Chapter 68

As Reina began reading the documents one page at a time, Damian casually asked,

“So Dean Peronte is going to teach your daughter?”

“Ah, yes. He said he would. I’m relieved.”

“Hm…”

Damian let out a low hum, clearly not thrilled. Reina, who had been reading the third page, looked up at him.

“Is there a problem?”

“Dean Peronte as a teacher…”

“Of course, Sir Dean’s career as a knight isn’t as long as others, but Boni’s still young, so I thought it’d be fine.”

Damian was still lost in thought.

His gaze stayed elsewhere as he nodded.

“…Well, it should be fine. I’ll prepare clothes and a wooden sword for the child. You already have plenty to worry about.”

“I’m always sorry and grateful.”

“It hasn’t even been a week yet.”

“Then I’m just grateful.”

“Alright.”

Reina carefully went through the documents and narrowed them down to two people.

“I don’t really know much even after reading them, but I think one of these two should be fine.”

Damian didn’t seem to have any objections and took the two resumes Reina had selected.

“The rest should all be destroyed.”

“Then could I receive materials about the Rudbeckia Guild later, if that’s okay?”

“The Rudbeckia Guild?”

“Yes.”

Reina nodded.

“I heard it was founded by a commoner like me, so I got curious. I also want to know what kind of business they started with…”

“I didn’t know you were interested in business.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m that interested… I just want to know about someone who started from a position similar to mine.”

A commoner who founded a guild without any backing and succeeded. Reina couldn’t help but be curious.

‘And maybe they’ll be involved in the original story too.’

With such a significant setup, there was no way they’d never appear in the original story.

‘Even if they didn’t, it’s still good to know. Since I’m part of a guild backed by Winternight, once I go to the capital, I’ll probably get entangled with the Rudbeckia Guild.’

They’d be compared at every turn, and the imperial family, who kept the ducal house in check, would likely try to use Reina to undermine Duke Winternight.

Reina had no intention of repaying kindness with betrayal.

To win, you had to know yourself and know your enemy.

She didn’t know whether they’d become an enemy or not, but there was no harm in being prepared.

While Reina was deep in thought, Damian watched her for a moment, then took a file from the bookshelf and handed it to her.

“Is this all the material?”

“Yes.”

When she lifted it, it felt heavier than expected.

“It’ll take a long time to read all of this.”

“You don’t need to take everything. Most of it is personal information unrelated to the guild…”

Damian opened the file and pulled out only the front bundle.

“If you want information about the guild, this part is enough. Honestly, the personal details aren’t worth looking at.”

“I see.”

Reina gathered the documents Damian handed her and stood up.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Already?”

“Aren’t we done talking?”

Just then, someone knocked on the door. When Damian told them to come in, a servant entered pushing a serving cart.

“I ordered a meal.”

“Ah…”

Simple sandwiches and drinks were set on the table.

“There’s no blueberry in it, so you can eat without worry.”

Reina’s eyes rolled slightly before she sat back down.

“…Thank you for being considerate.”

Her neck felt warm.

Even though it was a simple sandwich, it was made by a chef belonging to the Winternight ducal household.

Each ingredient was substantial, and the bread carried a faint, sweet buttery scent.

She shared a brief meal with Damian before leaving. She’d thought they might talk during the meal, but that wasn’t the case. Strangely, she felt a bit disappointed.

Worried that Bonita might have woken up hungry, Reina took two sandwiches and headed to her room.

* * *

“Mom.”

“Boni.”

Just as Reina had expected, Bonita had woken up and was flailing around with her eyes half open.

After climbing down from the bed with a grunt, Bonita immediately grabbed Reina’s clothes and rubbed her head against her. Then she stayed clinging to her for a long while.

“Boni, are you sleepy? Want to sleep more?”

“Mmm.”

Still hugging Reina tightly, Bonita shook her head, and a growling sound came from her stomach.

“Are you hungry?”

“…A little.”

“Mom brought a sandwich. Want some?”

“…I want some.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s sit over there and eat.”

Only then did Bonita separate from Reina.

She followed Reina obediently, sat down, and rubbed her eyes hard.

“It’s really tasty, so chew slowly and well.”

“Mm.”

She must have been very hungry. Bonita chewed and swallowed the sandwich diligently, barely able to keep her eyes open.

When Reina poured her some water, Bonita held the cup with both hands and gulped it down, looking exactly like a small child.

Reina gently fixed Bonita’s messy hair, tousled from deep sleep.

“Is it good?”

“Taysty.”

Watching Bonita eat happily, Reina opened the documents.

‘Rudbeckia Guild.’

She skimmed past the guild leader’s name and the brief descriptions of the executives. What she was most curious about was what they’d received investment for and what was drawing so much attention.

‘Painkillers.’

Not just any painkillers, but ones without side effects.

“So their target wasn’t nobles, but commoners…”

Cheap painkillers usually used poor quality narcotic ingredients.

‘That’s why I never gave painkillers to Boni. Was willow used as an ingredient?’

If there were no side effects, it might have been boiled willow water.

That it had pain relieving effects wasn’t widely known, but Reina knew it because her mother used to prepare it whenever she was sick when Reina was very young.

As she flipped through more pages, wondering how they’d sourced it, she found the proposal submitted by the Rudbeckia Guild leader.

Just as Reina expected, willow was listed as an ingredient in the painkiller.

It was clear the proposal had been rejected many times, with the contents refined and improved each time.

“Amazing…”

They were impressive enough that she wanted to meet them someday if she had the chance.

‘Mine was almost pure luck.’

Reina had only voiced an idea that felt like a dream. Everything else had been achieved with Damian and Peter’s help. Compared to the Rudbeckia Guild leader she’d never met, the difference was stark.

For a moment, she thought she wanted to meet them. But at the same time, she wanted to avoid them forever if possible.

Standing next to this person would only make her own inadequacy stand out more.

“…”

The more she read about the Rudbeckia Guild, the more insignificant Reina felt.

The heavy feeling in her chest kept piling up, and her expression grew darker.

“Huff.”

She finally put the documents down on the table and let out a sigh.

“…Gasp.”

Bonita, who had been pretending to drink water and watching carefully from the side, startled at Reina’s stiff sigh and dropped the cup.

The cup, still more than half full, fell onto the table. Water soaked the documents, and the ink spread across the pages.

“Ah, uh. M-Mom, I’m s-Sorry.”

“Boni, did you get wet?”

“Mmm… N-No, I didn’t.”

Bonita fidgeted with her small hands and watched Reina nervously.

“I-I’m sorry… My hand slipped…”

Reina pushed the soaked documents aside, grabbed a handkerchief, and wiped up the water.

“It’s okay. The cup was probably too big for your hands. Mom will prepare a smaller one next time. Are you sure you didn’t get wet anywhere?”

“…Yeah.”

“Did you get scared because Mom sighed suddenly?”

Bonita hesitated, then shook her head.

After cleaning everything up, Reina picked Bonita up.

“Are you really sure?”

“…I’m sure.”

Bonita was usually mature, and lately she’d been showing a brighter side too.

But when it came to things involving Reina, she sometimes became withdrawn like this.

‘She’s like this again all of a sudden.’

“Mom’s really not mad. It’s not because of you.”

While being held, Bonita looked over Reina’s shoulder at the documents she’d been reading earlier. The ink had spread so much that the contents were unreadable.

“…Did I interrupt Mom’s work?”

“No, no. That’s not it.”

“But they’re all smudged.”

“Mom already read everything. It’s okay.”

Reina forced a smile for the dejected Bonita.

‘I hope that wasn’t the original copy. I don’t know how I’ll apologize to Master if it was.’

“…I won’t get in the way anymore.”

Bonita wrapped her arms tightly around Reina’s neck and buried her face.

“Boni’s a good daughter. You’ve never gotten in Mom’s way, not even once.”

As she soothed the child and paced the room, a thought suddenly occurred to Reina, and she asked,

“…Is the reason you never showed Mom the drawings you made before because you were worried you’d be in the way?”

“…”

Bonita didn’t answer. She only tightened her arms around Reina.

That was answer enough.