Chapter 95 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 95

I told Arpad about Gaspard's intrusion without hiding anything.

After all, Arpad had also noticed the intruder and come running.

However, I did not mention that I knew Gaspard from a connection before my regression.

I simply said that he was clearly a mage obsessed with dragons, and that for my own safety, I had sold him out.

At that, Arpad's face immediately scrunched up.

"Are you really going to hand me over to a stranger?"

This man had a remarkable ability to phrase things in the strangest way.

I shook my head.

"No. And besides, are you the type to be handed over so easily?"

"Well... no, I'm not."

"It was to get out of the situation. Seeing as he snuck into Sia's bedroom, he's clearly a powerful mage."

I apologized once more.

"I'm sorry. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I sold you out without even getting your permission......"

An unexpected answer came from Arpad.

"No, it's fine."

"Pardon?"

"You can sell me out a few times for that much. I'll escape and come back on my own."

He wasn't some puppy sold to a dog trader that swam back across the ocean.

No, rather, it felt more like one of those haunted dolls in ghost stories that keeps coming back no matter how many times you discard it.

It was an absurd thing to say, but honestly, it was unexpected.

While it was to get out of the situation, I thought he would be angry that I had sold him out.

To tell me I could sell him out as many times as I liked...

'That's a little touching... No, never mind.'

I shook my head back and forth.

Unlike Arpad, I was in my right mind.

"I won't sell you out."

What good is selling people?

Moreover, I have no desire to become a human trafficker.

The furrow between Arpad's brows smoothed out completely.

"And if I act like this, even you should tell me not to sell you out. You shouldn't say I can sell you out as many times as I like."

I knew it was a joke, but it still made me uncomfortable to hear.

'It just sounds like he has no particular attachment to himself.'

It was a thought that made my chest feel tight.

Arpad tilted his head but soon agreed.

"Alright. I'll try."

Did he really need to *try*?

I was not given the leisure to think more deeply.

The aftermath of Gaspard deploying teleportation magic and Arpad smashing the door and rushing in arrived belatedly.

The knights and courtiers who heard the commotion and came running were in an uproar.

"What in the world is going on?"

"Could it be an intruder?!"

"Your Highness! Are you unharmed?"

"Who did this to the door...!"

Arpad and I exchanged a silent glance. An agreement was reached in an instant.

'Let's say the door was the intruder's doing.'

'Agreed.'

In the end, that day, for the first time since entering the Crown Prince's Palace, we had to sleep somewhere other than Sia's bedroom.

Thanks to this commotion, I completely forgot the shame of having shown Arpad every possible state of disarray.

I only remembered that fact much later.

* * *

After the banquet, Hilia became the undisputed leading figure of the capital's social scene.

The Empress was in seclusion, and even the Platinum Key had passed into Hilia's hands.

Naturally, the public could not help but perceive that the real power had shifted.

The events at the banquet were so mysterious and legendary that everyone was talking about them.

People wanted to know even the most trivial details of that time.

Those who had directly witnessed the miracle boasted about what they had seen, explaining in detail.

"So, for a moment, I thought Her Highness the Crown Princess was draped in the Milky Way!"

"Oh my, oh my. Really?"

"Yes, really. It was a truly mystical lavender-blue dress. It was sprinkled with Illiaden pearls, so when it grew dark, it shimmered so beautifully."

A noblewoman fortunate enough to have witnessed the events at the banquet described the spectacle she had seen, and those who had not been able to attend gathered around, straining their ears.

This scene had been playing out countless times since the banquet at Artanus Hall.

It was a scene symbolically demonstrating Hilia's popularity and recognition.

Naturally, a common topic of conversation emerged in the capital's social circles.

"But, about Her Highness the Crown Princess's dress... who on earth made it?"

"Indeed. Now that you mention it, it's not known at all."

"Usually in such situations, wouldn't they come forward and boast about it themselves?"

"That exquisite lavender-blue color was just so beautiful."

As interest in the dress Hilia wore at the Artanus Hall banquet exploded, a secret rumor began to circulate at some point.

"I heard... it was made by the Kemel Atelier."

"But that's the place close to Evangeline, no, Lady Ruth."

"So they're probably keeping quiet on purpose. They can't completely ignore the eyes of Her Majesty the Empress and Lady Ruth."

A few quick individuals spread this information far and wide.

As a result, the Kemel Atelier experienced an inexplicable boom.

Melissa Kemel, the owner and head designer of the Kemel Atelier, had been keeping as low a profile as possible since the banquet.

Because the Crown Princess, who now held the real power of the Imperial Household, could not have failed to notice what they had attempted to do.

Just in case, she had sent a 'token of sincerity' in advance.

But then a rumor spread that her atelier was the one that had made the Crown Princess's much-discussed dress.

When the rumor first began to circulate, the Kemel Atelier was flustered.

'No, what we made wasn't the Crown Princess's dress, but the green dress for the lady-in-waiting?'

And that too, the one they had deliberately botched on Evangeline's request to humiliate Hilia.

Melissa Kemel's head spun.

Her merchant's instinct stirred.

'This... this is the scent of a jackpot!'

She spoke ambiguously.

"Ahh, it's true that we were summoned to the Crown Prince's Palace for a fitting......"

She naturally did not mention that the dress the Crown Princess wore on the day of the banquet was a different one.

Then, the slowly circulating rumor exploded.

That much-talked-about dress was made by the Kemel Atelier!

As the rumor spread, customers began flocking to the atelier like clouds.

"So it was true! The color was truly so beautiful. Is there any of the same fabric left? I want a dress made in that color too."

"...That fabric is very difficult to obtain, you see."

The vaguely started lie began to grow larger and larger as time went on.

Melissa Kemel broke out in a cold sweat.

It was now too big an affair to admit it had been a lie.

"Me too, me too! Make me a dress like the one Her Highness the Crown Princess wore!"

"With the exact same fabric!"

"While we cannot make a dress identical to Her Highness the Crown Princess's, how about this one here? In fact, this design was one of the final candidates for the banquet dress."

Crowds flocked like clouds, and the Kemel Atelier's sales soared day by day.

At first, Melissa Kemel conducted business cautiously, mindful of the Crown Princess's reaction.

But five days passed after the banquet with no negative expression of intent from the Crown Princess's side.

Then Melissa Kemel began to rationalize.

'Anyway, we weren't the ones who led that affair. Her Highness the Crown Princess must not care about such trivial matters at all!'

Otherwise, there would be no news for five whole days.

'It seems she liked the token of sincerity.'

She must have been pleased with the second gift sent after learning of the rumor, following the one sent the day after the banquet.

Now they were forgiven, and moreover, permitted.

The Kemel Atelier cheered and began a large-scale sales campaign.

"Now, this is the fabric whose texture and color Her Highness the Crown Princess praised!"

"Oh my! Then I'll take this!"

"I was first! Do mine first!"

*Ching-ching*, the sound of money coming in seemed to ring in their ears.

* * *

Looking at the dress-clad torso, I replied indifferently.

"So, where did you say this was sent from?"

"The Kemel Atelier."

"Ah, from there?"

"Yes, they sent it once the day after the banquet, and then again a few days later."

The luxurious box beside the torso was said to be the first gift sent.

Opening it, I found a sapphire necklace inside.

"What shall we do?"

The dress adorning the torso seemed to have more jewels than fabric.

It was glittering, but it looked garish rather than beautiful.

What was peculiar was the material of the torso. I ordered the dress to be removed from the torso.

Then a heavy, silver-glittering metal torso was revealed.

Scratching the surface up close, the silver foil coating peeled away, revealing gold.

This entire torso was an object made of gold.

'Quite a substantial bribe, this is.'

It was a plea to overlook what they had done by siding with Evangeline.

'They're profiting by claiming they made my banquet dress, aren't they?'

All while I was unconscious for five days.

I smiled, lifting the corner of my mouth.

'No need to refuse money.'

No matter how much money I received, it was no reason for me to let them off.

The money is mine. The revenge is mine.

Good. Very good.

So, how shall I deal with them now?

Thanks to the Kemel Atelier's presumptuousness, a good composition has been created.

'For the debut of the Crown Princess's exclusive designer.'

This will be a small amusement for me and a good message to the entire social scene.