Chapter 298

Chapter 298

Preparations had been completed some time ago. I left Eleris’s place with plenty of time to spare, and was carrying the dress with me in a garment bag.

I had already changed my hair color to silver like the last time. While facial expressions were important, so was changing my hair color.

Thanks to the painstaking efforts of Eleris and myself, I bore very little resemblance to my original self.

“Ah, um. Ahem.”

Another important thing: my voice.

I had changed it to an ambiguous tone that was neither overly feminine nor masculine. It was possible that someone could recognize me just by hearing my voice.

It was quite sad that I had to take all these detailed precautions—including making myself look somewhat like Reinhart but not exactly, and changing my voice to this ambiguous tone—just to make sure I wasn’t caught. If this wasn’t a cross-dressing contest, I could have just transformed into a completely different person.

‘It would have been better to have entered Miss Temple...’

With the last bit of insurance in place, though there was no further reason to hesitate. All that remained was to return to the Temple in time for the start of the cross-dressing contest. However, if I returned exactly on time, who knew what might happen? Participants had to show up earlier to the competition to prepare.

I waited in Eleris’s semi-basement room to pass the time before finally emerging back out to the Aligar shopping district, wearing casual clothing. Obviously I wasn’t in the Temple uniform, nor was I wearing women’s clothing. So far, I had only changed the way I looked with makeup, and the shape of my body slightly.

‘Wait... doesn’t that mean I’ve basically changed everything about myself?’

Worried that someone might see me, I pulled my hood down tightly over my robe and dragged the heavy garment bag behind me. It felt like I was going on some secret mission.

‘Is status really that important...? Do I really have to go this far...?’

I slowly headed towards Aligar Station, wallowing in self-depreciation and self-justification. Each time I entered a station, I would check to see if the shops in the stations had been properly set up. Of course, the scale of the business had expanded.

When I’d first proposed the business idea, I saw it as a nice thing to have, but once business began, the Merchants’ Guild realized it was a goldmine and expanded their investment even further. What had started as simple snack shops were now increasing in number and variety.

Soon, it would grow to such a scale that the Rotary Club members wouldn’t be able to handle it alone, and we would have to rely on others. At this rate, a structure like an underground shopping mall below a large terminal might emerge. I didn’t know when that would be, but it was a possibility.

In any case, the money the club was earning was increasing exponentially. It wouldn’t be bad if other organizations or businesses came in. Since we held the business rights, we could collect rental fees or hire employees to do the work for us while reaping the profits, and find endless ways to make money using other people’s hands.

If we didn’t like a tenant, we could use our business rights to kick them out. This was what power was. I found it quite surprising that I, who never used to think about such things, now had no qualms about having such ruthless thoughts as I stood in front of the shops at Aligar Station.

The Aligar district was like Yongsan-gu in Seoul. It had a very high transient population and was famous for its shopping district. Of course, the merchants were more famous for their ruthlessness.

I saw some kids loitering around the shops.

—How much is this?

—Oh, that’s ten bronze coins.

—Wh-What about that one?

One kid was standing in front of the club member managing the shop, pointing at various items and asking about their prices, while another kid was cautiously watching from the club member’s blind spot.

‘These little brats.’

One of them was creating a distraction, while the other kids were stealthily pocketing snacks. People who were busy with their own affairs either didn’t notice or chose to ignore what was happening.

‘Hah.’

Compared to the trouble I got into with subway peddlers, this was child’s play. But still, a business is a business.

‘These little brats with no future...’

I thought I’d teach these budding criminals a lesson and started to approach them.

Whack!

“Ow!”

“Got you, you little brats.”

Someone suddenly appeared and grabbed the necks of the two kids who were shoplifting.

Realizing that the situation had gone south, the kid who was creating the distraction at the counter tried to make a run for it.

“Catch that kid!” commanded the one who had grabbed the two young kids, and another person who had been waiting nearby sprang out and quickly caught the fleeing kid.

The three kids had been caught red-handed. Passersby began to stop and look, surprised by the sudden commotion.

‘Wait, who are these guys?’

They weren’t dressed like guards and they didn’t seem to be club members either, since the club member managing the shop looked just as bewildered as I was.

“You little brats have no idea how long we’ve been waiting for this,” said the man who had caught the kids, slapping one of them across the face.

Slap!

“Ow!”

I could only watch in a daze as the man slapped the kid again.

“Brats like you guys...”

“Ow!”

Whack!

“Need to be taught a lesson!”

Whack!

“Ow!” The poor kid started to cry.

“We’ll lock you up in the underground prison so you’ll never see the light of day again—”

Whack!

Before I knew it, I had moved. I found myself grabbing the hand of the man who was slapping the kids.

“... What do you want?”

“Ah, well... The kids... They did wrong, but... Do you really have to go this far?” I stammered, not quite believing the words coming out of my mouth.

This was not what I had in mind when I thought about teaching them a lesson.

‘But still, hitting kids like this?’

“Whoever you are, these three have been going around every station and stealing things. They’ve done it over twenty times. They’re practically hardened criminals. They’re a blight on society. There’s no need for a lady like you to be concerned for them.”

‘“A lady like you”? Did he just call me a lady?’

My hair felt like it was bleaching just from hearing that... No, it was already bleached since I had silver hair.

This was a cruel coincidence. Meeting Vertus at this exact moment was just too much. It felt like the universe was conspiring against me... Why was this happening to me?

To be fair, Vertus was offering me an apology as the chief of operational security because his subordinate, who was on special duty, had hit a member of the public, and he was doing this without revealing his status as a prince.

Vertus was genuinely a decent guy. I couldn’t deny it anymore. He had the qualities of an emperor.

“Well, I didn’t know the full details, so... I’m sorry too.”

Now that I knew the guy who had been hitting the kids was someone akin to an undercover cop, I had nothing more to say.

The kids would face proper legal action, and the guy would be disciplined for losing his temper and attempting to strike an innocent person. There was no reason for me to stay any longer.

More importantly, I didn’t want to remain in Vertus’s sight any longer.

“Well, then, I’ll be going now....”

Vertus’s voice stopped me as I was about to leave. “But, silver hair... It’s really a rare hair color.”

“... Oh, it’s, uh, dyed.”

“Ah, is that so?” Vertus narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. “Are you, by any chance, a Temple student?”

“... Sorry? Why do you ask?”

“Well, you seem... familiar.”

‘Shit. Shit! I need to run!’

But Vertus seemed surprised by his own words and looked flustered.

“Oh! I didn’t mean anything by it. Really. You just seemed... familiar. Never mind. It must sound strange,” he said as he fell silent, perhaps realizing that his words might have come off as intrusive.

An awkward silence ensued.

I needed to escape, but when was the right moment? Vertus seemed to be struggling to find the right words, believing he had said something inappropriate, while I was just looking for the right moment to flee.

“... Are you going on a trip?” Vertus asked, looking at the large bag I was carrying.

It was just a casual question.

‘Should I say I’m traveling?’

“Uh, yes... that’s right.”

I mumbled vaguely as I held the teacup Vertus had poured for me. It was black tea.

“A person who doesn’t even know how to hold a teacup properly can’t be a noble.”

An old memory suddenly flashed through my mind.

How was I supposed to hold the teacup? If I held it any old way, would he think, ‘This person holds a teacup just like Reinhart’?

‘Vertus can’t possibly remember something like that... But what if he does?’

I was on the verge of losing my mind from the anxiety.

‘Damn it, why couldn’t I just hold back? Why did I have to intervene and escalate the situation and make things worse?’

Even though the situation was awful, I was the one who had initiated it. I felt an overwhelming urge to bash my own head in as I held the teacup with both hands.

Tremble, tremble...

Naturally, my hands began to shake due to the extreme tension, making it look as if I had a tremor. Vertus watched me quietly.

“I, uh, have a bit of a tremor... as you can see.”

“Ah, I see.”

I managed to take a sip while holding the teacup with both hands. Trying to act normal only made me seem more suspicious.

“You’re still young, but you have a tremor? That’s quite unexpected,” he said.

Vertus also picked up his teacup.

‘That’s right. Having a tremor at this age? That’s obviously strange! What excuse could I use?’

“I-I’m an alcoholic.”

“Pfft!”

The excuse I came up with was so absurd that Vertus spat out his tea, right onto my face.

“...”

“I-I’m so, so sorry!”

Vertus, genuinely flustered, fumbled with a handkerchief, unsure whether to dab my face or not.

“It’s... fine.”

I wiped my face with the handkerchief Vertus handed me. The excuse I had come up with on the spot was ridiculous.

Vertus seemed deeply embarrassed, as if he had never imagined committing such a faux pas in his life.

I carefully dabbed at my face with the handkerchief.

‘Damn it. What if the makeup comes off?’

The fact that I was worrying about this was infuriating.

“Well... I’ll be going now.”

“I’m really sorry...”

Vertus bowed his head, looking utterly mortified. It was better this way. He probably thought I was leaving early because of his rudeness.

At least I knew my disguise was good enough to fool even the sharp-eyed Vertus.

“Um, may I ask for your name?” Vertus called out to me as I was about to leave the station master’s office.

I hadn’t thought of a fake name for my cross-dressing self yet. I had already turned myself into a female in so many ways and didn’t want it to become any more “real.”

“... There’s no point in someone of high status like you knowing my name.”

“... Oh...”

I fled the scene, leaving Vertus’s puzzled reaction behind.