“Can’t you even catch a single little rat?!”
A middle-aged man hurled a vase across the room.
Glass shards flew everywhere, one of them slicing across the face of the man kneeling on the floor.
The one raging was Count Kedrick Rose.
Vendia’s father.
“She’s hidden herself extremely well. We’ll need more time if we’re going to find—”
“Shut up! If I paid you, then do your damn job!”
“...”
The kneeling man frowned and wiped the blood from his cheek.
No matter what he said, the Count was as stubborn as a brick wall.
You dare leave a scratch on me? Once this job is done, I’ll make sure you pay for it.
The man was Peter, a member of the underground guild White.
A week earlier, Peter had accepted a commission from the Count to find his runaway daughter, Vendia Rose.
But despite searching for over a week, he had found nothing.
At first, they thought it would be an easy assignment.
Instead, it had become surprisingly difficult.
It was as if someone was deliberately interfering.
As if someone were hiding her.
They could not find so much as a single strand of her hair.
“Waaaaah! I’m ruined! Completely ruined! How am I supposed to show my face in public now?!”
Peter glanced toward the source of the irritating whining.
A man shaped like an oversized sweet potato was rolling around on the floor crying like a seven-year-old child.
So that must be the infamous Kalbasa Rose.
Recently, Kalbasa Rose—the eldest son of the Rose family—had become the laughingstock of high society.
People talked about him everywhere.
Peter remembered some of the things he had overheard from noble ladies.
“Who does that rolling potato think he is, judging other people’s appearances?! I’m going to sue him!”
“Count me in! There’s no way I’m letting this go. Marry him? If he were the last man in the world, I’d rather die!”
“Just let me see him once. I’ll flatten that ugly face even more.”
The comments had been unforgettable.
Apparently, Kalbasa had become so intoxicated by his own narcissism that he sent marriage proposals to numerous noble ladies.
Not only that, but while proposing, he had criticized their appearances and informed them that he was graciously willing to marry them, provided they stayed home forever, supported him, and raised children.
To make matters worse, he had scattered proposals everywhere as casually as party invitations.
The noble families who received them were furious.
When the scandal exploded, Kalbasa claimed he had never sent the proposals.
But his reputation was so terrible that nobody believed him.
Eventually, after endless complaints against the Rose family, both Count Rose and Kalbasa had been forced to issue a formal apology just yesterday.
“You stole my seal when I wasn’t paying attention…”
The Count rubbed his throbbing temple.
“Enough. Stop crying. I’m sick of hearing it. A grown man bawling over something like this.”
The Count glared at his son.
Things were already bad.
The sudden death of Marquis Saxen.
Creditors knocking on their doors.
And now this humiliating scandal.
The family’s reputation was in ruins.
“Father! How can you say that?! It’s easy for you because it’s not your problem! Your son might never get married now!”
Kalbasa jumped to his feet and screamed hysterically.
“Find her immediately! She has to pay for this humiliation! I don’t care how—bring her before me!”
His shoulders shook with rage.
His eyes looked half-crazed.
“She’s completely lost her mind! How does someone change overnight like that? She was obviously waiting for an opportunity to screw us over!”
“She repaid the kindness of raising her with betrayal...”
The Count muttered darkly.
“Fine.”
He let out a long breath.
“I’m offering a bounty. Twenty thousand Crangs.”
His eyes turned cold.
“Bring her to me alive.”
“Understood.”
That day, news of Vendia’s bounty spread rapidly among bounty hunters.
Meanwhile, Vendia had traveled to The Line, a commercial district in Heden Territory, located about thirty minutes away from Rims.
Rims was such a rural area that anyone wanting proper shopping had to travel at least as far as Heden.
Heden sat at the southernmost edge of the Empire and served as a bustling center used by both nobles and commoners.
Most famous of all was a shopping district called The Line, which had opened less than a year ago.
The district was built around a statue of a goddess.
Three shopping streets branched outward from the center.
The eastern section was called First.
The northern section was Second.
The western section was Third.
Vendia had been shopping in First, the most popular area.
“Heden... that name sounds familiar.”
She had been thinking about it for some time.
The name felt incredibly familiar.
Yet she could not remember why.
“This store has even more customers than before.”
Shasha’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Following her gaze, Vendia looked toward a dessert shop near the entrance.
The place was packed.
Its specialty was egg tarts.
Apparently, egg tarts had already risen and faded as a trend in the capital, but in the south they were currently experiencing explosive popularity.
People lined up outside like a giant snake coiling around the building.
“Wonder how much money this place makes in a day.”
“Wouldn’t most people think about how delicious it looks first?”
“Do they make a hundred thousand Crangs a month? Must be nice. That would pay for all my repairs.”
Each tart cost ten Crangs.
Even if every customer bought only one, the store was making a fortune.
Unable to stop staring enviously, Vendia licked her lips.
Shasha immediately dragged her away.
“Maybe I should start a business too.”
Exactly.
She could use modern knowledge.
Wasn’t that what heroines in novels always did?
They made ridiculous amounts of money and bought diamond necklaces as casually as snacks.
“What should I call my merchant company? Since my name is Dia... how about Dia-Mond? Diamond sounds nice.”
“Do you have any starting capital?”
Shasha’s devastating question instantly crushed her dreams.
“You’re so cruel...”
“Looks like something is happening over there.”
Smoothly changing the subject, Shasha pointed elsewhere.
Grumbling, Vendia followed her gaze.
A huge crowd had gathered in the circular plaza at the entrance of the shopping district.
People were clustered around the goddess statue as though watching a performance.
One thing stood out.
Every single spectator was female.
“A celebrity must have shown up.”
“Wait... that’s...”
Then Vendia noticed a man standing among the crowd.
A head taller than everyone else.
It was Chris.
He had separated from them earlier to buy tools, agreeing to meet near the statue afterward.
Apparently, during that short time, he had attracted every woman in the area.
“Look this way!”
“Over here too!”
“Where are you from?”
“Do you live in Heden?”
The women bombarded him with questions as if he were an idol.
“N-No, please... j-just leave me alone...”
“Wow, his voice is amazing too!”
Chris looked ready to cry.
Completely trapped.
And utterly unaware that his helplessness only made him more attractive.
“I knew this would happen.”
Vendia had expected it.
There were times when she never understood stories where the male lead hid his attractiveness simply by wearing glasses or covering his eyes with bangs.
Chris was the perfect counterexample.
His long hair covered his eyes completely.
And yet his looks still could not be hidden.
Handsome people radiated handsomeness.
On top of that, he was over a head taller than most people and broad-shouldered enough to stand out anywhere.
“Master!”
The moment Chris spotted Vendia, his face lit up.
He waved both hands enthusiastically.
The women who had been staring at him as if he were an angel immediately turned toward Vendia.
“Master?”
“Did he just say master?”
“That woman?”
Oh, come on! Why do they all look so scary?!
I didn’t tell him to call me that!
Vendia felt completely wronged.
But the murderous looks in their eyes were so terrifying that she couldn’t say a word.