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The burly men outside the shop grabbed their weapons and started smashing everything in Liya’s store.
Even the magic potions displayed at the entrance weren’t spared.
They were all shattered into a useless mess.
Brilliant blue liquid seeped onto the ground, filling the air with the scent of money.
Liya watched their destruction indifferently, her expression remaining calm.
“Miss Liya, shouldn’t we stop them…?”
A voice behind her was filled with urgency. They knew the value of those potions—just one bottle breaking was already a huge loss.
But Liya sat leisurely in her chair, watching the chaos unfold at a slow, deliberate pace.
“No need. Let them smash.”
“The more they break, the more they’ll have to pay.”
Of course, Liya understood the reality of the situation.
These thugs were just hired goons. There was no way they’d actually compensate her.
When she felt the time was about right, she touched the magic gloves on her right hand and was just about to step outside—
“What are you doing?!”
A sharp voice called out from the street.
Liya raised an eyebrow. Someone was standing up for her?
She stood inside the shop and looked out.
A noble-looking young lady with golden hair stood beside a carriage, angrily reprimanding the tattooed thugs.
Who was that?
Liya looked carefully at the familiar face and immediately had her answer.
The Duke’s daughter?
Why was she here? Just passing by?
Or… did she step in purely out of goodwill?
Erika du Croy, a young noble with exceptional talent, had a reputation that still held strong.
Some even believed she would one day surpass the once-renowned prodigy, Victor.
If it had been any other noblewoman Victor had flirted with last time, it wouldn’t have made the headlines.
But Erika’s influence on the public was simply too immense.
Liya mused to herself—
Now that Erika had appeared, acting all righteous, this incident was bound to stir up another wave of gossip.
…
In truth, Erika hadn’t thought too much about it.
Although today was her day off, she hadn’t been in the mood to study at the academy after Victor left.
After all, aside from Victor—the other teachers were far too incompetent. Some were even worse than she was.
So, she decided to take a break and go shopping to relax.
While resting at home, she overheard her servants chatting about how the Clavenna family had opened a store in the eastern district of the capital.
Clavenna—that was Victor’s surname. Of course, she remembered.
But, the eastern district…?
Erika was intrigued. A store in the eastern district was quite far from her home.
She lived in the central district, where nobles like her resided.
The capital was enormous—so large that she could barely explore all of the central district in a single day.
Still, she decided to take a look.
What would a store owned by Professor Victor sell?
After spending over half an hour in a carriage to get there, she was greeted by the sight of thugs vandalizing the store.
The shop’s sign bore the Clavenna family crest, confirming that it belonged to Victor.
The store wasn’t very large. Compared to the bustling shops nearby, its humble scale already warranted a few points deducted.
But she wasn’t here to rate it.
Seeing the destruction, Erika was immediately enraged.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Her crisp voice rang out as she stepped down from the carriage, exuding the noble grace of a highborn lady.
Many passersby noticed her presence and gasped in astonishment.
“It’s Erika du Croy!”
Simply put, no one in the capital didn’t know this beautiful and kind-hearted young lady.
She frequently donated food and gold to the poor and never hesitated to stand up to wrongdoers.
“It’s the Duke’s daughter! Run!”
The leading thug, upon recognizing Erika, shouted at his companions before scrambling away in fear.
Liya gave a subtle nod to the store assistant behind her.
In an instant, she felt a gust of wind rush past.
By the time she turned to look again, the thugs had all vanished.
Only then did Liya step forward with a smile to greet Erika.
“Miss Erika, thank you for your help!”
“As a weak woman, I was truly terrified. If not for your intervention, I wouldn’t have known what to do…”
As Erika listened to Liya’s words, she studied her carefully.
The woman before her was stunningly beautiful.
Tall and slender, with features so delicate they seemed almost unreal.
She even carried an air of mature charm that made Erika, still in her teenage years, feel somewhat inadequate.
She had originally planned to brush off the gratitude. But then her gaze landed on something.
Liya’s gloves.
Victor’s gloves?
Erika clearly remembered seeing them on Victor’s hands when he first arrived at the academy.
Adorned with magical gemstones, she had taken special note of them because she had never seen a pair like that before.
But after that day, she had never seen them again.
Now, those very same gloves were on this woman’s hands?
Erika couldn’t be certain it was the exact same pair—after all, their hand sizes were completely different.
“So, is she related to Professor Victor?”
Thinking this, Erika suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for Liya.
Those thugs had likely come looking for trouble because of Victor’s infamous reputation, yet it was this woman who suffered the consequences.
Glancing at the broken glass and spilled potions on the ground, she made a quick decision to compensate her as a gesture of goodwill.
“It’s truly unfortunate that something like this happened in the capital. I will personally compensate you for today’s losses in the name of House du Croy.”
“Please calculate the damage. And if there’s any stock left, I’ll buy it all.”
“Oh my?”
Liya touched her chin with a teasing smile.
The du Croy family’s talent for winning people over—it truly ran in their blood.
And she was only seventeen.
“Miss Erika, let me confirm—are you sure you want to compensate me?”
“You do realize the price isn’t cheap.”
Before Erika could respond, she had already called for her maid to prepare payment.
Liya grinned and quoted the price:
“One thousand Geo.”
One thousand Geo for all the damages?
For ordinary people, that was an outrageous amount.
But Erika found it reasonable and signaled her maid to pay.
Then Liya added, “One thousand Geo per bottle.”
“…What?”
The maid’s hand, halfway to retrieving the money, froze.
Even Erika thought she had misheard.
The bystanders, too, were dumbfounded.
Was this woman serious? A single potion cost one thousand Geo?
What was in those bottles—liquid gold?
The maid did some quick calculations and hesitated. Even Erika looked troubled.
While this amount wasn’t much for her—just a month’s allowance—she still couldn’t justify spending money so carelessly.
At this moment, she finally understood why Victor was so disliked.
He was a complete swindler!
Before she could argue, Liya continued with a troubled expression, “As much as I’d love to accept your compensation, my master has a rule—each person can only buy two bottles a day.”
What kind of rule was that?
Erika had never heard of a store placing a limit on purchases.
Especially when the buyer was willing to pay for damages.
After a brief moment of thought, she deduced that “master” referred to Victor.
But if there was a limit… was this potion actually something special?
Intrigued, she picked up an unbroken bottle and asked Liya:
“What does this do?”
Liya smiled and explained:
“It restores mana.”
Erika was stunned.
She had never heard of a potion that could restore mana.
Determined, she made up her mind.
“Since I witnessed my professor’s store being damaged, I can’t just stand by.”
“I will cover the cost of both the potions and their production expenses—but on one condition.”
Liya raised an eyebrow.
“I want to buy all the remaining potions.”
That night, in a dark alley—
The same thugs lay scattered in heaps, groaning in pain.
Standing over them, a cloaked figure held a wooden sword.
Only her upper face was visible—sharp, green eyes gleaming coldly.
“Who sent you?”
The leader, trembling and barely conscious, croaked out:
“D-Duke Levi! It was Duke Levi!”
A moment later—
Whack!
The wooden sword struck.
The thug collapsed into blissful unconsciousness.
Then, the cloaked woman grabbed his leg and dragged him into the night.