The Devil Duchess Adopts The Villainess

Roughly thirty minutes had passed, and the bedroom was now fully furnished, it was incomparable to the empty hollow room of before. It now gave off a soft comforting feeling any anyone who ventured inside.

There were traces of femininity and child- like wonder from the stuffed animals and toys placed around the room.

Ashley jumped up and down the bed gleefully while the maids gushed over how adorable their little lady looked. One of the more adventurous maids had even joined her on the bed and they were hopping up and down with great joy until the head butler caught wind of the situation.

The maid was immediately sent to the kitchen to peel one hundred potatoes as punishment for misbehaving on the duchess’ bed.

Ashley managed to escape any repercussions for her behaviour as who would dare to punish her in the house?

It was not noble- like behaviour?

The duchess Elise had not said anything, but all the servants could tell that this little Buddha would now be commanding the temple.

Meanwhile Elise was in the corridor discussing the final price of the goods ordered with the plump merchant.

“Duchess Elise, the grand total for the furniture and other items will be three gold coins and twenty silver pieces,” Mr. Rothfield calculated.

Elise shook her head silently and handed over five gold coins and a small letter she had written in the study earlier. The Golden Mask was publicly known as one of the most respected merchant groups on the continent with numerous small branches extending their reach into even the furthest kingdoms.

How could a company with so much wealth and power rise so rapidly be only doing legitimate business?

Rumours and whispers told tales that for the right price, there was no business too risky that the merchant group dare not fulfil. Of course, these services were not to be given to the common folk but to clients who were platinum members and above.

Even in the Eternia kingdom, Elise would be surprised if more than two houses were included on the list.

The Golden Mask was also a slave trading company in the underground and Elise would often have dealings with them to rescue slaves by buying them from the market. She loath to interact with these monsters but there was no way for a single power to end the slave trade, so this was the next best option.

When they entered the dukedom, they were heavily escorted from the harbor outside the walls until they arrived at their destination. This was to ensure that the only place that the company was allowed to visit was the castle.

Fortunately, the castle was located a bit further than the main town so any dark races sighted would be few and far between. Easily explained away as lower-class citizens or slaves of the nobility of the surrounding area.

There was officially a strict penalty imposed on noble houses found harbouring dark races especially in empires with strong church influence but…

There is nothing that money can’t solve.

Certain nobles desired dark race slaves as a source of cheap labour, wealth or prostitution. The price of a mermaid for example could on the black market bankrupt a small noble house.

When Elise was sixteen, her father gave a small black card with golden embroidered edges and the words ‘G.M’. The card had been in the family through her great aunt Heilda who earned it several years ago.

No one knew how a woman who was not even a direct descendant of a noble house became a platinum member but when she died the card was passed on to the main branch.

Elise glanced at the merchant man with his knowing smile and sly wink as he pocketed the envelope and a small shiver ran down her spine. She could still remember the vivid conversation and warning her father gave her when she received the card.

“My dear daughter, promise me that you will only use this card as a last resort in times of trouble or if there are no other options. Above all else do not purchase any service that you cannot afford to pay,” her father told her sternly

“But dad aren’t they just merchants? How can they dare to come after nobles to settle a debt?” young Elise curiously replied.

Elise would never forget the emotion that flashed through her father’s eyes when she asked that question.

It was fear.

Her father was one of the most powerful nobles in the kingdom, one of the strongest knights on the border and the bravest man she knew.

And even he was afraid.

Elise wisely stopped asking and her father refused to say the source of his terror.

“Is that all my duchess?” the merchant asked.

“No. You are free to go. Just contact the head butler when the next shipment of ‘goods’ arrive,” Elise replied.

Mr. Rothfield bowed sincerely then commanded his men to return to their ships and then swiftly packed up and left the castle under the watchful eyes of the peace corps.

(Outside the castle)

Several men rode out of the castle walls on horseback with five carriages streaming out behind them. Inside one of the carriages the merchant was sitting down comfortably in silent contemplation. He looked back at the castle fading away in the distance and an unknown emotion stirred up in his heart.

The journey back to the outer walls was relatively short, there was only a single road and little to no houses on the sides of it. This entire area was intentionally left empty and the only people that could be seen would be the peace corps members patrolling the area for intruders.

The merchant observed all the sights before him, he had never been allowed into the main town and was only brought to the outer area. Suspicions had begun to form in his mind that the duchess was not using the dark races as slaves but for another purpose. These thoughts naturally had to be suppressed.

Well until recently that would have been the case…

He turned down to look at the letter in his hand and saw the seal of the Blackwolf house. He began to gently rub his fingers over it with an almost fanatical smile on his face.

“Ignis wrapisae smaliess,” he muttered gently.

A small wisp of fire erupted from his fingertips as the letter and its contents burned to ashes, the flame was then snuffed out immediately. Despite this impressive feat of mana control, the man acted as if it was nothing special.

“The rumours are true your holiness, the Blackwolf household has been buying slaves to raise them. I have served as their seller for years now and I have recorded every purchase in a ledger list,” the merchant spoke up and talked to the empty wall of the carriage.

An amulet in his hand began to glow white hot as his message was transmitted to an unknown location.

The value of clients was very important to the Golden Mask and the man who he had contacted had paid an unimaginable price in order to secure the betrayal of a platinum member.

Mr. Rothfield himself was unsure of the identity of the man but the higher ups in the company had simply insisted that it was someone they could not afford to offend.

His thoughts shifted to the woman who hired him to rescue people in need and a small tinge of regret surfaced in his heart. These feelings were abruptly snuffed out from years of experience and trading.

At the end of the day,

It was just business.

And the Golden Mask would never invest in dead men.