Chapter 11 Part 4

“The carriage is ready, correct? Oh, and keep Locus here until I return.”

“L-Lord Locus, you mean?”

Daisy Queenie glanced down at Roland with a cold gaze. Though she was a maid Daisy had managed to bribe while evading the eyes of Duke Remia, Roland was utterly useless. She was timid, lacked wit, and her tendency to question orders like this was nothing new. It wasn’t just annoying—it had ruined Daisy’s plans on more than one occasion.

For now, Daisy kept her because there was no one else she could control as easily, but the moment Daisy secured her position, she intended to cast Roland aside. Her displeasure was evident in the sharp glare she directed at the trembling maid.

“Yes. Tell him I said to wait. Come up with an excuse if you must.”

“Y-Yes… ma’am…”

The hesitant and stammering reply grated on Daisy’s nerves, but she knew there was no point in dwelling on it—it would only sour her mood further. With a haughty expression, Daisy strode toward the entrance. A carriage, prepped in advance, awaited her arrival.

It annoyed her to no end that she had to personally handle matters involving those two brats. The frustration climbed up her throat, but Daisy had no choice. Her own misstep had cost her Halo Carte, and the crown prince remained frustratingly noncommittal.

“Yet here I am, running errands for them,” she thought, the irritation prickling under her skin.

“In such circumstances, if even Locus, her most reliable asset, were to leave her side, her entire plan would fall apart. That was the reason she insisted on today’s outing, despite her mounting frustration.

Since she intended to move discreetly, the carriage she used bore no insignia, its exterior clean and plain. It was an unusual choice for Daisy Queenie, who usually took pride in traveling in the grand carriages of House Queenie, adorned with its family crest and inviting attention wherever she went. Even then, Roland had pestered her with questions, further testing Daisy’s patience.

“To the city.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The seasoned coachman, who had worked at the Queenie estate for years, refrained from asking unnecessary questions and simply guided the carriage. Inside, Daisy Queenie draped herself in a cloak she had prepared in advance, gazing out of the window with irritation etched on her face.

“Phew.”

It was only after quite some walking that Daisy Queenie let out a short sigh. Her overworked legs ached, a reminder of the nearly hour-long journey she had endured on foot amidst the city crowds to ensure the coachman wouldn’t follow her. She pushed open a familiar door and stepped inside.

“Welcome to the information guild, ‘Ladal.’”

“I’d like to check on the results of my request.””

“Name of the client, please? I’ll verify it for you.”

“…Marie.”

It took Daisy Queenie a moment to recall the alias she had hastily provided. The slight hesitation didn’t escape the receptionist’s notice, though the suspicion was soon replaced by professionalism as they handed over the parchment containing the requested information.

“It seems you’ve been renewing this request regularly for about six months. The latest update was completed a week ago. If you’d like to renew it again or submit a new request, please let us know.”

Daisy Queenie slowly scanned the parchment that was placed in her hands. The document, titled ‘The Disappearance of Sisters from the Port City of Rinel,’ contained accounts from the ship’s crew and a merchant from a general store in Rinel.

“The tickets were purchased by a middle-aged woman, but they were for two children. The only passengers who boarded the ship were the two kids. Apparently, the woman didn’t pay for a cabin, so the children were left to curl up in a corner of the deck”

“On the fourth day, when the ship reached its first port of call, Rinel, the children disembarked. From what I know, their tickets were for the third stop, Zeldan, but… well, I don’t know what happened next. Once they left the ship, they could have gone anywhere.”

“Rinel isn’t exactly the most livable city, is it? With ships coming and going every day, crime is rampant. Sure, the crown has sent soldiers recently, but unless it involves a noble, they tend to look the other way, you see? Oh, but don’t go repeating this anywhere… Anyway, in such a city, seeing two young girls, barely more than children, stranded without an adult? It was shocking. By the looks of them, they either ran away or were thrown out, but who knows? Those little ones disappeared down the alleys so quickly, I lost sight of them in no time.”

“Actually, this is off the record… but around that time, one of Rinel’s human trafficking rings threw a big party at a tavern. They were bragging about a huge haul. I suspect they might have taken those girls… Ahaha, but hey, that’s just my guess. Don’t take it too seriously.”

“I’ll renew the request.”

“Understood.”

Daisy Queenie had no personal interest in whether those brats had been captured by a trafficking ring or drowned in the sea. The only reason she cared was because she needed them to maintain control over their relative, Locus, as her obedient pawn.

Daisy, who had never experienced an ounce of familial love herself, found the notion of kinship purely hypocritical. But she wasn’t above using it for her advantage.

“Oh, that reminds me…”

Daisy Queenie stood with a furrowed brow, her displeasure evident to anyone who might catch sight of her. However, with her face completely obscured by the hood she wore, the clerk behind the counter failed to notice her sour mood. The clerk busily shuffled through scattered scraps of parchment, their hands moving quickly as they continued speaking.

“We’ve gathered information about a pair of sisters matching the description you gave half a year ago, Ms. Marie. They were reportedly seen in a market, though not in Rinel city. Since it’s outside the specified area, it wasn’t added to the official records, but their appearance matches perfectly.”

“…Then, look further into those girls. When should I check back?”

“It seems like information on Rinel city will take about a month, as before, but the additional request should be ready within ten days.”

Daisy left the information guild without paying an extra fee. The diamond she had initially offered as compensation during her first visit still covered her current expenses.

What’s the point of hiding her face when her noble demeanor, commanding tone, and complete lack of financial awareness scream her status? The counter clerk smirked internally at the thought, watching the woman leave with an air of dissatisfaction, clicking her tongue. As soon as Daisy Queenie exited the guild, the clerk swiftly documented the encounter and reported it to their superiors.

To explain how she came to meet Locus, one would have to start with her peculiar connection to the mage tower’s master, Carib.

It was shortly after Carib was taken in by the former tower master that a botched teleportation spell landed him right in front of Daisy. At the time, Daisy had been hiding in the manor’s garden, nursing her wounds after enduring a scolding from her father. Seeing a strange boy suddenly appear out of nowhere, she couldn’t help but take an interest. To a girl who had grown up surrounded by abuse and had been denied even the most basic lessons of the world, this mysterious boy was nothing short of a curiosity.

It was through him that Daisy learned about the existence of mages, and, more importantly, freedom. The boy, starved of affection, and the girl, starved of liberty, found solace in each other. Though their meeting was an accidental collision of two vastly different worlds, the bond that formed between them altered the course of their lives forever.

The Master of the Mage Tower, Carib, mistook Daisy Queenie’s calculated kindness for affection and fell for her, while Daisy became captivated by the value of a man so transparent in his devotion to her. For Carib, she was love; for Daisy, he was a means to an end.

One fateful day, a wizard named Locus, drawn by the presence of the tower master’s mana, knocked on the gates of the Queenie estate. Locus claimed to have an urgent message for the master of the Mage Tower. Seizing the opportunity, Daisy Queenie, always seeking to use others to her advantage, allowed him entry.

Locus introduced himself as a reclusive mage and explained his plight. He wished to entrust his two young nieces to the tower master. Having experienced firsthand the harsh realities faced by children born with mana, Locus wanted to ensure the girls’ safety by sending them to the tower.

However, Daisy feared that if Carib took on the responsibility of raising the children, his attention toward her would wane. Carib, shaped by his own painful childhood, held a soft spot for children, especially those with mana. Daisy was certain he would pour his energy into the girls, leaving less room for her in his life.

Thus, Daisy spun lies to Locus, weaving tales of horrifying practices attributed to the Mage Tower. She claimed Carib bathed in the blood of children to amplify his mana, painting a grotesque and entirely fabricated image. Without hesitation or suspicion, Locus fell for her deceit and signed a contract with her instead. Daisy assured him she would take the children under her wing, feigning benevolence while hiding her true motives.

But her plan unraveled spectacularly. She had hired a commoner caretaker and handed her a bag of gold, instructing her to take the children and settle in the small kingdom of Rinel. Yet greed overtook the caretaker. She abandoned the children after boarding them on a ship and disappeared with the gold. The girls were left alone, helpless in a foreign land, setting off a chain of events Daisy could no longer control.

The cost of the gold bag was insignificant—a mere fraction of a single gemstone’s value—but the problem lay in the children’s disappearance. Daisy Queenie needed their existence as leverage to continue keeping Locus under her thumb.

Despite her secretive efforts over the past eight months, no news of the children had surfaced. To Daisy, the only viable option during this time had been to shield Locus from the truth while covertly searching for the girls.

Her growing frustration threatened to boil over as she realized today’s efforts had been futile yet again. However, Daisy clenched her fists and forced her anger to subside—Locus was too valuable a tool to risk losing.

With her emotions barely held in check, she hastened her steps, already imagining taking out her frustration on Rollang as soon as she returned home.