There was no reason not to leave just because Baron said so. At Seira’s request, Noah, the general butler, willingly lent Jeff’s carriage.

Her destination was the busiest place in the commercial district. It was also the place where the Haipon’s headquarters was located.

Anyone could tell that Franto and Jeff had a bad relationship. It was natural that Jeff, who respected and valued the platform of the body, and Franto, who led the research on magic engineering and the development of magic tools, were far different from each other.

The competition between the two families was one that wasn’t spoken, but everyone knew without even a single word uttered. They spied on each other, slipping men into the other’s businesses to see what they were up to.

The carriage that carried Jeff’s crest stopped right in front of the top of Haipon. In addition, all eyes naturally gravitated towards Seira Askan who got off.

‘Rumors will surely spread,’ she mused.

She had meant for rumors to spread since yesterday when Baron and her had stopped by the commercial district. Compared to this place, there were many passers-by who witnessed the two of them together.

In other words, it was only a matter of time before Calrad heard of Seira dating Baron and spending the night at Jeff’s.

A sardonic smile spread across her face as she thought silently, ‘And I’m going to buy a contraceptive tea now.’

Of course, she didn’t really mean to drink it. Actually, if it wasn’t during rut, the probability of getting pregnant was significantly lower. Buying the medicine was just for show.

After sending the carriage, Seira proudly walked into the top of the Haipon.

‘I’m sorry, Baron. I wouldn’t have gone this far if things worked out the way I planned it.’

She would’ve stayed in Jeff for a few more days and quietly returned to Askan as Baron initially requested. If Jeff and Askan were to be tied by marriage, there would’ve been no need to worry about Calrad anymore.

But now everything was unclear. To avoid immediate threats, she had no choice but to use certain methods.

Seira entered the shop and asked a clerk to bring her a contraceptive tea. She waited patiently, even with many people that came by glanced at her. Seira merely gave the displayed horse tools her interest.

Several minutes later, Miel, the owner of Haipon, came out with her order. It was quite surprising to see a man whose time was golden come out and greet a customer who merely bought a box of tea.

Seira was suspicious.

“Good morning, sir. It’s been a long time since I saw you,” she greeted him with a warm smile.

“Yes, it’s been a long time,” he agreed with a nod.

Seira didn’t have any plans on interacting with the owner for too long. She paid her order and was about to take the box and go out. However, Miel held the box back as if he had something else to say.

“Since you’re here, let’s have a cup of tea,” he offered.

Seira cocked her head curiously and asked, “Why? If I were asked who was the busiest person in the empire, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop your name.”

“That’s impossible,” Miel waved his hand and laughed. He stopped soon after at Seira’s suspicious gaze and quickly added, “Actually, I have something to tell you.”

“If that’s the case then…”

Seira accepted the proposal for now. Perhaps it was something interesting since he seemed to turn serious for a few seconds there.

Miel guided her to a reception room on the second floor. It was a place right next to the top’s office, and unlike the crowded first floor, it was unnervingly quiet here.

Perhaps soundproof magic was all over the room.

“As you might expect, I wanted to see you two days ago because of Count Helford’s visit.”

“You mean the Ancora deal?” Seira asked, leaning back comfortably on the sofa.

Ancora was an occasional animal found near the beast’s nest. Opinions were divided on whether it could be classified as an animal, but for now, it was considered so because it looked like a rabbit with black fur.

The translucent crystals that Ancoras sometimes spit out were energy sources that surpassed most mana stones. They were traded at very high prices. It became a useful additional income aside from the money received as mercenaries.

This time, they were lucky enough to find and capture some.

“Aven is in charge of getting a quotation for it.”

“I am not pertaining to that.”

Seira looked at Miel. His head was lowered as if heaving a soft sigh before he added, “I know Count Helford showed me the painting for a reason.”

Miel knew Seira wouldn’t bring up the issue first, so he just spoke frankly.

On the day intermediate-level beasts attacked, loots from nests were snatched when the priests fled in fear.  Seira drew a picture on a piece of paper and handed it over to Aven with instructions to expose them if their quote for Ancora was mistaken.

“I won’t ask how you got your hands on it. Life is precious.”

One of Seira’s eyebrows rose and she asked, “I’m curious. How did you know?”

“Your Excellency, some of the debris from the beast’s nest is sent to the magic engineering laboratory after initial work at the temple. So that’s how I know.”

“Really now?”

“There’s no reason to lie, Duchess.”

Seira couldn’t deny it – Miel had a point.