Chapter 95
"Haaaa..."
Enraged to the point where her finely combed hair fell, the Empress broke one last frame and sat down on the sofa.
The opposite of a frantic Empress, Astana, who was leisurely drinking tea, smiled at the Lord of Angenas.
"My grandfather is here, isn"t he?"
"Your, Your Highness."
Astana is growing day by day reached her 16th birthday soon.
"Was he here..."
Lord of Angenas averted his gaze.
He knew Astana was a loner, but that was a little too much.
It was as if the blood of Emperor Jovanes had not been mixed at all, it was like seeing Rabini as a child.2
"I don"t trust my incompetent grandfather, so what can I do?"
Even that personality.
"I"m sorry..."
Ferd.i.c.k Angenas sighed and bowed his head once again.
"...Father."
The Empress, who was leaning on the armrest of the sofa who was tired, call his father.
"Yes, Empress."
"Another diamond vein was found in the Lira mine?"
"Is that so..."
But even before Ferd.i.c.k Angenas"s words were finished, the Empress rose from her seat.
"Is that so?"
The Empress" blue eyes stared intently with a blue glint.
“That’s what you are going to say!”
Clang! Clang!
Just in time, the Empress picking up the teacup Astana had put down, threw it into the wall behind the Lord of Angenas.
"If you"d done what I told you to do! The mine! The diamond! It was all our Angenas"s!"
When Pellet, who stole the Lira coal mine, made money from diamonds, the Empress"s hatred and jealousy were getting worse.
At tea parties and banquets hosted by the Empress, accessories made of diamonds were banned.
The Empress screamed horribly.1
Her hand holding the head trembled.
To prevent herself from hitting his subordinate.
"Get out! Get out!"
The empress pointed angrily at the door.
Ferd.i.c.k Angenas had no choice but to leave the Empress Palace as ordered.
There was no resentment about being treated like this by his daughter.
The father-daughter relationship had long since disappeared.
Angenas was nothing more, nothing less, than a foundation force to solidify the Empress"s power.1
"Whoa..."
Astana, who breathed a heavy sigh, approached behind Lord of Angenas"s back.
"My maternal grandfather."
"Yes, Your Highness. I"m sorry to show you my shame a little while ago…"
"Oh, that"s fine. What happened to what I asked you to do before?"
"If it was before..."
A few weeks ago, Astana had secretly asked for favors.
He said he wanted private land in an area outside the Capitals.However, under the Imperial law, a Prince cannot have a private property while living in the Palace.
It was the same reason they didn"t have Knights or an army.
However, Astana, who has been trying to make "MINE", asked his maternal grandfather, Lord of Angenas, to buy land under borrowed names.
On the day he was arrested, he was held in treason and beheaded, but Ferd.i.c.k Angenas attempted to grant the request.
"I"m talking to the Lord of the area you mentioned, but I think it"s going to be a little difficult. He grew up so close to the Lombardy family... Why don"t you choose a different area?…”
"What, you can"t do that much?"
Astana said with a frown.
"Didn"t I explain it to you then? The land is a good place to hunt."
"If you need a good hunting ground, I"ll look for other more suitable lands."
"I want that land."
"But, Your Highness..."
"How dare you argue with me, a Prince?"
It was Astana"s favorite word to use whenever he was at a disadvantage since he learned to speak.
"Oh, and get me a diamond brooch."
"What? But the Empress..."
"My mother doesn"t like it, so do I have to hate it?"
Lord of Angenas opened his eyes wide with surprise.
Astana never did what the empress told him not to do.
By the way...
"I"m not a puppet who only does what my mother tells me to do."
Astana, who muttered so gruffly, said as he stared at the Lord of Angenas for the last time.
"The next time you come to the Palace, you have to bring the hunting land doc.u.ments and brooches."
Then Astana glanced at the parlor where the Empress was and went to his Palace.
Watching the scene, a bad feeling ran through the Lord of Angenas"s spine.
That Astana has reached p.u.b.erty and the rebellious period has begun.
It was such a premonition that something out of control would happen if he began to rebel against the Empress.
* * *
Bate sat alone in an empty Caramel Avenue waiting for the landlord after business hours.
The landlord, who had suddenly wanted to end the contract, was silent on Bate"s proposal to meet and talk.
Then finally, this morning he got a reply.
It was a call to meet after business hours.
"Caramel Avenue" was supposed to get busier after business hours, but it couldn"t be helped.
Anyway, he had to meet the landlord and solve the contract problem.
"It"s almost time for an appointment.”
Bate said, looking at the door where there was no sign yet.
Personal information about the new landlord was floating in his head.
"Roch.e.l.le c.o.x. 35 years old. Single. He was disowned at the age of 22 and lived away from the Capitals, but returned after hearing his father"s death."
It"s been a pretty normal history so far.
Although it was a little unique, people usually get married around the age of 20 in the Empire, at 35 years old he has never even been married.
Based on the man"s personality, it could be seen why he couldn"t find any woman to marry.
In addition, the information that Bate found was more spectacular.
"Gambling debt is around 300 gold."
He was a typical w.a.n.ker of a n.o.ble family.
Any information that was disowned 13 years ago was also a gambling issue.
And that was not the end.
"A swindler who worked under the alias Jeff Richie in the North. Still on the wanted list."
How dare he cheat with an alias.
It was bad.
When he came to the store the other day.
There was a harsh way of speaking and behaving as a n.o.ble.
Probably he got disowned by his family and went around doing a lot of bad things.
But the most important thing was the last part.
"Still on the wanted list."
The n.o.bles who were tricked by him in the north must have gritted their teeth.
Maybe he knows that best.
Bate decides to use it as a threat card.
"I"m sorry, my lord."
Recalling the deceased former building owner, Bate has a bit of guilt.
Even more so because he was the one who gave Bate a lot of convenience in many ways with a very good impression.
But he couldn"t lose this store.
Even if there was a limit to using the information as a weapon, it had to be protected.
Rattle.
Bate rose from his seat at the bell sound.
"Welcome. I"ve been waiting..."
"h.e.l.lo!"
Different from the murky voice of the new landlord.
It was a clear and cheerful voice.
"Wow, it feels different at night! Mr. Bate is even cooler!"
The girl who smiled had a very familiar face.
Bate murmured the girl"s name unconsciously.
"Florentia... Lombardy?"
* * *
"I became the owner of this building as of today."
I kindly explained to Bate, who had a blank face.
"Young miss, you"re... I mean, Lady Lombardy became the owner of this building?"
"Yes! I bought this building."
Honestly, considering the price, it wasn"t a smart purchase.
Frankly, this amount of consumption is not noticeable thanks to the diamond business.
Besides, it"s a great investment in the future.
"The last time I saw you, you looked troubled. So I looked into it. The person I saw last time and the situation of Caramel Avenue."
"You mean you did a background check?"
"This isn"t even a background check...I don"t want the shop I frequented to disappear. I told you before. This place feels like my hideout."
Or a place to be my hideout in the future.
Whoo-hoo.
"So I bought it from him, this building. Now I"m the owner of the building."
Wow, I can"t believe I"m saying this!1
I"m the owner of the building!
It"s thrilling! It"s the best!
“But the man said he was going to open a dessert shop in this place, right?”
Bate"s shoulders trembled slightly.
Maybe he didn"t know that until now.
"He has no conscience. I think he"ll pretend to be "Caramel Avenue" and keep trying to do business. Do you know how much I paid for this building?"
I asked secretly.
"...Well."
I spread out four fingers.
"I gave him 400 gold."
The amount was several times higher than the market price.
"Why did you buy this building?"
"I just told you. I didn"t want my regular store to disappear."
"That can"t be true. People like you simply for that reason..."
"What kind of person am I?"
Bate, who accidentally spilled his words, made a sad face but it was too late.
As expected, you"ve done some research on me.
"I mean. Lady Lombardy..."
"You must have gathered information about me?"
When I put the word "information" in my mouth, Bate"s eyes grew fierce.
He"s not the sweet manager of "Caramel Avenue" I know, but now he feels better because I feel like I"ve seen a little of Bate"s real self.
"It"s okay. I know a little bit about Bate, too."
I pulled up my hair and smiled at Bate, who seemed to be wary of me.
It"s quite different from what I"ve encountered in my previous life.
At that time, I, who was really proud of being able to read people, was a hard and skilled person that I couldn"t even see-through.
"Caramel Avenue" originally disappeared this year, but after 10 years, it suddenly reappears here.+
And around that time, I also visited this store as a customer.
"To confess."
I said, looking at the amber eyes that were watching me.
"I know this "Caramel Avenue" isn"t just a dessert shop."
An information guild that secretly buys and sells information, "Caramel Avenue".
And the guild leader who leads the guild.
That was Bate"s hidden ident.i.ty.