I’m Quitting Everything and Selling Cola

Chapter 148

Chapter 148. I Can Do It — If It's Me!

Lily Fontaine was quite a well-known figure even within the Royal Household.

The elite who had steered state affairs alongside Hanbin Ainsworth. However meritocratic Britannia might be, an appointment as Minister of Internal Affairs at an age not yet thirty was an unprecedented leap forward, unprecedented in all of history.

And on top of that, a beautiful appearance to match. Had it not been for his fiancée Silvia, he might well have fallen head over heels.

"The handling of your custody was approved as an exceptional case, following the report and recommendation of Sir Kaylun Hawthorne. As you are aware."

From the eyes of Lily as she set down her documents, Belheim sensed it.

This woman was not an easy opponent by any measure.

"That is correct."

"Sir Kaylun recorded that your cooperation was decisive in the annihilation of the Order's Northern branch. It is an exceptional matter for the Royal Guard to personally petition on behalf of someone liable to charges equivalent to treason."

"Is that so? I am not well-versed in Royal politics."

"If you put your experience managing the Order's finances to use, it would provide a useful means of cutting off the Order's financial lifelines going forward. I agree with Sir Kaylun's thinking. That is why the Judicial Transaction was approved."

"I am deeply grateful for the mercy shown."

"However……"

Belheim felt a sharp, prickling unease.

He had cooperated with the Order over a long period and had played a central role in it. And yet the reason he was able to be detained in a fine manor such as this one.

'I understand your circumstances well enough, but the fact that you cooperated with the Order does not change.'

'Atone for it. I will give you the opportunity.'

It was all thanks to Hanbin's intervention. And he had added this:

'However, there is one thing you must keep in mind.'

'There was no one by the name of Jurgen in this incident. Understood?'

Belheim had accepted that without argument.

What reason, after all, would Hanbin have for being at Y&P Trading Company?

Simply for the sake of a food and beverage venture? That could not be.

He did seem to invest more effort into his disguise than strictly necessary — but would someone of Hanbin's calibre stake his life on something as trivial as that? It was clearly a meticulously laid plan. That was precisely what had made it possible to devastate the Order's Northern branch.

But the words that followed had been a little unexpected.

'Most of all, be wary of Acting Minister Lily.'

'In what regard……?'

'That one served as my secretary, you see…… She's rather quick on the uptake, I expect. Think up some good excuses in advance.'

"……."

Hanbin had said this while oddly averting his gaze.

The sight of it was strangely reminiscent of Silvia — who used to hire a dance tutor and then run away because she found etiquette lessons dull — but that couldn't possibly be the case here. There must have been various circumstances involved. At any rate, Belheim found this particular meeting a little uncomfortable.

"There are a few matters I need to confirm."

"Yes."

"According to the report, the Assassination Unit that had been surveilling and detaining you was dealt with by local collaborator 'Aiden' and Sir Kaylun…… Were there no other collaborators?"

Belheim instinctively grasped the intent behind that question.

"Your Excellency Fontaine, I was merely a prisoner. The only scene I witnessed was Sir Aiden's dagger work against the Order's assassins. Meanwhile, Sir Kaylun extracted me from the premises."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"And regarding any other circumstances?"

"I was taken into custody shortly thereafter, so I have heard nothing further."

"I see."

Lily spun her pen in a slow circle, then asked:

"In that case, my second question. In Sir Kaylun's initial report, a name appears — Jurgen. A commoner businessman associated with Y&P. However, in the final report, that name no longer appears. Instead, the record is revised to emphasise the contribution of Penelope Rosemore. Do you know anything about this?"

"That part puzzles me as well."

Belheim paused briefly before answering.

"I can only speculate, but perhaps Sir Kaylun redirected credit for his own achievements toward a Northern noble as a sort of political consideration."

"……."

Did it work? Belheim quietly watched Lily's reaction.

"Well, that is fine. My final question, then."

"Yes."

"I am curious about the relationship between Penelope Rosemore and Jurgen. Between the two of them."

"Pardon?"

"A commoner serving as the representative of a noble is not a common arrangement."

An out-of-nowhere question, by any reckoning. Belheim's nerves, if anything, sharpened. But almost at once he arrived at the optimal answer for concealing Hanbin's identity.

"From what I observed at close quarters, the two appeared to rely on each other considerably."

"……?"

Lily went perfectly still.

"What do you mean by that?"

"To put it more plainly — it would not be a stretch to call them a romantic couple."

That should do it. An answer of this kind would put suspicion to rest for the time being.

The picture of Hanbin, loyal to the Crown, becoming entangled with the second daughter of the North's leading noble — that would be a difficult image for Lily to conjure.

"……I see. That resolves my question."

Lily gave a nod, then clapped her hands lightly. At that, a staff member waiting outside brought in a box of documents.

"This is Lord Belheim's first assignment. Trace the Order's financial channels in reverse and root out every remaining member of the remnants still lurking in the North. Prove your usefulness directly."

"Yes. May I begin reviewing these immediately?"

"You may."

Belheim bowed his head respectfully.

It appeared to have gone smoothly — a relief.

Now it was beginning.

He would demonstrate his competence here and build up a track record step by step. He would prove his abilities and catch the eye of Acting Minister Lily.

Not merely carrying out tasks given under a Judicial Transaction, but earning recognition for his accomplishments. Looked at one way, the finest career path imaginable — paved with the name of Lily Fontaine — had been laid before him.

Belheim silently sent a heartfelt expression of gratitude toward Hanbin.

"This is Lord Belheim's second assignment."

"……?"

Hmm? Bewilderment clouded Belheim's eyes.

Lily slid a second box, brought by the staff member, in front of him.

"These are the documents recovered from the Order in the North. Please examine the financial transaction records and their channels in detail, through the eyes of a banker."

"Understood."

"And this is Lord Belheim's third assignment."

The staff member brought yet another box.

"This is the asset register of all nobles arrested or implicated in this affair, including Baroness Hohenberg and Viscount Thornton. It would help if you could separate what is unrelated to the Order from what is connected to it."

The business smile that had been sitting at the corner of Belheim's mouth disappeared entirely.

"Your Excellency Fontaine, all of this…… by tonight?"

"Is there a problem?"

Lily asked with complete composure. Belheim started to explain that this was not a physically manageable volume of work for one person in a single night, then thought better of it.

Those were not the eyes of someone trying to understand.

"By six o'clock tomorrow morning."

"……."

"That will be all, Inmate Seventeen."

Without a moment's hesitation, Lily turned and left the reception room.

"What on earth……."

He stared blankly at the mountain of document boxes before him. Belheim was a banker. Which was to say, he was accustomed to considerable high-intensity workloads.

'And…… good luck. Do your best.'

Before parting from Hanbin. Those last words he had said, patting him on the shoulder, came back to him.

"So that's what he meant……."

Belheim let out a hollow laugh.

"Something to be grateful for……."

Muttering to himself, he picked up the first sheet from the towering stack of document files.

***

Cola, which had taken the North — a region dominated by liquor distribution — and seized it with a beverage. CCC, bestowed with the Royal Warrant. And Royal Kitchen, supposedly packed to bursting with Northern upper-class patrons.

The string of success stories from Y&P Trading Company was now a fact that no one in Northern Social Circles could deny.

In this barren stretch of the North, once known as a wasteland for fine dining. Penelope Rosemore had proven that it was possible to sit atop a pile of gold through the Food and Beverage industry.

In particular, the ripple effect that Royal Kitchen's opening day had sent through the Social Circles was enormous.

The nobles were divided into two camps.

"What, the reservation fell through again?"

"That's why I said give up on weekends."

"Does anyone have Lady Rosemore's contact? No, not the eldest — the second daughter."

Those who were trying by any means to secure the next reservation at Royal Kitchen.

"I'd like to invest……."

"Invest? In Y&P Trading Company? No, that's not happening."

"Why not? Is there a businessman alive who turns down investment?"

"Did you not know? Y&P Trading Company is absolutely swimming in cash. If Penelope had been a bit shrewder, she could have been making money hand over fist by putting money into making more money."

Those who were trying to invest in Y&P Trading Company's next move.

But there was a third camp that belonged to neither of these two.

That was Countess Marianne Blanchard.

"So…… that Ribs moved even His Excellency Marquis Ashford to tears?"

Marianne asked again, as if she could not believe the report her lady's maid had just brought back. Her delicate brow furrowed slightly.

"Yes, my lady. Every person in the hall seemed as though they were under a spell. Over a mere dish of food."

Marianne set down her teacup. Her mind began turning rapidly.

A year ago, Marianne had unexpectedly inherited the countship when her father passed away. Being an only child, it had been a swift succession with no disputes of any kind.

She had been pleased, if she was being honest. She had not been particularly close with her father, and she had thought she was about to receive a vast inheritance that was essentially free money.

But the reality was grim.

What had been left behind was a title as hollow as a beautiful-looking crab apple, land that could not fetch its proper value. And nothing but the enormous debts left by her father's failed business ventures.

The things demanding her attention had doubled, while the comfortable, luxurious life she had enjoyed before was nothing but a distant dream.

To overcome this crisis, she needed one decisive blow. A single business venture — fast, certain, and capable of bringing in enormous returns.

"Penelope Rosemore……."

Until not very long ago, a young lady mocked in the Social Circles as a 'useless flower' — treated as someone beneath even herself. She had even been expelled from university, the hopeless thing.

Yet in the space of a mere year or two, she had become the most talked-about person in the North.

And all of that through nothing more than fried chicken, a soft drink, and grilled meat.

"I could do something like that too."

Before inheriting the countship and getting tangled up in the affairs of those tiresome creditors, Marianne had been enormously popular in the Social Circles. The dresses she wore, the Tea Parties she hosted — they had always been the envy of the young Northern nobles.

To eyes like Marianne's, Penelope's business looked thoroughly crude.

CCC? Fried chicken reeking of oil. Royal Kitchen? The barbaric method of grilling meat over smoky charcoal.

Not at all aristocratic.

In that case — what if she were the one to fill in that aristocratic gap?

If Y&P had succeeded even with methods so crude, what if she, a 'true noble', were to present 'true fine dining'?

Business ideas began pouring into her mind like a waterfall.