’s eyes were so intense that for a moment, I had the illusion of thunder striking in the background.

‘Enemies meet on a narrow bridge, as they say.’

Aristina and Zikren were truly bitter enemies, or rather, like cats and dogs. Whenever they met, they would get into fights.

‘What? I definitely came here to avoid these scary brothers? How did I end up stepping on a landmine even while backing away? My luck is absolutely terrible.’

It was absurd.

Given Zikren’s personality, he would never want to be in the same space as me. Either he would leave, or I would have to.

But right now he had to conclude an important secret contract here, so he couldn’t storm out. So what was the answer?

‘…I have to leave.’

Indeed, that was it.

The pupils in Prince Zikren’s burning golden eyes narrowed vertically.

“Princess Aristina, I know you’re technically a guild leader and met the entry requirements, but…”

“Are you saying you’ll use your authority to kick me out anyway?”

When I quickly interrupted him, Zikren became agitated.

“It’s not like there’s no basis for me and others acting this way! You’re a party destroyer! Most of the parties you’ve attended so far either ended in fights or had incidents in the middle! And…!”

He slammed the desk.

“Who was in charge of dragging your struggling self out of all those parties? It was me! Just seeing you triggers my trauma!”

“For someone suffering from trauma, you seem quite vigorous?”

“Event Organizer!”

Zikren ignored my words and called the event organizer.

“As I understand it, when problems arise before the assembly begins like now, there’s a measure in place to mediate this! It’s to decide through a vote by the participants! Isn’t that right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Good! Then let’s try it. Let’s start a vote on whether to eject Princess Aristina from here or not.”

“What?”

I looked at the organizer in confusion.

“Organizer! Was there anything wrong with my behavior today? Did I break any rules or cause trouble?”

“N-no.”

The organizer was sweating profusely, caught between us two.

“Surprisingly, Your Highness showed the most rule-obsessed behavior among all the guild leaders here.”

“Did you hear that? But does it make sense to kick me out with a vote? You’re unjustly oppressing one person just relying on your numbers. Is that appropriate for a prince?”

“Hmph!”

Zikren’s lips curled smugly.

“So you’re admitting that if we vote, you’ll definitely be kicked out?”

“…”

“You know it too. That everyone here will vote in favor of your ejection! That very fact proves how many wrongs you’ve committed so far! This vote is nothing but payment for past misdeeds! Accept the consequences, Princess Aristina!”

Why is he speaking so well today?

For Zikren, who usually uses his body more than his brain, to counter so well. He seems to have prepared quite a bit.

This contract seemed to hold really important meaning for the Crown Prince brothers.

‘What could it be?’

Well, it’s none of my business. Right now I have a fire at my feet. For me, this goes beyond business – my survival in this world depends on it.

“…!”

Our gazes clashed fiercely again.

The organizer hesitantly interjected between us. His hands were full of paper bundles.

“Um… I must obey His Highness’s orders for now…”

“That’s right! Hurry up and distribute the ballots!”

“If you distribute them, I’ll file a complaint!”

“Can’t you distribute them right now?”

Just as the organizer was about to distribute the voting papers with his eyes tightly shut at the prince’s command.

“Wait a moment!”

Someone rushed over, showed him some documents, and whispered something.

“Hmm?”

The organizer’s expression became strange. The next moment, the voting papers that were about to be scattered from his hands returned back into his grasp.

Zikren asked with a puzzled face.

“Why?”

“Your Highness, I’m afraid voting has become impossible.”

“How so? It follows the regulations!”

“That’s true, but…”

The organizer showed him the documents he had just received and said.

“The Princess’s ‘Black Rose Trading Company’ already has an investor. Since this means guild operations have already commenced, we cannot remove said guild through voting.”

I was surprised after hearing the explanation.

‘An investor?’

Not just me, but everyone seemed unable to believe it. Zikren frowned and asked.

“Who invested?”

“Well, that… I cannot reveal it. I’ve sworn an oath to never disclose the personal information of anonymous investors.”

An anonymous investor.

Could it be Duke Carnel? Did he secretly pull strings to prevent me from being kicked out of the assembly and humiliated?

I entertained such thoughts, but no matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem right.

Duke Carnel had shown no interest whatsoever in the fact that I was attending this assembly. Therefore, there was no way he could know how the situation was unfolding in real time.

Even if by some chance he knew, if I were going to be humiliated, he’d just let it happen. Since his stance is that his daughter needs to taste the bitter side of the world.

‘No matter how much I think about it, it’s not the Duke…’

I tilted my head and fell into thought.

‘Who on earth could it be?’

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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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