"Please set it up over there."
The private carriage stopped, and a young-looking woman in a wide-brimmed beige hat carefully disembarked.
The woman was Carol.
Carol glanced around the crowded road where people and wagons passed by nonstop.
"Miss, where are you going? This place is very complicated, isn't it?"
The coachman interfered with her with a smirk on his face.
But Carol stared at him and flipped a coin without answering to pay the bill.
Then, without hesitation, she turned around and walked steadily.
"... What is it?"
The coachman, who was hesitant, grumbled and drove the carriage back to find the customer.
"How complicated this place is. It's a lot of money, but it's just pride. Try to suffer somewhere..."
As the coachman feared, this is a huge market formed in the center of the capital.
There was nothing that could not be obtained in this market, which boasts a long tradition.
Whether it's people, objects, or information.
It is a place where goods and people come and go day and night, so it is always busy.
Since it is not a place where the upper class mainly goes shopping, like the Nasiel district, dirty and old buildings are densely packed.
In each of the chaotic alleys, there were small shops and large stores.
The road was so intricately twisted that a first-time person was at great risk of getting lost and going through difficult things, a dangerous and complex place where you have to deploy the most guards.
However, Carol walked steadily through these winding alleys.
Walk all the way, turn right, turn left, go down the narrow corner stairs, turn left again, turn right, go around the small building, and go up again, left...
How long did she walk?
Eventually, Carol found a small, old tavern and knocked on the green door where the paint had peeled off.
"Who is it? Don't do business..."
"It hurts when I am bitten by a baby shark, and it hurts when I am bitten by a mother shark; it hurts a lot. Please open it before it bites."
As she skillfully gave him her password, the door of the tavern creaked open.
The man who opened the door scratched his head and bowed down to greet Carol.
"Oh... I'm sorry. Carol, it's been a long time since I saw you!"
"What about Auntie?"
"There is."
"Guide me."
Carol stepped inside and gave a clear command, and the man hurriedly closed the door and took the lead.
The old bar had no windows and was dark because there was no sunlight. The smell of dust vibrated, and every corner was full of cobwebs, as if it had not been cleaned.
However, after the man opened one of the many doors and passed through several doors, a clean space gradually appeared.
As they entered the hallway with a faintly lit lantern hanging on the wall, Carol murmured.
"It's still the same."
"She has warned me not to touch anything until Carol is back in place."
"...I'm not coming back here."
Carol, who pouted her lips, walked with the man for a long time.
Eventually, when they arrived at the large space, the hideous, large men waiting there stood up and bowed 90 degrees towards Carol.
"Welcome, Carol"
"Open the door."
"Yes!"
Carol gave the order solemnly, and when they opened the last door, she finally saw the person she was about to meet.
"Carol!"
When a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes and a blunt demeanor saw Carol, she jumped up from her seat and ran to her with a big smile.
"My kitten-!!"
Carol's aunt and guild leader of the continent's most famous information guild, Ellery Demirant.
She is cold and scary, and when they makes a mistake, she kills her client without hesitation with a single gesture, and she is called the most feared among all guild leaders.
If there is one of Ellery's atrocious weaknesses. It is her only niece, Carol.
"How long is this! A few days ago, I sent a message asking for authentic information about the Fountain of the Sun for the first time in a long time! Are you really here this time?!"
"...It's suffocating, auntie."
"It's been 5 years since you announced that you would become a maid of the crazy dog Princess?! Oh, why is my niece so cute and pretty?!"
Carol slapped her cheek and coldly pushed away the guild leader, Ellery.
Carol warned my sad aunt with a terrifying eye.
"Call our Princess a mad dog again, and I won't see my aunt for the rest of my life."
"Uh! Ah, yes! Absolutely not~~~ yes? Please."
"Hmph."
Carol pouted and added that it was her last chance.
Carol was so cute that she couldn't help but ask, looking at her niece's body.
"Isn't it hard? No, it's a maid's job, so of course it's hard, isn't it? That... Princess Argenthoz has such a dirty and fiery personality."
"Oh my God. Because it's not? What should I do if the head of the information guild misunderstands me like this??
"No, what..."
Carol opened her eyes to Ellery, who hesitated to avoid her gaze.
"The Princess doesn't have a dirty personality. She's a very cool and wonderful person. How hard and diligent she is. Well, recently, she has been lying down in shock and lazy due to a rather bad incident..."
Remembering Yvonne at that time, Carol became nervous and chewed her nails carefully.
She wanted to assassinate Prince Adrian, who had brutally kicked the Princess she was passionate about, by any means necessary.
However, there is a taboo that the Intelligence Guild never handles, and that is to touch the imperial family.
"Because the fate of the guild is at stake."
Instead, Carol said that she had forgotten Prince Adrian and helped Yvonne stand up again, intending to carry out her orders perfectly.
Yvonne has changed. However, it is also true that it is not much different from Yvonne, whom she originally served.
She was always cautious, hardworking, quietly dull, Indifferent, and soft-hearted, just like Yvonne Argenthoz.
As Yvonne's No. 1 fan, she is convinced.
However, if there is one thing that has changed a little positively, it is that Yvonne is finally asking others for help.
Before, the Princess always moved alone, which hurt her heart...
Until now, she had not been able to help her, but Carol was finally able to help Yvonne properly.
It was worth waiting patiently for Yvonne's pride. Finally, Yvonne asked her for help.
'The Princess... I don't think she remembers saving me on that street before.'
But it doesn't matter.
Carol liked Yvonne so much that she trembled just by standing next to her.
Recently, it has only improved a little, but her heart is still pounding.
The lace that Yvonne gave her as a gift had a suicide note in advance asking her to put it in a coffin when she died.
Carol heard the olisht of Eudela, the only maid she had befriended at the Argenthoz manson, but she did not help.
It may seem cold, but for Carol, Eudela is a friend, but she is a 'stranger'.
However, if the Princess orders her to investigate the situation of the Rognier family in detail, the situation will be completely different.
She picked up a pen and wrote down what she needed to find out without hesitation on a piece of paper on Ellery's desk.
"Auntie, I have a favor for you. It might be a bit difficult."
"Oh my God, what's going on? If it's my niece's request, I can do whatever you want."
Ellery glared at Carol as she wrote with determined eyes as if she were loving, and readily agreed.
Who would make such a request to the head of the information guild, Ellery Demirant?
Few people knew Ellery's face. No matter how much money or status you have, it is impossible to meet her.
Even secret and serious matters that came to the intelligence guild were usually handled by the sub-guild leader, who is the lower line of Ellery.
The procedure to meet Ellery was very complicated, and it took more than a month at the earliest.
But for now, let's make contact with Ellery.
Then you can get 100% of the information you want.
However, Carol has the privilege of skipping that complicated procedure altogether.
"Our Carol is becoming more and more like my brother..."
"Really?"
Carol took her eyes off the paper and smiled at Ellery for the first time today.
Ellery was heartbroken and bitter, but she didn't show it to Carol.
The niece is the only daughter of the head of the previous intelligence guild, who was suddenly killed by an assassin six years ago.
Ellery, who was the vice-guild leader at the time, thought that the next information guild leader would naturally be Carol.
Not because she was her niece, but Carol was smart and had a lot of guts in this area.
So, she was about to step down after serving as the guild leader for about 1-2 years until Carol became an adult, but Carol suddenly informed her that she would become a maid of honor for Princess Argenthoz and left the house.
The noble heir of the information guild volunteered to be a maid of the noble family.
Ellery and other members of the intelligence guild cried and clung to her for a week, but to no avail.
No one would stop Carol, who is secretly known for her bull stubbornness.
Carol, who had been so calmly cut off contact and kept quiet, reappears and asks for a favor.
'This information guild belongs to Carol. She has permission to use all information.'
Ellery peeked over her shoulder at the words written by Carol, who looked exactly like her deceased brother.
"Why are you so cautious, my niece?"
"Wait a minute."
Carol, who had written down the information to be requested, calmly skimmed through the paper.
Information related to the succession of Viscount Rognier 5 years ago.
The person who supplies nutrition to Liana Rognier in the Duke of Cardin.
And, in case you don't know...
Carol, quick-witted, was going to learn more information that Yvonne was most curious about right now.
Carol emphasized the last request once more by writing it down on a piece of paper.
"Find the Creator of the Fountain of the Sun."
When she received the paper, Ellery's eyes sparkled as if she was interested.
"Why? Princess Argenthoz needs the Fountain of the Sun? Although the nobles wanted to save it, they received requests to find a manufacturer. If you just save the spring of the sun, it will be solved, and I didn't look deeper."
"No. Our Princess doesn't need a fountain of the sun. She's so perfectly beautiful."
"...Oh, yes."
Ellery sneaked away from Carol's eyes, which were glowing with conviction and madness about Princess Argenthoz.
She doesn't know how it got to that point.
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