The Pushover Young Lord in a Romance Fantasy Won't Take It Anymore - Chapter 38

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Pushover Young Lord in a Romance Fantasy Won't Take It Anymore ◈

Chapter 38: The Self-Made Villainess

──────

The conservatory garden of House Estella, considered one of the finest salons.

It was the heart of high society, where young ladies and noblewomen from prominent families gathered to exchange the latest trends and gossip.

Normally, there would have been fierce competition over whose dress was more extravagant or whose jewels shone more brightly.

Today, none of that mattered.

The moment the conservatory doors opened and someone entered, every eye in the room turned that way.

"Oh my."

"Who is that...?"

Lucia, known as the star of high society. A young lady admired even by the noblewomen of marquis houses.

Even a passing dog knew she was beautiful.

But today, Lucia's beauty was on another level.

Her cheeks, touched by sunlight, were not simply pale or smooth.

A soft, pearly radiance seemed to glow from within her skin.

Her complexion was flawless as porcelain, without even the slightest blemish or flush.

The young ladies and noblewomen stared in stunned disbelief.

Could a visual shock really leave people this spellbound?

"L-Lady Lucia. You've arrived."

"How can your skin look so clear? Are you using some new cosmetic?"

"Did you use magic or something...?"

The noblewomen rushed over and surrounded Lucia.

They forgot all propriety as they desperately pressed her for answers, as if they would lose sleep if they failed to learn the secret.

Even amid the barrage of questions, Lucia wore a faint smile.

She paused just long enough to make them anxious before speaking in a gentle voice.

"That's right. It's a new cosmetic."

"What is it called? I don't think I've seen it before."

"I only learned of it recently myself. I received it as a particularly special gift from a special person."

Lucia continued describing the cosmetic as though she were not promoting it at all.

Naturally, it caused no skin problems. No matter how much one sweated, the makeup would not break apart or cake.

As time passed, it adapted to the warmth of the skin and settled even more naturally.

Even its scent was a subtle floral fragrance, never artificial.

Though Lucia had exaggerated enough to call it a miracle of rejuvenation, the noblewomen could only gasp as if they had been enchanted.

Finally, Lucia placed a hand on her cheek and smiled brightly.

"After using this, I can't use any other cosmetics. I intend to use only this from now on."

"W-Where can we get it!?"

"I want to know too!"

The noblewomen's voices trembled with impatience.

Lucia swallowed a laugh.

Things were unfolding exactly as that man had said they would, with the synergy between this cosmetic and Lady Lucia.

"You cannot find it at ordinary merchant guilds or workshops."

"It isn't on the market?"

"Then where on earth can we get it?"

Lucia hummed, deliberately drawing out her answer.

"I'm sorry. I cannot tell you yet."

For a brief moment, disappointment crossed the noblewomen's faces.

Then realization struck, and everyone's eyes changed.

A cosmetic shrouded in mystery. One unavailable on the market.

On top of that, Lucia herself had said she could no longer use any other cosmetic and intended to use it exclusively.

Every part of it stirred the nobles' desire to possess and flaunt it.

'If I had that cosmetic, I could be like Lady Lucia too.'

In an instant, their thoughts became one.

They had to get their hands on the cosmetic Lady Lucia used, no matter what.

It did not matter how much it cost. So long as they could possess that miracle!

* * *

The imperial capital branch of the Patrian Merchant Guild, which dominated the Empire's commercial world. Its finest VIP reception hall.

Normally, classical music would play here while quiet conversations filled the room.

"You don't know about the cosmetic Lady Lucia uses? Bring it out at once!"

Instead, it had become a chaotic scene resembling a crowded marketplace.

"I'll pay whatever you ask! How much is it?"

"So this is all the information network of Patrian amounts to!"

"You claim to be number one in luxury-goods distribution throughout the Empire! How can you fail to find out about one product Lady Lucia uses?!"

"M-Madam! Please calm down! We have been making inquiries as well, but we have yet to find any information...!"

"Honestly! I should go to the Astell Merchant Guild right away. They might have it."

Noblewomen from marquis houses and young ladies from distinguished families pressed them so fiercely that they looked ready to grab someone by the collar.

The employees handling the guests broke out in cold sweats, their faces drained of color.

These people had suddenly flooded in like a tidal wave and demanded the cosmetic Lady Lucia used?

"You are causing quite a disturbance, ladies."

A cold voice drifted down from the marble staircase leading to the second floor of the reception hall.

A blue-haired woman descended, pushing up her gold-rimmed monocle.

She wore an immaculate suit without a speck of dust and held a bundle of papers against her chest. She was Managing Director Irina, who oversaw Patrian's imperial capital branch and was effectively its second-in-command.

The raging noblewomen flinched and tempered their behavior.

Managing Director Irina, the cold-blooded merchant said to have neither blood nor tears. Her fearsome reputation was widely known throughout the imperial capital.

Irina approached with sharp clicks of her heels and bowed neatly.

"We apologize for the inconvenience caused to the customers who have visited the Patrian Merchant Guild. We are currently using every resource at our disposal to identify the origin of the product you mentioned."

Straightening, she adjusted her gold-rimmed monocle.

"I can assure you that if Patrian cannot obtain an item, then neither the Astell Merchant Guild nor anyone else in the Empire can. Grant us two days, and we will bring you good news."

The noblewomen snorted, but began to withdraw for the moment.

Once the reception hall had settled down somewhat, Irina shot the staff a frigid glare.

They shrank beneath her reproachful gaze.

Click.

Ignoring them, Irina headed for her office.

The moment she shut the door behind her, her impenetrable facade creased into a frown.

"...Where did it come from?"

Irina slowly flipped through the neatly organized guild ledgers and distribution network reports.

The matter was urgent, but her obsessive neatness and mechanical work habits never wavered. The only difference was that she moved faster than usual.

"It isn't here."

Her constantly moving hand stopped.

There was no trace of such a cosmetic in the records of any alchemy workshop, Magic Tower, or even black-market transaction within the Empire.

According to the rumors, Lucia had received it as a gift from someone special.

Sharp intelligence glinted behind Irina's monocle.

To learn its origin, she would have to seek out Lucia rather than investigate distribution networks.

But approaching Lucia would accomplish nothing.

Lucia, the star of high society, was not someone easily manipulated.

Even an offer of a fortune would be useless if Lucia herself was unwilling.

The only reason the secret of the cosmetic had remained hidden until now was because Lucia had kept quiet.

"This isn't just a cosmetic."

Irina's merchant instincts, ingrained to her bones, caught the scent of money.

With demand this intense, this cosmetic could sweep up every coin in the imperial capital.

Whoever seized the distribution rights to that mysterious cosmetic would monopolize the beauty market for the next year.

Yet at such a critical time, what was the Patrian Merchant Guild head doing?

"What a pathetic fool."

That incompetent guild head was utterly infatuated with Lady Lucia and obsessed with winning her favor.

He had long since pushed guild business aside.

To make matters worse, he had pettily ordered retaliation against House Cardenos.

"Block every shipment entering Cardenos. I need to crush that bastard's spirit!"

He had put a private grudge on the same scale as the guild's profits.

When Irina received that order, she had nearly grabbed the merchant guild head by the collar.

To the guild, House Cardenos was an enormous VVIP customer.

Letting profits erode over petty jealousy and romantic obsession was the greatest failure a merchant could commit.

"If the guild head is an idiot, then I have to act."

Irina gripped her pen so tightly it looked ready to snap.

She had no intention of asking that pathetic fool for help.

She decided to personally uncover the origin by mobilizing the guild's entire information network.

That night, in the branch manager's office.

In the room steeped in darkness, Irina reviewed documents by the light of a single candle.

Tap.

A shadow slipped silently through the window and knelt before her desk.

It was a subordinate from the information guild Irina operated with her own money.

"Did you find something?"

"Yes, Director. It wasn't easy, but we bribed Lady Lucia's personal maid and barely found a lead."

"Go on."

The informant pulled out a photograph and handed it over. Irina accepted it.

"On the day before Lady Lucia attended House Estella's social gathering, she held a secret meeting with a man. When she returned home that day, she was holding a glass bottle that appeared to contain cosmetics."

The timing was perfect.

Even the decoration on the glass bottle in the photograph showed attention to design. It was short and rounded, looking exactly like a cosmetic container.

"Lady Lucia held a secret meeting with a man..."

Irina dismissed the stray thought and asked,

"So who was the man?"

At the informant's next answer, Irina's pupils trembled.

For the first time, unmistakable shock appeared on her normally cold face.

"...Young Lord Astin?"

* * *

Grand Etoile, the finest restaurant in the imperial capital.

Irina pulled a wide-brimmed hat low over her face.

Instead of her usual flawless suit, she wore a plain brown coat as she entered.

She was dressed to thoroughly conceal her identity as Patrian's managing director.

Her blue eyes swiftly and sharply swept over the restaurant interior.

A table in the corner by the window.

A blond man sat there alone, cutting chicken with a knife and fork.

It was a plain dish, unfitting of someone of such noble status.

Irina took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

Slowly, she approached the seat across from him, quietly pulled back the chair, and sat down.

"..."

The man did not even raise his head. He continued sawing through the chicken breast.

"I don't think anyone else will be joining me at this table."

His voice was indifferent and dry. Irina managed to hide her unease.

That relaxed manner. The place setting already prepared for her.

Irina noticed the empty wineglass laid out on the table.

There would be no reason to set a glass across from someone dining alone.

This man had known she was coming.

Irina's thoughts deepened.

Come to think of it, the informant had obtained the information far too easily.

Perhaps bribing Lucia's maid had been a trap deliberately laid by them.

"You knew I would come."

Irina took off her hat and placed it at the edge of the table. Her intelligent eyes stared directly at Astin.

Astin glanced at her, then took a sip of wine instead of answering.

That utterly relaxed attitude. A man Lucia could call someone special enough to give her a special gift.

This was him. Astin was the owner of that cosmetic.

Irina maintained her poker face.

"You also know who I am."

Tap.

Astin lightly set down his wineglass.

For the first time, he looked Irina directly in the eye.

"I know you well. A merchant who rose from commoner to managing director of the Patrian Merchant Guild. You're also that idiot guild head's right hand."

The corner of his lips curled into a sardonic smile.

"Well, a right hand that'll be cut off soon enough."

"..."

Irina's gaze sank quietly.

A right hand that would be cut off soon.

Was it bluster meant to seize the upper hand in their battle of wills?

Or had he seen through her plans for independence?

It felt as though her heart had turned cold.

She wanted to demand what he meant at once, but showing any agitation would give him a hold over her.

Irina clenched her fist beneath the table and kept her expression still.

Thud!

Astin drove his knife into the plump right drumstick. The chicken leg came free in one stroke.

"..."

Irina watched him in silence.

He placed the severed drumstick onto his own plate, then stabbed the large body portion with his fork.

Plop.

He threw the body into the trash bin beneath the table.

The sound of it landing in the bin echoed unusually loudly.

Irina's mind raced.

The drumstick left on his plate. The body thrown away.

It was an obvious metaphor layered over her status as the guild head's right hand.

Irina immediately pushed the thought aside.

She could not let that man dictate the pace. She had come here for another purpose.

Irina glanced at her wristwatch and spoke.

"Time is short. Let us get straight to the point."

"Go ahead."

"That cosmetic in your possession. Allow the Patrian Merchant Guild to distribute it."

Irina leaned forward and spoke with conviction.

"I guarantee you the highest profit margin. Through Patrian's information and distribution networks, we can dominate not only the imperial capital, but the entire Empire within a month."

"Patrian, working with Cardenos?"

"I am aware that the merchant guild head gave a shortsighted order. But I am the one handling the actual business. I will make certain that you suffer no losses, Young Lord..."

"I'll get straight to the point too."

Astin wiped his mouth with a napkin. Then he pointed the knife in his hand at Irina.

Though the blade was not even sharpened, Irina's shoulders twitched.

"Become the Patrian Merchant Guild head."

"...Pardon?"

Irina's eyes widened, despite her efforts to hide her surprise.

This time, she could not conceal it. Astin let out a small laugh and set the knife down.

The greasy chicken leg still sat on his plate.

"You want it too, don't you? You want to kick aside that guild head who's crazy about women and take the top spot yourself."

Irina, the self-made villainess.

Astin firmly believed there was no business partner more capable than her.

"So use me. I'll make you the merchant guild head."