I suddenly became the villain and I liked it

Melanie and I arrived in the office. It was fully furnished with sofas, chairs, bookcases, tables, and everything you would expect in a normal office space. The only weird thing is that it exists in a place like this. Looking around, they have not yet started the moving process. A boon for me since all of their documents should still be here.

“What are we doing here anyway?”

“Melanie, I need you to promise me that whatever you find in this room will remain between us.”

“Huh?”

“I only pertain to the secrets that they may keep. There will undoubtably be things here that you should not know of.”

“Why?”

I look at Melanie and consider my options. I decide to gamble.

“Because my family is connected.”

“Huh?”

“I do not have evidence yet but I can safely assume that whoever is responsible has a connection to my family. So, I need your silence on whatever we may find out. I would know if you speak of such things, you are the only one who knows after all.”

“Oh. Don’t worry. I won’t do anything.”

I was surprised by her response.

“Just like that?”

“Hey, we are in the merchant business you know? Dad always told me that our clients will always have their secrets. So, all we can do is keep those secrets too. Although dad does choose who he deals with so its not really that much of a problem for us.”

“You do understand that your silence also includes your father?”

“Yep! Dad says that I should not tell him any secrets that I know and he does not tell me any. The more people that know means more trouble after all!”

I do not know if that is a good thing or not. But I will take advantage of it. She may know of other people’s secrets but that is something I am not interested in.

“Good. I would need your help in moving all of these. Take all the books you can find. Make sure to leave no part of the room unturned. We will be burning this room afterwards so make sure to not leave anything important behind.”

“Got it!”

We go through all of the items. There were a lot of other things hidden around. There were some ledgers with less impressive clientele. We carefully look at every item within this room. We have ample time after all. Lyn is fighting the boss and the others are a good distraction from our activities. I have no need to worry for their safety for I already know what would happen. Although, my interference might change some things.

“Hmm? I think I found something.”

Our search had stalled. There were no particularly special items from what we have found.

“What is it?”

“Feels like there is a secret room.”

“Hmm, let us double check everything then. There might be something to open it.”

We look around the room but find nothing of note.

“Do you think we can break it?”

“There should be a way to open it. The normal ones would be a secret button. That would usually be on the desk or on the bookshelves.”

Wait, bookshelves?

“Melanie, take out every single book we got from here.”

The first thing Melanie and I did was to store the books that were not hidden. We only read the ones that we found in hidden compartments. We looked through all of the books until we found what we were looking for.

“Here it is. The switch was inside one of the books the whole time.”

I press the switch and the secret door opens. We follow it until we arrive to a space. It is not a big space but this seems to be the hidden stash.

“Woah. There’s so much money here!”

There was a lot of money kept in here as well as the ledgers. I skim through the first one I see and find a familiar name, my father.

“Melanie, go and collect everything of value. I will be going through these books.”

“Got it!”

There were plenty of stuff around here. It was not only money, valuable antiques and other special items were stored here. None of them were of interest to me, we are rich after all. So, I focused all of my efforts on the books and ledgers here.

“Whew. I’m tired. I’m gonna rest for a bit.”

Melanie sat on the floor as she cleaned the place out. I have been skimming through all the books here the whole time. There were a lot of nobles that participated in these activities and none of them were of higher status than us. It was on the final book that I finally found what I was looking for. Sadly, it was not a member of the royal family. It would be safe to assume that they are not involved. However, the prime minister is.

“Melanie, hide all of these away.”

I give Melanie all the books except for the last one. My father may be the duke but it would be hard for him to hide all of this by himself. I have always assumed that he had someone in the inside to help him hide all his activities. Now, I know who it is. However, this does change things. The prime minister never leaves unless ordered by the king. Gaining access to him is normally impossible.

“It is time to leave, Melanie. Make sure to not leave anything behind.”

I took an alcohol bottle that I took and set the room on fire. Even with my connection with the prince, I would still have no chance of acquiring their audience. Wait, I know. The timing would be very improbable but I would just need to do it. I now know of when it will begin. My swan song would start at the dawn of the new year.

“Hey, there are people fighting over there.”

As I was ruminating on my plans, Melanie calls out to me. I decide to follow her and find them. The battle between Lyn and the boss.