Chapter 48

Neque Kayden let out a deep, careworn sigh as he spoke with the private business owners. When he told them he would support them just as much as the directly operated stores, the private business owners finally seemed pleased. That was only natural, since all the goods handled exclusively by Reinel’s merchant group had disappeared, and they had suffered great losses and were struggling because of it.

Neque Kayden had even considered asking the Estrid merchant group for help, but judging from Lyle’s attitude last time, it was obvious that even a business request would be rejected. His chest felt terribly stifled as he let out a deep sigh. Neque Kayden wrote down on paper the things the private business owners had requested, then left the shop.

“Reinel…….”

The moment he called that name without realizing it, one corner of his chest ached. Even if he had been the one to drive Reinel out after breaking the contract, he had never imagined matters would become this complicated. Neque Kayden decided that, for now, he would first throw out his mistress. He was not the sort to stop people from coming or going, but his mistress was doing nothing and merely consuming food.

However, just as he was about to get into the carriage, he saw someone with a back view like Reinel’s entering a directly operated store managed by the Estrid merchant group. Neque Kayden’s eyes widened. If it were Reinel, she would have brought a knight with her, yet no matter how widely he opened his eyes and looked around, he saw no knight.

“……Reinel?”

Neque Kayden softly called Reinel’s name. But no one around him reacted to it. Unable to endure it, Neque Kayden stepped toward the Estrid merchant group’s directly operated store, the one Reinel had entered.

The Estrid merchant group’s directly operated store was decorated very neatly and tastefully. A landscape painting said to have been painted by the greatest artist of the age was displayed on one wall, and sculptures by the famous sculptor Patasius had been installed here and there as well.

However, what entered Neque Kayden’s eyes at this very moment was the back view that resembled Reinel’s. Wondering what reason she had for coming to the Estrid merchant group, Neque Kayden followed after that figure.

But his pursuit soon came to an end. The woman had entered a place inside the Estrid merchant group where VVIPs were treated, and as the head of the Kayden merchant group, which from time to time competed for power with the Estrid merchant group, it was somewhere he could not enter.

Regardless of Neque Kayden, whose insides felt as though they were burning, she did not come out from there for quite some time.

In the end, unable to bear it, Neque Kayden headed toward the VVIP room, only for the gatekeepers standing guard in front of it to block his way. They did not know Neque Kayden’s face, but the guards standing at the door did not welcome anyone other than VVIPs entering there. Thus, Neque Kayden had no choice but to stand awkwardly outside and wait.

“You are obstructing the way, so please wait over there.”

“Do you know who I am, to be telling me whether I may wait or not?”

“Whoever you may be, this is a place where only the Estrid merchant group’s VVIPs and employees may enter. If you are not an employee of the Estrid merchant group, you cannot enter, so do not obstruct the passage and step aside.”

He had nothing in particular to say to the guard. Even when he spoke while revealing his position, the guard remained utterly unyielding. In the end, Neque Kayden had no choice but to stand some distance away from the entrance and watch.

But even after two hours had passed, there was no sign that Reinel intended to come out. No, to begin with, it was not even certain whether the person who had entered was Reinel. But Neque Kayden kept waiting, firmly believing without a doubt that it had to be Reinel.

“D*mn it…….”

In the end, unable to endure it, a curse slipped out of his mouth. He was usually emotionless, but amid the string of continuing misfortunes, it was hard even for him to keep his emotions in order. A guard who had been watching Neque Kayden’s behavior called over an employee, then soon sent them upstairs. 

“Why does he have to wait here of all places?”

“It is probably because he saw Lady Reinel come here.”

The employee who had gone upstairs relayed Neque Kayden’s words to Reinel. The fact that Neque Kayden was standing there waiting looked like a declaration of intent that he would not leave until he met Reinel. But Reinel did not want to meet Neque Kayden.

She hated that after driving her out so miserably and making her divorce him, he was now urgently looking for her. She was certain that rather than truly missing her, he was looking for her because things had become difficult for him to handle properly at work.

In truth, although Reinel had shut her ears entirely to rumors about Neque Kayden, she could not avoid hearing even the rumors circulating inside the Estrid merchant group altogether. Even from the words of passing customers, she could tell that Neque Kayden had hired a great many employees and that the merchant group’s power was faltering.

Since Neque Kayden showed no sign of leaving, Reinel firmly decided that today she would simply spend her time here. As she rested in the VVIP room and occasionally exchanged warm conversation with VVIP guests who came in, thoughts of Neque Kayden outside gradually faded from her mind.

“My lady, Neque Kayden is no longer visible outside now. The guard has sent word that Neque Kayden has left.”

Just in case, she waited about another hour, but it seemed Neque Kayden had indeed gone completely. After hearing that, Reinel put on a robe. She had not worn it when coming in, but just in case, she intended to cover her face with the robe and go as far as where the carriage was waiting.

“Next time, please come accompanied by an escort.”

At the Vice Head of the merchant group’s words, Reinel nodded.

“I thought I would only be looking around briefly, so I did not think I needed an escort, but with Neque Kayden wandering around outside like this, I really should make sure to bring one.”

There was no knowing what action Neque Kayden, burning with anxiety, might take. The Earldom’s knight order was not very large, but it was not as though there were no knights who could accompany her. Reinel thought of Seiden’s face, the one who had said today as well that she should come with him. She also thought of Keiden, who would be training at the drill grounds, but he was overwhelmed with tending to the new territory he had received.

When she came out wearing the robe, only the guards were on the lower floor. Besides them, only the occasional passerby could be seen. Reinel let out a sigh of relief and headed toward where the carriage had been placed. But when she spotted someone standing behind the carriage that had been waiting not far away, her brows furrowed.

“Reinel.”

That person had noticed her too. As Neque Kayden’s low voice dampened her ears, Reinel felt the urge to scrub them clean.

For about a month after the divorce, she had spent her nights in tears. She had not still been attached to Neque Kayden, but the misery of her former married life had made Reinel cry. If she had seen Neque Kayden back then, she might have wavered.

She might have wanted to properly restore that chaotic marriage.

But now, she felt nothing toward Neque Kayden except disgust. So Reinel pretended not to know him and tried to get into the carriage.

“Please listen to me for a moment, Reinel.”

However, Neque Kayden frowned and grabbed Reinel by the wrist. When Reinel shook him off as if something filthy had touched her, Neque Kayden stepped one pace closer to her with a wounded look on his face.

‘If there had been a knight with me, nothing like this would have happened…….’

Only then did Reinel regret having come out after leaving her escort behind.

She had planned to stay only briefly and return quickly, but because of Neque Kayden, things had become tangled.

“Stop it. I do not want to see you.”

At Reinel’s merciless refusal, Neque Kayden lowered his head pitiably. He was taller than Reinel, so she could not help but meet his gaze. But even that brief meeting of eyes was nothing but unpleasant enough to give her chills.

When was it that he drove her out saying they should divorce, and now he was following her around? Reinel did not want to know his reason, and she did not even want to see his face. Yet Neque Kayden slowly approached and tried to take Reinel’s hand.

When she pulled her hand away completely and climbed into the carriage, Neque Kayden called to her in a pitiful tone.

“Just a moment, Reinel, I came because I have something to say……!”

If it had been before, perhaps her heart might have pounded at the sight of him like that. But now, it only struck her as insincere.

“I clearly said I do not want to hear it. Let us not even pretend to know each other outside. We are not that close, are we? I will continue to pretend I do not know you from now on, so you should pretend not to know me as well.”

“Reinel…… how can you speak so coldly. Do I disgust you that much?”

Reinel stared at him with cold eyes. Did he really have to ask? As the coachman glanced nervously between them and stammered, Reinel closed the carriage door with her own hand.

When she clenched her fist and knocked on the carriage wall, the carriage began to move.

Neque Kayden stood there in a daze, then came back to himself at the sight of the departing carriage. He chased after the back of the carriage, shouting for it to stop, but the difference between a horse and a person could not be helped. The carriage quickly grew distant, and he realized that Reinel had treated him with utter coldness.

Staring blankly at the disappearing carriage, Neque Kayden let his shoulders sag. Resentment surged up, then turned into sorrow, making one corner of his heart ache.

“Reinel…….”

He could no longer hold on to her anymore. All that filled him was regret at having confirmed once again that Reinel did not want to see him.