Chapter 231 230: The Town Trip [Pt2]

"Yohan, this here is a new friend of mine. Her name is Huye and she is a commoner. She will be joining us today on the outing so make sure you treat her well."

Huye had the smuggest face Yohan had ever seen before. She looked at trump as she clutched Freshia's arm in a death grip. Freshia did not even notice Huye's grip as she stood still.

'Wow, looks like Huye's charm works on females as well. I should have expected something like this to have happened, right?'

Yohan knew that Huye was good at flattering people. She was someone who knew human nature well and she could also easily adapt to another person if she needed to.

"Yohan, if you have some kind of problem with me bringing my new friend along then don't speak. No matter what you say, I will not change my decision."

Lady Freshia seemed to have made up her mind already about Yohan's thought process when it concerned her actions. She was biased and also agitated when Yohan did not say anything to her.

"Well, if this is what Lady Freshia has decided then who am I to contradict her decision?"

Yohan remained calm in front of Freshia and she looked upset. She wanted Yohan to show some kind of reaction to her words but Yohan did not give her satisfaction.

Huye observed this happen with a keen eye. She had not missed the small interaction happening in front of her and she vowed to take advantage of it later.

*cough* "W-Well, good that you do not have a problem with me. Then, we shall go to the next shop to look for a dress. Let's go now."

Yohan did think to point out to Lady Freshia that they lacked the funds to do any more shopping. Anything she liked was out of thier budget and now she had added another person to the party list.

In the end, Yohan was going to let the head butler deal with the bill. He was in charge of the budget and also in charge of breaking the news about the finances to Lady Freshia.

Rui had played well this time.

………………………

Freshia bit her lip as she watched the dresses and thier price tags. She had never had to hold herself back this hard when shopping before.

Currently, she was at her favorite dress shop and the tailor was someone she knew very intimately. So when the tailor brought out all the expensive stuff Freshia likes, she could not help but melt.

She wanted to buy all of it but she could not afford to buy anything from this collection. It was then she realized something - Freshia had become poor overnight.

'If I knew this was going to happen, I would have clung to the queen with all my might. I should not have been this stubborn in front of the queen and her new lover.'

Freshia was filled with regret over her choice but her pride did not allow her to apologize.

"Lady Freshia, what would you like to buy today? I went far and beyond to find the dresses that would suit you since I knew there would be a party held for you soon."

The tailor sounded elated as he looked at Freshia and Huye. He was happy to see the big fish he had worked hard to reel in come to his shop again.

Even if there were rumors of Freshia having broken up with the queen, she must have had enough money saved away to come to this shop again to buy things. This shop was the most expensive one in the empire after all.

"Hmm, it is nice to see that you were thinking about me but I don't think I can buy anything from here today-"

"Don't be like that, Lady Freshia. I have more things to show you and your friend. Don't you think this diamond would look splendid on your slim neck?"

The shopkeeper asked, showing Freshia a shiny red diamond. It was not an actual diamond but just looked like one to fool ignorant people like Lady Freshia.

As he had expected, Lafy Freshia looked conflicted. She loved diamonds above everything else and this one was particularly shiny. The shopkeeper had hit jackpot this time.

"I-I see. In that case, I would like to buy the"

"Wait for a second. I don't think this is a real diamond. My family used to have a diamond mine and those diamonds looked different from this one. My lady, I think you are being fooled."

Huye spoke up just as Freshia was about to make a foolish decision. Freshia froze and the shopkeeper broke out into a sweat. He had expected to be called out by anyone on his lie.

"P-Proprostrous. Why would I lie to and belittle my lady like this? Don't you dare mock me, you liar?"

The shop owner tried to protect his pride and his neck. But Huye was not moved by his baseless acting skills.

"If this is a real diamond then it must have a certificate of authenticity, right? Why don't you show it to be?"

Huye asked with a straight face.

"I-That is, the certificate? I lost it a long time ago. But this is the real deal."

The shopkeeper swore and Huye smiles a bright smile. The man was caught in her web after all.

"If that is so, then you won't mind me getting it checked out by another shop, right? I will pay you to double if it is the real thing."

The shopowner lost it at that. He snatched the diamond out of Huye's hand and put it back into the box. He then took out another box with a real diamond in it.

"O-Oh, look at this. It seems like I made a mistake. This is because the real box was switched by accident. Here, have a look."

The shopkeeper tried to save his hide but Freshia had already lost her trust in the man. Her cold eyes looked at the man in front of him like he was a scum and then stood up.

"Huye, we don't need to be in this shop anymore. Let me take you to a *better* place than this. Yohan, I will trust you to take care of this matter for me."

In the end, Freshia was a noble and she could not stand being made fun of. She had visited this shop for ages and bought thousands of products. Who knew how many of them were false and would need to be thrown out?

'No, I better throw out everything I ever bought from here. This place will contaminate me as well.'

Freshia decided as she dragged Huye out of the shop. Huye had a sinister grin planted on her face as she was dragged behind the nobility.

Yohan was not surprised to see that Huye had planned this all out to get into Freshia's good grace. She seemed like someone capable of doing all this.

On the other hand, the shopkeeper looked broken. He seemed to be muttering about the resistance and being threatened to do something he did not want to. Yohan felt sorry for him and he also saw an opportunity.

"Hey man, I know that interaction was tough for you but I know how you can exact your revenge. If you make a contract with me, I will grant you the power to go ahead and take your family out of the resistance hands."

Yohan offered the man a deal and the man accepted it wholeheartedly. His expression looked marginally better when he stamped his signature on the contract.

The resistance had gone too far for Huye's desires this time and it had ended up benefiting Yohan in the long run as well.

Once that was taken care of, Yohan hurriedly caught up with Huye and Freshia. Who knew how much more damage these two would cause to Yohan's plans if this continued?

But his worries turned out to be null. Nothing else happened the whole day and the two ladies just became fast friends. Huye was even able to score an invitation out of Freshia for the recent party.

"So, did you have fun, my lady? Lady Huye sure was something, right?"

Yohan probed, wanting to see how much progress Huye had made with Freshia. Freshia's face lit up as soon as she heard Huye's face but she coughed into her hand to hide her interest.

"Hmph, well, Huye is a good person. She even asked me about my relationship with the queen and encouraged me to speak more. She was interested in *me* more than the queen and it was a first."

Yohan wanted to laugh at Freshia's naiveness. Huye had shown interest in Freshia to figure out what the queen liked about her. But Freshia had not caught this trick of Huye.

"Anyway, tell Rui that I invited another friend to the party and not to be alarmed when Huye shows up. She's great for being a commoner."

Freshia spoke praises about Huye and Yohan listened to her.

'Looks like the competition to gain the queen's affection got just a tad bit fiercer this time around. I wonder who will win this time. It will be a fun race to watch for sure.'