Chapter 69: A Familiar Smile at the window.

“You really look unwell today.”

As soon as Nathan came to work, he opened his eyes wide seeing me. I had no choice but to smile bitterly.

Although I managed to calm my face that had swollen from crying all night, it seemed I still didn’t look presentable.

“The way here was too hot.”

I moved sluggishly, pushed by the crowd on the street without any street trees to provide shade. Usually, even when commuting from home, I would have come out earlier when there were no people.

An ordinary morning for most Betas was extraordinary for me. Perhaps due to excessive sun exposure, a slight fever rose.

“You did go home yesterday, right?”

This moment of being nagged by a kid who is tall but still young felt strange.

While rubbing my face wondering if I looked that bad, the sound of the short message transmitter printing out a received message was heard.

“Still, your complexion looks bad. I’ll watch the shop, so how about you rest a bit today?”

“That’s a commendable suggestion, but I can’t do that.”

The message printed out at a very slow speed contained extremely concise content.

“It’s a request for an immediate visit.”

“Who?”

Nathan frowned. Our customers, wealthy nobles, still value tradition, so receiving contact from them relied entirely on manpower. Contacting via short message transmitter was only done by business partners operated by Betas, such as the publishing house producing catalogs or material suppliers.

“Duchess Mare.”

Until now.

Hearing the sender’s name, Nathan pursed his lips tightly.

I agree that it’s important to develop the habit of checking the opponent before speaking rather than changing stance quickly, but I also agree that he wouldn’t have known such an exceptional situation would occur.

It seemed the Duke had already visited Duke Mare’s townhouse. It wasn’t the behavioral pattern of a traditional noble, but that is exactly his strength. It’s his way, which raised me and was influenced by me.

“Uh, then, how about stopping by a doctor before going?”

“Boiling and drinking sunflower tea would be much more effective.”

Along with the return of mercenaries, some doctors began to recognize the importance of handwashing, but they were still a minority. Hospitals now were places to get diseases, not cure them.

Even if urgent surgery were needed, I would be reluctant to go, so it was too dangerous a place to stop by for just a slight fever. It was much safer to treat a slight fever with folk remedies.

Sunflowers, introduced to this Old Continent 2-3 centuries ago, were initially cultivated for ornamental purposes by nobles, but because they produce so many seeds and are easy to cultivate, they have now become common flowers seen anywhere on the roadside. The fact that it’s a plant with edible seeds would also be a reason for sunflowers spreading quickly.

“I’ll go buy some now.”

I didn’t really mean to drink sunflower tea but refused to go to the hospital, but Nathan went out of the shop quickly without giving me a chance to stop him. He seems to have judged that making my condition even a little better is more urgent than responding quickly to Duchess Mare’s immediate summons.

My head, which had been dull all along, seemed to wake up only now.

Right now, I had work to do. I had to forget my unknown past. My feelings, too, had to be put aside for a while. For now.

“I have come at your summons.”

“Take a seat.”

Duchess Mare, who received my greeting briefly, however, fell into thought instead of asking me to show the red diamond. Her eyes were looking elsewhere, not at the jewelry box I put down in front of her. Perhaps wandering is a more accurate expression.

On the table where her eyes were wandering, an empty cup was placed. Moving my gaze to the maid attending behind the Duchess, she soon lowered her eyelids. She seemed to say she knew traces of the previous guest remained but couldn’t clear them due to the Duchess’s order.

I barely held back laughter that almost slipped out inadvertently. Coffee grounds were dried and stuck in the cup. Not calmly pooled at the bottom, but in a form flowed along the wall.

It was a trace of the Duke. Unless I filtered it with cotton cloth, he used to drink it all at once without minding coffee grounds floating. His habit remained the same.

“Oh my, I showed an unsightly appearance.”

The moment I checked the cup, Duchess Mare finally opened her mouth.

“I was negligent in treating the guest.”

“It is not something to worry about.”

“Your master is… no, it’s not something to say to you. Right, is that completed?”

Did she mean to say he is very impatient, unbefitting royal dignity? Frowning slightly, she soon recalled the purpose of calling me.

The urgent summons was probably because the red diamond entrusted to me could no longer serve as an excuse to contact the Duke. Instead, the original use of the gem engraved with a strong barrier became more important.

I heard rumors that guests visiting the Mare ducal residence increased significantly recently. Especially those with children of similar age to the Little Duchess Diane. Although no one has manifested as a dominant Omega yet, it seemed she intended to strengthen bonds early by keeping those with high potential close.

It was a measure to give stability to her who manifested as an Alpha. No voice criticizing that it’s too early an age to prepare for engagement could be found. Rather, I only heard that the Duke, who hasn’t been engaged until now, is an exceptional case. That the King is ignoring him too much.

Now that he returned victorious, the King wouldn’t be able to unilaterally force an unknown partner as his fiancé again.

“Is that it?”

Duchess Mare’s voice urging me contained doubt. It felt like cold water was poured down my spine.

I had to stop thinking here. Cutting off the branching thoughts, I bowed my head toward Duchess Mare.

“Please examine it.”

I opened and showed the jewelry box. I heard the sound of her inhaling breath.

“…Indeed.”

The quiet word contained unhidden admiration.

Since the wearer is still too young, the set consisting of a ring, necklace, and bracelet was all made to be easily extended.

Still, the appearance worn right now shouldn’t look awkward. Nor should it emphasize cuteness obsessed with the idea of a child’s accessory.

Because this red diamond set will surely be worn by the Little Duchess Diane for a lifetime.

“You are more skilled than I thought.”

She said with a satisfied expression after checking the magic circle by infusing just enough mana not to manifest the magic engraved on the red diamonds.

“But it’s a bit unexpected.”

However, the smile that stayed on her lips for a moment disappeared as if washed away.

“If it’s red diamond, isn’t a rose what comes to mind first? Even more so since not only I but also my daughter are members of the royal family. But this…”

Duchess Mare scanned the diamond set again with narrowed eyes. I shouldn’t be deceived by the words and expression that seemed to rebuke me. The red rose symbolized the current Queen Consort, and furthermore, the current King.

I used red, pink, and colorless melee diamonds lighter than the main stone as auxiliary stones. The diamonds, becoming lighter in color as they move away from the main stone, were drawing a flowing shape overall. Like ripples, or like waves.

“It is the sea.”

Because ‘Mare’ means sea. Many of the ships heading to the New Continent during the war were built on the eastern coast, her base. The power of the Mare family was absolute in coastal transport. She was also a person fully qualified to demand shares of the mines.

“A sea embracing the sun.”

The expression she wore again showed clear satisfaction.

I felt her ambition in expressing the sea reflecting the sunset as embracing the sun. The sun was her past, and the sea was the present.

She was coveting the sun again. She might desperately wish for an excuse to bring down the current sun to arise.

Maybe she is already preparing.

“Since you showed results beyond my expectations, I should also return more than you expected.”

“I am only grateful.”

At my reply, she gave a short scoff, pfft.

“Are you not interested in wealth?”

“Not at all.”

“Really? You look quite easygoing for that.”

“I am trying to look that way. Because you wouldn’t be able to entrust expensive gems with peace of mind to someone who looks full of greed.”

“…Good advice.”

“I dare not advise. I just stated my case.”

She looked at me intently, then floated a faint expression again.

“No matter how detached you are from wealth, you won’t be able to help being surprised this time.”

“As I already said, I just tried to look that way. I will gratefully accept what you bestow.”

If she knew how much the Duke paid me so far, she would know how I can maintain calmness, but she wouldn’t be able to guess.

“30,000 Heni. An amount that will go to you personally besides the already promised commission fee.”

“Thank you.”

“You aren’t surprised?”

“I am sufficiently surprised. Thank you again.”

“With that much, you could buy a mansion.”

Even without her reward, I had already saved enough to buy a decent noble’s mansion with plenty left over, but not knowing that fact, her eyes narrowed. Soon she let out a hollow laugh.

“I can’t distinguish whether you are truly bold or just good at mimicking.”

“I am just mimicking plausibly.”

“Then will you buy a mansion? No, shall I just bestow a mansion upon you?”

Her appearance joking with me had a corner reminding me of the Duke when we first met. It means she was the very image of a noble for whom wielding people is natural. It was a proposal I should absolutely not accept.

“You are extremely generous, but it is too great a word for me to handle. I am small-hearted.”

“It sounds like you’re saying you can’t dare to live in a mansion where nobles lived because you are a Beta.”

“It is not something I can handle with my boldness.”

“Well, in my view, you seem to possess enough boldness to handle it.”

“Thank you for seeing me greater than what I have.”

“I heard quite an interesting story recently. That there is a Beta who wants to buy mansions, quite a few of which came out on the market these days.”

“A reckless person.”

“Could be a brave person.”

“He is someone who won’t live comfortably since he dared to bring out greed he shouldn’t harbor to the world.”

“Is that so. Perhaps you aren’t that reckless person?”

“As I said, I am timid. I would like to at least watch who that person brave enough to be reckless is.”

Actually, I know who that person is. Alea, the one who made big money with gambling houses grown by connecting with the Commissioner of Police and even the Prime Minister. Although his power has died down a lot pushed by Teneb, the organization the Duke secretly grows, he was still someone who knew how to make money. I heard his assets rather multiplied several times more than before due to the great success of investments made during the war.

But he couldn’t suppress his desire for ostentation. Not satisfied with his own house worthy of being called a mansion, extended repeatedly unsuitably for the Beta residential area and scattered with bodyguards, he eventually aimed for a noble’s mansion, and that act would eventually strangle him.

The Prime Minister, a discriminator against Betas, wouldn’t keep holding the hand of an impertinent Beta daring to aim for the noble’s territory. No matter how opportunistic and power-hungry the Prime Minister is. Because he will have a much more reliable partner now. The Duke himself.

“You are a really interesting person. You say you are timid, but well.”

The crooked smile informed me that she was really showing interest in me. Although I wouldn’t have believed it at all if she smiled brightly showing dimples.

“I joked with you, but the reward of 30,000 Heni will be given without fail. There can be no mistreating a jeweler who knows how to handle Mare’s magic circle so meticulously. Benny, guide him to the butler.”

“Thank you.”

After bowing politely at the dismissal order and straightening my waist, she was still looking at me with a crooked smile.

At her appearance not believing my words showing only sincerity at all, I also felt like scoffing. Her attitude of judging everything by her standards and always trying to test was exactly that of an arrogant ruler.

She resembled the Duke a little, but she was a completely different person from him. At least to me.

As I got into the carriage, a sigh came out automatically. My back was damp with sweat. It wasn’t because the conversation with Duchess Mare was difficult, nor because the gaze of the butler looking me up and down while giving the 30,000 Heni check was sharp. My physical condition was really not good. The slight fever I thought would drop soon wasn’t dropping easily.

It seemed I caught a summer cold. Unbuttoning the cravat strangling my neck and exhaling largely again, a hot temperature not losing to the hot weather touched the back of my hand.

I leaned my body against the backrest. I felt like I would collapse just like that.

The carriage applied with various magic technologies had a better ride comfort than luxury sedans I rode in Korea, so shaking was hardly felt. In this respect, I still feel a sense of heterogeneity in this world. It seemed like a world mixed up jumbled. Like inside my head.

The carriage running fast on the wide road slowed down noticeably at some point. I almost dozed off, but the irregular movement of stop-and-go chased away the drowsiness.

Slightly lifting the curtain covering the window and looking outside, I saw people and carriages densely filling the commercial district. It’s only the entrance. A sigh burst out again.

Normally, I would have chosen to get off the carriage and walk. But the sluggish body condition and stinging sunlight made me stay inside the cool carriage.

It was the moment I tried to lean my back again. Vibration was felt on my left wrist.

The watch, which moved very slightly, the faintest ever until now, vibrated increasingly larger. Enough to feel pain like needles pricking the skin.

I stopped the watch nervously. Who is spreading pheromones recklessly like this? My gaze turned out the window again.

My brow furrowed automatically. Because my gaze met with someone smiling at me through the narrow gap where the curtain opened slightly.

It was the scammer with the impression of a professor, that very man. He was standing right there where I could see him.

Recognizing that I discovered him, the scammer showed a deeper smile. Although mimicking a gentle expression, his eyes glistened with greed he couldn’t hide.