I'll do as you say! I will spend time and effort making sure things happen in order. Please, do not end my life."

The dwarf begged. His life flashed before his eyes as he came face-to-face with his invention. He realized that he had no way out of this situation unless he begged the female to spare his life.

Layla acted fast, and Mary's instincts were even faster.

"Mary, it's fine! We have a contract, and I intend to use Erwin until I squeeze him dry. Since he's made a mistake, he must pay for it in his way."

Layla assured, and Mary made a pouting face to show that she was not happy. But the female did back down after giving the dwarf one last look of contempt.

"Fine! I will do as young miss orders. But you had better squeeze him dry and leave him out to hang after that. I do not want to see this bastard in my life again."

Mary spoke firmly before she put her axe away. Her actions made the dwarf sigh in relief at being spared.

But perhaps it was too soon for him to start celebrating. Especially once he noticed the heat in Layla's eyes. It made him regret choosing to be introduced to this girl in the first place.

"Since I saved your life for a second time, I would like to ask you for a favor, Mr. Erwin. Here are some things I need urgently. Can you work on them and ensure I get them soon?

As for payment, I am sure we have overpaid you already. You need to start working toward lowering your debt to us now."

Layla smiled, but Erwin could not help but find her words akin to the devil's whisper.

Those words made him shake, but he could not show his emotions clearly, or he would be taken advantage of.

In the end, the dwarf forced himself to smile on the outside, but on the inside, he was seething mad and looking for ways to end Layla's life.

'Darn this contract that is binding me. I cannot even take a jab at this child without it restricting me. At this rate, I might be stuck serving her my whole life!'

As if knowing what the man was thinking, Mary smacked when she looked at him. Her knowing eyes made the dwarf pull away, and he quickly got to work.

Once Erwin got busy, there was no point in the pair staying where they were. It was time to head back.

"Mary, are all of our tasks taken care of? Was there nothing else we had to do?"

Layla asked in a tense voice. She had a nagging feeling that there was more to do, but her memory and the checklist failed her.

Thankfully, her maid was here to remind her.

"Young miss, you said that you wanted to look at some local shops and buy one of them for your business. If you feel tired, you can leave this up to me."

Mary spoke confidently, which made Layla want to accept her offer and let her make her own decision.

But as soon as she thought about it, Layla changed her mind and decided to do it herself.

As much as she would like Mary to take charge, something about letting her maid take control of her life did not sit well with her.

So far, Layla had fully relied on Mary for everything, and this reliance was increasing. Now, Layla needed to start doing some tasks without Mary.

"I will take it from here. I have the perfect place in mine. Just head to the main street, and I will tell you where I want to open my business. Get ready to spend a lot of money this time, Mary."

Layla had a general idea of how costly a shop in this area would be. But little did she know that money would be the least of her concerns when buying one.

Port Osmos might have been called the empire's 'trading center,' but it was also a place where only those fortunate enough to settle down and afford could establish themselves; unfortunately, that included connections and magic.

And the one fraction that no one wanted to piss off here was the imperial family.

People agreed to sell Layla their shop when she named her price, but as soon as she let it slip that she was Duke Lockhart's ward, their expression changed, and they paled before they made an excuse to run away.

And that excuse was not even a good one.

Once was a surprise, twice a coincidence, but Layla knew something was wrong when it kept happening.

"It seems that the royal family has strictly reinforced the rules in this place. We won't gain anything by staying here. We better write a formal complaint in the Duke's name and send it to the Imperial family. That would be the fastest way to resolve this situation."

Mary suggested with a smile, but Layla had one more option.

"Or, we can open this business in someone else's name and operate it from the backside. I am sure we can find someone to be our scapegoat. We know plenty of people who are not affiliated with Duke Lockhart."

Layla spoke firmly, but Mary's expression told her she might be way over her head with this one.

Still, it was worth trying, and Layla began to go through the list of people she could ask for help. As soon as she did that, she realized that her list was not as big as she had initially hoped for.

Apart from Rosette and Adam, her list had a few neutral fractions. And those kids would not work…for obvious reasons.

"Looks like we have no choice but to go through your method, Mary. Prepare the letter and ask for a reply as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I will look at the local lord's mansion and ask for permission there.