“...I apologize, Princess Liana,” Felicia didn’t get angry, as she knew she was in the wrong.

Liana directly ignored Felicia and reached out her hand to help Tari up. “Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry... Princess Liana,” Tari said with her head lowered, finally saying Liana’s name.

No one except Tari herself knew whether she said the name because she saw Liana, or because she was about to reveal Jacaranda’s identity.

However, Liana didn’t care about this, because she had told her from the beginning that if someone threatened or coerced her, she could reveal Liana’s identity—preserving her own life was the most important thing.

“It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re alright.” Liana saw the shoe prints on Tari’s clothes and helped dust them off.

“I apologize, Princess Liana, for this embarrassing display. For a beast folk to behave so disrespectfully—I’ll have the guards take her away immediately,” Felicia said.

“That won’t be necessary. Tari will listen to me.” After confirming that Tari hadn’t suffered any substantial injuries, Liana turned her gaze to Felicia. “Come, let’s have a good chat, shall we?”

“Thank you for your intervention, Princess Liana. I’ll certainly bring gifts later to express my gratitude and apologies, but I have some matters to attend to at the moment.” Felicia hadn’t yet realized that Liana was their gold-level member.

As a qualified member of the Angus Family, remembering the faces and names of important guests was a basic requirement.

But obviously, Liana wasn’t among them.

“What’s wrong? The customer is right in front of you, yet you want to find someone else?” Liana’s tone was full of dissatisfaction. It seemed that Tari’s situation was indeed connected to this person.

“I sincerely apologize, Princess Liana. I’ll have someone else guide you. Please calm down,” Felicia said very respectfully.

Only when Felicia saw the gold card in Liana’s hand did she realize that Liana was the one who had called for her.

“Princess Liana, were you looking for me?”

“It seems that even gold-level members aren’t taken very seriously by the Angus Commerce Guild,” Liana said.

This was at the entrance of the main hall. Although there weren’t many people at noon, this was the largest trading center in the Lisat Kingdom, and those who came here were all influential figures. So after hearing Liana’s words, they looked in this direction.

But Felicia naturally wouldn’t panic over such a small matter. “No, Princess Liana, it’s precisely because I value our gold-level members that I responded this way.”

“Remembering the names and appearances of gold-level members is our most basic duty. If we can’t even do that, we can’t be qualified merchants of the Angus Commerce Guild. But precisely because of this, I was confused about your situation, Princess Liana—after all, our Angus Guild has never issued a gold-level member card to you.” Felicia said that whenever a new gold-level member joined, she would certainly know about it.

So now there was only one possibility. “Princess Liana, whose gold-level member card is this in your hand? If you’ve taken it without permission, to protect our member’s rights, we’ll invalidate this card and issue a new one to the member.”

“There’s no need for such trouble. Just issue a new one to me, won’t that do?” Liana said unreasonably, because this was how she should be at this moment.

“Princess Liana certainly loves to joke,” Felicia smiled. “This card doesn’t confer its privileges to just anyone who holds it. That would be very disrespectful to the original holder. I hope Princess Liana can understand.”

“Why should I understand? This was specifically given to me to use. She agreed to this, so why can’t I enjoy these rights?” Liana asked.

“Where is the original cardholder? She should be very clear about what the member card represents. Since she’s willing to give this card to Princess Liana, couldn’t she just come and convey Princess Liana’s intentions?” Felicia said.

“So, you’re refusing to serve me?”

“How could that be? The Angus Commerce Guild welcomes any customer who wishes to shop.” Felicia said with a smile.

In reality, she had mentally cursed Liana thoroughly. Who would want to serve someone like her? She only brings trouble to others.

But under the current circumstances, not serving Princess Liana would become even more troublesome.

Besides, this was happening in front of so many people. If they could serve someone like Princess Liana, it could be considered good advertising.

“That’s good.”

“What business do you have with me? Let’s go to the reception room to discuss it slowly?”

After all, they were still outside, and Liana was quite an unstable character. If she said something that caused complications, the problem would become very serious.

“Alright.” Liana nodded in agreement and brought Tari into the reception room.

“Sit beside me.”

“Y-Yes, Princess Liana.” Tari’s eyes were a bit red, and she seemed lost and confused.

Originally, she had a goal—after ten thousand gold coins, she would be free and could do what she wanted to do. But reality had hit her hard.

She... might never see her family again.

At this moment, a hand was placed on her buttocks, making Tari tense up. But the hand’s target didn’t seem to be her buttocks; after some fumbling, it placed her tail on her thigh and started smoothing her fur.

This was naturally Liana’s doing.

“Princess Liana, what would you like to buy? How can I assist you?” Felicia asked.

“Tari is my pet, but it seems my pet is being bullied by you,” Liana said with evident dissatisfaction.

“I apologize, Princess Liana. I wasn’t aware of this. However, even if I had known this beforehand, I would have still acted the same way, Princess Liana. Tari is a merchant of our Angus Commerce Guild, and as one of our members, she should bear the responsibility. For someone like Tari to do something that damages the reputation of the Angus Commerce Guild, she naturally deserves punishment,” Felicia said indifferently.

In the eyes of merchants, beast folk couldn’t have human rights. Their best destination was to become slaves, and high-value ones at that.

Even if Tari was exceptionally talented, so what?

Even blood brothers keep clear accounts. If everything the guild did was exposed, it would be enough to destroy the entire Angus Family—let alone someone like Tari, who wasn’t even human.

So they couldn’t trust her at all. If she didn’t have some skills, she would have been labeled and auctioned off long ago.

After all, petite cat girls like Tari had quite a following; many people had a taste for them.

“Such strict requirements indeed,” Liana didn’t care about this point. From the conversation between Tari and Felicia earlier, Liana could be certain that there must be some special deal between them.

“So, what was Tari talking about earlier? What about ten thousand gold coins and family?” Liana asked.

“Rather than that, let’s first discuss what Princess Liana would like to purchase,” Felicia didn’t want to dwell ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) on this topic.

“Isn’t satisfying the customer’s needs the principle of your Angus Commerce Guild? Right now, I need to know about this matter, understand?” Liana tapped the table, leaving a gold coin on it. “I’m not short on money, so stop wasting my time with nonsense. Answer what I ask, understand?”

“...I understand.” Felicia nodded, feeling like Liana’s way of interaction seemed familiar from somewhere.

“Actually, there’s nothing particularly special to say. It’s just a matter of business,” Felicia said.

“About twenty years ago, when the Lisat Kingdom hadn’t fully stabilized, things were troublesome. Many places had riots. Tari’s family came to the Lisat Kingdom seeking protection, which our Lisat Kingdom naturally accepted. But Princess Liana should be very aware that beast folk had no status to speak of, so no territory was willing to accept them.”

This was nonsense. Twenty years ago, Liana’s father was still in the Venus Dukedom. How could there be no one willing to shelter Tari’s family? However, Liana didn’t rush to interrupt Felicia and continued listening.

“At this time, our Angus Commerce Guild accepted Tari’s family and provided them with assistance. We signed a contract—Tari’s family would work for us, and we would provide lodging and wages. Whether this is true or not, I think from Miss Tari’s continued silence and lack of objection, Princess Liana should be able to see that I’m not lying, right?”

Indeed, with Liana present, if Felicia was lying, Tari should have objected. But she remained silent, head lowered, her expression very downcast.

“Continue.”

“Alright.” Felicia nodded and continued the story about Tari.

“Originally, Tari’s family worked very diligently, were very hardworking, and had great ambition. As Princess Liana should be well aware, beast folk had no status to speak of. So, even though our Angus Commerce Guild might not have been fond of beast folk, we gradually began to accept Tari’s family. But one day, our Miss Tari was very mischievous and damaged an item that was meant to be sold.

“That item was very expensive, and the buyer was a noble with a very special status. He was very satisfied with this item and had spent a long time deciding on it. He was originally very happy, but when it was almost time for delivery, such a thing happened. Wouldn’t that make him very angry?

“Moreover, not being able to complete the transaction on time, especially due to our Angus Commerce Guild’s fault, naturally affected our reputation to some extent. Although the transaction hadn’t been finalized, we still provided some compensation. But Princess Liana should be very clear that what merchants value most is reputation.”

“Although we had originally planned to treat Tari’s family as our own, such an incident made it difficult for our Angus Commerce Guild to trust Tari’s family again. So we signed a new contract with Tari’s family—they had to compensate for the original value of the item and our intended profit within five years.

If they couldn’t do so, then there was no other way. Despite having spent a long time together, which pained us greatly, if we just let Tari’s family off, others would view our Angus Commerce Guild differently.

So, this was an unavoidable solution. If they couldn’t gather fifty thousand gold coins within five years, the Angus Commerce Guild would sell them to compensate for their losses to the guild. But rest assured, Princess Liana, since they had been ‘family’ for over a decade, we naturally carefully selected suitable buyers for them.”

“I’m sorry... it’s all my fault...” Tari kept sobbing, full of self-reproach. She blamed her younger self for being too playful, leading to such a result.

If this was true, then the Angus Commerce Guild’s actions didn’t have many problems.

But after seeing the darker side of the Angus Commerce Guild, Liana felt that this matter wasn’t so simple.

Did anyone really purchase that item?

Was the loss really ten thousand gold coins?

If it was such a valuable item, how could Tari possibly get close to it?

Could it have been a deliberate trap, set up for Tari to touch and trigger the subsequent events, with the purpose of being able to sell Tari’s family through normal procedures?

Making them sign a contract, so that even if the Lisat Kingdom came looking, the Angus Commerce Guild would have reasonable excuses and reasons to explain.

Isn’t this exactly what the Angus Commerce Guild was doing now?

“So, who purchased this item? Ten thousand gold coins, yet a child could easily touch it? Where were the guards? What were they doing?” Liana asked.

“Sigh.” Felicia sighed, “I knew Princess Liana would think this way. Indeed, our Angus Commerce Guild has always been very meticulous in its dealings, let alone such an expensive item about to be sold—how could we let a child come into contact with it? Might it have been deliberately done by us?”

“We understand such doubts, but it was precisely because of our trust in Tari’s family, treating them as our own, that we lowered our guard. We never expected such a result. If we had another chance, we certainly wouldn’t do this.”

“Moreover, our Angus Commerce Guild has started to change because of this incident. No matter how high your status is in the Angus Commerce Guild, everyone must be treated equally. What needs to be protected must be properly protected,” Felicia said.

Felicia’s status in the Angus Family should be quite high. Twenty years ago, she should have been a child and shouldn’t have been familiar with these matters. Most likely, she was asked to take over Tari’s case, and the details of Tari’s situation were explained to her.

“Who was the noble who purchased this item?” Liana asked.

“I’m sorry, I cannot disclose that. This is client privacy, and our Angus Commerce Guild will never leak client information,” Felicia said.

“What was the damaged item? Was it really worth ten thousand gold coins?” Liana continued to ask.

“I was still a child at that time and am not very clear about this matter. For specific details, I can have someone else tell you,” Felicia continued to evade.

Liana knew very well that trying to get anything out of these people was extremely difficult.

“So, was there really a loss of ten thousand gold coins?” Liana felt that, given their bloodsucking nature, the number shouldn’t be this.

“Fifty thousand, but Princess Liana should be very clear that fifty thousand now and fifty thousand then are not the same concept, so it became one hundred thousand. And this was also agreed upon by Miss Tari,” Felicia said. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Huh?” This was utter nonsense.

No matter how much devaluation occurred, it couldn’t possibly double in just ten years. The Angus Commerce Guild was clearly feeding on human suffering. More importantly, how could Tari have accepted this?

“So, hasn’t Tari already provided the one hundred thousand gold coins? Hasn’t the agreement been fulfilled? Why are you treating her like this?” Liana asked.

“Too much time has passed. Miss Tari’s parents have already been sold, and we naturally cannot reclaim items that have already been sold. Moreover, we’re not sure if Miss Tari’s parents are still alive, or if they’ve been resold,” Felicia said.

“This is somewhat different from what you said earlier, isn’t it? Didn’t you say you found a suitable buyer?” Liana asked.

“Princess Liana, you can’t expect us to monitor them every moment, can you?”

“...” Liana realized that Tari probably had no chance of seeing her parents again.

“Just tell me the buyer’s name, and I’ll handle the rest,” Liana said.

“That’s not possible, Princess Liana. I’ve said many times that our Angus Commerce Guild will never disclose client information,” Felicia shook her head in refusal.

“...Fine.” Liana’s gaze turned cold. “Then, since things have come to this, why do you still make Tari gather one hundred thousand gold coins?”

“We’re doing this for Miss Tari’s benefit. She has the talent, so we set a goal for her to give her motivation,” Felicia said.

“Tch.” Liana sneered.

Only a fool would believe such nonsense. If Tari earned one hundred thousand gold coins for the Angus Commerce Guild, then the benefits she brought to the guild were at least several times that.

This explanation was solely to keep Tari bound to the Angus Commerce Guild. The guild probably regretted setting the amount at only one hundred thousand gold coins—they likely hadn’t anticipated the emergence of a bestseller.

Now, apart from revealing the name, Tari had no value to speak of.

“Then why did you just say that if Tari revealed Jacaranda’s name, you would help her find her parents? Was that also a lie?” Liana asked.

“This is an internal matter of our Angus Commerce Guild and has nothing to do with Princess Liana,” Felicia said.

As long as Tari spoke up, she could get out, and then they would find an excuse to take all the one hundred thousand gold coins from Tari’s pocket, completely eliminating her value.

“Is that so?” Liana looked at Tari.

Tari still appeared very depressed and downcast, deep in self-reproach. However, now was not the time for self-blame. “Tari, tell me, does this matter have anything to do with me?”

“...Jacaranda is Princess Liana.” Although Tari was very sad now, Princess Liana was a benefactor who had helped her, so she would definitely use her strength to help Princess Liana.

“...Huh?” Felicia still had a look of disbelief.

“Both last time and this time, Felicia, your attitude towards me hasn’t been very friendly,” Liana said with a cold face. “There’s no need for any further cooperation. The Angus Commerce Guild has thoroughly disappointed me.”

“Princess Liana, as I’ve mentioned before, a cooperation cannot be unilaterally terminated...” Felicia bit her lip. If the other party was a minor character, the Angus Commerce Guild could easily swallow them up.

But Liana was different. Felicia knew she couldn’t threaten Liana at all.

“Tari, now you have no reason to stay here, right? Come with me. I wasn’t lying last time—I have several new ideas that are much better than that makeup remover,” Liana threatened blatantly. “Let’s see if the Angus Commerce Guild will still be the first thing people think of in the cosmetics field.”

“...” Felicia fell silent.

“If you tell me about Tari’s parents, I might reconsider,” Liana said.

Felicia wanted to know too. That batch of slaves had suddenly disappeared during transport. No one knew where they had gone, and no one dared to come out openly, as it would be seen as a declaration of war against the Angus Commerce Guild.

Tari also fell silent. She was very confused now, like Sephirena, unable to find the motivation to live on. Originally, she only had to work hard to achieve her goal.

But after reaching the goal, she discovered that the story’s ending was like this, which was hard for Tari to accept.

But now, Princess Liana was trying her best to help her, and Princess Liana was also inviting her. She had said before that once she had resolved her own matters, she would go find Princess Liana.

“I understand, Princess Liana,” Tari bit her lip and finally agreed.

This was also an opportunity given to her by Princess Liana, an opportunity for revenge, and she had to seize it.

“It seems there’s nothing more to discuss,” Liana stood up.

“It seems Princess Liana truly values Miss Tari, coming here specifically for her,” Felicia’s face was somewhat gloomy, but what she didn’t anticipate was that the troubles she was facing now were nothing compared to what was about to happen.

“No, no, no, I didn’t come here solely for this matter,” Liana looked towards a corner. “I know you’re watching, right?”

“The last time I came, I asked if you had any intelligence on the Darriss Territory.”

Felicia’s heart tightened, feeling that what was about to happen was not something she, as a single person, could handle.

“Do you think how did I come to know this?” Liana’s lips curled into a faint smile. “Because I know very clearly that Second Prince Oester and Crown Prince Hodwen have both purchased some intelligence from you.”

“Princess Liana, you can say whatever you want, but I still hope you won’t casually insult our Angus Commerce Guild,” Felicia said. “Making such statements without any evidence is very disrespectful to our Angus Commerce Guild and to the two princes.”

At this moment, several high-level Executor guards also entered the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” Liana looked at the guards with interest. “Are you planning to silence me?”

“No, we would never do that. We maintain the highest respect for our customers.”

“It doesn’t look like it,” Liana’s jade-colored eyes surveyed the people in the room.

“Evidence—I certainly have it, but I won’t give it to you, because even if you knew, what could you do?” Liana stood up. “If you have any issues, go talk to the King of Lisat.”

“Princess Liana...”

BOOM!

Minoga, who had been watching from the side, raised her hand, and those guards were sent flying out, doors and all.

This caused many people to stop and look in this direction.

“Hmm... it seems not a bad idea to just say it directly now. Since you’re so eager to know, I’ll tell you,” Liana’s lips curved into a slight arc.

“I said before that you sell intelligence about other territories. Why has no one ever spoken up about it? The reason is simple: anyone who reveals that they’ve bought or sold intelligence here would be dead for sure. They would be hunted down by those who have previously bought or sold. But I’m different—I don’t care. With Minoga protecting me, no one dares to touch me.

I indeed can’t prove that Crown Prince Hodwen or Second Prince Oester have ever purchased intelligence here, but I can prove that your Angus Commerce Guild is selling intelligence, and moreover, it’s intelligence about my mother’s study.”

“Where’s the evidence?” Felicia asked.

“Evidence?” Liana smiled. “You should be very clear who sold this intelligence to you, right? And that person has already been caught by our Venus Manor.”

“Are you saying that based on a casual statement, you can convict us? That seems too simple, doesn’t it?” Felicia breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought Liana really had some substantial evidence.