Chapter 1411: Intermission 5: The Stalking Girl (3)

Leon’s POV

Rare moments of peace didn’t happen often for me anymore.

Most days were packed with work, meetings, inventions, negotiations, random disasters, and somehow getting dragged into situations I never asked to be part of in the first place. At some point, my schedule had stopped looking like a schedule and started looking more like a punishment designed by a very angry god.

So when I finally managed to get a little free time that day, I planned to enjoy it properly.

Unfortunately, the universe apparently hated seeing me relax.

My phone suddenly rang.

I let out a quiet sigh before reaching for it. The moment I looked at the screen and saw Charlotte’s name, I already had a bad feeling. Charlotte rarely called for normal reasons. There was always something behind it. Sometimes annoying. Sometimes exhausting. Sometimes both at the same time.

Still, I answered anyway.

"Leon, are you free?" she asked immediately.

"Not really," I replied honestly. "Why? What’s up?"

"Well, make your schedule free."

I stared at the phone for a second after hearing that.

What kind of request even was that?

She already knew how busy I was almost all the time. My schedule was packed to the point where even I forgot half the things written on it. Telling me to "make it free" like it was some easy thing sounded ridiculous.

Then again, this was Charlotte.

Common sense occasionally bounced off her like arrows hitting a castle wall.

"I’ll warm Ella up," she said casually. "Then you can eat her up while she’s warm."

"What a thing to say..." I muttered.

Honestly, that was the only response my brain could produce after hearing something like that so suddenly.

Charlotte really had a talent for saying outrageous things in the calmest tone possible. Somebody unfamiliar with her would probably choke on air halfway through the conversation.

I leaned back slightly, already understanding what she meant.

She was probably talking about Ella’s feelings. Charlotte intended to make sure Ella stopped running away from them first, and after that, it would apparently become my turn to "eat her up."

And by eat her up, she obviously meant fucking her.

Charlotte seriously needed to stop making everything sound so unnecessarily aggressive.

Still, if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t really mind whether Ella confessed or not.

I genuinely didn’t.

If Ella wanted to keep her feelings hidden and continue pretending we were only mutual acquaintances, then that was her decision. I respected it. Feelings weren’t something you could just force out of someone because you wanted clarity.

Well, unless you were Charlotte.

That woman approached emotional problems like she was trying to kick a locked door open.

"If she wants to stay as mutual acquaintances, then I’m fine with that," I said quietly to myself.

And I meant it.

Sure, there were moments where I noticed things. Small reactions. Lingering stares. Awkward pauses that lasted a little too long. Anybody with functioning eyes could tell Ella had feelings buried somewhere in there.

Still, she clearly didn’t want to deal with them openly.

So I left it alone.

"Do you want to come with us or not?" Charlotte asked again, sounding slightly impatient now.

Honestly, I didn’t think the situation was some massive life-changing event. At the same time, though, I had a feeling Ella could become useful somewhere down the line. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

That thought immediately made me grimace a little internally.

It sounded scummy.

To be fair, I wasn’t thinking of her as a tool or anything like that. I wasn’t that terrible of a person.

Well...

Maybe sometimes.

Actually, if I was being realistic, probably most of the time.

Still, even I had standards. At least enough to convince myself I did, which was close enough.

"Where are you?" I finally asked.

***

The streets were fairly lively while I walked toward the place Charlotte and I agreed to meet at.

People moved around constantly, merchants shouted about discounts nobody believed, and the smell of food drifted through the air strongly enough to make starving yourself feel impossible. Somebody nearby was grilling meat, and the scent alone almost made me change directions entirely.

Honestly, whoever invented street food deserved respect.

While walking through the crowd, something unusual eventually caught my attention.

A small shop sat quietly between several larger establishments, yet somehow it stood out more than all of them combined.

Its display was packed with items I didn’t recognize immediately. Various fabrics, jewelry, accessories, bottles, and strange little trinkets filled the shelves. Judging from the overall look of the merchandise, most of it probably came from foreign countries.

I hadn’t seen anything quite like it before.

Curiosity naturally pulled me closer.

The shop wasn’t only selling clothes and decorative items either.

There was wine too.

A lot of wine.

And not normal wine.

Expensive wine.

The kind of expensive where merely looking at the price tag made your wallet feel personally attacked.

Some bottles cost so much that even Leonamon wine suddenly looked cheap by comparison, which honestly felt absurd considering Leonamon products already had a reputation for bleeding nobles dry financially.

At that point, curiosity officially won.

I approached one of the bottles carefully, staring at the label.

"Oh? You’re willing to buy this?"

The voice came from behind the counter.

I looked up and immediately noticed the owner.

She was a beastwoman with a long neck and a tall figure that easily stood above me. Her appearance resembled a goat far more than a normal human. Her face was distinctly goat-like, though the rest of her body remained humanoid.

Still, there was something strangely captivating about her.

Maybe it was intentional.

Maybe it wasn’t.

Long bangs draped across her face, partially hiding her eyes, yet I could still feel her gaze studying me closely. There was a quiet confidence in the way she looked at people, like she was constantly evaluating them without making it obvious.

And somehow, despite the unusual appearance, she carried herself with an oddly elegant charm.

"I am," I answered.

"You do realize that costs seven thousand and two gold coins, correct?" she asked. "It’s hardly cheap."

"I never said it was cheap," I replied calmly. "But do I look like someone who can’t afford it?"

For a brief moment, silence hung between us.

Then she laughed softly.

It wasn’t loud or obnoxious. Just a refined little giggle that somehow matched her atmosphere perfectly.

"Oh, it’s not that," she said with amusement. "Still, even high-ranking nobles hesitate at that amount. It’s only wine, after all. Spending such an absurd sum on something that disappears the moment you drink it sounds unreasonable to most people."

"Well, I suppose I’m a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to wine," I said.

"A bit?" she repeated with another soft laugh. "Fufufu... I expected as much."

Her eyes narrowed slightly beneath her bangs while studying me.

"You carry yourself rather well," she continued. "Judging from your appearance, you seem fairly refined too. As expected of the man who revolutionized so many things in this world, you hardly come across as uncultured."

"Oh?" I said. "So you know who I am?"

"You’re quite famous," she replied casually. "At least within trading circles."

Oh...

That made sense.

Just from the variety of items surrounding the shop, it was obvious she wasn’t some ordinary merchant. Imported goods, rare products, absurdly expensive wine. Somebody with connections handled all this.

So she was a trader.

Honestly, I probably should’ve realized that immediately.

She slowly stood from her seat behind the counter before extending a hand toward me gracefully.

"Nice to meet you," she said. "My name is Foriel, President of the Foriel Trading Company."

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Faust."