Fostering the Male Lead

Shasha tilted his head as if he didn’t understand why I was out here instead of being inside the fence. Then he spat something out. It was the blue ball that I had accidentally thrown too far away.

‘I thought you ran away. Was it because of the ball?’

Ah… like a fool, I was just assuming stuff on my own…

As I stared blankly at the ball, Shasha pushed his head towards me. When I felt the soft fur in my hands, I came back to my senses.

“Hahahaha.”

I was both happy and deeply moved.

It was different from the day when I mistook him for getting close and familiar with me. This time, I definitely felt his trust towards me.

It was the first time I felt a bond between us.

“Wow, our Shasha is awesome. You brought it without giving up until the end. It’s really amazing.”

Then Shasha wagged his tail wildly. He was so pretty and admirable that I hugged him tightly. Shasha was so big that I got completely buried in him.

“So adorable! You’re so nice, my little puppy!”

“Woof!”

We rolled over the floor.

The Baron, who followed me, was freaked out by this scene, but I didn’t know— I just didn’t know what to do because Shasha was so adorable. When I got up after rolling on the ground for a while, a document popped in front of my eyes. It was done none other than by the Baron who noticed that I was now in a better mood.

“Sir Baron, do you know that you’re very persistent?”

“Yes. That’s my strength.”

I lightly glared at the Baron and read the document he had handed me.

In summary, the Katzel Duchy would make accessories with the mana stones and deliver them to the top-tier jewelry shops in the capital. The Baron’s plan was to display the accessories made of mana stone there to attract not only the wizards but also the non-magicians.

Man, I already knew it, but this really smells like big money.

“This is a good idea. But mana stones are hard to handle as compared to the other jewels, so using any craftsman might destroy them.”

The baron handed me another page.

It was a famous jeweler whom I had heard of. But he cost a lot of money.

“Is there no one else aside from him?”

“He was chosen because you said we can’t just use any jeweler.”

Yes, but he was too expensive. I didn’t like the jeweler that the Baron chose. The Duchy had to make as much profit as it could.

Why? Because that would all be my retirement savings!

But the problem was that my information was limited here. My information was completely based on the original story and it was inadequate for this little initiative.

So there was nothing I could do. I could only follow whatever the Baron said. When I was about to give up, a name flashed in my mind like a thunderbolt. It was Rosetta’s information, not mine.

“Asilla….”

“What?”

“Please contact Asilla’s workshop. It’s not a well-known place, but I’m sure of his skills. Do you remember the necklace that Countess Giller wore to His Majesty’s birthday banquet last year? It was made there.”

“Are you talking about that necklace?”

The Baron’s eyes brightened as I nodded. Countess Giller’s necklace was famous enough for Baron to understand it right away.

It was actually a magic tool that could be used by non-magicians while maintaining its beauty without being crude.

It was the only necklace in the world. It was so famous that news about it spread all the way to the far north of the kingdom.

“The jeweler is known to be anonymous. How did you know about it?”

“Because it’s an ornament.”

The ornament was beautiful. And Rosetta was crazy about beautiful things.

After hearing the rumors about the necklace the Countess wore, Rosetta drove her men like dogs to find the name of its mastermind.

She wanted to request a necklace design for her coming-of-age ceremony.

And she finally found out the name of the jeweler. Asilla, the owner of the Asilla workshop.

“The cost will be reasonable.”

The Baron’s face brightened up like a light bulb.

“But it won’t be easy to sign a contract with him. That person is excellent in skill, but he doesn’t like getting attention. I was rejected too.”

And then the light on the Baron’s face immediately went off. The Baron’s expression clearly showed what he was thinking, ‘The unrivaled Rosetta Katzel failed? Is that even possible?’

‘Yeah, the unrivaled Rosetta failed.’

“…Is he alive?”

“Fortunately, yes.”

The Baron was greatly relieved to hear that. It was clear that he thought it was useful not to kill him because of his skill. If it weren’t for Asilla’s outstanding skills… He would have died.