I Became The Male Lead's Female Friend

“Right. If you think of it as a merchant, it might be okay to produce a small amount of medicine and sell it exclusively for a high price.”

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Seeing Jeron glancing at me, I shook my head with a bitter smile.

“That’s not what I’m aiming for.”

Jeron lightly shrugged his shoulders and answered everything.

“I’ve been expecting it since you said you wanted to spread it secretly.”

“Then why did you ask that question?”

“…Hmm, well, I’m determined to know the purpose.”

“Determined?”

I frowned at his meaningful words.

Why haven’t I been paying attention asking this and that? He also seemed to understand that I was asking this for nothing.

That’ll speed things up. Now I decided to ask him openly, without hiding anything.

“Okay, So how would you hand over the recipe? But wouldn’t being suspicious be the same as openly handing over the recipe?”

“We have to make a deal.”

“What?”

“Which do you think is more natural, passing a recipe over hoping for nothing, or passing a recipe over hoping for something?”

My mouth gaped slightly, “You’re trying to induce a deal on purposely

“That’s right.”

It was a pretty plausible way. When an epidemic spreads, spreading the rumor that you have a cure in some way, could lure the Imperial Army in, and then sell the recipe back. However, this came with its own set of risks.

“But it would be hard for most people. Having the deal with the Imperial Army led by the Crown Prince. If the Royal Family comes forward by mistake, it could be a disaster.”

“You can’t do it on your own anyway.”

“Then?”

“As an organization that does not belong to a country…”

Jeron, who blurred the end of his words, showed a sign of hesitation for a moment. He barely continued with a look of uncertainty about whether he could say this or whether he was bringing up nonsense.

“How about putting up a ghost top?”

‘Ghost top?’

The ghost top was the top without a country to which it belonged. At first glance, it may seem free, but in the end, there is a risk of growing up alone without any support or benefits from any country.

That’s why, usually, well-known top-tiers build a slush fund or set up a ghost-top…

According to Jeron, the ghost top was to be raised so that even the Imperial Family could not easily touch it.

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Of course, the intention was good. If we do that, we’ll be able to easily hide the identity of the top owner because it has no affiliation.

‘But how do I raise a ghost top?’

And again, that way, Jeron seemed hesitant to speak. But I didn’t think he would mention it for nothing, so I asked again.

“You thought of a way, didn’t you?”

“That is…”

Jeron hesitated and answered immediately, “We need money.”

“How much?”

“It can’t be done with ordinary funds; there’s a significant amount of money that can be managed right now…”

After that, Jeron went on to list the methods he had come up with. What he said was simply, ‘Let’s absorb the little tops’.

The idea was to buy as many tops as possible in a short time, showing the potential for growth in various countries.

To do that, I need a considerable amount of money that I can use right away, and that’s why Jeron hesitated to tell me.

I understand. Even if I was the only daughter of the Duke, he wouldn’t think that I had enough money right away. But what I wondered was something else.

“You’ll do it alone… is that possible?”

It is simple to buy small tops with growth potential in a short period. However, it was not a matter of money, but it was difficult to determine whether there was any real growth potential, beginning with whether such tops existed.

But on that point, Jeron seemed strangely confident.

“I’m not alone. There are connections that I made when I worked at the Academy or Rebeauvel. I know a few investment clubs to help.”

“What?”

“And that’s because this was originally what I was doing at Rebeauvel. There are also a few tops that I looked at beforehand.”

My mouth kept gaping unknowingly, “Why do you speak as if you had prepared in advance?”

“What? Oh, no. That’s….”

I frowned suspiciously as I watched him sweat.

Listening to what he said, it seemed like he had prepared it from the beginning with the intention of doing so, not the method he had come up with now.

Is he also able to predict the future? Or did he know there would be a war?

As my suspicions grew deeper and deeper, Jeron eventually told the truth.

“Because it will be helpful to the Princess…”

“What?”

“You need that kind of performance to be recognized as a successor. So even if it’s not a ghost top, I think it’ll help you in the future.”

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“You must have been planning it since you were a child…!”

Jeron closed his eyes as he looked at my startled face. I covered my mouth with both hands and couldn’t even speak.

“I’ll make sure you meet Rudrick.”

“Princess!”

I laughed out loud as I saw Jeron screaming with his face shriveled. It was a strange twist, but it was a good thing for me. I didn’t expect this jewel to roll in just because I ordered Rudrick to dress like a woman.

I clenched my fists and cheered for Jeron, who was genuinely concerned about the ‘woman disguised as a man.’

Then I answered in a cheerful tone, “Then all you need is money, right?”

“…Yes?”

“Leave it to me. I have something prepared for you.”

I called back the secretary who had already been sent out before I started interviewing him in earnest.

When Dahlia said something, the assistant nodded, and after a while, he appeared with the books and put it down proudly in front of Jeron.

Jeron took the books in wonder. His eyes soon grew surprised when he opened the books. There, the funds I invested 4 years ago were multiplied.

“Now, where should you start taking over?”

✿

Giving the books seemed to have left quite an impression on Jeron.

When I first met him, he looked at me with disgust, as if I were a villain, but as the story progressed, he saw me as a well-educated successor.

And it was only when he saw the return on the money I invested four years ago that his gaze completely changed.

Maybe he was thinking about it before then. Whether to work here or not, knowing that I’m not his first love.

“I didn’t mean to let you go easily when I brought up the epidemic.”

Still, it was fortunate that he signed the contract safely and went.

When he mistook Dahlia for being the ‘owner of his heart,’ Jeron was already fully prepared to sign the contract and it was done quickly.

Rudrick has duped Jeron, and his guts have gone to the bathroom. He was so taken with imagining that  Rudrick disguised himself as a girl.

Anyway, Jeron quickly moved on as my first ‘executive secretary‘ and a hidden business partner.

Before I could recover the funds I invested, we set up a ghost top in advance, and I went around to look at the top that I could take over and made a list.

Of course, the final decision was up to me. I don’t have a ghastly intuition like Jeron, but I know some future knowledge.

On the lists I picked out there were a few top names I had heard of in books, and I picked them as the main focus. 

Fortunately, Jeron seemed to like my choice. So things progressed step by step, but quickly.

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Over the years, I’ve been very busy, and I’ve been up all night for days. I had to do what I was doing while secretly managing the ghost top. Later, I even told the truth to my father’s secretary and opened my hands.

However, as much as I worked hard, the results were coming. For example, the acquired top-tiers show a large growth shortly, and above all…

“It’s done!”

That the cure for the epidemic has been completed. In fact, the treatment had already been completed in the past.

I’ve been researching since I visited Hestia when I was 14, and when I turned an adult, we were already making a test drug.

After a little more time passed, the medicine was almost completed, and the patient who took the drug was also showing a perfect recovery.

Only then did Hestia ask me what she had been curious about.

Why did I help her with her research? Unlike what I said before, no one in my family was ill.

Without Hestia, I wouldn’t have found a cure, so I told her the truth. One day, I dreamed of a war, where an epidemic spread and people died.

Of course, while hiding that I was reincarnated.

“So…”

It was then that Hestia was convinced. It was because I remembered that I secretly asked if mass production was possible when the medicine was completed in the past.

‘No, we need a recipe now, not a medicine production. Because it will aid in the control of future epidemics.’

‘Okay. Then…?’

And Hestia was unexpectedly motivated. I asked if it was okay for her to reveal the hard-made manufacturing method, but her answer was simple.

‘It’s not a medicine I studied alone. Even my grandfather wanted it, too.’

Then she said that she would make her recipe more efficient. And that it should be made of the simplest materials available to keep up with the epidemic’s speed of transmission.

Of course, I was moved and said that I would double her salary, which made her even more excited. Thanks to the hard work I did with the people who helped me, the preparation went smoothly. 

Now, no matter what happens, there is nothing to be afraid of. 

And four years after the war started a letter flew in.

[The epidemic has started to spread]

✿

Four years have passed since the war started.

Everyone spoke in unison that the war will be over soon.

‘To the victory of the Empire.’

That’s what Adelio thought. Although not as fast as before, they were steadily getting closer to the enemy’s center, receiving the surrender of the Allied Powers.

Of course, the opponents so far have become less strong and the pace of progress has become even faster as if they were in a mess.

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But it was inevitable because of the nature of the war. The longer the war gets, the more tiring it gets.

However, the Empire remained dominant. No matter how many kingdoms were united, In the end, they were separate countries.

Conflicts of opinion are bound to arise for each other’s interests, and there are quite a few countries that have surrendered first because of internal strife.

The Imperial Army occupied quite a few countries, and now only the core countries of the Allied Powers were left.

Among them, the center of the Allied Powers, Rohendel, was the most difficult kingdom to deal with. It was the largest kingdom among the Allied Powers that have been united so far. There were a lot of skilled knights, and there were plenty of military supplies stored there.

But now they were like rats in a jar. It was only a matter of time before they collapsed, as few allies would now be able to unite with other countries to cross the Empire, and now they would send out requests for assistance.

The Imperial Army would win as long as there were no unavoidable disasters caused by human power.

So there’s no need to rush too much. But Rudrick didn’t seem to think so.

Rudrick said, “According to the informant, there’s a waterway in the escape route behind the castle, so it would be better to ambush the soldiers there and drive the enemies in and kill them.”

“No way!”

The place they would occupy this time was a castle to the southwest of ‘Rohendel’.

The terrain was not as rough as the impregnable fortress, and according to the spy planted inside, the lords had already fled.

The few remaining vassals and commoners who had nowhere to go were all guarding the castle.

So, at first, the Imperial Army also demanded surrender. After all, the castle without its owner will collapse in no time, so if they open the door now, their life will be spared.

However, the attitude of the people in the castle didn’t feel the same.

[Even if we die, we will die here.]

It was the reply that came with the head of the messenger sent to negotiate.

In front of the castle, which they thought would be easily occupied, the Imperial Army encountered an unexpected difficulty. The commanding officer’s barracks held a friendly meeting every day.

“We have to kill them.”

“No, we have to send another negotiating letter one more time!”

Among them, the most acute confrontation was also between the Duke of Bouser and the Duke of Goldman, River Goldman.

When the war came to an end, the two men also occupied a fairly high position within the headquarters.

Not only was he the son of the same Duke family, but his skills are also outstanding, and he has made achievements in various places.

But the problem was the difference in personality between the two. If Rudrick Bouser was handless and cruel, River Goldman was more of a justice-seeking knight.

In other words, the deaths of innocent people have not been overlooked properly.

“There is a mountain around the castle. If we gather the wizards and blow a fireball toward the mountain to turn the inside into a sea of ​​fire, the back wall will open…”

“That doesn’t make any sense…!”