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Chapter 6
Kael sighed as he searched for Rosanna. He couldn’t waste any more time like this.
“Have one of you search for Lady Rosanna until breakfast. If you find her, bring her back. If you can’t find her, give up and return.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After assigning the task to one of his aides, Kael took only the other one with him. He was heading to the weapons shop inside the black market. Kael strode forward.
Hersen Weapons Shop.
That was his destination. As soon as he entered, the musty smell mixed with the metallic, bloody scent of iron stabbed at his nose.
The shop was filled with all kinds of weapons. Some were sharp enough to look freshly forged, while many others were covered in rust. Kael had no intention of wasting time here either. He headed inside to find the owner.
The owner was talking to another customer. Kael casually shifted his gaze toward them, then suddenly doubted his own eyes.
Rosanna?
Why was that woman here?
He never expected to run into Rosanna here after losing track of her earlier. This wasn’t a place where Rosanna should have been.
If Rosanna were looking for a black market, shouldn’t it be because she wanted to buy rare jewelry or some kind of luxury item?
No, to begin with, Rosanna wouldn’t even use a shop unless it were an expensive dress boutique.
Their engagement had been short, but Kael thought he knew her well enough.
But Rosanna right now…
“You have quite a discerning eye, miss. As I said, this can pierce even tough monster hide in a single strike. It’s exactly the kind of thing you need in times like these. Though, the price is a little…”
“Thirty silver coins.”
“Come on, are you joking? At least eighty silver coins…”
“There’s a crack at the end of the handle. And no matter how sharp it is, in a world like this…”
Rosanna gave the owner a sweet smile.
It was so frightening that the owner flinched.
“At this rate, the blade will be completely worn out in three months, won’t it? Assuming I actually use it to kill monsters like you claim. I think thirty coins is already generous.”
The owner cleared his throat.
Kael blinked blankly.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Was that really Rosanna?
Rosanna was saying things like that?
‘I like it. Leave it here. The family will take care of the payment.’
Wasn’t that Rosanna?
That indifferent expression, as though she didn’t care about anything in the world. Her careless way of spending money as if it were water.
The princess of House Ardena.
The extravagant rose.
That was the Rosanna he knew.
“Instead, I’ll buy all the daggers here.”
“All of them?”
The owner’s eyes widened.
He looked back and forth between Rosanna and the daggers on the counter before quickly starting to gather them.
In the black market, there was an unspoken rule not to ask customers why they were buying something.
“Oh. Are there about seven daggers here?”
“There are more than ten!”
“Bring them all out. But none of them can be lower quality than the one I’m holding right now. If they can’t cut through monster hide like you said, I’ll come back to get a refund even if I’m dead.”
The owner swallowed hard before disappearing into the back.
Rosanna hummed as she looked around the weapons shop.
Kael quietly stepped back, following her movements.
For some reason, he didn’t want her to notice that he was here.
He wanted to watch what she was doing a little longer.
Why did she need a sword that could pierce monster hide?
What was she planning to do with all those daggers?
Kael buried his confusion deep inside.
Then, when Rosanna stopped in front of a longsword displayed on the wall, Kael’s eyes widened.
That was exactly why he had come here.
The Sword of Heracline.
The sharp longsword had a mysterious blue glow, as though proving the legend surrounding it. Ancient runes were engraved across its blade.
It was said to be the sword God had given to mankind in the distant past, when the world was first created and the empire was founded.
The fact that such a sword had ended up on the black market was a disgrace in itself, but it also gave Kael a chance to obtain it.
Rosanna looked at it with an interested expression.
“Now that’s one hell of a sword. With this, I could probably chop straight through a monster’s shinbone.”
Did Rosanna really just say that…?
For a moment, Kael doubted his own eyes.
“I could buy this and give it as a bribe. That would work too.”
Rosanna looked over the sword and smiled brightly.
There was something mischievous about that smile. It didn’t look like Rosanna at all, and Kael suddenly felt his breath catch.
He took another step back.
“It really is tempting. If I knew how to use a longsword, you’d be mine. But the male lead’s life is important, you know. My life is more important.”
Her face sparkled as she quietly giggled.
It was a light he had never seen in Rosanna before.
Meanwhile, the owner returned from the storeroom carrying all the daggers he had.
Rosanna immediately composed herself and turned around.
“And you’re throwing in this leather belt too, right? I’m buying this much.”
Rosanna picked up a leather belt designed to hold daggers.
Before the owner could even say anything, she stuffed all the daggers and the leather belt into one of the bags.
“Oh my goodness, miss!”
“The price should be enough. You’ve made plenty of profit already.”
Rosanna winked and took several gold coins from her pocket, casually tossing them onto the table.
With a smile on her lips, she walked straight past Kael, who was hiding in the darkness, without noticing him.
Her hair swayed as she passed, carrying a strong fragrance with it.
The scent of roses.
Yes, it was Rosanna’s distinctive rose scent.
The heavy fragrance made his head feel dizzy.
After gathering everything I needed from the weapons shop, I headed to a place that sold clothes.
For a moment, I considered buying the sword Kael would eventually obtain and giving it to him as a bribe.
But I wasn’t going to spend my own money on something like that.
It would be better to save that money and buy another mine.
An investment for the future was an investment in myself.
Is the male lead going to support me?
No. Absolutely not.
Money is what will support me!
The place I went to wasn’t a shop that sold fancy clothes like dresses. It was barely worthy of being called a clothing store. It was more like a street stall with a few pieces of clothing hanging under a tent.
Fortunately, there was a small place behind the tent where I could change clothes.
Besides, I didn’t need a dress in the first place.
I needed clothes that were tough, wouldn’t tear easily, and were comfortable to move around in.
“Give me the toughest and most durable clothes you have. Something that won’t easily tear even if a monster’s claws scrape against it.”
“Hm. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ve come to exactly the right place.”
The owner’s eyes lit up as he looked me over.
Seeing me dressed like a noble lady, he was probably planning to charge me a ridiculous price.
You picked the wrong person.
How many years had I spent bargaining in street markets?
I wasn’t going to let someone pick my pocket right in front of my eyes!
The owner brought out an ordinary-looking set of clothes and claimed that they were specially made with rare monster hide mixed into the material.
It was obviously an attempt to inflate the price.
“Something like this can really withstand a monster’s claws?”
“Of course! It’s much stronger than the clothes you’re wearing now! This particular outfit came from a village that was overrun by monsters! And amazingly, the woman who was wearing it survived even after being attacked by a monster’s claws! If she hadn’t needed to sell this just to afford food…!”
What is this storytelling?
Who are you trying to fool?
I pulled one of the daggers out of the bag.
“W-What are you doing?”
The owner looked terrified.
“I just bought this at the weapons shop over there. They said it can pierce monster hide. But didn’t you just say that this clothing can’t even be pierced by a monster’s claws?”
I raised the dagger.
“Then shouldn’t it be able to withstand this dagger too? I’m just checking whether what you said is true. If you’re telling the truth, I’ll pay you three times the price.”
I smiled.
“But if this dagger tears that clothing…”
I pointed toward the clothes hanging around the stall.
“Then you’ll give me every piece of clothing you have here. Because I’ll make sure that happens.”
The owner’s eyes went wide.
He looked back and forth between me and the dagger before his face turned pale.
Apparently, he had realized that I really was the kind of person who would do exactly that.
As I pulled the dagger from its sheath, the owner immediately raised both hands.
“Wait a moment, miss!!”
