Chapter 86

Chapter 86. Asterope Franz, Part III

It was time for an incident to happen to the count, and he would suffer from it. Unlike the count, who would know it in summer, rumors might have been circulating among the commoners.

And this time, Aria thought it would be good for her to use the information herself, instead of helping him. She couldn't do anything to deal with the princess, Mielle's supporter, while she was as broke as she was now.

“Miss! The carriage is ready.”

“Well, shall we go, then?”

As if she had had no gloomy days, Aria was shining. She had a light step to the foreboding that only good things were likely to happen in the future.

But it was for a moment, and Aria, who had checked Jessie's purchase of the newspaper through the wagon window, could not help frowning. The outfit of Hans who was renting the newspaper was very ugly. ‘Why does he look so fatigued though I paid the money enough for his attire to live on?'

‘Don't tell me, you bought another newspaper and have been selling it on the street.'

If he did, the end of him to lose his life would be waiting. Even so, she didn't mean to give him more money to stop it. Despite her help, if it was the future he had chosen, she had no right or obligation to stop him.

As soon as Jessie bought the newspaper, Aria headed to the Flower Mountain cafe. The terrace was empty because it was a favorite seat for only the nobility, and Aria, the eldest daughter of the family of the count, did not encounter difficulties to enjoy it.

The security of the cafe itself was so tight that the knight decided to keep the carriage. Aria settled on a suitable terrace to enjoy the spring breeze with Jessie and Annie.

“My God...! What a sight I can look down the Empire at a glance! I never dreamed I'd come to this cafe!”

The sweet coffee Aria drank while watching the noisy Annie was palatable. She thought it was worth it as if it was expensive. As sweet coffee was full of cream, she could be a target to be mocked at, if she didn't pay attention to. Aria had such experience in the past. So, she took heed of it, and watched the scenery, wiping her lips with the tissue provided.

Then, the memories that she had used to visit and enjoy in the past came to her mind freshly, even the foolish nobles who had recognized her from afar and frowned upon her because of her outstanding look. They had sometimes gossiped behind the terrace curtain. She had come here to relax in a long time, but they had scolded the employees for the scent of the gutter in the brothel.

The employees had apologized in unison for the scolding, even though it had not been something they had to apologize about. And the employees, who had repeatedly said, “I'm sorry,” must have known it at the time.

Now because of her efforts in the meantime, there had been many positive rumors. Since she had good manners and she was young, there had been nearly no people who would provoke her to a quarrel, but she must have been a very pitiful being in the past because she had not been treated as she was now.

“Miss! This coffee is really good, too!”

“I've never had such a sweet cup of coffee, either.”

“I'm sure the aristocrats who enjoy these great things every day are happy, right?”

‘Happiness. Have I ever felt that? I can't remember that feeling since I was a commoner when I was young, but I'm sure the real nobles who have only been exposed to precious things since birth would have no thoughts. They may think it's natural to breathe.'

Aria, who answered Annie's question to a smile, opened the newspaper. Since she hadn't had important information for a while, she was wondering if there might be something important in it. Not surprisingly, a small article came into her eyes.

[The business groups run by nobles are losing their accounts one by one…]

The article said that the trade routes of nobles were being cut off one after another by unidentified forces.

In this incident, some aristocrats had been damaged, who had been later engaged in business with Count Roscent. Therefore, the count had suffered from it. Of course, it had been a problem that had taken a while but had been later resolved. It was a little bit too much to call him a criminal, but she remembered that somehow the prime mover had been someone from the province of Pinonua.

She happened to remember that because she had enjoyed drinking wine from that province in the past. Even if she hadn't drunk it, wine of the province of Pinonua had been the most popular, so although Pinonua had been in the far countryside, there had been rare for a person who hadn't known the province of Pinonua. The criminal had been a lower-class aristocrat, contrary to the expectation that he would be a higher-class aristocrat.

‘They said that he dropped the document while he was moving. In any case, he was a fool.'

She had heard that he had fled to a foreign country after being exposed, as he had taken away the clientele and the accounts of other nobles. He had only targeted the favorite luxury items of the nobles and had monopolized and sold them for a very expensive price. He must have accumulated considerable wealth, to such an extent as to consider as a small matter that he had fled to a foreign country and lived with a false identity.

‘It's impossible for me to make clients like that nobleman, so I have no choice but to hoard in advance. It's going to cost a lot of money, but how can I get it?'

The answer to Aria's thought was the casino. If she used the hourglass, she could easily get a large sum of money.

Although she could use it only once a day, it was enough to win just once a day in the big money game. And if it piled up a few times, she could make a pretty big profit.

‘If I win alone, everyone's going to lose money, even though I don't turn over the hourglass.'

It was a wonder, but it was a good thing that she had grown up. If she would wear a mask, she would look like an adult.

In addition, if the Crown Prince as foolish as in the past would bring in a horse from another country, she could truly make money in one shot. The horse's leg had been broken during the race due to the mismanagement. It had been the sudden end of a horse that had always won. No one had expected. It was clear that if she invested in time, she could get a huge amount of money for a small amount of money.

‘Now, what I need is someone to sell the goods behind the hoarding.'

There was a great risk of direct employment, so it was necessary to hire someone to be trusted.

‘Someone I can trust... Is that kind of person around me now?'

The only people she could find were Annie and Jessie, but they had already been her maids and she could not turn them to the other side. Then what about their family members? Instructions would be easy to convey and easy to be briefed. Nor could they betray or run away as long as Annie and Jessie were around her.

If people tracked her down, they could find her, but she would not be suspecting because they would think that the stupid wicked woman would not dare to predict the future. If she covered her tail, it would be over.

Aria asked Jessie and Annie, who pulled their heads out of the terrace and looked at the scenery.

“Jessie, and Annie. What's your family like?”

Suddenly, Aria asked an unexpected question, and Jessie answered, cocking her head.

“I have two twin brothers. They're still sixteen years old, but they're helping the work of parents.”

“Really? What do they do?”

“They're working on a farm. It's the family business, so they are ready to succeed it.”

Farm work… Then, unfortunately, Jessie's brothers did not fit Aria's plan.

“Oh, then your parents can't do the work without your brothers. What about Annie?”

“I have an elder brother. He's twenty-three years old and he works in an inn near the square.”

“Inn?”

“Yes. I heard that he's in charge of managing the books, but I'm not sure. I came in the mansion of the Roscent family before I even realized what he was doing.”