Chapter 99: Invoice
Eren sat comfortably back against the plush seat of the high-end private VIP room in the luxury cafeteria, having a sip of coffee. Opposite him sat two breathtaking beauties capable of making the entire male population of the capital crash into walls just for a single glance.
Aria was back in her striking, elegant attire that perfectly sculpted her slender waist and accentuated every curve, her cascading dark blue hair styled to absolute perfection as she casually sipped her drink. Next to her sat a vision in white, exuding an aura of cold, absolute authority that could freeze the entire room. Sitting with her legs crossed and arms folded tightly over her chest, the princess fixed him with intense, blood-red eyes that looked like she was planning to burn him on the spot.
Eren merely offered her a calm smile, raising his cup in a silent, gentlemanly toast. "Good evening, Your Highness."
Seraphina sighed, her icy facade twitching slightly at his insufferable composure. "You already know why I called for this meeting, Mister Eren."
"I take it you captured the rat?" Eren asked.
Seraphina’s expression darkened, her eyes flickering with pain before she suppressed it. She reached for her porcelain cup, taking a quiet sip. "I did. And frankly, part of me wished your suspicions had been wrong."
She set her cup down, her gaze locking back onto him. "I utilized both the image-capturing device and the audio-storage mechanism exactly as you instructed. The precision of those artifacts is... terrifyingly marvelous. I have never seen such advanced engineering in my life."
Aria set down her own cup, her golden eyes turning serious. "Did the traitor confess about the handlers under interrogation?"
The white-haired villainess shook her head.
"The mole was thoroughly conditioned against mental extraction. Even under extreme... persuasion... she refused to name the direct handler. We managed to recover The Substance hidden inside her quarters, but we have yet to trace its source."
Aria tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps investigating the capital’s black market networks would give a lead on the substance’s origin?"
"A complete waste of time," Eren interjected smoothly, leaning forward and lacing his fingers together on the table.
Both beauties turned their attention to him, raising a brow.
"Think about it. Why would someone planned a year long operation purchase The Substance from the black market where paper trails and greedy smugglers exist? If they had an exclusive, untraceable compound, it was supplied directly through a closed supply chain. Which means it hasn’t even hit the underground markets yet."
Seraphina narrowed her crimson eyes, a dark, dangerous smile slowly curling her lips as she leaned back in her chair.
"You sound absurdly certain, Eren. Don’t tell me... you have another one of your convenient ’future predictions’ thing in your head regarding this matter?"
Eren casually reached for a cloth napkin from the table’s holder, pulling a pen from his inner jacket pocket. "Perhaps I do," he murmured, writing down a specific street address along with a precise timestamp down to the minute.
He slid the napkin across the table toward the two royal-tier beauties.
"The location isn’t an open storefront," Eren explained, leaning in front and resting his chin on his hand. "The dealer operates on a strict schedule like once a week. Show up at this exact address at precisely the written time, and I will hand you the supplier of The Substance."
Aria picked up the napkin, scanning the location before she raised a brow at her fiancé. "Why go to such dramatic lengths, Eren? Give Her Highness the location now, and she can raze the building to the ground before they even know what hit them."
Eren shook his head. "Because I have a minor, personal grievance to settle with those individuals first. Consider it my only condition: arrive at the written time. Not a minute earlier, not a minute later."
Seraphina took the napkin and carefully folded the napkin, slipping it into her inner pocket with a nod. "You’ve practically solved an assassination plot against my mother, Eren. Granting you one request is the absolute bare minimum I can do."
Her expression then shifted into something strictly professional.
"Now, onto actual business," the princess continued, resting her elbows on the table. "My royal artificers spent the entire afternoon attempting to reverse-engineer the image-capturing and audio-storage devices you provided. By the end of it, three of my head engineers were in tears. The circuitry is decades ahead of anything the Royal Engineers has ever produced. How on earth did you design such a masterpiece? And more importantly... why haven’t you released them to the public? It would generate a huge fortune overnight."
Eren took a nonchalant sip of his coffee, offering her a deadpan look. "Your Highness... if I released those surveillance technologies, how are we supposed to use them to spy if the whole world knows the devices exist?"
Seraphina paused, a faint twitch on her lips as she conceded his point. "Fair enough. In that case... how much will it cost for me to get more of an exclusive, classified supply contract for these devices?"
"I’ll have the Volsver Grand Workshop draft the official invoice and send it directly to the Royal Treasury, Your Highness," Eren replied casually, adjusting his cufflink. "Don’t worry, I’ll even include a family discount for my fiancée’s best friend."
With the business officially concluded, Princess Seraphina vanished like a spy, returning to her palace through classified routes.
That left Eren and Aria strolling side by side down the bustling streets of the capital’s commercial district. The cool night air nipped at their cheeks, while the glowing light of the full moonadorningthe sky.
Eren looked over at his blue-haired fiancée, casually resting his hands in his coat pockets. "I’ve been meaning to ask... how do you manage to effortlessly reserve the entire top floor of every elite establishment in this city just for a meeting?"
Aria tilted her head, her golden eyes gleaming with a proud, thoroughly smug grin. "Because, my dear fiancé, the Reading Duchy owns half of them outright. The Volsver family may have military power, but when it comes to liquid capital and commercial real estate? My family could practically buy and sell half the noble houses before breakfast."
"Right. Show off."
He checked his pocket watch, noting the late hour. "So, shall we head back to the academy dorms now?"
"Return to the dorms? Why?" she purred, reaching out to wrap her arms around his biceps.
"I’m simply a dedicated student trying to maintain a healthy sleep schedule, Aria," Eren lied with a completely straight face.
"Riiight," Aria replied, her tone dripping with effortless sarcasm. She pulled him in the opposite direction of the academy. "Tonight, Lord Eren, your exclusive availability belongs entirely to me. You’re coming with me."
"And where, exactly, are you kidnapping your official fiancé at this hour?"
Aria looked back over her shoulder wifh a sultry, breathtaking smile, the moonlight caught the sharp, slender lines of her figure.
"To my private city sanctuary," she whispered, her voice dropping into a seductive purr. "Consider yourself honored, Eren... you are the only man allowed to there."