Chapter 46: Husband's Portrait - Ever-Changing Little Yin's New Skin and Core Equipment...

"Heinrich?!" Lilith called out anxiously, banging on Heinrich's door.

“I heard you.” Heinrich hurried to the door, about to open it, but then suddenly pulled his right hand back. He didn’t want to see Lilith. The victim, caught in a whirlwind of emotions, had no patience for playing master-servant games with the culprit. “I cannot see you.”

“Why? The Schmiddeld family’s carriage is already waiting for us at the door.” Lilith’s tone was displeased. “They didn’t hire a translator. My German is only good enough for the small talk. What are we going to do next? You have to help me negotiate with them.”

"No...cough cough cough cough..."

Heinrich pretended to cough violently, covering his mouth, until he felt like he was coughing up his lungs.

"What's wrong with you?" Lilith heard the unusually violent coughing and instinctively took two steps back towards the door, not daring to go any closer.

Since the shadow of the Black Death first loomed over the European continent a century ago, rapidly claiming a third of the continent's population in just a few years, no one has dared to ignore the sound of a rapid, heavy cough. This nightmarish plague has never been eradicated, occasionally erupting in some corner of Europe, claiming lives with black and purple lumps, high fever, and violent coughing.

"I have a slight fever," Heinrich said in a strained voice, feigning weakness. "It would be better if you didn't meet me; I'm afraid I might infect you."

“Alright.” Lilith frowned deeply, extremely worried about Heinrich and her own health. She recalled the nights she had spent in the same room with Heinrich over the past few days, and the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. “Isolde gave me some medicine to treat fever, which I left by the door. Take some and get some rest.”

Thank you for your concern. Please take good care of yourself as well.

As Lilith's footsteps faded into the distance, Heinrich opened the door, picked up the small medicine bottle from the floor, and locked the door again. Peeking through the crack in the window, he watched the carriage that had taken Lilith drive away before donning a black cloak and hat, slipping out of the hotel through the back door, and heading in the same direction along a path impassable to the carriage. He was going to Zurich's largest market to conduct some transactions, not in the name of Knarro Bank, but to exchange for something else.

Zurich, a vital hub connecting the Italian peninsula with Northern Europe, was a melting pot of goods and merchants from all corners of the world. They hawked their novelties in broken German, French, or Italian. On a street corner, Heinrich spotted a Venetian merchant, dressed in a Byzantine robe, selling Venetian masks: beautiful, delicate carnival masks for women, adorned with feathers and gold powder; long, bird-beak-shaped masks used by plague doctors, covering the entire face; and plain white masks, square at the top and inverted triangular at the bottom, completely obscuring the face except for openings below the eyes and nose.

“The men’s masks in Venice are called bauta,” the vendor explained in German mixed with Italian. “The masks I sell are all made from the finest pulp, available in white and black, lined with soft cloth, lightweight and breathable, and inexpensive. See! The chin is raised, which covers the whole face while still allowing you to eat and talk comfortably while wearing the mask. Only 10 sourdi coins, how about buying one?”

The same mask cost more than twice as much as it does in Venice, but considering the transportation and storage costs, the price is still reasonable. The Balta, pronounced similarly to the German word "behten" (protection), is the most common type of male mask used in Venice for anonymity, designed to protect the wearer's privacy. It is often paired with a black cloak and hat, and is frequently seen on the streets of Venice.

Heinrich took a black mask from a vendor and put it on. Looking through the mask's opening at the square, a thin layer of darkness was cast into his vision. His reflection in the mirror had no face; only a ghostly blackness was visible, with the upturned tip resembling the beak of a black eagle.

He recalled the first time he wore such a mask was when he returned to the slave island with Lilith. She handed him a similar Balta mask to protect his dignity and privacy as a former commodity on the island. Now, he had to use the same mask to cover his face so that Lilith wouldn't notice his movements.

Heinrich paid for the mask, put it on, covered his golden hair with the black brim of the hat, and disappeared into the noisy crowd in the square.

At the other end of the road, Lilith sat uncomfortably in her lavishly decorated carriage. Pascal, the Schmidl family's representative, sat opposite her. This middle-aged German man with a goatee spoke Italian at a similar level to Lilith's German, making effective communication impossible. Lilith had exhausted all her grammar and vocabulary explaining that her attendant was ill and unable to leave the house; now she could only stare silently, waiting for the Schmidl family, as her hosts, to find a simultaneous interpreter.

Taking advantage of the awkward silence, Lilith casually glanced out the window, taking in the streets of Zurich while pondering Heinrich's absence.

She was a little hungry. If Heinrich were here, he would probably keep her favorite snacks on hand and offer them to her whenever she needed them.

Lilith suddenly realized that since receiving her dowry and leaving the Knarro family to establish herself independently, she had never gone out alone like this without servants. Although the Schmidl family was her nominal husband's family, she didn't trust them, just as she didn't trust her nominal family members. She wanted Heinrich by her side.

No, she couldn't let his absence affect her performance in the negotiations. The business climate in Switzerland is relatively conservative compared to Venice, and its tolerance for shady practices like banks using foreign exchange as a pretext for lending is much lower. Therefore, if she had connections within her network to smooth things over, opening a branch would be much faster.

After a round of talks with the Schmidl family's representative, she would meet with Elena's representative in Zurich to cash the draft Lilith had signed in Venice at a friendly bank in Zurich. However, they wouldn't cash it immediately, but only after they found a suitable bank location and built the vault. With so many things piling up, Lilith was overwhelmed and could only hope that her partners here were easy to get along with and communicate with.

When would Heinrich recover and relieve some of her workload? Lilith frowned. Even as a moneylender often accused of impiety, she couldn't help but silently pray. May God bless him to recover quickly and return to work. Hopefully, he was just sick from overwork and would recover completely after a few days of rest.

The last time Lilith cared so much about another person's health was when she was a child, caring for her mother. She would never forget the journey she, as a child, took through the cold wind from the slums of Castro District to the Canaro mansion near the Rialto Bridge, dressed in tattered clothes. The icy wind cut like knives across her skin, and by the time she finally begged her father to open the door for her, her heart was bleeding with pain.

Her mother eventually passed away. Would Heinrich leave her like her mother had?

No. Absolutely not. Neither Heinrich, nor Cecilia, Tata, nor Ivanka can leave her. To Lilith, they are her true family, sharing joys and sorrows under one roof. Everyone must be well; no one can be harmed, including Heinrich. Sherlock has already tragically left them. Whether from a performance standpoint or from a personal emotional perspective, Lilith doesn't want to lose another important partner.

She suddenly regretted perhaps assigning Heinrich too much work. She seemed to have never considered that someone as healthy and strong as Heinrich could also get sick.

He had to take care of everything related to banking operations and Lilith's daily life. Lilith took it all for granted, but only after he left did she realize that something was missing. As a leader, Lilith needed to guide the bank's overall direction and vision, and didn't have the energy to attend to every little detail. Therefore, she needed a practitioner like Heinrich to help her implement her goals.

He must recover as soon as possible, otherwise Lilith will be exhausted if she has to handle everything alone in Zurich, where she is unfamiliar with the place.

The carriage soon arrived at the Schmidl family's mansion in Zurich. It was a villa that, while not luxurious, was still quite imposing. Lilith, helped down from the carriage by a maid, found the translator waiting at the door. She could finally communicate freely with the Schmidl family's representative in her native language.

“This is truly a beautiful villa,” Lilith complimented with a smile.

“Madam, you are welcome to move in anytime. I have already arranged for someone to prepare a room for you. Although your husband Heinrich has unfortunately passed away, you will always be a member of the Schmidl family.” Through the translator’s words, Pascal was able to express his welcome to Lilith more tactfully. “It is a pity that you have to become a widow at such a young age. Please accept my condolences.”

"Thank you for your kindness. Please be sure to give my regards to Mr. Helmut."

Upon hearing the name "Heinrich," Lilith paused for a moment before realizing it was her husband's name. In that case, not bringing Heinrich along saved her a lot of trouble. Otherwise, if the Schmidl family knew she had named a slave after her husband, they would probably be furious.

However… she recalled the letter she received at the end of March. Something had happened to the Schmidl family. The original head of the family had died, and since there was no adult son to inherit the family business, the original owner’s younger brother, Helmut, was now in charge.

"If Heinrich were still alive, would he have fought with my uncle Helmut for the family fortune and status?" Lilith wondered. Because it was a family-arranged marriage, she knew nothing about the husband she had killed. Rumor had it he was a handsome and dashing gentleman, but who knew the truth? The Knarro family, when arranging her marriage, had even praised her as a gentle and virtuous Italian lady.

"Mr. Helmut is very concerned about your situation, so in addition to business, he has specially prepared a gift to express his feelings for you: a portrait of your husband Heinrich painted in Frankfurt a year ago. However, we don't have as many excellent painters as Italy, so please forgive us."

“Sir, you are so kind; I am deeply grateful,” Lilith replied with a beaming smile. She assumed Helmut's actions were to prevent her from marrying immediately after the mourning period. Most girls Lilith's age would never want to spend their lives as widows. But Lilith didn't share that sentiment. The Schmidl family, located a thousand miles away, was convenient and liberating for her—a result of her own careful planning.

However, she was quite curious to see what her never-before-seen fiancé looked like. Led by Pascal, she entered a drawing room where a half-person-high framed picture sat on a chair, its image covered by a white cloth. Lilith eagerly stepped forward and lifted the cloth, only to be startled by what she saw:

The distorted human proportions, the crooked limbs, the dirty color scheme, and the facial features so hastily drawn they resembled a sketch—all combined, they barely formed a human shape. Lilith gasped, momentarily unable to tell whether the painter's work was terrible or whether Heinrich had always been this grotesque.

Thank goodness she killed him back then. Even setting aside career considerations, any woman aspiring to be a devoted wife and mother would probably feel utterly miserable facing such an ugly face. Lilith secretly rejoiced; compared to him, the Heinrich she had bought was far more handsome. Just standing there was pleasing to the eye, like a life-sized male version of a blond doll. As for this portrait… perhaps it would be more suitable for a haunted house, maybe even used to ward off evil spirits.

"Thank you so much." Lilith forced an awkward smile, pulled the curtain back over her head, and decided to ignore it. "It's getting late, let's talk about opening a branch."

"Of course. Our Schmidl family still needs a lot of help from the Knarro family. But... no offense intended, just out of curiosity, I'd like to ask you, why would a Venetian noblewoman like yourself, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, go to such lengths to get involved in the financial industry?"

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Author's Note: Congratulations to the ever-changing Xiao Yin on obtaining the core build for the new skin! He'll be wearing a mask quite often from now on, for various reasons ^_^

This week I was assigned to the derivative/light novel category and was required to write 20,000 words, so I'm adding an extra chapter today!

I'll continue updating on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays from now on! Ugh, I'm going to write like crazy...