seira didn’t mean it when she said she looked forward to dating louis today. she believed the act as nothing but a boisterous show to publicize franto and askan’s relationship.

    “we’ll be seeing each other every day, but the more telegrams, the better.”

    wasn’t he going to give her a bunch of magic tools, including three telegraphs, which roughly was about the price of a villa each?

    “choose whichever you like.”

    won’t he buy the products she chose and then send them to askan?

    “i actually knew after the test you weren’t wearing underwear,” louis told her in a low whisper, “next time, you can speak to me comfortably. we should take care of each other well if we want to make this a believable set-up.”

    he also picked out her own underwear. it was even from the most famous haute couture in viseltium.

    ‘does he really have to do this?’ seira asked herself.

    screaming inside, she smiled and said, “thank you, louis.”

    sometimes he’d hug and kiss seira on the cheek. fortunately, she wasn’t offended. it was all thanks to louis’ great looks and the rewards she could get out of their contract.

    the bigger the rumor, the more calrad’s anger would be redirected at louis. the more sincere they seem, the more beneficial it was for her. first of all, wouldn’t it be great to get aven out of calrad’s target?

    finally, after paying everything for seira, louis handed over franto’s carriage and knights to her.

    “use them until you get back home. that way, i will stay at ease knowing you are safe.”

    “alright,” seira nodded.

    now that louis promised to protect her from calrad, she had to accept his offer, even if it was somehow uncomfortable on her side.

    ‘everything we did today was seen by the public.’

    after she separated from louis, seira began to deal with things she had to put off for franto.

    contrary to what was known to the public, she didn’t live in frugality because she had no money. as a master-class slayer, seira earned a huge amount of money by becoming a mercenary for more than half a year. she didn’t deny most of her money was devoted to the revival of askan, but some had been invested in the right places.

    contrary to what is known to the outside world, she did not live so frugally because she had no money. as a master-class slayer, he earned a huge amount of money by playing as a mercenary for more than half of the year. it was true that most of them were devoted to the rehabilitation of the territory, but some invested in the right places.

    lucy and meilin, the twins, ran a legal counsel office that helped find an investment prospect. perhaps of their extensive legal knowledge and considerable information obtained through counseling, their recommended prospects always earned from the initial investments.

    her return this year was satisfactory too, and seira extended her contract with her existing investment partner for another year as per lucy and meilin’s advice.

    instead, seira reduced one of her annual expenses. every spring, they used to hire the empire’s most capable wizards to cast revival spells across askan, but this year she decided not to.

    ‘i still don’t know what’s going to happen.’

    if the power lent by louis would end up successful, then maybe.

    “your excellency!”

    as she stepped into the askan mansion and training grounds, askan knights started to gather. more than half of them remained, even though seira arrived quite late from visiting the counsel office and banks.

    ‘the rest were dispatched.’

    seira looked around at the knights.

    “have you eaten yet?’

    “oh, not yet.”

    “did you have dinner?”

    “me, too. should we eat together? i bought some meat.”

    the knights’ eyes almost popped out of their eyes as she exclaimed with excitement, “thank you, duchess!”

    “i’ll be right back after washing up. please wait for five minutes.”

    “hey, rookie! you didn’t sweat much, get ready to grill some meat!”

    “oh no! i smell no joke right now.”

    seira couldn’t help but stifle her laughter and said, “don’t worry, everyone wash up and then come back. i’ll grill the meat deliciously.”

    at her words, all of the knights closed their mouths and exchanged glances. seira bought meat that was obviously delicious and expensive but was on the verge of becoming inedible.

    one of the team leaders, hul, raised his hand in a flash, “rest easy, duchess! we will grill the meat.”

    “that’s right!”

    “unit 1, ready the charcoal fire! unit 2, prepare the vegetables, and unit 3 will be in charge of the meat. now, go!”

    seira laughed at the knights that scrambled to their stations, assuming the roles that were given to them.

    “then i’m going to get some drinks,” she said.

    there was something they could drink in the liquor storage in the basement of the main building.