Chapter 119
Chapter 119
“So, Count Adela made such a proposal.”
Cassis briefly looked through the documents with a peculiar expression.
“That’s good.”
“You don’t seem particularly suspicious or worried.”
“I think Count Adela’s proposal will be beneficial to us, and probably for the same reason, Irina made that judgment too.”
I felt oddly touched. I’ve been acknowledged.
“And the connections, infrastructure, and recognition that House Adela has established throughout the empire through their bank cannot be ignored.”
“That’s right. But Lord Cassis, the count won’t just give those things to ‘Lu & Cream’ for nothing. You should be well aware of that.”
Cassis smiled slightly at my words.
“You know that I’ve wandered around like the imperial court’s mercenary, right?”
“…Yes.”
“I sold whatever I had to contribute to the family. This time is no different. Rather, it’s good. That I can sell my labor at the highest price.”
This time, my heart ached with sympathy.
“I’ll definitely earn a lot of money so that I’ll never have to sell Lord Cassis in the future.”
“Haha, the wording is a bit strange, but okay.”
“Really.”
And so, one year and eight months after launching ‘Lu & Cream’.
New investment successfully secured!
* * *
As soon as Cassis’s approval came through, Count Adela promptly came directly to Luwin.
And Cassis and Count Adela stamped the contract that their subordinates had painstakingly created.
After Cassis stamped the contract, House Adela supported ‘Lu & Cream’ through everything they could mobilize.
“Count Adela is being uncharacteristically aggressive.”
Perhaps feeling that his position was unstable, Isiel also came to visit.
At first, Isiel seemed relieved that Count Adela’s investment area wasn’t simply the ice cream part of ‘Lu & Cream’.
However, after confirming that Count Adela was aggressively expanding in the area of infrastructure construction for the transportation business, Lemiere also began investing aggressively.
“I’d like to take charge of the Lemiere duchy and its surrounding areas.”
“Hmm, well…”
“Cas, Adela Bank couldn’t expand into our territory anyway. This is my territory, so I’ll handle it.”
It was truly going smoothly.
With two wealthy families aggressively checking each other, the groundwork for a transportation network throughout the empire was laid.
Building a large hub logistics warehouse in between…
“Yen, how many stores can we handle right now?”
“We have capacity across the board.”
Yen, who would normally have been sensitive and adamantly refused or complained about being busy, seemed to sense that this was a huge opportunity for our brand and was passionately dedicated.
“Didn’t you say you were short on people?”
“Heh, while you were away at Count Adela’s, I hired and trained a lot of people.”
“Really? You must have been extremely busy, yet you did that too?”
“Yes.”
Feeling touched, I vigorously ruffled Yen’s hair.
“Ahhh, stop it!”
“Our cute Yen.”
“What’s with you?”
I patted Yen’s shoulder a couple of times as he recoiled, and grinned.
“So, about that… I approved almost all the proposals that came in.”
“What?”
“I think we can open stores by adjusting the timing sequentially.”
“What?”
Yen’s mouth was hanging wide open, and seeing how unsightly it looked, I gently closed his jaw.
“You’ll be very busy. Can you handle it?”
“What?”
“Good. I believe in you.”
I gave a thumbs up and left to do my own tasks.
I could hear him calling my name from behind, but I only cheered him on inwardly.
“System, having a good talented person on staff seems to be the most effective thing for business.”
Meeting Yen who understands immediately, meeting a genius designerāI’m so lucky.
[Doesnāt that apply to Cassis too?]
Huh, really?
[Yeah. He just hired someone but found Irina, who makes plenty of money on her own.]
Thatās something to admire.
* * *
It might seem like I dumped all the work on Yen, but that’s not the case.
Because I have too much work myself. It would be nice if I could do everything, but I boldly passed it to Yen simply because I couldn’t handle everything alone.
[What’s keeping you the busiest these days?]
“The victory party, of course.”
A victory party. It was so absurd that I laughed when I first heard it.
I wasn’t the only one who laughed; everyone who heard it laughed too.
<Victory? Did we win?>
<More importantly, were we at war?>
<Who is this party celebrating?>
<Shockingly, it’s a party to celebrate Lord Cassis’s victory.>
<Ohhh…>
Iām not sure if Cassis won, and I didnāt even know he went to war. The imperial court called him to Jedo, supposedly for a victory party.
[So is the party happening?]
“Yes. That’s why I hurried back from Count Adela’s territory.”
The imperial courtās view was to commend Cassis in Jedo for what he achieved, but they also seemed to carry a sense of guilt for doing nothing.
Indeed, considering what they had done to Luwin, they had reason to feel guilty.
So they used a very lazy method, which was the ‘victory party.’
“Since it’s a party I’m attending after a long time, I want to look for a pretty dress.”
* * *
And so, the day of the party.
“Jane, have you been well?”
“Sister! I heard the news.”
Jane scurried over to my side and chattered about how she had learned that ‘Lu & Cream’ was thriving.
“You haven’t forgotten me, right?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s right. And I heard my brother gave you a jewelry box?”
Huh? What jewelry box?
[SYSTEM | ‘Hatch Seilun’s egg’ (28/100) ! 7 UP!]
“Ah, I remember now…”
I had completely forgotten.
[Oh dear.]
[I knew you’d be like this.]
After receiving the incubator and stuffing Seilun’s egg into it, I had completely forgotten about it.
I’m not even sure where that incubator and egg are now.
“B-but there was some progress. It went up by 7 from last time.”
[That would increase steadily if you just poured in holy power and affection.]
Oh, what a shame.
I responded with a bright smile to Jane, who was waiting for my answer.
“It’s become one of the things I truly cherish. It’s currently stored with my most valuable possessions.”
“I’m so glad. My brother emptied our family’s storage because you were interested in ancient civilizations.”
While we were having various conversations, suddenly the murmuring around us subsided.
Looking around to see why, I spotted a familiar person.
“It’s Princess Leilyranda.”
Jane exclaimed excitedly that she was the person she admired most these days, but I couldn’t help but look at her with some unease.
People looked at Leilyranda with admiring gazes, or as if they had fallen in love.
Of course, there were also many gazes mixed with envy and jealousy.
But even such jealousy and envy could be seen as a form of admiration.
As she exchanged greetings with people, she noticed me and approached with a bright smile.
“Irina.”
“I pay my respects to Your Highness the Princess.”
“Be at ease.”
Then she looked at Jane beside me and slightly furrowed her brow. Seeing her eyes narrow, Jane flinched slightly.
“I greet Your Highness the Princess. I am Jane Hellis.”
“…”
“I will take my leave now.”
“Yes.”
Jane quickly disappeared, leaving me alone with Leilyranda.
“You’ve been busy, Irina Seike.”
“Yes. Busy, I suppose.”
I joked about not being able to sleep when thinking about the accumulated debt.
“Is that so?”
“…”
“I’m glad you can laugh. But I have a bit of a headache right now.”
Leilyranda stepped toward me.
As she approached, I unconsciously almost flinched and stepped back. But such an action could potentially be seen as an insult to the imperial family, so I forced myself not to.
“Cassis Luwin… still can’t shake his hero habit, can he?”
“Pardon?”
I was dumbfounded by Leilyranda’s sudden remark.
But she didn’t stop.
“He’s really not helpful until the very end.”
She was whispering incomprehensible words and looking at me from an uncomfortably close distance.
And her eyes seemed somewhat unfocused. As if she had lost her sanity somewhere, or noāas if she was barely holding onto her sanity.
I swallowed hard.
[Irina, you’re tense right now.]
[Tell me if it’s difficult. I’ll lower the resolution.]
I must be very nervous.
Only after the system informed me did I realize that I had tensed up and shrunk back.
“…I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
Leilyranda stretched out her chin and looked at me fiercely.
My heart pounded heavily.
[Irina?]
‘I’m scared.’
It was strangely cold, my body seemed to be trembling strangely, I strangely wanted to run away, and I felt short of breath.
Blood-red eyes without light rolled and looked at me.
“…”
“Why such a reaction?”
I stared blankly at Princess Leilyranda and tried to empty my mind.
‘But, were Leilyranda’s eyes that color?’
[…I’m not sure.]
“Irina Seike, you reallyā¦”
The princess whispered in my ear.
“You’re afraid of me.”
