There was a lot of work to be done, most of it related to the delivery service.
Wearing a robe, Rosenta used the secret passage to exit the castle and took a carriage to the delivery office located on the outskirts of the capital.
Today, he entered the building through the main gate with great confidence.
Immediately, the lively voice of an employee rang out loudly to welcome him.
"Welcome!"
He immediately told the staff what he’d come for.
"I have an appointment with Young Lord Aphra Cardia."
"Yes, we've been expecting you. You can go up."
He was able to enter easily because he’d notified Aphra in advance.
Rosenta used to visit under the guise of an 'investor', but now he had to be careful about even that much.
‘It was the early days of the business at that time. There were only a few contracted employees then, but...….’
It was different now.
"Please bring me a custom-made carpet from Terrian."
"It will take about two days. Is that okay?"
"What? Is that all it will take?"
Despite being on the outskirts, the office was full of people who came in person.
While they did provide a home consultation service, those in a hurry liked to visit in person.
As a result, Rosenta took care to block all information related to him.
"Well, I intend to send these bespoke dresses to the lady of the Cherion family...….”
"Is there a long wait? I'd like to entrust a personal delivery to you."
Leaving the noisy first floor behind, Rosenta began to climb the stairs.
Finally, he arrived in front of Aphra's office.
"I'm coming in."
After a light knock, Rosenta went straight into the office.
It seemed he was looking at the accounting, as Aphra was tapping a calculator and concentrating as much as he could.
Rosenta called him again.
"I’ve arrived."
"Oh! You’ve arrived?"
Only then did Aphra notice his existence.
When he saw Aphra standing up, Rosenta settled down at the guest table in the middle of the room.
Soon after, Aphra brought over a thick stack of documents and sat in another empty seat.
He placed the documents on the table as if telling Rosenta to check them.
Rosenta pointed to the papers and asked,
"Is this it?"
The numbers were densely written.
Rosenta went through the contents carefully pretending to understand what they said.
When he reached the last page, he nodded and exclaimed,
"Sales have gone up a lot!"
"Yes! Projected sales are going to be twice as high as they are now. No, three times higher. So, I have a suggestion...….”
It was a rollercoaster of emotions.
One moment he was talking excitedly, and now he was watching him closely and fiddling with his fingers.
Seeing that, Rosenta assumed it wouldn't be an easy proposal.
He flashed a generous smile.
"It's all right, so tell me what you’re thinking."
"Well, that is...… Because there is only one building, only people in this area can visit it...…. Once we accumulate some income, why don't we open another branch?"
‘Are you talking about branching?’
Rosenta was thinking of doing just that once the service had accumulated some awareness with the public.
If they opened branches in several locations, it would be even easier to deliver packages.
Of course, they’d also make more money.
So, Rosenta answered enthusiastically,
"Let's do that."
Aphra's eyes widened.
His cheeks turned red and his mouth, which usually chittered like a canary’s, slowly opened.
It was a sign that the chittering was about to begin.
Rosenta quickly took action. He quickly re-stacked the papers and pushed them aside.
Then he called him.
"Aphra."
"Oh! Yes."
"While I did come here to hear a report on sales, there's also another reason for my visit."
"Another reason?"
Rosenta hadn't seen Aphra very often lately as his work had become busy.
As a result, Aphra didn't know he was going to be away.
"I'm going to be away for a few days. So, there's something I’d like Aphra to do for me."
***
Unable to sleep, Vivian stared blankly at the night sky from a balcony.
It painted an elegant scene.
She looked like a pitiful woman lost in thought.
However, Vivian's murmurings revealed that the nature of her inner thoughts were quite different.
"Why can't I remember her face? It keeps fading away...….”
She was thinking of someone.
"But that eye color is really similar."
Vivian was continuing to recall her encounter with the Woman in Purple.
This had been going on for two days in a row.
"Ah! As expected, it's annoying!"
It should have been an insignificant memory that she ignored.
Yet Vivian felt uncomfortable.
It is said that a woman's intuition cannot be ignored, and that intuition was becoming stronger and stronger.
"Everything else is normal, but it's weird that I can’t remember her face."
The feeling at that time came back to her clearly.
Strangely, however, detailed features could not be recalled.
"Ah, I don't know!"
It was the second night.
Vivian was on the verge of just giving up on recalling the Woman in Purple.
Until Lysander appeared.
"Vivian!"
He was scratching his pink hair that was messily spread out everywhere.
He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he’d stayed up all night.
Nevertheless, when Lysander saw Vivian, he came over smiling.
With goggles in his hand.
"I finally finished it!"
"The new magic took you spoke about?"
Looking at the goggles, Vivian has a flask of inspiration.
Suddenly, she approached Lysander and clasped his hand tightly.
Vivian intentionally opened her eyes and looked up at him with a sparkling gaze.
"Can you check if I’m under a spell with those?"
"A spell?"
Lysander's face turned grim at Vivian's sudden words.
‘Who would dare cast a spell on my sister?’
"Wait a moment."
He quickly put on the goggles.
He carefully looked at Vivian's left, right, front, and back.
Naturally, there was no sign of magic.
Lysander took off his goggles.
"There's nothing. What's going on?"
"That's...… I met a woman and can’t recall her face. I wondered if she had used magic."
"Oh, it looks like a magic tool was used."
Only then did Vivian clap her hands and admire Lysander's words.
She blamed her ignorance for not being able to think of magical tools, she scratched her cheeks with shame.
Then she murmured like she was giving an excuse.
"Because she is famous enough to be called the Woman in Purple, of course she needs to cover her face."
"Woman in Purple?"
"Huh? You don't know about her?"
Lysander shrugged.
In fact, this conversation with Vivian was his first time hearing of this Woman in Purple.
He was generally ignorant of anything outside of magic.
Of course, he was also busy handling the tasks assigned by Enoch and rebuilding the Magic Tower.
"She's a woman called the saint of the Empire who helps people these days."
"Helps? I guess she has free time. So, what's wrong with her?"
Vivian sighed lightly at Lysander's cynical reaction.
Regardless, she continued her words.
"I happened to see her a while ago and her eyes looked like Rosen’s. But no matter how much I tried to recall, I can’t think of her face."
“……What?"
Suddenly, Lysander grabbed Vivian by her forearm.
Then he shook Vivian.
"Does the color really look similar? Are you sure?"
"Ugh, what's wrong with you?"
Vivian cried out nervously.
She couldn’t tell up from down because of how hard Lysander shook her.
She calmed her stomach while holding the railing for a while.
Only then did Vivian turn around and glare fiercely at Lysander.
It didn't last long, though.
“……What's this?"
Lysander suddenly held out his goggles. He had a big smile on his face.
He even waved his goggles as if telling her to take them quickly.
Vivian took the goggles.
"Why are you giving these to me?"
As always, Lysander did not answer the question directly.
He gave his usual jumbled response, which Vivian could not easily understand.
"I'm not giving it to you, I'm lending it to you for a while. He told me to watch my mouth; he didn't tell me to watch my hands."
***
One day, as he was preparing to leave, a letter came from Theodore.
Rosenta,
I want to make time for the two of us to talk with Vivian.
Vivian will feel our absence the most.
So, now that the time is close, I feel it’s the right time to talk.
If you have time, let's meet today at the time and place below.
He folded up the letter.
It was just as Theodore said. Moreover, Rosenta was also going to be away without them knowing.
No matter how many safety measures were taken, it was not the place for Vivian.
Using the excuse of being busy, he would be doing various tasks.
"Enoch, I have to visit the Imperial Palace this afternoon, so please prepare in advance."
“……The Imperial Palace. I will prepare."
It was not a smooth answer. There had been a short silence before he responded.
Rosenta didn't pay much attention.
Even if he had asked about it, Enoch's answers were all similar.
He'll say, 'I don't like it' and 'I'm jealous' like usual.
So, he just quietly skimmed through his work without saying much.
Before long, only the sound of the papers shuffling, and the sound of writing were heard.
Until Enoch called him.
"Duke."
He took his eyes off the reports. He shook his head and looked up.
‘What is he going to say.’
As soon as their eyes met, Enoch calmly opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.
At the same time, his eyes narrowed.
"I'll wait for you quietly today. Very calmly, here...….”
Rosenta didn't expect this.
He felt dazed, like someone suddenly hit the back of his head.
He dropped the pen he was holding.
The pen dropped on the desk.
In the meantime, Enoch was just smiling calmly.
However, unlike his expression, his voice contained suppressed emotions, as if speaking each word carefully.
"So, His Majesty the Emperor...… please go and meet your friend."