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Chapter 6
The woman was wiping away her cold sweat. They said the wound on her abdomen had already healed completely. It had taken some time for the injury to close up, but fortunately she had been found early enough that her life was no longer in danger.
And yet, strangely enough, she still didn’t look healthy. There was no sign of her condition improving.
Was it because such a major wound had weakened her body?
Just then, hearing someone approach, the woman turned her head. The moment she saw me, she gave a faint smile and gestured for me to come closer.
“So I finally get to meet my savior.”
“Savior is a bit much. You don’t have to praise me like that.”
I had only gone there because Oried told me to, so I didn’t think I deserved to be called something so grand.
“If it weren’t for you, I would have died from blood loss.”
“Someone else might have found you even if I hadn’t.”
So there was no need to think too deeply about it, I said while waving my hand dismissively. The woman watched me with a soft smile before suddenly introducing herself.
“My name is Venus.”
It was the same name as the famous goddess from myths in my previous life.
“It’s not my real name.”
“Ah… I see.”
“Aren’t you curious why I’m giving you a fake name?”
“No.”
The more involved you got in matters like this, the more troublesome it became for yourself. It was better not to know too much.
Oried had said she would become someone helpful in the future, but if she was even using a false name, then she was probably hiding some major secret.
Perhaps Venus also knew that learning more about her would bring me no benefit, which was why she intentionally withheld her real name.
After sitting in silence with a calm smile, Venus asked,
“You saved me, so I’d like to repay you. Is there anything you want?”
It felt a little burdensome. Refusing seemed like the better option.
“You really don’t have to—”
“Tell me what you want. I’m the type of person who repays my debts.”
When she put it that way, my curiosity stirred. More importantly, Venus genuinely seemed to regard me as her benefactor. Compared to most people, she felt trustworthy.
Besides, she didn’t seem like the type who would stab a child in the back.
So I decided to tell her the one thing I wanted most right now.
“I need a person.”
“A person?”
“Yes. More specifically, someone capable, good at keeping secrets, and trustworthy.”
“And?”
“That’s all. Finding someone like that is hard enough already.”
The blue eyes staring down at me flickered strangely. Yet the emotion within them didn’t seem hostile, so I didn’t avoid her gaze.
Her stiff lips curved once more as Venus nodded.
“I’ll introduce you to someone who fits those conditions.”
At her immediate answer, I couldn’t hide my delight. My biggest problem had always been that I had no one I could trust. If I had been an adult, I never would’ve needed to search for someone in the first place. I could’ve handled everything myself.
I couldn’t keep using the excuse of an invisible master when dealing with the guild members forever, but if people discovered that a minor like me could identify valuable land, they’d surely look down on me and try to trap me somehow.
As the value of the information I sold increased, the dark guild had begun probing into me. It was about time for me to cut ties.
But outside the dark guild, making deals without a proxy was difficult. That was why I still had one foot stuck in that world, unable to decide cleanly.
For now, my steady income still came from the dark guild.
But now I could get someone trustworthy.
That meant the range of what I could do had expanded. It felt like I had finally taken one step closer to my goal.
“Before that, may I ask you one thing?”
Instead of answering, I simply stared blankly as if telling her to continue, and Venus smiled faintly before asking,
“What’s your name?”
“Coco.”
“Yes, Coco. I think we’ll get along quite well.”
With those words, Venus smiled happily.
Though she was clearly looking at me, her eyes resembled someone gazing at the lingering image of another child instead.
The eyes watching that fading illusion looked sorrowful. Quietly, I handed her a glass of water.
The way she looked like she was enduring something resembled me.
The deep emotion covering her face was longing.
I recognized it immediately because it was an expression I wore often myself.
After that, no words passed between us, and yet Venus seemed as though she had received deep comfort from somewhere. This time, she looked directly at me.
Was it because the longing we both carried was equally dark, heavy, and sad?
The emotion soon turned into pity. Perhaps because I looked young, her face resembled that of an adult worried about the burden resting on a child’s shoulders.
“If you ever need help later, tell me anytime.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“You must tell me. I’ll be of great help to you, Coco.”
Watching Venus say that, I was once again amazed by Oried’s abilities.
‘Can spirits see the future too?’
As I indulged in useless thoughts, Venus, who had been watching me, quietly let out a small laugh.
* * *
The Crown Prince, Diego, was disguised as usual while inspecting the common districts when he spotted Coco heading somewhere with a small crossbody bag slung diagonally across her body.
The moment he saw her, Diego’s face twisted immediately.
Even though their eyes met directly, Coco naturally pretended not to recognize him before hurriedly running off somewhere and disappearing.
“That part of her hasn’t changed.”
Diego clicked his tongue coldly while staring at the place where Coco had vanished. His knight escort, Zakat, instantly recognized her as the girl who had informed him of the Crown Prince’s location that day.
‘Why is she here?’
But the question only lasted a moment. Zakat remembered how he had privately looked into Coco after that incident.
When he discovered that the child wandered around alone everywhere without a carriage or knight escort, he couldn’t help but pity her.
On top of that, she went to the temple every single day to offer prayers of gratitude for the viscount couple. Since Zakat knew exactly how she was treated in that household, he naturally sympathized with her.
She was diligent and kind. Furthermore, she had even worried about him being punished and asked him to forget about her.
From Coco’s perspective, she simply didn’t want to get involved with the male lead candidates from the original story, but because of that, Zakat’s fondness for her had risen tremendously.
“Lady Coco is a kind person.”
Zakat quietly protested while defending Coco, but Diego merely sighed and shook his head.
“Kind? Would a kind child abandon someone in trouble and walk away like that?”
After hesitating for a moment, Zakat decided to tell him the truth.
Diego possessed exceptional instincts. Anything he saw once, he could imitate with ease. But because he was such a genius, he hated inefficiency.
If he noticed something suspicious, he had to confirm it himself, regardless of whether his guards lost track of him in the process. Once he focused on a goal, nothing else mattered.
That day had been one of those occasions.
The incident had happened because Zakat failed to keep up with Diego in time.
Unfortunately, Zakat had just finished an especially brutal round of additional training that day, which caused him to lose sight of Diego.
Failing to properly escort the Crown Prince was undoubtedly a serious mistake, and he could have received far harsher punishment than he did.
But it wasn’t because he feared punishment that he had stayed silent until now.
Zakat was Diego’s closest aide, and no one would cast him aside over something like that.
Rather, he simply felt that Coco didn’t want her identity revealed.
But if she had now earned the Crown Prince’s displeasure, that wouldn’t be good for her either.
“Lady Roserussell did come to help, but… technically, the one who saved Your Highness was Lady Coco.”
“What do you mean?”
Diego’s sharp eyes were as cold as ever, but Zakat had already grown accustomed to them, so he calmly explained what had happened that day.
“What power could Lady Roserussell possibly have? If things had gone wrong, both of them could have been kidnapped together.”
Although Diego was talented in swordsmanship and possessed considerable combat ability, he refrained from fighting because his power was still unstable.
If he failed to control it properly, he feared he might kill someone instead of merely subduing them, so he avoided using his strength against ordinary people.
Of course, had anyone truly attempted to kidnap him, Diego would have slaughtered them without hesitation.
“If you have something to say, say it clearly.”
“In situations like that, instead of stepping in personally, she should have brought someone who could actually help—like Lady Coco did.”
As Diego grasped the implication behind those words, his face gradually turned colder.
Seeing that the Crown Prince had finally shown a somewhat human reaction for the first time in a while, Zakat deliberately explained further in a teasing tone.
It was much like the conversation Jeffrey and the butler Kirk had shared at the grand duchy earlier.
“As Your Highness guessed, Lady Coco immediately searched nearby for a knight after seeing the situation. That’s when she ran into me. Then she informed me of the danger right away.”
Diego looked baffled.
“Why are you only telling me this now?”
“Lady Coco asked me never to mention it. She was worried I’d get scolded, even in the middle of all that.”
As he said it, Zakat’s face softened warmly.
Diego looked displeased at the sight before coldly cutting him off.
“Even if she’s somewhat clever, she’s still a fool if she doesn’t know how to take advantage of an opportunity.”
Zakat blinked in confusion at the unexpected response.
“Huh? A fool?”
“Even if my appearance was hidden by the robe, my speech and bearing weren’t. Anyone with half a brain could have guessed I was some noble sneaking out in secret, yet that child failed to realize it.”
Moreover, at the time, he hadn’t even been trying very hard to hide his identity.
“Maybe she was simply in a hurry?”
“A child in a hurry would add something unnecessary like ‘Don’t tell anyone about me’ to you?”
Zakat opened and closed his mouth speechlessly.
“That child threw away a golden opportunity by choosing not to save me.”
Diego clicked his tongue.
Even setting all those reasons aside, he still found it deeply irritating that she had blatantly pretended not to see him.
Contrary to Coco’s intentions, the only person remaining in the heads of these male lead candidates now was Coco herself.
Unfairly enough, Roserussell—who had actually approached them despite the danger instead of ignoring them—had long since been forgotten.
After all, people tend to remember their enemies more than their benefactors.
* * *
‘Why are my ears so itchy?’
As I fiddled with my ear, someone greeted me.
“Hello, Lady Coco. My name is Bay. Lady Venus requested that I assist you from now on. Since I, too, owe Lady Venus a debt, I’m especially glad to meet you.”
The brown-haired woman, Bay, smiled gently over and over.
I hadn’t expected her to find someone so quickly after I asked for help, so I was caught off guard.
Still, good things were good things, so I immediately got to the point.
“I want to buy land.”
“Hmm, what region are you referring to?”
“Land near the temple, and the land where an abandoned mine was recently discovered. They’re selling it cheaply.”
Bay looked puzzled.
Well, buying land near the temple was understandable, but there was no reason to deliberately purchase land containing nothing but a closed-down mine.
In other words, she clearly didn’t understand why I wanted it.
Since we’d be working together, I intended to explain honestly, but I unconsciously hesitated.
Could I really trust her?
“Besides your name, may I know more about you? I can’t speak carelessly otherwise.”
Perhaps noticing my suspicion, Bay began explaining herself.
“Have you heard of the Asura Guild?”
“Ah, yes!”
The Asura Guild was famous. It was one of the Three Great Guilds, renowned for strictly protecting clients’ secrets while handling jobs flawlessly and ensuring high customer satisfaction.
Among the three, it held the absolute top position.
“I belong to Asura. Here are my identification documents and badge. Will this suffice?”
After receiving the documents and badge from Bay, I carefully inspected them from every angle.
To survive in this world, information was essential. While secretly scouting land behind the viscount’s back, I had steadily studied knowledge for my future plans.
I had even researched the Asura Guild separately.
In preparation for finding that child someday, I had investigated several guilds, and naturally, Asura—being the best—was among them.
If I used the dark guild I currently dealt with, I could search for the child immediately, but my involvement there was shallow, and I had no intention of getting tied to them any further.
Anyone could make requests there, but that also meant paying an appropriate price.
That was why I had always prepared an escape route.
Now that I had met Bay, I intended to withdraw completely.
They probably wouldn’t let me go easily, but I had anticipated that from the start, so I wasn’t overly worried.
In any case, because of all that preparation, I knew what genuine Asura documents and badges looked like, as well as what details to check first. The guild itself taught such things to prevent people from being scammed.
Of course, I wasn’t enough of an expert to identify forgeries perfectly, but I knew enough to tell whether something was fake or not.
Fortunately, what Bay brought was genuine.
Even if it had been forged, though, the craftsmanship was impressive enough that the forger’s skill would’ve been respectable. That alone would have been sufficient.
Then a sudden question occurred to me, so I asked Bay,
“Why didn’t you show me these immediately?”
“I conducted a very simple test. Even if it’s Lady Venus’s request, I can’t blindly grant everything someone asks for.”
“You’re only showing me now because I doubted you?”
Bay smiled faintly and nodded.
“Isn’t trusting someone you just met one of the most dangerous things possible? I apologize if I offended you.”
“No, actually, this makes me feel more at ease.”
That so-called test had been surprisingly easy to pass.
Perhaps Bay had confidently assumed that a girl like me could be judged adequately with something this simple.
After giving her some performative praise about how impressive she was, I returned the documents and badge before finally beginning the real discussion.
“The abandoned mine I want to purchase is in the western Loro region.”
“The western Loro region… you mean the place that used to have coal mines?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“But why specifically choose an abandoned mine…?”
Though she still looked slightly doubtful, Bay quickly composed herself.
It was understandable. What could anyone possibly gain from a mine that had already been completely exhausted and shut down?
“You shouldn’t dig in the existing tunnels anymore.”
I paused before adding calmly,
“You have to dig elsewhere.”
