The *buse of Power Is Too Much

Since starting the boutique tour, this was the first time visiting the same shop twice.

Today, as usual, I was about to enter with Carl when he suddenly stopped walking and declared.

“I’ll wait in the carriage. Please go alone.”

“……Suddenly?”

I made a confused expression, then remembered what the head priest had said last time.

Is Carl doing this because of that too?

“Then…… okay. Wait here.”

“Yes.”

In the end, I went in alone, leaving him behind, feeling inwardly nervous.

Surely they didn’t put me on a blacklist?

“Welcome to Cream Rose. What is your name?”

Unlike my first visit, a young-faced employee bent her waist in half and straightened up.

The intense energy suggested she was a newcomer who hadn’t been working long.

“Shailyn Sharofe.”

“Yes, Miss Shailyn. The owner is currently attending to another customer, so could you wait just a moment?”

Contrary to my worry about being blacklisted, the employee spoke kindly.

Phew, thank goodness.

Well, my magic mine is doing too well to ban me immediately.

“There’s no need to call the owner. Could you just call Rain?”

“Ah…… Rain is also attending to customers. I’m sorry.”

“No, I can wait a bit.”

I waved my hand and smiled generously. I have plenty of time today anyway.

“This way…… oh, not this way? So, sorry. Just a moment.”

The young employee stepped forward confidently, then immediately became flustered.

Since anyone new to working could be like that, I didn’t get angry.

“I’m sorry. You can wait comfortably in this room.”

Finally seeming to get the hang of it, the employee confidently opened the door wide.

But there was someone inside.

And a very familiar and unwelcome person at that.

‘Lady Celsior, why are you coming out here……?’

I held back a hollow laugh while looking at the haughty face sitting elegantly on the sofa with long black hair flowing down.

The other side, who had turned her head when the door suddenly opened, also had an equally bewildered and incredulous expression.

“How can you bring another customer when there’s already a customer here?!”

Rona, who had been standing near the lady, was shocked and scolded the employee.

“So, sorry. I thought it was empty……”

The young employee apologized with hunched shoulders. It seemed she had mistakenly brought me, thinking it was an empty room.

Rona crumpled her face as much as possible and shouted again.

“Quickly take her to another room!”

“Yes, yes!”

I was just going to follow the young employee and leave, closing the door while pretending not to see the lady.

‘Wait, that’s……?’

If only I hadn’t spotted the bright blue hair that had been hidden by the sofa.

“Wait a moment.”

I gently pushed the employee aside and stepped into the room.

Then the lady frowned, Rona panicked, and I…….

“Rain!”

I gasped upon discovering Rain kneeling in front of the lady.

She was even soaked from head to toe as if she had tea poured over her.

“Why are you like that? Rona, what on earth happened here?”

“No, no……”

Rona couldn’t answer properly and hemmed and hawed.

It was the lady who stepped forward instead of her.

“Whatever happened, what does it have to do with you, Lady Sharofe?”

The lady who shot back with a cold voice flipped her hair.

“This is the room I reserved. Don’t interfere and get out, right now.”

“You want me to just leave after seeing this scene?”

“If you don’t like it, you should have come yesterday to make a reservation.”

The lady sneered deeply and crossed her legs. It was so annoying I wanted to give her a flick on the forehead.

But since I couldn’t actually do that, I held back and spoke calmly.

“Please tell me why Rain is kneeling in front of you, Lady.”

“Why should I?”

“……If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I’ll hear it directly from Rain.”

It was the moment I approached Rain and grabbed her arm to help her up.

“Who gave you permission to take that away without my consent?”

The lady, who had referred to a person as ‘that,’ made an unpleasant expression.

I ignored her for now and helped Rain up. She, with her small build, swayed and stood up with difficulty.

She seemed to have been kneeling for quite a long time and couldn’t properly support her legs.

“Let go of that right now, Lady Sharofe.”

“It’s not ‘that,’ it’s Rain. And I don’t know what happened, but you can’t treat a person like this.”

“Ha…… How dare you lecture me?”

The lady muttered something that might have been to herself or for me to hear.

Then she suddenly threw the bag beside her toward my feet.

“While I was changing clothes, that thing ruined my bag.”

“……So you made her kneel?”

“It’s an expensive bag that a lowly boutique employee could never afford even if she saved money until death. Shouldn’t she beg and pay back until I’m satisfied?”

The lady curled her lips up crookedly.

That expensive bag would be pocket change for Lady Celsior herself.

I was outraged by the treatment I couldn’t understand at all, then asked about a sudden doubt.

“Are you certain Rain did it?”

“Of course. The owner directly pointed her out as the culprit.”

At those words, I looked at Rona. She immediately avoided my gaze.

Anyone could see she had something to feel guilty about.

Having seen Rona shift her own guilt onto Rain before, I found it hard to trust her.

“That’s exactly why I trust it even less. Rain, did you really do it?”

“……No. I didn’t do it.”

Rain answered clearly with a voice that seemed to be holding back tears.

Feeling her injustice and sincerity, I widened my eyes and confronted the lady.

“See, she says she didn’t.”

“How can I believe that?”

The lady shrugged her shoulders calmly without any change in expression.

“Lowly things, especially those from other countries, live with lies on their lips.”

Ha, this is really infuriating.

Even if I explained point by point here that Rain wasn’t the culprit, would she really listen?

Looking at her attitude of blatantly ignoring Rain, absolutely not.

Judging that talking at length would only make my mouth hurt, I decided.

“I will hire Rain right here, right now.”

“Yes, what……?”

“So you should also apologize for falsely accusing my person, Lady.”

“……Are you crazy?”

The lady looked at me with her mouth agape in disbelief.

But I was serious.

Then, Rona, who had interjected between us as we engaged in an intense staring contest, raised her hand high.

“I’m sorry, but that’s difficult. Rain owes a large debt to our boutique. She can’t leave for another place until she pays it all back.”

“How much?”

“80 million gold.”

Hmm, the price of 80 magic stones.

I can invest this much to gain talent.

“I’ll pay it back for her.”

“……Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Wa, wa, wait a moment!”

Rona desperately tried to dissuade me for some reason.

“No, no matter what, it would be troublesome if you tried to take away an employee who was working perfectly fine at our boutique.”

“Perfectly fine? Does being forced to kneel and humiliated for something she didn’t do look like she’s working perfectly fine?”

“……!”

Rona, immediately at a loss for words, bit her lips anxiously.

Why is she acting like this when she doesn’t even care much about Rain?

Just like someone who has something to lose.

“Rain! Shouldn’t we ask Rain’s opinion too?”

She, who had been desperately rolling her eyes, grabbed Rain’s arms forcefully.

“Rain, are you going to follow the Miss? No, right? You need to think carefully. You said your dream was to become a designer.”

It was a threatening tone.

Before I could stop her with a frown, Rain moved her dry lips.

“……I’m tired now.”

“What?”

“I want to quit everything, dreams and all. I want to follow the Miss.”

At her words choosing me, Rona’s face turned ashen and she burst out angrily.

“Hey! This ungrateful—?!”

I grabbed the hand she had raised high as if to slap her.

“Don’t touch my employee carelessly.”

“……!”

“I’ll bring the money within this week. Rain, let’s go.”

I let go of Rona’s wrist dismissively and left with my arm around Rain’s shoulder.

The customers in the hallway had been watching us, but when they saw me, they quickly turned their heads and pretended not to notice.

It seemed some of the fighting sounds from inside had leaked out because the door was open.