Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Is All of This My Misconception?
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Noël's mouth began to spill out the thoughts he had been hiding, as if he could no longer hold them back.
"At first, I thought you simply disliked me because of my mistake. But you went so far as to positively review our contract, even telling me not to concern myself with it anymore."
"......"
Noël continued, gazing into Esther's green eyes.
"If it was because you wanted to distance yourself from our family due to our poor relations with His Highness the Crown Prince, whom you're on friendly terms with... you firmly denied any connection to him."
That expression of his, drawing a clear line and warning not to be rude to the Crown Prince anymore—it had been genuine. Noël was certain of it.
"I can't think of any other reasons that might bother you. Truthfully, from the very first moment we met, it felt like you were keeping a strange distance from me."
Noël admitted to himself that his desire to approach the woman before him was no longer solely due to his father's orders. Just look at how he'd shown up at her doorstep today unannounced—that alone made it undeniable.
Yes, he wanted to get closer to this woman. Whether it was because of those green eyes so like his mother's... or...
"Is all of this just my misconception?"
Some inexplicable pull he couldn't quite understand. Noël wanted to know the answer.
"I've never felt that way."
Noël had no intention of believing those words, but seeing Esther eyeing him warily with sharpened gaze unlike before, he realized it was time to step back.
If he pushed any further here, it was obvious how Esther would react. She'd probably try to widen the distance between them even more than all his efforts had bridged.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Noël smiled at Esther once more and spoke.
"I'm relieved to hear it's just my misconception, then."
"......"
"So, as a gesture of my apology, how about granting passage to your companion? It comes from the heart, so you'll surely accept."
Esther let out a low scoff at Noël's words. The gentle tone belied a truly insidious intent.
On the surface, it seemed like an offer of apology, but underneath, it implied that refusing would confirm his "misconception."
Seeing Noël sitting with his legs crossed in a somewhat more defiant posture than before left Esther dumbfounded.
"......Then I'll gratefully accept."
Vile bastard. He absolutely refused to be the bad guy while only looking out for his own interests.
Though she inwardly cursed Noël, Esther plastered a smile on her lips and replied.
The next day, after Noël left with a satisfied smile at her response, a passage permit arrived from the marquis's household, as if to prove they always kept their promises.
It didn't sit well with her, but Esther had no more time to delay, so she accepted it. Oilie, who had finished all preparations upon hearing the news, came straight to her upon receiving the permit.
"Thanks to you, I can travel comfortably now. I'll go and come back quickly."
"Safe travels."
Only brief greetings were exchanged. Though no lengthy conversation passed between them, Esther fidgeted anxiously with her hands, hoping her heartfelt wish for his safe return had gotten through.
"Don't worry. I won't run off anywhere—I'll come back safe and sound. Perfect timing too, since my schedule overlaps with the marquis's servants, so it'll be even safer! When the guild master sees my face, she'll think I'm off to die somewhere."
Oilie, quick on the uptake, noticed the worry in Esther's eyes and gave her the reassurance she wanted.
Yet Esther's expression didn't ease.
"Still, something just feels worrying."
"You were so confident about Dran Oil before, Guild Master. Why so many worries now?"
Even at his teasing remark, Esther couldn't relax and laugh. She knew it couldn't be mere coincidence that his schedule aligned with the marquis's people.
Noël was scheming to burden her with a sense of debt no matter what.
Even without that, he was clearly determined to forge some connection between them by any means necessary.
Esther frowned, recalling the way Noël had looked at her.
Watching her, Oilie cautiously spoke up.
"Actually, I came because I have one favor to ask before I go. Could you hear me out?"
"What is it?"
Esther, who had been tapping a steady rhythm on the mahogany desk before her with her index finger, looked up at Oilie's words.
"If you read my paper, you must've seen the other name listed there."
"Ah, you mean Mail?"
Oilie nodded at her words and continued.
"He's as knowledgeable about that oil as I am, since we researched it together. He kept at it alone even after I went back home. Truth be told, I stayed in Rolli partly to meet him."
"Then why didn't you mention him when you first came here? Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd worked together?"
"Well, if this place turned out to be some scam, I wouldn't have the face to show him. He'd already struggled with research costs after I bailed to inherit the family business, and imagine if he got scammed on top of that. I barely got his forgiveness by procuring those Dran seeds from my travels..."
Esther let out a soft chuckle at that, and Oilie cleared his throat awkwardly.
"A-anyway, I vouch for his skills. So, if..."
"Yes, sure."
"Hey, don't you even know what I'm about to say?"
At Oilie's bewildered expression, Esther picked up the documents in front of her without missing a beat.
"You want to work with him, right?"
"......Would that be okay?"
"If you recommend him, I can trust his skills are top-notch. And if he's still researching it, that's all the better for us."
Esther glanced subtly at the drawer containing the files she'd secretly gathered on Mail, out of Oilie's sight.
Truth be told, she'd only been thinking about it until now, so she was grateful he'd brought it up first.
Oilie seemed relieved at her words, finally opening up fully.
"Last time I saw him, he said he was heading to Inda, which made me anxious too. I'd go myself, but I didn't expect to leave so suddenly... Could I ask you to handle it?"
In her previous life, she'd met Oilie over three months from now, so she hadn't known about Mail back then.
But now, she could meet Oilie much earlier—and Mail as well.
Esther had no intention of letting that opportunity slip.
"Of course."
"I'm counting on you. If you show him the letter I wrote, he'll believe it. He's not so dim he can't recognize my handwriting."
As Oilie stood to leave, as if he had nothing more to say, Esther couldn't hold back her anxiety and called out abruptly.
"Come back safe."
It was a single sentence laden with sincerity. Because in her previous life, she hadn't seen him again after this.
"Make sure to deliver the message to that Mail fellow somehow, so you have to come back safe."
"Sheesh, you'd think I was off to die. Got it!"
Oilie, unaware of the truth, waved it off dismissively and left the room.
Even after Oilie boarded the fully laden carriage and it vanished from sight, Esther lingered by the window for a long while.
"So this is it."
Esther looked up at the house. Though it was in Rolli, its isolated position at the edge of the forest surprised her, and she rang the doorbell.
"Who is it?"
"Hello, I'm a colleague of Oilie's. I came to deliver something he wanted passed on."
As Esther responded to the somewhat high-pitched voice, the door swung open, revealing a short, plump man with round glasses.
"A colleague of Oilie's? First I've heard of him having one."
"I'm Esther Elpis, guild master of the Elpis Merchant Group. Since he had to step away, I came in his place to deliver the letter."
"A letter already, and we haven't even been apart long..."
Mail adjusted his glasses and carefully took the letter from Esther, scanning its contents.
"Is this for real?"
"Pardon?"
Esther blinked in confusion at his suddenly excited tone and inexplicable question.
"If I work here, can I really continue researching with that fool Oilie?"
"We'd be grateful if you joined us."
"Come in for now. It looks like Oilie wrote this."
Mail's eyes sparkled as he stepped aside, asking Esther as she entered.
"It says you're importing Dran Oil. Don't you think it's a waste to chase something with no potential? I hear it doesn't sell on the market."
Esther felt a bitterness in her mouth at his words.
On the day she'd gained this new life, such thoughts had crossed her mind. To abandon the hopeless merchant group and live her own life.
But Esther couldn't abandon those who had always believed in her.
Now that she knew what the problem was, she had to muster her courage for their sake.
"Maybe. Others might see it as clinging to a hopeless venture. After all, I'm just a young woman who recently inherited this position."
"Then why..."
"It's not that I believe in what I'm doing. I believe in the guild members who believe in me. My family has never been wrong."
Esther drove the point home to Mail, who stared at her in a daze.
"And as long as they believe in me, I'll definitely repay that faith and take responsibility."
"......"
"And if my colleague Oilie recommended you..."
She had already betrayed Oilie's faith once in her previous life and chosen death.
"I'll trust you. My colleagues are never wrong."
So this time, Esther would trust him and wait.
"......"
Mail gazed at her through his glasses with round eyes, then spoke with a resolute glint, as if he'd made up his mind.
"There's something I want to show you."
"Pardon?"
"Follow me, this way."
Grabbing a keyring from the dining table, Mail led the way down the stairs to the basement. As Esther followed, her eyes widened at the unbelievable sight before her.
Noticing, Mail smiled, his wariness softened.
"Quite the shock, huh?"
Before Esther stood a massive iron door utterly out of place in a private home.
"Yes, it's my first time seeing something like this, so I'm honestly startled. And this is what you wanted to show me...?"
"It's behind this door. You might be even more surprised."
Mail inserted keys into the lock below one by one, and the heavy door slowly creaked open.
"You said you'd take responsibility for your choices, right?"
As Esther stood entranced by the incredible scene inside, Mail continued.
"That really struck me. In my opinion..."
"......"
"...we could make pretty good partners."