The Female Lead Takes Care of Everything - Chapter 79

“R-really?”

Soles visibly looked relieved.

Meanwhile, the emperor lowered his gaze as if feeling regret.

“I knew Rubeo wasn’t an ordinary man, but still…”

“You got caught off guard by the marquess, didn’t you?”

“I forgot for a moment. There was a reason they called him the Crimson Ice.”

The emperor exaggerated a shiver as if remembering something unpleasant. Nivellia and Aref giggled quietly.

The emperor turned back to Nivellia.

“So, will you give me your permission?”

“You’re only going to promote it?”

“I’ll promote it and invest in it too.”

“Hmm…”

Nivellia puckered her lips like she was about to kiss something, thinking hard. Then she suddenly reached out her hand.

“Wait! We need to have a meeting first!”

With that, she pulled Aref and Soles behind the sofa.

The three small heads huddled close together, whispering and discussing something seriously.

Soles was the one suggesting ideas, and Nivellia and Aref listened carefully, asking questions here and there.

Emperor Ferrator watched them with a warm smile.

These kids are sharp. I like that.

Magia also looked proud and amused.

That grumpy old man can actually make a face like that.

The emperor thought to himself that he had witnessed something rare and precious today.

The children returned.

“Alright!”

Nivellia nodded confidently.

“But there is one condition.”

“Ni-ni.”

“I said, there is one condition.”

After Soles corrected her, Nivellia switched back to polite speech and stated the condition.

“Our condition is…”

The Counterfeit Snow Goose Down Coat Case.

That was the official name of the scandal that shocked everyone this winter.

The shop owners and employees were arrested one after another. A full investigation of the store began immediately.

Inside the store, it felt like a different kind of winter. The air was even colder and sharper than the wind outside.

This was all because of the fake coats.

The leftover inventory in the store and warehouse had soaked through, and over time, everything had frozen solid.

Small icicles had even formed on the ceiling.

“We found the ledger!”

During the careful search, a hidden safe was discovered beneath the floor.

As expected, the ledger was fake. It was a double set of books.

The investigators, already anticipating this, collected it as evidence. Scammers like these would never keep honest records.

“Unbelievable, look at this.”

“They even created shell companies to launder the money.”

“Where is this place? Trace the flow of the funds immediately.”

After several days of investigating where the stolen money had gone,

The investigators finally found the final destination and were left speechless.

“So that’s why he ran away.”

Someone muttered in disbelief, and everyone silently agreed.

The money earned from selling the counterfeits had been passed through multiple trading companies and shell businesses, cleaned up along the way.

The final destination of the funds was a subsidiary of Petra Youngsik’s company.

The news was reported quickly through the media.

Ardores walked down the corridor in a hand-knit brown sweater.

In his hand, he carried a letter sealed with wax.

He spotted a passing servant and called out.

“Can you deliver this for me?”

“Of course. I’ll head out right away.”

“Have a warm cup of tea on your way. It’s cold today, so take your time and don’t rush.”

He handed the servant a small pouch along with the letter. It had some money inside.

The servant tried to refuse at first, but then accepted with a grateful smile. It felt a little like being given permission to take a break.

“Still, I’ll be back quickly.”

The servant moved quickly to prepare for the errand.

Left alone again, Ardores gently touched the sweater he was wearing.

Terrible craftsmanship, as always.

The sweater had been knitted by Muniel over the course of a month.

Loose threads stuck out everywhere. The stitches were uneven. Even after all these years, she had never gotten the hang of adding patterns, so it looked plain.

Still, Ardores always wore the sweaters she gave him.

Until the neckline stretched out and the sleeves started falling apart.

And every time, she would scold him for wearing it too much, which was always amusing.

He wondered what kind of nagging would make him laugh this year.

It had become a yearly ritual he couldn’t give up, no matter how old he got.

“Hmm?”

Just then, something caught Ardores’s eye.

It was Nivellia and Aref.

The two had just returned from their day at the Magic Tower kindergarten and tutoring center. As always, they were together.

Without making a sound, Ardores hid his presence and watched them to see what game they were playing.

“They’re coming in this way. What should we do?”

“What if we keep the fire going? Then they’ll get burned really badly.”

“That’s a great idea! Then let’s light a fire here and stick in some really sharp metal spikes. My grandfather used to stick his sword in the fire and then stab the bad guys in the legs…”

“Kids!”

Ardores shouted loudly.

The children, who had been chatting in front of the fireplace, immediately ran over and threw themselves into his arms.

Ardores let out a quiet sigh.

“Grandfather! We’re in big trouble!”

Nivellia, unaware of the situation, spoke up with urgency.

“A thief is coming!”

“A thief?”

“A really dangerous and evil thief!”

She suddenly glanced around, then lowered her voice.

“I think it’s a monster…”

At the word monster, Ardores’s eyes flashed sharply.

“A monster? What do you mean?”

“At kindergarten today…”

Nivellia explained what she had learned in class.

“A fat, old man in bright red clothes sneaks into houses through the chimney at night.”

“A stranger breaking into a house is super dangerous,” Aref added seriously.

“Ah…”

Now it made sense.

Ardores was quite sure he looked incredibly foolish at that moment.

“They say he leaves gifts. But those aren’t gifts. I know it. It happened before, didn’t it?”

During the war, monsters used every trick in the book to lure humans.

One of their favorite tricks was the use of so-called gifts.

To tempt war-weary people, monsters would create exactly what those humans desired most.

Sometimes it was a box of food supplies dropped near the forest’s edge.

Other times, it was a perfect stranger lying unconscious in an abandoned house, matching the searcher’s ideal type.

All of it was bait, a trap.

Tired and desperate, people would approach these “gifts” without a second thought. That was when the monsters struck. They killed swiftly and devoured their prey.

“Nini. Aref.”

Ardores spoke gently.

“That isn’t a thief. And it definitely isn’t a monster.”

“But a strange fat old man sneaks into houses, doesn’t he…”

“That’s the Red Saint. He comes during winter to give gifts to good children. He’s on our side.”

You even got a gift from him last year.

Ardores looked at her as he reminded her.

“…”

Unfortunately, Nivellia didn’t remember.

She couldn’t even remember her own aunt right now, so there was no way she would remember a present from last winter.

Besides…

“I get gifts from Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and hmm, just a lot of people.”

So, she had no reason to accept gifts from some red-dressed stranger.

Nivellia’s thoughts were very simple.

She had to protect her territory from an unknown intruder.

That was all that mattered.

She was a cat by nature, and cats are territorial animals.

“I’ll kill him…”

Nivellia growled softly, imagining the bulky red-cloaked old man’s face. Her voice dropped into a low, dangerous hum.

“So, for that reason, I think this year Deiamor needs to do the Red Saint’s festival a bit differently.”

“…”

“What do you think?”

“Well, I don’t know if I’m the right person to ask…”

The secretary, dark circles heavy under his eyes, squirmed and tried to escape from Ardores’s grip.

But there was no breaking free from the strong hands of a former holy knight.

Even now, Ardores was still nearly twice the size of his secretary.

“I am just a secretary. A plain old secretary!”

“Tsk. Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Why are you clicking your tongue? I’m the one feeling scared and unfairly treated!”

The secretary grumbled as he finally slipped free from Ardores’s grip.

“Does the young lady really hate him that much?”

“She’s even looking for the sword she’s afraid of. She says she’s going to light fires in every fireplace and wedge the blade into the chimney before the Red Saint arrives.”

“…”

“Still, she’s got guts.”

Ardores couldn’t help but feel a bit proud.

“I don’t think that’s something to feel proud about.”

But the Red Saint Festival wasn’t only for the children.

It was also a day of celebration for the employees of the Deiamor household. On that day, they received gifts and year-end bonuses.

The festival had become a tradition over the past thirty years, ever since the Deiamor family began building their wealth steadily.

“Even if you wanted to change things now, we simply don’t have the time.”

The secretary held up the large stack of documents he had been carrying all along.

“The young lady and the young master made it a condition. In return for letting the royal family use the mana crystal mines, they demanded that the rights and existence of the employees of Philia Terre be officially acknowledged.”

That had been during their visit to the palace.

The children had not made a request. They had made a firm demand.

They insisted the royal family could only gain access to the mines if they recognized the witches who worked at the pharmaceutical company.

It was non-negotiable.

“This could turn into a serious mess.”

“Do you not support it?”

“Ardores, have you forgotten I’m currently dating Miss Radia?”

Because of the Philia Terre discussions, the secretary had been making frequent visits to the witches.

Naturally, he had started spending more time with Radia, a witch with a legal background.

Since the fall, they had been dating seriously, with marriage in mind.

“I’m working on a way to keep the situation as calm as possible.”

Even if the emperor announced they were under the nation’s protection, there would still be people who resisted.

Some of them would rather hold onto their twisted beliefs and shout nonsense together than admit they were wrong.

“Muniel will handle that.”

“Muniel?”

“I forgot to tell Caleo. Muniel went to see Della to deal with it.”

“She went to your aunt?”

No wonder she had been stepping out so often lately.

The secretary finally looked relieved.

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