From early morning, everyone at the Oltbea mansion was busy moving about without a moment’s rest.

The renovation of the mansion was now complete. The servants were busy preparing for the event to be held here in a few days.

Unlike before when it was neglected, the mansion was now constantly receiving and sending out goods as guests were expected to visit continuously from now on.

The kitchen was bustling with preparing meals for the hundred or so permanent servants of the mansion, as well as food for the upcoming event. Everyone in the lobby and hall was also busy preparing to welcome guests.

Despite the commotion in the mansion, there was still a space that maintained tranquility.

It was the inner part of the mansion where Kalon stayed.

After returning from the Count of Hebrides’ residence, Kalon had been staying at the Oltbea mansion.

Though Kalon owned mansions in other kingdoms as well, he didn’t particularly care for any of them.

Even his mansion in the Empire was the same. That’s why the Emperor would often click his tongue and say, “Did you buy the mansion in the Empire just to use as a storage for your collection?”

He couldn’t help it even when he heard such remarks. When working, there were many times when he stayed at his own house for less than a few days a year.

He was more familiar with the lodgings of Ash Trading Company in various regions than his mansion in the Empire.

Kalon raised his head and looked around the room he was in. The inner chamber for the master, which could be called the essence of the mansion, was beautiful enough to impress even him who had seen all the beauty in the world.

He had unconsciously thought that the overall standard would be low since it was a kingdom in a corner, but it seemed they had poured all their architectural skills into this mansion. This place could hold its head high anywhere on the continent.

‘That’s why I wanted to see the reaction.’

He put down the documents he was holding and interlocked his fingers behind his neck.

Unlike himself, he had urged for appreciation several times. Like a child waiting for praise.

But the person from whom he wanted appreciation had only said it was beautiful and then showed more interest in the small house where they had been standing.

At that time, he felt inwardly upset. And also hoped that if they entered the mansion, they might express more admiration.

‘I should tell them to attend the event.’

This event is to announce that the Oltbea mansion is now perfectly organized and ready to welcome everyone.

Invitations were sent out to all the employees of Ash Trading Company who had worked hard, as well as all the trading companies that do business with Ash Trading Company.

‘Since the nobles won’t come, Ael should be able to attend comfortably.’

Instead, a more demanding guest will visit.

In any case, he won’t know Ael, and the people attending won’t particularly notice his identity, so it doesn’t matter much.

It just means he’ll be a bit busier.

At that moment, there was a sound in the corridor. A moment later, with a knock, Ino entered energetically.

“I’m here!”

“If you’re going to open while knocking, why bother knocking?”

“You knew I was coming anyway, right? So why do I need to knock?”

Ino answered good-naturedly and placed all the documents he brought on Kalon’s desk. Nisha, who followed him in, did the same.

Even as he looked at the tower of documents that suddenly appeared on his desk, Kalon showed no change in expression. This level of work was routine for him.

“Now the renovation of Oltbea here is really finished. I met the head butler on the way up and asked, and it seems there’s no problem with the event preparation. Still, we decided to send more than enough food and necessary items just in case of any situation.”

“Okay. More importantly, is there anything unusual with the company?”

“Nothing particularly worth reporting… Oh! There is one thing.”

Ino snapped his fingers and looked at Nisha, who was sitting on the sofa saying she was tired.

“Branch Manager, you should report about Miss Ael.”

At those words, Kalon stood up abruptly.

“Did something happen to Ael?”

Kalon didn’t even notice that he had called her Ael instead of Miss Ael as he looked at the two. Nisha answered with a sigh mixed in.

“Miss Ael quit her job.”

“Why?”

“She says she’s getting married.”

“…Married?”

Kalon repeated the word ‘married’ as if he had heard the most incomprehensible thing in the world.

“That can’t be? There was never any such talk.”

Kalon thought something must be wrong.

Before going to the Count’s residence, if there had been such a person, Ael would surely have said something.

However, what Ael had been worried about was whether she could do well, not about someone she was dating.

“Miss Ael doesn’t need to tell us everything about her private life. And…”

Nisha told him everything she had heard from Ael.

More precisely, what Ael had said about her marriage partner.

“She seemed to like him quite a bit. She looked happy while explaining.”

“…”

“Oh, and before Miss Ael said that, I had suggested smuggling her into the Empire as you had instructed me, but it turned out embarrassing. If I had known, I wouldn’t have said such a thing. Haha.”

Nisha laughed loudly, but Kalon didn’t laugh. So Nisha closed her mouth with an awkward face.

She looked at Kalon’s expression and said cautiously.

“Isn’t it a good thing? Smuggling is easy to say, but it’s still considered a serious crime in Denertum. If it becomes known that a noble woman’s smuggling was related to the company, it could cause quite a stir.”

“It doesn’t matter. The royal family has agreed to help now anyway.”

“The royal family? They didn’t move at all during the first land deal, did they?”

They didn’t just not move; they had subtly defended the noble who had cheated Ash Trading Company. Wasn’t that why they decided to let it go without filing a lawsuit?

“The royal family was a bit noisy then too, it seems.”

“And now?”

“It’s over.”

At Kalon’s nonchalant answer, Nisha and Ino felt a chill down their spines.

He was talking about the intense power struggle between the first and second princes as if it was just a trivial children’s quarrel that had ended.

“Then will someone from the royal family come to this event?”

“They said they wanted to come, so I told them to. Of course, they won’t reveal their identity. They’ll just take a quick look and leave, and anyway, hardly any nobles will attend the event that day. Even if they do attend, there won’t be any high-ranking nobles who would recognize them.”

“But if someone does recognize them…”

“It wouldn’t be bad for us. It would clearly show that we have the Denertum royal family backing us. So they’ll make sure to hide well themselves. More importantly, how’s the communication network with the Empire? I can hardly connect from the Oltbea mansion.”

The face of Ino, who was in charge of that task, darkened.

“It’s the same with the company. It should have been restored by now, but it’s still not connecting. According to the message we received from the Empire by ship, it seems that the power of the Golden Rule exploded somewhere, affecting the entire communication network.”

“Somewhere? You mean they couldn’t confirm where the explosion occurred?”

Kalon was taken aback by this unprecedented event. The detectors that arrogant Lasis created are spread across all the countries Kalon has set foot in.

In other words, they can detect all countries except the polar regions.

From the island kingdom alliance in the south to Denertum in the north, everything.

It’s unbelievable that Lasis’s detectors have not been able to identify where the Golden Rule has manifested until now.

“It seems so. So for now, I’ve sent another message saying it’s likely on our side. The gale at the port wasn’t just some weather anomaly after all.”

“Right. That seemed like… an awakening of the Golden Rule.”

“I’ve never seen such a thing before, but is it usually that chaotic during an awakening?”

“Usually not. At most, the power affects an area within a few steps. And it’s not strong enough to have a big impact on the surroundings. All the ones I’ve seen were like that.”

Kalon had seen the awakening of the Golden Rule a few times in his life.

He had waited in advance at places where a child was to be born between a couple who were successors of the Golden Rule, to confirm if the power had manifested.

The power manifestations Kalon had seen were all unremarkable.

At most, nearby objects would move, or a nearby fireplace would flare up intensely for a moment before going out.

So when Kalon saw the gale at the port, he wondered if a very powerful successor of the Golden Rule had deliberately used their power.

However, the gale ended there.

If they had intended to use that level of power, there should have been a clear target, but nothing happened except for some seawater splashing and ships colliding a bit.

Still, just in case, he had ordered Ino to check if there were any children born in the port area that day, and if so, whether they were successors of the Golden Rule.

“As you instructed, I looked into whether there were any children born during that time. Since it’s a commercial area, there was only one child born in that area, during that time frame. And that child was born about half a day before the gale occurred. I checked, but they weren’t a successor of the Golden Rule either.”

Ino pulled out one of the documents he had brought and handed it to Kalon. The document contained all the information about the child Ino had found.

It stated ‘Golden Rule not confirmed’.