My Boss is the Villainous Grand Duke

So what? They’re still just towels.

“These aren’t just any towels. They’re very precious towels made from bamboo fiber.”

“So they’re still towels.”

“When you dry your hair with these towels, you might fall asleep without realizing it.”

“What amazing towels.”

Elena pressed the towels repeatedly while responding with dissatisfaction. She had plenty of good and precious towels at home too.

That’s when Rudfelix came closer to her side.

By now she had become used enough to his slight shoulder touches that she didn’t startle dramatically. After being held like a child, a shoulder touch was nothing.

However, she couldn’t completely relax because the Grand Duke’s scent was so strong.

“This is enough.”

“How is this enough?”

How could it be when two people had to stack on top of a tiny piece of paper just to get towels?

Elena turned to look at him. His tight lips had relaxed into a gentle curve. It meant he truly liked it.

The reason was obvious.

“You take them. I’ll dry your hair with these towels.”

“Alright.”

Rudfelix held the box with one hand and walked out without hesitation. Only Elena followed with heavy steps, having wanted to ask if there were no other gifts.

“Miss.”

Elena, who was just lifting the curtain, raised her head at the waiter’s call. His voice had lowered so much that she couldn’t just pass by, wondering if this was really the same frivolous person from before.

“Good luck.”

“Let’s never meet again.”

“The more you say that, the more fate tends to create stronger connections.”

He was annoying until the very end.

* * *

The place the jewelry merchant guided them to was a hidden location even within the night market. Since everyone entering had their faces covered, Elena and Rudfelix blended in naturally.

Additionally, with jewelry and weapon merchants guaranteeing their status, no one blocked their way.

‘The smell of grass?’

Elena looked around trying to identify the scent that caught her sensitive nose. There was a faint smell of burning grass.

It was similar to the smell she had noticed at Spark Merchant Guild’s main branch.

“Try to minimize your breathing.”

Rudfelix held out one of the towels they had received as a prize earlier.

Elena, who had been uncomfortable anyway, covered her face with the towel and expressed her displeasure to the watching jewelry merchant.

“What is this awful smell?”

“It might be unpleasant if you’re not used to it. It’s herbs we sell here, and it’s because there’s no ventilation.”

They might have blocked the ventilation intentionally. After all, she hadn’t smelled it at all outside in the night market.

While Elena frowned at the new world she had seen while walking, the jewelry merchant clicked his tongue softly in disappointment.

He had burned some sleep-inducing incense to make the people’s bodies languid and minds dull, but the towel blocked its effects. Though he couldn’t help expressing his disappointment, fortunately Elena didn’t notice.

“We don’t serve just any customer here. If you’re uncomfortable, just follow my back.”

He said they needed to go deeper because his reserved spot was further in.

“There are many strange items here.”

Elena looked around and shook her head vigorously as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

It was a reaction to the unpleasantness of seeing pigs being slaughtered and drugs like anesthetics and sleeping pills being traded easily.

“We sell them because there are customers who buy them all.”

Elena didn’t respond to the jewelry merchant’s strange sophistry.

“The jewels I sell are different from those low-quality items, so don’t worry.”

“That’s right.”

The weapon merchant following at the back of the group agreed.

“Here we are.”

The jewelry merchant led Elena and Rudfelix into a cramped, shabby space with just one desk and gave them a meaningful look.

“Please sit.”

He went around to the opposite side of the desk and faced Elena.

“The item I’m going to show you is absolutely the first of its kind, never seen anywhere else.”

The jewelry merchant clenched and unclenched his hands several times before bringing out an ordinary and somewhat worn box.

“I had many concerns before taking out this box.”

He didn’t open the lid right away.

“If it’s about this place, let’s keep it secret.”

“As expected, you understand quickly.”

“You don’t sell ordinary things.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll open the lid.”

The jewelry merchant inserted the key into the lock that had secured the box with satisfied eyes.

With a soft click, the lock released, and as the merchant gently lifted the lid, a jagged trail of white mist began to seep out from the newly opened space.

‘It’s cold.’

A chill wrapped around the fingers closest to the box.

When he fully opened the lid, the earlier dense mist thinned. Meanwhile, the merchant, wearing white gloves, reached into the box.

“You may look forward to this.”

With a confident voice, he opened his palm toward Elena.

“It’s a necklace.”

The sapphire necklace emitting a mysterious light was ordinary in shape, but Elena closed her mouth when she recognized what it was. The hazy mist flowing from the necklace wrapped around her hand.

“It’s a necklace containing ice that never melts. Just wearing it allows you to feel cool on hot summer days, making it both functional and one-of-a-kind.”

‘And it’s also a jewel passed down through generations in the Kingdom of Kristan.’

If someone really wore that necklace, their neck would be gone.

She had vaguely heard rumors about its disappearance, but to see it like this…

“This exceeds expectations.”

Elena promptly pulled the box toward herself. And when the merchant put the necklace in, she closed the lid and picked up the whole box.

“How much?”

“50,000 krang.”

“I don’t carry that much money around. I’ll give you a draft instead.”

Elena wrote the price willingly on a draft issued by the merchant guild and immediately left with the box. The jewelry merchant let her go since it was from a reliable guild.

Elena and Rudfelix didn’t say a word until they left the night market.

“Did you buy weapons?”

Elena glanced at Rudfelix’s pocket. If it wasn’t the magic making it bigger than before, the meaning was obvious.

They silently got into the carriage and moved away from the night market. Only after traveling for quite a while did familiar geography come into view.

“This…”

Elena forced out her voice.

“It’s smuggled goods.”

Rudfelix immediately attached his answer to her words.

“It seems Spark Merchant Guild buys up all profitable items.”

Through illegal methods of trading.

“It must be black market trade?”

Rudfelix nodded slightly.

The necklace itself was from the Kingdom of Kristan. Its route of entry could never have been legal.

As the house came into view, Elena first removed the hat that had been stifling her.

Double bookkeeping, smuggling, etc.

“We spent a productive day. Thank you for coming with me.”

Rudfelix saw the red light sneaking in behind the mansion. It was just before dawn, when morning was breaking after the night had passed.

“Come to work in the afternoon today.”

The boss adjusting her work hours reached out to Elena. More precisely, it was toward the box she was holding, and when he placed and removed his hand, the cloth fell away revealing its contents.

“This is the prize we received earlier.”

It was the box containing the towels.

“I thought you’d like it.”

“Did I look like I liked these towels?”

She was about to argue that he must have overlooked her disappointment and was ready to ask for other gifts instead.

‘Who was it that said this was enough?’

“I don’t need them anyway, so take them.”

Elena looked at the towels for a moment before looking at Rudfelix.

“Dry your hair.”

As she spoke, she realized that he wouldn’t dry his hair unless she did it for him.

“I’ll take them.”

With the two boxes of jewelry being quite large already, adding the towel box wouldn’t make much difference.