Puccino meticulously called someone to draw up a certificate for the transaction. Elise, holding the certificate stamped with the seal of Lord Kingteren, said:

“First, reveal the information. If I find it useful after hearing it, I’ll give it to you.”

“Alright. Listen. King Joseph V of Gania has three sons, and the second son, Grand Duke Floyd Ratean, was born to a woman other than the queen.”

“…Yes, I’ve heard about that.”

“Grand Duke Ratean dislikes Gania, and the Crown Prince utterly despises Grand Duke Ratean. Meanwhile, the third son, Earl Casar Pelur, ignores and scorns the Crown Prince. In short, all three brothers are on bad terms.”

Elise had no idea that Casar disliked Lucas.

“In the midst of this, Kanta became Gania’s territory through the Crown Prince’s scheme, and Earl Casar Pelur was appointed as Kanta’s regent. He must be very displeased.”

“Why would he be displeased? Even if it’s a colony, he’s been given responsibility for an entire country.”

“The people of a recently fallen country are dangerous. They harbor resentment and may start riots. What’s good about sitting in such a place? Moreover, when the Crown Prince eventually ascends to the throne, won’t Kanta ultimately become his?”

“Ah, I see…”

“Anyway, in this situation, Grand Duke Ratean is making a move. I don’t know if you’re aware, but there has been no interaction between Grand Duke Ratean and Earl Casar Pelur until now. But now that Casar has become Kanta’s regent and his dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince has reached its peak!”

Puccino drew a long line on the table with his index finger.

“He’s personally traveling a long distance to meet Casar. Moreover, he’s even trading magical beast by-products at Kanta’s auction house. Don’t you think there’s something going on?”

“Something… going on?”

“Oh my. You still don’t understand after I’ve told you this much? Two people who harbor resentment against the Crown Prince are meeting in one place. What do you think they’ll do when they meet?”

“Surely not… cooperate to strike against His Highness the Crown Prince…?”

“Well, I can’t say that much.”

Puccino politely extended both hands, but Elise didn’t hand over the tightly held certificate. Puccino said with a crestfallen expression:

“Isn’t it quite good information? This is troublesome.”

“What am I supposed to do with such information? How can I stop those two from meeting? Even if I tell His Highness the Crown Prince about this, it will only upset him.”

“Hmm. Then let’s do this. If you give me the certificate, I’ll tell you how the lord should use this information.”

Elise tried to discern Puccino’s true intentions, but she couldn’t glean anything from his smiling face.

‘But none of the information this man has given me has been wrong. Besides, he’s offering such a high rent, so there’s no particular reason not to give him the certificate.’

Elise reluctantly handed over the certificate. Puccino quickly took it, tucked it safely into his chest, and said:

“Speak to His Highness the Crown Prince and make a big event out of it. Invite all the noble guests to Kanta and hold a grand festival. What can they plot in such a bustling place with so many watching eyes? Even if they try to meet secretly, they’ll stand out and be exposed on the spot.”

As Puccino stood up, he added with an “Ah!”

“You could use the femme fatale strategy you were going to use on me on Grand Duke Ratean instead. If you enchant his heart and tie a tight leash on him to present to His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness will come to cherish you greatly.”

+++

“Things went well.”

Returning to the lodgings, Puccino handed the certificate to Nelly and recounted everything that had happened with Elise from start to finish. Nelly let out a hollow laugh.

“It really went exactly as the master said.”

“Yes. Not a single thing was lacking.”

Puccino added, with a face devoid of any trace of the smile he had worn with Elise:

“We must not make an enemy of Inferno’s guild leader.”

“Indeed…”

The first thing Roxiana had asked them to do was to spread rumors about herself. She said to mix just a tiny bit of truth with mostly lies, and to appropriately mix plausible lies with outrageous ones.

As a result, no one thought that the noble guest at the Lily Palace could be Roxiana Franche. No one even imagined that the princess of Kanta had survived and taken over the Lily Palace.

And that wasn’t all.

Even the temple, which had been eagerly seeking ways to enter Torkan after the forest had burned black and then revived in an instant, seemed to have lost interest, perhaps thinking it was all just baseless rumors.

The next request was the meeting with Elise.

−”However, it would be better if a man, not the leader, meets Elise Hailis directly. An ordinary-looking man who can be seen anywhere, not too handsome.”

When Nelly asked for the reason, Roxiana answered with a smirk:

−”Elise thinks she can handle all men as she pleases. She hardly thinks that men would try to deceive her or harm her. But she finds it a bit difficult to deal with women. No matter how sincerely and kindly you treat her, she suspects and guards against hidden motives. Moreover, she tends to find women who seem strong, like you, Nelly, overwhelming and tries to avoid them.”

Roxiana said there was a very high possibility that Kingteren City would prosper.

−”It seems Elise has a decent advisor by her side. Anyone might have thought about developing Kingteren City, but it’s such a big and troublesome project that they wouldn’t have attempted it. The fact that Elise, who had never even been to Gania, made an accurate judgment clearly indicates someone else’s advice. But now… I wonder?”

Roxiana tapped her chin with her index finger, lost in thought, and she seemed to be slightly enjoying the situation of having to understand Elise’s psychology.

−”Quite some time has passed, and since she’s been carrying out the work without problems so far, she must have developed a sense of pride in her own accomplishments. By now, she’ll try to make decisions on her own without listening to others’ advice, so it might be worth a try.”

What she then told them was what the Karan merchant group had obtained in exchange for leaking information to Elise.

−”If Elise hesitates to make a decision, it would be good to offer her a certain amount of money in exchange for securing a few of the newly constructed buildings. She’s probably short on funds because she’s been pulling money from here and there to launch various businesses, so she’ll likely accept this amount of money.”

Puccino wrote down exactly the amount Roxiana had specified when dealing with Elise, and it worked precisely. It wasn’t a small sum, but it was very cheap considering it was in exchange for renting several well-located buildings for five years.

Nelly asked what if that money became another foundation for Elise, and Roxiana answered leisurely:

−”That won’t happen. Those who have tasted small success tend to desire even greater things. She will plan another investment instead of paying off her debts. It will probably be something bigger than road construction, and the funds provided by the Karan merchant group will be ridiculously insufficient. She’ll have to borrow money again, and that increased debt will eventually become her Achilles’ heel.”

The softly spreading voice of Roxiana came to mind, sending chills down the spine.

Behind this frighteningly intelligent woman is a man with power strong enough to make everyone fear. And no one on this continent knows this fact yet.

‘No, I know. And I have no intention of telling anyone about this. Is an information broker hiding a bombshell piece of information?’

Nelly took out a cigar from the drawer and put it in her mouth. Puccino tried to light it for her, but she shook her head and just chewed on the end of the cigar. Knowing it was her habit when pondering, Puccino quietly stood by, waiting for Nelly to finish her thoughts.

Eventually, Nelly said:

“Send more of our people to Gania. It seems we need to stay on good terms with Inferno’s guild leader, as the scraps that fall our way might be substantial.”

+++

Returning from work as usual, Roxiana stopped abruptly at the sight of boxes piled up in the corridor of the Lily Palace. The palace employees were busily carrying the boxes.

“What is all this?”

As if responding to Roxiana’s surprise, the huge wolf beside her growled, but the Lily Palace employees, now accustomed to Lion, answered without batting an eye:

“These are the luggage you will take when you depart for Kanta, Princess.”

“Ah…”

Roxiana blinked, at a loss for words. Just then, she saw the head maid Eledrun approaching, engaged in a serious conversation with Petria.

Roxiana quickly approached them.

“Petria, Lady Hills. They say those are the luggage to take to Kanta.”

“Yes, Princess. Don’t worry. We’re still in the process of packing.”

“Lady Hills, that’s not it… There’s too much.”

“Too much? It’s not enough. Kanta is colder than Torkan, you know. I heard from a merchant who came from Kanta that cool winds are already blowing. It will be really cold by the time you arrive.”

Of course, Kanta might be too cold for people from Torkan, but for Roxiana, who was born and raised in Kanta, that cold wasn’t a big deal.

“We’ve been focusing on packing thick fur coats, so the volume has increased and there are many boxes. But don’t worry, Princess. It’s not a problem.”

“No, there are many problems. I’m supposed to enter quietly, but if I have this much luggage…”

“We’re loading magical beast by-products along with it, so no one will find it suspicious that there’s a lot of luggage. And since you’re going to your hometown after so long, you should dress splendidly. Petria, show her that.”