Chapter 7

Married? They’d be broken up in a year.

Rodella narrowed her eyes, wondering what kind of nonsense this troublemaker was pulling now.

She was just about to say something when—“Good day, ma’am!”

A passing knight interrupted the moment, and Rodella…

“Oh my.”

…had no choice but to play the part of the touched fiancée.

She couldn’t very well rub her hand in disgust right in front of the knight, so instead, she smiled sweetly, as if overwhelmed with happiness.

Once the knight had passed, Aivert spoke again.

“You know there are plenty of guys in the Azure Knights with a grudge. If things ever get dangerous, run to my room.”

So that was why her office was next door.

Still…

“I’m used to it. Plenty of people in the civil office have grudges too.”

After all, the administrative division was a magnet for every kind of problem child in the empire. She’d long since grown accustomed to surprise visits from “concerned citizens” in the middle of the night.

She was so adept at handling troublemakers that other departments in the capital sometimes called her Teacher Rodella.

Half out of respect. The other half…

Was for her elite-level skills in calming, manipulating, and neutralizing problem cases.

Aivert glanced back at her.

“You’re really confident?”

There’s no way he hadn’t heard the rumors. Sure, there were all kinds of grudge-holders—but the kind swinging weapons around were clearly not supposed to be her responsibility.

Still, Rodella nodded without hesitation.

“Of course.”

Aivert, unfazed, followed up immediately.

“Then if I’m in danger, can I come to your room?”

“…Do you think you can?”

‘This guy, honestly. He came out with the most ridiculous things at the most ridiculous times.’

— Poke! 

She jabbed him in the side and slipped into her office.

And inside…well, the room was pretty spacious. And nice.

* * *

The first thing Rodella tackled on the financial side was cutting expenses.

Breaking things could be dealt with as a long-term strategy—so the savings had to come from somewhere else.

But where?

As she weighed her options, the first thing that caught her eye was military supplies.

How to reduce costs without compromising quality?

Normally, such a thing would be impossible—but Rodella had an idea.

“So the moment you became Quartermaster Deputy of the Azure Knights, you came looking for me?”

Rodella had summoned Cecilia Elvamont—the heiress of the Elvamont Trading Company and a longtime friend—to a private room in a restaurant in the capital.

Bringing her to the Knights’ headquarters would’ve drawn too much attention.

“Welcome, Cecil.”

“Hey, Rodella, Aivert. I saw your proposal.”

Cecilia got straight to the point the moment she entered the room.

“Well? What did you think?”

Rodella stood to greet her and guided her to her seat.

Cecilia narrowed her eyes.

“What’s with this overly polite, merchant-y behavior?”

“You’re the one who’s going to help boost our Azure Knights’ performance, of course.”

Rodella answered without hesitation.

Aivert, for his part, simply shrugged from beside her.

Cecilia let out a laugh.

“Already calling them ‘our Azure Knights,’ huh?”

She had picked up on Rodella’s wording. Rodella waved a hand.

“Well, I’m basically married to the job now. If I don’t produce results here, my dreams go up in smoke.”

That was how serious she was.

Cecilia gave a small nod—then her expression shifted completely into that of a shrewd merchant. She crossed her arms coolly and said in a crisp tone:

“Fine. But let’s get one thing straight: I don’t make deals that leave me in the red. Not even for you two.”

Rodella answered with a firm nod, as if that were only natural.

“I know. I didn’t call you here to beg for a discount. You saw the proposal—we want to cut transportation costs.”

The conversation continued, even as Aivert silently watched Rodella, paying Cecilia almost no mind.

“So basically, you want your knights to come to us to pick up supplies?”

Exactly.

If the quality of the goods had to stay the same, then the simplest solution was to eliminate delivery.

Reduce shipping costs.

Of course, they couldn’t afford to waste knight personnel either, so a reasonable meeting point was necessary.

And since the transport involved soldiers, formal approval would be needed—but with Vice-Commander Aivert sitting right there, that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Right,” Rodella confirmed.

“That’s fine, but supplies like swords and armor all come from different places. Are you planning to have the knights pick them up from all over?”

Cecilia asked, still with arms crossed. Rodella shook her head.

“No. I want your company to designate a central location and gather everything there. We’ll pay a fair fee for that service.”

After all, the goal was to reduce costs as much as possible—not eliminate them entirely. A balance needed to be struck.

“Then…”

Cecilia pulled out a map and carefully marked the various production regions for the supplies.

Then she began cross-referencing coach routes and Elvamont Company branches, proposing a pickup spot to Rodella.

“How about having the knights come here?”

“That’s too far. Knights ride horses more than they use carriages, so this location is better…”

Rodella didn’t budge an inch either.

As the two women debated where Aivert’s men would need to travel, he simply watched the negotiations unfold with a calm, relaxed gaze.

As the conversation neared its end, Cecilia asked:

“But Aivert, your knights are the ones who’ll be running around—don’t you have anything to say about that?”

Only then did Aivert finally speak.

“Rodella’s better at coordinating this than I am.”

It wasn’t said with any trace of avoidance or deflection. It was pure and simple trust.

“I’m just here to observe.”

Rodella burst out laughing at that.

“They’ll just be riding through the city—no need for an escort.”

Strangely, every time Cecilia listened to the two of them talk, they always seemed to be speaking on a wavelength just slightly out of sync with hers.

“…Right. Anyway, I’ll contact the branch office near here. But are you two really okay with this?”

As the conversation wrapped up and she folded the map, Cecilia glanced at both of them and asked.

“With what?”

Her question was directed at both Rodella and Aivert, so he, too, looked over at her.

“Everyone knows the three of us are friends. If word gets out that my company’s doing business with the Knights, isn’t there a risk people will say it’s corruption?”

To that, Aivert answered firmly.

“No, there’s no risk.”

Rodella agreed completely and backed him up.

“We’re not overpaying—we’re getting a discount. If we were embezzling, we’d mark things up and skim the difference. That’s the usual method.”

“Fair point…”

Cecilia nodded, then raised her chin and gave them a sharp, sideways glance.

“Still, you do realize this is something we’re doing as a favor, right? It’s not something we had to do. Trying something new is always a hassle and comes with unexpected costs.”

She was grumbling, but it was obvious she also wanted a bit of credit for her part in this. She was, truly, an endearingly blunt friend.

“I know. Thank you!”

Rodella pulled Cecilia into a tight hug.

Rodella might’ve kept her guard up in the administrative office—but around her friends, she had no walls at all.

“Ugh, it’s hot out! Stop hugging me!”

Cecilia flailed in protest, trying to wriggle free from Rodella’s arms.

“Anyway, I’m only doing this because it’s you two!”

“Don’t say things like that—it sounds like corruption.”

Rodella’s quip made the room burst into laughter again.

Watching Aivert, who only ever seemed to smile when Rodella was laughing, Cecilia gave her head a quiet shake.

The poor thing. Love’s not easy, is it?