🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 16
“I’ve brought them.”
Maurice held out two thick ledgers.
“Good work. You returned sooner than I expected.”
“That colleague handled things faster than I thought.”
“Give me the ledgers.”
“Here they are.”
Ellen took the ledgers Maurice handed her and murmured in admiration:
“Even though these materials were rushed to me, there’s nothing extra I need to do. They already know the key points I need to focus on.”
She flipped through the pages quickly, stopping at certain points to examine the records carefully.
Then she opened the other ledger, cross-referencing something, and finally spoke.
“Let’s go to Section C.”
With a reluctant expression, Caden, holding his parasol, asked,
“…Am I not allowed to act as a secretary?”
“No, you’re not. The secretary role needs to operate on the front lines.”
Ellen’s refusal was firm, and Terriard added from the side,
“That’s right, Your Highness. You should stay behind me with Ellen.”
“If that’s your concern, you should fix that title first.”
“Ah, yes, understood. You’ll stay safely behind.”
“…”
“People are coming. Focus.”
Caden, glaring at Terriard with a dissatisfied expression, reluctantly lowered his gaze at Ellen’s sharp command.
“Hello! Are you from Maple Trading Company?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Please, follow me. I’ll guide you.”
Terriard stepped forward to answer, and a relatively young-looking man smiled broadly.
“I’ve heard from the team leader. You’re here both to rent the warehouse and… hmm, to inspect the goods?”
“Yes.”
“Ha ha, I see. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.”
The man cheerfully approached them, but contrary to his words, he didn’t seem to intend to start moving. He just stood there, waiting for her cue.
Ellen let out a deep sigh, took a small pouch from her pocket, and handed it to Terriard.
“For this.”
“…?”
Terriard, puzzled at first, took the pouch. The moment he felt the gold coins inside, he understood its meaning and stiffened, his face betraying barely hidden contempt.
“…Accept it.”
“Oh my, what is this for?”
The man quickly accepted the pouch, hiding it in his own pocket, and led them forward with a cheerful expression.
“Where would you like to start? Section A is…”
“Let’s go to Section C.”
“Oh, Section C, you say?”
Terriard glanced at Caden, who gave a slight nod, and then told the man,
“Please guide us.”
“Of course! This way, please.”
The man hurried ahead, fawning.
Posing as traders here to spy on a competitor’s imported goods, they arrived at Section C and immediately began opening the stacked cargo, checking each item.
Clatter.
Clatter.
“This is Rose Trading Company’s…”
“And over there is Brochure’s…”
The guide meticulously identified each section, and Ellen selected the familiar names she recognized and instructed them to open those boxes.
Suddenly,
“Ah, no! What are you doing there?!”
Someone came running in from a distance.
Breathless, the man shouted as he neared, and upon seeing Ellen’s group in detail, he asked in panic,
“Excuse me, but what are you doing? I haven’t been informed of any separate cargo inspections today…”
“Really? I see your news came late. Keep opening them.”
At Ellen’s words, Terriard and the guide continued opening boxes. The man, apparently the person in charge of the section, panicked.
“Show your ID! It’s illegal for anyone not an inspector to do this!”
“Oh, really?”
Ellen’s cold gaze met his as she pointed to the warehouse behind him.
“Over there. Open it.”
Terriard quickly approached that area and opened a box. Seeing its contents, he snorted in disbelief.
“Ha, look at this!”
He then shouted toward Caden and Ellen,
“Swords! They don’t bear the forged mark of the smithy!”
As his emphatic cry echoed, the man demanding identification paled.
Caden strode forward.
He pulled a sword from the box in front of Terriard and, seeing it truly lacked the smithy’s mark, clenched his teeth.
“…This is what you’d call illegal, right?”
He opened another box in front of him.
“Ha, jackpot.”
“Could this really be gunpowder…!”
Caden’s cynical words made the man step back, his face as pale as a corpse.
“No… sir, sir!”
Trembling, the man backed away a few steps, shouting about someone possibly involved in this corruption, and ran off.
“Immediately signal the alert. Open everything here.”
Caden ordered, his face grim and stern.
The moment Sir Maurice Koenheim saw the signal flare, he acted quickly.
As a result, the security forces arrived almost simultaneously with the person the section head had sent.
“Hey, what’s going on here?!”
Seeing the approaching men, the young guide who had first led Ellen’s group whispered,
“That’s the operations chief.”
Realizing Ellen’s group were no ordinary traders, he quickly apologized for accepting bribes and promised full cooperation.
“Report your affiliation immediately! Who do you think you are, daring to do this without authorization!”
The operations chief shouted, red-faced.
At that moment, from afar, Sir Maurice Koenheim and the city’s security commander ran toward them, shouting.
“Your Highness!”
“Oh, Your Highness! How did you come all the way here!”
“Ah, just in time.”
Caden saw them coming and waved his arm.
“Security! From now on, re-inspect all the cargo here! Open everything!”
Hearing that, the chief, flushed from running, instantly went pale.
“…Your Highness?”
“You wondered who I am, now you know.”
“Your Highness… really…”
His pupils darted wildly.
“I apologize, Your Highness! But responding this way to unauthorized activity is part of my duty!”
“We’ll see if you were faithful to your role during the investigation.”
“Your Highness…!”
Ignoring the chief, Caden moved past him.
Box after box and ledger after ledger piled up, and more people were detained.
They found various items: initially weapons and gunpowder, then what seemed like mass supplies of clothing, equipment, tools…
Nothing particularly strange—yet still enough to make one uneasy if they paid attention.
Although being caught for unauthorized leave was harsh—he had informed security of his absence—Caden felt it was worth coming here himself.
When he first heard about the muskets, he had conflicted between disbelief and the thought that “there’s no reason she’d lie here.”
But now, untraceable gunpowder had indeed been discovered.
‘This isn’t just some small operation…’
Feeling a tight pressure in his chest, he loosened the cravat around his neck.
Gunpowder was strictly controlled by the state.
All production and distribution were state-controlled and for state use only.
The appearance of untraceable gunpowder meant—
‘…There must be an unreported cornerstone mine. That needs to be found.’
Caden organized his scattered thoughts about the future.
‘To operate a mine, certain essential personnel are needed. That can’t be hidden. First, we’ll identify suspicious areas… also, request a composition analysis… and…’
Even without the cravat tightening his neck, he felt short of breath and leaned against a nearby pillar.
After a few deep breaths, he looked up and saw a woman with neat, light blonde hair.
Ellen Clyant.
A woman whose mind was utterly unreadable.
Watching the busy scene from afar, she somehow looked as exhausted as he felt.
‘What could be frustrating you so much to wear that expression?’
Her face was incomprehensible to him.
As if she existed in a different flow than everyone else, entirely mismatched with the situation.
‘This is the stage you wanted to verify yourself, even selecting personally. Yet—’
Why did she wear such a hollow expression?
He unconsciously clenched his fists, hiding his tingling palms.
She had always concealed herself as if untouched by pain.
Yet, precisely because of that, her true feelings were clearly readable: how much she loved Gillian, how hard she worked for him.
‘But what is she now… for?’
Caden’s gaze followed the hollow-eyed Ellen as she watched the dockyard.
A faint, wry smile appeared.
A face he had never seen.
An unreadable smile.
All the incomprehensible changes.
He kept observing this mysterious woman’s mysterious behavior.
Until all the work was done and she climbed into the carriage to leave. Always.
