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“Kastina, you’re here,” Yaeger said, recognizing the voice without needing to look back.

“I’ve been waiting for you all night!” Kastina approached Yaeger quickly, hands on her hips, voicing her complaint.

“Thank you for your hard work,” Yaeger said calmly, patting her on the shoulder.

“That was rather perfunctory!”

“Fine, let’s go inside first,” Yaeger said, opening the shop entrance and quickly walking in.

Kastina followed immediately. The interior was unchanged from when she left, clearly indicating that no one else had entered.

“It’s a bit messy, but let’s sit down.”
“Why was that medicine maker kidnapped?” Kastina asked as she sat on the bench.
“Layna?”
“That seems to be her name,” Kastina nodded.
“I dragged her into this mess,” Yaeger admitted.

“Aren’t you going to rescue her?” Kastina asked.
“Your intelligence network is truly lacking. I rescued her a long time ago,” Yaeger said as she sat down and rolled her eyes.
Kastina responded with surprise, “What? You already broke into the Grand Prison and rescued her?”

She was in deep disbelief, given that the prison was renowned for being impregnable.

“Why are you overreacting?”

“I’m not overreacting!” Kastina glared at her. “You can’t just walk in and out of that place. Yet, you actually managed to take someone out. It would be strange if I weren’t surprised, right? Come to think of it, how did you actually manage it?”

Yaeger took out the Spatial Crystal. “With this.”
“A Spatial Crystal!” Kastina exclaimed in surprise again.
Why do you always overreact?”
“That’s not it; you’re just full of surprises,” Kastina grumbled.

Possessing such a rare Spatial Crystal would indeed make rescuing someone from the Grand Prison much easier. However, breaching heavy defenses and leaving unscathed was still a formidable task.

‘As expected of the lowly slave, she effortlessly accomplished what would be impossible for others!’ She couldn’t help but admire her.

She continued speaking. “No wonder their expressions were so strange when I went to the Grand Prison to ask questions.”

“Oh, are you actually just worried about Layna?” Yaeger asked with a smile.
“Hmph, of course not. I’m just curious,” Kastina retorted, crossing her arms and tilting her head away.

Beneath her blonde hair, her exposed ears were slightly flushed. Kastina would never admit to Yaeger that her visit to the Grand Prison was out of worry, nor would she mention waiting in the shop across the street all night.

“Don’t worry, Layna is safe,” Yaeger assured.
“I wasn’t worried about her anyway.”
“Then, are you worried about me?”
“I… I would never worry about you!” Kastina exclaimed, her cheeks blushing.

‘Hehe, how dishonest,’ Yaeger thought, amused.

Yaeger chuckled softly and then spoke. “Since you’ve waited for me this long, you must have something else on your mind, right?”

Kastina calmed down upon hearing this and adopted a serious demeanor. “Yes, oh lowly slave. I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

“The bad news first.”

“Viscount Yelu has put a bounty on you. It’s up to one hundred million!” Kastina announced with a hint of annoyance.

“That’s it?” Yaeger blinked.

Was that really bad news? In reality, her head was worth about 700 million.

‘By the way, I wonder if my bounty has been canceled yet. It’s worth a hundred million US dollars. If I had two heads, I’d give them one in exchange for the money.’ Naturally, she was thinking absurdly. The idea of actually having two heads was enough to frighten her to death.

“It’s one hundred million. I’m almost tempted to hand you over for that money,” Kastina said, her eyes shining as she looked at Yaeger like a golden goose.

“Aren’t your assets worth more than a hundred million by now?” Yaeger asked, exasperated.

“But naturally, one can never have enough money,” Kastina remarked.

“You make a lot of sense. I simply can’t argue with that,” Yaeger conceded. It was nonsensical to claim that anyone could ever have enough money.

Indeed, no amount of money ever seemed enough for anyone. That was the perennial issue. Yet, Yaeger never bought into this notion.

“Let’s set aside the bounty for now. What’s the good news?” She shifted the topic.

“Good news? Our auction hall is fully furnished!” Kastina exclaimed excitedly.

“That quickly? Didn’t you mention it would take two days?” Yaeger expressed her surprise.

“Normally, yes, it would take two days. However, I hired the best craftsmen in the city at considerable expense, and they finished by evening!” Kastina puffed out her chest and spoke proudly.

“Well done,” Yaeger praised.

This meant they could start their business a day early and earn more money. Given its uniqueness, the business could easily recoup the invested costs.

“Of course, I’ll definitely recoup the labor costs from the outsiders a hundred or even a thousand times over.” She ruffled her wavy blonde hair and declared proudly.

“I’ll leave the operation of the auction hall to you,” Yaeger nodded in satisfaction.

With Kastina managing the business, she wouldn’t be troubled by trivial matters.

“I’m on it!” Kastina looked at Yaeger. “By the way, lowly slave, will you be attending the opening ceremony tomorrow?”

“Me? No. If those outsiders learn of my identity, it could cause problems. Actually, you shouldn’t go tomorrow either,” Yaeger advised.

“Why not?” Kastina asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“We share a close bond. If you attend, it would be just as problematic,” Yaeger explained.

“That’s right, we are very close… I’m not close with you at all!” Kastina quickly retorted, looking away to hide her blushing face. Unfortunately, the redness of her ears gave her away.

“Regarding the auction, assign a trusted subordinate to manage the opening ceremony. We just need to stay behind the scenes and collect the money,” Yaeger suggested.

“Sure, I’ll take care of it later.”

“If there’s nothing else, you should head back. It’s not good for you to stay here too long,” Yaeger advised.

The higher-ups believed she was associated with Alicia. Once Richard returned, she would face numerous problems. The closer Kastina was to her, the more easily she could be implicated.

“I don’t mind at all,” Kastina insisted.

“I do mind. Also, avoid meeting me for now. It might be best to publicly declare that we’ve stopped being friends. We are definitely close, but let’s keep that our secret,” Yaeger added.

Kastina was initially disheartened by Yaeger’s words but became overjoyed at her final sentence.

At that moment, the system broadcast was heard.

‘It’s always easy to earn her favorability,’ Yaeger sighed internally.

The two chatted briefly before Kastina left the Item Shop and returned to the palace.

“Time to go offline,” Yaeger murmured, recalling an appointment with her sister. She locked the store’s entrance and messaged Mylene before logging off in the guest room.

A flash of white light occurred, and the figure disappeared.