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In front of Count Bonita's house.
As soon as we got off the carriage, we were greeted by a middle-aged man with a long mustache.
He was decorated from head to toe with everything valuable.
“Ah, young Marquis Spencer.
It has been a long time.
I thought I would never see you again.
I wonder if your journey has been comfortable.”
“It has been a long time.
Thanks to the carriage you sent, I arrived comfortably.
It is a wonderful carriage.”
The Marquis smiled at the Count, showing signs of familiarity.
The Count stroked his mustache with a smug smile, apparently pleased by the Marquis's flattery.
“It's nothing.
I have six other cars like this.”
The Count's behavior seemed strangely arrogant, even in the presence of the imperial nobility, who held a higher position than him.
He said that his vast wealth gave him a status comparable to that of kings in the kingdom, and this seems to have become a habit.
Of course, we disarmed before entering the Count's house, but behind the Count stood a large, fully armed guard.
The Marquis, accustomed to this situation, naturally introduced the Count and the Archduke to each other.
"Yes."
The Count's thin lips curled as he was introduced to the Archduke.
He had no choice but to notice the presence of the Archduke, who was more imposing than anyone else in the place.
The Count finally acknowledged his presence, uttering an exaggerated exclamation.
He bowed to the Archduke.
“It is an honor for me to have the famous Archduke Richard visit this shabby place.”
It seemed polite, but there was a strange undertone.
The Count's house, decorated with jewels and gold, was so dazzling that it did not appear shabby, and the word 'famous' carried a subtle hint of irony.
The Count smiled sarcastically.
“I heard of your reputation in the Imperial Army.
I even sent you a watch from my trading collection… but that is all in the past.
Haha.”
“….”
At this moment, it was a brilliantly disguised impudence.
I frowned and stared at the Count.
He seemed to be keenly aware of the plight of the Archduke, who had suffered various hardships since his suspension from the Imperial Army.
‘You have completely forgotten how the Archduke gained his fame.’
I secretly clicked my tongue at the impetuous Count.
The Archduke's name had recently been described as an 'assassin' on the battlefield, a true 'assassin'.
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
Despite his position, which required him to be strangled, the Archduke simply responded curtly, without being disturbed.
Well, he's a brilliant businessman, isn't he?
I praised him silently.
Since we have not received any benefit from the Count yet, engaging in this provocation would harm us.
When the Count saw no satisfactory reply from Archduke Richard, his eyes turned to me.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at me from head to toe.
Then he turned his head from side to side.
“By the way, I heard that you visited the kingdom for your honeymoon...
Didn’t the Archduchess come with you this time?”
“...!”
There was an eerie silence for a moment.
My mouth dropped open, confused by the situation, as he clearly saw me standing next to him, but pretended not to notice.
The Marquis, with a troubled face, touched his forehead and opened his mouth.
“Count, this is…”
“I never heard that Count Bonetta was blind.”
The Archduke interrupted the Marquis suddenly.
The Count frowned, a look of displeasure on his face.
“What do you mean, blind?”
“I was wondering if the Archduchess next to me was not visible to you, Count.”
The Archduke replied in a deadpan voice, looking at the Count.
Although he wasn't visibly angry, his aura made you feel suffocated.
The Count shuddered at the sight, then bowed his head in an exaggerated motion.
“Oh my God.
I was so rude.
For an Archduchess, you are so shabby… No, your clothes are so plain that I could not recognize you.
Please forgive me with the same mercy as a master.”
The Archduke frowned slightly.
Confused, I studied his expression.
Others might have misunderstood his expressionless face, but looking at the 18-degree angle of his eyebrows, it seemed as if the Count's constant rudeness was about to finally make him explode.
"Why are you doing this!
You've held yourself together so well up to this point!"
His hand immediately reached for his empty belt.
Perhaps it was his habit to subconsciously reach for his sword.
Fortunately, he disarmed it himself, but the problem was that he could kill even without a sword.
The Archduke's murderous aura swept over the people.
As if he sensed it, tension rose between the Count's knights.
Their pale hands reached for the rifles on their waists.
“It seems that the Count does not know the latest imperial fashion.
It is a dress deliberately designed to look worn, it is called ‘old-fashioned’.
Haha.”
I moved forward quickly, smiling a fake smile to change the atmosphere.
I couldn't let a slight insult from someone spoil my deal.
“Really?
I misunderstood, I thought it was a normal dress, the kind common people wear.”
"I don't like dresses with gold or silver.
The same goes for jewelry."
I smiled a foolish smile and told the biggest lie in history.
There has never been a time when I didn't love gold and silver.
The Archduke's forehead was bloodshot.
Then the young Marquis quickly came forward to calm the situation.
“Haha, enough of the greetings.
We are here to deal with the watch business, let’s talk about it.”
"Oh, we have to.
I think it's best to discuss work at the office."
The Count nodded and led the way.
The interior of the palace was luxurious, it seemed greatly exaggerated.
The walls and corridors were filled with decorations and works of art, so lavishly that it was difficult to distinguish whether it was a museum or a house.
However, even if we went directly to the office, he would wander around the palace, looking a little anxious to show us the clock.
He was chatting endlessly with the young Marquis Spencer.
“It is a pleasure to do business with you again, Marquis Spencer.
I was completely astonished when the trade convoy assigned to the Arya Empire suddenly changed from Spencer’s convoy to Hayden’s convoy.
It was a real struggle.
Isn’t that the nature of business?
It is as fickle as life.”
As the Marquis gruffly agreed, the Count turned to the Archduke with a meaningful expression.
“I think you know better than us, Archduke.
I heard that your recent experiences have made things very difficult for you...”
You fool.
I cursed internally.
That cunning Count Bonita was feeling the situation all the time.
Can we really buy the watch or not?
This was his way of testing and testing people
The Archduke looked at him coldly.
“It's none of your business, Count.”
“Sure.
I was just worried about whether you had enough money to buy the watch.
Getting help from the Archduke’s father must have been difficult.”
The Count looked at me with contempt and smiled.
“I run an information syndicate, and I couldn't find any information about the Christie family.
Hahaha.”
It was an outright mockery of my origins.
The faces of the Archduke and the Marquis were stiff at this point.
Before they could speak, I smiled innocently.
“Oh my God, you didn’t find any information about the Christie family.
I think your highness should invest more in the information guild, instead of collecting jewelry for the palace.”
The Count frowned slightly at my words.
Then he raised his chin arrogantly.
“Ma’am, you may not know this, but these are not just ordinary things.”
"truly?"
I nodded weakly in response to his condescending tone.
Then he continued arrogantly.
“Oh, that's right.
They may seem like simple paintings to you, ma'am, but each one of them is a masterpiece of enormous value.”
The Count stopped and pointed to a large painting hanging on the wall next to him.
“It is not easy for the average person to appreciate the value of a work like this.
This painting is by Pablo...”
“Pablo Llewellyn, 357, The Flowing Seasons.
The first work to use the drip technique.”
“Blue... ahh... uhm... do you know her?”
The Count, who was about to show off his knowledge, looked confused.
The Marquis and Archduke turned their heads in surprise and stared at me.
I relaxed and raised my eyebrows.
“Isn't this the painting that broke the record for the highest price ever paid at an auction for a Stella painting?”
“Yes, that's right.
I thought you would know it, it's a very famous painting.
Hmm... yeah, anyway... the painting shown here is famous among collectors.”
“It's a painting by Pietra Gautier, completed in 498.
A Castellani landscape.
The pasting technique is amazing.”
“…Huh?”
The Count stared at me blankly as I delivered information about the painting without hesitation.
“In this order, Lumiere, Degas, Friedrich, and Madeleine. 652, 533, 790, and last 821.”
I walked along the wall, step by step, repeating the names of the painters in the order in which they were displayed.
With every step, the Count's mouth opened more and more.
Finally, when his jaw couldn't open any longer, I smiled at him, as if to show him this, and squeezed the trigger hard.
“Is this true?”