Chapter 141. Do you know degrees? 2021.06.08.
In Duke Tristan’s opinion, the most important condition for negotiations and deals was who had the upper hand first. In that respect, the trade negotiations were a victory for Duke Tristan before they even started.
‘Because I won’t be able to break through the Langard trade without going through this body.’
Rumors of the guild, Ermano’s Evil, had spread across the vast inland, even to the Langard Empire. It is known that there is one man who is at the forefront of the legendary history of becoming the top tier of Ermano in a short period of time. It was a genius mage from a commoner who was said to be able to cultivate Veneno, not even a master wrapped in a veil! Duke Tristan’s goal was to recruit the genius wizard to the Langard Empire.
‘If that’s the case, I can return with the face upright.’
In the first place, he had no intention of trading with the Evil Guild. Recruiting talented people will bring Ermano’s magic material capital intact, so what’s the need for trade? He had tried subtly to coax the wizard a few times before, but each time he fell for his tongue-in-cheek language and the conversation fizzled out. To make up for the failure of negotiating a territorial dispute, Duke Tristan stepped into the headquarters of the Evil Guild. Duke Tristan entered the parlor following the guild staff who had greeted him, and found Casey who had arrived earlier.
“See you again. Your Excellency, Duke Tristan. I hope there will be smooth trade negotiations today!”
Casey, smiling brightly, offered a seat to Duke Tristan. Duke Tristan, who was walking towards the sofa, was puzzled when he saw someone sitting first.
‘Who is it?’
His face was covered with a thick cloak, so it was difficult to tell whether he was a boy or a girl. He was small in stature.
“Who is this…?”
“iced coffee. He is the person who specially attended this negotiation. He has a heavy ass, so he doesn’t go out well, but you’re here!”
Casey introduced the man who had the cloak pulled over with both hands. Who are you? By the time Duke Tristan’s eyes narrowed at the lengthy introduction.
“This is the guild master, ‘Edan’.”
“…!”
Duke Tristan was startled inside.
‘The informant told me that he was reluctant to reveal his identity.’
Casey, the sub-master, was always active externally, so few people knew the face of the master. It would be normal for people who had been in the guild for a long time to know, but even if some informants tried to persuade, there was no time for information to leak out as they only shook their heads with contemplative faces. Duke Tristan, ignorant of the terrible history of the past evil purging of traitors, thought that the master must have firmly closed his mouth.
‘Is this the master?’
Seeing a different appearance than he had imagined, Duke Tristan took a closer look at his opponent. His face was covered with a thick cloak, so no skin was exposed. Gender and age were unknown.
“Excuse me, can I see your face? If you talk without knowing each other’s faces, it can’t be called a proper negotiation.”
Despite Duke Tristan’s strong tone, Master sat still. Instead, Casey responded with a soft laugh.
“Master doesn’t like to show his face after suffering major burns all over his body. I ask for your understanding, Your Excellency.”
“Kuhm.”
At the euphemistic refusal, Duke Tristan leaned back on the sofa with a look of displeasure. Casey laughed awkwardly and intervened.
“I ask for your understanding, Your Excellency the Duke. What does the master say-.”
“you.”
Then, an interrupted voice cut off Casey’s words. The owner of the voice was the Master of the Evil Guild. Contrary to what I expected to be young because of his small body, it was the voice of a man who was quite old. his words continued.
“There are two spirits roaming beside you.”
“What is that…”
Duke Tristan couldn’t hide his absurdity at the sudden nonsense and laughed with a ‘huh’. Just a while ago, I met a pseudonym who pretended to be a priest of Abelardo, so the Master’s words sounded absurd.
‘Is it a fad these days?’
Even the guild master couldn’t laugh at this prank. The smile soon faded from Duke Tristan’s face.
“If it was just to make unnecessary noise—”
This time, the Duke cut off his words and the Master intervened.
“One soul eats like crazy and the other is stubborn?”
“…?”
At that moment, two figures passed through the Duke’s mind. Dylan and Renesmee.
‘It must be a coincidence.’
However, after a while, the duke regained his composure and opened his mouth in anger again. But the Evil Master was faster.
“you. When you wake up lately, isn’t your hair falling out?”
“…!”
“Even when I look at my errands, I’m not very happy.”
“…!!”
“Sweets often pull me.”
“…!!!”
Duke Tristan’s eyes widened as they couldn’t get any bigger.
‘How can I do that!’
Those symptoms were the ones that started after coming to Ermano. It was a worry that I did not tell anyone, assuming that my sensitive body caused a rejection reaction due to the different climate from Langard. Because it was her own concern, the duke’s aide, who was always by her side, didn’t even notice.
“Then die early.”
“To die…!”
“Make sure you eat a lot of apples.”
“Apology… you mean? Any apology would be enough?”
“It’s not just an apology. A bright red apple.”
“Four apples.”
Duke Tristan nodded as if he understood. Casey, who had been listening to the conversation the whole time, shook his hand when the duke was about to ask the master with a voice that was out of focus.
“now. Stop it, Master. You know you shouldn’t reveal your foresight to outsiders like that, right?”
‘Precise ability?’
Duke Tristan’s ears perked up. In fact, I heard that among the priests of Abelard, there are those who are gifted with foresight by God. And since that ability was used only for God unconditionally, it could not be used privately. But what if this is real foresight? What if that skill raised the guild to the top?
“Now we have to negotiate. Your Excellency is inconvenient.”
“I am not comfortable. at all!”
“yes?”
“Then keep going!”
The Duke raised his voice and looked at the Master with burning eyes. As if in response, the Master’s warning continued.
“The layout of the room has been changed. The mirror position has returned.”
“How…? It looks like the maid changed it at will.”
“That’s not good feng shui.”
“What is feng shui geography?”
“Turn the mirror around.”
“All right. And again…?”
Duke Tristan’s tone gradually became more polite. However, the duke did not even notice the change in himself and focused on every word the master said. The Master, who had been pouring out words that would charm Duke Tristan for a long time, asked a question of conversion.
“Do you know the Tao?”
Not knowing what that meant, Duke Tristan shook his head and shouted.
“What is Tao? Please let me know!”
The eyes hidden under the Master’s cloak shone meaningfully. grow up
***
Tak. Duke Tristan left the room with a staggering gait as if possessed. After confirming that the footsteps faded away completely, the master took off his cloak.
“Huh! I thought I was going to die of frustration!”
The owner of the gruff voice was none other than Mabel. She took the growth elixir and became a bigger girl.
“You said you wouldn’t take the elixir again?”
“Will I have to die? This one is not defective.”
“Because it is my skill, I guarantee product quality. But are you still going to speak in Franz’s voice? It’s hard to hear.”
“why? It’s fun!”
Casey’s face contorted as he watched the scene as he spoke in Franz’s voice with a soft and lovely face.
“Please give me a magic tool. Apsu, lady.”
“Chehehe.”
Eventually, Mabel, whose magical tools were confiscated, returned to her original voice. In order to trick Duke Tristan, he used the same voice-altering magic tool he had used to trick Duke Javier before. Casey, who hid the magic tool tightly in her arms in case Mabel might steal it, sat down in front of Mabel.
“But your speaking skills are no joke, lady. It wouldn’t hurt to turn into a con artist.”
“Is that so? Then my scammer first hitter will be Casey. Is being broke a dream?”
“I will cancel what I just said.”
It couldn’t be anything other than a pseudo-scam team that had bloody conversations in a warm atmosphere. After a while, Oscar and Aidan, who had been observing the movement outside, returned. They also wore cloaks to cover their faces. As soon as they took off their capes, the bright young boys’ appearances shone.
“Mabel. How are you? I heard Duke Tristan staggered along… Is it possible to attack with divine power?”
Following Oscar’s question, Aidan took another bite.
“If you were going to use force, you could have made me do it.”
Mabel, who tried to negotiate in a non-violent and moderate way, became very unfair.
“Two people. What are you looking at me for!”
Then Oscar and Aidan answered in turn.
“My lovely little brother.”
“You are my lord.”
His ability to get out of flattery was at a high level. The two were sincere, but to Mabel, who listened, they were just flattering.
“So what about the Mabel negotiations?”
“Who am I? Aren’t you a negotiator?”
At that, Casey said, ‘The master of fraud…’ and then Mabel took a slap. Mabel proudly held out the magic item trade contract in front of Aidan and Oscar.
“braided!”
“Did Duke Tristan really agree to this rate?”
“yes.”
To think that the Duke of Tristan signed the contract at an absurd rate and left. Oscar felt that the younger brother in front of him was amazing and terrifying.
‘It’s cute though.’
Oscar stroked Mabel’s head while thinking of thoughts that he couldn’t let out because he was forbidden by the imperial decree. Her wispy hair tickled gently between her fingers.
“What did you play?”
“It’s a trade secret, but I’ll only tell Oscar secretly.”
Mabel whispered a small whisper as Oscar bent his knees at Mabel’s beckoning.
“Do you know Tao?”
“…?”
“That’s it!”
Unlike the lively Mabel, Oscar’s head was full of question marks. I really couldn’t figure out what you meant.
***
In the meantime, spending time with Renesmee reduced the amount of time I spent with Oscar. So, the disgruntled Oscar, Aidan, and myself decided to go see the streets and have dinner. Of course, the escorts were still waiting for me in the drawing room of Isti’s mansion, knowing nothing about it. Today’s guide was Oscar, who was in charge of making restaurant reservations.
“The meals are delicious, and the desserts are also famous. Mabel, you will like it too.”
“Have you been?”
“huh. I used to go often with my mother.”
“What if I run into Lord Donovan?”
I still looked like I was a few years older than my original age because the elixir didn’t run out. If it was a restaurant where aristocrats usually go, there might be people who would recognize me. Just in case, she changed her eye color to red eyes like Aidan’s and hair color to silver hair like Oscar’s with the magic tool she received from Casey, but I doubted that this would be enough of a disguise.
“I know your mother has an appointment today. And since it’s a private room, it’ll be fine.”
“Then I’m glad.”
Only then did I feel relieved and happily walked down the street. It was quite exciting to walk outside the castle for the first time in a while. It was time to turn around the alley and enter the main street again.
“Oops!”
I bumped into the person coming across from me. The other person held me firmly as I stumbled. I raised my head involuntarily and was shocked to see the man’s face. omg.
‘Lord Donovan!’
Duke Donovan, who said he had a schedule, was suddenly here. When I turned around in surprise, the two boys who had been following me were gone. It seemed that he hid himself in fear of being caught by Duke Donovan. And again the front. Our eyes met. The peacock’s eyes dimmed for a moment.
“Gardenia…”
The peacock’s eyes, which had apparently muttered his mother’s last name, returned to normal.
“No, you misunderstood the person. Are you okay?”
“yes I’m okay. Thanks for catching me!”
Fortunately, the duke did not seem to recognize me. That’s because he was originally older than me, and his hair color and eye color were different. It can’t be helped that my appearance reminds me of my mother when I was young, but there was no evidence that I was the emperor Mabel.
“I’m glad you’re okay. then-.”
“Hey passerby!”
I urgently grabbed the hem of Duke Donovan’s dress as he was about to pass by. The peacock’s green eyes stared down at me. I opened my mouth with courage.
“Do you have any time?”
