Trust Cannot Grow Alone
A few days later, when Rose attended the meeting, the elderly shareholders and founding members of the merchant guild were in a state of great indignation.
Most of them had been lower-class citizens from the slums who weren’t given proper work opportunities until Rose provided them with jobs.
It wasn’t just the nobility that had class divisions; there were insurmountable walls between the social strata among the common people as well.
The poor lived lives that were barely better than serfs, but worse than slaves bound to their lords.
Rose, who had given them a chance to change their lives, was an irreplaceable and revered person to these elders.
Although they had mostly stepped back from the guild’s affairs due to age, they always supported Rose as shareholders and expressed their respect.
Even they couldn’t accept this matter.
Upon hearing about the affair with the Duke, some were so shocked they fell ill, while others burst into tears of frustration and distress.
In the midst of the silence, George, the transportation manager, contorted his deeply wrinkled face.
The thin, sharp-featured old man, known for his compassion and always taking on difficult tasks, spoke up in protest on behalf of the others.
“Miss! How could you do such a thing? What could you possibly lack that you’d become the Duke’s mistress!”
“George!”
The elders hurriedly tried to stop him from speaking further, but when Rose waved her hand, they all sat down with gloomy faces.
It was clear that even if they didn’t express it as directly as George, none of them approved of this situation.
Rose, seated at the head of the long table, looked at the elders who were both employees and those who had endured countless hardships in growing the guild.
“I understand it’s difficult to accept. But this is absolutely necessary.”
Among the elders, the only middle-aged man looked at her.
Quan, with his sturdy build and dark brown hair, was usually quiet, so when he spoke, everyone’s attention focused on him.
“I heard there’s been some pressure from the nobles of Argar recently. Is it because of this?”
The murmuring elders turned to Rose with wide eyes.
It wasn’t a perfect answer, but it was close. She smiled bitterly.
‘How perceptive.’
“Yes, that’s right.”
As soon as she said this, the faces of the people changed to worried expressions.
Problems related to nobility had occurred frequently before, but the guild had been able to resolve them.
However, if it involved the Argar Empire, not just a kingdom, it was natural to prioritize the company’s existence over their personal understanding, as Rose said.
But the fact that she had to resort to such measures for the sake of the guild made the elders feel powerless.
As Rose was choosing her words with a troubled expression, an unexpected voice lightened the mood.
“So, you’re trying to make the Duke, who’s said to be good with a sword, your lover? As a protector? Ah, I see! That’s it!”
Sing, a small, round-faced cute old man with curly white hair, looked at Rose with his large olive-colored eyes wide open.
In charge of general merchandise, he was known for his love of sweet fruit wine, and the smell lingered on him today as well.
As everyone looked at him as if wondering if he’d been drinking, Sing, who lived life simply and joyfully, stroked his chin with an expression full of confidence.
“No matter how I think about it, our Miss becoming a mistress doesn’t make sense. She’s so smart and pretty! Of course, of course. We must have misunderstood. Right?”
“Uh……”
When Rose couldn’t answer immediately, Sing smugly shrugged his shoulders, as if he had gained certainty.
“See, see? I’m right, aren’t I? Anyone can see how wonderful she is, so why would the Duke be any different? Mistress, what nonsense! Don’t even mention such dirty, filthy words! Who would dare to make our Lady Rose their mistress? If anyone’s doing the choosing, it’s our Miss, and if anyone’s taking a lover, it’s our Lady Rose!”
At Sing’s words, the elders began to stray further from the main topic.
“So, our Miss isn’t becoming a mistress?”
“Lover! What mistress? I heard it’s a crime to keep mistresses in the North!”
“Is that so? That sounds like a commendable place.”
Sing, encouraged by the elders’ responses, seemed excited and fanned the flames further.
“Think about it. Is there anything our Miss lacks? She has money. She has looks. She may be divorced, but it was that husband who cheated, so how is that our Lady Rose’s fault! Naturally, any human being would fall for someone as kind and beautiful as our Miss. Surely the Duke must have fallen head over heels for our Lady Rose and pursued her. That must be it! I’m certain!”
“Right, that ex-husband was trash. Kicking away the blessing that came to him.”
“Why are we talking about that dimwit here? It’s ruining my appetite!”
The elders, unaware of her status as the former Empress, nodded their heads while cursing the Emperor of Argar.
Rose could only smile awkwardly.
Encouraged by her smile, the elders slapped the table enthusiastically, their fervor growing increasingly distorted.
“So, does this mean the Duke is becoming our Miss’s lover? I heard he was possessed by ghosts?”
“Oh, you fool! It’s not that he’s possessed, it’s that he’s as good with a sword as a ghost! What was it… So, so… Ah! Sword Master! That’s what they call him! They say he can split mountains and part seas!”
The initially heavy atmosphere quickly dissipated, giving way to a flurry of bravado and exaggeration.
Gray, who was presiding over the meeting, frowned as if he had expected this, while Casa, standing behind Rose, chuckled as he tossed and caught an apple.
An irritated Rose kicked Casa’s foot.
“Why did you kick me?”
“Do you have time to laugh here? Go train your lizard tail. At this rate, you won’t even be able to hold back the Duke, let alone protect me.”
Casa stood crookedly, rubbing one eyebrow with his finger, and laughed.
“Hey, even like this, I’m one of the top three mercenaries. Why do you keep comparing me to the Duke? He’s not even human. I’m the best among humans, so instead of looking for utility in a tail, why not keep me as a pet fox? I’m nice to look at, have a gentle personality, and if the opponent is human, there’s no problem protecting you. I’m totally awesome, right?”
“Yeah, sounds good. But coincidentally, I already have a pet fox. It looks nice, but its personality is nasty, and when I assigned it to guard duty, it said it would choose who to fight. Why should I even keep it?”
The man with fiery red hair and eyes as beautiful as embedded rubies leaned toward Rose with a charming smile.
“Didn’t you know? Beautiful things are always expensive.”
‘Shameless guy, if only he couldn’t talk.’
Rose glared at Casa and then met Gray’s eyes.
‘Tired?’
‘Yes, I’m so tired I could die.’
Gray, exhausted by the elders’ nonsensical conversation, shook his head in disbelief.
Half out of it, he finally couldn’t take it anymore and banged the wooden gavel on the wooden board in front of him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“This meeting is over! Finished!”
Rose watched as Gray’s lips moved roughly.
She tried to ignore the deep frustration emanating from his muttering and looked around the meeting room, which had turned into a senior citizens’ gathering.
‘Hang in there, Gray.’
*** *** *** *** ***
As soon as Rose left, the conference room suddenly became quiet as if nothing had happened.
Gray sighed as he looked at the elders with their mouths tightly shut.
“There was no need to act. You could have just said it’s okay, that you understand.”
Sing, who had been chattering excitedly at the forefront, beat his chest as if frustrated.
“I know. I know, but… what can I do? I’m upset!”
Although he shouted, Sing was a soft-hearted person, so he quickly became gloomy and made a crying face.
“But it’s because of us that the young lady is meeting with the Duke! Don’t the members of the merchant guild understand Rose’s hardships? Those noble bastards of Argar are all bothering us because of money. They must be envious. Even I sometimes get trembling hands when I see the money the merchant guild earns, so it’s not strange that those pale noble rascals’ eyes are turning! But every time something like this happens, we just stand by and aren’t of any help. And now… now… I don’t like that she has to pretend to be lovers with that Duke fellow when she doesn’t even want to!”
Quan, who had been listening, stepped forward.
“We understand too. That there’s a purpose to all this. But it’s true that we feel powerless. Because we can’t help with anything except business.”
Sing, who had been listening to Quan’s words, got up from his chair and approached Gray closely.
There were tears in his kind and round face.
“Gray, can’t we really stop this?”
“No. This is what Rose wants.”
“Is that so?”
Sing muttered, looking dejected.
“If she wants it, we should let her. But… I’d rather she ask for my liver or gallbladder. She used to hate men because of her ex-husband, but now she’s suffering unnecessarily with this guy. What if the Duke, who’s good with a sword, bullies our Rose?”
As the elders started murmuring, Gray looked at Quan as if telling him to resolve the situation quickly.
Quan looked down at Sing with his soft brown eyes, then bent one knee to meet the old man’s gaze.
“We’re talking about Rose, not someone else. She won’t form a relationship she can’t take responsibility for. Especially when it comes to matters related to men.”
When Sing, who had been sniffling, looked at him with a ‘Is that so?’ expression, Quan nodded.
Gray breathed a sigh of relief as the depressed elders seemed to calm down a bit.
Then he looked fondly at Quan’s sturdy back as he stood up.
‘He’s indeed fit to be the next head of the merchant guild.’
When Quan turned around feeling a chill, Gray smiled brightly and winked frivolously.
Frowning for a moment, Quan continued speaking quietly but firmly.
“The young lady said this was necessary. Then our job is to worry, be anxious, and watch her back. If that man dares to have improper thoughts about Rose, the merchant guild should pay him back double. So everyone, stay sharp.”
“That’s right! That’s right! Quan, you said it so well! We’ll pay him back for sure!”
Gray shook his head, but Quan frowned and kept his mouth shut as if he had said all he needed to say.
‘Well, that’s just like Quan. But how should I say this?’
Gray, furrowing his brow, pondered for a while and then just blurted it out.
“By the way, now that Rosé has formed a relationship with the Duke, we need to go down to Aytan. It’s safer that way…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the elders rushed towards Gray.
“What? We can’t live here?”
“Where are we going? To that man’s house?”
Quan, who had been listening to Gray and the elders, looked as if he didn’t understand what the problem was.
“We are merchants. There’s no need to insist on staying in the capital. We just move, that’s all.”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
“Oh my, I thought my heart was going to drop. That’s true. We can just move.”
George, who had been angry earlier, sheepishly scratched his white hair.
“What’s this? You’re all just thinking about yourselves. Now I’m the only one who got angry for nothing.”
“Didn’t I tell you that temper of yours is the problem?”
“But how can I help getting angry! What’s lacking in Rose that she needs a lover? Ah, I’m still not over it.”
The elders became gloomy again.
Quan, who had been watching quietly, opened his mouth.
“Originally, a girlfriend becomes a lover, a lover becomes a wife. And then, before you know it, she becomes a mother.”
“Is that… how it goes?”
“Now that I hear it, it does seem that way.”
“Well, someone like our young lady could even bring a golem back to life.”
The elders, being older and less educated, were solely focused on the fact that Rose now had a man.
Faced with their blind affection and trust, Gray wondered if he should explain again that this was merely a ‘contract’.
Then he saw Quan shaking his head.
‘Does he mean to leave it be? Well, that’s not bad either.’
After all, most of the elders had retired from the merchant group and were devoted to raising their successors.
Occasionally meeting with Rose under the pretext of meetings and having conversations was the only joy left for them.
Too many worries were beyond their capacity to handle, and Rose didn’t want that either.
But those from the slums had such deep affection for her, who had saved them, that they couldn’t bear not helping in some way.
Gray had no doubt that these people would eventually see the Duke.
‘They’ll surely give him a good scare.’
Based on his experience with the elders, it was one of the few things he could bet the merchant guild on.
Gray smiled with satisfaction and hoped that day would come soon.
Ever since Rose’s ‘beauty that could topple a nation’ comment, he had been quite displeased with the Duke.
‘What beauty that could topple a nation, it’s a face perfect for ruining a family. On top of that, his family background is nothing special, his personality is lacking, there’s not a single good thing about him.’
Gray was just as blindly devoted to Rose as the elders were.
*** *** *** *** ***
Standing in front of the conference room door, Casa looked at Rose with a shiver-inducing expression.
“Is there something wrong with my eyes? No matter how I look, she doesn’t seem enchanting enough to captivate someone. Maybe if it were the Duke.”
Rose chuckled, but warmth seeped into her expression.
Just a few years ago, every day was a battle.
Life in the imperial palace of Argar and the Count’s family was not easy.
What filled her life was not blood ties but a connection made in a fleeting moment.
Listening to the words full of affection coming from beyond the door, Rose said.
“These people feel more like family than the one I had.”
Casa smiled with bright red eyes, as if it were obvious.
“Because they like you. They know how precious the hand you extended to a life with no hope was. You say you just made it so they don’t have to worry about making a living, but everyone knows. It’s not something just anyone does. You deserve to be respected and loved more than anyone.”
“Didn’t you just say you don’t understand why they’re acting like that?”
Casa squinted and looked intently at Rose, then said.
“Huh? Looking at you like this, you’re really pretty.”
Then suddenly, as if in pain, he clutched his chest.
“Ah, it’s a face that puts a strain on the heart.”
Rose, who was watching blankly, twisted her lips.
“Is that an insult?”
“No, it’s not.”
Rose, glaring at the smiling Casa, recalled when she met these people.
When she became a deposed Empress and came over to Terran, all she had was the Chaos Merchant Guild that Gray had built.
Having escaped from Argar, most of the funds she had accumulated were nearly depleted, and she lacked people.
Facing the situation of having to rebuild all the foundations, she felt like a floating weed without roots.
At that time, Gray, who had been reclusive for a while, brought in the impoverished.
The only commonality among people with diverse appearances and stories was their faces devoid of any hope.
There are people who have to crawl at the bottom no matter where they go in the world.
Nobles, whether rich or poor, had a hill to lean on.
But the lower class, living a life worse than commoners, found even that difficult.
The elders, fearing that no one would want them, offered to become slaves themselves.
‘If you relieve us of the worry of making a living, we’ll give you all our remaining lives. Even if you treat this old body like a servant, we will never get angry.’
They reached out to Rose with hands stained by burying their children, saying they would rather sell their freedom than starve to death.
When she felt suffocated by the despair emanating from the slum people, a middle-aged man with dark brown hair stepped forward.
‘My name is Quan.’
He approached Rose with bloodshot eyes, holding back tears.
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