ITMWG 79

Chapter 79…

 I’ll buy them all.

Prince Orca led Nadia to a street not far outside the downtown area. Judging from how well he knew the direction, it seemed like this was a store he visited often.

I thought all the good stores in the capital were in the downtown areas.

Though with some doubt, she followed Orca, and soon a narrower passage appeared. The dark and quiet atmosphere felt like they were heading towards a secret dangerous place.

‘Plus, the guide is the villainous Prince …’

At the belated regret, Nadia wondered if she had agreed to follow him too easily. As soon as she entered through the small door without a sign, her mouth dropped open at the sight that unfolded.

“Wow…”

A huge flower garden was revealed with so much bright light pouring in that it was hard to believe that they had just been passing through a dark passage. The flower garden was so huge that she had a hard time believing this was a mere store. It looked as if a huge glass greenhouse had been moved into the town. No matter how famous and high-income a store was, it would have been difficult to occupy such a huge space in the downtown area. It was then that she came to know why they had come around the winding alley. As she was looking at the flowers with admiration, Prince Orca spoke up.

“Choosing flowers to decorate a mansion is an elegant hobby for the capital’s noble ladies. Gentlemen who want to give beautiful flowers to a lady are also regular guests here.”

It certainly seemed so. From her memory, when her mother was alive, she would often go out to buy flowers to decorate the mansion. Especially on days when a light tea time or dinner party was held at the mansion, extra care was taken to fill the space with fresh flowers.

Though, I stayed in my room when the guests came.

Nadia looked around and saw many noble ladies dressed as elegantly as her mother when she was alive.

“The mansions of the capital’s most prominent families are all decorated with flowers from this garden. The same goes for the imperial palace. So this flower garden… is a place where regular customers are prestigious figures in many ways.”

In other words, if one were to show their presence here, they could quickly make their name known to the capital’s most prominent families. At this point, something slightly shifted in the way Nadia viewed Prince Orca.

Having flowers as the starting point of a rumour.

She had never thought of that. She simply thought that if she showed off their wealth, words would quickly spread throughout the capital, so she thought it would be a good idea to buy and collect expensive works of art.

So this is the way of the villain who brought the empire’s downfall in the novel…!

It was such an elegant and sophisticated plan that it was eye-opening.

“Now, take this.”

Prince Orca grinned as he casually handed her a pink rose that was waiting to be sold. The gesture was so natural that she didn’t even know how to refuse. At her awkwardness, he said.

“This will definitely work to your advantage.”

“No. I wasn’t worried about that…”

“There is no problem then.”

Prince Orca grinned and started walking forward.

“They say it’s popular among noble ladies these days to decorate their mansions with lisianthus. In particular, the Gold Lisianthus is so rare that it is said to be more expensive than gold itself. One flower costs 100 gold… It’s a quite throat-cutting price.”

One could buy dozens of ordinary flowers for 1 gold, yet, this one flower costed 100 gold. In shock, a scenery that she had passed by without much thought came into my mind.

Now that he mentions, the Marquis Vine’s residence was also decorated with lisianthus here and there.

Nadia thought it was a bit unordinary her uncle and Melissa suddenly wanted to decorate the manor with incongruously elegant flowers, but it seemed that this was the trend in the capital these days.

But there were no Gold Lisianthus.

Nadia quickly looked around the flower garden, but she couldn’t find even a trace of the gold lisianthus among the numerous flowers that filled the interior. As she was looking around, a person who appeared to be a worker there quickly approached them.

“Is there a kind of flower you want in particular?”

His question was directed at Prince Orca, not her. In these situations, it was polite for the gentleman escorting the lady to lead the conversation, so the worker exchanged with Orca first. But Orca was supposed to be an exception since he was a prince. Rather, he had the right to be tended to by her.

I guess he didn’t recognise the person in front of him is Prince Orca.

It was the same in downtown areas as well. No one recognised his identity. Even though it was a situation that could be quite unpleasant, Prince Orca replied to the initiated  conversation with his usual smile, as if he was used to it and that it was no big deal.

“We’re looking for Gold Lisianthus.”

“Gold Lisianthus…”

The employee, who had lowered his head, quickly scanned through Orca and Nadia’s clothes. It was a kind of flower more precious than gold, and it seemed like he was trying to gauge whether they could afford it. It was a natural habit of merchants handling expensive products. Fortunately, his evaluation result was positive.

“The flower is in a special greenhouse. You would need to talk to our owner directly. I shall guide you there.”

Following the man’s guidance, they headed a little deeper into the flower garden, where an arch decorated with flowers appeared. Beyond it was a small glass greenhouse filled with gold lisianthus. The man who appeared to be the owner was already talking to someone inside the glass greenhouse. Both sides displayed quite grim expressions, as if they were not reaching mutual understanding. In the meantime, when the door to the greenhouse opened and they appeared, the two people just continued their conversation among themselves without any interest in the new visitors.

“I am the Marquis of Illian! Are you saying I can’t just take these flowers?”

“Of course it’s okay if you pay the price.”

“That’s why I told you to just give me a payable bill.”

“Marquis, even if it is issued to the Illian, I cannot accept a bill with a payment due date of three years.”

“Humph! These are the flowers to offer to His Majesty during the Silver Jubilee! Didn’t you say you were happy to be able to participate in such an honorable event?”

Nadia felt like she could roughly grasp what was going on. It seemed that the Marquis of Illian was trying to buy the Gold Lisianthus to flatter the emperor for the Silver Jubilee, but was trying to get a bill with an absurd payment due date from the owner. It was a method often used by high-ranking nobles to rob powerless merchants. As time passed, the value of money increased, but since payment according to the bill was only made at face value, it was a loss for those who received the money late. So, from a merchant’s perspective, it was absolutely impossible. (In short, it is the inflation effect)

“Of course, I would be happy if I could be a part of such an honorable event. However, you must conduct a proper transaction…”

“What? Are you saying I’m forcing you unreasonably?!”

The Marquis, who kept finding fault with the owner, raised his voice as his eyes turned fierce.

Anyone can see that he is forcing it…

However, the owner could not bring himself to say such a thing in front of the high-ranked marquis. If it had been her, she would have been kicked out right away if she said such nonsense. But the marquis belonged to a very high rank among nobles, and so the merchant gritted his teeth and bowed deeply towards him.

“Marquis, I too am very troubled. I have trusted you and collected expensive Gold Lisianthus from all over the world, but if you don’t pay me, I will go bankrupt! Not only me, but also other flower shops who sold me Gold Lisianthus will go bankrupt one after another if they don’t get paid.”

“Who said I wouldn’t pay you? I said I would give it to you in three years!”

The merchant seemed to be in a daze as he had no idea how to deal with the marquis’s stubborn persistence.

He is way over the line!

How could he corner someone like that!

“Please stop!”

As soon as Nadia stepped forward in anger at the Marquis’s ridiculous behavior, the eyes of the people who were arguing turned to focus on her. As soon as she received those gazes, cold sweat broke out on her back.

The Marquis was so obnoxious that I intervened without thinking through…

She should say that the Marquis was quite amazing because he was even capable of making her timid self angry. Now that she had stepped forward like this, she could not use timidity as an excuse to back down. She took about 50 quick deep breaths and lifted her chin, acting calm.

“The Gold Lisianthus that the Marquis was planning to buy, I will take it.”

“… pardon?”

“… what?”

The merchant and the marquis were dumbfounded and blanked at the same time, perhaps because her words were unexpected. The one who came to his senses first was the merchant whose situation was more desperate.

“The Marquis has ordered all the Gold Lisianthus in this greenhouse. When he said that he would pay more than the market price, I sought supplies from all over the empire. This… Are you sure you can buy it all?”

The merchant asked Nadia with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. Nadia estimated the number of flowers that filled the greenhouse and her budget, then nodded. After all, she came out today to throw money out the window in trade for fame. So it could be said to be a fair exchange. The merchant’s face brightened at her composed reaction. However, the Marquis was the opposite.

“How dare you try to steal the flowers I reserved. Which family are you…”

The Marquis was glaring at Nadia with ferocious eyes, but the moment he found Prince Orca standing next to her, his mouth dropped. Since he was a marquis, it was inevitable that he would recognise the prince, no matter how unpopular he was.

“Uh, uh…”

The Marquis, who fell into bafflement, stepped back and cleared his throat.

“Suddenly I remember… Something urgent… Let’s talk next time!”

The Marquis left those words for the merchant and hurriedly fled. The merchant looked at them with a puzzled expression at the sudden change in the marquis’ attitude.

“What kind of family are you from for the Marquis to act like that? I’ve never heard of such a young high-ranking noble couple… May I ask which family you two come from?”

The merchant, who was humbled, asked them cautiously. Nadia threw up her hands in surprise at the absurd misunderstanding that they were a couple, but before she could deny it, she felt a huge presence behind her.

“The true couple is over here.”

It was a familiar scent and voice. When Nadia turned her head in surprise at the appearance of someone who should not be here, she saw Altair standing there with his usual cold expression.

“H-how did you get here?”

“…I was passing by.”

“Pardon? You came here while passing by?”

For some reason, he seems grumpier than usual…

As she blinked in a daze, Altair, who was looking at her, frowned.

“That flower…”

It seemed like he had noticed the rose that Prince Orca had given her.

Before she could explain anything about the flower, Altair took the rose from her hand and said to the merchant.

“I’m sorry on my wife’s behalf, but I will buy all the Gold Lisianthus.”

“Uh…”

The merchant looked at Nadia with a troubled look, but since it was all about gaining the reputation for ‘Aylesford,’ it didn’t make much of a difference whether she bought it or Altair.

It’s just strange that Altair stole the flower Orca gave me.

But Altair always had a reason for his actions. so Nadia nodded at the merchant as permission, and he smiled brightly, as if he was happy that the complicated situation had been resolved.

“Then it is settled then. I’ll give them all to you! But how about the payment?…”

“If you go to the central bank in the capital, they will give it to you right away.”

Altair took out a checkbook from his coat pocket, signed it right on the spot, and handed it to the merchant. The amount section was empty.

“Blank-, blank check!”

“If you wish for future transactions with us, the amount should be…”

“Of course I will charge a reasonable price!”

The merchant read the name signed on the check with trembling hands.

“Baron Altair Aylesford…”

A little anxiety flashed across the merchant’s face upon seeing that he was only titled Baron with a not-so-famous name, but Altair didn’t seem to mind.

“If you’re concerned, I’ll take the flowers only after the payment is confirmed.”

“Thank you for your generous offer. We will send the flowers as soon as we confirm the payment. Do you also want to offer flowers to His Majesty, Baron?”

“No, to my wife.”

“… pardon? All these Gold Lisianthus?”

“Yes, all of them.”

Altair casually plucked a bunch of Gold Lisianthus plants in the greenhouse.

“Let’s just take this bundle first today.”

The bouquet was immediately placed in Nadia’s arms.

“Huh…”

As Nadia’s eyes rounded at the sudden gift, Altair waved the pink rose at Orca with his usual stoic face.

“I will take this instead, because I like pink.”

T/n: lol