Volume 4 Chapter 3: Liltana’s Melancholy

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Author: 夜州 (Yashu)

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“How do you still not know how the glasses that company sells are made?!”

The one who had screamed that and was now breathing heavily inside a fancily decorated reception room was Marquis Corgino, with what was at best fancy and expansive noble’s clothing, and at worst a flabby belly.

At Corgino’s angry yelling, the chairman of the Narnis Company, Mathias, shrunk back.

Mathias had once been the manager of the company’s Gracia Territory Branch, but with Corgino’s backing, he had now become the chairman of the whole Narnis Company.

“Even if you say so, the Sarakhan Company is being backed by Count Silford and his family. The reversi sets, the glass products, the clear mirrors, even the toilets, all of them… They’ve also all been offered to the God of Commerce, and while the contract period has now expired, neither the materials used nor the production methods are known to other companies yet… just how do they even make them…”

As they had offered the products to the God of Commerce, they had had a three-year long monopoly on sales of the goods, but that period was over. While other companies had tried to imitate them, their products had been nowhere near as successful, and as of yet, the Sarakhan Company still had a complete monopoly on the market. And while any company could copy reversi sets and put them up for sale due to the monopoly period being over, the Sarakhan Company had already exported huge quantities all over the Kingdom, Empire, Republic and other countries; there had been a truly unbelievable demand for them.

“That brat is so annoying… I thought he’d get disgraced after having to rule Drintor, but then he went and grew the town that much. And now he’s engaged with Her Highness the Princess as well. This won’t be easy…”

“Indeed… However, I do believe Sarakhan has a daughter. If we can use that to our advantage––”

“Yes, to our advantage would mean––”

“––Indeed, that is the case.”

The two men concocted a plan while smiling suspiciously. Then, once they had finished their conversation, Corgino performed one huge nod while smiling creepily.

“––Muhahaha, I’m looking forward to this… and in the very worst case, we can still sell her to a different country. She’s a cat beastman so she’ll sell for a high price as a plaything.”

“You might have been foiled once, but we have other actions we can take this time. Leave this to us.”

“And, Mathias, you know what to do if all goes well.”

“Of course… we shall definitely make a generous donation to you.”

After that, the two of them continued talking for a while, after which Mathias left the room.

Inside his carriage, Mathias pulled a young slave girl to himself, and putting his arms around her, fondled her breasts.

The slave girl, even while making a face full of hatred, let her body move closer to Mathias.

“Now I just have to get in contact with them through the back channels… Muhahaha, I want to see that damned Sarakhan crying with my own eyes.”

The carriage carrying a suspiciously smiling Mathias returned to the Narnis Company.

◇◇◇

––In a certain noble’s mansion.

A single girl jumped down onto her bed vigorously.

“Why… does he have fiancées! He’s not even grown up yet. I finally managed to come to Esfort, and now this happens…”

With a bad mood and gloom unlike the artificial smile she had made in the school ––Liltana complained to herself on top of the bed.

“And then, he’s the son of a margrave and yet he’s a count even before he’s grown up… if this were the Empire, that would be impossible. Did something happen… I wanna know…”

Getting off from her bed and standing up, Liltana then left the room.

In front of Liltana sitting in the reception room, Nigeet, her butler, housekeeper, and –– bodyguard was standing. Nigeet had been Liltana’s private bodyguard ever since she was ten.

“Nigeet, please investigate about Count Cain von Silford Drintor.”

Nigeet tilted his head at Liltana’s instruction.

“Your Highness, are you intending on playing around with men as soon you can now that we’ve come to the Kingdom of Esfort?”

“Shut up! You know about Gracia territory thing, right! And… I’m curious as to how come he’s a count at that age. He might become a future enemy of the Empire. Anyway just investigate him already!”

And while Nigeet knew that her motives were different from what she had just said, he still bowed deeply in assent.

“––Understood. I shall gather information on him. I shall go give instructions, so until later.”

Nigeet bowed deeply once again before leaving the room.

Now alone, Liltana heaved a deep sigh.

“But still–– Cain looks pretty cool now… I wonder if––”

Alone in the room, Liltana continued to mutter to herself while holding the necklace Cain had chosen for her when they had met when they were little.

––Information had been gathered soon after.

Liltana was sitting in the drawing room, documents with information on Cain in front of her.

Top secret information about Cain, such as him being an apostle and so on, known only by the highest-ranking people in the kingdom, was not listed, everything that was generally known about him, as well as all contributions he had made to the kingdom were written down in minute detail.

Having read the whole sheaf of documents in detail, Liltana threw them down onto the table and sighed.

“–– To think he’d be this awesome…”

“Indeed. I haven’t heard of any children with such genius even in the Empire. I could hardly believe it all myself while compiling it all. Also, he has an SS-Ranked Red Dragon which he hunted when he was young stuffed and on display in his mansion… I have once again come to know just how many gifts heaven can give man.”

According to the documents that summarized the report, he had massacred over ten monsters, including a higher species of Orcs, alone, saving a princess while he was on his way to the royal capital. He had then been made a baron and lived in the royal capital, where, joining hands with a company, he had gifted the world numerous breakthrough products. Then, being assigned to govern a town run by the deputy governor and other rogues, he had rooted all the evil out of the town, improving it drastically, and had then started a large-scale development of the town. The documents also contained the fact that even the Holy Country’s Saint had become captive to Cain. As for his wealth, it was possible that he possessed so much money that even if he were an Imperial noble, he would still be one of the five richest.

The more she saw of the report, the more Liltana questioned its authenticity.

Nigeet, sitting opposite her, had also been astonished and disbelieving as he had summarized the report which was now lying on the table.

“I understand now why you told me to investigate him, Your Highness. There is no other child with this much talent in the world. ––So much so, that I want him to become your fiancé, Your Highness, so we can take him back to the Empire. May I ask if… that was Your Highness’ goal as well…?”

As soon as Nigeet uttered the word ‘fiancé’, Liltana’s cheeks were dyed red.

“W-w-what! What do you mean fiancé! Cain already has three fiancées! Including the Holy Country’s Saint, four… and from now on me to… wait no!”

Nigeet chuckled at Liltana trying to frantically explain herself.

“So Your Highness, even an imperial princess is a maiden as befitting her age, eh…”

“Shut up! I also want to go see this Sarakhan Company. Apparently they have many things we don’t have in the Empire.”

Nigeet smiled while Liltana tried to hide her embarrassment.

“Yes, Your Highness. I shall arrange for a visit there for the weekend.”

“Why didn’t you start with that. Honestly…”

Leaving the room, out in the corridor, Nigeet looked through the documents once again and sighed.

“To think they would have procured such a valuable person… he might become an obstacle for the Empire in the way of unifying the world––”

Nigeet muttered while walking down the deserted corridor.

The weekdays passed without incident, as did the lessons in the school. Ever since she’d read the report, Liltana had become curious about Cain. In all honesty, when she had found Cain on her first day after having transferred there, she had felt like soaring through the heavens, but having found out that he was engaged to the princess and duke’s daughter, those feelings had crashed into the ground.

However, with her mask as an imperial princess, she had slowly built a friendship with Telestia and Silk.

However, ever since she had read the report, Liltana glancing at Cain like a lovestruck maiden had become more frequent. While she wasn’t neglecting her studies, she was often lost in fascination while gazing at Cain’s silver hair and back view from behind him.

Fortunately for her, both Telestia and Silk sat in the frontmost row, so they didn’t see her expression.

––And then, it was the weekend.

A carriage was heading towards the Sarakhan Company. It was a carriage from the Empire, and as such, had a large Baisasean Imperial Family’s coat-of-arms emblazoned upon it. However, as the city’s commoners didn’t know the Baisasean Imperial Family’s coat-of-arms, they simply took it to belong to some noble from somewhere.

The carriage stopped in front of the Sarakhan Company, and Liltana, taking Nigeet along with her, entered the building.

––Inside, glassware of clear and vivid coloured glass with fine craftsmanship was lined up, which, upon seeing, Liltana’s eyes widened in awe.

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TN: let’s see Corgino try and get out of this one. tbh I’m still puzzled as to why the king let him off so lightly last time

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