The Abandoned Empress

My father, who quietly looked at me hesitating for some time, said with a sigh, “Tia, I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but it was reckless of you.”

“… Yes. I’m sorry, Daddy.”

“I don’t think you are going to be in trouble because the emperor has taken the proper measure, but be more careful in the future. Got it?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Okay. I think I have to stay at the palace to take care of some work, so go home and take a rest.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

I breathed a sigh of relief because he didn’t seem angry, and went out of the palace with a sigh.

When I arrived at the wagon station and looked for the coachman, a servant came running to me and handed me a small note.

“What is this?”

“It was sent by His Majesty.”

“His Majesty? Got it.”

Tilting my head, I opened the luxurious white paper. There were a few words written in his ornate handwriting.

< I wanted to talk to you in person, but as there were so many around me, I couldn't. Thanks for your consideration last night. I don't remember well, but thanks to you, I think I had a happy dream. Yours, Rublis Kamaludin Shana Castina.>

After carefully folding the note, I got in the wagon.

The carriage started smoothly with the clattering of hoofs. Feeling a faint vibration, I looked at the Central Palace through the window.

I felt something like warmth in my hand that held the note.

I turned over the documents. The piles of papers were handed to me by Baron Carot the other day. They were the reports about the results of my instruction.

‘Let me see. Though he failed to appease Earl Lanier, he completely succeeded in bringing Viscount Apinu into our fold.’

I thought it would not be so easy to persuade the earl, but my efforts up to now paid off to some extent. As for Apinu, I already had Entea work out something in advance to entice him. Anyway, it was obvious that I had more cards to play against them.

‘But why isn’t there any information about the raid of unknown assassins?’

It wouldn’t be a small matter, given that Marquis Mirwa mentioned it. I was in doubt why he failed to report it.

‘I wonder if it’s related to my family.’

Suddenly, one thing came to my mind, but I gave it a pass, giggling at myself. Was it because I heard about the blessed criminal? I felt I thought about nonsense.

Thinking I would ask the baron about it, I wrote down a couple of more instructions asking him to look into Earl Lanier’s hideout. At that moment, Entea knocked on the door and came in.

“Come on in, Entea. You got here faster than I thought. ”

“It’s been a while, Lady Monique. I received a message from when I was about to call on you. I heard you wanted to see me urgently.”

“Yes, I have a few things to ask. Sit down. ” I waited for Entea to sit down before asking.

“Please ask anything.’

“How many merchant groups are affiliated with Duke Jena?”

“There are two. Originally, there were three including the Lainer merchant group, but as you know…”

“I see. How big are those two? Compared to the Sharia merchant group, are they comparable?”

“Well, one of them is, but the other one is not yet big enough to rival the Sharia group. Why are you asking?”

I smiled at her, who looked at me with a puzzled expression, and said, “Isn’t it time for the Sharia merchant group to grow more? At least you have to control the commercial activities in the capital.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Of course, I’m saying this, on condition that you don’t touch the commercial activities of the merchant groups affiliated with the pro-emperor faction. If you merge the two merchant groups, I think you can increase your stake in the capital area. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes, that’s right, but…”

“Ah, I’m not telling you to do it right now. As for the business activities of one merchant group, its rival group knows better, as you know. Let’s start by examining the history of tax evasion of the two merchant groups. I guess they must have raised a lot of funds to buy muslin, so there must be a loophole somewhere. ”

Making an expression that she got my point, she said carefully, “I know what you mean. You are thinking of turning to the government for this, right?”

“Well, the best option would be the government’s order to disband them, but if we could change their leadership, that would be a great achievement.”

“You bet. I’ll find out and give you the information on their tax evasion as soon as possible.”

“Good! Let me support you financially as much as you want, so don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you very much, Lady Monique. I’ll devote my allegiance to you with all might.”

I smiled brightly at Entea, who was bowing to me deeply as if she was touched.

So far, I acted with moderation, but as long as they tried to threaten my regained life, I didn’t have to wait and see until they took the upper hand. I needed to nip their wicked scheme in the bud in order to completely get rid of their bigger plot. I had to deal a fatal blow to them so that they could never threaten my life again.

Of course, I had lots of work to do. In that respect, my instructions to Baron Carot and Entea would help me lay the foundation for the success of my mission.

‘Let me see. What else can I do?’

“Oh, with regard to the muslin business, did you make any profits?”

“Yes, I did. As you instructed, I sold the whole stock of muslin to the Jena family three times as much as the original price. ”

“Three times? That’s good. Hmm, what about the sales of hairpins these days? ”

“Well, they are selling steadily. Why are you asking about it?”

“Isn’t it time for the consumers to feel sick and tired of the existing model? Let’s give it a little change.”

I noticed her smiling brightly. Given that the Jena family bought three times as much for the muslin, it was clear that Jiun was confident of success, based on her memories before her return. But can she succeed again this time?

“As for the changes in the hairpin, do you have any idea?”

“So far, the existing hairpin was used as a fancy accessory, right? Let’s think out of the box. Make the decoration as simple as possible, but make its design as stylish as possible. The consumers can feel differently about the new model, but not that different from the existing one.”

“Oh, I know what you mean. That’s a good idea. ”

Before my return, a muslin dress was popular around this time and the hairpin sold like hotcakes. Muslin stood out as a material to match the hairpin, so women could create a graceful hairstyle with it.

But it was different now. The hairpin was an ornament that had been selling steadily since two years ago. So, at this point, there was no reason for muslin to be so popular. Besides, it was clear that women would turn a blind eye to muslin if the decoration of its matching hairpin was simplified. If both the accessory and the dress are simple, it will make the woman look shabby, not simple.

“And before you sell the new hairpin, make sure you buy the finest satinet. I don’t have to tell you what to do after that, right?”

“Of course. Thank you, as always, Lady Monique.”

Luna cried low and climbed on my lap, waking from sleep. When I closed my eyes slowly, looking at her golden eyes, she also slowly closed and opened her eyes,

Entea, who looked at me stroking Luna’s soft fur, smiled gently.

“It looks like you have almost recovered fully. I’m so happy to see you up and running.”

Only

“Thank you. Come to think of it, I think I should start attending social events again.”

“I’m sorry to ask, but can you really do that? Obviously, there will be lots of rumors about this…”

I knitted my brows, but I said casually as if it was not a big deal.

“Well, I can’t do anything about it. But you know I can’t live in hiding forever.”

“Well, I’m still worried. As you know, there are lots of rumors circulating in social circles. Soon, they will gossip about the upcoming coronation ceremony. In that case…”

“Let me take care of that, so don’t worry.”

Entea flinched when I spoke coldly, and quickly apologized, bowing to me.

“Sorry, Lady Monique. I didn’t mean to be presumptuous.”