Chapter 1 – He Was a Dangerous Man

He was a man whose true thoughts were impossible to read. He was kind, yet he never revealed what was in his heart, and no one even knew where he lived, so he was a man whose identity could not be known. Above all, he was the man she had come to like, Sir Werner. The only thing she knew about him was that he was a merchant. Today was the day he had promised to visit in order to receive the items he had ordered. Perhaps because of that, Larienne’s heart had been pounding since morning, and without realizing it, her face had turned red. Now was the time to focus on work. The moment Larienne thought of Sir Werner, she felt both cheeks flush pink. The instant she thought of him, the hands that had been moving busily began to slow little by little.

“No, I need to get a hold of myself.”

Larienne placed her chilled palms against both cheeks. She had been examining the ceramics that had arrived a short while ago, then shook her head firmly.

While she was absentminded for a moment, thinking of Sir Werner, she heard Hans, the head of the merchant guild, calling for her.

“Lari, goods will be coming in from Miyola today. Arrange them well, and let’s decide the prices later after looking over the invoice.”

Hans was planning to leave the shop for a while because he had an urgent business appointment. Larienne nodded and answered in a lively voice.

“Yes, Guild Master, have a safe trip. I’ll make sure the goods are received without any problems.”

The shop that sold ceramics was busy from early morning. Business hours had not begun yet, but today was the day the Miyola ceramics, whose supply had long been delayed, were finally coming in. On days when vividly colored ceramics arrived, Larienne could not hide her excitement for a different reason as well.

‘These are definitely goods that make money. I really wanted to secure exclusive selling rights somehow, but…’

Whenever the supply of ceramics from Miyola became unstable, Larienne would feel disappointed with thoughts like these. It was not a decision she could make, employed by the guild and no more than an ordinary worker drawing wages. Moreover, she had heard that the exclusive rights had already fallen into the hands of another Earldom.

She imagined what the ceramics arriving today would look like and lifted the corners of her lips slightly.

Among the customers who would come early in the morning to see the ceramics was also Sir Werner. Had it been about a year since Sir Werner began coming to this guild as a customer? Thinking of their first meeting, it already felt like quite a long time had passed. Yet becoming close to him had also happened in a single instant. As she was lost in such thoughts, she heard someone’s voice shaking her from them.

“Lady Larienne, have the reserved items arrived?”

It was Sir Werner. He strode over and stopped in front of her. A broad smile filled his face, and an excited expression rested there. A tall man with brown hair and deep black eyes was looking at her gently. At that gaze, Larienne went blank for a moment, then had to quickly come back to her senses. Under that sweet gaze, her eyes naturally curved softly.

Sir Werner was both a regular customer of the Maen Merchant Guild and a merchant. He visited the guild regularly to purchase goods and gather various kinds of information related to commerce. It was strange that the items he ordered were not limited to just one kind, but were varied. Though he called himself a merchant, she did not even know where he kept a shop, or where he lived. Perhaps he was in the trade business, distributing goods to various regions.

“Sir Werner, you’ve already arrived. As it happens, I was just about to bring the goods out from the warehouse.”

Larienne intended to show Sir Werner the Miyola ceramics that had just arrived. It was fortunate that he had come at just the right time to see them.

While Larienne was in the warehouse, Werner looked around the shop. Ceramics with radiant colors caught his eye. It was a place that mainly sold porcelain, but besides that, as expected of a merchant guild counted among the fairly large ones in the capital, it dealt in a wide variety of goods.

So perhaps that was one reason he had been keeping an eye on this guild. Above all, it also handled information related to commerce, so in many ways it served a useful role for him.

As he examined the shop, he suddenly sensed a quiet presence. A rustling sound, and it was not because of Lady Larienne. At the hostile yet covertly transmitted presence, he let out a long breath.

‘So it begins again. Of all days, it had to be today. Have they finally learned who I am now.’

His expression hardened, and his eyes turned wary. There was no one in the shop except himself and Lady Larienne. Because today was important, he had come in after leaving his escort at a distance, and that had become the problem. He bit his lip and fingered the sword at his waist.

“Why don’t you come out now?”

At his cold, low voice, even the hidden presence seemed to tense. They had probably sent an elite assassin this time, thinking they could not afford to fail. He only had suspicions about who was backing them, but by now he was used to such things. That was probably why he had grown even more ruthless toward reality. The air cooled under the taut tension.

Werner slowly stepped toward the place where he sensed the presence.

“Larienne, do not come out from the warehouse. Absolutely do not.”

He was worried about Larienne. He raised his voice as much as possible so it would carry to the underground warehouse, but he could not be sure she would hear it. In the fist he had clenched tight was the thought that whoever it was had probably come to harm him, but innocent her must never become a victim.

He sensed a dagger flying toward him. He turned his shoulder slightly and avoided the attack. The dagger passed narrowly by his shoulder. Ugh, fortunately it had only grazed it, so only a bit of his clothing was cut. At that moment, the identity of the assassin wearing a black face covering was revealed.

Werner pulled one of the ceramics from the display shelf and threw it toward where the assassin was. With the sound of shattering, the assassin also dodged that attack. The air sank heavily.

‘Please let this end safely.’

He drew his sword from its sheath and reflected the light coming through the window to send a signal. A round beam of light shone toward the assassin. And that was another signal. He could only hope his escort knights would notice it.