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"Is there a riverside nearby?"
"Yes. That's the advantage of this mansion. The sunset view is spectacular."
"Isn't it noisy by the riverside?"
"As you can see, it's a bit far from the center, so it's quiet. However, as I mentioned, the downside is that it's a bit far from the center."
'And if you're close to the water, mold grows easily.'
But a broker who needs to sell wouldn't mention the drawbacks.
As I pondered, the broker quickly scanned the map and pointed to another place this time.
"Or how about this mansion? It's surrounded by a forest right next to it, so it's quiet, but as you can see, it's not that far from the center."
As the broker said, it was a mansion in a good location.
"Can I see pictures of this mansion?"
"Of course. Just wait a moment."
The broker unfolded the documents he had brought with the map as if he had been waiting for it.
"This is the mansion. The scenery of the forest stretching out behind it is soothing."
The size of the mansion was a bit smaller than I had expected, but it wasn't a flaw.
'If necessary, I can build a new one.'
After checking the location and photos of the mansion one more time, I asked.
"How much is the price?"
"It was originally 7.5 million gold, but the owner is in a hurry for money, so he lowered the price a bit... Ugh!"
The broker, who was expressing the discount like a skilled businessman, suddenly groaned in pain and looked under the table.
'What's under his feet?'
As I looked at him with a puzzled expression, he glanced back and forth between Idris and me, turned pale, and changed his words.
"S-sorry, Miss. We've decided not to sell that mansion."
Huh?
"Suddenly?"
"Yes, yes. S-suddenly..."
He stammered and looked at Idris and me, then quickly corrected himself.
"Ah, no. That's... Ah! The owner changed his mind a few days ago and said he wouldn't sell it, but I just remembered now! Haha..."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry. What should I do?"
I wasn't planning to buy it right away, and I was just going to ask the price, so I wasn't too disappointed.
"Then what's the price of the riverside mansion we saw earlier?"
Still, it would be good to know the price range of similar mansions.
With that thought, I asked about the price of the other mansion I had seen a little while ago, but the broker, who was looking at Idris, sweated profusely and replied.
"Ah, that mansion... The owner suddenly doubled the price, and I just remembered that too..."
"Not something else, but you doubled the price of the house? Don't you want to sell it?"
"T-that's what I'm saying. What are they thinking? Haha..."
I thought it was suspicious that the broker was constantly wiping his cold sweat with a handkerchief and looking at Idris and me, but there was nothing I could do.
I sighed inwardly.
After failing twice to find out the price of the mansion, my motivation plummeted.
As if to soothe my mind, Idris, who had been silent, carefully opened his mouth.
"Oh well, it can't be helped. Then let's go back today, and come back to see it again when a good property comes out, what do you think?"
"...That would be good."
Ugh. A groan naturally came out.
In the end, I returned to the Grand Duke's residence without even looking at other properties.
Unbeknownst to me, Idris, who was escorting me, had a satisfied smile on his face.
That evening.
As soon as Idris returned to the Grand Duke's residence, he looked for Heather.
The order Idris gave to Heather, who was called out around the end of her work hours, was...
"Tomorrow morning, as soon as it dawns, go to all the mansion brokerage offices in the capital and tell them not to sell any of the mansions Leticia wants to buy."
Heather, who was reluctant about working overtime, hesitated at the unexpected order while skillfully receiving the jacket.
"Is it part of a new business?"
"A new business..."
Idris pondered Heather's words for a moment and then affirmed.
"Well, you could say that."
Because a love affair is also a business.
A very important one with his life on the line.
"Yes, I understand."
"Then go."
Heather, who bowed her head, was about to leave the room.
"Ah, wait a moment."
Idris, who had just unbuttoned his shirt, called out to Heather as if he had remembered something late.
He took out a letter from a nearby drawer and held out his hand to Heather.
Knowing what that gesture meant, Heather took out a fountain pen from her front pocket and handed it over.
Idris, who received the fountain pen, scribbled something roughly on the letter, put it in an envelope, and handed it to Heather.
"Send it to His Majesty tomorrow morning."
"Yes?!"
Heather was horrified by Idris's nonchalant order.
"No, wait a minute, Your Highness! Who sends a letter to His Majesty like this?"
Even if Azef and Idris were family, the other was the Emperor.
Before being Idris's brother, he was the noblest and highest man in this empire.
It was only right to be formal now that he was a grown adult, even if it wasn't when he was a child.
However, Idris, who had given Heather a bomb, was just nonchalant.
"It's very urgent, so His Majesty will understand."
You don't look urgent at all...
However, Heather, who could not dare to criticize her master's words and could not ghostwrite a letter to the Emperor in the middle, had no choice but to accept his order.
"Y-yes..."
Heather, who received the letter, left the room with a dead face.
A moment later, Idris put on a gown and tied the strings, but stopped when he saw his hand tying the strings.
It was because he remembered the memory in the carriage today.
He had been holding Leticia's hand all the way back.
Leticia didn't reject his touch, but that was only because he was her contracted lover.
"Wouldn't it be better to meet someone else around this time?"
Leticia's voice advising was extremely calm.
As if she didn't care if he met another woman.
Seeing Leticia saying the end of the contract relationship with an indifferent face, his heart finally sank.
Even though he was holding her hand and entangling her so that she couldn't run away, he was seized with the anxiety that Leticia would disappear at any moment.
Also, the sense of crisis that his relationship with her might end in a contract relationship.
'Still, I've bought some time for now...'
There is still time.
However, the problem is.
'I don't know how to approach her.'
He had never tried to buy a woman's heart in his life.
He had no interest in women, and women blushed first even if he didn't do anything.
He, who took such a life for granted, would never know how to seduce a woman.
And the opponent was Leticia.
A woman who is heavily armed with iron walls to avoid being caught in her wounds.
'A tough opponent...'
Idris, who finished tying his gown, swept up his bangs and muttered in a self-deprecating voice.
"...Should I just go around with my hair all messed up?"
So that, your heart will be shaken even a little.
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