[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-became-the-patron-of-villains":3,"chapter-became-the-patron-of-villains-became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-407":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Became the Patron of Villains",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},759497,1006,"Chapter 407: Proclamation Ceremony (2)","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-407",407,"\u003Cp>At Kun’s words, Alon was bewildered behind a blank face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d never given Kun anything like an “opportunity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘If anything, shouldn’t I be the one thanking them?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A merchant wasn’t a first-tier supplier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant that unless the merchant had already stockpiled the materials being offered to Alon in advance,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it would mean taking a truly massive loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon flicked a glance at Evan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a look that said, What is that even supposed to mean? Evan gave a small shrug.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No idea, it meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, let me ask.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it true you can bring the materials exactly as written on this estimate?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s possible.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon had asked just in case the estimate was pure fiction, but unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be it either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even more question marks popped up over Alon’s head, but Alon didn’t press further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If someone was saying they’d take the loss themselves, there was no need to dig in and double-check it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More importantly, the one taking the loss wasn’t Alon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By when can you deliver the goods?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I start gathering materials from now, I can do twenty percent in the first month. After that, I think three to four months will be enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was such a confident answer that Alon was a little surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The amount of materials needed for expanding the territory was no small thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is there anything you need help with?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Help, you say?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. If there’s something you need, I’ll provide support.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kun smiled and seemed to think carefully about something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But only for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if realizing something, Kun’s expression turned serious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you very much for the offer, but I’ll handle this one on my own.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......You’re saying you won’t accept help?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Startled inside, Alon asked again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......You really don’t need it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m really fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......Really?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kun nodded firmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon glanced at Evan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evan glanced back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I seriously can’t tell what that person is even saying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Me neither.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A brief exchange of identical eyes passed between them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If that’s the case... I’ll be counting on you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes! I’ll do my best.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Alon nodded, still feeling a little off about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, right after Kun stood up to coordinate the detailed schedule with Alexion—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon stopped Kun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that the negotiation was over, it felt like Alon had signed some kind of unfair contract.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the other side had wanted it, so the feeling was a little different—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but letting Kun just walk out still made Alon feel uneasy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After shifting Alon’s gaze around for a moment, Alon suddenly spotted the statue on the desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mini statue Sili had said she made yesterday as a test piece.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon did think, Something else might be better than this...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but there wasn’t anything else in the office that looked particularly valuable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Take this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon handed the statue over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kun’s eyes, which had been brimming with confidence until just a moment ago, went wide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Th-this... you mean this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kun’s voice trembled slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you not want it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon awkwardly wondered if handing it over personally was a bit much and started to take it back—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, not at all!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the meantime, Kun rushed in like a fire and snatched the statue up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really—really, I’ll work hard! Thank you so much!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kun shouted loudly and bowed to Alon over and over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, cradling the statue in both hands as if carrying something sacred, Kun hurried out of the office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right after Kun and Alexion left—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Marquis.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you, by any chance, learn hypnosis when I wasn’t looking?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you think I did?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s weird... That person was at the level of being straight-up hypnotized...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evan voiced the doubt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...What is that, seriously?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon couldn’t help tilting the head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at that moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While moving with Alexion, Kun—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Just like I thought. It was a test.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kun replayed what had just happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Palatio, only ever heard of through rumors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment when the Marquis looked at Kun with those indifferent eyes—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...when they’d spoken so calmly just now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whew—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, Kun had been shocked by the Marquis’s reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The estimate Kun had presented was, without exaggeration, an amount no merchant could offer no matter who came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That price point couldn’t exist unless a merchant accepted an absurd loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, even after handing over an estimate that outrageous—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>there wasn’t even the faintest trace of emotion on Marquis Palatio’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if it were only natural, the Marquis confirmed it and moved on to the next step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at that calm attitude, Kun thought—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>wasn’t bringing in this estimate in the first place part of the Marquis’s test?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Palatio understood the position held in the world far more clearly than Kun had expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly enough to know that even if a merchant like Kun took a massive loss right now—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>as long as a contract with the Marquis went through, the ‘profit’ gained would far exceed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the Marquis didn’t know that, there was no way the Marquis could react so casually, like it was obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, someone might raise a question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe Marquis Palatio just didn’t know anything at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that was impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the last few years, the Palatio marquisate had already become the largest commercial territory in all of Asteria.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the owner of that enormous commercial territory didn’t know anything?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That didn’t make sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was why Kun said there was no need when the Marquis asked if help was needed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the same when the question was asked again and again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Kun, that was the test.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Palatio knew, with perfect clarity, the value assigned among merchants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant the Marquis knew that merely choosing to contract was already help enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Kun rejected the offer right away—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and passed the Marquis’s test.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as proof, Kun received the statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A statue of Marquis Palatio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a fluttering heart, Kun carefully lifted the statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The information had already spread widely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That the reason Caliban had been saved from Divine blood was because of the Marquis’s statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Kun received a statue directly from the Marquis?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......Wow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A small burst of awe slipped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Kun couldn’t help thinking that what had only been imagination yesterday—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>might actually happen for real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘No matter what it takes, I’ll finish this successfully...!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Burning with motivation, Kun hugged the statue and let out an excited sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Alexion, watching the entire scene from the side—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...Why is that person feeling things while staring at the statue...??’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—quietly took a few more steps away from Kun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>####\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A full week after wrapping up the marquisate’s busy work, Alon stayed pretty busy preparing the proclamation ceremony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Starting from the point when the ceremony was truly not far off—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello, Teacher.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yutia. Is your schedule all right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is something important to you, Teacher. I can’t exactly skip it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you for saying that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beginning with Yutia’s visit, important figures from each country came to the Palatio marquisate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, even with the sudden rush of visits, Alon didn’t panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Penia had already explained that this level of thing was simply etiquette.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, there were two times Alon did get flustered, and the first was—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello, Godfather.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Rine?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...You can come out now?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Not yet. The interpretation isn’t finished, so I can’t use power outside, but I can move around on my own now.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Thank you for coming all this way.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘It’s your event, Godfather. Of course I had to come. Though you did say you’d come find me first, and then you didn’t.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘......’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Of course I’m joking, Godfather. I knew you had things you had to do.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Is that... so?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Yes, of course. You said you were coming, so I secretly prepared a small gift, and I waited on top of the wall every day to see when you’d arrive, but still.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘......I’m sorry.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rine said it was a joke afterward with a faint smile, but it felt like it absolutely wasn’t a joke, so Alon ended up thinking Alon should make sure to take care of Rine in some way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the second time Alon was flustered—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>was right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......I didn’t expect the two of you to come in person.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, of course we have to come. It’s your event, Marquis.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m the same. It’s your event—how could I not come?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>King Palmarian IV and Queen Torimavia of Raksas had come personally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is... that so?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course. Have you needed help with anything lately? If you have, just say the word.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh my, I hear Caliban is struggling in all sorts of ways right now—this kind of thing is something a person with room to spare should do. Marquis Palatio, if there’s anything you need support with, please tell me without burden. I’ll help as much as I can, within what I’m able.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you talking about? Caliban is still prosperous.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wouldn’t Raksas have more of what the Marquis needs than Caliban does?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were laughing politely on the surface, but the sight of two monarchs power-struggling while trying to sell Alon on I can help you better made Alon’s temples start to ache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Penia had definitely said—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>that while important figures from each country attended proclamation ceremonies as a matter of formality, royalty didn’t come in person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Isn’t it normal not to come?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I don’t know either. Those two are weird...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon and Penia exchanged a brief conversation with their eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Alon got a grip and tried to steer the conversation with the two monarchs toward lighter topics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon didn’t know why they’d come in person, but in the end, it wasn’t exactly bad for Alon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, while fairly normal, simple small talk continued—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm-hm—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Queen Torimavia suddenly cleared her throat lightly, then stared straight into Alon’s eyes and spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Marquis, may I ask you just one thing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re about to become a king of a nation soon—have you thought about marriage?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......Marriage?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. The position of a partner is important.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon was flustered, but at the same time, Alon understood what Torimavia meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a king, marriage was essentially mandatory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you didn’t marry, unnecessary trouble could arise from below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, from Alon’s perspective, the proclamation was right around the corner, so it felt too early. Alon was about to give a moderate answer—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you don’t have a suitable match, then how about my daughter?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Torimavia cut in first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Pardon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with Alon’s bewildered response, the green badge and red brooch on Alon’s chest began to glow ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...A little—no, quite a lot—like something that sent chills down your spine.\u003C\u002Fp>",1804,"2026-06-02T12:43:45.413Z",1,"novelbin.me","2b0657ca845fafaac5e7573b8fbc785d9506ee44445b3277aec23861c1df3f08","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-408","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-406",479,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbecame-the-patron-of-villains-cover.jpg"]