The Villainous Noblewoman Is About to Be Forced into Love, Isn’t This Wrong? Chapter 173: Poor Little Kitten

“...I apologize, Princess Liana,” Felicia didn’t get angry, as she knew she was in the wrong.

Liana directly ignored Felicia and reached out her hand to help Tari up. “Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry... Princess Liana,” Tari said with her head lowered, finally saying Liana’s na.

No one except Tari herself knew whether she said the na because she saw Liana, or because she was about to reveal Jacaranda’s identity.

However, Liana didn’t care about this, because she had told her from the beginning that if soone threatened or coerced her, she could reveal Liana’s identity—preserving her own life was the most important thing.

“It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re alright.” Liana saw the shoe prints on Tari’s clothes and helped dust them off.

“I apologize, Princess Liana, for this embarrassing display. For a beast folk to behave so disrespectfully—I’ll have the guards take her away imdiately,” Felicia said.

“That won’t be necessary. Tari will listen to .” After confirming that Tari hadn’t suffered any substantial injuries, Liana turned her gaze to Felicia. “Co, let’s have a good chat, shall we?”

“Thank you for your intervention, Princess Liana. I’ll certainly bring gifts later to express my gratitude and apologies, but I have so matters to attend to at the mont.” Felicia hadn’t yet realized that Liana was their gold-level mber.

As a qualified mber of the Angus Family, rembering the faces and nas of important guests was a basic requirent.

But obviously, Liana wasn’t among them.

“What’s wrong? The custor is right in front of you, yet you want to find soone else?” Liana’s tone was full of dissatisfaction. It seed that Tari’s situation was indeed connected to this person.

“I sincerely apologize, Princess Liana. I’ll have soone else guide you. Please calm down,” Felicia said very respectfully.

Only when Felicia saw the gold card in Liana’s hand did she realize that Liana was the one who had called for her.

“Princess Liana, were you looking for ?”

“It seems that even gold-level mbers aren’t taken very seriously by the Angus Comrce Guild,” Liana said.

This was at the entrance of the main hall. Although there weren’t many people at noon, this was the largest trading center in the Lisat Kingdom, and those who ca here were all influential figures. So after hearing Liana’s words, they looked in this direction.

But Felicia naturally wouldn’t panic over such a small matter. “No, Princess Liana, it’s precisely because I value our gold-level mbers that I responded this way.”

“Rembering the nas and appearances of gold-level mbers is our most basic duty. If we can’t even do that, we can’t be qualified rchants of the Angus Comrce Guild. But precisely because of this, I was confused about your situation, Princess Liana—after all, our Angus Guild has never issued a gold-level mber card to you.” Felicia said that whenever a new gold-level mber joined, she would certainly know about it.

So now there was only one possibility. “Princess Liana, whose gold-level mber card is this in your hand? If you’ve taken it without permission, to protect our mber’s rights, we’ll invalidate this card and issue a new one to the mber.”

“There’s no need for such trouble. Just issue a new one to , won’t that do?” Liana said unreasonably, because this was how she should be at this mont.

“Princess Liana certainly loves to joke,” Felicia smiled. “This card doesn’t confer its privileges to just anyone who holds it. That would be very disrespectful to the original holder. I hope Princess Liana can understand.”

“Why should I understand? This was specifically given to to use. She agreed to this, so why can’t I enjoy these rights?” Liana asked.

“Where is the original cardholder? She should be very clear about what the mber card represents. Since she’s willing to give this card to Princess Liana, couldn’t she just co and convey Princess Liana’s intentions?” Felicia said.

“So, you’re refusing to serve ?”

“How could that be? The Angus Comrce Guild welcos any custor who wishes to shop.” Felicia said with a smile.

In reality, she had ntally cursed Liana thoroughly. Who would want to serve soone like her? She only brings trouble to others.

But under the current circumstances, not serving Princess Liana would beco even more troubleso.

Besides, this was happening in front of so many people. If they could serve soone like Princess Liana, it could be considered good advertising.

“That’s good.”

“What business do you have with ? Let’s go to the reception room to discuss it slowly?”

After all, they were still outside, and Liana was quite an unstable character. If she said sothing that caused complications, the problem would beco very serious.

“Alright.” Liana nodded in agreent and brought Tari into the reception room.

“Sit beside .”

“Y-Yes, Princess Liana.” Tari’s eyes were a bit red, and she seed lost and confused.

Originally, she had a goal—after ten thousand gold coins, she would be free and could do what she wanted to do. But reality had hit her hard.

She... might never see her family again.

At this mont, a hand was placed on her buttocks, making Tari tense up. But the hand’s target didn’t seem to be her buttocks; after so fumbling, it placed her tail on her thigh and started smoothing her fur.

This was naturally Liana’s doing.

“Princess Liana, what would you like to buy? How can I assist you?” Felicia asked.

“Tari is my pet, but it seems my pet is being bullied by you,” Liana said with evident dissatisfaction.

“I apologize, Princess Liana. I wasn’t aware of this. However, even if I had known this beforehand, I would have still acted the sa way, Princess Liana. Tari is a rchant of our Angus Comrce Guild, and as one of our mbers, she should bear the responsibility. For soone like Tari to do sothing that damages the reputation of the Angus Comrce Guild, she naturally deserves punishnt,” Felicia said indifferently.

In the eyes of rchants, beast folk couldn’t have human rights. Their best destination was to beco slaves, and high-value ones at that.

Even if Tari was exceptionally talented, so what?

Even blood brothers keep clear accounts. If everything the guild did was exposed, it would be enough to destroy the entire Angus Family—let alone soone like Tari, who wasn’t even human.

So they couldn’t trust her at all. If she didn’t have so skills, she would have been labeled and auctioned off long ago.

After all, petite cat girls like Tari had quite a following; many people had a taste for them.

“Such strict requirents indeed,” Liana didn’t care about this point. From the conversation between Tari and Felicia earlier, Liana could be certain that there must be so special deal between them.

“So, what was Tari talking about earlier? What about ten thousand gold coins and family?” Liana asked.

“Rather than that, let’s first discuss what Princess Liana would like to purchase,” Felicia didn’t want to dwell ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) on this topic.

“Isn’t satisfying the custor’s needs the principle of your Angus Comrce Guild? Right now, I need to know about this matter, understand?” Liana tapped the table, leaving a gold coin on it. “I’m not short on money, so stop wasting my ti with nonsense. Answer what I ask, understand?”

“...I understand.” Felicia nodded, feeling like Liana’s way of interaction seed familiar from sowhere.

“Actually, there’s nothing particularly special to say. It’s just a matter of business,” Felicia said.

“About twenty years ago, when the Lisat Kingdom hadn’t fully stabilized, things were troubleso. Many places had riots. Tari’s family ca to the Lisat Kingdom seeking protection, which our Lisat Kingdom naturally accepted. But Princess Liana should be very aware that beast folk had no status to speak of, so no territory was willing to accept them.”

This was nonsense. Twenty years ago, Liana’s father was still in the Venus Dukedom. How could there be no one willing to shelter Tari’s family? However, Liana didn’t rush to interrupt Felicia and continued listening.

“At this ti, our Angus Comrce Guild accepted Tari’s family and provided them with assistance. We signed a contract—Tari’s family would work for us, and we would provide lodging and wages. Whether this is true or not, I think from Miss Tari’s continued silence and lack of objection, Princess Liana should be able to see that I’m not lying, right?”

Indeed, with Liana present, if Felicia was lying, Tari should have objected. But she remained silent, head lowered, her expression very downcast.

“Continue.”

“Alright.” Felicia nodded and continued the story about Tari.

“Originally, Tari’s family worked very diligently, were very hardworking, and had great ambition. As Princess Liana should be well aware, beast folk had no status to speak of. So, even though our Angus Comrce Guild might not have been fond of beast folk, we gradually began to accept Tari’s family. But one day, our Miss Tari was very mischievous and damaged an item that was ant to be sold.

“That item was very expensive, and the buyer was a noble with a very special status. He was very satisfied with this item and had spent a long ti deciding on it. He was originally very happy, but when it was almost ti for delivery, such a thing happened. Wouldn’t that make him very angry?

“Moreover, not being able to complete the transaction on ti, especially due to our Angus Comrce Guild’s fault, naturally affected our reputation to so extent. Although the transaction hadn’t been finalized, we still provided so compensation. But Princess Liana should be very clear that what rchants value most is reputation.”

“Although we had originally planned to treat Tari’s family as our own, such an incident made it difficult for our Angus Comrce Guild to trust Tari’s family again. So we signed a new contract with Tari’s family—they had to compensate for the original value of the item and our intended profit within five years.

If they couldn’t do so, then there was no other way. Despite having spent a long ti together, which pained us greatly, if we just let Tari’s family off, others would view our Angus Comrce Guild differently.

So, this was an unavoidable solution. If they couldn’t gather fifty thousand gold coins within five years, the Angus Comrce Guild would sell them to compensate for their losses to the guild. But rest assured, Princess Liana, since they had been ‘family’ for over a decade, we naturally carefully selected suitable buyers for them.”

“I’m sorry... it’s all my fault...” Tari kept sobbing, full of self-reproach. She blad her younger self for being too playful, leading to such a result.

If this was true, then the Angus Comrce Guild’s actions didn’t have many problems.

But after seeing the darker side of the Angus Comrce Guild, Liana felt that this matter wasn’t so simple.

Did anyone really purchase that item?

Was the loss really ten thousand gold coins?

If it was such a valuable item, how could Tari possibly get close to it?

Could it have been a deliberate trap, set up for Tari to touch and trigger the subsequent events, with the purpose of being able to sell Tari’s family through normal procedures?

Making them sign a contract, so that even if the Lisat Kingdom ca looking, the Angus Comrce Guild would have reasonable excuses and reasons to explain.

Isn’t this exactly what the Angus Comrce Guild was doing now?

“So, who purchased this item? Ten thousand gold coins, yet a child could easily touch it? Where were the guards? What were they doing?” Liana asked.

“Sigh.” Felicia sighed, “I knew Princess Liana would think this way. Indeed, our Angus Comrce Guild has always been very ticulous in its dealings, let alone such an expensive item about to be sold—how could we let a child co into contact with it? Might it have been deliberately done by us?”

“We understand such doubts, but it was precisely because of our trust in Tari’s family, treating them as our own, that we lowered our guard. We never expected such a result. If we had another chance, we certainly wouldn’t do this.”

“Moreover, our Angus Comrce Guild has started to change because of this incident. No matter how high your status is in the Angus Comrce Guild, everyone must be treated equally. What needs to be protected must be properly protected,” Felicia said.

Felicia’s status in the Angus Family should be quite high. Twenty years ago, she should have been a child and shouldn’t have been familiar with these matters. Most likely, she was asked to take over Tari’s case, and the details of Tari’s situation were explained to her.

“Who was the noble who purchased this item?” Liana asked.

“I’m sorry, I cannot disclose that. This is client privacy, and our Angus Comrce Guild will never leak client information,” Felicia said.

“What was the damaged item? Was it really worth ten thousand gold coins?” Liana continued to ask.

“I was still a child at that ti and am not very clear about this matter. For specific details, I can have soone else tell you,” Felicia continued to evade.

Liana knew very well that trying to get anything out of these people was extrely difficult.

“So, was there really a loss of ten thousand gold coins?” Liana felt that, given their bloodsucking nature, the number shouldn’t be this.

“Fifty thousand, but Princess Liana should be very clear that fifty thousand now and fifty thousand then are not the sa concept, so it beca one hundred thousand. And this was also agreed upon by Miss Tari,” Felicia said.

“Huh?” This was utter nonsense.

No matter how much devaluation occurred, it couldn’t possibly double in just ten years. The Angus Comrce Guild was clearly feeding on human suffering. More importantly, how could Tari have accepted this?

“So, hasn’t Tari already provided the one hundred thousand gold coins? Hasn’t the agreent been fulfilled? Why are you treating her like this?” Liana asked.

“Too much ti has passed. Miss Tari’s parents have already been sold, and we naturally cannot reclaim items that have already been sold. Moreover, we’re not sure if Miss Tari’s parents are still alive, or if they’ve been resold,” Felicia said.

“This is sowhat different from what you said earlier, isn’t it? Didn’t you say you found a suitable buyer?” Liana asked.

“Princess Liana, you can’t expect us to monitor them every mont, can you?”

“...” Liana realized that Tari probably had no chance of seeing her parents again.

“Just tell the buyer’s na, and I’ll handle the rest,” Liana said.

“That’s not possible, Princess Liana. I’ve said many tis that our Angus Comrce Guild will never disclose client information,” Felicia shook her head in refusal.

“...Fine.” Liana’s gaze turned cold. “Then, since things have co to this, why do you still make Tari gather one hundred thousand gold coins?”

“We’re doing this for Miss Tari’s benefit. She has the talent, so we set a goal for her to give her motivation,” Felicia said.

“Tch.” Liana sneered.

Only a fool would believe such nonsense. If Tari earned one hundred thousand gold coins for the Angus Comrce Guild, then the benefits she brought to the guild were at least several tis that.

This explanation was solely to keep Tari bound to the Angus Comrce Guild. The guild probably regretted setting the amount at only one hundred thousand gold coins—they likely hadn’t anticipated the ergence of a bestseller.

Now, apart from revealing the na, Tari had no value to speak of.

“Then why did you just say that if Tari revealed Jacaranda’s na, you would help her find her parents? Was that also a lie?” Liana asked.

“This is an internal matter of our Angus Comrce Guild and has nothing to do with Princess Liana,” Felicia said.

As long as Tari spoke up, she could get out, and then they would find an excuse to take all the one hundred thousand gold coins from Tari’s pocket, completely eliminating her value.

“Is that so?” Liana looked at Tari.

Tari still appeared very depressed and downcast, deep in self-reproach. However, now was not the ti for self-bla. “Tari, tell , does this matter have anything to do with ?”

“...Jacaranda is Princess Liana.” Although Tari was very sad now, Princess Liana was a benefactor who had helped her, so she would definitely use her strength to help Princess Liana.

“...Huh?” Felicia still had a look of disbelief.

“Both last ti and this ti, Felicia, your attitude towards hasn’t been very friendly,” Liana said with a cold face. “There’s no need for any further cooperation. The Angus Comrce Guild has thoroughly disappointed .”

“Princess Liana, as I’ve ntioned before, a cooperation cannot be unilaterally terminated...” Felicia bit her lip. If the other party was a minor character, the Angus Comrce Guild could easily swallow them up.

But Liana was different. Felicia knew she couldn’t threaten Liana at all.

“Tari, now you have no reason to stay here, right? Co with . I wasn’t lying last ti—I have several new ideas that are much better than that makeup remover,” Liana threatened blatantly. “Let’s see if the Angus Comrce Guild will still be the first thing people think of in the costics field.”

“...” Felicia fell silent.

“If you tell about Tari’s parents, I might reconsider,” Liana said.

Felicia wanted to know too. That batch of slaves had suddenly disappeared during transport. No one knew where they had gone, and no one dared to co out openly, as it would be seen as a declaration of war against the Angus Comrce Guild.

Tari also fell silent. She was very confused now, like Sephirena, unable to find the motivation to live on. Originally, she only had to work hard to achieve her goal.

But after reaching the goal, she discovered that the story’s ending was like this, which was hard for Tari to accept.

But now, Princess Liana was trying her best to help her, and Princess Liana was also inviting her. She had said before that once she had resolved her own matters, she would go find Princess Liana.

“I understand, Princess Liana,” Tari bit her lip and finally agreed.

This was also an opportunity given to her by Princess Liana, an opportunity for revenge, and she had to seize it.

“It seems there’s nothing more to discuss,” Liana stood up.

“It seems Princess Liana truly values Miss Tari, coming here specifically for her,” Felicia’s face was sowhat gloomy, but what she didn’t anticipate was that the troubles she was facing now were nothing compared to what was about to happen.

“No, no, no, I didn’t co here solely for this matter,” Liana looked towards a corner. “I know you’re watching, right?”

“The last ti I ca, I asked if you had any intelligence on the Darriss Territory.”

Felicia’s heart tightened, feeling that what was about to happen was not sothing she, as a single person, could handle.

“Do you think how did I co to know this?” Liana’s lips curled into a faint smile. “Because I know very clearly that Second Prince Oester and Crown Prince Hodwen have both purchased so intelligence from you.”

“Princess Liana, you can say whatever you want, but I still hope you won’t casually insult our Angus Comrce Guild,” Felicia said. “Making such statents without any evidence is very disrespectful to our Angus Comrce Guild and to the two princes.”

At this mont, several high-level Executor guards also entered the room.

“What is the aning of this?” Liana looked at the guards with interest. “Are you planning to silence ?”

“No, we would never do that. We maintain the highest respect for our custors.”

“It doesn’t look like it,” Liana’s jade-colored eyes surveyed the people in the room.

“Evidence—I certainly have it, but I won’t give it to you, because even if you knew, what could you do?” Liana stood up. “If you have any issues, go talk to the King of Lisat.”

“Princess Liana...”

BOOM!

Minoga, who had been watching from the side, raised her hand, and those guards were sent flying out, doors and all.

This caused many people to stop and look in this direction.

“Hmm... it seems not a bad idea to just say it directly now. Since you’re so eager to know, I’ll tell you,” Liana’s lips curved into a slight arc.

“I said before that you sell intelligence about other territories. Why has no one ever spoken up about it? The reason is simple: anyone who reveals that they’ve bought or sold intelligence here would be dead for sure. They would be hunted down by those who have previously bought or sold. But I’m different—I don’t care. With Minoga protecting , no one dares to touch .

I indeed can’t prove that Crown Prince Hodwen or Second Prince Oester have ever purchased intelligence here, but I can prove that your Angus Comrce Guild is selling intelligence, and moreover, it’s intelligence about my mother’s study.”

“Where’s the evidence?” Felicia asked.

“Evidence?” Liana smiled. “You should be very clear who sold this intelligence to you, right? And that person has already been caught by our Venus Manor.”

“Are you saying that based on a casual statent, you can convict us? That seems too simple, doesn’t it?” Felicia breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought Liana really had so substantial evidence.