Chapter 3

“Ah…! Sorry.”

Edward, realizing his rudeness at last as he saw Diane’s hardened face, apologized. However, the faint smile on his face betrayed no sign of genuine remorse.

Diane openly glared at him.

Not only the content of his rude words but also his informal speech was offensive.

“Didn’t you say you were a reporter with some newspaper?”

Unfazed by Diane’s fierce demeanor, Edward changed the subject.

At his question, Diane’s face suddenly softened.

She recalled who the man standing before her was—a man with an overwhelmingly striking appearance and an imposing build that blurred the background itself. She realized that no matter how outrageous his words were, she couldn’t afford to lose her temper.

Officially called Marquis Wale, but to most common people, simply known as President Wale. He was the second son of the Wale Dukedom, which could be considered the number one family in the Traum Kingdom, and after starting a hotel business, he had expanded into the department store business, turning Wale Corporation into a massive enterprise. This was Edward Wale.

Like other noble families in the Traum Kingdom, the Wale Dukedom passed titles and estates solely to the eldest son.

The younger sons received only a fixed pension from the family, but since the Wale family also held the Marquis title, the second son always inherited the Marquisate.

However, Marquis Edward Wale, unlike his predecessors, possessed both title and wealth.

He had used his pension as collateral to borrow capital from his father, the previous Duke, and in just a few years, amassed a fortune rivaling the family’s estate.

Of course, the powerful support and influence of the Wale Dukedom had enabled him to grow his business so rapidly.

No matter what he was called, he was a man whose name never failed to appear in any newspaper published in the kingdom—always at the center of attention.

Having finally caught such a person, Diane couldn’t afford to lose her chance at an interview just because he was rude and unpleasant.

After all, his ruthless and cold personality was as well-known as his outstanding, aggressive business sense.

“Yes, I’m Diane Lina from the Tertz Newspaper. I’d like to hear your thoughts on whether you feel responsible for the negative impact Wale Corporation’s department store business will have on Center Shire’s old town.”

Of course, Diane wanted to be more direct—asking if he knew just how fatally the department store business was about to cut the lifeline of the old town’s people, and if Wale Corporation really needed to make money this way—but she tried her best to speak diplomatically.

However, Edward didn’t seem interested in Diane’s topic, whether she spoke diplomatically or bluntly. He was interested in something else.

“Tertz Newspaper… Was there such a newspaper? Where is it even based? Never heard of it.”

Diane bit her lower lip.

Just then, Edward’s secretary, James Wharton, approached.

James was flustered, having seen Edward finish his work at the hotel earlier than expected and not having the carriage ready, as well as noticing a strange woman clinging to him.

“Sir, the carriage is ready…”

“Ah! James! Have you ever heard of the Tertz Newspaper?”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t repeat the question—just say if you know it or not.”

At Edward’s sharp words, James furrowed his brows, trying to recall something, but eventually replied in defeat.

“Sorry, but I’ve never heard of it. Are you sure it’s a newspaper in our kingdom?”

“They say it exists. If you don’t know, go wait over there.”

Edward dismissed James, whose shoulders slumped, then looked at Diane, who was biting her lip in frustration, and smirked, raising one corner of his mouth.

He raised both eyebrows and nodded, as if to ask her to explain more about this unknown newspaper, clearly enjoying the situation.

Watching Edward’s incomprehensible behavior, Diane lowered her eyes and sighed deeply.

She breathed in and out so loudly that Edward, looking down at her, could see her chest rise and fall.

“Tertz is a local newspaper. You may not have heard of it, but it has quite a few subscribers…”

“A local newspaper… Which area?”

“Based in Rettrang, Center Shire…”

Edward felt both excitement and irritation at having found the ‘strawberry’ and at the same time, annoyance.

He’d searched for fifteen years, and now she was working at Tertz, a newspaper he’d never heard of, right here in Rettrang, and even in Center Shire, practically his own backyard.

“I subscribe to almost every newspaper. If I haven’t heard of it, is it really a newspaper?”

He cut off Diane’s explanation about Tertz.

Diane now clenched her teeth.

She had no good retort.

Of course Edward Wale hadn’t heard of Tertz.

Tertz was not even for the entire capital, but a tiny newspaper circulated among the floating population of Center Shire’s old town. In truth, it was closer to a newsletter.

Every morning, Diane set up a small stand at the main intersection of Center Shire’s old town and handed out copies of Tertz for free.

Between local news and information, she placed ads for the old town’s packed shops, collecting small advertising fees to sustain the paper. In reality, as Edward said, calling it a newspaper was almost embarrassing.

But the problem was that Wale Corporation was now pushing to build a mega department store in the old town, under the guise of urban renewal. They’d even received final approval recently.

Most of the old town, where the shops rented space, belonged to the Wale Dukedom, and Wale Corporation had bought up even the properties it didn’t own at exorbitant prices, so the shops that had operated there for years were now about to be evicted.

That meant Tertz Newspaper, which survived on those small ad fees, would lose all its clients.

Even the office of Tertz was just a rented room on the second floor of a shabby building in the old town.

In short, everyone around Diane was about to lose both their workplace and their jobs.

The powerful man standing before her was threatening the very livelihood of Tertz Newspaper and Diane.

“No answer? The department store—what? Is that unknown newspaper planning to invest in my department store? Too bad for you. I don’t need investors.”

“…”

Diane was at a loss for words at Edward’s absurd remark.

Truthfully, the interview was just an excuse; she’d grabbed him mainly to vent her anger about the department store forcing out the old town’s shops and her own newspaper.

But here he was, talking about investment.

He was a hundred times worse than the rumors.

Diane’s face, which had just calmed, flushed red with anger again.

Suddenly, Edward’s face came close to hers.

“Other than investments, there are some things I’m interested in.”

His face was right in front of hers, and Diane, startled, took a step back.

Edward’s expression, watching her, looked as if he’d found something amusing.

“What do you mean?”

Diane’s voice rose a tone in her confusion.

“Diane Lina. I’m curious about you. Especially, if you’re still s…”

“Anne!”

Just then.

While Diane was frozen by Edward’s sudden, wild actions and words, a young man called out her nickname.

“Ah! Gale!”

Diane called out the man’s name with a face relieved as if she’d met her savior. Edward’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

“Anne! Seriously! I told you not to do this!”

Gale approached Diane, angry, and grabbed her hand.

“Who?”

Edward’s sharp gaze landed on Gale’s hand, which was holding Diane’s pale hand, and he asked in a low voice, almost to himself.

“Ah, sorry. I’m Gale Tertz from the Tertz Newspaper. My younger sister was being rude.”

“Sister?”

Edward’s widened eyes turned to Diane again, but she and Gale seemed to be exchanging a silent conversation, communicating only with their eyebrows and eyes.

It seemed she couldn’t even hear Edward’s words.

“Let’s go! This isn’t going to solve anything.”

“Fine. I’ll go.”

After a long silent exchange, they finally spoke aloud, and at Gale’s words, Diane answered weakly, her eyes drooping, even nodding like a gentle lamb.

‘What are they doing in front of me?’

Edward’s face twisted in frustration as he watched the two.

“Sorry for the trouble. We’ll be leaving now.”

But Gale, unfazed by Edward’s contorted face, bowed politely and started to lead Diane away by the hand.

Diane didn’t even glance at Edward, simply following Gale.

Edward glared fiercely at their backs.

Gale kept glancing at Diane’s face, then released her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, comforting her.

Edward’s gaze, which had been fixed on Gale’s hand confidently encircling Diane’s slender shoulders, shifted to Diane’s golden hair, shimmering in the sunlight.

Blonde hair, pale blue eyes, a small face with delicate features.

That red face.

He was sure she was the girl crying at Lina Orphanage.

But suddenly, ‘Brother’?

So she wasn’t an orphan? Was she not that tearful ‘Strawberry Girl’? Had I been mistaken?

“Diane Lina… Gale… Tertz from Tertz Newspaper?!”

Edward muttered, glaring at the receding pair, then burst out laughing incredulously.

“Ha! Idiot.”

Realizing the obvious too late, Edward cursed, unsure whether it was at himself or the departing couple.

The two had different surnames.

They weren’t siblings.

He’d missed that detail by not paying attention to the man’s name.

“D*mn it, ‘Brother’—what nonsense! What a scam.”

His quietly muttered curse was, without question, aimed at Gale Tertz, whose arm was still around Diane’s shoulder.