Kai was in a terrible mood this morning. Out of the blue, the Duchess showed up just as Kai and Keith were busy installing magic-recording orbs in various corners of the pavilion.

Keith hadn’t even mentioned that brilliant idea to the Duke yet—to install similar devices in the Duke’s castle. However, the Duchess, who was naturally clever, immediately said that if Kaileon installed such devices in the castle, she would thwart his plan to acquire a large plot of land in front of the public market.

She also threatened that she would not allow Justine to see Kaileon again.

It didn’t stop there; Nathalia also complained about various things Kaileon had done while she was away at the kingdom. Like Kai opening his own shop without the Duchess’s approval, Kai bringing in a maid from outside who had absolutely no experience as a maid, and Kai, who turned out to be successful in the hunt and became the talk of the town because of his prowess. And many other things as well.

Truly, Kai was completely overwhelmed listening to that woman’s complaints. There was always something Nathalia found fault with regarding Kaileon; just listening to her was enough to drain Kai’s energy.

In fact, even Laura and Angeline, who had wanted to leave their room to have breakfast together, didn’t dare to go out. In the end, Peoni and Jo brought breakfast to Angeline’s room so the two of them could eat in peace.

Meanwhile, Kai still had to listen to the Duchess’s long-winded rant. Keith couldn’t do a thing either.

They didn’t have a chance to avoid her, because the Duchess had come alone, on the sly. Suddenly, she was already inside the pavilion—even though the servants were busy with their morning chores.

"You know you’re not supposed to outshine Justine, right? I know you love your younger brother, so you must agree that he’s the one who should inherit your father’s title, right? I’ve heard your powers have awakened; you’re getting stronger, even capable of defeating powerful monsters. I’ve also agreed to give you that land and building, and to let you manage the orphanage. Even though it’s clear you won’t be able to handle it, be grateful because that’s really the only thing suitable for you. You must support your younger brother, Kaileon—not try to steal the spotlight from him. Remember! You must not outshine Justine, or I’ll kick you out of here. Oh, and if I find out you’ve secretly installed magic recording devices in the castle, you know I won’t just sit idly by, right? Your position here could be in jeopardy if you don’t obey me—remember that, Kaileon. And one more thing—where did you get those beautiful dresses made of that cool-to-the-touch fabric? I saw the dresses you sold to Jessica, so you can’t deny it."

Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into Kai’s head. Even though he’d been adopted by the mafia back on Earth, there were a few things Kai had learned from his evil adoptive parents—namely, how to deal with enemies.

His adoptive parents on Earth had said, "If you’re having trouble taking down your enemy, the best thing you can do is become their friend and gain their trust."

Countless enemies had been taken down by his adoptive parents using that cunning tactic.

But Kai would do the same. After all, there’s no harm in imitating something useful, even from the most despicable person.

"I can’t tell you that, Duchess, but I can work with you. I heard Jessica wants to open a store too, but she doesn’t know what kind, right? A girl as beautiful as you, Jessica, is the trendsetter for noble girls, isn’t she? I’ve even heard that Princess Annabelle wants the same necklace Jessica once wore. If only Jessica were to open a clothing store in the capital, she’d surely make a lot of profit, and her position as a noblewoman would be even stronger in the future. I can help her get beautiful dresses to sell... I’ll give them to her at the lowest possible price. One dress might cost one large silver coin, but you could sell it for one small gold coin... or even more than that if demand increases. See, I’m not greedy; I’m doing all this for your own good," said Kai, in a soft and polite tone. This caused the Duchess to lower her guard against Kaileon.

Since the woman was greedy—and would do anything for money—she quickly accepted Kaileon’s offer without a second thought.

Kai knew he could take advantage of her greed.

After all, things like this often happen on Earth, too. Powerful, large nations buy goods or imports from developing countries with abundant natural resources. They buy them at low prices to resell them at high prices.

Right now, Kai was positioning himself as a small country with abundant natural resources. But he pretended to be humble at first so that the Duchess would trust him and believe he wasn’t a threat.

"That’s a great offer, but you’ll remember not to sell similar dresses in your shop, right?"

Kai nodded, "Don’t worry, Duchess. All I sell in my shop are simple dresses that cost just one large bronze coin each. They’re dresses for commoners—they’re different from the ones I’ll be selling to you."

The Duchess was even happier to hear this. The dresses she’d seen from Jessica would clearly bring in a huge profit if sold in the capital of Nagreize.

Besides, Jessica had to appear successful; that way, she’d be a suitable match for the crown prince—not the crown prince of Nagreize, but the crown prince of the Whiteblood Empire.

Clearly, Jessica had to stand out more to secure such a prominent position.

"If you need affordable furniture for your clothing store, I can help with that too—don’t worry, I’ll provide the best quality," Kai added.

The Duchess was even happier to hear that. "Finally, you understand that you have to be useful to me. I’ll discuss this with Jessica first, but before I go, give me a cheesecake—Justine said it was from you... ahem, Justine wants that cake again. He can’t come because his new teacher is arriving today," said the Duchess.

Kai knew that it was actually the Duchess herself who loved that cake.

"All right, give me one large silver coin and I’ll deliver five cheesecakes, stored in a cooler box. I know you have two of that in the castle, but if you need a new cooler box, you can buy one from me for just two large gold coins."

Hearing the offer, she was very surprised.

"Wait a minute, how can you sell them so cheaply? I bought a single slice of cake that wasn’t even that good in the capital, and it cost five large silver coins. How could a cake that delicious be so cheap—five cakes for one large silver coin? Are those just five slices?" asked the Duchess, confused.

Kai smiled broadly; it seemed he could take advantage of the very person he disliked the most. And Kai was sure she was taking advantage of him too, since everything was so cheap.

"No, Duchess, that’s a whole cake—it’s huge, practically a whole baking pan. If you’re interested—"

"One cooler box and five cheesecakes—deliver them to my room, okay?" the woman said, before leaving in a good mood.

Finally, Kai could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Young master, why did you—"

"Shh! Keith, this is a great opportunity for us." Kai quickly cut Keith off before he could finish his sentence.

Confused, Keith furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

Kai smiled broadly and replied, "I’ll prepare what you need to take to the Duchess’s room, Keith... and also a magic recording orb that can slip through the wall into that woman’s room."

Hearing that, Keith finally understood. Since he’d have a reason to enter the Duchess’s room, he could hide the magic recording device. It was the same type of magic recording device used during the hunt, except it was transparent and could pass through walls. So, that particular magic recording device could be hidden well—it wouldn’t be detected by anything.

It was much more expensive, but Kai still had savings to buy it. Besides, Kai would be getting a lot of extra money from the Duchess.

The "bargain price" he offered that woman was actually three times the price Kai got from his supermarket system.