Chapter 174 - Exhaustion and True Feelings
By the time they returned to the tower from Ozwald's estate, the sky was beginning to brighten.
Market vendors and other traders seemed to have already begun preparing for the morning market. The royal capital was slowly waking up.
The first thing Dahlia did after returning to the Green Tower was brew some weak coffee.
She added plenty of sugar and milk to her own cup, turning it into a sweet café au lait.
For Volf, she prepared black coffee along with a simple breakfast of cheese toast, a fried egg, and sausages.
"Dahlia, you should eat a little something, too."
"I'm not very hungry..."
"If you don't have much of an appetite, is there anything you think you could eat? I'll go buy you something."
"Well, part of it is that I'm not hungry, but when I'm really nervous and try to eat, I end up with a stomachache..."
She was embarrassed to admit just how timid she was, but when she got too nervous, it affected her stomach.
Her stomach had hurt quite a bit when she had met with Fort, the head of the Tailors Guild, and the others at the Merchants Guild, as well as when she had first visited the royal palace.
"I see. I thought you were the type who could handle pressure when it really mattered, Dahlia."
"You give me too much credit, Volf. I'm just an ordinary commoner, and I'm a timid person."
"Hmm, I don't think that description quite fits..."
"More importantly! Volf, please eat properly before your food gets cold. If you have to carry me again, it'll be a problem if you don't have the strength for it!"
"...Thank you for the meal."
Having desperately changed the subject, Dahlia finally managed to get him to start eating.
Sipping her café au lait across from him, Dahlia thought through her next steps, her head aching slightly.
The proper thing to do would be to visit Orlando & Co. first, give her greetings, and ask them to call Tobias.
She smelled of sweat, so she needed to take a shower, change into clothes appropriate for meeting the head of a trading company, and redo her makeup.
She thought Tobias would probably agree to help, but how much should she pay him? Perhaps she ought to consult Ivano first.
If the crafting attempt with Tobias failed as well and they ran short of materials, she would have to ask Ozwald for help or go to the Adventurers Guild to request more supplies. Just as her thoughts reached that point, her exhausted right hand slipped, sending the half-finished cup sliding out of her grasp.
"Ah!"
She braced herself for the café au lait to spill across the table and the cup to fall, but neither happened.
Volf, sitting across from her, had caught the cup along with Dahlia's hand in one hand, all while keeping half a piece of bread in his mouth. His other hand was braced against the table to maintain his balance.
After gently setting the cup back on the table, he immediately took a potion from the bag beside him and opened it.
"You really are exhausted. Drink this potion and get some sleep while you still have time."
"...I'm sorry. I don't have much stamina."
She didn't refuse or protest out of politeness. That was probably the best thing she could do.
Dahlia thanked him and accepted the potion.
Orlando & Co. wouldn't open for another few hours. It would be better to drink the potion, get whatever sleep she could, and prepare afterward.
"Dahlia, are you really all right with going to Orlando & Co. to ask for their help?"
"...Yes, I'm fine. It's all in the past now. Oh, I should give him the grimoire while I'm there, too. I don't think we'll have many chances to meet after this."
"I think it's fine to leave things as they are, but you're still going to give it to him?"
"I can't even open the book myself, so I wouldn't be able to carry on its teachings even if they were written there. And if Father left it for him, I think I should give it to him. I already have a grimoire at Professor Ozwald's place, after all... Besides, he's my senior apprentice."
She might never learn the teachings her father had written down.
Dahlia pushed aside the slight pang she felt, whether it was envy or jealousy toward Tobias.
Even if that happened, it was far better than letting her father's teachings go to waste.
"For now, I'll sleep for two hours. You should rest, too, Volf. I'm sorry I don't have a guest room..."
"It's enough if I can use that sofa."
"But you're too tall to fit on it properly, aren't you, Volf? Why don't you use my bed instead? It's a long semi-double, so you should fit. I'll change the sheets, and I can sleep on this sofa. That should solve everything."
"Dahlia, absolutely not."
He said it so firmly that she was at a loss for words.
"Um... You'll need both physical strength and magic power to make the magic tools, so we need to make sure you're the one who gets the most rest. Besides, it would be a problem if you rolled off the sofa in your sleep."
"...Did you hear that from Marcella-san?"
"Huh?"
"When I stayed over at Irma's house, I fell asleep on the sofa and rolled off in the middle of the night. My back hurt, and I was lying there like an overturned turtle when Marcella-san found me... It was so embarrassing that I asked him to keep it a secret from even Irma."
"No, Marcella didn't tell me about it. It was just a coincidence."
Volf's earnest attempt to explain himself struck her as a little suspicious.
Still, she couldn't imagine Marcella telling anyone about it, so perhaps it really was just a coincidence.
"Then, sorry, but please use the sofa, Volf. I'll get you a blanket now."
"Thank you. I'm sorry for the trouble."
The black-haired man watched Dahlia walk away to fetch a blanket, his expression strangely complicated.
・・・・・・・
・・・・・・・
"Ah, good. I made it in time."
After their nap, Dahlia and Volf finished getting ready and stepped out of the tower just as Ivano arrived in a carriage. He was already impeccably dressed in a navy three-piece suit, with his hair neatly arranged.
"I received a letter from Professor Ozwald. If you're going to Orlando & Co., please let me accompany you."
Dahlia was extremely grateful for his offer.
The three climbed into the carriage, and Dahlia explained the situation to Ivano as they traveled.
"...So that's what happened. Don't worry. I'm sure they'll agree to help you make the magic tool."
"But what if they have some urgent work to take care of right now...?"
"If they do, it'll be work for our company, so we can reschedule it. Besides, the head of Orlando & Co. doesn't have the right to refuse."
"Ivano, even if we do give them a lot of work, don't you think that's going a little too far...?"
Something about Ivano's perfectly composed smile struck Dahlia as unsettling, and her voice trailed off.
"I did report that we'd entered into a business partnership with Orlando & Co., didn't I? They're practically our subcontractors at the moment, so we can ask them to accommodate us a little. Besides, I've had Ireneo and Tobias sign temple contracts. Neither our company nor you, as its chairwoman, can be harmed in any way."
"A temple contract...? Since when?"
Dahlia was confused. She could have sworn this was the first she'd heard about the temple contracts.
Or had she simply missed that part of Ivano's report?
"A little while ago, when we signed the partnership agreement. I had them sign the contracts because there wasn’t enough trust to do business with the Orlandos. I thought the subject of temple contracts might make you uncomfortable, Chairwoman, so I didn't mention them in my report."
Despite his matter-of-fact tone, his deep indigo eyes regarded her with a hint of uncertainty.
"Um, Ivano... Do you really think I'm that unreliable?"
"Huh?"
Ivano had apparently been bracing himself for a scolding or for her to take offense, but instead, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Dahlia, Ivano was worried about you."
"Yes, I understand that. Given what happened to me, I can see why he wouldn't trust Orlando & Co. I've entrusted all business matters to Ivano, so I have no intention of questioning the terms of the partnership. I was just a little surprised to hear about the temple contracts..."
She certainly was surprised. Honestly, she wondered why he'd gone that far.
But that wasn't what was bothering her.
"But Ivano, you told me before that you wanted me to be honest with you, and that there was nothing I couldn't tell you."
"Yes, I did. And I still mean it."
His firm reply held not a trace of hesitation. So Dahlia answered him just as directly.
"Then please be honest with me, too. Even if you tell me how you really feel, there may be times when I can't fully understand it or when I interpret it differently from how you intended. But I'll do my best not to interfere with your business decisions. So I want to understand your true feelings as much as I can, Ivano."
"Dahlia-san... No, Chairwoman, I'm sorry. I've been treating you like a child, haven't I?"
Ivano bowed deeply from the seat across from her.
"Please raise your head, Ivano."
"As for how I really feel... I've been angry all this time at Tobias for betraying both your expectations and Carlo-san's. No, I've been angry at the entire Orlando family. Perhaps part of it is because I have a daughter of my own. The rest is just my own petty, ugly grudge."
"Your own grudge, Ivano?"
Volf asked with a puzzled expression. Dahlia couldn't think of any reason for Ivano to hold a personal grudge, either.
"When my family's trading company started going under, Orlando & Co. was one of the first to pull out. Well, that was back when the previous chairman was in charge, so it has nothing to do with Ireneo."
"Ivano..."
"I'm not trying to get revenge. I just thought that if I could beat Orlando & Co., I'd finally feel that I'd become a more capable merchant. In the end, though, it didn't really make me feel anything. Besides, we happened to need subcontractors, and the terms were excellent. Still, given the current situation, I don't think I can trust them, so I believe the temple contracts are necessary. Even if you get angry with me, I'm not backing down on this."
"No, I'm not going to get angry. If that's the decision you've made, Ivano, then I'm fine with it."
At Dahlia's answer, Ivano's eyes widened slightly before his expression softened.
"Chairwoman, I'll be as honest with you as I can, but there are some things I wouldn't want to report, both as a businessman... or rather, as a man. Of course, if you order me to tell you everything, I'll report it all. But would you be willing to overlook a few secrets and a little 'deviousness' on my part?"
"...Will those secrets put you in danger, Ivano?"
"You really do have a good instinct for these things, Chairwoman."
Ivano didn't deny it.
Just as Dahlia was about to ask another question, he continued with a smile.
"To be perfectly honest, Lord Guido has arranged guards for my wife and daughter."
"Ivano, this is the first I'm hearing of this."
"I think Lord Guido considers it so obvious that it wasn't even worth mentioning. If someone wanted to put pressure on the Rossetti Company, they'd target either you or me, or go after our families. And my wife and daughter are commoners, so their security is relatively lax. It wouldn't be surprising if someone came to that conclusion. I hadn't even realized it myself."
"Ivano, I'm sor—"
"Please don't apologize, Chairwoman."
He spoke over her, cutting off her apology before she could finish.
"I, no, we've become a trading company with enough influence that we can't be ignored anymore. It's true that there are more things we need to be careful about now, but we can get our hands on all sorts of materials, we have connections at the guilds, and we can even consult with a Marquis's family. Isn’t this why we’re able to help Mr. Marcella and his wife? If we don't 'take advantage' of all that, what good is it?"
Ivano deliberately put on the sort of smile one might expect from a shady merchant, making Dahlia smile along with him.
"...All right. If there are things you really don't want to tell me, I'll let those be. But I still want to hear how you truly feel as much as possible. If you're ever in real danger, please make sure you tell me. That's all I ask."
"I have a request, too. If you ever find yourself getting caught up in something dangerous, don't hesitate to rely on me—or on my brother when I'm away on an expedition. I'll make sure to talk to him about it."
After nodding in agreement to both of them, Ivano scratched his head, messing up the hair he'd taken care to arrange so neatly.
"Thank you. Still... when you put it that way, I feel like I'm the one being overprotected here."
"Not at all. I'm the chairwoman of the company, and technically, I'm your superior. It's only natural."
"I'm technically one of the company's guarantors, too, so it's only natural."
Hearing their perfectly synchronized replies, Ivano burst out laughing.
Neither of them seemed to notice that they were wearing almost identical smiles as they answered him.
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