"Your Highness. There is something I wish to confirm regarding the royal purveyor application documents."
Leonhardt's voice could be heard through the door of the administrative office. He was speaking to a civil official attached to the trade officials. Estella only knew this because Leonhardt himself had mentioned it during one of their document exchanges.
By the window in the corridor at the usual place and time.
"I checked the trade officials' documents. The Elbach Company's application for royal purveyor status has been officially accepted."
Leonhardt lowered his voice as he handed over the documents. Her lady-in-waiting stood a few paces away. Other students passed through the corridor.
"I also found a list of noble families the trading company has been lending money to."
A thin piece of paper was tucked between the documents. Estella glanced at it as she accepted them.
Three baronial families. Two viscountcy families. They were all lower noble houses whose names Estella recognised.
"Influence gained through debt." Leonhardt murmured as if speaking to himself, but he spoke at a distance where Estella could hear.
"A single merchant house lending to this many noble families. Each family is in a position where they cannot ignore the trading company's wishes due to the terms of their debt repayment. They hold no direct political authority, but as indirect influence, it's more than sufficient."
Estella slipped the paper back between the documents and held them to her chest.
The plan was becoming clear.
They had Mille adopted by the barony, enrolling her at the academy, and positioning her at the Crown Prince's side. That had only been the first stage of the company's plan. By having Mille win the Crown Prince's favour, they would establish a foothold in the court as a merchant house. At the same time, they would build indirect influence through loans to multiple noble families. Then, by obtaining royal purveyor certification, they would secure legal access to the court.
Three stages.
Mille's removal had ruined the first stage. But the second stage, the lending, remained intact, and the third stage, the royal purveyor application, was progressing independently.
"How calculated." Estella whispered under her breath.
Memories from her past life vividly flashed through her mind. During her department store days, there were times when someone else was pulling the strings behind a complaint. The person who came forward was always the emotional customer, but there was someone else instigating them from behind. No matter how well you handled the customer out front, the same thing would repeat itself unless you dealt with the person pulling the strings.
"The instigator behind the complainer. The type who never dirties their own hands and moves others like pieces on a board."
"Pieces on a board, you say?"
"Yes. Lady Millefeuille was a pawn. A girl who wielded tears as a weapon was sent into the court as a pawn. But the player is still sitting on the side of the board even if they lose a pawn."
Leonhardt folded his arms. Their conversation was beginning to stretch unnaturally long for people who were supposed to be exchanging documents.
"The problem is..."
Estella chose her words carefully. "I cannot fight this opponent with the things I excel in."
Leonhardt looked up.
"I can read emotions. The different ways people cry, the tremor in their voice, the movement of their eyes. Reading people's emotions and responding accordingly, that is the skill I developed in my past... ten years. But the owner of this company is not driven by emotion. He's driven by interests, investments, and returns. He is not someone my interpersonal skills will work on."
She had spoken her weakness aloud.
In her past life, she had spent ten years dealing with all kinds of complainers. She could handle people who were driven by emotion, but those who set aside their emotions and acted solely out of self-interest were beyond Estella.
Leonhardt listened in silence. His expression remained unchanged, but he didn't appear to be taking Estella's words lightly.
"Few people are capable of admitting their own weaknesses."
"Are you complimenting me?"
"I'm simply stating a fact."
A curt reply, but Estella didn't feel any denial hidden in his curtness. This man didn't view acknowledging your weakness as a sign of weakness.
Leonhardt rearranged the documents; a motion that signaled the end of the exchange.
"About what happened in the garden..."
The moment those words left his mouth, footsteps approached from the far end of the corridor. A civil official from the administrative office was walking quickly towards them, his arms full of documents.
"Your Highness, these are urgent forwarded documents from the civil official of the Royal Council."
Leonhardt's mouth closed.
"Understood."
He turned to face the civil official and accepted the documents. The motion was seamless. He switched back to being an administrative aide as though nothing had happened.
Estella curtsied and took her leave.
Back in her room, she unfolded the piece of paper that had been tucked between the documents.
She reviewed the list of borrowers once more. Three baronial families, two viscountcy families. She committed each fief and house name to memory.
The plan was clear and she had a vague idea about what to do. If they wanted to stop the company from gaining influence in the court, the most effective approach would be to stop their royal purveyor application. But the application itself was legal, and Leonhardt's authority as an administrative aide did not extend to "stopping" it.
Estella's weapons, tears, acting, and reading emotions, would not work.
Leonhardt's tools, intelligence gathering, consulting documents, and logical analysis, were effective, but not enough on their own.
Then who would fill in the gaps?
Estella folded the piece of paper and tucked it away behind the documents.
She already knew the answer but now was not the time.
She glanced out the window. The afternoon light was beginning to fade.
Leonhardt was about to bring up what happened in the garden. She could guess what he had been about to say, but a guess was only a guess.
They had been interrupted by the civil official.
Part of her thought, It couldn't be helped. But at the same time, she knew she was a bit disappointed at being interrupted.
Leonhardt's principle was to prioritise facts over feelings. He was about to bring up what had happened in the garden but held back the moment the civil official appeared. He chose his immediate duty over a conversation about emotions.
That was a very Leonhardt decision.
She knew it was a very Leonhardt decision, and yet, she was still curious about what lay beyond those unspoken words.
Estella picked up her embroidery hoop.
There's no need to name this feeling yet.
There was work to be done. The company's scheme consisted of three stages. The first was ruined. The second and third were still active. And her own weapons would not work against this opponent.
If my weapons won't work, then I should rely on someone whose will.
She was terrible at asking for help in her past life. She had always stood alone at the counter. She endured unreasonable complaints by herself, she handled her frustrations alone, and put on a smile alone the next morning.
But things were different now.
Leonhardt was here. Her father was here. She didn't need to shoulder everything on her own.
That realisation brought with it a kind of emotion she had never known in her past life. It was too early to call it reassurance. But she could clearly see that she wasn't alone.
She moved the embroidery needle as she considered her next move.
The list of the company's borrowers. She needed to check whether any of her father's acquaintances were on there. Had the company's reach extended even to those around the ducal house?
She unfolded the slip of paper again and checked the names once more.
Her eyes stopped on the second viscountcy family.
House Forster.
It was a name her father, Viktor, had mentioned in a letter before. An old acquaintance. He had been worried about them since they were struggling to manage their fief.
One of the company's borrowers was an acquaintance of her father's.
Estella's finger came to a halt on the piece of paper.
The reach had already extended to those who are acquainted with the ducal house.