Chapter 143: Two Birds, One Stone

Edward Colston was not merely a criminal.

He was an industry.

He had built his fortune on people who had nobody powerful enough to protect them. Orphans. Homeless families. Entire isolated communities that had lived peacefully beyond the reach of the kingdom’s laws. He took them—dragged them into his network, sold them to the highest bidder. And those who survived the journey were given what he called "education."

Aria had another word for it.

Slavery.

Thousands had disappeared into Colston’s empire. Many never even reached their destination. And Colston? He became richer. The more people he took, the more powerful he became. The kingdom had been hunting him for years. They had never caught him.

Aria stared at his name on the army’s list.

Then she smiled.

Kelme immediately became suspicious. "Why are you smiling?"

"I have an idea."

"That’s worse."

"How do you know?"

"Because every time you say that, my life becomes significantly more complicated."

Aria ignored him, her eyes bright with a dangerous gleam. "We’re going to give the army Edward Colston."

Kelme blinked. "You mean—"

"Exactly." She stood and walked toward the white dress Kelme had bought her, holding it up like a trophy.

Kelme stared at it, then at her, then back at the dress. "No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Aria, whatever you’re thinking, I promise you, no."

She grabbed the dress, a wild grin spreading across her face. "I shapeshift."

Kelme’s expression slowly flattened. "Into what?"

"A woman."

"That doesn’t narrow it down."

"A beautiful woman."

"Still not narrow enough."

"A completely white woman."

Kelme stared. "That somehow made it worse."

Aria held the dress against herself, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "White hair. White skin. White eyes." She grinned. "And this dress."

Kelme looked at the dress, then at Aria, then back at the dress. "You want to seduce a slave trader?"

"What? No!"

"Good."

"I want to attract his attention."

"That’s exactly what seduction is."

"It’s strategy."

"It’s a terrible strategy."

"He likes white." Aria’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "You see that little monster in the shape of a human? He has a kink for white women. The whiter the better. We use that to manipulate him."

Kelme paused. "How do you know that?"

"People talk."

"People also talk about you being the Sugar Princess."

Aria’s smile disappeared. "...Fair point."

She put the dress on the table, her expression shifting to something more serious. "Listen. Colston is paranoid. He’s been hiding from the army for years. If we send him a normal message, he’ll never meet us."

"So?"

"So we give him something interesting." She pointed at herself. "Me."

Kelme rubbed his forehead, a gesture of pure exhaustion. "I already hate this."

"We arrange a meeting. We tell him we have some sugar buyers who couldn’t pay."

Kelme stared. "That’s your excuse?"

"Yes."

"Why would he care?"

"Because he’s a businessman."

"He’s a slave trader."

"Exactly. Bad people still like money."

Kelme couldn’t argue with that.

Aria continued, her voice gaining momentum. "We tell him we’ve got a large number of debt-bound people that we need to move discreetly. He’ll have his doubts, but that’s where I come in. I just need to make sure his logic center is focused on me. Let’s hope the rumors are true. Bad men will risk it all for money, power, or women. At least, that’s what I read in the books Milo used to recommend for me."

"And then?"

Aria’s grin returned. "We call the army."

Kelme slowly understood. "...Oh."

"They come in."

"They see you."

"The Sugar Princess."

"Except you’re not you."

"Exactly."

Kelme pointed at her. "And I’m supposed to be there too?"

"You’ll be the seller."

"Of course I will."

"You have the charm."

Kelme sighed. "I knew that talent would eventually get me killed. But one problem—I don’t have a beautiful expensive artifact that can hide my face."

"Fine, you stay with the army. And when I’m talking with the freak, the army gets a glimpse of me."

Aria spread her arms dramatically. "White hair. White skin. White eyes. White dress."

Kelme stared at her. "You really like the word white."

"No, but as long as it does the job, I don’t care."

"And then?"

"You tell the army I’m invisible."

Kelme’s eyebrows rose. "You’re not invisible."

"I know. But they know that my artifact can make me invisible, and I can be anywhere."

"So you can be in two places at the same time? You’ll have the perfect alibi."

"Yes. It will make escaping easier too. I just have to lose sight of them, shapeshift into myself, and say the White Princess is too fast. Then I run away after I kill the slave trader."

Kelme looked at her for several seconds. Then he pointed toward the door. "No."

"Kelme."

"No."

"Listen."

"No."

"If something goes wrong—"

"Something will go wrong."

"I’ll run."

"You’re wearing a dress."

"I’ll shapeshift."

"You’re still wearing the dress."

"I’ll put it in my inventory. My artifact is perfect for this kind of double agent mission."

Kelme froze. Aria smiled. "See? Perfect."

"That’s not what perfect means."

"When everyone starts running, I’ll disappear into the chaos, throw the dress into my inventory, shapeshift back into myself, and come out somewhere else."

"And tell the army?"

Aria put on her most innocent expression. "She ran away."

Kelme stared at her. "This plan still needs modification. It’s too risky."

"Operation The Mysterious White Woman is perfect."

"No, it’s not. It will get us killed. We need to rethink this."

"Fine, what’s your plan?"

"I don’t want to think of one. Too much of a headache. But yours is stupid."

"Fine, what if I let you choose the place where we do this? Make it perfect for escape."

Kelme sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Fine, I’ll think of one. But if anything goes wrong, it’s your fault. And the whole switch thingy is not believable."

"I’ll say she was really fast."

"Aria."

"Extremely fast."

"You’re describing yourself."

"Exactly. Nobody will suspect it."

Kelme slowly sat down, his head in his hands. He looked exhausted. "Let me understand this."

He counted on his fingers. "We find Colston."

"Yes."

"We lure him there with a fake slave trading deal."

"Yes."

"We call the army."

"Yes."

"You disguise yourself as a completely different person."

"Yes."

"The army sees the fake you."

"Yes."

"I tell them you’re invisible when they ask where you are?"

"Yes."

"You fail to escape, and we’re dead."

"No!"

"Oh, then they don’t believe you, and you get us killed."

"Come on, have some faith."

"I do have faith that you will fail, just like everything we do."

Aria nodded, laughing. "We do fail a lot."

Kelme stared at her. "...And your backup plan?"

Aria proudly raised one finger. "The mask."

Kelme’s expression went blank. "Right."

"The perfect item for running away."

"That is somehow the most reasonable part of this plan."

Aria smiled. "See?"

Kelme leaned back, his face a mask of resignation. He hated it. He absolutely hated it. There were too many variables. The army could arrive too early. Colston could bring guards. Someone could recognize Aria. The disguise could fail. The army could arrest Kelme. Colston could escape. Someone could ask questions.

And worst of all—Aria had no idea how to write an official report. Kelme knew even less. They were terrible at paperwork. They could barely explain where they had been living. The army would probably ask them for documentation afterward. Reports. Statements. Evidence. Names. Dates. Details.

The entire operation could collapse because neither of them knew how to fill out a form.

Kelme looked at Aria. "You’re sure this is better than just giving them information about Colston?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because we’re bad at documents. Like, I don’t even know how to explain how I know all that. So we had a tea party with a couple of criminals last week and got to know about all his kinks," she said with heavy sarcasm.

Kelme blinked. "...That’s actually a good point."

"If we hand them a report, they’ll ask questions."

"And we don’t know the answers."

"Exactly."

"But if they catch him themselves..."

Aria smiled. "They don’t need our paperwork. They can make the dumb report themselves."

Kelme stared at the ceiling. This was terrible. It was reckless. It was probably illegal. It was definitely going to cause him several new problems. And yet... he couldn’t think of anything better, and he would rather die than write a report.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "Fine."

Aria’s face lit up. "Really?"

"Unfortunately."

She grabbed the white dress. "Excellent!"

Kelme pointed at her. "But if this goes wrong—"

"It won’t."

"If it goes wrong, I’m blaming you."

"Fair."

"And if the army arrests me—"

"I’ll visit you."

"That’s not reassuring."

Aria walked toward the door. "Come on."

"Where?"

"To find Colston."

Kelme stood, his movements slow and reluctant. "Right now?"

She looked back, her eyes bright. "Why wait?"

Kelme sighed. "Because apparently we’re criminals now."

Aria smiled. "No." She opened the door. "We’re informants."

Kelme followed her. "That’s what every criminal says."

They stepped into the street. Neither noticed the army guard standing across the road. He was watching them. And he had heard only one thing: Edward Colston.

His expression changed. He immediately turned and walked away.

Aria stopped. "...Did you see that?"

Kelme nodded. "Yes."

"Do you think he heard us?"

Kelme looked at her. "I think we’re about to find out."

Far across the city, a messenger was already running toward the army headquarters. And for the first time in years, Edward Colston had become the easiest criminal in the kingdom to find.