The Fragrant Thing-2
“...Do you feel that good?”
I stared at the desk in the middle of the office with a look of utter disbelief.
Sierty sat in the chair, humming a cheerful tune to herself.
She smiled with deep satisfaction as her fingers toyed with the documents on the desk.
She lifted her head, as though she had heard me.
Our eyes met.
“I endured all those days of humiliation because I wanted to sit in this seat.”
Sierty shrugged, tilting her head as if to ask whether that wasn’t obvious.
“Well, I suppose so.”
“And I must inform the employees. That I am the new owner now. Any backlash… will simply be unfortunate.”
Her eyes narrowed as she spoke.
After shooting the door a razor-sharp glare, she let out a low smirk.
A cold, murderous intent flickered in her gaze.
…Tsk.
Had I truly done the right thing?
I scratched the back of my head.
I had encountered Sierty many times, yet I had never bothered to uncover her true nature.
“I sent the evidence to the Imperial Palace, the ledgers as well, and even released the messenger birds… What should I do next?”
Sierty basked in the joy of becoming the guild’s owner for only a moment before her tone turned brisk and professional.
Hmm. There are several ways to proceed.
The first was to hand the leash directly to the Imperial Palace. With both the treason evidence and Carten now gone, there was no reason not to swallow the Siesta Merchant Guild whole.
But this time, I wanted to use Sierty instead.
“My role ends here.”
“What?”
Sierty asked again, her face suggesting she might have misheard. I regarded her startled expression with cool indifference.
I made a show of adjusting my suit and spoke with deliberate nonchalance.
“From this moment on, the Siesta Merchant Guild belongs to you. Neither I nor the Imperial Palace will approach unless absolutely necessary. We will not intervene.”
“Then why did you help me at all?”
Sierty rested her chin on the back of her hand, eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Her thoughts were obvious.
If the Imperial Palace had stepped in directly, it would already possess every justification needed to devour this place.
“The Imperial Palace is a place that obtains people. It does not directly manage every merchant guild. We need you. That is the only reason.”
“I understand that you need me. But isn’t it too great a loss to simply walk away like this?”
“Sierty.”
I smiled gently and looked straight into her eyes.
For the first time in a long while, Sierty appeared genuinely flustered.
Her round blue eyes widened, staring at me in a daze.
I had no idea why she looked so shocked, but I kept my expression calm.
“What happens from here is entirely up to your own abilities. I believe in your ferocious desire. If it is you… you will make this guild far greater than it is now.”
“The Imperial Palace would never act this way.”
“It is my choice. The Imperial Palace may dislike it… but what can be done?”
I brushed down my suit one last time, as though flicking away dust.
Her gaze grew heavier, laden with countless thoughts, yet it remained fixed on me.
I smiled brightly and spread both arms wide.
“Haven’t I already created a debt in your heart? The better you do, the more there will be for me to claim later.”
“…You’re lying. Heh.”
Sierty covered her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter, but in the end a bitter smile broke through.
Was it too obvious?
If we devoured the Siesta Merchant Guild right now, we would seize enormous funds and full control.
Once Sierty secured it quickly, any later intervention would become far more difficult.
Yet as I looked at her, I realized something else.
“I simply wanted to believe in you.”
Sierty fell silent for a moment. Emotion surged through her; she clenched her fist tightly and glared at me.
Countless feelings flashed across her blue eyes.
Then she slowly licked her lips.
“So you’re throwing away this perfect opportunity?”
Her voice carried a hollow laugh.
I gazed at her calmly.
Meeting my eyes, Sierty fidgeted with her lips.
It seemed she had something to say, but she only let out a small breath.
“You can do it. If it is you.”
“You truly are a wicked bastard.”
“If something worth taking appears, I will return. I hope you will cooperate fully.”
I grasped the doorknob.
I could feel her persistent stare clinging to my back, but I opened the door anyway.
Thud.
The door closed.
A murmur drifted from behind it.
I could not quite make out the words.
“Wick…ed… bas…”
I walked down the long corridor.
Everything is for Lobelia.
...
“Wicked bastard… toying with someone’s heart like that.”
Sierty stared at the empty doorway with hollow eyes.
Even after the sound of his footsteps had completely faded, her dazed gaze could not tear itself from the wooden door.
“You wanted to believe in me?”
Sierty rose slowly from her chair.
She clasped her hands behind her back and gazed out the window with sunken eyes.
It will be difficult.
The Siesta Merchant Guild had run on corruption for years.
Reopening the central routes she had once cleaned would take considerable time.
She did not doubt she could do it.
Rather, she would make the guild grow far beyond its former glory.
“I’ve been acknowledged. Me.”
Sierty muttered the words. Her voice trembled, overcome by a sudden surge of emotion.
When she was young, as a noble, her upright parents had hated corruption so fiercely that their family had collapsed.
She had realized far too early that the nobles of this land were rotten to the core.
After the noble Carten suddenly appeared and seized the territory, Sierty had caught his eye.
I will be different.
She possessed venom. She had ferocious obsession and unyielding tenacity.
Someday she would restore her house. Enduring that pig of a noble’s beatings, Sierty had repeated to herself that one day she would rise to his position.
A younger sister with a chronic illness. The stigma of a fallen noble.
It had been brutal.
“Yes. I have been acknowledged.”
Sierty covered her face with both hands. Her shoulders began to shake.
The past flashed before her eyes.
Her body covered in bruises, her sister held hostage and used as leverage, screaming apologies until her throat gave out.
I have ability.
Someday I will be recognized.
Receiving everyone’s attention and respect, standing tall and proud.
“…Ugh, why… why are there so many tears?”
Tears slipped between her fingers and rolled down.
They fell to the floor. The sensation was scalding.
She had believed that receiving compensation would bring only joy. Until a moment ago, she had felt exactly that.
She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Emotion crashed over her like a wave.
“I’m happy… truly… it feels so good….”
Yet somehow it left her hollow, as though a hole had been punched clean through her chest.
She had been acknowledged for the first time.
She had achieved her greatest goal for the first time. For the first time… for the first time….
For you. Solely for you, Sierty.
She had been understood.
Having lived her entire life under humiliation and oppression, the void that could never be filled had been satisfied, if only for a moment.
When that warmth vanished, only emptiness remained. She had felt true warmth for the first time, yet it disappeared like a match blown out.
“I… will live for myself.”
Her once-vibrant eyes had turned dull and dark blue. She glanced toward the door.
Her gaze had grown darker, as if something sticky had clung to it.
“…More. I need more.”
She would have to grow the guild.
She would decorate it more beautifully, and now she could finally obtain medicine for her sister.
A new goal had been born.
Haim.
Once again, she would have no choice but to cling with the same desperate tenacity.
...
The West, Margrave’s territory. Perhaps two days had passed.
Not much time had gone by, so it likely had not aroused suspicion.
Fortunately, the catastrophe of Calupen pressing a blade to my throat never occurred.
That was only natural. He must have realized the fire had reached his own feet; every day must feel like his heart was being squeezed.
“Have you been well?”
“…Thanks to you.”
Lady Aran let out a deep sigh, her eyes hollow and exhausted.
The murderous look that seemed to ask How should I kill you? made me quickly avert my gaze.
“Ahem. It appears you suffered quite a bit. Still, the work?”
“I’ve gathered all the evidence. Why don’t you just suck the marrow from my bones while you’re at it? Hm?”
Lady Aran tossed over several sheets of paper and an artifact with a careless thud.
I read through them carefully, then nodded.
With this much evidence, even if Margrave Lein’s neck were severed, few nobles would dare protest.
“Well done. I must return to the Imperial Palace now.”
“Won’t it raise suspicions?”
“Even if it does, what can they do about it? The key items are already in my hands, so they have no choice but to trust me. When news arrives that Carten’s neck has been cut, they will collapse from shock.”
“Haaa… You crazy bastard.”
Lady Aran let out a long sigh and clutched her forehead.
Remaining in the West any longer would only deepen Calupen’s suspicions, so I departed for the Imperial Palace at once.
The sight of Margrave Lein clinging to Lady Aran and crying “Can I see you again!” was one of the rarer scenes I had witnessed across all my regressions.
I also learned that Lady Aran was capable of wearing a rotten expression on one side of her face while smiling on the other.
After taking the warp gate and riding a carriage back to the Imperial Palace, a voice stopped me.
“Are you Haim? I will question you for the crime of daring to deceive Her Highness the Princess.”
The Grand Duke of the North, Rosiwell, suddenly seized me by the collar.
…What the hell?
I stared at him in bewilderment as he ground his teeth and glared.
“Get out. Out of this Imperial Palace at once.”
What is this about?