Chapter 29
“B-Big trouble, Sister!”
At the very top floor of the White Merchant Guild headquarters, Elshunaine, who had been enjoying her tea while overlooking the wide empire, twitched her eyebrows.
While Killian was away at the temple, she had been happy—because she could finally focus solely on business.
“What’s all the fuss about?”
“This is no time to be leisurely enjoying tea! Something big has happened!”
“And what is this big thing?”
Elshunaine, spinning in the CEO’s chair while sipping her tea, calmly set her cup down on the desk with a clink.
The look on her face clearly said, If this isn’t important, you’re dead.
But the prince didn’t flinch and declared proudly, “Just come outside and see for yourself!”
He was confident.
Because anyone could see—this situation was serious!
“Hmmm.”
Looking at the prince’s flustered yet proud little face, Elshunaine lightly stroked her chin.
He’s not even using baby talk. It must be serious.
With a shrug, Elshunaine hopped down from her chair.
“Do you think deliveries are only available through X-nation of Gourmet? Nope! Try ‘Here’ instead!”
“Much cheaper delivery fees than X-nation of Gourmet! More variety!”
“‘Here’ is way better than X-nation of Gourmet!”
The most crowded square in the empire—once buzzing with news about X-nation of Gourmet—was now overflowing with chants about “Here.”
“They’ve been out there since dawn. And it seems they were already prepared—riders from ‘Here’ are stationed throughout the alleyways,” the prince added urgently.
“And our partner merchants… upon hearing the news…”
“Oh ho. Already?”
“…What?”
The prince blinked in confusion, staring at the huge banner of “Here” that had replaced the one for X-nation of Gourmet.
Elshunaine’s voice was far too calm for someone who should be shocked by the situation.
“Already what, Sister?”
“I mean—those merchants already abandoned us that quickly?”
Huh? Is she so shocked she’s rambling nonsense now?
The prince looked at her with pity as he replied, “They seemed upset about the recent commission fee hike. As soon as they heard about ‘Here,’ they said they’d cut ties with us.”
The prince glanced nervously at Elshunaine.
To be honest, he didn’t have much to lose. This business hadn’t even officially fallen into his hands yet.
He hadn’t invested a single coin—everything was being run with capital from the Golden Tower and Elshunaine’s management.
Still, maybe he’d grown attached to it. The launch of “Here” was eating away at his insides.
What should I do?
The prince anxiously paced, gnawing on his nails.
Snap.
Suddenly, a loud smack—Elshunaine slapped his hand away.
“Don’t bite your nails! You’ll regret it later!”
“……”
Regret later? The crisis is now!
My nails aren’t the problem here!
Those words rose to his throat, but Elshunaine casually dug in her ear and turned away before he could say anything.
“Oh please. I was shocked for nothing. So one restaurant canceled a contract, huh? Fine. Just wait and see.”
Wait and see?
Does that mean… she has no plan?
The prince’s shoulders drooped in disappointment, having expected one of her signature bold solutions. Boohoo.
“Hahaha! Zero commission again? This is fantastic!”
The owner of a family-run sandwich shop, now in its third generation, patted his large belly and laughed heartily.
A worker nearby giggled and nodded along.
“Right, right!”
“I’m just too smart! I knew something like this would happen, so I left the X-nation of Gourmet contract on my desk, ready to cancel! Haha!”
In reality, he had just been too lazy to file it properly.
The worker, still buttering him up, thought to himself:
Next he’ll say he foresaw ‘Here’ coming.
“I knew it from the beginning! I had a feeling ‘Here’ would come to us!”
“Haha. Amazing. That’s our boss. But… we did break the contract midway. Won’t we face penalties from X-nation of Gourmet?”
The owner scoffed.
“Hmph! My grandfather always said—beware of arrogance! Those arrogant fools at X-nation never included such a clause in the contract! Hahaha!”
He lifted a single sheet of paper with a booming laugh.
It was the contract with X-nation of Gourmet.
“Look. All they wrote was this one line!”
The employee squinted at the section the boss pointed to.
“If the contract is terminated early, a new contract with X-nation of Gourmet can never be made…”
Just one sentence.
The owner mocked their stupidity, but the worker couldn’t bring himself to laugh.
Did White Mask really not anticipate this?
Starting with the sandwich shop, more and more restaurants broke their contracts with X-nation and partnered with “Here.”
Even restaurants that had hesitated, fearing retaliation from X-nation, made the switch when no response came.
Elshunaine, unaffected, calmly kept watch over Killian’s movements.
While the empire buzzed with news about “Here,” Killian had quietly returned from the temple to Haunbert Manor.
Killian is acting weird.
The last time they met in the botanical garden, he gave her a flower and disappeared to the temple.
But now, something was off.
Just yesterday, he asked her:
“Elshunaine. Do you… want to remember your past?”
She was so caught off guard she stopped chewing her cookie and stared, mouth open.
“What are you talking about?”
His answer was even more shocking.
“I hope… you don’t remember.”
“HUH???”
She was so stunned that she dropped the cookie in her mouth. It rolled and gently hit Killian’s shiny shoes.
What is this nonsense?
Aren’t you supposed to torment me until I remember Arwen?
Wait… now that I think about it, he’s done nothing at all to restore my memory?
If things had gone as expected, he should’ve used all sorts of magic and divine power to bring her memories back.
Could it be… he doesn’t want Arwen to return?
No! Get a grip, Elshunaine!
Don’t fall for that trick!
Gasp! That meticulous guardian!
Elshunaine quickly composed herself, shook her head furiously, and clenched her fists.
Killian was testing her.
He wanted to see how she would react to such talk!
“W-Well, of course I want to remember! We must have had soooo many memories! I mean, it feels like we did!”
“……”
“Ahem. That chessboard in my room—didn’t we start a game once? I feel like… bits and pieces… very tiny bits… of memory are returning?”
“……Really?”
“Yeah! So don’t worry. You’re saying that because you’re concerned, right? Haha. I’ll recover my memory soon—and become a helpful friend to you, Killian!”
She had made that awkward excuse and retreated to her room just yesterday.
“Haa. What a scary guy.”
Definitely the male lead of a romance fantasy.
The obsession with the heroine had turned him into something terrifying!
Elshunaine shivered and rubbed her goosebump-covered shoulders. Then she called out to the piglet rolling around beside her.
“Gold.”
“Pwee?”
“How much of it have we taken?”
Gold, smiling happily with a dragon claw Elshunaine had given him, flapped his wings.
“About 40% has been taken, pwee!”
“Really? Then it’s time to move.”
“Now, pwee?”
Gold fluttered over, still hugging Ashray’s claw like a treasure, and landed in front of her.
Elshunaine briefly clasped her hands together, then turned her head away from Gold.
She thought to herself:
Ugh. Just thinking that’s Ashray’s claw makes me sick.
Last time, she even saw him rubbing it on his cheek.
Forcing a grin, Elshunaine pointed out the window.
Then, with a determined voice, she declared:
“Alright. Let’s storm in.”
