episode_0112

‘I’m curious. I wonder what she’ll be like tomorrow. Will she fire the bodyguard?’

Eugene, having returned to his lodging and finished showering, lay down to sleep.

He has no separate schedule for tomorrow, but there are basic meetings.

It is a meeting attended by Vivian and her bodyguard himself, Antonio and Davis of the Iron Cross Knights, and Jeanne and Ivan of the Red Fox Mercenary Corps.

Eugene was half expecting and half wondering what Vivian, who suffered extreme humiliation today, would look like at the meeting.

‘Honestly, the possibility of that seems almost nonexistent, but there will be some noise. I wonder if she can even come to the meeting properly. Vivian may be a veteran merchant, but it won’t be easy.’

However, Eugene’s expression looked relaxed, even beyond composure.

At least he had confirmed Vivian’s thorough subservience to him.

However, there will likely be aftereffects in any case.

Thinking that, Eugene soon fell asleep.

“Huuu… Heuk…! Huuu…!”

Vivian, too, sat blankly for a long time, and then somehow returned to her room.

Vivian barely managed to take a shower and then lay on her bed,

Naked, Vivian sobbed incessantly.

Her lying position was also in a fetal position, so her appearance was truly miserable.

‘I thought I had finally seen the light… I thought that the light I had lost… that light had come back to me…’

As expected, Vivian was bursting into tears over what Eugene had done to her.

Vivian’s entire life has been frozen since the moment she lost her father, Alexis.

Even her appearance as the head of the Pieta Merchant Group, which seems unrelated to that figure, is ultimately connected to him.

Because she wanted to be a daughter her father could be proud of,

Because she wanted to be a daughter who followed in her father’s footsteps,

And because she wanted to constantly remember her father, she chose that path.

Vivian had worked tirelessly to avoid exposing that weakness, that painful wound full of trauma and obsession.

Her image as a sharp merchant head can be seen as a mask she created to avoid being swept away by the maddening trauma.

In fact, Vivian’s appearance now, naked and sobbing in bed, is probably her true self.

‘He was really different… Eugene had eyes and a way of speaking that were completely different from those of other barbarians…’

As Eugene Schneider guessed, Vivian struggled to find comfort through someone who resembled her father.

In the process, Vivian was naturally particularly fixated on black hair and a large build.

Because they were external characteristics that could define her father, Alexis, more than anyone else.

So, honestly, she had high expectations for the barbarians she met while traveling around the western desert.

Therefore, as Eugene saw, she even indulged in novels dealing with the pure love between a barbarian and a duke’s daughter.

But the essence of Alexis’ appearance was warmth and consideration, different from those rough bodies.

Since she could never find that essence in reality, Vivian must have been satisfying herself with novels.

But Eugene Schneider made it a reality.

‘He was so warm… Eugene’s eyes and way of speaking when he looked at Jeanne…’

Of course, Eugene had not directly shown that much warmth to Vivian.

Just his humanity at the first moment they met?

Furthermore, all she felt was businesslike manners in the process of being guarded.

However, although she hadn’t experienced it directly, Vivian clearly saw it.

She had really been peeping at Eugene and Jeanne together very diligently.

Eugene Schneider was really so good to Jeanne that she wondered if he was really a macho mercenary.

Basically, honey dripped from the way he looked at her.

‘Our father was so businesslike, but when he saw me, he smiled happily and loved me…’

Rather, if he had shown such a side from the beginning to Vivian herself, who had little connection, it might have been less profound.

What was really important to Vivian was reminding her of her father, wasn’t it?

That’s why Vivian couldn’t help but fall madly in love with Eugene’s appearance, who was nonchalant on the outside but became a warm-hearted husband to Jeanne.

Alexis possessed charismatic administrative and political power to the extent that he was mentioned as the next emperor,

But when his only daughter Vivian came to his side longing for love, he became the most foolish daughter-obsessed person in the world.

As a result, Eugene, who responded to Vivian himself in a businesslike manner, showed off his charms when he was with Jeanne, the woman he loved, and every time Vivian peeked at it, her heart raced like a foal.

Really, the most blissful time in Vivian’s life, the image of her father and herself, was projected as it was in the two of them being lovey-dovey.

‘I also wanted the tree… I wanted to enjoy that again…’

She couldn’t stand it.

How could a person on the verge of death from thirst not run towards the oasis in the distance?

The fact that she has raised the merchant group to this point was possible because Vivian’s public and private life was clear.

However, the moment she recognized the light that Eugene possessed, her judgment was full of selfish desires.

Selfishness to possess him even though she knew he had a lover,

And the selfishness that wanted to push forward, ignoring the sense of guilt, thinking that the lover was someone Vivian herself had a good reason to reject.

‘He was such a nice person… Heuuheueuk…!’

The result of abandoning her conscience and choosing him was being dumped like a dog.

And that wasn’t all.

She threw away her pride and took off her clothes, but the treatment she received was no better than being treated like a sex toy.

Tight…!

Tightly…!

Vivian squeezed her eyes shut to shed the tears that had accumulated in her eyes.

At the same time, her hand was also clenched tightly.

And something was held in her hand.

It was none other than Eugene Schneider’s handkerchief.

**********

“Hmm. This is unusual. For the head of the merchant group to be late for a meeting. She always keeps time like a knife, if nothing else.”

Noon the next day.

The secret trade quest delegation meeting is held every other day.

In fact, it can be said to be the most important meeting.

Because the contents of the meeting and decisions made here are simply notified at the general meeting.

It is that important of a meeting, but Vivian, the head of the Pieta Merchant Group, has not yet arrived.

So Antonio said to Davis next to him in a tone that seemed to be slightly worried about Vivian.

“I don’t think you need to worry that much. I’ve already been there, and she even told me to go ahead first. It seems right to think that she has extremely personal circumstances, as has been conveyed.”

When Antonio, who had spent a considerable amount of time with Vivian, had such a question, Eugene told him what he knew.

Eugene’s Vivian escort is hybrid.

For example, when Vivian meets with external merchant groups, he escorts her very closely.

In some cases, Eugene has the authority to restrict Vivian’s movements.

But the story is different inside the camp.

Eugene’s escort here can be seen as passive.

So he only escorts her when Vivian requests it.

He is just in close proximity to quickly recognize the request.

Therefore, Eugene had a basic morning interview with Vivian before the meeting started, and

He is telling Antonio what he heard in the process.

“Personal matter! Hmm… Hearing that again, I’m glad on the other hand. It feels like I’m feeling a human side of the head of the merchant group for the first time in a while?”

Grin!

When Eugene refreshed the situation, Antonio gave a subtle smile.

The hard life of the head of a giant merchant group that doesn’t suit a pretty 25-year-old,

Antonio felt sorry for Vivian while assisting her in her life.

In other words, he had a feeling of admiration that Vivian now had the mental余裕 to take some personal time, and

It was a bitter smile that contained the feeling that he himself was projecting a sharp image onto Vivian.

‘Her mentality is really amazing. I honestly thought she would cancel today’s meeting. I thought that’s why she called me this morning too. Roughly looking, her eyes were swollen and she seemed to need time to reduce the swelling.’

On the other hand, Eugene, who could not help but know the situation in great detail, had a different feeling of admiration.

It is Vivian’s amazing recovery power.

Even Eugene himself thought that his actions last night were merciless, so

He thought her mentality would be quite shattered.

So, he thought the aftereffects would last for a while, and even thought about the possibility of quitting being a bodyguard before going to bed.

But Vivian’s attitude was unchanged at all. She just cried all night and her eyes were swollen.

A quick glance…?

At that moment, Jeanne next to Eugene glanced at him.

To be precise, Jeanne sent her gaze from the middle of the Red Fox Mercenary Corps’ seat, with Ivan and Eugene on either side.

‘Eugene, you seem to be thinking a lot today? I thought you didn’t have many thoughts as you started your bodyguard work, so I wondered if the situation was okay…’

Jeanne had entrusted everything to Eugene, but of course, she had been carefully checking Eugene’s condition for several days.

As a result, today seems different from the past few days.

“The head of the merchant group is coming!”

At that moment, the sentry of the Iron Cross Knights’ main tent announced the entry of Vivian, the head of the Pieta Merchant Group.

“I read too many documents yesterday. I didn’t get enough sleep, so my face was a mess. I had to fix that, so I was a little late. I ask for your understanding, everyone.”

Vivian, who was seated at the meeting,

She bowed slightly to the representatives of the quest and apologized for her late arrival.

Before she knew it, Vivian’s swollen eyes, which Eugene had seen in the morning, had completely disappeared.

She had acquired elixirs from various places outside the territory,

She used the elixir to instantly reduce her swollen eyes.

“Fortunately, the persuasion work with the other merchant groups went well. Everyone rewrote the contracts, and they made it clear that they would never leave.”

At the meeting that started soon after, Vivian told the quest delegation about the results of her activities over the past few days.

“So I’m thinking of starting transportation within a few days. People’s minds are like reeds, so even if we reconfirm like this, they can still be shaken again, right? I think now is the perfect time to push things forward.”

The results themselves were very good.

However, Vivian, who has been leading the merchant group since her late teens, knows how quickly promises change in these crisis situations.

The current contract is just an anesthetic,

We have to finish the surgery before the anesthesia wears off.

“Given the way things have been going, Tyrannos must be expecting it too.”

When the main game was about to begin, Antonio responded in a very serious tone.

The Iron Cross Knights still don’t know how Tyrannos knows their internal situation so well.

In other words, they should respond on the premise that Vivian’s negotiation situation has also reached their ears.

“That’s what we should expect. And that’s what I was considering when I talked about a quick decision, Commander Antonio. Then I will send a letter to the local merchant group right away.”

Ssshh…!

Vivian stood up from her seat, thinking that her intention had been sufficiently conveyed.

As she said, she is about to start transporting large quantities of goods from now on.

Sreureureuk…!

Something fell from inside the sleeve of Vivian, who was getting up from her seat.

‘Huh?’

Eugene, who was watching the meeting diligently as a representative, widened his eyes slightly when he saw it falling from inside Vivian’s sleeve.