🔊 TTS Settings
Episode 7: Trust Cannot Grow Alone
A few days later, when Rose attended the meeting, the elderly people—who were shareholders of the trading company and could be considered its founding members—were extremely upset.
Most of them had been people from the slums who had never been given a proper chance to work until Rose gave them jobs.
It was not only nobles who were divided by class. Even among commoners, there were walls between classes that could not be crossed.
The poor were better off than serfs, yet their lives were worse than slaves bound to a lord. They barely survived each day.
To these elderly people, Rose—who had given them a chance to change such lives—was someone precious beyond replacement.
Although they were old and had mostly stepped back from actual work in the trading company, they had always supported Rose as shareholders and showed her deep respect.
Yet even they found this matter impossible to accept.
After hearing about the situation with the Duke, some were so shocked that they fell ill, while others cried out of frustration and sorrow.
In the heavy silence, George, who was in charge of transportation, twisted his deeply wrinkled face.
He looked thin and sharp, but he had a kind heart and always took on the hardest tasks.
This time as well, he stepped forward to protest on behalf of the others.
“Miss! How could you do such a thing?! What could you possibly lack that you must become the Duke’s concubine?!”
“George!”
At the excessive words, the other elderly people hurriedly stood up to cover his mouth, but when Rose waved her hand, they all sat back down with gloomy expressions.
Even if they did not speak as directly as George, it was clear that none of them welcomed this situation.
Sitting at the head of the long table, Rose looked at the elderly people who were her employees and who had endured countless hardships while growing the trading company together with her.
“I know this is hard to understand. But this is something that must be done.”
Among the elderly, the only middle-aged man looked at her.
Kwan, who had a sturdy build and dark brown hair, was usually quiet, but when he spoke, everyone paid attention.
“I heard there has been pressure from the nobles of Arga recently. Is this because of that?”
The murmuring elderly people widened their eyes and looked at Rose.
It was not a perfect answer, but it was very close, and Rose gave a bitter smile.
‘Sharp.’
“Yes. That’s right.”
The moment she said it, worry spread across their faces.
Problems involving nobles had happened many times before, but those were things the trading company could handle.
However, if the opponent was not a kingdom but the Arga Empire, then, as Rose said, it was only natural to prioritize the survival of the company over personal feelings.
Still, the fact that Rose had to go this far for the trading company made the elderly people feel helpless.
As Rose hesitated, choosing her words carefully, an unexpected voice suddenly lightened the mood.
“So that’s why you’re making the Duke—who’s famous for his sword skills—your lover? As a protector? Aha! That’s it!”
Sing, a short and round-looking elderly man with a cute appearance, stared at Rose with wide olive-colored eyes beneath his curly white hair.
He was in charge of general goods and loved alcohol so much that he always smelled of sweet fruit wine. Today was no exception.
When everyone looked at him as if wondering whether he had been drinking, Sing stroked his chin with a face full of confidence, living simply and happily as he always did.
“No matter how I think about it, there’s no way our miss could be a concubine. She’s smart and pretty, isn’t she? Exactly. Exactly. We must have misunderstood. Right?”
“Uh…”
When Rose couldn’t answer right away, Sing shrugged smugly, as if he had confirmed his belief.
“See? I was right, wasn’t I? Anyone can see how wonderful she is. Even if he’s a Duke, what’s the difference? A concubine? What nonsense! Don’t even put such filthy words in your mouth! Who would dare make our Lady Rose a lover? If anyone’s choosing, it’s our miss who chooses. If someone becomes a lover, it’s our Lady Rose who takes one!”
At Sing’s words, the discussion began drifting further and further away from the original topic.
“So she’s not becoming a concubine?”
“A lover! What concubine? I heard in the north, having concubines is a crime!”
“Really? That sounds like a fine place.”
Encouraged by the others chiming in, Sing grew even more excited and started fanning the air dramatically.
“Think about it. What does our miss lack? She has money. She has looks. She got divorced, sure, but her husband cheated—how is that Lady Rose’s fault? Any human would fall for someone as kind and beautiful as her. The Duke must have fallen head over heels and begged! No doubt about it!”
“True. That ex-husband was trash. Throwing away good fortune like that.”
“Why bring up that idiot here? You’ll ruin everyone’s appetite!”
The elderly people, unaware of Rose’s former status as the deposed empress, cursed the Emperor of Arga while nodding along.
Rose could only smile weakly.
Encouraged by her smile, the elderly people slammed the table enthusiastically, their passion becoming more and more distorted.
“So then, our miss’s lover is the Duke? I heard he’s possessed by ghosts!”
“Hey! Not that! They say he fights like a ghost with a sword! That, that—what was it? Sword Master! He can split mountains and even the sea!”
The heavy mood from earlier completely disappeared, replaced by wild exaggerations.
Gray, who was leading the meeting, frowned as if he had expected this, while Kasa, standing behind Rose, laughed as he tossed an apple into the air and caught it.
Annoyed, Rose kicked Kasa’s foot.
“Why did you kick me?”
“Is this a time to laugh? Go train that lizard tail of yours. At this rate, you won’t protect me—you won’t even grab the Duke’s ankle.”
Kasa stood crookedly, rubbing one eyebrow with his finger as he laughed.
“Hey, don’t underestimate me. I’m a top-class mercenary—top three, at least. Why do you keep pairing me with the Duke? That thing isn’t human. I’m the best among humans. Instead of looking for usefulness in my tail, how about keeping me as a pet fox? I look good, my personality is gentle, and since I’m human, I can protect you just fine. Perfect, right?”
“Yeah, sounds good. But strangely enough, I already have a pet fox. Looks nice, but has a filthy personality, and when I asked it to guard me, it said it would pick and choose who to fight. Why am I even raising this thing?”
The man with burning red hair and ruby-like eyes smiled sweetly and leaned closer to Rose.
“Didn’t you know? Pretty things cost a lot of money.”
‘Shameless bastard. If only he couldn’t talk.’
As Rose glared at Kasa, her eyes met Gray’s.
‘Tired?’
‘Yes. Extremely tired. I might die.’
Gray, exhausted by the elderly people’s strange conversation, shook his head.
Finally unable to endure it anymore, he slammed the wooden board in front of him with a wooden hammer.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“That’s enough! Today’s meeting is over! Over!”
Rose watched Gray’s lips move roughly.
Ignoring his muttering filled with deep frustration, she looked around the meeting room that had turned into something like an old people’s gathering.
‘Hang in there, Gray.’
After Rose left, the meeting room became quiet in an instant.
Gray sighed as he looked at the elderly people sitting there with their lips tightly shut.
“There was no need to act like that. You could’ve just said you understood.”
Sing, who had led the chatter earlier, beat his chest in frustration.
“I know! I know! But what can I do? I’m upset!”
Though he had shouted, Sing was soft-hearted and quickly grew gloomy, his face crumpling.
“But the miss meeting the Duke is because of us, isn’t it? Do the people under the company really not know Lady Rose’s hardships? Those Arga nobles bothering us—it’s all because of money! Even I get tempted when I see how much the company earns. How could those pale nobles not lose their minds? But every time something like this happens, we just stand back and do nothing. And now… now I hate that she has to pretend to be a lover to some Duke she doesn’t even like!”
Kwan stepped in.
“We understand. We know there’s a reason. But it still feels helpless. All we can do is business.”
Sing stood up and moved close to Gray, tears welling in his gentle, round eyes.
“Gray, can’t this really be stopped?”
“No. This is what Lady Rose wants.”
“Is that so…?”
Sing muttered quietly.
“If she wants it, then she should do it. But still… I’d rather she ask me for my liver or gallbladder. She hated men after her ex-husband. What if she suffers for nothing because of some strange man? What if the Duke bullies our Lady Rose just because he can use a sword?”
As the elderly people murmured anxiously, Gray looked at Kwan, silently asking him to handle it.
Kwan bent one knee and met Sing’s eyes with calm brown eyes.
“It’s Lady Rose. She doesn’t form relationships she can’t take responsibility for. Especially not with a man.”
Sing sniffed and looked at him. Kwan nodded.
The elderly people seemed to calm down a little, and Gray let out a relieved sigh.
Looking at Kwan’s solid back as he stood up, Gray smiled proudly.
‘He really is suited to be the next head of the trading company.’
Feeling a chill, Kwan turned around. Gray smiled brightly and winked playfully.
Frowning slightly, Kwan continued in a quiet but heavy voice.
“She said this was necessary. Then all we need to do is worry, stay alert, and protect her from behind. If that man dares to have impure thoughts toward Lady Rose, the trading company will repay him twice over. So everyone, stay sharp.”
“That’s right! That’s right! Kwan, you said it perfectly!”
Gray shook his head, but Kwan closed his mouth firmly, having said all he needed.
Standing in front of the meeting room door, Kasa looked over Rose with a disgusted expression.
“Is something wrong with my eyes? No matter how I look, you don’t seem charming enough to bewitch people. Maybe the Duke, though.”
Rose laughed lightly, warmth spreading across her face.
A few years ago, every day had been a battlefield.
Life in the Arga imperial palace and the count’s household had both been harsh.
What filled her life back then was not blood relations, but connections formed in fleeting moments.
Listening to the affection-filled voices coming from beyond the door, Rose said,
“These people feel more like real family than the one I had.”
Kasa smiled, red eyes shining.
“Because they like you. They know how precious the hand you extended was to lives that had no hope. You say you just helped them survive, but everyone knows—that’s not something just anyone can do. You deserve more respect and love than anyone.”
“Then why did you say you didn’t understand earlier?”
Kasa narrowed his eyes, stared at Rose closely, then said,
“Huh? Looking again… you really are pretty.”
Suddenly, he clutched his chest as if in pain.
“Ah, a face that’s bad for my heart.”
Rose twisted her lips.
“Was that an insult?”
“Nope.”
As Rose glared at the grinning Kasa, she remembered the first time she met these people.
When she became a deposed empress and fled to Terran, the only thing she had was the Chaos Trading Company that Gray had built.
Most of the funds she had gathered were gone during her escape from Arga, and she lacked manpower.
Facing the need to rebuild everything from the ground up, she felt like floating duckweed with no roots.
Then, after disappearing for a while, Gray brought people from the slums.
They all had different appearances and stories, but they shared one thing—faces with no hope left.
There are people in the world who must crawl along the bottom no matter where they go.
Nobles, whether rich or poor, always had something to lean on.
But the lower class, who lived worse lives than commoners, didn’t even have that.
The elderly people, afraid that no one would want them, offered to become slaves.
“If you take away our worry about food, we’ll give you the rest of our lives. Even if these old bodies are all we have, you can use us like servants—we’ll never complain.”
They reached out hands that had buried children, saying it was better to sell their freedom than to starve.
When Rose felt like she would suffocate from the despair pouring out of the slums, a middle-aged man with dark brown hair stepped forward.
“I am Kwan.”
With bloodshot eyes from holding back tears, he approached Rose.
