IVPCB 06

Chapter 06

What emerged from behind the hood was a boy with short, curly brown hair and brown eyes. He had such an ordinary appearance that you wouldn’t recognize him if you bumped into him on the street, but I couldn’t let my guard down.

Despite his looks, this boy, ‘Raven,’ was the top fence for gemstones circulating in the underworld, and one of the five executives of ‘Alvireo,’ the dark organization of the Bergen Empire.

According to Anais’s memories from before the possession, Anais, who was overflowing with vanity and had money to burn, was not satisfied with ordinary gemstones.

That’s why she made contact with the ‘Raven Caravan.’ The ‘Raven Caravan’ dealt with the highest-grade gemstones not distributed on the open market, and they selected their clients through strict, secret screening criteria, holding their noses high.

Anais had not only passed the Raven Caravan’s screening but was a kind of VIP client who received a concierge service where the caravan master would personally bring the gemstones, and even run errands.

‘It was probably based on money, right? There couldn’t be a better sucker client than Anais.’

Indeed, she paid an enormous sum every time she procured gemstones.

Unfortunately, some of those gemstones were dangerous items that shouldn’t be touched, and later became part of the reasons for Anais’s execution—’excessive luxury unbefitting a noble.’

Thinking of the sharp blade that had been driven down toward my neck, my throat suddenly felt cold.

“Hey, sis. You’ve gotten prettier since I last saw you.”

The boy, ‘Raven,’ unaware of my feelings, greeted me brightly.

At that greeting, I briefly considered how to treat Raven in this round.

In the first round, I cut ties with Raven, and in the second round, I groveled to him for gemstones to live as a ‘vain villainess.’

Just like the original Anais.

But in this third round, I had decided not to live as a villainess, so I didn’t need to take a low posture.

‘I’ll just keep a proper distance and treat him formally. As a client and merchant.’

“Yeah, hi.”

Despite my indifferent reply, the boy didn’t flinch at all, his face beaming with a smile.

“I heard you pulled off a big stunt this time.”

He sat down uninvited in the chair across from me and spoke.

“Thinking of breaking off a branch of Nebula? How could you? As expected, sis, you never disappoint me.”

The boy giggled.

“You already know? News travels fast.”

Since both the Aldebaran Ducal House and the Posha Count’s House wanted the matter kept quiet, my theft of the sacred tree branch was kept relatively secret. Of course, it would eventually become known throughout the empire, but it meant it hadn’t reached them yet.

“Well, that’s how we make our living.”

Raven shrugged at my words. Then, his eyes sparkling, he asked instead.

“Sis, how did you think of going to Aldebaran as a gardener? Honestly, I thought the Posha Count’s House would go bankrupt from the compensation. I even bet on it.”

‘I lost 100,000 gold, you know?’ The boy added with a sad expression.

‘He even knows about me becoming a gardener.’

A chill ran down my spine as I thought, ‘He’s definitely not someone to take lightly.’ It might be understandable if it were about the sacred tree, but the gardener situation had happened only a few hours ago.

The original Anais would have been angry about the invasion of privacy, but I wasn’t angry.

Dealing with the underworld meant accepting some level of risk of being watched. Of course, Anais probably hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“Because I’m tired of the villainess life and want to settle things.”

So instead of getting angry, I calmly explained why I became a gardener.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Raven’s expression became peculiar.

His narrowed eyes and twitching lips seemed lost in thought, or perhaps suppressing some emotion.

But that expression was only fleeting.

“…That’s surprising to hear. I’m a bit disappointed too. From our standpoint, we’re losing one of our biggest clients.”

Raven drooped his eyebrows as if nothing had happened, putting on a regretful expression.

‘He’s not losing a client, but a source of money or a sucker.’

Whether he knew I was sneering internally or not, Raven continued calmly.

“So what’s the reason you came to see me today? I really can’t guess.”

“I’d like to ask you to handle some cleanup.”

“Cleanup? You’ve already been caught and even confessed to ‘Aegir Kasiss.'”

“I’ll handle the situation cleanup myself. What I’m asking you to handle is the cleanup of the items I used back then.”

At my words, Raven’s expression turned serious. It was only natural for him to be confused that his usual client, a clueless sucker who only bought gemstones, was suddenly asking for something else.

“They’re items with somewhat murky origins. A shoddy invisibility scroll that lasts 10 minutes and a recall scroll. I’d like you to handle the cleanup of these two items. This is your specialty.”

Raven pondered for a moment at my words before speaking.

“So, you mean I should just create a ghost shop and say they were sold there?”

As expected, it wasn’t for nothing that he became an executive of a dark organization at such a young age.

“Exactly. Leak the information to Aldebaran’s people that I bought those items from the ghost shop you set up.”

“Not difficult. But I want a high price for this.”

Damn, that was a problem. Since I had spent almost all my money buying items from the item shop, I currently had very little cash on hand.

Of course, assets don’t have to exist only in the form of cash, and I had planned to pay for today’s commission in other ways anyway.

But since I was going from a count’s daughter who lived without worrying about money to becoming a gardener, I didn’t know what variables might arise, so it seemed best to minimize expenses.

“Why? Is it not difficult but troublesome?”

I asked, trying to hide my anxiety about the potential cost exceeding my expectations. Raven shook his head.

“No. It’s because you cheated on me.”

Completely caught off guard by the unexpected answer, I couldn’t hide my surprise for a moment.

“Ehem, what do you mean? The ‘cheating’ I know is when one of two people in a romantic or marital relationship turns their eyes to someone else while leaving their partner behind.”

At my words, the boy gave a small smile.

“Sis, you have such a cute side. Not that kind of cheating. You used another shop instead of us.”

So, he was calling it ‘cheating’ that I used the item shop instead of the ‘Raven Shop.’

I felt a little wronged. Because of the horrific memories from my past life, I wanted to escape the villainess’s life as quickly as possible, so I just used a more convenient system.

[The system believes convenience is its advantage! It’s like a convenience store with the lights on 24/7.]

You, stop butting in with no tact.

I made an excuse to Raven.

“…The circumstances weren’t ideal.”

“I’m always ready to run to you whenever you call, sis, and I can get you whatever you want.”

Raven even winked at me as he said these embarrassing words. The original Anais would probably have been moved that the proud Raven was being so humble.

But I was just bewildered.

‘Why is he acting like this? Did he eat something wrong?’

From my memory, although Raven was in the position of selling goods, he was a person who never compromised his pride.

He always collected his payments properly and never bowed his head.

“I’ll just take your kind words. Thank you.”

Still, since I was the one commissioning the task, I refused as gently as possible.

[The system has won. It wears a triumphant smile. V^_^V]

Why is this one acting like this now?

In this ridiculous situation, I decided to send Raven away as quickly as possible. So I took out the velvet box I had placed under the chair and handed it to Raven.

“I’ll pay the commission with this. ‘Lily of Yuria.'”

Hearing the name of the gemstone I handed over, Raven’s eyes widened.

“Sis, are you serious?”

It was understandable that Raven was surprised.

Because ‘Lily of Yuria’ was the gemstone that Luna had been desperately searching for.

The Lily of Yuria was a lily-shaped earring made of pearls and aquamarine. The quality of the aquamarine was mediocre, and the pearl craftsmanship was ordinary, so the price itself wasn’t that high for a precious gemstone.

However, the meaning embedded in the gemstone was profound.

It was the very earring that the current Pope, ‘Gores del Margrita,’ had given to Luna’s mother, Lily, as a token of their engagement when they parted after a dreamlike time together when they fell in love.

The reason the quality of the ‘Lily of Yuria’ wasn’t great was that Gores had bought it with his salary when he was still a poor priest.

Later, when Lily raised Luna alone, she sold the ‘Lily of Yuria’ to cover living expenses, and it passed through many hands until it ended up in the possession of Anais, who disliked Luna.

Before I possessed her, Anais had worn the ‘Lily of Yuria’ conspicuously to a tea party where Luna was present. From then on, Luna begged Anais to return the ‘Lily of Yuria,’ saying she would somehow come up with the money, but Anais never returned it.

Of course, later, after Anais was executed, the ‘Lily of Yuria’ returned to Luna. Luna wore these earrings in the true ending wedding scene with all the male leads.

Ultimately, my paying Raven with this ‘Lily of Yuria’ was a sign of settling the past.

“Yeah. I’m serious. It’s just… all of it has become meaningless.”

I replied indifferently to the still-frozen Raven.

“Either give it to Luna, or sell it to the Pope for money. Personally, I recommend the latter; it’ll probably fetch a pretty penny.”

At my words, the boy fell silent for a moment, as if lost in thought.

I quietly watched Raven, waiting for him to organize his thoughts, and it was several minutes before he spoke.

“Anais, sis.”

Raven’s voice calling my name was dark, and his expression deep.

“If you’re going to settle the past anyway, how about joining our caravan?”