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Chapter 30
The Heiress Only Deals with the Real Thing
“Right? There’s going to be a festival in our street!”
The agenda of the guild meeting was the festival.
‘Of course, our shop probably won’t make much money from the festival.’
Given the nature of a pawnshop, we can’t run discount events or giveaways. I even considered a free appraisal event, but that’s obviously impossible. I only have one body—I can’t possibly handle the flood of appraisal requests all at once.
Then Hannah’s words came to mind.
“Wow, I had no idea a place like this existed in the capital. If I had known, I would have come earlier!”
Hannah spent a whopping 2 million gold in a single visit. There must be potential customers like her who can spend large amounts but haven’t visited yet—either because they don’t know about the pawnshop or find it hard to access.
So?
‘We should use the festival as a promotion. That’s far more valuable than immediate money.’
I had already thought of a strategy. This was the first festival in the Gray Street.
‘Everyone will probably scoff at the idea of holding a festival in such a gloomy place. But even negative mentions count as publicity.’
It’s basically free noise marketing. The attention will be massive. If executed well, it’s an opportunity to attract far more customers than word-of-mouth could.
“I’m really excited. If the festival happens, lots of customers will come, right? I hope people come and buy lots of shoes from our shop.”
“I’m really looking forward to it too. Let’s meet at the guild hall later!”
The customer who bought the stamps was the shoemaker. After seeing her off with a smile and organizing the safe, a ding sound made me spring up.
“It’s a telegram!”
The paper from the telegraph had the Guild of Information mark stamped at the edge.
‘William’s already started working. That’s fast.’
I took out the spray William had sent separately along with the telegraph. It was a special solution: while the paper is soaked in the solution, the writing is visible, but once it evaporates, the paper returns to blank. Pretty good security.
I wondered what the telegram contained.
Excitedly, I sprayed the paper and frowned at the revealed text.
Hello, young shopkeeper. Just to clarify in advance, this telegram isn’t about gossip among the nobles.
However, since you are a member of this street, it contains urgent information you must know.
What news could it be?
Curiously, I read on and couldn’t help but agree with William.
The royal palace has issued a new permit form to merchants.
In other words, if you don’t comply with the new permit, you’ll have to shut down your business.
The problem is the grace period is very short, and apparently, the Gray Street will be prioritized for implementation.
‘Shut down if we can’t get the permit?’
Since this happened early this morning, I hadn’t obtained the updated conditions yet—but my gut feeling was bad. I knew the higher-ups didn’t like this street, but this was getting serious.
Anyway, I’d better prepare myself. That’s all for now.
I folded the telegram and let out a sigh, running my hands through my hair. I had a hunch. I immediately remembered an incident from a few days ago.
‘It’s similar to the forbidden book scheme. Pretending to be legal while doing shady stuff. Only something the higher-ups can intervene in. Could this be…?’
What if Rozanne was targeting my pawnshop?
Biting my lip, I immediately sent out two telegrams.
One was to William, asking him to hint if he could figure out who proposed the law revision regarding the permit forms.
And the other…
‘Hannah. She said she works in the palace’s document office. She must have handled the permit forms!’
I sent it to Hannah, asking if she could provide the new permit form in advance.
While waiting for a reply, I recalled what I knew about Rozanne.
‘Hugo feared his grandfather endlessly, but Rozanne was different.’
In my previous life, when I refused to sign until the end, Hugo had brought in other relatives. The most noticeable was Rozanne—not because of her cold appearance. She didn’t even look at me and went straight to the grandfather.
I’ll never forget what Rozanne said, looking down at my grandfather who couldn’t wake.
“Haha! Uncle, I knew it would come to this!”
There was a clear sense of victory in her mad eyes.
‘Rozanne must have felt inferior to my grandfather. Even after he was exiled, his presence loomed over her.’
The family had fallen in status and finances had collapsed. Instead of working to overcome it, Rozanne must have burned with jealousy and inferiority toward him.
‘It must have seemed like an insurmountable wall. And now, with him bedridden, she probably felt like she had won.’
Even with my incomplete memories, I could imagine how hellish those three years were for my grandfather.
I clenched my fists. The paper in my hand crumpled badly.
“Are you open?”
A voice called out.
I looked up and saw a man standing at the door. I was slightly taken aback—not because he appeared suddenly, but…
‘Wow, it’s blinding.’
Literal blinding—the man’s appearance hurt my eyes. Was it his shining blond hair reflecting the sun? Or his pure white clothes? A halo-like light seemed to surround him.
I quickly shook my head and put on a professional shopkeeper smile. Mood must not show in attitude.
“Yes, we’re open. Hello, have you been waiting long?”
“No, may I look around your shop?”
‘Wow, I’ve never had such a polite customer.’
Unlike some others, this customer was exceptionally well-mannered. I gathered all my courtesy and gestured.
“Of course. Feel free to look around.”
“Thank you.”
As the man entered, the halo-like light around him disappeared—as if it had been sunlight.
I watched him slowly look around the shop.
‘He looks like a prince.’
The man had blond hair and ocean-blue eyes—a deep teal color. Tall, and dressed entirely in white, he looked like he had stepped out of a fairy tale.
From my perspective, having grown up seeing Cerberus, it might not be objective, but…
‘Hmm, come to think of it, isn’t that uniform for knights?’
High-ranking knights in the papers had elaborate ornaments on their uniforms.
This man had just one—a large gold brooch. But looking closely, I realized it was the ceremonial strap for a sword. Definitely a uniform.
That means…?
‘Could he be investigating…?!’
Grandfather had said knights occasionally came for investigation assistance. Given the few ornaments, maybe he’s a lower-ranked knight?
‘If he’s on an investigation, I should cooperate.’
I rifled through my business card case, but the man had already come close—so quietly I hadn’t noticed.
I put on my professional smile again. The man, however, wasn’t looking at me—just at his brooch.
‘Interesting. The brooch is blinking.’
He sighed shortly while staring at the flashing brooch. For a brief moment, a complex expression passed over his otherwise emotionless, perfect face—a look as if enduring something.
‘Is it tough being a lower-ranked knight?’
He soon regained his usual impassiveness and spoke.
“Are you the owner here?”
“Yes, I am. Why do you ask?”
Understandable—he must be tired, it’s hard work. Looking for weapons or magical tools for training?
“I see.”
But his next words made me think. The prince idea was wrong.
“Who gave you permission to operate a business here?”
‘…This guy isn’t a knight.’
A thug, perhaps…
