63

"Do you really have to do that? It's a deal anyway. It doesn't seem to be a problem."

"…"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I think you're naive at times like this."

Khalif's expression was distorted. He felt like he had been ignored.

"Hey, you tend to ignore me sometimes. Do you know?"

"I meant well, and I apologize if it sounded that way. I wanted to let you know that the Great House is not as principled a place as senior knows."

When Elena said that much, Khalif sighed briefly, as if he couldn't blame her anymore.

"If you are like that, it should be like that. Who's the Leabrick written here? I've never heard of that name."

"The Grand Duke's brain."

Leabrick's presence was still limited to aristocratic society. It was only after the success of the Noblesse Street Development Project that the fame of the "Conspiratorial Leabrick" vibrated in the Empire, making the Grand Duke sit in an absolute position.

"This guy? But his name is kind of unique. Leabrick, Leabrick. Are they a man?"

"She's a woman."

"Really?"

"Yes, she's very crafty."

Elena looked out the window and thought of Leabrick. How would she react if she received this letter? She didn't know, but it would be a pretty dirty feeling. She had always been in a position to take initiative, so the odds were that she would find it very uncomfortable and insulting to be pushed around in this way, handing the initiative over to the other party. Elena then blatantly took up the name Leabrick in her letter. This was to get it out to her face that she was well aware of her existence.

'I know you from the bottom of my heart. But you don't know anything about me.'

This difference was huge. Although Leabrick has the skill of flying and creeping, she would be limited in her ability to deal with it because she didn't know her enemy.

'The more I know about you, the more suspicious you will be. You'll have to think somewhere that the information has been bought.'

Elena engaged in more psychological warfare than met the eye. If Elena, who knew the future, intervened and interfered at every turn, even Leabrick would have to waver. The only reason she could think of was that Elena had taken the initiative by looking to the sky and leaked a secret that only her entourage knew.

'You told me that. If you want to destroy someone, you have to get rid of the people around them first. That's how you become blind, close your ears, and be selfish.'

She was not proud of it, but Elena learned Leabrick's mind in its entirety. It was an undeniable fact that she had risen to the top of the social world based on that heart. Now it was time to shake her to her core in the way she had learned from Leabrick.

'A trap.'

Leabrick didn't know it, but Elena was already covered. Perhaps she would be foolish enough to fit into that covering and expel her limbs by now. No, if that were the case, there would be nothing more to wish for.

'It's too bad I can't see the face that's going to be distorted by this letter. It must be a great spectacle.'

***

As she read the letter L had sent her, Leabrick's face twisted with humiliation. She was very good at hiding her emotions, but at this moment, she couldn't control them, and bit her lip. Luminus, who had newly become Leabrick's hands and feet, asked her, looking at her.

"What did they say?"

"Look at it for yourself."

Leabrick breathed roughly as if she were throwing the letter. She looked quite outraged, unlike her cold reputation.

"How dare they threaten me?"

While Leabrick calmed her anger, the two young men who had read the letter from L placed it carefully on the desk.

"We need to revise the evaluation of L completely. Now, it's not an ordinary bet."

"The way they receive the proceeds of the sale is very precise, from the gold coins that are the official currency of the continent, to the imperial francs, the centums of the kingdoms, and the coins of the three nations. This kind of washing is impossible to track."

That's not all. The price indicated by L was even higher than the expected purchase price of Leabrick. It was so huge that it exceeded the cost of buying land for the entire remaining slums, excluding the land owned by L.

"No more negotiations? If I don't buy it, you won't sell it forever?"

Leabrick gritted her teeth by brooding over the words in the letter. If it were just a one-sided notification, she would not have failed to overcome his anger like this. It was the next phrase that made Leabrick so agitated.

"So think carefully and behave yourself, Leabrick? Ha, how dare you bring me up?"

Elena explicitly mentioned the name of Leabrick in the letter. It was as if she explicitly knew that she was the main person in the Grand Duchy who was working on this project.

Artil looked at his thoughts and expressed his thoughts.

"The reason for the high selling price was that it reflected the price of land that would go up when the street is completed five years later, which is roughly the same as what we predicted."

This was the scary part. L explicitly stated in their letter that they were not selling the land at a tremendously high price. They added that the price was very appropriate, reflecting the rising land prices after the Grand Duke developed the slums, but it was exactly in line with the Grand Duke's predictions.

Leabrick calmly said as if she had managed to contain her emotions.

"L sat down and predicted the estimated amount of land that was based on the project plan? Do you think that makes sense?"

"It's…"

"I'm more inclined to the fact that the Grand Duke has a mole inside."

It's human work that's not even an inch ahead, and the prediction factors are all different, and they're predicting the land price in five years, which was similar to Leabrick's expectation? Leabrick couldn't believe it.

"I agree with you, too."

Artil revealed his idea. Luminus, who had been silent, also spoke.

"So you think your predecessors leaked it?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

Leabrick wasn't sure about this part either. It was suspicious, but there was no evidence. She also inspected every single person working inside the Grand Duchy, from the maids to the servants, but could not find any traces of contact with the outside world. Leabrick was disturbed because she could not find out who the culprit was, even though she had indeed found information.

"I'm sure there's an interloper inside. Relax and they'll show their tail. Catch it and drag them to me."

"Yes, Viscountess."

Leabrick shifted her gaze to the letter from L. She was angry and annoyed, but she had to decide on the answer to L's request.

"Tell me your thoughts."

"… Humiliating, but I think we have to comply."

"As far as I can tell from L's behavior and tone, if you don't buy it, they may not really sell it. Even if we lose money right now, we have to buy it."

The two agreed that they should buy the land at the price L suggested. From a long-term perspective, it was judged that the side suffered less damage than a disruption to the business plan.

"Ha."

Leabrick sighed briefly. Although she asked for their opinions, Leabrick had already decided to buy.

'There's no choice.'

Leabrick bit her lip tightly. The land that L had purchased was in the central area of Noblesse Street. She had already completed the purchase of land in the slums other than the land L owned. Also, the amount of money invested externally was huge. It would have been better to cancel the project here, but the damage had to be even greater.

"I'll buy it."

Though she had long worries, she made quick decisions. Grand Duke Friedrich had already delegated her full authority on the development of Noblesse Street. She was able to be a candidate for preemptive action as he fully trusted Leabrick. She decided that it would be better to close the deal before L raised the price, and they suffered more damage.

'Ha, the unexpected expenditure has grown too much.'

He was said to be the Grand Duke with astronomical wealth, but the money he was putting into Noblesse Street was so huge that it was equivalent to the annual budget of the empire. If this project failed, the very foundation of the Grand Duchy could be in jeopardy. They might have to be prepared for a period of stagnation for the next five years. That's how critical this project was for the Grand Duke's position.

Of course, the reflected profit when it succeeds is unimaginable. It was expected that the assets of the Grand Duke would multiply by at least three times, and in many cases by nearly ten times, the amount invested. Seeing the potential for success, Leabrick prepared meticulously and thoroughly. The process was going well, and the feeling was good. Until L threw cold water on it.

'L. I won't forget this humiliation.'

Leabrick engraved the name L in her chest again and again. They were going to pay her back for what they did today. That's dozens, no, hundreds of times more hopeless than she was.

***

"The sale is over. It will take some time, but it is said that the sale of the money received from the Grand House is being laundered."

'Lost money for the Grand Duke, and I made a huge profit.'

The first leg against Leabrick was Elena's complete victory. The spoils of the war were excellent. In addition to the proceeds from the art broker Khalif and the money available to collaborate with Emilio, the Castol Corporation held huge amounts of cash in L's name.

"That's what I expected."

"Yes, it worked out as you expected. I envy you. To sell the land you bought for shit for gold, no, for diamonds. No, where on earth did you get this kind of advanced information?"

No wonder Khalif was curious. She was looking ahead and not taking a step outside the academy.

"It's a secret."

"I didn't expect you to tell me either."

Elena grinned. The grumbling Khalif's reaction felt like a child.

"Tell me more about the outside trends. I'm curious."

"Look, they lost money. But it's not much. The Grand Duke who finished buying the land in the slums has officially announced that he will redevelop it."

It was a trend that Elena had predicted. Now that the purchase of the land in the slums had been completed, they would begin in earnest to tear down the lagging buildings and consolidate the land. The construction would be spurred on by the participation of many famous architects who were working on the detailed design plans.

"I suddenly got a chill."

"What?"

Elena fixed her eyes on Khalif's sudden remark.