Chapter 15

Chapter 15

While at the guild, Isidor always wore a magical bracelet that altered his looks and his voice. As a result, no one but Miguel knew that the master of the secretive organization was also the heir of the House of Bisconti, one of the founding families.

“How will I approach her? Why should I worry about that when I have a face like this?” Isidor asked in a puzzled tone, pointing at his handsome face.

Miguel’s lips quivered with the desire to curse out loud. He dropped his head into a submissive bow instead. “My apologies. I don’t know why I asked such a stupid question.” It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but there was nothing he could say since Isidor was indeed extremely handsome.

In fact, he was so good-looking, it was difficult to find the words to describe it. Over a dozen portrait artists had burst into tears and fled the mansion, exclaiming that his beautiful face was impossible to accurately depict with mortal hands.

And that was not all. Countless ladies had fought, pulling hair and shrieking, competing for Isidor’s attention—if all the hair torn out in this fashion was gathered, no doubt hundreds of wigs could be made.

He had endless, long legs and broad shoulders, which made him both beautiful and masculine. Because Isidor made all other men pale in comparison, Miguel was constantly forced to feel like he was invisible in his presence, even though he was doing nothing to avoid women’s attention.

“Miguel, I don’t like the look on your face. Do you have something you wish to say to me?”

“No, my liege.”

“Good. Prepare yourself to attend the academy as well.”

The master was demanding that Miguel act as his sidekick again. He nodded glumly.

“Oh.” Isidor, who’d returned to wearing his face as the heir of Bisconti, hesitated and fastened the bracelet back on. I have to adjust the color grades and the quantities of the diamonds. He’d planned on slowly releasing diamonds in three different colors onto the market—pink, blue, and green.

He’d intended on pink being the rarest color, but as soon as he’d heard Deborah’s second request, he’d revised his plan. Finding himself thinking about lavender hair falling into a face as pale as the moon, he rapped his fingers against the table. “Miguel. I’m adding another color for the diamonds. Call for the vice guild master.”

“And what color would that be?” Miguel asked, cupping his chin, eyes narrowing slightly as he frowned.

“Lavender.”

* * *

Time flies, doesn’t it? Ten days had already passed since I’d visited the guild master of Blanchard. Nothing notable had happened in that time, since the duke had left the capital briefly to tend to something regarding his land.

Veleque seemed to have encountered some sort of difficulty in his research and didn’t leave the Magic Tower most of the time, despite his threats that he would force me to marry Gazelle.

In the meantime, I was spending time in the shops around the capital, familiarizing myself with the market. That made it sound like I was doing something important, when I was, in essence, just spending my father’s money and enjoying myself.

Looks like cakes and other desserts are already a dime a dozen. As I ate a custard-covered piece of cake, I erased the weak business ideas from my mental list. This alleyway is too far from the city center, and people hardly frequent it. Hard pass.

I lounged on cafe terraces like a sloth, spacing out as I watched the ebb and flow of the crowds. I was visiting all the most famous shops and relaxing under the guise of research.

Such lovely weather. The temperature was growing warmer by the day, signaling the approach of spring. This meant another semester at the Academy was about to start. It’s interesting that spring symbolizes the start of school in this world, too!

“Ugh.” At least I wouldn’t have to try so hard to get good grades like I did in my previous life. When one thinks of an academy, they might picture a grand learning institution. But in the empire, socializing was more important than education at the academy.

Most of the scions of the nobility in attendance had already completed their education with private tutors and only went to build connections. The reason that the Academy became a place for socializing rather than studying was rooted far in the past.

In the early days of the Asteia Empire, the lords of rural regions had not been thrilled by the concept of forming one nation. As a result, in remote places where the imperial family’s control was weaker, rebellions were a commonplace occurrence.

The second emperor chose to control the rioting lords and the more influential nobles by calling their children to attend an academy located in the capital. They effectively became hostages who were thoroughly taught the importance of loyalty to the empire.

The problem was that the empire’s rule had stabilized long ago, but the laws created in the distant past still remained. Even now, the sons and daughters of houses designated by the imperial family were duty-bound to attend the Academy.

The institution was lenient toward the high-ranked nobility and all it took to graduate was meeting the attendance requirement. Houses with lackluster influence or those who didn’t have much to inherit from their parents would work themselves to the bone to catch the eye of one of the higher-ups or earn a place as an elected official later on, but none of that meant anything to me. More importantly, the very idea that I might encounter the female protagonist soon made me feel nervous.

I don’t want to get mixed up with her. Readers of the novel had referred to Mia Binoche as a magnet for trouble. And a prime example of this trouble had been none other than Deborah. In that regard, the master of Blanchard is quite trustworthy.

Though the novel wasn’t completed yet, the guild master had not flirted once with Mia in the over one hundred published chapters. That made him very unlikely to get mixed up in any sort of scandal. Speaking of, I should pay a visit to Maison.

The attendants always brought their desserts to the manor, so I hadn’t visited the shop so far. It had been ten days already, however, and I wanted to check in on the progress the guild master was making. Pulling up my hood, I got to my feet. I’d found a corset too uncomfortable to wear during my food tour around the city, so I’d worn a hooded robe instead.

As soon as I arrived at Maison, I took a seat on the terrace and began skim-reading the menu. I smiled incredulously when I saw the “sold out” sticker next to a cake that was apparently made by a renowned chef from the palace. The guild master’s really an incredible businessman.

I’d visited dozens of dessert shops so far, and only Maison was employing modern marketing tactics. Limited quantities and timed deals. The shop was capable of producing more but didn’t. They also pretended to sell out even when there was stock left.

People tended to obsess over rare things, objects that were hard to acquire. This was only more true of nobles who believed themselves to be entitled to only the very best. The guild master was exploiting his main target audience’s psychology perfectly, so it was no wonder Maison was doing so well.

Huh? I was tutting as I studied the menu when I found the very thing I’d been looking for all this time. My expression brightened. Coffee! It didn’t seem to be very popular, as it was written in an unobtrusive corner of the menu and there was only one kind available.

“Please bring me one of this drink,” I said, pointing to it.

The employee looked troubled. “My lady, I’m sorry, but this drink is very bitter and it may not be to your taste. It’s made from a bean imported from a tropical region, and we planned to remove it from the menu soon because it hasn’t been very popular.”

“That doesn’t matter. Please bring me a slice of whipped cream cake as well.”

Moments later, a muscular, good-looking employee arrived with my coffee and cake. The master really is very clever. Feeling a pleasant tingle of appreciation, I reached for the fork and took a bite of cake. Now I’ll cut through all this sugar with some bitter coffee…

Gack! This is horrible! Not only was the coffee bitter, but the scent was also terrible. I nearly spat it out the moment I took a sip. Did they not roast the beans? This is a mess. Because the beans hadn’t been processed properly, the resulting concoction tasted like bitter medicine. It was pitch black in color as well and probably seemed like poison to the people of this world, who were accustomed to clear tea.

Of course, it’s not proving popular. I put down the coffee, which was lacking in every imaginable way as a product, and fell into thought. I’d unearthed a product that would come to dominate the twenty-first century, but it didn’t seem like an easy task to get it to sell.

As my head began to ache from all the thinking I was doing, a group of noisy ladies who had chosen a table on the terrace disrupted my concentration. They’re dressed like it’s already spring proper. The four young noble ladies, wearing bright pastel-colored dresses, were ordering cakes and drinks.

“Did you hear the rumor?” one of them whispered secretively, catching my interest instantly. None of the maids were brave enough to gossip about the happenings of high society in my presence, so I felt curious.

“What rumor?”

“Apparently, Lord Charles Orgo is entering the Academy this year.”

“My goodness! That’s fantastic news.”

I wasn’t sure if it was fantastic news exactly, but I’d heard plenty about the House of Orgo. It was one of the founding houses, just like the House of Seymour, and was known for their swordsmanship. Moreover, Dieron Orgo, the heir of the household, was one of the female protagonist’s suitors.

Dieron was such a talented warrior he could channel auras into his sword at only nineteen years of age. Most people guessed that he would reach the level of the crown prince, who was a swordmaster, before long.

“I suppose we could watch training with the knights once he joins the Academy, even if it’s just from a distance?” suggested the youngest-looking lady in the group, a shy smile on her face.

“Do you have someone you like among the knights?”

“I’d love to see Lord Dieron. I saw him in passing at the last harvest festival and he was so incredible.”

As might be expected of one of Mia’s love interests, Dieron is pretty popular.

“I’d like to converse with Lord Pilav, even if it’s just once. He’s an elementalist! Don’t you think that’s amazing?”

“You’re right. His flaming red hair is really something.”

They continued chatting in bright, excited tones. High-ranking nobles were easily the most interesting topic of discussion among the nobles. In a sense, they were the celebrities of high society.

Commoners looked up to nobles, and nobles looked up to higher-ranking nobles and the imperial family. This was why the impact had been so explosive when Mia Binoche, the daughter of a ruined house, appeared at the academy at Pilav Montes’ side, wearing the pink diamond around her neck.

That was certainly an entrance worthy of the female protagonist. I nodded to myself, recalling the beginning of the novel.

“I’d like to see Lord Veleque Seymour, but he’s already graduated.”

“Oh, Lord Veleque. He’s so elegant and intelligent.”

Elegant? Intelligent? I wished they could exchange a single word with him in person. They’d all clearly been deceived by his appearance. I put down my fork, appetite suddenly ruined. Then the ladies suddenly began to shriek.

“Frankly, the person I’d most like to see is Lord Isidor Bisconti—” one of them was saying.

Another lady screamed excitedly. “Lord Isidor! He’s so handsome!”

Her ear-splitting screech nearly made me spit out my mouthful of cake.