Palimony

Chapter 95 – A fan amongst the new students?

With the start of a new semester there were partings, but there will also be new meetings.

His highness was now working full time on supporting his majesty; my brother started putting his all in aiding the prime minister; while Michael went back to working full-time as a popular employee on my store, Aliad.

I quickly kicked away the lonely feelings of having a school life without the three of them and instead started focusing on the relationships I still had within the academy.

For now, I was talking to Renair and Grintia, two commoners that I had become friends with. We were currently at the cafeteria and I was, as usual, doing market research.

However, we were receiving a lot of confused gazes from the new students. Not only from the commoners that were surprised at me talking to commoners, but also from the nobles that just couldn’t understand what was going on.

Especially because recently, Banache, who is engaged to my ex-fiance, has also started regularly eating lunch with me.

It would surely be a strange situation when looked at from an outsider’s perspective.

“Banache, why don’t you try this?” I offered her a cookie.

Banache then alternated her gaze between me and the cookie… She was clearly disgusted at its mere sight, “What flavor is this?” she asked.

“… It’s a healthy carrot cookie.” I replied.

“You know I hate carrots, don’t you?” Banache had a smile on her face, but I could feel her emanating anger right now.

“It’s healthy, and was also made with carrots that lord Lamore cultivated with great care.” I told her.

Banache reluctantly picked up the cookie, put it into her mouth, and slowly chewed it, “You’re really cowardly, Yulias. I can’t say no when the carrots were cultivated by lord Lamore!”

I then started smiling as I saw Banache put another cookie in her mouth, “So, how is the taste?”

“Regrettably delicious.” Banache replied.

After hearing that, I offered the cookies to Renair and Grintia too, then said, “It’s not only healthy, but it’s also a delicious cookie that can be eaten even by children who dislike carrots! It will surely sell well.”

Seeing my good mood, Banache pouted, “Don’t treat me as a kid!”

I couldn’t help smiling at Banache’s cute reaction.

“You’re totally making a fool of me…” She grumbled.

“I am not! You’re a dear friend of mine, after all.” I replied.

Banache made a dumbfounded expression, blushed, then replied, “I guess it’s fine then…”

Looking at Banache, Renair and Grintia smiled too.

“Of course, you two are also my dear friends.” I told them.

At that moment, those two who had been just watching from the sidelines blushed and said, “Thank you…”

“Excuse me.” Suddenly, I heard someone talk to me.

She was a pretty woman with reddish-brown short hair and reddish-brown eyes, and she was looking directly my way.

“Ah, I knew it! You’re the daughter of earl Nogger! Lady Yulias Nogger!” The girl quickly approached me, grabbed my hands, and looked me up and down with a huge smile on her face, “You know, I-”

“If I recall correctly, you’re the daughter of earl Aino, right?” I replied.

Earl Aino’s family had recently acquired the title of earl after making a name for themselves in the real estate business. Some people of the old-fashioned aristocracy seem to dislike them as some ‘upstart earls’, but from my point of view, this was a house that knew how to handle money, so I did my research on them in advance.

“Wow! You know about me! I’m so happy!” She jumped on the spot while still holding my hands.

How cute.

“I’ve always wanted to be friends with you, lady Nogger! I really admire you!” She exclaimed.

This girl was a bit too enthusiastic, which made me feel somewhat uncomfortable when near her.

As such, I couldn’t help giving her a bit of a wry smile.

“I’ve never seen Yulias make a face like that before.” Banache happily giggled.

No, please don’t laugh, help me instead.

“By the way, why are you here, lady Nogger?” She asked me.

“Eh?” I didn’t quite get what she was asking.

The girl tilted her head and brought her index finger to her mouth, “I mean, why are you together with the person who took your man away from you?”

I was quite surprised to hear her say it so blatantly, so I couldn’t immediately respond.

“Also… It’s so incredibly benevolent for the next crown princess to be interacting with commoners!” The girl exclaimed next.

Those simple and straight-forward words had clearly caused a tremendous amount of trouble to my friends.

“You seem to have misunderstood.” I started replying.

She smiled curiously at me as I said those words.

“Regardless of me becoming or not becoming the next crown princess, I enjoy having a pleasant chat with people that I consider friends. Isn’t it a waste to lose friends due to a change of status or some trivial disputes?” I explained.

But when I looked at Banache to get her agreement, she looked back at me with an incredibly astonished face, “I don’t think breaking up an engagement is a trivial dispute…” Banache muttered.

“Is that so? Wasn’t the break up amicable though?” I replied.

Banache slowly averted her gaze from me, “Would you refer to claiming palimony as an amicable way of ending the engagement?”

“I think it is more amicable to end the relationship by paying palimony, then to cut off the relationships completely and staying in a strange state of eternal embarrassment, wouldn’t you say so?” I told her.

“I guess so…” Banache took a deep breath.

“You’re totally right! But to change the subject, what kind of person is the crown prince? I mean, I don’t have any deep meaning behind it, but he is someone I can’t really relate to or get involved with much, so I can’t help being curious, you know?” The Aino girl asked.

And at that moment, Banache vigorously stood up from her seat, “I’ll be going now.”

“Banache?” I wondered why she was suddenly leaving.

“I have a manuscript I need to deliver, so… Later, Yulias! Ah, though don’t talk too much about your fiance!” Banache replied.

When I tilted my head at those words, Banache stared at me with anger in her eyes, “Don’t you have a duty of keeping things confidential!? You’re going to be a member of the royal family, so keep those things in mind!”

“Y-you’re right.” I involuntarily nodded at Banache’s powerful words.

Banache seemed to think that was enough, as she made a satisfied expression, then turned around and left.

And it was only now that I realized that both Renair and Grintia were also gone, so I was now alone with the Aino girl.

“Everyone seemed to have gotten busy!” She exclaimed.

No… They probably decided that they didn’t want to deal with her.

“Therefore, we can now talk about business!” The girl grinned.

Oh? So that is her true nature.

“I respect lady Nogger and want to create a good relationship with you, so I want to offer you a special deal!” She then put out a bunch of photos in front of me.

“This is…?” I asked.

Since I showed interest, she began her explanation, “I asked father to let me recommend this property to lady Nogger. It’s called Hotel Charlotte!”

She pointed me to one of the lined-up photos, and it showed a small hotel that was on top of a hill.

“It’s a splendid hotel where you can enjoy the snow scenery in winter, the flowers on spring, the fallen leaves on autumn and swim in the summer.” She said next.

I instinctively put my hand on my cheek as I thought about it… Why would such a wonderful hotel be on the market?

“This hotel was originally owned by a marquis, but he was not very good at managing it, so he gave up on the property.” The girl explained without me even asking.

“Why to me?” I asked.

“Because I want to create a good relationship with you, lady Nogger! Besides, it’s clear to me that this hotel will be profitable if it’s on the hands of someone who knows how to manage it.” She told me.

She’s going to sell me such a great hotel just to create a good relationship with me?

“You see, I can do a good job at the real estate business, but I’m not confident in actually running a business. My father wishes to sell this as soon as possible, but since this property has such a great potential to create a relationship with you, lady Nogger… I can give you a great discount if you make a quick decision on it!” The girl then put a contract on the table.

The contract said that, if I signed it right away, I’d get a 50% off discount on it.

“I think this is a bit too big of a purchase for me to decide on my own. Can you give me some time?” I asked her.

I can’t really buy something as big as a hotel without doing any research on it in advance.

However, the girl apologetically replied, “I’m sorry, but like I said earlier, my father wishes to sell it as soon as possible. I thought this was a good opportunity to create a nice relationship with you, so I convinced him to let me bring this deal today, but this is your only chance to get it.

“Also, as the original owner decided to sell the property due to not managing it properly, this is a business that definitely requires good management skills, so I can’t sell it to someone who isn’t confident on theirs, I’m sorry.”

It was certainly a bit frustrating to hear someone saying that me not wanting to buy this hotel was because I wasn’t confident in my management skills.

“Then, how about this? If there is something wrong with the hotel and you want to let go of it, we’ll buy it back from you. Is this alright?” The girl suggested.

I let out a small sigh as I couldn’t contain my annoyance at this situation, “Alright. I will buy this hotel in a sign of good faith. Let it be the start of a good relationship.”

I normally wouldn’t give in to the provocations that this girl used, but I do understand that the conditions of this sale are very good. And since they’re willing to buy it back if there is something wrong with the hotel, then there shouldn’t be any major problems with the property.

I figured it wouldn’t be profitable for me to keep on wasting my time with her in this conversation, so I signed the document that she presented to me without hesitating any longer.