Raphael never laid a finger on Amelia. On the contrary, he always reacted sensitively whenever he got close to her. How could he directly grab her arm?

“I’m curious where you’re going.”

“Could you let go of me first?”

“Ah….”

Amelia was left speechless at how quickly he let go of her hand in response to her plea. If someone saw, they would think she had grabbed him. Ironically, it was her who was stopped and him who grabbed her wrist.

“This…”

“I know. Don’t worry, I won’t have any delusions.”

He grabbed her wrist so tightly that she felt it go numb. Thankfully, there were no marks left on her hand since he gripped it tightly without leaving any fingerprints. Doesn’t he know how threatening it is to block someone’s way with his huge physique?

Who could have stopped Raphael Lloyd Siegfried? And he was much bigger than ordinary men.

“Where am I going, you ask?”

“….”

“I’m going to the Chester Merchantry. Something valuable has arrived.”

Amelia intentionally rolled up her sleeves, making it visible to him. She wasn’t a man burdened with guilt, but it was still better than doing nothing.

“You’ve already granted me permission to go out, Your Grace. Surely you’re not telling me not to go?”

The person who had been talking flawlessly until a moment ago was now silent, like a mute. Either because he knew he was in the wrong, or the shock was great. Perhaps the fact that he had touched Amelia, whom he despised so much, was quite surprising. It was probably understandable that he was very confused.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

It was best for her to leave before Raphael regained his senses. The Master had told her to visit when she had the time, but he had not specified exactly when.

“Y-your Highness…….”

“Please go slowly…!”

Amelia did not intend to stop her steps, ignoring the words of the maids following her. She wouldn’t believe it until she confirmed the brooch with her own eyes.

“Ah, please tell Leonel.”

“Yes?”

“He might be surprised if he suddenly finds out I’m gone. Tell him I’m going to the merchantry for some business.”

Leonel would often come early after finishing his studies because he wanted to be with her. He would definitely be surprised if he knew she had suddenly disappeared.

Perhaps he would think she had left him.

***

“Your Highness?”

Amelia nervously chewed her lips as she saw Howard’s surprised reaction to her unexpected appearance.

“I thought you would come tomorrow…”

“I had plenty of time.”

It would soon be time for Leonel’s study to end. She didn’t want him to be surprised to find her gone… But after receiving the master’s call, she couldn’t help but come looking for him.

“For now, please come in.”

Could it be that she can’t meet the Master? Usually, she could meet him when she went to find him. He didn’t appear immediately, though.

“Master? You’ve come…?”

“I have some business.”

Howard seemed unaware that the Master was coming, and he was surprised to see the Master appear as soon as he opened the door. He naturally walked in and sat on the sofa as if he had just arrived.

“Well, then I will take my leave.”

Howard quickly left after sensing the atmosphere, and then she heard the sound of the door locking. It seemed like the Master magically locked the door.

“You came right away after I sent the invitation.”

“What about the brooch?”

“To cut to the chase, I found it.”

Upon hearing the master’s words, Amelia felt relief wash over her. She had been anxious, thinking that something was wrong with the contact that came too early.

“Now, what do you plan to do?”

Hearing that he found the brooch, there were not just one or two suspicious points. It took Aaron a month to find the brooch ten years from now. And the technology would be even more advanced at that time than it is now. But finding the brooch in the present, ten years before that, took less than a week.

The Master took only five days. It took even less time than buying the mines. Is this even possible?

“How could you find it so quickly?”

“We hired individuals who can use magic instead of ordinary workers.”

I could understand how he could dig the mine in such a short period of time if they used magic. But did they not use magic ten years from now?

“The brooch was not as deep as I expected.”

“Did you participate directly in the work, Master?”

“Yes. Since it was a task that needed to be kept secret, it had to be arranged with only a few individuals.”

This answer revealed that the current Master, who was sitting in front of her, was a different person from the master whom Aaron and Leonel had met ten years later.

“Master.”

“Yes.”

The person sitting in front of her now was clearly different from the person she had read about in books. They did not hide their appearance and asked questions about the client without hesitation.

“Do you have a successor?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m referring to someone who will succeed you in the merchantry.”

James was definitely a different person from the master she knew.

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s important to me.”

“There is a successor.”

Running an organization of this magnitude without having at least one successor would be absurd. Perhaps the current master is more capable. If that were the case, it would make sense. Usually, the predecessor is competent.

“Does that answer your question?”

“To some extent.”

If the current master and the master from back then were different, it would explain everything. It seemed like she was overreacting for no reason at all.

“I only asked because you found the brooch so much sooner than I expected.”

“Ah, I see. I should have mentioned it a bit later.”

It was a laid-back response. She didn’t know if that was why she was so nervous of the Master. His occasional flashes of confidence reminded her of someone.

Are all the people in the merchantry like this? Though he didn’t show it outright, like Raphael, she could sense that the master was of the same kind as him, albeit subtly.

“Surely you found it sooner?”

“First, I needed to confirm if it was really the Emperor’s brooch.”

Her eyes widened when she heard that he had found it in advance and even verified it. I thought you only managed to find it today and contacted me?

“As Your Highness had said, the brooch is not a gem.”

Upon hearing that, Amelia swallowed hard. That’s right. The Emperor’s brooch, as people knew it, was not like a gem. It was known to the world as a golden diamond, but it was actually a golden mana stone in the shape of a diamond.

“I understand why it wasn’t detected by the gem detector.”

“As the Master… do you know what kind of magic was cast on it?”

The brooch was said to bring success to its owner. There might have been some magic cast on it. Strangely, it didn’t activate for Leonel. If it really was a brooch that brought success, Leonel wouldn’t have died.

She knew how Leonel felt when he obtained that brooch. If not, does that mean that its ability is limited to the imperial family?

“No, I don’t know either.”

“Even the Master? Then do other mages not know?”

Even if the Master could use magic, he was still only the boss of a merchantry. Besides, the Master also said it was just a simple trick. If he were to seek out skilled mages…

“No, I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“It’s already damaged.”

Damaged? As she heard that, Amelia’s eyebrows shot up.

“I couldn’t figure out what kind of magic it was, no matter how much I tried.”

“But… other wizards might be able to know.”

She couldn’t believe that the magic was damaged. How much effort did Leonel put in to obtain it?

“It’s sealed with multiple layers of ancient magic. As it goes inside, it gets more fragmented until its shape completely disappears.”

Leonel tried so hard, only to buy a broken brooch in the end. I read that he went crazy at the grand ducal house trying to buy that brooch. Was it all a lie that he relied on the brooch whenever he was in trouble?

My body shuddered as I thought of Leonel, who found comfort in having a damaged brooch.

“What are you going to do now?”

“Who could tell that the brooch was defective?”

Surely Aaron knew all of this and still sold the brooch to Leonel. If that were the case, I would have no reason to feel guilty towards Aaron anymore.

Not that there was any guilt to begin with.

“The imperial family won’t know.”

“Don’t the imperial mages know either?”

“First of all, the brooch is indeed real. If you’re curious about the magic it possesses….”

The imperial mages couldn’t know either?

“No, that’s not necessary.”

“Weren’t you planning to auction it off?”

Did the master back then say that the magic on the brooch was broken? The story didn’t focus much on Aaron’s perspective, as it revolved around Leonel.

“Spread the word that the Grand Duchy is interested in the brooch.”

What she needed was a brooch that looked intact on the outside. The symbolism of it being the Emperor’s brooch was all that mattered anyway.