Chapter 26: No Business Talk in Business

"Vulgar!"

What does it feel like to be called vulgar by a beauty in one's own house? At least Li En is not the pervert who would get excited by that.

He was somewhat troubled, trying hard to organize a reason that wouldn't be rude, after all, just a few days ago this was the beauty across from him's mansion.

The footsteps behind grew closer; Li En's eyebrows twitched, yet he did not turn his head.

"Miss Lana, Miss Lana! Clothes, you forgot your clothes again!"

If he really turned around, he would truly be vulgar, the kind where reason cannot make things clear.

"No, it feels so uncomfortable to wear them! Friend, help me! Lana doesn't want to wear clothes."

Something soft threw itself from behind; Li En dared not move at all.

At this moment, the face of the snake woman opposite was cold as ice, yet she steadily picked up the teacup and took a gentle sip, seemingly completely unconcerned; however, all the small snakes on her head were flicking their tongues, all glaring fiercely at Li En.

If she truly possessed Medusa bloodline, Li En should have turned into a stone statue many times over.

"Impolite, I apologize for my slip of the tongue. Legally, we should have no relation, and I ought to have no right to criticize."

The woman set down the teacup; it seemed she was gripping the handle of the porcelain, but her fingers were tensed quite tightly.

Her phoenix eyes drifted over, and a bit of sincerity entered her words.

"... But the matter of us dissolving our engagement will not be made public within three years. To outsiders, we are still a family."

"... What you do in private is your business, but in broad daylight, while receiving guests, having a woman naked—is this not damaging the Sudar family's reputation? I am not criticizing you, but isn't this a bit... disgraceful to the literati, bringing shame to the household?"

Words spewed out rapidly and precisely, but Li En felt, isn't it just that you yourself have lost your cool?

"... After all, this house is a place where I temporarily stayed during my childhood; isn't it a bit inappropriate to bring women here?"

Taking a deep breath, on an emotional level, Miss Shaliman found a reason that could pass.

This accusation left nothing to say; you are holding the house I gave you, and keeping a cat-girl maid who doesn't wear clothes inside? Isn't that a bit too much?

Playing in private is one thing, but you come and put on a show in front of me?

But the more she spoke, the more she appeared to be in a rush herself.

"Friend! Listen to me!!" The pure girl, receiving no response from her friend, also grew anxious.

She suddenly threw herself forward, forcibly twisting Li En's head and placing it against her chest.

"Hiss!" The sound of the group of snakes flicking their tongues echoed throughout the entire living room.

"Impolite," Li En took a deep breath and stood up directly.

He didn't care about the odds; he acted directly, using the bedsheet to wrap and bind her tightly in circles, then tossed her to the maid who had rushed over.

Ignoring the little girl who grew even more excited, he turned his head and said.

"She is Lana, my comrade in arms. Just a short while ago, she lost all her memories, so now she has not only lost common sense but, due to instinct, is a bit overly clingy to me."

Hearing this, Miss Shaliman Sudar was stunned first, her gaze turning toward Lana.

She noticed her fake ears, which were also a degenerated species—oh, so this really wasn't Li En's fetish?

But from an angle Li En could not see, the maid behind him quietly nodded, signaling that everything he said was the truth.

In the next instant, the woman laughed, then quickly coughed lightly to cover it up.

"Ahem, don't misunderstand, I am just a bit surprised."

Actually, this was indeed a bit of a misunderstanding; Miss Shaliman's favor had not reached the point of jealousy.

They had merely formed a very deep impression upon their first meeting; they were not even close to being friends.

But as mentioned before, both sides had a tacit understanding to dissolve the marriage, merely preparing to slowly cold-shoulder it over three years; this also meant that within these three years, both sides were still nominal fiancés.

When Miss Shaliman originally told the Prince that Li En was her fiancé, it was because that was indeed the case on the surface; such private scandals were not suitable for spreading outside.

But when the Prince followed up on that thread and said, "Then go seduce him and make him defect to me as well."

Miss Shaliman was immediately stunned and found it quite difficult to refuse.

After all, since they were fiancés, a little private intimacy was quite normal; the beauty trap was naturally maximized. Aren't you two getting married very soon? Just move over there to live.

You are my person; shouldn't your husband be my person as well? What, he doesn't plan to defect to me? Do you Sudars intend to bet on both sides?

The Prince had done Miss Shaliman a favor; Miss Shaliman had even previously held the identity of a "Royal Spy."

Watching the little Prince, who was overjoyed to have found a solution, Miss Shaliman seemed to truly have no way to pour cold water on her.

Dragging it out for a day or two was already the limit; ultimately, she had to grit her teeth and come over.

During this process, she had actually overthought many things.

For instance, knowing that the man was an inheritor of a Heroic Soul and an examiner, with both character and ability being quite good, she was actually somewhat hesitant.

"The Prince speaks highly of him; if my husband were a Saint Knight and a good person, she would trust me even more." Miss Shaliman did not need a capable husband; she needed a trustworthy person to occupy the husband's position.

It seemed this man was not bad either; at least he was truly a good person who wouldn't deceive her... This was still not the feeling of love; it was merely that among too many rotten choices, there seemed to be one that was not quite so rotten.

She had made many guesses and resolutions before coming, preparing to take one step and see the next, but the moment she opened the door, she encountered this situation...

"Hello, is your name Lana...?"

Pale light flickered on the crystal necklace; Miss Shaliman, having taken a deep breath, spoke to Lana who was tied to the sofa.

She was actually quite cautious of her own abilities; peering into others' hearts several times had made her nauseous... but with a stranger appearing near Li En, this key figure, given her stance of serving the Prince, it was something that needed to be taken seriously.

Her main purpose for this trip was also to gather intelligence on Li En for the Prince.

An inheritor of a Heroic Soul, even if a failure, was still destined to be extraordinary.

"... Truly pitiful. Do you know me, sister?"

"Wuwuwu!" To prevent Lana from saying something even more explosive again, Li En had stuffed her mouth directly while binding her with the bedsheet.

【Who are you? Can you be eaten? Do you taste good?】 It seemed the girl was truly hungry.

"Truly lost her memories, doesn't even remember her family? Actually, I don't have family either..." While speaking, she pulled out the cloth strip stuffing the other's mouth.

"What is family?" Hearing the new word, the little girl suddenly got excited.

【Family? Can it be eaten? Does it taste good?】

Now, even Miss Shaliman couldn't hold back; how could she think of eating everything?

She no longer doubted this was an amnesiac unlucky girl, but she still asked one question.

"Do you still remember Li En? He is my fiancé." To meet the prerequisite for activating her ability (making the other party's attention focus on herself), she forced herself to say.

"Give to the friend who eats!"

【Friend! Cannot eat! But can give food! Is a good friend!】

Miss Shaliman, hailed as the Demoness, fell silent. She stood up with a smile; she didn't want to talk to an idiot. Her gaze turned toward Li En, filled with a bit more sympathy.

Most likely, this former comrade would also become a burden to her. Considering his character, he probably wouldn't do anything messy anyway.

Thinking of their status as heirs to Heroic Souls, having reached the level of Great Knights at such a young age, the battlefields they had experienced must have been quite terrifying.

For people like this, most would show respect; Miss Shaliman was no exception. Lacking a sense of security, she still had a good impression of these righteous Paladins.

The little "interlude" passed in a flash. After the maid took Lana away and began feeding her, the topic finally returned to the right track.

Miss Shaliman picked a few topics from the planned agenda to express her distant concern. But considering the scene just now, it became even more subtle.

"A girl disguised as an adult; her mind might not even be as mature as a Dragon Hunter's." Yet Li En, responding subtly, had actually seen through her.

Li En had always been tolerant toward little girls. As long as they weren't brats.

When she mentioned being willing to fund him to start a small business, or simply find a spot in her merchant guild after hearing Li En say he had just lost his job, Li En himself was a bit surprised.

Before, her attitude was not like this; it was "stay as far away from you as possible." Now, she was willing to place him by her side?

Uh, you wouldn't take the engagement seriously, would you? Li En's expression became even more subtle. Even with his ability to guess, he would never have guessed Miss Shaliman was a confidant of the Dragon Hunter.

After all, only the Royal Family could command the loyalty of a new noble in the aristocratic circle.

But since the other party mentioned work and commerce, Li En actually had a few thoughts.

"I am new here and actually want to start a business. Miss Shaliman, are you interested in investment?"

Money? Miss Shaliman was not alarmed but delighted; if it was just money, everything was negotiable.

At worst, she could give more money to support him directly, or set up a money-losing shop for him to guard.

"Hmm, I am willing to hear the details." The female merchant became somewhat serious.

"Look, I have some imported technology in hand. Do you know the wooden textile loom? I have a sketch here."

"The textile industry? You plan to fight the Textile Baron to the death? That is not cost-effective."

Involving commercial layout, the originally gentle girl suddenly became serious.

In this era, many commercial issues are actually political issues and must be handled with care.

After her tightly closed pupils opened again, calm as water, she was calculating gains and losses. The mind-reading Demoness revealed her true form.

Even setting aside certain supernatural abilities, her achievements and talent in business were unquestionable; otherwise, a girl managing a household would have been eaten alive long ago.

"No, no, no. I have heard of his affairs; how could I possibly compete with the eight-armed textile race? I just saw that the labor force in some places is quite cheap but is being wasted for nothing, which is truly a pity." Li En, imitating the mindset of a capitalist, recounted his thoughts and plan.

Some places? The Dock District, Miss Shaliman understood as well.

"The labor force of those small households can actually be utilized. They can serve as subcontracted family workshops. We can create a hive-style factory combination, with the factories in the Dock District as the general contractors and the small workshops as subcontractors, using low-cost labor to participate in some low-end market competition."

The more she listened, the more Miss Shaliman understood.

This was not commerce at all; it was "charity" disguised as commerce.

If one truly pursued the cost-performance ratio of labor, several surrounding districts were much stronger; they charged about the same but could avoid many off-field troubles.

Leaving aside other things, the gangs in the Dock District were so numerous they made one's scalp tingle. If a fee collector came today, tomorrow, and the day after, could one still do business?

If military security costs were included, it might well be the most expensive place in the entire Radiant City.

In the past, anyone who dared to bluff her to her face would have been kicked out and commercially blacklisted.

But now, listening to this urban industry revitalization plan disguised as commerce, she revealed a smile from the bottom of her heart.

A faint smile, and the brilliant Radiant Pearl emitted astonishing charm.

At that moment, Li En was confused for an instant, thinking he had fallen for some trick, but he only heard a whisper in his ear.

"It sounds interesting. I am willing to hear the details."

Uh, there is one more update today.

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(End of this chapter)