The Male Lead’s Secretary Is Too Good at Her Job – Chapter 8

Author: isuzuuy

Noon the next day.

I stared at the sign for Lumiere Dessert & Tea Salon and thought to myself.

I still can’t believe it. Rashak is the owner of this place…

Just look at the lace curtains and all the adorable little decorations through those windows.

Go ahead and stop someone on the street to ask them. Who would believe this place was a den for an underworld organization?

But even if it’s a strange place like this, it’s still my best option.

I clenched my fists tightly.

Just thinking about what had happened yesterday made my blood boil all over again.

Work for the Count of Brent’s household?

After everything, I was supposed to work for Renoa and Allen, the two people who had betrayed me.

I would have to treat them as my superiors, watch them live happily together right beside me…

And work to support their family.

Rather than go through that kind of hell—

The underworld is a much better option.

And I was going to earn money, no matter what it took.

I wouldn’t let them control my life any longer under the guise of being “worried” about me.

With that, I thought, All right, let’s go in! and reached for the door handle.

Just then, a bell jingled as the door of the general store next door opened.

Rashak had just stepped out. He looked at me and said,

“Oh? Miss Cavernon. Did you come to see me?”

“…Why are you coming out of there?”

“Because it’s my shop?”

“T-that one, too?”

I looked up at the sign above the shop he’d just exited. It read Uncle David’s General Store.

“Of course, all the paperwork is under other people’s names. You also need someone who can get arrested in your place if something goes wrong.”

Someone who can get arrested in your place…?

Just then, the employees at the clothing store across the street bowed respectfully to Rashak.

“…Don’t tell me that clothing store belongs to you, too?”

Rashak smiled and pointed at Lumiere Salon.

“Starting from here.”

Then his index finger moved slowly along the road.

All the way to the high-end restaurant at the very end of the street.

“And ending there.”

For a moment, I was too stunned to react.

I’d heard stories about people going into clothing stores and saying, “I’ll take everything from here to there.”

But the entire shopping district belonged to this man?

“Come along.”

I quietly followed him.

We arrived at the high-end restaurant that marked the end of his little demonstration.

Even nobles supposedly had trouble getting reservations there, but Rashak strode right through the restaurant as if he were walking around his own living room.

Well, technically, it was his place.

“Come in. Sit over there.”

He led me into an outrageously luxurious private room, where I cautiously perched on the edge of a chair.

After giving the staff a few brief instructions, Rashak sat down across from me and asked,

“So, have you made your decision?”

After thinking it over one last time, I answered firmly.

“I’ll work for you, sir.”

He didn’t even try to hide his smile.

“If we sign a contract, you’ll work as my secretary, Miss Cavernon. Wherever I go, you’ll have to stay by my side.”

“Yes, that’s fine, too.”

“As I mentioned before, your annual salary will be 100 million. There will also be additional rewards based on your performance. Your working hours will be flexible.”

“But you’ll definitely give me time off to make up for overtime, right?”

“You remember that part well.”

I nodded, then added,

“I… I developed a goal after what happened yesterday.”

“A goal that came about after a conversation with your unfaithful ex-lover? Now I’m curious.”

“I absolutely refuse to return to the Brent family, no matter what happens.”

I would never accept Allen Brent’s help.

The same went for Renoa and my parents.

“So… I’ll work as hard as I possibly can. I look forward to working with you.”

Around then, the employee returned.

He was carrying a document envelope. With a hand gesture almost elegant enough to be theatrical, Rashak took out the contract.

The pen I was given had an even more elaborate feather than the one Count Brent had used.

After carefully reading the contract, I signed it and set down the pen.

“Then shall we go right now?”

“…Pardon?”

“You signed the contract, didn’t you?”

He was telling me to start working the very moment I’d finished signing.

I froze in bewilderment.

It felt like being a high school student who’d just been told on the day of the entrance ceremony, You’ll be staying for mandatory evening self-study today.

“Hurry up and follow me. I’m busy.”

But Rashak didn’t even give me time to complain, so I had no choice but to jump to my feet.

The moment I climbed into the carriage, an unfamiliar man greeted me.

“Hello, Miss Cavernon. I’m Pierce Lapin. Since we’ll be working as fellow secretaries, let’s do our best together.”

“I’m Hiel Cavernon… I look forward to working with you…”

Mr. Pierce, my senior, smiled warmly at me.

He looked like a pharmacist who was especially kind and attentive to elderly customers. How had someone like him ended up in the underworld?

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you accepted the position. We’ve been swamped with work lately. Just the other day, we had another…”

I could only nod along as Mr. Pierce talked.

Not because I found the conversation interesting…

I simply couldn’t figure out when to interrupt him.

I was already terrible at talking to strangers, and listening to someone chatter away during our very first meeting was draining the life right out of me.

And so, we arrived at—

“The Sterling Merchant Company?”

“Oh, you know the place? Did you work there before?”

“No. They were business partners of my previous employer. Why are we…”

“It’s nothing major. Sterling got caught pulling a dirty trick, so we’re here to teach them a lesson.”

Dirty trick. Teach them a lesson.

Those words sent a chill down the back of a professional coward like me, so I silently followed behind Pierce and Rashak.

The moment we entered a certain room, I was shaken all over again.

The room was packed with huge, burly men.

Then the equally burly men from our side—Rashak’s side, anyway—came pouring in behind me.

What was this?

Why did it feel like a scene straight out of a gangster movie?

“Look at you, the boss of the Barsen organization, bringing a bunch of brats with you. Aren’t you embarrassed?”

The man sitting on the sofa opposite us sneered.

He looked like someone who belonged in a gangster movie, too. After all, he had a deep scar above his left eye.

Rashak shrugged.

“Do they look like a lot to you? Well, I suppose they would be at your level.”

“Hah, my level?”

“The Barsen organization always has plenty of manpower. You lot are the ones who had to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Did you drag along your chimney sweepers, too?”

“What the hell did you just say, you bastard?”

“Every last one of them looks pathetic. You brought these guys here and called them your elite?”

Rashak chuckled and added,

“Oh, right. I dug out one of your eyes, so I guess you can’t see very well.”

Oh, dear God.

Could someone please send me home?

“Miss Cavernon?”

“W-well… um…”

Mr. Pierce spoke to me as I stood there terrified.

“Oh, you’re scared. It’s all right. If a fight breaks out, I’ll make sure to get you out of the way.”

That means there might actually be a fight…!

“You know how underworld organizations provide protection for merchant companies, right?”

I glanced at him nervously and nodded.

Large merchant companies sometimes had their own security forces, but small and medium-sized ones like Sterling couldn’t afford to maintain them. So they sometimes signed contracts with underworld organizations.

Typically, the organization would handle tasks such as guarding warehouses and escorting shipments, while the merchant company paid them for their services.

However, I’d heard that sometimes the organization ended up swallowing the merchant company whole…

“That one-eyed man is the guy who provides protection for Sterling.”

“And the person standing right beside him is…?”

“Kevin Sterling. He’s the head of the Sterling Merchant Company.”

Kevin Sterling, a young man with a boyish face, trembled as his eyes darted around the room.

But Rashak showed not the slightest hint of sympathy.

He jerked his chin and spoke in a dry voice.

“Pierce. Bring it over.”

A little while later, Pierce placed something on the table…

A rather heavy-looking wooden box.

When he opened the lid, six bottles of liquor were neatly arranged inside.

Each bottle bore the emblem of the Bellen Merchant Company, a business renowned for its high-quality liquor.

And Sterling, the merchant company we were visiting, was also known for its liquor.

The hostile atmosphere.

Two merchant companies famous for liquor.

Dirty tricks.

Teaching someone a lesson.

Could it be…?

“Is that Bellen liquor counterfeit?”

At my question, Pierce’s eyes widened.

“How did you know?”

“I was thinking about the possible situations that could cause a problem…”

“That’s right. It’s counterfeit liquor.”

Pierce nodded.

“Although it bears Bellen’s trademark, it wasn’t produced by Bellen. For your information, our Barsen organization provides protection for the Bellen Merchant Company.”

“And the ones behind the counterfeit liquor…”

“We suspect Sterling. More precisely, that man over there. As you may have heard, the boss gouged out his eye. Needless to say, there’s quite a bit of bad blood between them.”

Now I understood why the atmosphere was so hostile.

Counterfeit liquor was a serious problem.

Bellen’s reputation taking a hit? Yes, that was certainly an issue.

But what if someone died after drinking the counterfeit liquor? Then things would become much more serious.

Counterfeit liquor was often mixed with all sorts of substances to make people get drunk faster.

Even though security in the capital was rather lax, if someone died after drinking liquor, the authorities would have no choice but to investigate.

And if that investigation uncovered the counterfeit liquor, both the Bellen Merchant Company and Rashak’s organization, the Barsen, could suffer serious damage.

In short, this counterfeit liquor was an attack on the Barsen organization.

Rashak jerked his chin toward the one-eyed man.

“Drink it.”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?”

“Don’t you want to even put it on your lips? Do you know what’s inside?”

The one-eyed man’s brows drew together sharply. After receiving a bottle from one of his subordinates, he scowled even more.

“What the hell is this fishy smell? How could anyone drink this garbage?”

“Right? You mixed in something even if you couldn’t stomach it. Thanks to that, we caught on before it could be properly distributed.”

“……”

“It was such a stupid scheme that I could guess who was behind it almost immediately.”

Rashak spoke in an even tone.

“Since you didn’t succeed, I’ll spare your life. But take your men and leave the capital. And hand over Sterling, too.”