I Will Become the Ex-Wife of the Beast - CH 10

“One thousand Gold for a piece of cake? No matter how expensive this place is, it is rather outrageous to tell me the price this late and didn’t even mention the price beforehand.”

“I understand that you were surprised, but as you can see, this is a place where people who can afford dessert come without minding how much these desserts cost.”

“…”

“So, would you like to pay in cash or by check?”

This bastard, I bet he is doing it on purpose.

As I stared straight into his eyes slowly, the shop manager shrugged his shoulders. He must have been determined to rip off a peasant girl. What are you going to do, huh? You got the wrong person to mess with.

“It was definitely tasty, but it wasn’t that worthy.”

“Lyden’s flowers are made of the best ingredients by the best patisserie in our shop. The cream is rich and whipped more than a thousand times. Even the beritz fruit decorated on top of it is enough to cost several hundred Gold.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“If you are going to make a fuss of it, we don’t have any choice but to–”

“Oh my, what do you mean by fuss?”

What an ignorant thing to say.

As I slowly regained my smile, I waved my hands and sat down again. Rose, who had her eyes wide open, sat down again as I put one arm on the table and cupped my chin.

“I just misunderstood something. Of course, you have to charge what you need to charge.”

Here it is.

I tightened my lips as I took out one thousand Gold from my other pocket and put it on the table. He tried to hold back a smirk as he was surprised that I was willing to cooperate.

But when I put one more thousand on the table, his expression became puzzled.

“Lady?”

“If it was so precious, I want to taste another one. I have digested the cake earlier. That would be fine, right?”

“O-Of course.”

Well, I guess a foolish woman like this existed. I didn’t even need to guess that he was thinking that way.

He brought the cake right away, afraid that I might change my mind.

“Here it is. Please enjoy.”

“It’s delicious, as expected. This beritz fruit that you mentioned.. I thought it was just a strawberry.”

When I poked the red fruit on the top of the cake with a fork, the waiter’s cocky smile widened.

“How could that be? They look similar at first glance, but they are completely different. No matter where you go in Lyden, the only place that uses real beritz fruit is this De Milch.”

“I see. I guess this isn’t the best dessert shop for nothing. Your quality assurance must be worth the price. I heard that some places change their ingredients however they want… Oh my.”

“Haha.. Our shop is different from such an unscrupulous place.”

“Exactly. There’s no way the best shop in Lyden would do such a rubbish trick. I’ve heard somewhere that if you do that, you will have to pay the compensation… Was it 20 times the amount?”

“No. It’s 10 times.”

The shop manager, who corrected my words without realizing it, began to make a contorted face as if he were smiling while his eyes were not.

He seems to be conscious of people’s attention being drawn to this side.

“I mean, the unacceptable act of changing the ingredients.”

“Oh, really? Thank you for correcting me.”

I clasped my hands together and listened to him in gratitude. I slowly brought the red fruit to my lips again, and I closed my eyes as if savoring the scent.

“Well, it smells different as well. Ah, speaking of this fruit, I didn’t expect that I could eat a lot of these berries in this season. I thought it could only be harvested in midsummer.”

“Haha…. You should hurry and enjoy it, then.”

“No. How could I eat this precious thing alone? I have Rose here, so I have to share it with her.”

“…”

“Oh, no. I already took a bite. Gosh. That was so inconsiderate of me.”

When I put the fork back on the plate, the manager’s proud facade flew out of the window as well.

He looked nervous as he slowly clenched and unclenched his fists with an awkward smile, but I hadn’t finished yet.

“Rose, just wait a moment. Your sister will divide it equally in half.”

I divide the cake as slowly as possible, acting as if it was expensive. I didn’t give the fork any strength and gave the manager a friendly smile.

“Oh, right. Do you know?”

“Yes?”

“The real beritz fruit is emerald green inside.”

“…”

“Oh, my. Didn’t you know that? Of course, there is no way a place like this would forge these precious fruits.”

His face gradually turned white as he blinked in appalled.

Wow, look at that face.

I waved my fork with a smile as innocent as Rose’s.

“Until recently, I used to pick various kinds of fruits. Beritz fruit only grows briefly in midsummer, and it only lasts about a week. However, the Northern part of the Empire has a different climate, so I assume the harvest time is different?”

“L-Lady, you have picked–”

“Yes. Apparently, I did that for a living.”

But why did that matter to you, huh?

I stared intensely at him with my big, expecting eyes.

The way the man’s expression changed was as interesting as picking beritz fruit.

“Beritz fruits are so precious that they are sold per piece, not per gram. I accidentally dropped one and crushed it on my clothes. The green juices stained my skirt, and it caused me a lot of trouble.”

“…”

I was still moderate here. He made a mistake by messing with Bella, who had spent more than 10 out of 20 years of her life picking trees and fruits.

Every time I moved my hand lightly, the fruit hanging on the tip of the fork shook dangerously.

“Anyway, I have to be careful not to get the green juice on my clothes. Rose, put on a napkin.”

“Yes!”

Rose, who had already sat in front of me, placed a napkin on her lap and wiggled her legs.

Aw, you pretty child.

The shop manager rushed to me as he tried to prevent me from cutting the fruit.

“L-Lady! Wait a moment!”

“My, what’s wrong? Why are you acting like the unscrupulous person who was trying to rip off two sisters who came from the countryside by giving the wrong menu and changing the ingredient?”

“…”

“Of course, I was joking.”

So now you couldn’t say anything back.

The manager, whose hand was about to grab the plate, was frozen when I covered my mouth and smiled calmly.

What should I do with this clown?

I squinted my eyes at him for a moment.

Whether my father or this man, they were like playing a game that they couldn’t win. In other words, in the end, I couldn’t end the day with good feelings. However, at least I got Rose coming with me to the North.

It’s such a shame that today had to be her first time seeing the world.

“I am sure a luxurious shop like this wouldn’t do that.”

“A-Ah..”

Once I put the fork down, I could see the visible relief on his face.

If I were a noble lady with a sense of justice, I would punish this person accordingly, but I have no intention of doing that.

I mean, this world had never been fair to me. Why should I be the one standing up for them?

That was supposed to be the protagonist’s job, who seemed to have 7 life and survived even after being hit with cannons. Since I couldn’t even play a supporting role, I would rather look after myself.

Again, no matter how virtuous the supporting role was, whether, in a novel or a drama, they always announce the obituary through gossips with the typical line of ‘Have you heard the news? That young lady was…’.

“We are running out of time, so we have to leave. I haven’t tasted that precious fruit earlier, so will you take it out of my bill?”

“O-Of course, Lady!”

The shop manager looked almost crouching as he bowed really low. After all, his secret was about to get out of the bag.

“Ah, right. The first Lyden’s flower I ate, how much did you say? I think I heard it wrong..”

“It’s twenty Gold!”

As soon as I put one hand near my ear, the manager’s loud voice burst out.

Wow.. You really tried to rip me off.

When I eyed him with a dissatisfied look, he tried making excuses.

“T-That.. I wasn’t in the right mind earlier.”

“Of course. Anyone could mistake twenty Gold and one thousand Gold. They are so similar that it is easy to get confused. Anyway, I’m glad you got your mind back now. After all, it might seriously damage the prestige of the best dessert shop in Lyden.”

“L-Lady…”

“Of course, you would have compensated me for ten thousand Gold, but I am not that low to take money or threaten people in such a cheap way.”

You’re lucky.

At my graceful gestures, the shop manager became pale and cleared his throat.

Should I try to shake him a little more?

I was swayed by temptation for a moment, but I didn’t know how this problem in Lyden could escalate.

“Did you say twenty Gold?”

“Y-Yes..”

The man’s hands trembled as I took out two bills and handed them over.

I bet you were going to spend your entire fortune now that everyone here in the shop was watching us.

If it’s a disgrace, I think I have done enough.

“Oh, let me tell you one more thing, manager.”

But, it’s still a long way from paying for his attempt to extort me.

“It’s foolish to judge people by their appearance or their attire. Well, I can’t do anything about your personality, but if you really have to do it, at least….”

“….”

My eyes, which were looking all the way around, turned to stop at the opposite end of the shop.

The main perpetrator, who had been staring at me for a long time, raised his eyes interestingly. However, my plan was to give this vicious merchant a lesson, not for handsome guy sightseeing.

“At least, use your conscience.”