TLFKCT 06

Chapter 6

The Male Lead Went Crazy for the Incompetent Villainess

Kael sighed as he searched for Rosana.

He couldn’t waste any more time.

“Search for Lady Rosana until breakfast. If you find her, bring her back. If you can’t find her, give up.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After assigning the task to one of his aides, Kael took only the other one with him.

He was heading to a weapons shop inside the black market.

Kael strode forward.

Hersen Weapons Shop.

That was his destination.

As soon as he entered, a musty smell mixed with the metallic scent of iron stabbed at his nose.

The shop was packed with all kinds of weapons.

Some were sharp enough to look freshly forged, while many others were covered in rust.

Kael had no intention of wasting time here either.

He moved farther inside to find the owner.

The owner was talking to a customer.

Kael casually shifted his gaze toward them, then suddenly doubted his own eyes.

‘Rosana?’

Why was that woman here?

He had never expected to find Rosana here after losing track of her earlier.

This was hardly a place where Rosana would normally come.

If Rosana were looking for a black market, wouldn’t it be to buy rare jewelry or some kind of luxury item?

No.

She wouldn’t even use a shop unless it was an expensive boutique.

Their engagement had been short, but Kael thought he knew her well enough.

And yet, the Rosana standing before him now…

“You have quite a discerning eye, Miss. As I said, this blade can pierce even tough monster hide in a single strike. It’s exactly the kind of thing you need in times like these. Though, the price is a little…”

“Thirty silver coins.”

“Come on, are you kidding me? At least eighty silver coins—”

“There’s a crack at the end of the handle. And no matter how sharp it is, in a world like this…”

Rosana gave the owner a smile with her eyes.

It was so chilling that the owner flinched.

“In three months, the edge will be completely ruined, won’t it? Assuming I actually use it to kill monsters like you claim. Thirty coins is already generous.”

The owner cleared his throat.

Kael blinked blankly.

He simply couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Was that really Rosana?

Rosana was actually saying things like that?

‘I like it. Leave it here. The family will take care of the payment.’

A face that seemed completely indifferent to everything in the world.

A careless spending habit that treated money like water.

Wasn’t that Rosana?

The princess of the Ardena family.

The extravagant rose.

That…

Was the Rosana he knew.

“I’ll buy every dagger you have here instead.”

“All of them?”

The owner’s eyes widened.

He glanced back and forth between Rosana and the daggers spread across the counter, then immediately began gathering them with practiced hands.

There was an unspoken rule in the black market.

You never questioned a customer about why they were buying something.

“Ah. There are about seven daggers here?”

“There are more than ten!”

“Bring them all out. But none of them can be worse in quality than this one I’m holding. If they can’t cut through monster hide like you claim, I’ll come back for a refund even after I’m dead.”

The owner swallowed hard before disappearing into the back.

Rosana hummed softly as she looked around the weapons shop.

As Rosana moved, Kael quietly stepped farther back.

For some reason, he didn’t want her to realize he was here.

He wanted to watch what she was doing a little longer.

Why on earth did she need a sword that could pierce monster hide?

And what was she planning to do with all those daggers?

Kael buried his confusion deep inside.

Then Rosana stopped in front of a longsword displayed on the wall.

Kael’s eyes widened.

That was exactly why he had come here.

The Sword of Heracline.

As if proving its legendary origin, the sharp longsword gave off a deep blue glow, with ancient myths engraved into its blade.

It was said to be the sword a god had bestowed upon the world in the distant past, when the world had first opened and the Empire was founded.

The fact that such a sword had ended up on the black market was enough to make one lament the state of the world.

But thanks to that, there was now a chance to obtain it.

Rosana looked at it with a hungry expression.

“Now that’s one hell of a sword. With this, I could probably chop through a monster’s shinbone like nothing.”

Was that really something Rosana had said…?

Kael doubted his own eyes for a moment.

“What if I buy this and use it as a bribe? That could work, too.”

Rosana smiled sweetly as she examined the sword from every angle.

There was something mischievous about that smile.

It didn’t look like Rosana at all.

Kael felt his breath catch and took another step back.

“I really want it. If I knew how to use a longsword, it would be mine. But the male lead’s life is important, you know. My life is important, too.”

Her face sparkled with amusement as she giggled.

It was a light Kael had never seen in Rosana before.

Just then, the owner returned from the storage room, carrying all the daggers he had.

Rosana immediately composed herself and turned around.

“You’re throwing in this leather belt too, right? I’m buying this much, after all.”

Rosana picked up a leather belt designed to hold daggers.

Before the owner could even say anything, she swept all the daggers and the leather belt into one of her bags.

“Oh, my goodness, customer!”

“The price should be enough. You’ve made plenty of profit already.”

Rosana winked and pulled several gold coins from her pouch, casually tossing them onto the table.

With a smile still on her lips, she walked straight past Kael, who remained hidden in the darkness.

She didn’t notice him.

Her hair swayed as she passed, carrying a deep fragrance with it.

Rose.

Yes.

That distinctive rose scent that belonged to Rosana.

The heavy fragrance made Kael’s head spin.

After grabbing everything I needed from the weapons shop, I headed to a place that sold clothes.

I briefly considered buying the sword Kael would eventually obtain and giving it to him as a bribe.

But I wasn’t about to spend my own money on that.

It would be much better to save that money and buy another mine.

An investment for the future was an investment in myself.

Was the male lead going to support me?

No.

Absolutely not.

Money was going to support me!

The place I went to wasn’t a fancy shop selling beautiful dresses or other extravagant clothes.

It was barely even worthy of being called a clothing store.

It was more like a street stall with a few pieces of clothing hanging beneath a tent.

Thankfully, there was a small space behind the tent where I could change.

I didn’t need a dress in the first place.

I needed clothes that were tough, tear-resistant, and easy to move in.

“Give me the toughest and most durable clothes you have. Something that won’t tear easily even if a monster’s claws scrape against it.”

“Ah, then you’ve definitely come to the right place.”

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up as he looked me over.

Judging by my appearance as a noble young lady, he was probably planning to raise the price.

Wrong person.

How many years had I spent haggling in street markets?

I wasn’t about to let someone pull the wool over my eyes!

The owner brought out some ordinary-looking clothes and started claiming that they were special products made with rare monster hide.

It was obviously just an attempt to inflate the price.

“This is supposed to survive monster claws?”

“Of course! These are much sturdier than the clothes you’re wearing now! If you ask me, this particular outfit came from a village overrun by monsters! And amazingly, the woman wearing it survived even after being attacked by a monster’s claws! If she hadn’t needed to sell these clothes just to get something to eat…”

What a storyteller.

‘Who are you trying to fool?’

I pulled one of the daggers from my bag.

“W-What are you doing?”

The owner looked horrified.

“I just bought this at the weapons shop over there. They said it can pierce monster hide. But you said these clothes can withstand monster claws, didn’t you? Then they should be able to withstand this dagger too, right?”

I raised the dagger.

“I’m only checking whether what you said is true. If you’re telling the truth, I’ll pay you three times the price.”

The owner’s expression stiffened.

“But if this dagger tears those clothes…”

I smiled.

“You’ll have to hand over every piece of clothing here to me.

Because I’ll make sure that’s what happens.”

The owner’s eyes went wide.

He looked back and forth between me and the dagger, and his face quickly turned pale.

He seemed to realize that I really was the kind of person who would do exactly that.

As I began drawing the dagger from its sheath, the owner immediately raised both hands.

“Wait, customer!!”