“What on earth has changed?”

They made such a fuss before.

Could it be that the viciousness the original Camilla showed Laila only fed their obsession?

“There’s really only one thing that’s different from before.”

That this time she hadn’t been hostile to Laila, hadn’t really tormented her.

“Sigh, I don’t know.”

Camilla let out a short sigh again.

“But Camilla....”

Laila watched her and spoke cautiously.

“Will it be all right?”

“All right with what?”

“With helping me.”

Unlike Camilla’s nonchalant face, Laila’s expression had tightened.

“I’m worried you’ll get in trouble because of me....”

She seemed afraid that because she’d been helped this time, Camilla might fall into disfavor with the Student Council officers.

“W-what should I do?”

Laila, fidgeting, sprang to her feet.

“Maybe I should go back and beg their forgiveness...!”

The more she spoke, the more anxiety swelled; she seemed ready to go find the Student Council officers this instant.

“Laila.”

Camilla clicked her tongue softly, caught her, and sat her back down.

“Drink some tea.”

“But....”

“Drink it before it gets cold.”

“Ah... yes.”

Like a well-behaved child, Laila wrapped both hands around the teacup and sipped.

But her eyes were still full of worry.

“Don’t worry.”

Camilla continued lightly, as if to reassure her.

“I actually have more than you think.”

“Huh?”

“Drink your tea.”

“......? Y-yes.......”

****

“...What did he just say?”

“Starting today, we are officially terminating all dealings with House Gabuel.”

“What on earth do you mean by that suddenly!”

“Shall I repeat it? Termination of trade.”

Marquess Gabuel glared fiercely at the man seated across from him.

But he could do nothing more. The speaker was Kador — one of the Magic Tower’s top leaders.

Barely into his thirties, he already held the second-greatest authority beneath the head.

He was also the most likely candidate to become the next head of the Magic Tower.

“You no longer need to supply the Magic Tower with mana stones.”

Whether Marquess [N O V E L I G H T] Gabuel glared or not, Kador spoke in the same calm tone as before.

“You must surely know how long the Tower and our family’s business have lasted.”

“Of course. I know well enough.”

“...And yet you do this?”

“Yes. We decided to do so anyway.”

“Where in the world is there a law like this!”

“Frankly, there isn’t. I cannot believe such a deal has been maintained for so long, even as I speak. Let’s part ways quickly.”

Even while Marquess Gabuel’s face contorted in rage, Kador picked up the teacup before him and took a sip as if nothing had happened.

He went on, as if he could not understand why the marquess was making such a fuss.

“It’s not that astonishing. Haven’t you always supplied us mana stones at absurd prices?”

“That’s...!”

“Yes. Since you were the only one distributing mana stones, no one dared challenge your prices.”

They had always paid whatever Marquess Gabuel demanded, accepted his outlandish requests.

That had gone on for decades.

The Tower had not sat idly by. It had long tried to open new routes, only to fail each time.

Marquess Gabuel had always interfered.

He discovered potential sellers and bought their distribution rights, ensuring a monopoly.

What else could be done? They had no choice but to continue the unfair deal.

“But not anymore. Mana stones are no longer your exclusive property.”

A variable had appeared in the tear-stained negotiations they had been running: a new supplier.

Just hearing that someone was handling a top-grade mana stone they had never seen before was enough to bring tears to one’s eyes — and, moreover, it was a supplier Marquess Gabuel could not touch.

“The mana stones distributed by House Sephra are exceptional... I experienced a new world.”

“Hey, Kador!”

Marquess Gabuel barked at the mage, who suddenly wore a rapt expression as if recalling something.

No matter how talented, he remained Marquess Gabuel. He could not touch House Sephra, one of Fable’s three great guardian houses.

Not long ago, Marquess Gabuel had been forced to lower the prices of the mana stones he sold to the Tower.

He cancelled other petty demands and humbled himself as much as possible.

The Tower must have known he was trying hard to preserve the deal.

And yet they now refused and cut ties entirely? The Tower — these immoral lunatics!

Marquess Gabuel raged wildly.

“This is too much, even so!”

“No, it is not too much. If you want to argue, it would be you who attacked my ears first, Marquess.”

“Hey!”

“Hey?”

Speaking informally to him? Kador raised an eyebrow and let a dangerous edge show, and Marquess Gabuel flinched.

Kador glanced at him with displeasure, drank his tea in small gulps, and continued.

“It’s a simple calculation.”

“Calculation?”

“They informed us.”

“Informed you about what...?”

“That they will not supply their goods if we continue to trade with you.”

“......!”

“So what can we do? What we need are not cheap stones but expensive, high-quality stones.”

The Tower, sick of what had accumulated under Marquess Gabuel, readily sided with House Sephra.

“Why would House Sephra—!”

Gabuel’s face darkened further at the unexpected fact.

He knew Sephra had begun distributing mana stones, but he had not interfered with their business.

He wanted to obstruct them as usual, but he could not. He lacked the funds and power to pressure them.

Unintentionally, he had become unable even to harm House Sephra — a knot in his gut.

“But why!”

Why would they suddenly do this to him?

“That, I cannot say.”

“I say—!”

Kador rose as if he had nothing more to say.

Marquess Gabuel hurried to stop him. He could not let him go.

The mana stone trade was the backbone of the marquessate’s business.

If that business faltered, he did not want to imagine the consequences.

“Ah.”

Kador, preparing to leave, added offhand as if he had just remembered something.

“My student told me.”

Marquess Gabuel knew who Kador’s student was: Ravi, the duke of Sorpel’s stepson, was his pupil.

“Apparently some strange footage is going around these days....”

“Footage?”

Kador let his voice trail oddly, and Marquess Gabuel’s face grew even more savage. What could footage possibly mean in this situation?

“It’s footage involving your daughter.”

“What...!”

Kador left the parlor without another word, leaving the marquess behind.

Gabuel could not stop him.

“The Tower, these bastards!”

He ground his teeth. He remembered how the Tower had fawned before him.

“Ha.”

A long sigh escaped him. The prospect of the mana stone business being threatened gave him a real headache.

Knock! Bang!

“Marquess!”

At that moment the door burst open and an aide rushed in.

He looked flustered and offered something to Marquess Gabuel.

“You need to see this.”

“What is it?”

The aide handed over a Recording Orb. Without explanation, he activated the magical orb.

「What are you doing? Kneel.」

「I’m sorry. It was my fault.......」

Marquess Gabuel watched a scene of multiple people tormenting a single person.

But the faces in the footage were not clear.

Both the tormented and the tormentors’ faces were blurred as if shrouded in mist. The voices sounded oddly distorted.

「Keep going.」

Yet there was one person whose face and voice were perfectly clear.

“Me...rise?”

It was his daughter, Merise.

“What is this!”

“It’s— footage circulating among the nobility.”

“What?”

Smack!

Marquess Gabuel flung the orb away as if he could not bear to see more. It struck the wall and shattered into pieces.

He ground his teeth. Was this the footage Kador mentioned?

If even the Tower knew about this footage, then it had already spread across the Empire.

“Arrest whoever released this immediately!”

“Sir?”

“Arrest the one who released this footage at once!”

Whatever Merise had done at the Academy was irrelevant. What mattered was that powerless people being abused by the powerful was not a problem — but the matter must not be known by others, especially other nobles. Why create controversy and invite blame?

“What an idiot!”

How could someone have handled this so poorly that such footage spread?!

Marquess Gabuel muttered, gathering his thoughts.

First, find the person who released the footage. Then discipline Merise. Damage control comes first.

“That is....”

“Anything else!”

The aide could barely continue.

“The person who released the footage is a lady of House Sorpel.”

“Who?”

“Lady Camilla Sorpel....”

Marquess Gabuel’s face went blank for a moment. The name was so out of left field.

“Why would that girl do such a thing!”

Her reputation had recently improved somewhat, but not long ago she had been counted among the worst noblewomen.

‘Does Merise harbor some grievance against her daughter?’ he thought.

So is this an attempt to tarnish my daughter’s reputation?

He could not understand why Camilla would do such a thing.

“It seems the person Miss touched this time is someone who knows Lady Camilla well.”

Marquess Gabuel struggled to speak.

Sephra and Sorpel being suddenly entangled like this — was it mere coincidence?

‘No, no! That’s not the point now!’

There was only one important thing.

You cannot simply arrest Camilla Sorpel, the one who distributed the footage.

“Ha.......”

He sensed something had gone terribly wrong.

“Bring Merise here at once!”

****

“You want to know what people say after seeing that?”

“What do they say?”

“They reap what they sow.”