Wasn’t I the Female Lead of a Regret Novel? [Novel] Chapter 37

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Appetizing tarts that had once been displayed on the shelves were now scattered across the floor, alongside strewn trays and tongs.

The startled customers rushed out of the shop.

Kate was trembling with fear, her face pale as a sheet.

"Ha."

Vendia was utterly dumbfounded. It was absurd enough that Gregory, an actual police officer, was wrecking the shop like a hired thug, but Baldini’s words were even more ridiculous.

"Theft? What on earth are you talking about?"

"Look at you, acting so brazen. Unprincipled as always, I see. Opening a shop using someone else's recipe is a clear violation of trade secrets."

Baldini scanned the shop with a sly, scheming glint in his eyes, convinced he had caught them red-handed.

"You like the law, don't you? Then you should know Section 81, Paragraph 2 of the Imperial Code, Any person who acquires, uses, or discloses another party's trade secret to a third party shall be punished by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 300,000 krangs."

Baldini sneaked a smirk.

He couldn't believe how much Second's sales had surged ever since Dia, a woman he had always looked down on, joined as a consultant.

How dare a mere nobody like her threaten his position?

She was a thorn in his side, an unbearable one. He intended to use this opportunity to frame her and get rid of her for good.

"Violation of trade secrets?! That recipe was mine to begin with!"

"Any recipe created in my shop belongs to me! You proved how stupid and uneducated you were back then, and now you're stealing from others to run your business?"

Charles chimed in on Kate's outburst.

With authority standing right beside him, his anxiety vanished completely. Besides, he didn't think he was wrong. The recipe had been created in his shop, so it was his.

How dare she try to live comfortably using someone else's recipe, especially after leaving him ruined!

Charles could never forgive Kate.

"Both of you, come along quietly. You'll need to head to the station for questioning,"

said Gregory, who had just flipped the shop upside down. Thinking this was his chance to get back in Baldini's good graces, he stood with an inflated sense of authority.

Vendia clicked her tongue as she looked at the three men.

Baldini, Gregory, and Charles. How could every single one of them be so pathetic? Now that she looked closely, they even seemed to share a resemblance. The world really was going to the dogs.

"Pfft! Terrified, aren't you? Did you think you could steal and get away with it?"

Assuming Vendia's silence meant she was flustered, Baldini sneered.

It felt as though a long-standing knot in his chest had finally unraveled. He felt immensely relieved. He had been waiting for a chance to pay her back, and now he could finally crush her proud nose into the dirt.

"I’ll offer you a deal. Sign a pledge stating you will never do business with that recipe again. Then hand over all the money you’ve made so far to the true owner of the tart recipe,"

Baldini said to Kate, acting as though he was bestowing a favor.

Handling this through the legal system was ideal, but it took too much time.

There were only two months left until the succession battle concluded. Reclaiming the money immediately was far more advantageous for him.

If Second’s sales dropped while First’s increased, the outcome of the monthly settlement would change.

"What will it be? Oh, and as for you, the one who incited this, you won't escape punishment either."

Baldini forced the choice onto Kate while issuing a firm warning to Vendia.

Even if the tart recipe matter was settled this way, he had no intention of letting Vendia off the hook.

He would thoroughly discipline this troublesome woman who had insulted him and thwarted his plans at every turn.

"Pfft!"

Just then,

Vendia, who had been standing quietly, suddenly burst into laughter.

The confident, boastful look on Baldini’s face cracked.

"You're laughing?"

"'You won't escape punishment either~'"

She giggled, repeating his words back to him in a mocking tone.

"You've gone mad at the thought of going to prison. You clearly don't grasp the situation right now…!"

In front of Baldini, whose face was flushed red with anger, Vendia tossed an object.

His eyes naturally fell on what had landed on the floor.

It was a book.

It was the single best-selling baking book on the market.

It contained very old foundational recipes, and even the translator had mentioned that they inherited them from their mother, giving open permission for anyone to use them.

"Then I guess all of us should go to prison. Because the tart recipe came from this first."

"What kind of nonsense is that?!"

"Kate's tart recipe, the one you claim was stolen, is right here in this book,"

Vendia said, shrugging her shoulders. Charles's face turned pale.

"T-That’s impossible!"

Charles hurriedly picked up the book from the floor to check.

"W-What…? This can't be…"

It was real. The recipe in the book matched Kate's exactly.

Cold sweat dripped down Charles’s forehead in panic.

"Th-This makes no sense! Her tarts are so delicious that customers line up around the block! If she made them with this recipe, every tart shop should be just as popular! The fact that only our shop succeeded means there must be something different!"

Terrified, Charles grabbed onto the hem of Baldini’s trousers.

"No. I really made them using this recipe. You're welcome to double-check."

Kate delivered the final blow with a firm, resolute tone. After all, it was the truth.

"Shall we head to the station together and look into it?"

Vendia crossed her arms confidently and let out a smirk. She had already anticipated something like this would happen and took measures beforehand.

That was why she had intentionally asked Kate to leave her recipe book behind.

The recipe was indeed something she had learned from the book. However, there was a difference:

the choice of ingredients and the time invested.

Even if the ingredients listed in the recipe were identical, the taste of the tarts varied wildly depending on the origin and type of flour and butter used.

Even if the resting time for the tart dough remained the same, the baking time shifted with each season.

Recognizing that weather played a factor, Kate had engaged in trial and error to slightly adjust the baking time for every season.

And that wasn't all.

She had figured out precisely which flour and butter yielded the crispest texture, ultimately creating her very own signature tarts.

All of this was Kate’s personal asset, stored entirely inside her head.

Since Kate had handled everything herself, from purchasing the ingredients to baking and selling, there was no way Charles would know any of this.

He had simply followed the book step-by-step, buying ingredients from wherever was convenient.

"Besides, what your shop sells are egg tarts and cheese tarts. Did you not even check our menu?"

At her words, Charles, Baldini, and Gregory finally turned their gaze to the tarts strewn across the floor.

Every single one was topped with fruit.

This was a menu item Vendia had suggested to Kate.

In case they decided to drag things out out of sheer spite, she had altered the types of tarts altogether.

Having studied and baked tarts countless times, Kate had crafted the fruit tarts in no time flat.

It was the product of her relentless hard work, something Charles could never possess, no matter what he tried.

Effort never betrayed. The fruit tarts captivated the customers, becoming even more popular by the day than the egg tarts had ever been.

"We only sell seasonal fruit tarts here. Oh, and our top seller, the coconut tart. Is your shop even capable of making coconut tarts?"

Having secured complete victory, Vendia smiled casually.

Coconuts were distributed exclusively within Second, making them an ingredient First couldn't even dream of obtaining.

"Oh, my bad. You wanted coconuts so badly you resorted to petty schemes behind the scenes, didn't you?"

"You…"

At her infuriating provocation, Baldini’s face distorted beyond recognition.

His tightly clenched fists trembled violently, turning pale.

"Now that you get it, why don't you get out? If anyone's getting dragged to the station for business disruption, it's you."

"Shut up! Who do you think you're talking to?! Do you still think you're someone important? A divorcee…!"

"Aagh!"

Baldini, who had been charging toward Vendia, shrieked and came to a dead halt.

It was a deafening sound.

The tray that had slammed into Baldini’s face fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

At the same time, blood spurted from his nose.

Startled, Vendia turned her head.

There stood Ron, who had used his foot to kick the stray tray off the floor and straight into Baldini's face.

All while holding Lizen in his arms.

"You wanna die?"

Even while letting out such rough, unfiltered words, he was carefully covering both of Lizen's ears with his hands.