“So, what does Ideana have to do with you?”

Sched lowered the hand that was resting on his chin and adjusted his posture.

Somehow his demeanor seemed quite serious, causing Eclas to unconsciously straighten his back even more as he sat.

Faced with a gaze that seemed to be testing him, Eclas put on a mask of naturalness and smiled.

“You said you wanted to get straight to the point, but now you’re playing dumb.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. You came here because you want to lobby for Ideana’s business rights, didn’t you? Things like commercial rights, financial rights, development rights, distribution rights, and transit rights…”

Eclas laughed awkwardly at the embarrassingly blunt observation.

It felt like his hidden desires had been stripped bare.

“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of giving Ideana’s business to one place exclusively.”

“Haha, of course not.”

Eclas smiled good-naturedly while thinking to himself:

‘As if there’s anyone else who would try to touch Ideana’s side besides me. He’s just playing hard to get.’

At that moment, Sched added:

“You might think there are no other merchants or investors trying to get their hands on Ideana…”

Eclas’s fingers holding the teacup twitched at the statement that seemed to read his mind.

Damn, was there some kind of mind-reading secret technique passed down through generations among the Lupus clan?

Sched’s insight often caught him off guard.

But that was the end of it.

“Then are there others besides me who have shown interest in Ideana’s business rights?”

Eclas was certain. There was no one else interested in Ideana besides him.

Ideana was too risky a place, so everyone was reluctant to take on the challenge. Even if they were interested, they would be hesitating and watching the situation while reconsidering and weighing the stability.

“Of course not.”

Sched said as he picked up his teacup.

As Eclas had expected, it was just a bluff…

“But now there will be. Because you came to see me.”

“…!”

Sched leisurely took a sip of black tea.

Eclas clenched his teeth and smiled.

“So you’re saying you’ll spread rumors all over town that I came to see you? Without any business ethics?”

“Is there any separate morality in matters where money moves?”

Sched said indifferently.

Damn that duke.

Eclas had come here without letting others know.

Even the owner of this place, Sched, was surprised to see him here.

‘He knows full well why I came quietly.’

Eclas was the world’s richest man, running the largest merchant group in the world.

If it became known that someone like him was showing interest in Ideana’s business, there would naturally be those who would try to follow suit.

Eclas didn’t want to mingle with such small fry and wanted to avoid unnecessary competition.

But Sched was trying to use him in reverse.

‘…Looks like he wants something.’

Eclas thought as he clenched his fist.

To restore the ruined Ideana, the help of the Bitel family would be essential.

Yet the fact that he was saying words that would upset the Bitel family from the start meant he had other intentions.

‘For someone of slave origin, his mind works too well.’

It would have been easier if he was just an ignorant warrior who only knew how to wield a sword.

‘Well, if he wasn’t smart, he wouldn’t have made it this far.’

The achievements he’s made so far weren’t accomplished by ignorant swordsmanship alone.

People think Sched Lester is a lucky person, but Eclas thought differently.

He is someone who creates his own luck.

He saved the life of the previous Duke Joseph Lester and was adopted as his son, and strategically led armies on the front lines to achieve merit.

The undefeated hero. That epithet causes people to have misconceptions.

That all it takes is to swing a sword well, shoot a bow well, and ride a horse well.

But in reality, half of the battles he participated in were won without shedding the blood of his allies.

He was an excellent strategist and commander. Enough to make those arrogant knights listen to and follow the words of a Lupus.

‘Yet the nobles are busy looking down on him. Not knowing he’s the one they should fear the most.’

Or are they trying to trample him more because they’re afraid? Out of an instinctive sense of crisis that if they don’t step on him now, they’ll be stepped on?

Anyway, that’s why he’s difficult to handle, mentally draining when arguing, and also interesting.

“What is it that you want?”

Eclas leaned back in his chair, folding his arms in displeasure.

Sched tilted his head slightly as he set down his teacup.

“Nothing special. Just want to balance the scales as usual.”

Sched gazed quietly at the gently burning flame of an old scented candle.

He fiddled with an old, worn newspaper clipping with faded letters.

Literally, it was a worn-out and discolored article.

Sched carelessly brought the edge of the old paper to the candlelight.

The dry, withered paper caught fire easily.

The aged letters turned black as they burned, soon becoming white ash fragments that scattered and fell.

The girl’s face, crudely engraved in woodcut, met the same fate.

The flames roughly devoured the records of the past.

Everything disappeared like that.

He opened the window to completely blow away the ash fragments into the air, then headed to the bathroom.

As he took off the loosely draped robe, a body with tightly woven muscles was revealed.

Countless scars were cruelly etched across the taut skin.

They were so old and familiar that he often forgot such marks even existed on his body.

But somehow today, those marks stood out clearly to his eyes.

Staring at the old scars like the burnt newspaper clipping, Sched tore his gaze away and turned towards the bathtub.

As he immersed his body in the hot water, the lingering fatigue from his long journey melted away.

As the water touched him, forgotten wounds stung, making their presence known.

There were still unhealed wounds on his arms, legs, hands, and shoulders.

It was natural for his body to be in poor condition after fighting a long war.

Such pain was laughably familiar, so Sched leaned back in the tub and closed his eyes.

But there was one wound that was hard to ignore.

‘Louise Ideana.’

Her image appeared between the darkness of his closed eyes.

She seemed a bit shorter than he remembered, and her already frail body looked even more emaciated.

Her beautifully shimmering hair was now dyed a murky color, perhaps from some medicine, and she spoke with a perfectly mastered southern accent.

‘I almost didn’t recognize her and let her slip by.’

Sched slowly opened his eyes and cast his gaze through the hazy steam.

Contrary to his worry about almost not recognizing her, he had actually recognized her at first glance.

Even with her hair color changed, in the dark forest, wearing tattered maid’s clothes, he could sense it like an animal with innate instincts.

That she was Louise Ideana.

The savior who pulled him out of the mud, the traitor who cast him into the abyss, and also the fugitive who dared to fake her death and disappear.

How could he forget?

He had recalled that face every day since then.

Sched once gave everything to her.

Even after nearly dying dozens of times, he obeyed Ideana like a dog.

But what came back in the end was betrayal.

He recalled the numerous Lupus massacred by Ideana’s hands.

“What did you expect? A Lupus like you…”

She mocked the slave who had been tamed like a dog.

To think he believed she would be different from the other Ideana nobles. He was truly foolish.

He gnashed his teeth on the bit like a beast and vowed revenge.

But the damned Ideana even took away his chance for revenge.

“The entire Ideana family, confirmed dead.”

Treason. Black magic. Curse. Self-destruction.

Before he could even make a move, his revenge ended in vain.

…He thought it had surely ended.

‘But she was alive…’

A wry smile escaped his lips.

It felt like blood that had gone cold was finally circulating again.

The moment he discovered her in the forest, he felt a manic elation.

An indescribable excitement made his withered motivation boil.

Finally, he had a reason to live this tedious and insufferable life.

Now, he had something he wanted to achieve with his life.

Riana fingered the sensation brushing against her skin.

A white silk dress so thin it was almost see-through.

The texture was completely different from the rough and sturdy fabric of a maid’s uniform.

There was a time when she wore such clothes every day.

There was even a time when she felt uncomfortable, unable to get used to the maid’s uniform made of cheap cloth.

But now the soft, petal-like touch on her skin felt strange.

Although the mansion was very warm, Riana wrapped her arms around herself as if feeling cold.

Her freshly bathed body smelled of sweet roses.

She looked around, her body tightly curled up.

The bedroom with soft candles lit.

A room made of dark wood, without decorations.

If there was one noticeable decoration, it was a single sword placed at the head of the bed.

However, the rugged, black scabbard didn’t look decorative.

It was obvious to anyone that this room wasn’t prepared for Riana.

Riana bit her lip out of habit.

As she lowered her head, she saw her white bare feet with scratches.

The coldness of the marble could be felt through her toes.

The chill that started at her toes crept up her spine, covering her nape with coolness.

Riana raised her head to look out the window.

The sun had already set.

Her face was reflected in the window darkened by night.

The pale face hanging in the night sky resembled a ghost.

The white silk dress illuminated by moonlight was the same.

Riana carefully brought her hand to the wax-like face reflected in the glass.

It felt as if she could pass through the glass window to the outside by doing so.

If only she could become a ghost and escape far away from here…

At that moment, the sound of hinges creaking “eek-” cut through her reverie.

Riana startled at the sound of the door opening and tore her eyes away from the window.

As she turned her head, a deep shadow fell through the door crack.

Sched Lester.

He was standing at the doorway.