Chapter 39

“Are you really planning to sell the Endar ruby mine?”

Aide Memphis quickly took back the document from Matriarch Abenr Di Mays and hid it in his chest.

“You must not say you heard it from me!”

“Huh… yes, of course.”

Matriarch Abenr stared blankly at Memphis as if she had lost her mind.

“Why are they selling it?”

“Well… because more has been discovered below. The investment value will increase. That’s why they want to sell it when it’s at its highest price.”

“Wouldn’t it be more profitable to keep it rather than sell it?”

“I suppose so. But the Madam now wants to pursue other businesses instead of mining. Mines require managing workers and trading companies, which takes a lot of effort.”

Memphis said this to Matriarch Abenr while pretending to be cautious. Looking at her eyes, he seemed to understand the reason Briseyes had mentioned.

“Would you like me to help you bid for the Endar mine, Matriarch?”

“…You? How?”

“The mine will be put up for auction. So you should offer a large amount before it goes to auction.”

“Couldn’t I get it cheaper if it goes to auction?”

“Usually, the final bid is much higher….”

Matriarch Abenr became suspicious. However, the amount she had seen was an enormous sum beyond imagination.

“Has your daughter-in-law been informed about the additional 20 years’ worth of deposits?”

“…N-not yet. I’ll inform her soon.”

Aide Memphis was acting scared so well that even Ella would have praised him. He pretended to avoid Matriarch Abenr’s eyes but deliberately made eye contact when saying important things.

As if there wasn’t a trace of falsehood.

“You, follow me.”

“What? But if I don’t go now…!”

“I said follow me!”

With that, Matriarch Abenr dragged Aide Memphis to her room. Memphis pretended to be dragged along out of fear of the knights surrounding him, but in reality, he was laughing inside, thinking this was going well.

Upon arriving at Matriarch Abenr’s room on the third floor, Memphis pretended to be afraid, hanging his head and hunching his shoulders.

“That document. Don’t hand it over to my daughter-in-law.”

“What? But… then she’ll know everything!”

“How? By what means would she know? You’re just reporting the document late, not failing to report it.”

“What do you mean by late?”

“Tell her to sell the mine to me. Then hand over the document.”

“That won’t work! She already ordered me to investigate, so I must report by tomorrow…!”

As Memphis tried to speak, Matriarch Abenr’s knights stood beside him.

“I-it’s no use doing this! I am the Madam’s person, not the Matriarch’s… ugh…!”

As Memphis tried to speak, one of the knights drew his sword and held it to his neck.

“If you don’t keep this secret, I could have you killed right here.”

“If I die, the Madam will be suspicious!”

“By the time she becomes suspicious, the Endar ruby mine will already be in my hands.”

“What about me! If I get fired…”

“Just say you received an incorrect report.”

“How could I…!”

“Or would you rather die?”

Memphis was shocked to see blood flowing from where his skin was cut on his neck. Even though it was acting, he felt genuinely afraid when real blood appeared.

Being afraid made him miss Ella.

‘Why can’t you do this! I’ll do it for you!’

Brave Ella.

She was a cute maid who worked proudly beside her mistress. Thinking he might die, the person he wanted to see most at this moment was Ella.

“P-please spare me! I want to have many children and live a long life!”

“Yes, then you should listen to me well.”

Matriarch Abenr sneered and gestured. The knight removed his sword from Memphis’s neck and stood behind him, as if threatening him.

“You will report that document one week later.”

“But the auction can’t be arranged that quickly….”

“When my daughter-in-law returns tomorrow, tell her to sell it to me.”

“Would someone as intelligent as the Madam fall for this? She’s not someone who would casually hand it over!”

Memphis knew this was an act and that he needed to follow Abenr Di Mays’s wishes. However, he was speaking in a way that wouldn’t make the Matriarch suspicious, thinking of the usual Briseyes.

“That’s for me to handle.”

“But…”

“Enough!”

Memphis fearfully looked at the strong knights standing on either side of him.

“I-I’ll pretend to be sick and not come to work for a week… Would that work?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Memphis clutched the document tightly to his chest and hung his head.

“If you appear within a week, I won’t spare your family either.”

“…Yes.”

Memphis laughed inwardly at those words. He was an orphan, and it was Briseyes who had hired him as her aide based solely on his abilities.

To make such threats without properly investigating the person.

Memphis realized that the Matriarch before him was, as Briseyes had said, a person with high pride but no substance.

“In return, please give me money if this goes well.”

“How shameless.”

“I need money too.”

“Fine. If this goes well, I’ll give you 100 gold coins.”

“100 is too little. Give me 1,000.”

“Huh! You’re a thief!”

As the knights seemed about to threaten him again, Memphis pretended to be scared, squeezing his eyes shut. Yet he clenched his fists as if unwilling to give up on the money.

“500.”

“700!”

“600!”

“Give me 700!”

“Hey!”

“650….”

“Fine, have it your way.”

Memphis sighed as if lowering his tail in submission.

After chasing Memphis away, Abenr Di Mays smiled at the thought that the Endar mine would soon be in her hands.

“Sir Karon.”

“Yes, Matriarch.”

“Watch that man. Don’t let him meet my daughter-in-law for a week. Kill him if he tries to meet her.”

“Understood.”

The Matriarch spoke coldly and then leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs in delight.

She consoled herself that all the hardships she had recently endured were for this joyous occasion.

⁕⁕⁕

“Go away. You’re wet.”

Briseyes frowned at Callisten who tried to embrace her as soon as she came out of the bathroom.

“Then you should shower while I dry off.”

“Who knows if you won’t peek? Go. I’ll shower when you’re gone.”

“But I want to watch too.”

She suddenly realized that the idea of Callisten peeking made no sense. Someone as shameless as him wouldn’t peek.

He would watch openly.

“Who said you could watch?”

“I’ve already seen everything.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“I can see you when I close my eyes.”

“Excessive delusions can be a disease.”

She said this with a reddened face, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

“Once you’re discharged tomorrow, Bri, we won’t be able to spend nights alone like this.”

He spoke with a regretful expression, but Briseyes wasn’t tender enough to show sympathy for such things.

In the first place, if the person deserving sympathy was in a position above her, then it would be deception.

“Why not suggest we shower together then?”

“Let’s shower together.”

She fell silent at his words for a moment.

“I’m going to sleep without showering tonight.”

“You can’t sleep without showering, Bri.”

“…I’m tired. I’ll try sleeping like this.”

“Then let’s sleep together.”

She sighed as he stood there with only a towel around his waist. The shadows visible through the towel and the clanking sound made it worse.

“Go back.”

“What do I need to do if I don’t want to leave?”

“Dry off completely, don’t say a word, don’t touch me, and don’t bother me.”

He nodded, making a gesture as if zipping his mouth shut.

Briseyes found it unpleasant to sleep without showering, but she had no intention of becoming fish in front of a cat. And perhaps because she had watched him shower, she found it strangely difficult to refuse.

She averted her gaze to avoid looking at his body.

He quietly smiled as he watched her.

Briseyes climbed into bed first and lay down. He was drying himself off, soaking the towel.

Perhaps because of his quiet yet quick movements, she decided to fall asleep first.

She closed her eyes and remained still. Then she pulled the sheet up to her chin and stayed quiet. Callisten quietly climbed onto her bed.

The sound of the bed springs bouncing and the friction of metal could be heard.

“Can you really remove that without a key?”

Briseyes suddenly asked out of curiosity.

He was already wearing the shirt and pants he had worn before. She wondered how he had dressed so quickly.

“Am I allowed to speak?”

She asked in response as he pointed to his mouth with a smile. Then she nodded.

“I can remove it. With a knife.”

“Then what’s the point of wearing it? Who knows if you haven’t broken it and replaced it with a new one?”

He chuckled at her words, then unbuckled his pants and showed her the metal below his iliac crest.

“The date it was made is written here.”

Indeed, a date from four years ago was written there. Moreover, it was clearly a date that had been set by a craftsman who made it directly.

“Wasn’t there a date written on the key too?”

She then recalled the date written on the key.

“I’m pure, Bri.”

She didn’t want to talk to him anymore. Her heart was pounding, making her feel troubled.

As she turned away, he embraced her waist and lay down in the same position.

“Sweet dreams.”

But she couldn’t fall asleep because of his hard metal poking her buttocks.