‘I thought I was looking at some commercial for idols.’
Because the information I bought from the information guild praised Isidor much more than the data the Master investigated.
‘I can’t believe the Master was surprisingly bland.’
[If you still haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Sir Isidor’s appearance in person, I would say you have lived a useless life. He is often seen in the Department of Magic these days, so keep that in mind!
Also, I can’t help but talk about Sir Isidor’s sense of fashion… (…)]
The data was plastered with texts praising him, as if an entertainment company had bribed them.
‘I can’t believe they’re selling what everyone knows for 500 gold. I’d rather run an information guild, too.’
The part that said there had never been a controversy about his private life in the social world was underlined in red.
‘Was he really light itself?’
While I was appalled that there was such a perfect person in the world, never mind a unicorn, I paused while looking at the second half of the data.
[Rumor has it that Sir Isidor has mysophobia. He doesn’t really appear in crowded places or squares, and he wears gloves all the time… (…)]
The moment I read that sentence, I realized that I had never seen Isidor’s bare hands.
‘He was wearing thin cotton gloves even in the summer.’
I remembered how he also played the piano with his gloves on.
Since he was a knight, I understood the fact that he even wore gloves in the summer as him covering up his callused hands.
However, I thought it was unusual to wear gloves when playing the piano.
‘I would have taken them off for a while because it would have been frustrating.’
When several situations came to my mind, the contents of the information guild felt quite credible.
‘The Master is not the kind of person to leave out all the information that even an ordinary guild knows…’
It was a situation in which information was either deliberately missing, or it was excluded because it was simply a false rumor.
‘If it was the former, did he not want me to know that information? Why?’
Of course, it could also be the latter.
The information guild did not give certain information, it was just guesses based on circumstances and rumors.
‘Do I have no choice but to take off Isidor’s gloves to find out the truth? … But it’s a crime to touch someone without permission.’
Mysophobia also has varied symptoms.
He may not like being in contact with others, or he may be reluctant to be exposed to dirty environments.
‘I feel like I’m falling more and more into a mystery.’
While I was once again thinking in a dazed state, the Master lightly flicked the coin up and I came to my senses, opening my mouth.
“Where can I get this tea? I thought it would sell well.”
“It will be difficult to sell because these tea leaves don’t match the unit price.”
He said, placing the gold coin with the heads up on the table.
“How much would that amount cost?”
“… The price changes every year.”
If the market price is not set, it means that the production is low and precious.
‘So I received a rare tea from Sir Isidor.’
I always get a lot of stuff from him.
‘I can’t believe I’m touching someone who only has admirable stories the more I dig because I’m just thinking about confirming my hypothesis.’
I sighed and put the bottle of tea leaves back in the pocket of my hood.
I felt like I had to repay him one day for receiving such a precious gift, if there was a reasonable excuse.
“Master. Do you know what Sir Isidor likes? I think you have a lot of information about high-ranking nobles.”
“… You should ask him about that yourself.”
“If I ask in advance, it won’t be fun for the recipient.”
“The Princess can also have less fun sometimes. Since the viewer often feels anxious.”
I wriggled my hands at his patient gaze.
It seemed that my actions of throwing fake bait to catch Emmanuelle seemed a bit reckless to him.
“I did it because I had enough chances of winning. And we gained a lot. High risk, high return. Don’t you know?”
The Master, who looked at me quietly, picked up five gold coins that were on the table and put them on the already highly stacked tower of gold coins.
“Since Princess Deborah, who has everything, moves so fiercely, I should also try harder.”
“That’s right. My goal is much higher.”
When I heard that he was eager to help me with my business, I bluffed slightly.
It wasn’t wrong. Since I was in a situation where I didn’t even reach half of 10 billion.
The high tower that the Master had piled up with gold coins was anxiously about to fall.
“But, according to the Master’s words, don’t you have more money than you can count? So much that you don’t have to make more.”
“No matter how much I stacked up, I didn’t get tired of it. … At least until then.”
“Do you mean not now?”
“No way. I really like gold. It makes me feel good every time I look at it. Like it’s engraved in my instincts.”
He patted Cookie’s back with his other hand while making a remark that was worthy of a genuine miser.
“Cookie looks tired today.”
“He just returned from a few days of hunting.”
I looked at Cookie, gently tossing and turning its body, and frowned.
As I kept thinking about Isidor’s hands, the Master’s large hand stroking Cookie inadvertently caught my attention.
Come to think of it, I had never seen him take off his gloves either.
Of course, the Master and Isidor are different. The Master worked from the shadows, so he was trying to hide his fingerprints or avoid revealing his identity.
‘His hands are big, so I think he would play the piano well…’
But why do I keep having these perverted thoughts?
“Ahem! I’ll take my leave.”
Feeling a prick of conscience for no reason, I cleared my throat, and then jumped out of my seat and went home.
***
All group academic conferences of the various social clubs were over.
Then, in Epsilon, a big after-party was held to commemorate the success of the conference.
The hall of the Epsilon frat house was crowded with noble ladies and young people, as there were members of other social clubs who came by their acquaintances’ invitation.
Outside the hall, various finger foods were prepared, and people began to gather in groups and chat with each other while holding cocktail glasses.
Isidor, the leader of Epsilon, was by far the most talked-about person.
Last year, Isidor frequently left the capital due to an issue with his land in the south, so it was the first time anyone saw him appearing at an official meeting and hosting it.
“Will Sir Isidor be here today?”
“I’m not sure. Although he’s the leader, it’s difficult to see his face.”
The anecdote that the Crown Prince half-forced the position of leader of Epsilon to Isidor, who adamantly refused while saying he couldn’t attend often, was famous.
This was why Philap, who was known to have Epsilon in mind, suddenly became the leader of Omicron.
Since Philap’s temper didn’t allow him to be inferior to anyone else.
“By the way, I guess Omicron is going to skip the after-party.”
“They can’t do it. They’re feeling ashamed.”
“Princess Emmanuelle was always in charge of the parties, so there is no one doing it.”
“Not even in my wildest dreams did I ever think that Princess Deborah and Princess Emmanuelle would argue so intensely in an official meeting.”
“What happened last year was also unimaginable.”
Princess Emmanuelle, who was excellent in politics, and Princess Deborah, who was Seymour’s ruffian, were not even comparable.
“Even though Princess Deborah may have gotten some acknowledgement in the Wizardry Association, she didn’t have much presence in official meetings, but on the contrary, it seems that Princess Emmanuelle helped her.”
“It’s a handshake in a hurry.”
Emmanuelle, who never took action herself but instead manipulated the public opinion in a clever way, was lost by Princess Deborah’s pace and got exposed.
There was a pleasant atmosphere in Epsilon, and on Omicron’s side, they were belatedly saying that Princess Deborah had set up a trap and that she was too much at the official meeting.
However, the social world was a place where people’s words concealed bad intentions and all kinds of tricks were used.
Falling into a trap was proof that she was foolish, and the nobles were not so generous towards losers.
However, the mood that you shouldn’t touch Princess Deborah was even stronger than before.
‘She has gotten scarier.’
In the past, many people implicitly ignored her, the Seymour’s daughter, and gathered in groups to curse at her as she was a public enemy, but even those people were being cautious nowadays.
‘It’s suffocating.’
“L-Look there.”
“Dear Lord.”
Soon, the protagonist of the gossip appeared, and the hall of the frat house suddenly became silent.
Princess Deborah was wearing a simple dress made of high-quality dark purple silk.
The asymmetric shirred clothing gave her a unique look, so even though she was scary, they couldn’t take their eyes off her.
With her hair tied up high to emphasize her exceptionally sharp features, the Princess slowly crossed the hall to the window and crossed her arms.
Soon, she frowned, fluttering her fan; and as the wide sleeve went down and a tattoo was revealed, there was an even deeper silence.
In Azutea, tattoos were used by monks with strong beliefs and aggressive mercenaries.
They didn’t know what kind of beliefs Princess Deborah had, but no one could close their mouths, thinking that it was very unconventional, like her.
***
I started sweating as there was a sudden rush of gazes.
I fluttered my fan around to cool off from the heat.
‘It’s my first, so I was expecting just a little…’
I didn’t know anyone inside the hall.
‘I came too early.’
Still, I was glad to have Margaret.
I hurriedly gulped down the glass of champagne that Margaret had handed me to ease the tension.
As the strength of the alcohol rose a little, the nervousness I was feeling eased a bit.
Calming down, I opened my fan and looked around, waiting for the 5th Princess to show up, and my eyes met with a certain young lady.
