Chapter 140: The White Princess and the Charming Merchant

It started with one baker.

Then another.

Then three.

Aria cooked. The bakers bought. And Kelme talked.

That was where things became dangerous.

Kelme had discovered that his charm wasn’t merely useful for getting information—he was ridiculously good at selling things. A smile here. A compliment there. A carefully chosen word that made people feel like they were making the decision themselves.

People who had absolutely no intention of breaking the law somehow found themselves thinking: Well... perhaps one little bag wouldn’t hurt.

Kelme could convince a guard that checking a suspicious package was unnecessary. He could convince a merchant that paying extra was somehow a privilege. He once convinced an authority official that their entire conversation had never happened—the man walked away looking confused, muttering about needing a nap.

Aria watched him work one evening, her eyes wide with a mixture of horror and admiration.

"That was terrifying."

Kelme shrugged, his expression one of practiced innocence. "I was being friendly."

"You just convinced a government official to ignore a regulation."

"He seemed happier afterward."

"You corrupted him."

"I prefer persuaded."

---

Meanwhile, Aria kept cooking.

Batch after batch. Each one slightly better than the last. Her sugar became cleaner, whiter, more consistent. The crystals were uniform, the texture was perfect, and the taste was so pure that even Marcel raised an eyebrow in genuine approval.

The baker started paying better. Then he started introducing them to other buyers. And those buyers knew other buyers, each one more connected than the last.

Eventually, the sugar left the city. Then the kingdom. A strange man named Vincent handled the distribution—nobody knew exactly how, and Aria didn’t ask. Kelme definitely didn’t ask. Some things were better left unexplained.

Money started coming in. A little at first. Then a lot. Then an absolutely ridiculous amount.

Aria stared at their growing pile of coins, her eyes wide with disbelief. "We’re rich."

Kelme grinned, his hands already reaching for another bag. "We’re getting rich."

"No." Aria pointed at the money. "We are rich."

Kelme nodded, his grin not fading. "Right." He looked at another bag, his expression shifting to something almost greedy. "Definitely not enough."

Aria stared at him. "We have a problem."

"What?"

"We’re greedy."

Kelme smiled, utterly unrepentant. "That’s not a problem."

"It is when we’re trying to stay out of prison."

"Ah." He thought about it for a moment, his expression sobering. "That’s a problem."

---

The authorities eventually gave them names.

They didn’t know Aria’s real identity—the mask saw to that. They only knew the mysterious young woman producing impossibly pure sugar. They called her the White Princess, a title that spread through the underworld like wildfire.

Kelme received a different title. The Charming Merchant. He loved his. He repeated it to anyone who would listen, and some who wouldn’t.

Aria hated hers. "Why am I a princess?"

"Because of the white sugar."

"That’s stupid."

"You’re still famous."

"I don’t want to be famous!" She gestured at her mask. "You’re wearing a mask."

"Exactly!"

"That usually helps with fame."

Aria sighed, rubbing her temples. "This is ridiculous."

They were getting close. Very close. One more large payment and they could finally afford the magical mask. Then Aria could stop worrying about someone discovering who she really was.

They had spent weeks building their little empire. Everything was finally working. Almost perfectly.

Which was precisely when things went wrong.

---

They were walking through the capital when Aria suddenly heard—

SMACK!

She stumbled, her vision swimming. "What the—?!"

Kelme barely had time to turn before another blow landed on him. "OW!"

Kelly grabbed both of them. His grip was like iron, his arms wrapping around them like a snake.

Aria struggled, her feet scrabbling against the cobblestones. "LET GO!"

"No!"

"Kelly!"

"WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?!"

People on the street turned to stare. A small crowd was beginning to gather, their expressions a mixture of curiosity and concern.

Kelly looked exhausted. His hair was a mess, his clothes were wrinkled, and there were dark circles under his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights. He looked like he hadn’t slept properly in days, possibly weeks.

"You disappear for weeks!" His voice cracked on the last word.

Aria froze. "...Weeks?"

"I had to explain everything!" Kelly’s grip tightened. "The tomb! The monster! Your disappearance! The paperwork!"

Kelme stopped struggling. "Everything?"

"Everything!" Kelly’s voice was almost a wail. "I had to defend both of you myself!"

Aria blinked. "Wait."

Kelly pointed toward the guild, his expression one of desperate determination. "You’re coming back."

"Why?"

"To sign documents."

"What documents?"

Kelly stared at her, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You don’t know?"

"No!"

"You can’t pay for the mask!"

Aria’s heart sank. "Oh."

"So the guild master and I made a deal with the other parties involved." Kelly’s voice was flat, exhausted. "You work."

"Work?"

"Odd jobs." He sighed, a sound that seemed to come from somewhere deep in his soul. "Some may require that artifact you’re carrying. Spy work. Retrieval. Investigation. Things like that."

Aria stared at him, her mind racing. "You did all that?"

"You have no idea." Kelly’s voice became increasingly miserable, each word carrying the weight of everything he’d been through. "I had to make up explanations for where you were. I had to hide the fact you were technically running around the kingdom while everyone thought you were missing. I had to convince people you weren’t criminals. I had to—"

He stopped, shaking his head. "I’m not even going to tell you the rest."

Aria slowly looked at Kelme.

Kelme looked back.

Neither spoke.

They had spent weeks making illegal sugar. Risking arrest. Building connections. Getting rich. And the entire time... the guild had already solved their problem.

Aria’s face went blank. "All of that..."

Kelly nodded, his expression one of grim satisfaction. "Yes."

"For nothing?"

"Yes."

Kelme looked at the sky, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I hate this guild."

Kelly laughed—a short, exhausted sound that was more relief than amusement. "Of course you do."

Then he smiled, a genuine expression that softened his tired features. "But you’re our guild members." He pointed toward the guild’s emblem, a golden symbol that had been there all along. "Golden Loyalty."

Aria stared at it. Then looked at Kelme. "Our guild has a name?"

Kelme looked equally confused. "Wow." He paused. "I didn’t know that."

Kelly’s smile disappeared. He looked at them, his expression shifting to something that might have been despair. Then he slowly put a hand over his face, his shoulders shaking with what might have been laughter or might have been sobs.

"I don’t even have the energy anymore." He started dragging them toward the guild, his grip firm despite his exhaustion. "Just sign the papers."

Aria sighed, letting herself be pulled along. "Then what?"

Kelly looked over his shoulder, his eyes carrying a glint of something that might have been vengeance.

"I’ll tell you about your first mission."

His voice became completely dead.

"And trust me." He pulled them through the guild doors, his steps heavy with purpose. "After everything I’ve dealt with, you two are getting the worst assignment I can find."