ISGJV 22

Chapter 22

After Lady Lillifen took a moment to tend to her bleeding,
our conversation resumed.

But the upper hand had clearly shifted—to me.

“ You startled me. I wondered if you might have some illness.”

“Kh— ahem!”

Lady Lillifen flushed red and cleared her throat for a long time, then suddenly snapped in irritation—
a desperate attempt to regain the lead she had lost to a mere child.

“A-anyway! Do you understand? I’m here as the duchess’s representative! Do you understand me!?”

Being pushed around by a girl so young must have stung—her fury only grew.

I, on the other hand, accepted it all with an easy smile.

“Yes. My comprehension skills work just fine, madam. No need to worry.”

“You’re not taking me seriously—!”

“Oh, madam, you’re bleeding again.”

“What?”

She panicked and hurriedly pulled out a small mirror to check her mouth.

Then she glared at me with dagger-like eyes.

“It’s not bleeding!”

“Oh, my apologies. I must have confused it with your lipstick. I was terribly worried your bleeding hadn’t stopped…”

I teased her blatantly, and Lady Lillifen’s face flushed all over again—red, then pale.

“You—! How dare you speak that way to an adult—!”

And yet she seemed to have forgotten how she had just spoken to a fourteen-year-old.

I replied with a bright, innocent smile.

“I only said it out of concern for an adult.”

At this point, I had Lady Lillifen dancing in the palm of my hand.

Enough teasing. Time to get to the real topic.

Twisting a strand of hair with my fingers, I smoothly shifted the conversation.

“Surely the duchess didn’t come with only that message?”

“What?”

“If she’s making me an offer, then naturally there would be compensation in return. Wouldn’t you agree?”

In other words:

You name your price first.

In bargaining at Onion Market, you always make the other person state their price first. That’s how you gain the advantage.

Lady Lillifen understood exactly what I meant.

“You’re asking for compensation now?”

“As you know, I’m from a humble background and not well-off. So the young master’s interest is a… significant opportunity for me.”

“!”

I swung the whip—and offered a carrot at the same time.

“But of course, I’m also terrified of falling out of favor with the duchess. And I know full well I’m not someone who could ever dream of becoming a duchess.”

“…Then what is it you want?”

At last, her expression turned serious.

She had finally realized I wasn’t just some easy-to-handle fourteen-year-old.

“What do you want?”

“If I ensure the duchess’s worries never come to pass, what can you guarantee me in return?”

Not that I would take Patrick even if they handed him to me.

But there was no need to reveal that to the duchess’s envoy.

“Tell me specifically what you want.”

I grinned and made a circle with my thumb and index finger.

“What’s better than something whose value never changes?”

Money. Give me money.

“…How vulgar.”

Despite saying that, Lady Lillifen’s expression eased.

She liked that the solution was simple.

I smiled sweetly.

“Because my background is so humble.”

With a disdainful look, Lady Lillifen gestured to her maid, who handed her a very heavy pouch.

As expected—you prepared it in advance.

If you’re going to make this kind of offer, the cliché is always to slap someone with an envelope.

The fantasy equivalent? A bag of coins, of course.

Surely she’s not going to hit me with it… right?

I was slightly tense.

I had teased her quite a lot.

Lady Lillifen gave her maid a signal—and it wasn’t a good one.

My suspicion was correct.

Clatter—!

The maid smirked as she dumped the pouch upside down in front of me.

Gold and silver coins scattered noisily across the floor.

“This should be enough, yes?”

Lady Lillifen’s lips curled into a sharp smile.

Meanwhile

Edmund and Willes overheard the two women purely by coincidence.

A sudden metallic crash had echoed from the room.

When Willes used a simple amplification spell, they could hear the conversation clearly.

“This should be enough, yes?”

It was Lady Lillifen—one of the duchess’s closest aides.

Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and contempt.

And then came an unexpectedly cheerful reply:

“Of course, Lady Lillifen!”

Kasia’s voice.

The rustling of skirts. The clinking of coins.

Kasia was kneeling—kneeling to pick up the money Lady Lillifen had thrown at her.

A surge of inexplicable fury washed over Edmund.

How dare she!

But then Willes clicked his tongue beside him, snapping Edmund out of it.

“How utterly vulgar.”

“What?”

Willes whispered with open disdain.

“She’s still from a noble family, yet she kneels for a handful of coins.”

“….”

Edmund couldn’t deny it.

Interpreted literally, what they just heard meant:

—The duchess gave Kasia money and ordered her to watch or harm Edmund,
and Kasia accepted it.

That was the only way it could be understood.

A shadow passed over Edmund’s face.

Willes tried to steady him.

“You heard it yourself. You mustn’t trust her. You need to be even more careful, young master.”

Edmund couldn’t argue.

But he couldn’t fully agree either.

Outside

“Goodbye, madam!”

“….”

Lady Lillifen left the villa, receiving Kasia’s enthusiastic send-off.

She felt strangely dazed.

At first, she had felt overwhelmed—no, toyed with—by a child.

But when the girl blatantly demanded money, she had tossed it at her in the most insulting manner possible.

And yet the girl hadn’t hesitated for even a moment before kneeling to gather it.

That proud, almost haughty girl showed not a trace—not even a shadow—of shame or humiliation.

If anything… this feels ominous.

She felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding, as if she had somehow lost.

“A-about the young master—!”

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure you have absolutely nothing to worry about!”

Not the behavior of an ordinary fourteen-year-old.

Her earlier cold, precise retaliation had vanished—replaced with the practiced smile of a seasoned merchant dealing with a client.

Lady Lillifen forced down her unease.

I-it’s fine. I just did what the duchess ordered. I intended to give the money anyway.

Yes. She definitely hadn’t been tricked and shaken down.

“Please be safe on your way—!!!”

Hearing Kasia’s cheerful farewell from outside the carriage, Lady Lillifen asked herself:

…No, right? Surely not?

Back inside

I saw off the… perfect sucker—
I mean, Lady Lillifen.

Yes! That went great!

Money was always welcome.

And if the duchess wants to deliver it right to me, who am I to refuse?

The pouch was satisfyingly heavy.

Sure, she dumped it on the floor. But picking up coins?
Nothing compared to what that wretched orphanage director used to make me do.

And I’m the one who endured all that and removed that “family-like” orphanage director and his brood myself.

That woman? I wouldn’t need to lift a finger.

Because eventually, Lady Lillifen—Duchess Cohen’s current aide—
would be brutally killed by Edmund.

He’ll take care of that revenge for me. I just take the money and walk away!

I looked at the glittering gold in the pouch and smiled happily.

With this much… I can buy that, too.

A few days later.

After a trip to the nearby city with only my nanny, I quietly went to find Edmund.

“What? Why suddenly?”

His attitude, which had softened a bit recently, had returned to its usual curt stiffness.

Teenagers really are unpredictable.

Once I confirmed no one was around, I placed the box I’d kept hidden in front of him.

“Here. Open it!”

Inside was an elegant fountain pen.

Edmund’s expression froze.

Kasia watched his face carefully.

“Do you not like it?”

“……”

But Edmund wasn’t in the state to answer.

His head was filled with one overwhelming thought.

Did she… kneel in front of Lillifen just to buy this for me?

His chest tightened painfully.