The next day, we followed through on our decision to go into the city in order to visit the Shipish Company and see the man trying to get married to Kelly. I had on a beautiful purple dress that had been prepared for me to wear when going out into the capital. Lord Nazel escorted me to the carriage station on the palace grounds.
“You look absolutely lovely, Agnes. Both your dress and hat look amazing on you.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Thank you for gifting me this dress, Lord Nazel.” I was happy to be wearing a splendid outfit that wouldn’t look out of place even in the capital.
“And I’m glad to see you so happy. I’m currently torn between wanting to show off my wonderful wife and wanting to keep her locked up for myself.”
“You also look dashing dressed for our outing, Lord Nazel. Of course, you always look dashing.”
“Thank you, Agnes.”
A large carriage that had been prepared for our outing was parked at the station, so we got on it. Here, nobles didn’t walk around the city unless they were incognito. When one acted in one’s capacity as a noble, one typically traveled through the city by carriage to avoid coming into contact with commoners and frightening them.
Sutrena is just an exception... Nowadays, we had more opportunities to walk around Sutrena, but when we’d first moved there, we would also travel by carriage, and I used to go into town disguised as a maid.
Now then, what kind of person is the man who wants to arrange a marriage with Kelly? According to what we’d learned at the party, Bill was a merchant who had been staying in the capital for some time now. We’d sent a messenger the other day to inform him of our plans to visit him. We were going to meet him and tell him to please not take Kelly’s parents at their word. We also wanted to learn why he had his eyes set on Kelly. Bill had come from a different territory and had recently opened his store in the center of the capital. It was apparently very popular.
We need to get to the bottom of this.
I turned to Kelly, who was riding with us.
“Wait in the carriage while Lord Nazel and I talk to the merchant. We don’t know what kind of person he is, but you might go through another unpleasant experience.”
Kelly shook her head from side to side.
“No, this matter concerns me personally. I should go with you and settle this once and for all.”
“You don’t need to worry about that...”
“I also want to know what he’s thinking. I’m curious to see why he sought a marriage interview with me. I might also be of use to you by looking into his heart with my magic.” Once she’d decided something, she wouldn’t waver.
Persuading her seemed impossible, so I simply nodded.
“Very well. If you say so, let’s all go together.”
Lord Nazel also nodded, seemingly in agreement.
Before long, our carriage slowly came to a halt on the cobblestone main street. Before us was a brand-new, excessively luxurious store. The windows near the entrance were decorated with jeweled ornaments. It was a refined, luxurious space. The large glass walls allowed people to see inside clearly.
There were many employees. Men who I assumed to be guards stood on either side of the door, and inside the store, there were many young, beautiful female employees in matching uniforms.
The store’s interior is sparkling. Many luxurious outfits were on display farther in the back. It looked very likely that the store was doing well.
We all went inside together, including our guard Torre.
“Please rest assured. If anything happens, I will turn giant and destroy the store! Ha ha ha!” Torre had just said something really scary like it was a perfectly natural thought. Well, our people back in Sutrena did sometimes ask him to demolish old, vacant houses...
Lord Nazel pacified Torre with a wide smile.
“Now, now, you shouldn’t be so hostile from the start. Let’s keep that as a last resort.” In the end, they’d apparently agreed that destroying the store was on the table...
Perhaps because we’d contacted them in advance, one of the employees came up to us as soon as she noticed us.
“Welcome to our store. You must be the Margrave and Margravine of Sutrena,” she said.
“Yes, we are. Is the owner here?” Lord Nazel asked.
The employee’s expression became slightly clouded in response.
“You have my sincerest apologies. The owner had to step out some time ago due to some urgent business...”
“What kind of business?”
“Well...” The woman looked strangely uneasy. It was kind of suspicious.
“Did he actually run away? At this point in time?” Lord Nazel muttered quietly.
“No, according to my magic, she’s lying. It seems that she’s hiding something,” Kelly replied. She could discern other people’s emotions, so if she said so, it had to be true.
“Eep!” When the employee was called out on her lie, she visibly averted her gaze.
Things are getting more and more suspicious.
I quickly started asking more questions.
“If he isn’t out, is Bill hiding somewhere in this store? From the looks of it, he doesn’t seem to be on this floor. Is he serving customers in a private room, perhaps?”
“No, he isn’t. He’s left the store,” the employee said.
“That is a lie,” Kelly objected again. “He’s probably somewhere in the store and only pretending to be out.”
Torre rolled up his sleeves.
“Everything will be resolved if I demolish the building and expose everyone inside it.”
“Stop, Torre. I already told you this was the last resort. Let’s check farther inside the store first,” Lord Nazel said.
“Th-That would be a problem! You can’t simply go in there without permission,” the employee said, breaking into a panic.
“Then we’ll have him come out here himself. Torre...”
“Very well! I shall call the shopkeeper as loud as I can! My voice is well-known for carrying far!”
“If you can, please let him know the reason for our visit.”
“Understood!”
Torre filled his lungs and let out a deep, roaring voice from the depths of his stomach. Although he didn’t have any magic like voice amplification, he could naturally shout with equivalent volume.
“Excuse me! Mister Bill! We have come to visit you regarding the matter we contacted you about! To be more specific, about you using your money in order to pressure a certain woman—young enough to be your daughter—into an arranged marriage with you! We’d also like to know why you got in touch with her parents instead of her!” Torre explained the situation clearly, just like he’d been asked to. He also said some things that would have been better left unsaid. He didn’t mean any harm, though; he was just honest to a fault.
As one might expect, a commotion began inside the store. Then, Kelly pointed to the back of the display shelves holding accessories and whispered to Lord Nazel and me.
“I found him. He’s probably the person behind that shelf.”
“Huh?”
“He’s completely lost his composure. My magic can’t discern the fine details, but compared to the other people here, he seems to be feeling much more shame, panic, and confusion.” It seemed that Kelly had used her magic to look into the fluctuations in everyone’s emotions.
Lord Nazel promptly nodded.
“I see. Thank you, Kelly, that was well done,” he said before he started gallantly walking toward the display case. The next moment, a man’s high-pitched yelp came from the same direction. “Could you please come closer?” Lord Nazel asked the man.
The display shelves led to a dead end, so there was nowhere to run. A plump man with slumped shoulders appeared from behind a shelf. With a look of resignation on his face, he timidly made his way toward Lord Nazel.
“Are you Bill, the representative of the Shipish Company?” Lord Nazel asked for confirmation.