"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, isnât 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 donât trust my incompetent grandfather, so what can I do?"
Even that personality.
"Iâm sorry..."
Ferdick 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 Ferdick Angenasâs words were finished, the Empress rose from her seat.
"Is that so?"
The Empressâ blue eyes stared intently with a blue glint.
âThatâs what you are going to say!â
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 youâd done what I told you to do! The mine! The diamond! It was all our Angenasâs!"
When Pellet, who stole the Lira coal mine, made money from diamonds, the Empressâs 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.
Ferdick 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 Empressâs power.1
"Whoa..."
Astana, who breathed a heavy sigh, approached behind Lord of Angenasâs back.
"My maternal grandfather."
"Yes, Your Highness. Iâm sorry to show you my shame a little while ago..."
"Oh, thatâs 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 didnât have Knights or an army.
However, Astana, who has been trying to make âMINEâ, 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 Ferdick Angenas attempted to grant the request.
"Iâm talking to the Lord of the area you mentioned, but I think itâs going to be a little difficult. He grew up so close to the Lombardy family... Why donât you choose a different area?...â
"What, you canât do that much?"
Astana said with a frown.
"Didnât I explain it to you then? The land is a good place to hunt."
"If you need a good hunting ground, Iâll look for other more suitable lands."
"I want that land."
"But, Your Highness..."
"How dare you argue with me, a Prince?"
It was Astanaâs 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 doesnât 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...
"Iâm 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 documents 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 Angenasâs spine.
That Astana has reached puberty 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 Bateâs proposal to meet and talk.
Then finally, this morning he got a reply.
It was a call to meet after business hours.
âCaramel Avenueâ was supposed to get busier after business hours, but it couldnât be helped.
Anyway, he had to meet the landlord and solve the contract problem.
"Itâs almost time for an appointment.â
Bate said, looking at the door where there was no sign yet.
Personal information about the new landlord was floating in his head.
âRochelle Cox. 35 years old. Single. He was disowned at the age of 22 and lived away from the Capitals, but returned after hearing his fatherâs death.â
Itâs 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 manâs personality, it could be seen why he couldnât find any woman to marry.
In addition, the information that Bate found was more spectacular.
âGambling debt is around 300 gold.â
He was a typical wanker of a noble family.
Any information that was disowned 13 years ago was also a gambling issue.
And that was not the end.
âA swindler who worked under the alias Jeff Richie in the North. Still on the wanted list.â
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 noble.
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.
âStill on the wanted list.â
The nobles 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.
âIâm sorry, my lord.â
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 couldnât 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. Iâve been waiting..."
"Hello!"
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 girlâs 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, youâre... I mean, Lady Lombardy became the owner of this building?"
"Yes! I bought this building."
Honestly, considering the price, it wasnât a smart purchase.
Frankly, this amount of consumption is not noticeable thanks to the diamond business.
Besides, itâs 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 isnât even a background check...I donât 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 Iâm the owner of the building."
Wow, I canât believe Iâm saying this!1
Iâm the owner of the building!
Itâs thrilling! Itâs the best!
âBut the man said he was going to open a dessert shop in this place, right?â
Bateâs shoulders trembled slightly.
Maybe he didnât know that until now.
"He has no conscience. I think heâll pretend to be âCaramel Avenueâ 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 didnât want my regular store to disappear."
"That canât 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, youâve done some research on me.
"I mean. Lady Lombardy..."
"You must have gathered information about me?"
When I put the word âinformationâ in my mouth, Bateâs eyes grew fierce.
Heâs not the sweet manager of âCaramel Avenueâ I know, but now he feels better because I feel like Iâve seen a little of Bateâs real self.
"Itâs 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.
Itâs quite different from what Iâve 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 couldnât even see-through.
âCaramel Avenueâ 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 âCaramel Avenueâ isnât just a dessert shop."
An information guild that secretly buys and sells information, âCaramel Avenueâ.
And the guild leader who leads the guild.
That was Bateâs hidden identity.