A luxurious inn in the heart of Moravia City was unusually guarded today. Unlike before, two soldiers stood rigidly at the entrance, with others patrolling nearby.
From Bald’s information, it seemed that the Third Princess of the Vichy Kingdom happened to be staying at the same inn where Hilvi lodged.
Whether this was good or bad remained to be seen. Fortunately, Su Yao hadn’t brought Chlorel or Sofia along this time.
Since the perverted noble named Norton was out of the picture, her safety was temporarily assured.
Although Chlorel still opposed her coming to Moravia alone, there was no better companion from the Dungeon to accompany her.
As for why Chlorel wasn’t brought along, it was because she had an important task to complete.
Su Yao adjusted her clothes slightly. Today, she deliberately changed into a new outfit. The reason? To avoid being mistaken for the “Princess” by some fool again.
Her dark black dress barely covered her knees, decorated with delicate lace and ruffles. The black buttons gleamed like crystals, and paired with her red eyes, she looked stunningly enchanting.
In this dress, she and the little Chlorel from her childhood could not have been more different in temperament.
Although she no longer had to worry about being mistaken for royalty, the number of second glances she attracted on the street had noticeably increased.
At nearly level thirty, her figure had stretched out quite a bit from the fragile little girl she once was, but a taller loli was still a loli. She still had a long way to go before becoming a young lady.
Entering the inn, no soldiers stopped or questioned her, but when she reached the top floor, she was halted.
Coincidentally, the Princess herself was staying on the same floor as Hilvi.
Wait… Could it be…
Hilvi seemed to have brought back some rather impressive “souvenirs.”
“Please notify Miss Hilvi that I am Su Yao, a merchant supplying Ashley Chamber of Commerce. I’m here to discuss cooperation matters with her.”
The soldier blocking the way looked at her with some surprise but gave a signal to someone opposite him. That person immediately understood and dashed down the corridor.
Soon, the familiar elderly butler approached gracefully. “Long time no see, Miss Su Yao.”
Su Yao nodded slightly in greeting, then the butler led her to Hilvi’s room. Soldiers sporadically standing in the hallway only confirmed her previous suspicions.
Knock, knock, knock.
The butler rapped several times on the white door trimmed with gold. After receiving a response, he opened it and bowed to the side.
Hilvi was especially warm today. She rose and came to the door to welcome Su Yao inside. It seemed she missed her after all these days.
“Sorry for being late. Some things came up, so I’m behind schedule.”
“No worries. My foolish brothers gave you some trouble, didn’t they?”
That sentence carried heavy meaning. Hilvi wasn’t surprised that her base was in the Dungeon, but whether she knew Su Yao was the Dungeon Master was still unclear from that remark.
There was no point in hiding it anyway. The fact that Su Yao was a monster in the Dungeon had been apparent from the start.
Since Hilvi hadn’t openly asked about her connection to the Dungeon, Su Yao decided to play dumb.
“Fortunately, the Dungeon’s labyrinth is very complicated. Few survive to reach my territory. But what about your second brother?”
Su Yao admitted she was a monster from the Dungeon and smoothly shifted the topic to Hilvi’s brother.
“As a friend, I won’t let you get into trouble. His unauthorized redeployment of city defense soldiers is a serious crime. If he returns, I won’t protect him.”
So it was like this. She had been quietly using the “kill with a borrowed sword” tactic. How long had she been planning this? Truly a formidable woman.
After briefly deciding the fate of the corrupt noble, she eagerly moved on to the next topic.
“Good. How about the ‘investment’ we talked about earlier? Have you obtained the Land Deed for the Land near the Dungeon?”
“You’re quite impatient. Of course, I always keep my promises to friends.”
Hilvi signaled the butler, who stepped forward with the prepared contract laid out on the table.
Su Yao promptly took out the agreed stock from her warehouse. She had been thinking about this contract for a long time!
There was no extra gold in this deal, but the value of the land deed was incomparable to gold coins.
“May I ask, what are your plans to ‘invest’ in the land near the Dungeon?”
Here it came—she had been waiting for this question from Hilvi.
“Why? Interested in partnering with me?”
“Absolutely.”
Such a direct answer was a surprise. Given Hilvi’s cautious nature, Su Yao had expected she would need to persuade her more.
“Don’t be so surprised. I know the situation around the Dungeon. That place is so lucrative that even building a few inns there guarantees easy money. If this were before, I wouldn’t have handed you the deed.”
As the sharpest business mind in the territory, Hilvi had long sensed the commercial potential of that land. But she was not greedy and knew how to share the benefits with her partners.
“Thank you, you’ve been a great help. Since you’re interested, why not hear my plan…”
Su Yao described her vision in detail. Hearing these once-unthinkable ideas, the blue-eyed noble girl’s eyes seemed to sparkle.
She occasionally vetoed some overly aggressive ideas and suggested more cost-effective alternatives.
Thus, the two of them wrote the name of a new town on the map near the Dungeon…
———
Happy moments always felt especially short.
After securing funds from investor Hilvi, Su Yao left her room.
The early days of a venture always required running errands, and her next destination today was the Adventurers’ Guild.
“Please wait, dear lady. May I invite you to my room for some tea?”
Uh, did she even have a choice?
Her plan was disrupted as a suddenly appearing girl led her to a suite next to Hilvi’s room…
“I am Eveleel Vichy, the Third Princess of the Vichy Kingdom. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Hello, I’m Su Yao.”
Soldiers lined the entire corridor behind her; her identity was obvious.
Why had she called Su Yao over? Surely not just for tea? If it were, that would be great.
“Are you the business partner of Hilvi’s trading company?”
“I’m not sure what you mean…”
In a way, this was still a kind of “tea invitation,” and Su Yao was already sweating.
Hadn’t Hilvi said before she went to the royal capital that it wasn’t a big deal? Yet her trading company was now completely under surveillance!
“Don’t be nervous. Unlike my foolish brothers who are after Hilvi’s massive wealth, what I want is Hilvi herself.”
That “want” meant admiration, right? It couldn’t possibly be that the hometown lilies were blooming again?
To be honest, Su Yao really did admire Hilvi’s ability.
“So you might be misunderstanding something.”
Exactly. She had nearly thought the princess was a yuri.
“I love Hilvi—love her enough to marry her!”
Su Yao: “……”