Chapter 71 : Secret (6)

After dinner, let’s go meet Daisy, Daisy asked.

“What on earth happened overnight?”

It’s still hard to understand exactly what Ayla wants from me.

She seems to want me around, but at the same time, whenever I mention doing something, she’d say she understands and push me away with a gesture.

Even now, after I escorted Ayla to her room, I briefly came back downstairs and met Daisy in a room where the maids stay, away from Seila.

Daisy looked much like Seila on the outside, but in terms of her essence, she was an elf who could easily have twenty grandsons.

She didn’t show any signs of being old in her manner of speaking, but when interacting with Seila, she became endlessly kind, which suggests that her inner self carries the spirit of a grandmother.

After lunch, Seila said she would take a short nap. She probably wasn’t actually asleep before, but Daisy was the one who got her to sleep. “For little children, eating well and sleeping well is their job,” Daisy had said.

In the meantime, I quickly returned to the mansion.

“I also don’t really know exactly what’s going on.”

Could the Empress’s appearance have caused some emotional change in Ayla?

Looking at some of the things Ayla said, it seemed she didn’t quite like the fact that the Empress tried to take me with her.

Could it really be because of that? Was it because she wanted to show everyone that I was someone who only listened to her commands?

“Well, I’ll congratulate you anyway. It’s the very thing you wanted, isn’t it?”

“……At this point, I’m not sure if what’s happening is really what I wanted, considering the reasons I can’t even understand.”

“It’s better than just rejecting it,” the witch shrugged.

“Oh, right. I came to tell you that there was progress in the conversation with the Empress last night.”

“……What did you talk about yesterday?”

“Of course we talked. Did you think nothing happened?”

She looked at me with a puzzled expression, which somehow annoyed me, especially since her appearance looked like that of a child.

Even though she was much older than me, her childish appearance made it seem like she was looking at me with disdain.

“Of course, your intentions are important, and the intentions of the masters of this place are important too. Don’t worry, we won’t be conducting talks only among ourselves.”

“That’s a relief.”

“…………Did you think that might have been the case?”

“What could I do if it were?”

The witch fell silent at my reply.

That’s true.

If the witches, shadows, and the Empress suddenly concluded that “the transaction will happen at a different domain,” then the reason I gathered them here would have vanished.

In fact, that’s why I was trying to move carefully so we wouldn’t run into each other unnecessarily.

The Empress never intended to come this far, the shadow was a person who preferred to hide his appearance, and the witch was an exclusive person who stuck to the depths of the forest.

“……Well, I guess that’s true.”

The witch muttered absently.

“Right now, you definitely can’t catch a dragon. Maybe in about 20 years of training, you might.”

“I don’t have the desire to train that much anymore.”

To be honest, I’ve felt that way since I confirmed my own feelings.

If I were a human who could even hunt dragons, what would I do? I was someone who fled because I didn’t have the courage to change the heart of one girl.

If anyone had looked into my heart, they could probably write an epic about my foolishness.

Or rather, it would be more like a whimsical fairy tale. I’m not sure if Seila would like that type of story, though.

“Well, anyway, don’t worry. We three have no other place to think about outside of here.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I know you don’t have the strength to directly oppose me. Even if the Marquis’ knights were involved, it wouldn’t make a difference. I can just run away into the forest. As for what happens to the shadow and the Empress, I don’t really care by that point.”

“……”

“Even if the Marquis doesn’t interfere with us, I still don’t think we would conduct a transaction elsewhere. You know, the middleman is important in a deal, right? I’m suspicious, the shadow is suspicious, and the Empress is the type to not trust anything unless she’s seen it herself. Do you really think the three of us would trust each other and make a deal without a middleman?”

That’s… true.

“And, even if we know our true identities, there is no noble who would put personal greed aside and settle for just safeguarding the safety of the transaction area with a reasonable commission. And if they weren’t a noble, they wouldn’t even have the power or capability to do that.”

The witch still looked at me with a disdainful expression and clicked her tongue.

“I don’t know why you’re cutting yourself down like this, but in my life, which has been much longer than yours, there has been no one like you. You came through the forest, full of traps and dangerous monsters, to find the witches, saying you wanted to learn magic, and it’s not easy to gain recognition under those conditions. And hunting dragons isn’t an easy task either. Wouldn’t the shadow and the Empress think the same way? No matter what you think, at least we have no choice but to trust you. We’ve already confirmed that several times.”

“Is that so………….”

“Sigh, they say people become fools when they fall in love, and you are exactly that kind of fool.”

“……”

Even though I knew she was right, it still stung a little.

“So, what did you talk about?”

Since there was no way I could win a fight now, I decided to just ask.

“The shadow said she wanted to buy information. Of course, she also mentioned selling some information about the kingdom, but only to the extent that it wouldn’t cause a war. Once the border is crossed, the value of the information multiplies. There is information that comes through traders, but unless it’s related to money, most of it is just rumors.”

The Empress showed interest. Particularly in the idea of buying and selling information.

“And you?”

“Of course, I brought up the topic of the medicine I made before. And the tropical fruits that are being produced in small quantities in this mansion. The spices we need to import from across the sea. The Empress was also interested. She liked this one more because it was more intuitive. I want gold.”

“Is that so?”

“The transaction will happen on this land, and your commission will be properly paid.”

“But other nobles probably won’t pay as much as you would want.”

“If you’re dissatisfied, I can raise it, right?”

“That’s not it. The real value of the transactions here is ‘protection.’”

And even if it’s not about brokerage fees, the witch’s products are technically the ‘Count’s territory’s’ goods. Even if the Empress doesn’t import them into the Empire, they would still sell well among the surrounding nobles. That alone would make the Count’s territory self-sufficient. Any debts they had would be repaid in an instant.

“Did the Shadow mention anything about the Count’s territory’s secrets?”

“It would be best to discuss that separately with the Shadow. There’s bound to be something behind it. But if I were to make a guess… it might be about you.”

“Are you referring to things about me before my fate changed?”

“Yes. It doesn’t seem like they know much yet, but it looks like they’re thinking of making it a ‘bargaining chip.’”

They were talking about when I was nearly assassinated.

The time when the orb shattered and my plans were completely ruined.

The perpetrator still hasn’t been identified.

Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised no matter who it turned out to be.

The culprit would either be someone painfully obvious or someone I had no connection with at all.

But—

“I understand.”

If I was wronged, I had to repay the favor.

That’s how dignity is maintained.

“Then… is that all for the conversation? Are you going straight back to Ayla?”

“It’s ‘Lady’ Ayla.”

“Right. Are you returning to Lady Ayla?”

The witch only smiled at my correction without getting angry. She knew my personality well.

“Yes.”

“When the two of you are alone, what do you usually do? Does Ayla order you around even there?”

Zap.

When I glared at her, the witch turned away with a chuckle.

“Well then, come visit anytime—tomorrow or whenever. Seila seems to have a lot to say about you.”

Hearing Seila’s name, I let out a small sigh.

Honestly, I resented Ayla a little for that misunderstanding.

When I went up to the room, Ayla was lying on the sofa reading a book, just like yesterday. The same book as before.

Since she might have to leave the room, she wasn’t wearing the same thin clothes as yesterday.

“Luna, did you know?”

“Know what, exactly?”

“A maid is also supposed to provide sex education.”

“…….”

“If someone gets married but doesn’t know how to please their husband, that would be a problem, right?”

I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

I glanced at the book.

Is that written in there?

“I actually know something, but I have no one to confirm it with.”

“……Is that so…………”

As my mind grew increasingly tangled, I barely managed to squeeze out a response.

Then, Ayla firmly shut the book.

“Luna, since you might have to teach me too, shall we check a little? First, could you lock the door?”