CH 106

“Your Highness, my name is Palton Shaggy*. I have been looking forward to the day to finally meet you!”

[*TL/N: His last name was actually 샤기큰 which is a play on the word ‘con artist’ in Korean. I’ve got no idea how to convey that so I just gave him a similar name of how it was read and wrote a note lol.]

“Your Highness, he’s the person I mentioned earlier.”

[Marco William]

Thoughts: Surely the princess will recognize his competence, right?

[Palton]

Thoughts: This stupid son of a bitch, he brought the real princess. I thought I explained it well enough for him to understand, but look at this inflexible Northern guy!

“……”

Both of them smiled at her in a friendly way, but their inner thoughts were vastly different. Caught off guard by their contrasting reactions, Siervian hesitated for a moment showing an awkward expression.

“Your Highness?”

“Princess?”

The two of them asked in confusion as if there was something strange about her standing still.

“Hmm… nice to meet you.”

Although Siervian managed to suppress her frown and put on a natural smile as she stepped from the carriage, she couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Did he not know I was coming?’

Marco had clearly made a meeting appointment, so the thought was strange. Of course, the most surprising thing was that even though he was cursing inwardly, he was still able to put on a happy expression.

“Haha. Today is such a joyous day! I will cherish this honor for generations to come.”

Palton made exaggerated gestures as if he was deeply moved and couldn’t contain his emotions. But to Siervian, who could see his inner thoughts clearly, it seemed like a theatrical performance.

“Truly, you had remarkable eyes that seemed to depict the Northern lakes…”

[Palton]

Thoughts: We definitely agreed to finish this among ourselves so that there wouldn’t be a visit from the imperial family!

‘Aha, I see.’

Siervian understood the situation better after hearing another one of his exaggerated greetings.

Marco had been silently listening to Palton’s admiration for how much he had longed to meet the princess and suddenly beamed and interjected, “Sir Palton admired Your Highness so much that he didn’t dare to meet you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! That’s why I made an effort to bring the Princess here! I thought you would appreciate her even more if you saw her in person!”

[Marco William]

“……”

“…I-Is that so?”

[Palton]

Thoughts: This dim-witted guy!

It seemed that Palton was hesitant and refused to meet her directly, perhaps feeling burdened. However, Marco didn’t realize any of this.

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“Besides, Sir Palton is part of Viscount Shaggy’s family, Your Highness.”

“Ah, is that so…”

His surname didn’t appear in his status window. That meant the claim of him being a noble Shaggy was a lie.

“Now, don’t stand there and come inside!”

Palton talked with Marco for a while and then pointed inside the building with a slightly tired expression. Marco had expected him to guide the princess through every nook and cranny of the branch and didn’t think that Palton would just show her around hastily and finish.

“Ah, Sir Palton. We have properly deposited the money you gave us earlier into the treasury. Since you didn’t know the proper procedure, I’ll explain it to you in detail while we’re here.”

“…Thank you for that.”

[Palton]

Thoughts: …I can’t believe he didn’t even get it was a bribe! I thought he was such an easy target since he loves money, but who knew?

It was certainly a serious situation, and Siervian had to make an effort not to laugh. Even for her, this was unexpected.

Looking at the difference in their respective status screens, the situation became more understandable to Siervian.

It was clear that Palton had used cunning tactics as low as that to manipulate Marco. Moreover, it was also a well-known rumor that Marco liked money very much.

“We’re colleagues, so what’s the big deal? Hahaha. Next time, I’ll show you how to calculate rigorously to prepare for an audit!”

However, Palton had overlooked the fact that Marco was innocent, to the point where embezzlement or bribery was unimaginable to him.

“T-Thank you.”

Siervian thought she heard the sound of Palton’s teeth grinding underneath his smile.

‘Marco is an honest fool who only knows clean money!’

It was not a pleasant feeling to see such a kind and virtuous person like Marco being cursed inwardly.

She had kept Marco by her side for a long time because of his good character, so she couldn’t bear to see him being taken advantage of by a con artist!

‘What should I do?’

The situation was quite difficult. Of course, Marco had acted quite carelessly, but that didn’t mean he was someone who could be easily deceived by a cheap trick.

So, the only thing Palton could do was to try to keep himself from being cleverly outsmarted by the princess or to offer a bribe.

‘If I make an issue about the bribe, it could affect Marco as well.’

He might have thought that she didn’t believe in him and that she was prejudiced as a member of the imperial family. Especially since it was becoming increasingly difficult for those who worked with the Emperor, like him, to speak out.

At least, those who worked with her father were afraid to challenge the Emperor.

[Palton]

Thoughts: Damn it, they arrived early, and as a result, I couldn’t hide the ledger.

And now, he even brought the princess along!

However, as Siervian was trying to search for a solution, Palton’s status window lit up and changed its contents.

‘Aha.’

It seemed that there was something to worry about more than that.

“How is it, Your Highness? They put special effort to decorate the branch according to the Empire’s taste.”

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“It’s pretty.”

As Palton spoke again, Marco interrupted, “I personally requested each one while talking together with the magic tool. I thought you would visit someday.”

“Marco had a good insight, but I suffered a lot because of it. Haha, just kidding. Just kidding!”

[Palton]

Thoughts: Those damn Empire guys were so meddlesome. We could only make more money if we had spent more! Hmm, but if they leave, we can still sell these magic lights.

“……”

As he reviewed his ambitious embezzlement plan, Siervian thought to herself. For the time being, she needed more clues to know what he had already done.

“Sir Roid.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“This place is really beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“So, here’s the thing. The security is too lax. Send more knights to guard it while I’m in the Mosae Kingdom.”

“I will follow your orders. We will make sure there is no time for the knights to be lax.”

To buy some time, Siervian resorted to a ploy. At her sudden order, Palton lost himself in thought.

[Palton]

Thoughts: A knight! And to keep watch over the place continuously! What nonsense!

He barely managed to control his expression, but Siervian noticed this.

“Your Highness, what an outrageous thing to say. I fear that if these knights, who must protect you are here, it could lead to trouble. Please reconsider.”

[Palton]

Mood: Anxious.

Thoughts: If these imperial knights stick to us all day, we won’t be able to do anything!

As expected, he had different thoughts from his words.

Upon seeing his thoughts about not being able to hide the ledger earlier, she simply smiled.

She tried to imitate Marco and said, “Don’t worry! This is a branch from my mercenary guild, this is natural!”

“B-but, Your Highness…!”

“Haha. Sir Palton, don’t worry too much. We have many knights we brought here. You’re even worried about me, how kind!”

“That’s right! Thank you, Palton!”

“Uh, um… I’m sorry…”

[Palton]

Thoughts: Damn it!

After that, many curses that she had neither heard nor seen before passed through his mind. Siervian watched it with wide eyes and smiled inwardly.

* * *

“Marco, that Palton… Shaggy, how did you meet him?”

Later that evening, Siervian invited Marco to dinner and asked him about Palton.

She had purposely stayed at the branch all afternoon and examined every detail in Palton’s status window. Yet, she only saw curses more complex than a magic formula.

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Unfortunately, she had not discovered anything else, so she decided to gather more clues.

She was especially curious about how Marco had come to know that con artist.

“Oh! Palton was someone I met when I first traveled with the Garambell delegation,” replied Marco.

“Is that so?”

Surprised by the unexpected connection, Siervian’s eyes widened.

Thinking that it was an interest in a new talent, Marco enthusiastically recounted the events of that time.

“Didn’t you ask me to buy some grain when I was accompanying the delegation back then?”

“That’s right.”

“Before finalizing the grain import agreement, I was looking for potential buyers, and that’s when I met Sir Palton.”

“Ah…”

Siervian cautiously wondered if he was already scammed back then.

“Although we couldn’t finish the deal back then because the grain agreement went smoothly, Sir Palton and I have kept in touch ever since.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You can tell how consistent and honest he is. Originally, he refused the job offer from the guild several times before taking it on.”

“Ah…”

Siervian had a vague sense of why Marco was showing such a great deal of trust.

Even though Siervian couldn’t understand the methods of con artists, she knew it was difficult to be objective when it came to long-standing relationships like this one.

It was like her trusting the Empress until the very end.

“Hmm, but was there anything strange?”

With one knight left behind for caution, Siervian subtly whispered to Sir Roid to give him a hint.

Having been by her side for years now, Sir Roid knew Siervian’s intentions well and promised to prevent even a single small item from leaving the branch.

He said he would protect(?) Palton in particular.

“Oh, right. I have something to show you.”