Chapter 70. Special Treatment (3)

What position would be fitting for me?

Even after the dance ended, I couldn’t easily figure it out.

At best, the only position the Grand Duke’s house would permit was that of an official secretary.

But that wasn’t the role I wanted.

Even if I accepted it, there wouldn’t be much difference from the work I was already doing.

Of course, the Grand Duke’s house offered quite a high salary, but right now, I was managing a hotel and two celebrities.

That kind of money was no more than pocket change to me.

“……”

I secretly touched the spot where her hand had brushed against my back, watching Echina’s figure as she walked away.

She was heading to the grand dining hall at the top floor of Luton Hall to attend a dinner with the Grand Duke.

Secretary candidates were not allowed to attend that far.

Thanks to that, most headed to the first-floor restaurant for dinner, or stayed in the ballroom to enjoy the festivities.

I didn’t particularly feel hungry, nor did I want to enjoy anything.

Occasionally, some young ladies approached me to ask for my name and affiliation, but I simply answered that I was a secretary candidate.

So, they all left my side with a hint of disappointment in their eyes.

Sure, I could’ve introduced myself as the president of the Erian Foundation.

But perhaps because I had already seen many women who valued my capabilities regardless of my title, I found no interest in young ladies who judged and turned away just based on my position.

That’s why I simply sat alone in a chair, taking a sip of champagne, staring at the mural painted on the ballroom ceiling.

“……”

A temple perched atop the clouds.

A man sat on the temple stairs, looking at me with a troubled expression.

Beside him sat three goddesses, pointing toward the golden apple in his hand.

According to the myth, the young man gave the apple to the goddess of beauty he thought most beautiful.

And then, he died.

All he’d wanted was to offer the golden apple, grown in his own orchard, to the gods out of gratitude.

But one of the goddesses, upset that she wasn’t chosen, cruelly tormented him.

As I looked at that myth, I thought:

“Couldn’t he have just eaten it himself?”

Then at least he wouldn’t have been forced into such a horrific dilemma.

“What is it you’re supposed to eat?”

A woman asked, gently taking the seat beside me.

She looked exactly like Helvetia, the goddess of wealth, with her radiant golden hair.

“The golden apple drawn in the mural.”

“Oh, that myth where the man tried to offer it to the gods, and three goddesses came down and asked who he was going to give it to?”

I nodded.

“That’s right. It all happened because he was too earnest and even bothered to pray in the first place.”

I looked at my reflection in the champagne.

At the face of someone who had worked earnestly for the family his whole life.

“Had he worked moderately hard and offered an ordinary apple, none of that would’ve happened.”

The woman sitting beside me quietly listened to my words.

She wore a golden lion-shaped mask that covered her eyes and nose perfectly.

“Well, I’m not so sure.”

Her red, luscious lips moved.

“The goddesses were probably already watching the golden apple grow from the heavens. Do you really think they wouldn’t know, even if he tried to hide it?”

A loaded remark.

I knew exactly who this dominant voice belonged to.

No, I’d known from the moment she sat beside me.

There were three women I considered the most beautiful, and only one of them was blonde.

“You speak like you’re a goddess yourself, Western Grand Duke’s daughter.”

“Oh my, did it come off that way? I was just trying to think from their perspective.”

Helena gently lowered the lioness mask she wore.

And she revealed her lake-blue eyes to me.

“There’s no way the goddesses would turn a blind eye to someone who could produce a golden apple.”

Helena wore a silk dress in the same blue as her eyes.

Because of the mask, the men couldn’t tell who she was.

Still, they couldn’t take their eyes off the curves that resembled those of the goddess in the mural.

“Well, I suppose the gods of that era didn’t exactly concern themselves with human rights.”

“You know just as well as I do, Roger, that this era isn’t much better.”

As expected of a brilliant businesswoman, she had a knack for piercing straight to the point.

She spoke as if I were the man in that myth.

“So then, I assume you didn’t come just to discuss mythology with me. What brings you here?”

“Nothing in particular. Since I was invited, I came. And I happened to see you and Echina, the Grand Duke’s daughter.”

I looked at Helena as she gracefully pulled her mask back into place.

“You’ve been watching all this time?”

“It’s Echina. You were the first man to dance with her—how could I not watch?”

The Western Grand Duke’s daughter gestured around with her gloved hand, as if to say it wasn’t just her but everyone else who had been watching, too.

As if she wanted to imply it hadn’t meant much to her.

“In truth, I came to thank you.”

“You mean the negotiation over Luton Hall’s marble?”

Helena turned her gaze to the round table next to her chair.

She gently picked up the champagne I had only half-finished.

“That’s right. Thanks to that, I’m about to squeeze a tidy profit out of the eldest daughter.”

She brushed her golden hair away from her forehead and took a sip.

And that’s when I noticed a small mole on her neck.

“Of course, I’ll repay the principal quickly to minimize losses. But even that will be a gain for us.”

“I’m sure it will be. This is a time when everything turns to money if you invest. It’s best to secure ammunition early.”

Helena stared intently at my profile as I nodded calmly in agreement.

Especially at the teardrop mole beneath my narrow eye.

“It’s awfully suspicious, you helping me this much.”

“Suspicious? I’m doing it because it benefits me too.”

I shrugged as if to say I wasn’t doing any of this for the Western Grand Duke’s daughter.

“To repay the principal, Freya will likely sell that burdensome textile factory, and I’m simply trying to purchase it at a low price.”

Helena glanced at the plate of nuts beside the champagne.

She picked out only the sugar-coated almonds and popped one into her mouth.

“But do you really think the eldest daughter will sell the factory to you?”

Once again, she hit the mark.

Like the goddess in the mural, she brought up what truly mattered.

“Selling the factory to someone rumored to be Echina’s closest aide is basically just helping out a competitor.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Especially now, when Echina’s rise was becoming impossible to ignore.

Every venture she touched turned into a jackpot — if Freya handed over her surplus factory and it turned successful too?

People would say Freya lacked judgment. The social circles would buzz with gossip.

And there’s no way someone like Freya, so skilled at navigating such rumors, wouldn’t be aware of that.

“That’s true. I wouldn’t want to hand over one of my factories to a rival’s aide either. But…”

I looked down at the tie Echina had touched earlier.

Specifically, the black lion-emblem pin attached to it.

“That was only the case while I remained a secretary of the Grand Duke’s house, wasn’t it?”

The Western Grand Duke’s daughter slightly parted her lips, as if she understood the implication of my words.

Like a goddess gleeful at the chance to claim a golden lion.

“Then, don’t tell me you really plan on leaving the Grand Duke’s house? After dancing like that with Echina just moments ago?”

“So you have been watching.”

Helena flinched slightly, biting her lower lip.

She licked the sweet sugar from the corner of her lips.

“The more my position grows, the less the Luton family will view me favorably anyway.”

I turned my head away from her and stared straight ahead.

At the young ladies and gentlemen dancing with innocent smiles on their faces.

“The hotel and foundation are under my name. I’m the one making public appearances and getting featured in the newspapers.”

“A man not of their blood, using the Grand Duke’s prestige to build his own influence.”

Helena picked up two almonds stuck together with sugar.

One of them was noticeably smaller, limp and barely holding on.

“Exactly. While even executives are replaced or demoted after their terms, I—who am not even an official secretary—am holding such a central role.”

“You could just stop there, serve Echina loyally, and everything would be fine. But the factory—especially her eldest daughter’s—that won’t look good.”

Helena bit down sharply on one of the almonds with her pearly white teeth.

“Exactly. It’ll look like I’ve overstepped—like I stole property from the same family, and worse, from her older sister.”

I crossed one leg over the other.

And for now, I held my champagne glass as if I were anything but the Chief Secretary.

“To others, I’ll look like a nail that’s sticking out.”

“Then, it’ll be hammered down.”

Helena said firmly as I drank from the side of the glass opposite her lipstick mark.

In response, I took a sip of the sweet-bitter liquid and continued.

“If it were me, I’d pull it out. The nail tried to do more than its role.”

“You’re saying it won’t end with simple suspicion or a light test.”

Exactly.

Now that it’s come to this, they’ll want to know if I’m a spy from another noble house—

Or worse, if I plan to betray the other heirs behind their backs.

They’ll investigate it all with precision.

Especially Echina’s father, Duke Luton, himself.

“In that case, the most damage-controlled option for you… would be a corporate separation, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes. Conventionally, that’s true. Since the hotel and foundation are both under my name.”

Helena seemed intrigued by the situation. She quietly toyed with the strap of her dress.

The silk clung tightly to her beautiful figure.

“But no matter how much I love money, I won’t do that.”

“Why…? This is such a golden opportunity.”

Ambitious businesswoman Helena gave me a look that said she couldn’t understand.

Naturally.

She had the talent, capability, and management skills to back it up.

And she clearly believed I was of the same breed—her kind.

She looked genuinely disappointed.

But—

There was one stark difference between me and Helena.

Our origin and lineage.

Even if Helena expanded her business with a sharp eye for opportunities, she had the solid backing of the Western Grand Duke’s house, which gave her credibility.

But if I pulled out just the Erian Hotel and the foundation and left everything else behind, I’d have nothing left.

On the contrary, I’d be branded a traitor who used Echina to snatch up a hotel.

And that, in the empire’s north.

To the rulers of this place—the Luton family.

“If I split off the companies and leave now, I’ll end up on the Northern Grand Duke’s blacklist. They’ll say I only used Echina for her name.”

Helena, fitting of a sovereign from the West, let out a soft chuckle.

“So what you’re saying is, even if you separate your businesses, you’re afraid of the Grand Duke’s retaliation?”

“That’s right. Even you, coming from the West, should know what happens when someone crosses the Luton family here in Nord.”

The blonde woman slowly nodded, agreeing.

But she looked at me with a calm expression, as if none of this was a problem.

At that gaze, I turned my head slightly toward Helena.

And at that moment—

“It’s fine.”

Helena’s stunning face came right up to mine.

Her lake-blue eyes, brilliant like the sunlit surface of water.

“You could just move the entire company to the West, couldn’t you?”

When I saw those shining eyes behind the lioness mask—

For a brief moment, the goddess of wealth from the mural came to mind.

The one who bestowed mountains of gold and treasure upon those who believed in her, enough to last a lifetime—

But cursed anyone who betrayed her, ensuring they could never use a single coin of it.

Certainly, handing over the entire enterprise to her wasn’t a bad option.

No, in fact, it’s an excellent one.

However—

Who’s to say I wouldn’t be met with suspicion there as well?

I might end up targeted by Helena’s brothers, who were all after her position as the next Grand Duke.

According to my memories from a past life—

The Western Grand Duke’s sons were violent and ruthless, willing to do anything to get what they wanted.

If I’m not careful, I might end up tasting some of that infamous Western mountain poison this time…!!

“Well, I’m not asking you to decide right away. Even for someone as shrewd as you, this is an important decision.”

Helena adjusted her lioness mask once again.

Then she rose from her seat and smoothed out the clinging folds of her dress with elegance.

“But one thing’s become clear.”

The Western Grand Duke’s daughter stepped behind the chair and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

Then, like a goddess whispering to the man in the myth, she said:

“A fair chance has now come to everyone.”

Fair chance…?

I raised my head to ask what she meant.

But Helena had already turned away, leaving only her sweet scent behind.

Like a predator delighted to have finally found an excuse to seize its prey.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep