Zayen Covendier.
At that moment, Dagori froze.
On the other side of the glass, Thales' expression also changed.
"Why, why?" The wine merchant asked subconsciously.
"You know why." Raphael's smile did not falter.
Dagori sat up straight and said nervously,
"This, this little brother, you … you said you serve the kingdom?"
"Which department is it?"
Raphael nodded and became even more interested.
"That's strange. You're not afraid of the bone-sucking Department of Finance, nor are you afraid of the fiendish police department. You're not even afraid of the transcendent court."
"It was only when I heard the name of a foreign noble that I lost my composure."
Dagori shuddered.
He understood something and looked around nervously.
"This isn't any police station, is it?"
"Who exactly do you work for?"
Raphael snorted.
"Oh, perhaps you're afraid that the Duke of Iris Flowers will find out that Dagori Moss, the capable businessman who received his help, grace, and mission as his representative in the Central Territory wine business, has been pocketing his own money behind his back, reaping huge kickbacks for so long, and running so many private businesses elsewhere …"
Thales saw Dagori tremble with every word Raphael uttered.
Raphael smiled amiably.
"And he actually dared to say that the business had failed, and that he would go back and complain to the Duke that he was poor?"
Dagori's breathing quickened. He swallowed hard.
"Listen, little brother, there must be some misunderstanding between us. I don't understand a single thing you're saying …"
Raphael picked up the documents and left his seat, looking like he was going to pack up and leave.
"Don't worry, we will arrange for a carriage to send you home with great fanfare in front of everyone to thank you for your cooperation and confession — right after the evidence is sent to Jade City and into Duke Zayen's hands."
Dagori froze. The confidence and arrogance on his face were gone.
"You … can't …" He wanted to say something, but he was tongue-tied.
Raphael turned his head sideways and smiled wickedly. He threw the last straw.
"After all, you know that the Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Department is not allowed to interrogate people illegally."
In that second, Dagori shuddered violently!
"What? You said you're the king? What king?" The wine merchant asked blankly.
The Barren Bone man just smiled and turned to leave.
"Wait!"
"I remember, I remember! “
Perhaps the last sentence was too powerful. Dagori threw himself off the chair and got up from the ground in a panic. His voice was choked with sobs as he said,
"Today, I have a large amount of funds coming in. I guarantee that those who are owed wages and debts will soon receive the money. There is still a large amount of surplus. I want to donate all of it to you or your department to support your work … Can you just pretend that I have never been here …"
But Raphael smiled wickedly and remained unmoved.
"Don't worry. You are very familiar with Boss Catherine, right? When you go out, the Blood Bottle Gang will definitely treat you well."
"Or I heard that the custom of Jadeite City is to sail a ship and bring people out to sea. No matter what happens on the high seas, it has nothing to do with the laws of the kingdom..."
He narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"We can't do anything even if we wanted to."
It seemed that with every word Raphael said, Dagori could remember something.
As a result, his sobbing grew louder, and his gaze grew more terrified.
"No, no, no, please, you're … You're killing me … I, I am also a citizen of the kingdom. You can't leave me in the lurch …"
Raphael came to his senses and smiled apologetically.
"Of course not. The Duke of Iris Flowers is so magnanimous and approachable. Maybe he won't mind?
"After all, you have such a big family. You have to support them too."
Support them.
Dagori shuddered. He stood rooted to the ground and stared at Raphael blankly.
Raphael smiled as usual and looked back at him happily, patiently waiting for a response.
After a full ten seconds.
"Damn it."
Finally, under Raphael's gaze, Dagori could not bear the pressure and fell limply to the ground.
"Alright, alright, whatever you want, I, I'll give it to you."
He completely broke down. Tears and snot flowed down his cheeks as he sobbed.
"Just, just don't tell the duke … I, I … I just want to make a fortune before I retire … My family …"
Raphael smiled, very happily.
"Welcome to the Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Department, Mr. Moss."
Satisfied, he bent down and helped the trembling Dagori to his feet.
"Don't worry, with our care, you won't retire so soon."
Dagori stared blankly at the young man in front of him, his face numb.
At the other end of the room, Thales turned around in disgust.
"Is this how you recruit and win people over?"
The Black Prophet in the wheelchair chuckled.
"I know you despise such tactics."
"I don't despise it, it's just …" the prince shook his head and said uncomfortably,
"It reminds me of Shadow Shield."
"That's right," Morat sneered.
"Because this is our division of labor: we stay in the dark and do the dirty work, you stand in the light and are responsible for condemning the dirty work."
"It's a pleasure working with you."
Thales glanced at the Black Prophet, his frown deepening.
On the other side of the glass, Raphael finally pacified Dagori, who had broken down and surrendered, and rearranged him in a chair.
"Now, can you answer my question?"
Dagori's eyes were red. He was wiping his nosebleed with a handkerchief when he looked up in a daze.
"What, what question?"
Raphael repeated patiently.
"Why, why does the kingdom's wine industry have no future?"
Perhaps frightened by the experience of the past ten minutes or so, Dagori froze for a moment before reacting.
"Yes, yes," the wine merchant replied bitterly.
"Although it was only a rumor before, it was confirmed last night …
"Now, it should have spread among the wine merchants in the country."
Raphael's eyes flickered.
"What's wrong?"
Dagori, who had just experienced a drastic change in his life, pursed his lips and said reluctantly,
"That prince."
Hearing his own news, Thales was taken aback.
Dagori said sullenly,
"Our wise Prince Thales, the Duke of Star Lake doesn't like wine.
"At yesterday's banquet, the wine that my family brewed was placed on his table. He didn't touch a drop.
"Not even a drop."
He said resentfully,
"Even during the toast, he deliberately spilled it and refused to drink it."
Raphael snorted.
"Perhaps your wine doesn't suit his taste?
"Ha, the prince doesn't like wine, or wine doesn't suit his taste. What's the difference?"
After Raphael destroyed his psychological defense line, Dagori, who started the conversation, went on and on. He looked like he had given up on himself and was ready to give up.
"And not only does he not drink."
The wine merchant said unhappily,
"He doesn't like others to drink."
Thales looked up in surprise.
Raphael also frowned.
"Really?"
Dagori laughed, his face full of sarcasm.
"I didn't go to the royal banquet yesterday, but a friend of mine did. He saw it with his own eyes. Before the hostage incident, there was a noble girl. She was very beautiful and had a good family background. She asked the prince to dance."
"In the end, just because she drank two glasses of wine before talking to the prince, she was publicly reprimanded by His Highness and came back in tears."
Raphael was still skeptical.
"Are you … sure?"
"It's all over the socialite circle!"
Dagori spat on the ground.
"His Highness rejected every girl who drank. Even his own aunt had a few more glasses of wine, he showed no mercy and kicked her out of the banquet in advance!
"There's also a servant who testified: after the banquet, when His Highness spoke to Duke Zayen alone, he only drank water!"
Raphael pondered for a moment.
"That's it? Just based on the trivial incident at the banquet last night? "
"Maybe this is just an excuse you came up with to cover up your act of running away after your business failed and implicating hundreds of families …"
Dagori interrupted him indignantly.
"I said I'm just going abroad for a vacation … Listen, the prince hates wine. This has been going on for a long time, not just last night."
"What do you mean?"
Dagori snorted softly.
"First of all, the Northland merchants from Black Sand Region. They have a rumor that Prince Thales and the current king of Eckstedt fell out over a glass of wine and detested each other.
"I don't know how the prince is in the north, but his return to Constellation is also very obvious: he lives in seclusion, lives a simple life, and doesn't indulge in wine or women."
Dagori raised his finger and pretended to be serious.
"In Blade Fangs Camp, my colleagues in Western Desert prepared a bottle of fine wine, bribed the Legendary Wing's soldiers, and prepared to dedicate it to him and advertise it at the same time. In the end, the prince didn't give them any face and smashed it on the ground without even looking at it!
"You know, that's the heir to the kingdom.
"That's when the rumors started."
Dagori exhaled indignantly.
"And I just heard what happened this morning: two of Prince Thales' personal guards — royal guards, former members of the Seven Jadestar Attendants — drank a few too many glasses of wine last night, so they messed up and caused an accident in which they took hostages.
"So the prince ordered them to be whipped in Mindis Hall. They were beaten half to death. It's said that he even personally counted the lashes."
Raphael listened attentively, glancing at the one-way glass from the corner of his eye.
Dagori slumped, then looked up.
"This is great. Soon the whole of Constellation will know that the future king doesn't like to drink, and he doesn't like people who drink.
"Damn the prince."
Raphael coughed.
"Maybe you're overreacting. The prince's dislike of alcohol won't have that much of an impact …"
"Oh! He's the prince! The future king! "
Dagori interrupted the Barren Bone man impatiently.
"Everything he does, every minute, every minute, every drop, has a super, super, huge impact, okay!"
Raphael did not speak.
The other side of the one-way glass fell into a dead silence.
"Listen, little brother, you're still young, but I've seen it, I know …"
Dagori grabbed his handkerchief and wiped his nose.
"This may not happen so soon, but as time progresses …
"The upper-class circle in the capital will gradually form a trend: in order to curry favor with the prince and get close to the duke, first, some people will start to drink less, then everyone will follow the trend and drink less. Then, famous people will advocate not to drink, and then it will spread to the entire Eternal Star City, urging everyone not to drink, until the kingdom officially enacts laws to restrict and ban alcohol …"
Raphael was dubious.
"Isn't that a little too exaggerated?"
Dagori shook his head.
"Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but bro, you're also a public servant.
"When the higher-ups like it, the lower-ups will add to it.
"Haven't you heard? When a cup falls in Renaissance Palace, a head falls in the kingdom. "
The wine merchant glanced at Raphael and smiled sarcastically.
"And did you know that Prince Thales smashed a lot of cups at the banquet? Hahahaha … "
His laughter was discontented and desolate, gradually fading away.
"When the king turns his nose up at a certain kind of person, the people will drive them to extinction.
"When the duke takes a second look at something, it will go down to the common people, and it will be priceless, even priceless.
"People will regard a certain brainless sentence uttered by a big shot after drinking as a wise saying and interpret it painstakingly. Academic pedants will even invest in it and conduct research on it …
"Or when a great noble forgets to wear his trousers for a stroll, it will be regarded as a new style of elegance, a fashion trend, and people will worship it and scramble to imitate it …"
Dagori said angrily, "That's right.
"Is there any lack of such situations?"
The wine merchant sighed.
"Power is a hook that draws everyone closer to it, just for a pitiful amount of bait.
"How else do you think I made my fortune?"
There was a moment of silence in the interrogation room.
"So you closed down the winery after careful consideration," Raphael said flatly.
Dagori nodded.
"Do you think I wanted to close it down? Believe me, if I don't cut my losses and exit now, in a few months, when the rumor that the prince doesn't like wine spreads, my business report will only look worse, and my sugar daddy in Jade City will be even more unhappy.
"And I'm not the first person to know: the market has a better nose than I do. Gold coins only follow power."
He pouted.
"Just last night, after the banquet, a total of six noble buyers canceled their orders for next month. They said that their own wine was enough."
"There were ten more this morning …"
Dagori's eyes became dazed.
"I originally thought that after the prince's return and the royal banquet, the capital, which has been quiet for more than a decade, would have many more banquets. The demand for wine, especially for extravagant banquets like ours, would definitely soar.
"So I expanded the range of partners, bought several more wineries, and prepared to increase production. For this, I borrowed a lot of money …"
He snorted coldly, wiped away the last bit of blood from his nose, and threw the handkerchief on the table.
"Now, now I can only cut my losses in advance.
"At least in the short term, I won't have any sizable orders for banquets in the capital, big or small."
Raphael was silent for a moment before continuing.
"According to you, you're only the first person to act on the basis of rumors. In your line of work, more people will suffer, and more people will lose their jobs?"
Dagori snorted strangely, half-crying and half-laughing.
"What can I do?
"I'm in despair too!"
He was in low spirits.
"But who's the one who caused the wine merchants to lose confidence, the future of the wine industry, and all my workers to have to eat dirt?
"If you're so capable, don't look for me. Look for His Highness, who told the world 'I hate wine'!"
Moses slumped in his chair and muttered for the second time.
"Damn aristocrats.
"Damn prince."
The interrogation room returned to silence.
Raphael sighed.
"Very well, thank you for your opinion. I'll make sure he knows.
"Make sure he knows …"
Soon, Moses, who was immersed in his decadence, realized something.
"No, no, no, I # &% ¥& …"
The wine merchant's expression changed drastically as realization dawned on him.
"Don't write down what I just said … Sunset knows that my whole family is loyal and wholeheartedly supports the Jadestar Royal Family!"
He waved his hands in an attempt to defend himself to Raphael.
But Raphael only glanced at the one-way glass, then waved his hand to have Moses taken away.
"It's true, my mother can testify! I've been a loyal supporter of His Highness Thales since I was born …
"Aren't we on the same side? You can't set me up like this!"
The wine merchant's words slowly faded away, but lingered in the ears.
"Well, may the Duke of Star Lake be healthy and crowned king soon …"
"Hey, no, don't get me wrong. I'm also very supportive of His Majesty Kessel! I sincerely wish the Iron Hand King a long life and eternal rule over Constellation … "
The door to the interrogation room closed, and Dagori's voice disappeared completely. Raphael exhaled and looked at the one-way glass.
On this side of the glass, the Black Prophet looked at the prince with interest.
And for a few minutes, Thales just stared blankly in silence.
He was silent for a long time.
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