There was no one guarding the entrance, so Ella pushed the door and went inside. The interior of the waiting room was cleaner and more comfortable than she had expected.

Comfortable, of all things……

It was a place that wore the face of a merchant house while taking commissions for assassination and illegal dealings behind the scenes. The feeling it gave off was far too cozy for that.

But the waiting room had bright lighting, fabric sofas and a table, and a modest-sized desk, enough to give the illusion of walking into an ordinary shop.

Ella walked to the desk and rang the bell.

She rang it several more times, but no sign of anyone came.

‘They’re watching, I’m sure……’

Searching for the eyes that had to be somewhere, Ella walked calmly to the sofa and sat down. She removed the cape she was wearing and shifted her gaze around with composure.

Then she paused. Ella’s eyes stopped on one spot.

The mirror visible behind the desk. The ornament on that mirror caught the light in an unusual way.

‘Found it.’

It was only intuition, but Ella had a strong feeling that what appeared to be an ornament was their eye.

She held her gaze there, as if to say come out already.

After some time.

Click.

A door opened from inside and a tall woman in elaborate clothing walked out.

Slender and heavily made up, she was a striking beauty at a glance. The dress she was wearing was the kind of loud, lavish gown that high-end courtesans might wear.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting.”

The woman made a fuss and came toward Ella.

They faced each other across a round wooden table.

Her gaze pressed into Ella persistently. Her dark eyes gleamed sharply, as though measuring something from head to toe.

The vivid red lips curved slowly upward.

“Well then, how does such a pretty young gentleman find his way here without a hint of fear?”

There was laughter in her tone, but the hostility in her eyes was unmistakable.

The woman opened the fan she was holding and fanned herself leisurely. The black butterflies painted on the lace cloth glittered as though alive.

Her relaxed manner and movements bordered on arrogant.

When Ella gave no answer, the woman smiled and spoke again.

“You seem to have been raised with great care……”

“……”

“To arrive here safely, at this hour, in that attire, without any escort……”

“……”

“How fortunate you are.”

The woman smiled.

The words had an edge to them, but Ella showed no particular reaction. She simply stared straight ahead.

A sharp silence fell as they sized each other up.

Ella broke it first.

“I heard the guild master here also serves as the head of the merchant house. Are you the master of the Deloa Guild?”

“Hmm, haven’t gone through your voice change yet? Our young gentleman has a peculiar voice.”

The tone carried mockery, as though she already knew exactly what Ella was hiding.

“Does that matter?”

“Well, not particularly.”

At Ella’s composed reply, the woman pouted.

“Then, back to the point. I asked whether you are the master of the Deloa Guild.”

“Isn’t it obvious just looking at me that I’m not?”

“……”

“Hmm, that expression looks hurt…… anyway, what does our young gentleman want with our master? She’s not someone with as much free time as me.”

“What I want to do is something you won’t hear unless you are the master.”

Ella deliberately spoke in circles to provoke the woman.

‘If the rumor is true……’

The information she had gathered from the talkative Marquis Harsen had been more varied than expected. Everything from trivial gossip to genuinely useful details.

Among it was something about the master of the Deloa Guild.

‘Ah, almost no one knows the face of the Deloa Guild master. Apparently that arrogant one only shows themselves to those they find interesting.’

‘Have you seen the Deloa master yourself, my lord? I heard your family does business with Deloa.’

‘No, I haven’t seen them either. Three years of dealings and I’ve only ever received reports through a proxy. I don’t know anyone around me who has met them directly. It’s not even certain whether they’re a woman or a man.’

No one knows the true identity of the Deloa master.

They might be watching this situation through the ornament in the mirror, or the suspicious woman in front of her might be the master herself.

‘If that’s the case…… I need to stoke her curiosity further.’

Enough that she can’t turn away without knowing what the commission is.

Ella kept that in mind as she continued the conversation.

“How inconvenient that you can’t tell me anything…… this is quite a problem.”

The woman closed her fan with a snap.

“Our master doesn’t typically move personally unless the commission comes from high nobility.”

“So Deloa divides its clients by rank?”

At Ella’s pointed question, the woman let out a disbelieving laugh.

Tap tap.

She tapped her chin with the fan and made an indifferent face.

“Not exactly, but we don’t take commissions blindly either. It’s a matter of mutual trust.”

“……”

“Without knowing whether our pretty young gentleman is a noble, imperial family, a commoner, or a slave, what exactly are we supposed to trust?”

She had a point.

On top of that, a guild like this would scrutinize a client’s identity thoroughly before proceeding, so nothing the woman said was wrong.

Ella herself knew this perfectly well.

Even so, Ella turned it around and provoked her.

“The same goes for me. What am I supposed to trust about you before telling you my commission?”

“……”

“I have no way of knowing whether you’re the master here, the master’s woman, or just an employee.”

“……”

“What makes you think I’d tell you what my commission is.”

Ella threw the woman’s own words back at her.

The woman blinked her large eyes as though she couldn’t believe it, then burst out laughing.

Ella didn’t miss the slightly rough, low quality mixed into what should have been a woman’s high laugh. At the same moment, her gaze landed on the emerald choker wound around the woman’s neck.

‘Could it be……’

Ella’s eyes sharpened suddenly.

“Ah, our young gentleman…… you really are something. I haven’t laughed like this in a long time.”

“……”

“Fine, I’m in a good mood! I’ll make a special exception and pass it along to our master.”

The woman pressed the corners of her tear-smudged eyes with her fingers and continued.

“So tell me what it is.”

The woman winked at Ella.

“I may not look it, but I have a very close relationship with our master, so most things get approved.”

“Is that so?”

The woman smiled and nodded.

The light that had just entered those pitch-black eyes was strong curiosity.

Reading it, Ella was certain.

The woman sitting across from her, or rather the man, she had stirred the curiosity of the master of the Deloa Guild.

Ella decided to trust her instinctive read.

“I need a merchant house to act as my proxy. I want it to be the master of the Deloa Guild.”

“A proxy?”

“Yes. You, specifically.”

Either way, drawing this suspicious and dangerous person to her side would require paying an equivalent price.

‘Which means I’ll have to show my hand first.’

Revealing her identity as both saintess and crown princess designate carried too much risk.

But to simultaneously manage the extraction and distribution of a mana stone vein, a connection with a large merchant house like Deloa was essential.

‘If it comes to it, I’ll have to stake everything.’

She had gone so far as to share her body with Haven to use him as a chess piece. Tying down a merchant house that would become her financial backbone was nothing compared to that.

Even if she hid her identity, it was only a matter of time before a guild of this caliber, one of the Empire’s three major houses, uncovered who she was.

Revealing it herself first might actually be the better move.

But it wasn’t yet time to show her hand.

“Hm? Me?”

The woman tilted her head as if to ask what that meant.

“Yes, you. I want you, the master of the Deloa Guild, to become my proxy.”

“……”

The woman seemed slightly surprised, but she erased the trace of it with practiced ease and smiled.

“Our pretty young gentleman says such interesting things. Me, the master? Why would you think that?”

She was smiling with furrowed brows, but her eyes had gone cold.

“A delicate woman like me being the head of a rough guild like this, you must have had a sheltered upbringing if your read on people is this far off……”

“Whether you’re a woman or a man doesn’t matter to me.”

“……”

“A mana stone vein. All I need is a merchant house that can handle that.”

The word that came out of Ella’s mouth made the woman’s smile freeze in place.

“A high-purity mana stone vein that has never been discovered anywhere in the Becarto Empire…… or in any of the seven kingdoms.”

“……”

“Ah, if Deloa won’t do it, I can always go to the Miransel or Seirmi Guild. Given the sheer volume of mana stones, it would need to be one of the Empire’s three major houses to handle the extraction and distribution properly…… what do you think?”