The Male Lead’s Sickly Aide is My Type - Chapter 107.2
Chapter 107.2
Carinne ordered two more. When the owner brought them, the guild leader downed both in quick succession. With four empty glasses now on the table, she took a seat opposite him.
Archen stood behind her. The guild leader, who had been patting his belly, finally straightened up.
“What do you want?”
As expected of the leader of one of the two major merchant guilds, he was quick to get to the point. Straight to business, then. Carinne welcomed that. Pleasantries were just cumbersome when both parties knew each other’s purpose.
“First, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Carinne, princess of the Esmeril Duchy.”
“And I am Archenas, her advisor.”
“The Esmeril Duchy, you say.”
The guild leader pulled his robe tighter and shifted back in his chair. “I don’t speak with traitors.”
Traitors?
All the trouble they’d gone through to meet the Blue Crow Merchant Guild leader flashed through Carinne’s mind. She momentarily forgot who she was talking to and why.
A surge of emotion welled up inside her.
“Traitors? What betrayal are you talking about?! You’re the one who betrayed us! You stopped contacting us and ignored our messages.”
“Flies buzzing around.”
“What did you say?!”
First traitors, now flies. Carinne’s raised voice drew the attention of everyone in the tavern. The guild leader clicked his tongue as if to say, ‘See?’ and stood up. He walked out without a backward glance.
Seeing him leave, Carinne realized her mistake. She couldn’t turn back now, not after coming this far. She hurried after him.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding. Let’s talk it out!”
“Go back. I told you, I don’t speak with traitors.”
“We know there’s a problem. We came all the way from Esmeril to find out what it is. Please, tell me what we supposedly betrayed you with.”
“If you keep following me, I’ll call the guards.”
The guild leader was relentless. He glared at Carinne with sharp eyes and turned to leave again. Just then, Archen walked over and whispered something in his ear. The guild leader’s expression shifted subtly.
He frowned in displeasure, then closed his eyes as if recalling something. A moment later, he spoke with a reluctant expression.
“Fine. But you have to be honest, too. You’ve been in contact with Radian’s Red Lion Merchant Guild, haven’t you?”
The Red Lion Merchant Guild was the other of Radian’s two major guilds.
Just as Radian and Sahara were at odds, so too were the Red Lion and Blue Crow Merchant Guilds. The duchy had formed a relationship with the Blue Crow Merchant Guild on the condition that they wouldn’t interact with the Red Lion Merchant Guild, but the duchy contacting the Red Lion Merchant Guild?
As far as Carinne knew, the duchy had never contacted the Red Lion Merchant Guild, nor had they betrayed the Blue Crow Merchant Guild. Seeing Carinne’s bewildered expression, the Blue Crow Merchant Guild leader frowned contemptuously.
“Denials are useless. I have the letter you sent to the Red Lion Merchant Guild. It offered to trade with them on better terms, putting pressure on our guild.”
So, there was evidence. That’s why they’d cut off contact so abruptly. But Carinne had never sent a letter to the Red Lion Merchant Guild. She didn’t even know where their headquarters were. The letter the Blue Crow Merchant Guild leader had obtained must be a forgery.
Someone had created a fake letter to drive a wedge between the guild and the duchy. But who?
“Are you still going to deny being traitors?”
“We didn’t do it.”
Whoever it was, they would pay dearly. Was it Giles? Or another noble? Carinne gritted her teeth, picturing the faces of possible suspects.
“Still lying. Then I have nothing more to say.”
“May we see this letter?”
Archen asked. He pleaded for a chance to clear up the misunderstanding, and after a moment of hesitation, the guild leader agreed.
“Fine. If you want to see the evidence…”
The guild leader offered to show them right then, and Carinne and Archen followed him to the Blue Crow Merchant Guild headquarters. They hadn’t realized it before, but there was a side door at the back of the building.
The guild leader unlocked it with a key. He crossed the hallway and entered a large room, retrieving a letter from a desk drawer.
Archen took the letter and read it.
Carinne looked over his shoulder. As the Blue Crow Merchant Guild leader had said, it was a letter from the duchy to the Red Lion Merchant Guild.
It offered to supply gemstone ore on better terms than those offered to the Blue Crow Merchant Guild. What was striking was the familiar handwriting. The letter was undoubtedly written in Duke Trisha’s hand.
Could that irredeemable man have done it again…?
Anger simmered in Carinne’s chest. It wasn’t the nobles; there was a spy within the duchy. She couldn’t lock him up; perhaps she should put locks on the documents. Carinne nudged Arken and whispered.
“It was Father.”
However, Archen seemed to have a different thought.
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