Chapter 65

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 65

Chapter Title: The Leader Revealed

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'Oh no.'

The Duvered family wasn't the kind that loved one another simply because they shared blood.

The previous generation had viewed their children as nothing more than tools for power, and Father had butchered his ten siblings, leaving just two alive.

What I'd said probably made no sense at all to Lady Javelin.

This is bad. I was trying to keep the peace, but I just made her even angrier.

I desperately tried to make excuses.

"I-I won't anger Lady Javelin anymore. I'll really stay quiet. I'll keep out of Lady Javelin's sight, walk on tiptoe so I don't bother anyone, and eat just a little bit! So, please forgive me......"

I looked up at her with pleading eyes, and Lady Javelin's expression twisted.

"You......"

"......?"

"......Go inside."

Lady Javelin seemed about to say more, then fell silent and walked right past me.

Only after she'd completely vanished did I let out a long sigh of relief.

Lea murmured with a touched look on her face, "Little One, because of me......"

No, it's not entirely because of Lea......

But I was used to these misunderstandings by now. Next came the "Thank you!" shout as she pulled me into a hug.

I spread my arms with a look of resignation. Sure enough, Lea crushed me in her embrace like always.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Administrators dashed frantically down the corridor.

"Your Grace, the Empress Dowager has collapsed!"

At the shout ringing out, I clutched the collar of the Lea in my arms.

It's started.

Adolph rushed to the imperial palace to assess the situation. The palace physicians were tending to her, but the Empress Dowager showed no signs of waking.

"What happened?"

Asked the question, the palace physician looked utterly lost.

"We have no idea at all. Just a week ago, she was healthier than ever. Her chronic joint pain had vanished, so she took frequent walks, and her complexion was glowing. To think this would happen so suddenly......"

"Could it be poison?"

"Every test came back negative for toxins."

The palace physician turned to the Empress Dowager's maid.

"Did she perhaps eat something spoiled?"

"Impossible! Her Majesty's meals are always tasted first. If anything was wrong, the taster would have collapsed ahead of her."

The maid jumped to her defense, terrified of being blamed for negligence.

The palace physician groaned. The Empress Dowager had no known allergies.

"Was there anything out of the ordinary lately?"

"Nothing special...... except for the elixir of youth she took......"

"Elixir of youth? You don't mean that stuff they're hawking in the markets?!"

The palace physician groaned in dismay as he eyed the fallen Empress Dowager. Why must she remain so foolishly impulsive even in her old age?

Unapproved drugs—those lacking unanimous clearance from the palace physicians—were banned from the palace.

It was a strict prohibition, given their potential as poisons.

"But no one else who bought that market drug suffered like this."

At the words, the maid shot sidelong glances at Adolph.

"It wasn't just the market version...... The priest brought a separately prepared one with similar effects......"

Every eye in the room turned to Adolph.

His face drained of color as he floundered.

What the hell happened!

He'd stolen the formula outright from the Rookie Merchant Company and replicated it perfectly. So why had only the Empress Dowager collapsed?

This would pin the blame squarely on him.

Yet he couldn't admit—as a temple priest—that he'd stolen a merchant's formula.

One of the twenty-one priests overseeing the Central Temple, exposed for bribing someone to steal? He'd be cast out on the spot.

I have to shift it onto the Rookie Merchant Company's elixir.

Adolph immediately reached out to a worker from the Hope Merchant Company.

Martin, who'd been working at the Hope Merchant Company for three years, clicked his tongue in annoyance.

He'd jumped at the priest's cash offer out of greed, never imagining it'd turn into such a hassle.

[Are you sure no one's had issues after taking your elixir?]

[Yes, not a single complaint in all that time.]

[Then make one happen.]

The priest had handed over a vial of powder. Just mix it into the youth elixir stock.

Mixing it in was child's play.

As a member of the guard detail, Martin knew the patrol routes and shift changes better than anyone—even when the workers clocked out.

He slipped into the warehouse during a quiet gap.

Groping along the walls in the pitch dark, he hunted for the youth elixir reserves.

Whose crap is cluttering up the place like this?

In the past five years, the Hope Merchant Company had exploded in scale—from needles to military provisions, nothing was out of reach.

The warehouse brimmed with goods, its innards swallowed in shadow.

He wiped the sweat dripping from his brow and rummaged through the sacks.

"What're you looking for so badly?"

"The youth elix—Gah!"

The voice from atop a sack made him blurt out a reflexive answer before sucking in a sharp breath.

As if on cue, a faint glow pierced the gloom of the warehouse.

A little girl perched on the sack, grinning ear to ear.

"Luminous elixir?"

"Wh-what the—?! Who're you, you little brat......!"

Crack!

His head slammed into the sack.

Shocked out of his wits, he flailed wildly and shook off the grip.

Whipping his head around revealed the vice leader of the company—and his aide, Curtis.

"What are you doing here?"

Martin's face turned ashen at the vice leader's question. "I-I was just......" he stammered before blurting, "L-looking for something on the leader's orders!"

"The leader? How would you even know the leader?"

"They sent a messenger to the storefront, didn't they?"

He had to bolt while the vice leader pieced things together.

The girl skipped over lightly, hands clasped behind her back, and leaned in close.

"That's a pretty half-hearted excuse."

"......What'd you say?"

"When did I ever give such an order?"

Martin barked a hollow laugh at the girl's words.

"What kind of nonsense...... A kid like you leading this massive company? Gurk!"

In a flash, Ceria's hand clamped around his throat. He turned beet red, groaning as he writhed like a worm. She gazed down at him with cold, dry eyes.

"Shh. The Leader didn't give you permission to speak."

"......!"

Martin and Curtis's eyes bulged.

Was she really the leader?

No way!

The Hope Merchant Company had rocketed into the empire's top ten in just five years.

Monopolizing spinel to dominate trade, with not even war materiel beyond their grasp.

The mastermind behind it all—a girl who wasn't even ten? Absurd!

Yet the vice leader, who never bowed an inch to great nobles, treated the child with utmost deference.

"Let him go."

One word, and her grip slackened. Martin staggered back coughing, eyes darting between the girl and the vice leader.

The girl approached him languidly.

"I thought I treated the workers pretty well. What rubbed you the wrong way?"

Her musing made Martin's throat scorch dry.

It was bizarre. He—a guard captain—felt outright terrified of this little girl.

Her tiny hand settled on his shoulder.

"Hm? What was it?"

"I-I......"

Too frightened to form words, he froze. The girl shrugged.

"Eh, whatever."

"......Huh?"

"I wasn't planning to forgive you even if you spilled."

In that instant, her hand glowed—or so it seemed—before searing heat bloomed at his neck.

What—? He turned his head, only to see her hand blazing red as his throat ignited like he'd swallowed a lump of fire.

"Urk—guhhuuugh—!"

Veins throbbed across his body. Shuddering as if electrocuted, Martin rasped a final, "S-save...... mer......!" before collapsing dead.

The girl wiped her hand on a handkerchief without a flicker of expression and strode out the door.

Curtis swallowed hard, watching Ceria stare fixedly at the girl's retreating back, brows furrowed.

She must be rattled.

Leader or not, seeing a child dispatch someone so ruthlessly would unsettle anyone.

Not quite as much as it did him, though.

Who could've guessed the shadowy force that built a titan of a merchant company in five years was a girl who looked younger than ten?

With Ceria so desperate to keep the leader hidden, he'd assumed some dire reason—but never dreamed it was this young.

Circumstances could wait. Curtis turned to Ceria.

"If that's the leader, we have to tighten discipline in the company. It was unavoidable—"

"......She's grown."

"Pardon?"

"So splendidly!"

Ceria's shoulders quivered.

Leblain, reunited after so many years, had fully blossomed into Lady Duvered.

Ceria's office. Standing before a full-length mirror, I was decked out in three hats, two mufflers, gloves, and a jangling array of accessories.

"Ah, dear me. This one suits you perfectly too."

Ceria, having piled all this on me, bustled back with yet another armful.

"Enough already. I don't need any more."

"But they all look so good on you......"

Ceria sounded wistful, so I shook my head firmly. Then I neatly folded and boxed everything she'd adorned me with.

These were all precious stock, primed to rake in profits.

"You handled Martin?"

"Yes."

"Good. Time for me to head out."

"Please stay a bit longer. This is your first time properly visiting the company."

Her eyes sparkled—she had so much to show me.

But I shook my head. I'd snuck out by stuffing a doll under the covers in my place. Linger too long, and I'd be found out.

"Is it alright that Curtis saw you?"

I nodded at her concern.

"He's someone you trust. That means I trust him too."

"Such kind words. Here—this is what you asked for."

I took the paper bag from Ceria, peeked inside, and nodded.