I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend

 

The fact that I got the business license was more important than how well I ran the inn.

But it wasn’t enough.

 

Not enough to win over my great-aunt and gain the unanimous approval of the vassals.

 

‘I’m sure you’ve been preparing for this.’

 

In the past, she’s even been mentioned as the next head of the family.

 

Her connections from her time as a Princess, combined with those she’s made as the Marquise of Myers, would be formidable, and she would be a great support to her son.

 

‘I also need to be strong.’

 

A way to keep up with whatever she has in store.

 

It wasn’t just about getting the business, it was about having a clear direction on how to grow the business in the future.

 “No, it’s not enough to build an ordinary hotel and do the basics.” “What?” “We want to popularize it.” 

Jeron’s voice rose.

 “Popularized?” “I’m going for the middle class and below. I’m going to charge a reasonable price, so that anyone who pays will be able to stay, not just nobles.” 

Then we can have a lot of people staying since Beloa has such a high population.

 “Wait, wa–wait.” 

Jeron, who had been listening blankly, quickly came to his senses and interrupted me.

 “But if we do that, the quality of the accommodation might suffer. Normally, people would expect a hotel to be better than an inn, and we might not be able to afford it if we cut back on the investment to make it more affordable.” “Well, I’m thinking of doing a lot of things to make that happen, like changing the layout of the building, reducing the size of the rooms, and increasing the number of single occupancy rooms compared to existing hotels…” “But what about the cost of fixtures? And with more single rooms, we’ll need more power sources…” “A power source? That’s the easiest thing to get.” “What?” 

Jeron frowned as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. I grinned confidently.

 “Do you remember the mine in the mountains east of Pelitos that I received from the Crown Prince many years ago?” 

The secret weapon I’ve been hiding

, ‘The mine.’

 

The amount of ore I could extract from that mine would be enough to build a hotel.

 

But the mine wasn’t officially mine, so I pretended to negotiate with the ghostly top as I had planned and got the ore at a bargain price…

 “What are you talking about, there’s nothing there.” 

At Jeron’s puzzled comment, I clicked my tongue slightly, then continued benevolently with a proud look on my face.

 “I’ve had you investigating the mine for ages now, and you still don’t know? It’s actually a magic mine, with a huge amount of magic ore buried in the ground.” “What…?” “Oh, come to think of it, the more demon ore buried there, the more demons live there. Did the investigation go well, or did you find anything, like a demon graveyard?” “Nothing.” 

That short word stopped me in my tracks.

 “…Huh?” “There was nothing. No magic ore, no magic water.” 

‘Nothing?’ 

 

I forced a smile and replied,

“No, you’re kidding. It can’t be…” “Why would I joke about something like this? I’ve been thinking it was strange since you suddenly told me to send an investigator to the mine, where did you hear such a strange rumor and get such an illusion?” “Then you did investigate…” “Of course, I did, several times.” 

Jeron finished in a firm tone.

 “But no matter how much I investigated, I didn’t come up with anything special. It’s just an empty mine, nothing.”  

Instead, I sat there transfixed.

 

Jeron realized I was in a bad state, and he tried to sneak away, saying, ‘We’ll talk later,’ but I didn’t have the energy to catch him.

 

It was because a crisis had come from the most unexpected place.

 

‘Nothing?’

 

Why? I mean, how could there be nothing?

 

Surely it’s the mountain of magic that O’Neill discovered in the original story?

 

Or have I confused the place names, for example, the mountains to the west of Pelitos, not the mountains to the east, or the mountains to the north?

 

‘But the crown prince only has mines in the eastern mountains, right?’

 

That’s for sure. It makes sense that O’Neill would stumble upon the mine and immediately tell the crown prince, who would then take a liking to O’Neill.

 

But why!

 

So far, the events in the novel have been going well, but why!

 

The most important thing that matters most suddenly disappears!

 

‘My magic mountain!’

 

That was a devastating shock, like the heavens and earth collapsing. Until now, I had believed in it and said,

‘I will definitely be the next in line.’

 

However, I realized that the number of spleen I was holding was actually a useless piece of toilet paper.

 

‘So… what should I do with this?’

 

The problem was that all my plans were thrown out of whack by the loss of one of my mines.

 

The hotel, for example. The whole agenda was based on the premise that I had a mining magic mountain.

 

No matter how I changed the structure and minimized the fixtures, I still needed a power source to run the hotel.

 

Usually, for a luxurious establishment like that, the power source would be magic ore.

 

However, the price of magic ore was not affordable, so the hotel could not even attempt to commercialize it.

 

‘So where am I going to get the power source?’

 

I grunted as I pulled my hair out.

 

It doesn’t have to be magic ore, as long as we can find something that contains a lot of magic that could serve as a power source…magic…magic…

 

‘Magic beast?’

 

Come to think of it, I’d thought of something similar before.

 

When I realized that when a demon dies, it becomes magic ore.

 

‘Oh, right.’

 

I hastened to my feet. Immediately, taking out a piece of paper, I scribbled hastily. It was addressed to Magic Tower, and it asked for a mage to be sent to us.

 

As if it hadn’t just occurred to me that I was sending this as Princess Averine, I added the family seal at the end.

 [And as someone skilled in alchemy.]  “Are you sure you want to go yourself?” 

A middle-aged man asked worriedly.

 “Of course, the Princess of Averine herself requested it.” “Even so, isn’t it too much for the next Master of the Mage Tower to directly handle…” “No. I must be the one to do this, as they requested, and no one else is as skilled in alchemy as I am…” 

The woman across from him, who had been reading the letter, suddenly smiled.

 “I’m glad to hear that, because that’s exactly the kind of person I’d like to meet.” 

She then tipped back the hat on her tightly pressed robe. Her beautiful long silver hair fluttered in the breeze.

 

A white, delicate face was exposed in the sunlight, golden eyes that sparkled like jewels, gently curved into a soft crescent.

 

Her tousled hair fell down behind her ears. Then she looked up at the sky and thought of a person.

 

‘I’ve been waiting for this day.’

 

And the woman smiled.

 

‘Dahlia Averine.’