The Hidden Extra: The Lazy Prince Refuses to Ascend The Throne

The building was quite large and luxurious. As far as she could remember, the Red Obsidian Trading House had never owned an office like this in the Imperial Capital.

Could Nolan have bought this building before the trading house was declared bankrupt? she wondered silently.

She took a deep breath, pushed her confusion aside, and stepped inside.

Several guards and staff were standing in front of the door. As soon as they saw Melinda, a flicker of surprise appeared on their faces.

”Welcome, Concubine Melinda,” they greeted respectfully.

Melinda observed them one by one. There were three men—two guards and one staff member. From their demeanor, it was clear they were long-time employees of the Red Obsidian Trading House, so they recognized her immediately.

”Thank you for the welcome,” Melinda replied softly. ”I want to ask—how is the Red Obsidian Trading House doing? And how did it come to have an office building in the capital? Isn’t it located in the eastern region?”

Upon hearing her question, the three exchanged awkward glances. Then, the staff member turned back to her and said, ”It’s a bit complicated, Third Concubine. But in short, the new owner of the Red Obsidian Trading House moved the headquarters from the eastern region to the capital to make operations more efficient.”

”To make operations more efficient?” Melinda’s expression darkened. ”How is that possible? Didn’t Red Obsidian declare bankruptcy just a few hours ago?”

For some reason, she felt something was off, as if Nolan was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

”Red Obsidian did declare bankruptcy,” the staff explained with a dry laugh. ”But two hours ago, it was rebuilt under a new name—White Lotus.”

Once those words were spoken, Melinda’s heart began to race.

”Red Obsidian changed its name?” she exclaimed in disbelief. ”Who did that?”

The staff swallowed hard and instinctively stepped back when he saw the shift in her expression. Still, he felt her reaction was understandable.

Who wouldn’t be shocked to learn that their father’s company had suddenly declared bankruptcy, only to find out it had merely changed its name?

Even he would be furious if he were in Melinda’s position.

Steeling himself, he opened his mouth and said, ”It was our new leader, Claire Horvern—your younger sister, Third Concubine.”

”Claire?” Melinda’s eyes widened in horror. So Nolan really handed the position over to her! No wonder he asked me to come meet her—it all makes sense now.

Her teeth clenched tightly. She didn’t understand what Nolan was planning by doing this. Claire was a blind woman with no experience whatsoever.

Let alone holding a position as high as the head of a trading house, she couldn’t even see due to the disability she’d had since birth.

But now, Nolan had so easily handed over that position to Claire, and this was something Melinda couldn’t tolerate.

Suppressing her rising anger, she stepped forward, but the two guards quickly blocked her path.

”Wait, Third Concubine, you cannot enter as you please.”

Melinda’s anger flared even more upon hearing that. She glared at the two guards and snapped, ”I am the daughter of Belfor Horvern! The Red Obsidian Trading House is also mine. What right do you have to stop me? Do you want me to fire you?”

Yet the two guards showed no fear at all. They knew very well that a change of power had already taken place at Red Obsidian.

The previous owner, Belfor, had been declared a traitor and a criminal. As a result, ownership of the Red Obsidian Trading House had fallen into the hands of the new leader—Claire.

Even so, Melinda’s status as a concubine of the Imperial family was still high, so they couldn’t act recklessly.

The guard on the right quickly explained, ”It’s not that we don’t want to let you in, but this is an order from Leader Claire Horvern. She has forbidden anyone from entering without her permission. So if you want to enter, I have to ask for her approval first.”

Melinda’s chest tightened. Back when the Red Obsidian Trading House office was still in the capital, every time she came, the staff and guards would always greet her with respect.

But everything changed after the Blue Moon Trading House appeared and slowly took away Red Obsidian’s power.

Then, more than two weeks ago, her father was arrested, and everything had spiraled into chaos. Things had turned around so quickly, like the flip of a hand.

She forced herself to hold back her anger. She knew that the more stubborn she became, the worse the consequences would be later.

Instead of regaining control of the Red Obsidian Trading House, she would end up confronting Claire directly—and that would only put her plans at risk.

After calming herself, she gave a small nod and said in a heavy voice, ”Alright, I understand. Go immediately and tell her that Melinda Horvern wants to meet her.”

The guard on the right sighed softly. ”Don’t worry, I’ll report it to Leader Claire.”

With those words, he turned around and entered the building.

Melinda waited calmly with her eyes closed. Her heart and mind were in turmoil, and she needed to clear her thoughts before facing Claire.

A few minutes later, the guard returned with a bright expression.

”Leader Claire has approved the meeting with you, Concubine Melinda.”

Melinda gave a slight nod. ”Alright, thank you.”

Without saying anything else, she stepped inside calmly.

The staff who were working were clearly surprised to see her appear.

”Is that Concubine Melinda? What is she doing here?”

”Isn’t it obvious? She must have come to meet the new leader of the Red Obsidian Trading House—no, I mean the White Lotus Trading House.”

”Do you think there will be an argument between the two of them?”

”I don’t know, but it looks like it’ll be an interesting spectacle.”

A small discussion broke out among the staff. Nearly ninety percent of them were former employees of the Red Obsidian Trading House. When the trading house declared bankruptcy, panic and fear spread among them.

Fortunately, just four hours after the announcement, a new notice was issued: the Red Obsidian Trading House had officially changed its name to White Lotus.

They hadn’t been fired, which brought them a great sense of relief.

Meanwhile, Melinda noticed the staff’s stares but paid them little attention. She continued climbing the stairs to the second floor, then to the third floor—the offices of White Lotus Trading House’s high-ranking members.

”Lady Melinda? Is that really you?”

A surprised voice called from behind her. Melinda turned and saw a middle-aged man in a blue robe.

He wasn’t very tall, but he was handsome, with a thick beard lining his chin.

”Uncle Ruvart?” Melinda was stunned.

Ruvart smiled and approached her. ”It really is you, Lady Melinda. How have you been?”

His gaze was warm, like a father looking at his daughter.

Melinda returned his smile. ”I’m fine, Uncle. And you?”

Ruvart was one of the three executives of the Red Obsidian Trading House. He had been her father’s subordinate, and naturally, their families were close. He was also one of the people who had cared for her since she was a child.

”I’m fine too, Lady Melinda—well, I suppose I should call you Third Concubine now,” Ruvart said with a small chuckle.

Melinda laughed along with him. They exchanged brief updates before moving on to the main topic.

”By the way, Uncle, what really happened? Why did Red Obsidian change its name to White Lotus? Was it Claire’s order?” She asked coldly.

Ruvart smiled wryly. ”No, it wasn’t Lady Claire’s order... it came from another party—the leader of the Blue Moon Trading House, Shion.”