NOVEL WEB Chapter 198
Chapter: 198
William’s health decline has seriously multiplied the businesses I’ve inherited.
Of course, I still haven’t taken over the most important Leonhardt Corp, but…
“Jewelry, hospitality, food service, magic stone trade, scroll business, construction… How many fields has he dabbled in?”
Since William had his hands in so many businesses, I ended up with a hefty workload.
Sure, managing finances and making money was nice, but that didn’t change the fact that I was feeling overwhelmed.
It just piled up suddenly.
“Rize, could you give my shoulders a rub from the back?”
“Sure.”
With my body having grown a lot lately, my shoulders were really stiff, and the increasing workload wasn’t helping.
I couldn’t help but ask Rize for this favor.
“Sigh… What’s up with this all of a sudden?”
Of course, after graduating from the Academy, I started a business again.
But I never expected it to suddenly be this hectic.
I knew William’s health was deteriorating, but I never thought he’d be in such bad shape that he’d take a break from work.
“Sigh…”
“Are you alright…?”
“No. I’m just really tired.”
“Oh…”
In normal times, I’d just give a standard answer to Rize’s question, but I’ve been quite exhausted lately and couldn’t help but reply this way.
I was spending quite a lot of time immersing myself in work throughout the day.
Of course, it wasn’t to the point of dying from exhaustion.
But still, it was true that I was definitely more tired than before…
“Ugh…”
“Would you like me to rub a bit harder?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Then…”
“The massage is good for now… how about I lie down on the bed for a bit?”
I turned my head towards Rize and said that.
It wasn’t just a physical exhaustion I was facing.
What I really needed wasn’t just a break for my body but some mental healing.
“…Okay.”
And Rize, who understood my meaning all too well, accepted my request.
I couldn’t help but smile at how much more frequently she agreed to my whims compared to before.
I had turned 16, and Rize was now 19… both of us now adults.
It was quite enjoyable to see how much more beautiful Rize had become since then.
Seeing Rosalyn was nice, but spending time with, touching, and feeling Rize, who I’d known for so long, was also pretty fun.
“Hehe…”
The moment I saw Rize lying on the bed, my lips started to curl into a smile.
Just a moment ago, I had been struggling to focus on business documents, but now my mind was completely elsewhere.
“Young Lady…?”
“Why?”
“Why are you laughing all of a sudden…? Is something wrong…?”
“Nope. Just stay still.”
With those words, I sat beside Rize, who was lying on my bed, and moved my hands.
Rize had never resisted, objected, or refused my actions like this before, so I felt a bit free to do what I wanted.
In fact, I had already been pretty much doing whatever I liked for quite some time now.
Anyway, it meant that I could unwind a little by touching Rize.
*
Information about the Rose family was quite precious.
There was a lot of information about where Christina Rose had visited in the past few months, what she did there, and the people or businesses related to it.
It was certainly thanks to my spending on information from the Information Guild that I was getting such details, and yet, these were much higher quality than the older information.
I occasionally contacted Alexandra Rose, but even as the second daughter of the Rose family, she was completely in the dark about the first daughter, Christina’s activities.
“Hmm…”
It just so happened that some of the businesses I inherited from William were related to what that girl had started to take an interest in.
More than I expected.
Talk of launching a new hospitality venture in the center and beginning to sell high-quality fabrics from the west to the nobility.
It was precisely what I had received from William.
“Ivana…”
After graduating from the Academy, I hadn’t been able to meet Ivana separately.
Well, Ivana had been very involved in working to become the heir, and I had a lot on my plate since returning to the family.
I had met with Karen, Grace, and Ella a few times, but I had hardly met Ivana.
“No way I’m capable of competing with the Rose family in business already.”
Professionally and financially, I had the upper hand, but nobility really operated heavily on class.
If I threw the first punch out in the open, I would definitely just end up suffering.
Especially since Leonhardt was still getting ripped apart in so many ways.
Moreover, the Roses were still a Count family.
“Ivana still needs to do her business, after all…”
Her situation was certainly way better than mine.
“Getting Ivana’s help might… be okay.”
As I went over the various business documents that had come my way, those thoughts crossed my mind.
After all, it’d be good to meet with Ivana for the first time in a while while also helping her with her business…
“Hmm…”
I had to prepare a letter first.
After all, I really didn’t want to haul myself all the way up north.
“Huh… Should I call Rize back?”
I was starting to feel tired again.
If Rize had been here in my room right now, I would’ve immediately…
“Hehe.”
Well, Rize wasn’t actually around since she had gone to do my laundry, right?
Thoughts like this crossed my mind as I continued with my work.
Though I was tired, I couldn’t just drop everything and go outside to play.
After all, taking the fight to the Roses through Ivana was still going to happen through the businesses I was currently running.
One step at a time.
“Hmm…”
So I went on processing paperwork and various tasks alone in my room.
Truth be told, there wasn’t a whole lot of work to do.
And then suddenly, the door opened.
“What?”
“Camelia, are you busy?”
“Mother?”
What came in was none other than Rosalyn.
I had been thinking that someone like Rize would come in, so Rosalyn’s entrance was quite surprising.
What could the reason for her visiting my room be?
I tried thinking of a reason, but nothing particular came to mind.
“What brings you here?”
“Um… I just wanted to talk with Camelia for a bit?”
“…?”
Out of the blue?
I didn’t mind it, but I was a bit surprised by the sudden occurrence.
Not many would come and say they wanted to talk in the afternoon like this, and there had been no hint of it during breakfast or lunch today.
“Oh, or if you’d prefer, we could talk tonight. You’ve been busy lately, right? No need to rush it.”
“Ah….”
Well…
I didn’t exactly know what the reason was, but it felt like she wanted to discuss something quite important.
Though sudden, I wasn’t so oblivious that I couldn’t pick up on that.
I quickly glanced at the stack of documents on my desk.
“…So how about we talk tonight instead? I’ve got a bit… piled up here.”
“Sure, that’s fine. It’s more like I’m bothering you by asking for your time, isn’t it? We can just chat after dinner without rushing.”
After saying that, I exchanged a few more words with Rosalyn before she left my room again.
I had no clue why Rosalyn came to see me, but…
It was pretty clear the conversation later on would be quite serious.
Could it be something related to the Rose family?
If not that, then what could it possibly be about?
“…No idea.”
I tried my best to ponder it, but I couldn’t precisely grasp what Rosalyn had in mind.
For now, I had no choice but to continue with the remaining tasks.
Since after all, we were set to talk about it later tonight.