Chapter 30
Chapter 30. Clarisse Rosemore (2)
Night seeped into the reception room that had gone days without a caretaker's touch.
Beneath the bluish moonlight that stretched like stage lighting.
A woman sat on the sofa with a handkerchief neatly spread beneath her.
Red eyes that shone like freshly cut roses,
Platinum blonde hair so noble it seemed each strand was woven on a loom from moonlight itself.
A gaze quietly cast down beneath long eyelashes and an elegant neckline.
Her beautiful form was like a princess from a famous painting.
However, despite all these beautiful elements gathered together, one couldn't feel any feminine coquettishness.
Rather, a cool and cold atmosphere crushed Blyton's courage.
Well.
The young lady before his eyes was not someone who could be dismissed by flaunting age or experience.
Clarisse Rosemore.
The eldest daughter of the Rosemore Count Family.
The monster conceived by the Rosemore family.
She mastered the family's unique code 'Full Bloom' at the age of 10.
At 12, she entered the Royal University Alchemist College as top student,
And at just 14, achieved the accomplishment of becoming a 6th Rank Alchemist before returning home in glory.
Immediately after, she began managing the family's core business.
Helping her elder brother, the heir, she explosively expanded the family business.
Several years had passed since then.
Rosemore had become a family that held and shook 60% of all food ingredient distribution in Britannia.
If Clarisse set her mind to it, making a frontier city die from hunger and thirst would be no trouble at all.
Blyton swallowed his saliva and greeted her politely.
"It's been a while. Miss Clarisse."
"Terrible tea. You'd be better off paying attention to hospitality."
"Yes, I will certainly do so. Miss."
Though warm pleasantries returned, Blyton didn't erase his smile.
Clarisse indifferently set down her teacup.
"You seem to have something you want to say."
"That's correct. Miss."
"Go ahead."
There was a reason he hadn't fled yet in this worst situation.
Clarisse was a demon's lamp.
The only person who could quiet the social circle's various theories, and rebuild Polar Suns—whose stock price had been quartered—into a major corporation.
Moreover, Blyton had confidence.
'There's still room for negotiation.'
In fact, even in this state, Clarisse hadn't struck Blyton down.
She'd even come to visit him directly.
She'd judged that Blyton was still a useful hunting dog.
Blyton began his persuasion.
"I followed your orders to isolate Penelope from social circles. For years, she merely hovered like a ghost without exerting any influence."
First, emphasize that he'd been useful in the past.
"Penelope gaining temporary power is all because of Cola. If we just take Cola from her hands, everything will return to how it was. The sparks unintentionally flying toward Penelope were also a mistake that occurred in that process. I apologize for this part."
However, humbly admit the failure.
"I cannot fully comprehend the current situation the Rosemore family faces, but I dare to understand the pressure and weight. Even a small scandal would be a burden to Miss Clarisse. I won't let any words leak outside. I will definitely correct this mistake before the inheritance."
Simultaneously, subtly indicate that he's well-versed in the family's internal affairs.
The meaning was 'Are you really just going to dispose of a hunting dog of this caliber?'
"Presumptuously speaking... changing course completely at this juncture would also be one method. Miss Clarisse knows the most certain method, don't you?"
Clarisse, who had been consistently looking elsewhere as if uninterested in any excuses, made eye contact for the first time.
Her bright red eyes seemed to say 'You dare try to determine Rosemore's moves?'
"If you entrust me with work once more... there won't be the same mistake."
But Clarisse would know.
The most certain way to secure the inheritance and prevent a family succession dispute was Penelope's removal.
If she changed her mind and ordered 'Penelope's removal,' Blyton's mistake would be repackaged as trial and error.
In the silence that felt like eternity, Clarisse opened her mouth.
"You seem to be mistaken."
"Pardon?"
"The reason I carved out my busy time to come here... was simply because I was curious."
"About what..."
"I was curious why someone would have the guts to think they could touch Rosemore's bloodline and remain unscathed."
At the whisper-like voice, Blyton felt the ground beneath him collapse.
Strength drained from his legs.
"Did you think you were special because you handled the family's disgrace? Whatever treatment Penelope receives in the family, whatever meaning she holds. That's not important. What's important is that Rosemore blood flows through her too."
The negotiation had failed.
"Even if I dispose of Penelope, that's Rosemore's business. It's not an area for an outsider like you, a mere mangy hunting dog, to step into."
Clarisse had finished her judgment that Blyton crossed the line before coming here.
The series of conversations were merely footnotes attached to the verdict.
"...Those are valid words. However."
Then now was the time to use his final card.
"Miss Clarisse won't be able to discard me."
From what he'd observed, Clarisse had a 'transgression' that didn't distinguish between means and methods.
He'd foreseen that if he continued working under such a person, a day like this would come, and he'd prepared.
"There's a saying that everyone has shadows... It seems Miss Clarisse is no exception."
"...That sounds like you investigated my background."
"Please judge me as competent."
Clarisse remained expressionless.
Until Blyton spoke one word.
"Dark Mage."
He couldn't describe how shocked he was when he learned this fact.
That there was some connection between the Rosemore Count Family and Dark Mages, enemies of the entire continent.
When he luckily obtained evidence as well, he cheered.
"I don't intend to face the Rosemore Count Family head-on. If you give me one more chance, I'll devote my loyalty as I have until now."
"And if not?"
"I've already secured evidence and taken measures. Along with a will."
The die was cast.
All that remained was Clarisse's decision.
Blyton, who had been bowing his head, quietly raised it at the sound of stifled laughter.
Clarisse showed no sign of dismay, nor did her complexion even stiffen.
Instead, she was smiling with her neat teeth exposed.
"You should have worked this hard from the start, Blyton."
He didn't know what kind of smile it was, but to Blyton, it looked like a viper baring its fangs.
"Bring it. That evidence."
"I can't do that."
"No, I wasn't talking to you."
Clarisse pointed to the lawyer standing like a folding screen beside them.
Without time to stop him, the lawyer pulled three paper envelopes from his pocket and handed them to Clarisse.
In other words, this was the 'evidence' that Blyton had arranged to be disclosed immediately upon his death.
"You, what, what are you doing?"
"You've worked hard, but President, you should have known when to stop. You really couldn't maintain boundaries."
"No, that's... since when..."
The lawyer passed by the stuttering Blyton and stood behind Clarisse.
"That can't be..."
Why?
Why on earth?
This was someone who'd been with him since he had nothing at rock bottom.
The one person he thought wouldn't betray him even if everyone else did...
Blyton stared at the lawyer with wide eyes.
Only then did other things begin to appear.
That the black hair tied in a ponytail was longer than expected, the delicate shoulder line that didn't suit the men's suit.
The sense of discord creaked.
Like a wrongly fitted gear finally being ejected.
"You, were you a woman...?"
"So what? What if I'm a woman?"
Confusion intensified.
Blyton desperately dredged through his memories.
The lawyer was definitely not a woman... wait.
Name.
What was the lawyer's name?
How could he not remember the name after decades together? No, more than that, it made no sense that he hadn't known the gender until now. But the lawyer in his memories definitely wandered back alleys with the young Blyton and played together. Then what was standing there...
"Who are you..."
"Yes! Miss Clarisse's faithful maid! I'm Bell!"
Seeing Bell salute with her left hand while wearing a cheerful smile, the wall between falsehood and truth finally crumbled.
That person wasn't a childhood friend or anything.
She was a lawyer Blyton hired just 3 months ago.
But Blyton regarded the lawyer as an old friend and confidant without any doubt, as if it were 'natural' from the beginning.
He shared all information with him and even entrusted his 'final arrangement' into his hands.
Like a snail that climbed onto a blade of grass after being parasitized.
Perception alteration.
Only one type of magic could make this possible.
"Dark magic..."
"Bingo. President."
The last thing Blyton saw in his life was the merciless fist of the lawyer, no, Bell, crushing his nose.
.
.
.
"How violent."
"Sorry, I got a bit emotional. You have no idea how much this wicked pig tormented me. Can't even handle this level of work properly but treating the competent Bell like an idiot. Ptooey ptooey ptooey!"
Bell wore a refreshed expression as she shook off her hands to remove the blood.
Despite the bloodstain on her cheek, she was nothing but cheerful.
"Oh, but now the young miss is something too. 5th Rank with Magic Circuits that were bound to be a mess. What are you planning to do? Should I just quietly dispose of her..."
"Bell."
"Oops, sorry Miss. Rosemore's business is only for Rosemore... I know. I know very well."
Bell, who immediately lowered her tail, pouted sullenly.
Clarisse fell into thought.
Penelope, who couldn't do anything as intended.
But recently she grasped the opportunity called Cola, rode the momentum and returned to social circles.
Moreover, she overcame the 4th Rank wall she couldn't escape for so long, became 5th Rank, and repelled the Undertaker.
These were achievements made while nullifying Blyton's backroom dealings.
"Cola came from the hands of a commoner named Jurgen, right?"
"Yes, Miss. Should I eliminate the commoner? Bell won't fail like Blyton."
Indeed, Rosemore blood doesn't go anywhere.
Just as a sword becomes hardened through tempering, Penelope has also grown stronger.
Giving her a similar level of despair would only become her nourishment.
"Leave her alone for now."
"Hmm? Aha! The higher she flies, the longer the fall?"
For Penelope, a more matured despair was necessary.
That was Clarisse's decision.
***
The Cola business was steadily progressing day by day.
Serena looked at Jurgen's functional specifications, drafted design drawings, and occasionally requested confirmation.
She said she'd already started production.
Looking at Serena's dark circles that set new lows each day, she seemed to be working incredibly hard.
However, lately Penelope felt uneasy.
"This is strange."
"Miss Penelope, your lips are sticking out."
"Be quiet. Why don't you go play with Serena some more?"
"All the confirmations are finished now. Did some problem arise?"
"Don't you find it strange too?"
The way those two giggled together having their own private conversation was somehow very, no, just slightly? irritating, but that wasn't why Penelope felt uneasy.
"Blyton is too quiet."
The fellow whose mouth had been parched enough to come all the way to the hotel was too quiet.
Even though Polar Suns' stock price hit an unprecedented low of -80%, there were no letters or phone calls.
"He might have fled."
"Fled? He didn't seem like that type of person."
"I agree."
Blyton was someone who threw tantrums about everything when things went wrong.
He always had, and the rumors flowing through social circles said so too.
That's why he was a mafia boss and occupied the 7th Seat of the Gray Council.
Was Rosemore that frightening?
Or did he have some other scheme?
Penelope, who had been tilting her head, heard shocking news shortly after.
It was news that Polar Suns’s President Blyton had been found hanging in his company building.
Neither of them thought it was suicide.
"Do you think it was Rosemore's doing?"
"I don't know. Honestly, I thought the family might not even care."
She'd been living the hotel life for a year since running away.
It'd been about that long since she last saw her family too.
"I think I asked something unnecessary."
"The consolation helped. How do you see it?"
"As Miss Penelope says, didn't Blyton have many enemies? Since he lost power, those around him might have torn him apart."
"Hmm..."
She didn't particularly feel guilty.
He was someone who did things worthy of death, and he was even the one who commissioned assassination first.
She just felt the scariness of this world once again.
"I don't know exactly what happened, but with the obstacle gone, business should be smooth."
The company was already tottering, and now President Blyton had died too.
Since it was a company that ran with Blyton as its axis, Polar Suns days were numbered.
"Jurgen, this is really a good opportunity."
When people die, at most they leave behind their names, but when companies die, they leave behind spoils to pick up.
When Polar Suns collapsed, distribution networks, factory sites and facilities, the workforce that worked in those factories, etc. would all fly into the air.
Since their business fields overlapped, they could take exactly the parts they needed.
"It won't be easy."
Jurgen said flatly.
"Well, we won't be the only ones targeting it."
The business Polar Suns held was a proven moneymaker.
Currently, Jurgen and Penelope had invested most of their budget in purchasing factory sites and producing facilities, so they'd inevitably fall behind in auction bid competition, and there would be many other companies targeting the logistics and distribution networks.
"Above all, the Council will charge ahead."
"The Gray Council?"
"Yeah, since Blyton was the 7th Seat and it's now vacant. Since they all know each other well, they'll be quick on their feet. Maybe they're already moving."
This time there was no clever solution.
They had no money, information, or justification.
"It's regrettable, but it can't be helped."
Still, they'd achieved their desired results.
Hadn't they already gained many things to be regretful about not getting a bonus?
Lately so many things had been going smoothly, perhaps she'd become too greedy.
While thinking that, Manager Ritz came up with a letter.
"A letter has arrived addressed to the young miss."
"For me? Another letter asking for Cola?"
"Well... it didn't seem like that, so I'm delivering it directly."
The letter Manager Ritz handed over was sealed in a black envelope with red sealing wax.
One peculiarity was...
"There's no pattern on the seal."
"Indeed, a suspicious letter."
Penelope scraped off the seal with a knife and unfolded the letter.
"To the Mother of Cola, Miss Penelope Rosemore..."
She couldn't help but tilt her head.
"We would like to... invite you as the 7th Seat of the Gray Council...?"
"Hm?"
Because something completely incomprehensible was happening.