C10
When asked what she wanted, Deborah took a long time to respond.
"Why pretend to care about that?" Duke Seymour was curious.
Deborah, who was struggling with something, soon opened her mouth.
"Then... Please invest in my business."
"Eh?"
Duke Seymour had to doubt his ears this time, not his eyes.
Of course, he thought she would ask him to bid on the pink diamond that would be auctioned in three days, but he couldn't believe she was asking him to invest.
"Do you mean you want to start a business and want me to fund it?"
"Yes."
"That's absurd. Why are you suddenly thinking about this?"
"I came up with a good business idea while in confinement."
"... Mmm."
The Duke didn't believe Deborah's words.
Azutean nobles had a tendency to look down on trade. This was because it was usually the nobles with insufficient inheritances who opted for this as an alternative way to maintain their finances.
The fact that Deborah, who was familiar with aristocratic thinking, suddenly decided to do business made the Duke very suspicious.
"So, how much do you need?"
Although he was suspicious, he had promised to fulfill any request. So, he didn't interrogate her and only inquired about it.
Instead of answering, Deborah wrote a number on a piece of paper and handed it to the Duke.
As soon as he saw the amount written on the paper, he tilted his head slightly.
"Did a zero get lost, perhaps?"
This amount was less than what he used to deal with regarding the incident Deborah had with the old man from the Magicians Association when she was a child.
"Doing business with so much?"
...As expected, it's suspicious.
But looking at her serious expression, it seemed to have its own meaning, so the Duke didn't question it.
He recently discovered that his daughter was not a helpless idiot but a meticulous girl.
So, he thought he would wait and see for now.
"Very well, I will instruct the steward to send you the amount of gold coins you desire."
"Thank you, Father."
Deborah's eyes gleamed as if she were happy.
Now that he thought about it, she had those bright eyes when he melted the icy snow with fire magic.
Those eyes stimulated the Duke's paternal love just a bit. Should he say he wants to give her more...?
"I think I'm in trouble."
At the unusual thought, the Duke coughed loudly and got up from his seat.
"I have something to attend to, so I'll be on my way. Give me the letter next time."
"Yes."
"You don't need to see me off, return to your studies."
It was even uncomfortable to say that. Deborah is studying on her own initiative.
"I feel like she's growing..."
While walking to his office in an indescribable mood, the Duke suddenly stopped.
Because he had finally realized why his daughter had suddenly started talking about doing business and asking for gold coins.
"I see. She's really growing up."
If she came up with a good reason for the business investment to fulfill her request to say what she wanted, then it made sense.
"I can't believe you're easing the burden on my heart in that way."
The Duke had said he would never buy the pink diamond for his daughter and had expressed it several times in front of his vassals.
Deborah intentionally shifted her focus to business instead of jewelry.
Even easing the financial burden by deliberately setting a low business investment.
"I'm impressed."
He thought she would be a fool for the rest of her life, but in fact, some children grow late.
Duke Seymour, who had exaggerated and overestimated his daughter's actions, called his assistant with a determined face.
At this point, it seemed like he had to give her the jewel, no matter how difficult it was. No, he wanted to.
"That pink diamond, do everything you can to win the auction."
Shouldn't he demonstrate that, as a father, he's more generous than his children?
"Set a price unconditionally higher than the eldest son of the Montes family, no matter how much."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Three days later, the auction house was turned upside down by the unexpected results.
Not only because of the unprecedented winning bid, but also because the owner of the jewelry causing a stir in society was Seymour and not Montes.
----------------------
While waiting for the gold coins sent by the Duke, I scribbled in the notebook.
There are three reasons why I asked the Duke for a business investment.
First, I don't need jewelry, so it seems much more plausible to simply ask for money.
Second, being immersed in a business can be a good excuse to delay the marriage.
"Because worldwide, it's more common to be difficult for the unemployed than for the employed."
Above all, as I have spent 24 years as a slave to a capitalist society, I decided that if I entered into a business, it would be quite competitive.
I must save some capital as well, and while spending time planning business elements, the administrator brought a large box.
"Gold coins! The gold coins have arrived!"
I barely kept my poker face and opened the box.
"It's refreshing to see gold coins after seeing only jewels."
As I looked at the bag full of gold coins, I was ecstatic, and I discovered a luxurious velvet case buried on one side of the box.
What is this?
As soon as I opened the velvet box, confused, I almost fainted.
Because inside the box covered in black fabric was a heart-shaped diamond necklace that emitted a bright pink glow.
I stopped breathing when I saw the necklace that Philap had won in the auction, as depicted in the novel.
"Why is this here?"
In the original work, it was a jewel that was in the hands of the heroine because Philap had won the auction.
This isn't fake, is it?
Blinking slowly, nervous, I found a warranty and the Duke's letter inside the case.
[Deborah. I gladly accept your consideration for me. However, I kept worrying about giving you only a small amount of money as a reward for the precious letters... I know exactly what my daughter wants, so it's not reasonable to pretend otherwise... (...)]
As soon as I read the letter, I felt my blood pressure rise.
"Is approximately 40 million Korean won a small amount?"
(Note: 40 million won is approximately 30,000 USD.)
And what does he mean by "consideration"?
There's no way he thought I would ask for a billion, but since I asked for only 40 million, was he being considerate?
"Being a villain is much better."
I muttered, in a ridiculous mood.
When I was Yoon Do Hee, it was natural to always be considerate; so, if I made a mistake, they just criticized me.
But here, I'm praised for being considerate due to the common sense that I used to be an evil person.
I've been living my life wrong.
Having some mixed feelings about the expensive jewels that day, I discovered an unexpected clue.
Much more valuable than gold coins.
"This..."
Suspicious Woman
"Master, they say that the pink diamond auctioned today was the highest-priced among the items from the auction house. Congratulations."
Gerard, leader of the "Blanchia" guild, who had returned with information from the fierce auction house, told the Guild Master the good news.
He made a profit that exceeded the guild's operating costs for a year, but the Master only stroked the golden fur of a giant beast, without agitation.
I don't know what he's thinking.
The man was relatively young to be the guild master.
However, due to the expression of the mask, I couldn't read him any better than the previous master, who was like an old fox.
His skills, like this master's, couldn't be measured.
Since early last year, the Blanchia Guild Master has secretly invested in extraordinary alchemy that changes the color of minerals.
Although the Master's steps in this strange research were unsatisfactory, Gerard's doubts were quickly resolved.
With the alchemy that changes the color of minerals, the Master said he would introduce "Colored Diamonds" as a representative product of the guild-run jewelry.
"If a diamond is colored, is it still a diamond? The master is very strange."
It was the first product to hit the market, so he was very worried about the response, but it turned out to be an unfounded concern.
The Master, who learned from an informant about the hair color of the woman Philap Montes was obsessed with, used alchemy to create a pink diamond, the same color as her hair, and spread the rumor in the city that it was an unusual item.
As expected, Philap Montes, who was looking for a gift for that woman, took the bait, and even the daughter of the Duke of Seymour, known for her vanity, began to covet the pink diamond after learning that it was the only one in the Empire.
As competition among prestigious families intensified, attention to jewelry unwittingly increased, and more and more people wanted to make a successful bid.
In the end, the Master was able to sell the heart-shaped diamond for hundreds of times more than the price of the original diamond.
Although the immediate profit was large, it was very encouraging that the value of "Colored Diamonds" was highly regarded in the market.
It was obvious that the sky-blue teardrop diamond, scheduled to be released after this, would sell at an astronomical price.
Jewelry stores, which were said to have monopolized the distribution of rare jewels, would also increase in popularity.
"The Master's business skills are beyond imagination."
And it wasn't just about jewelry.
I was convinced that if it were for money, he would do anything. Like playing a game.
Even four months ago, he took over a bankrupt bakery and transformed it into a high-end dessert shop that only sold a limited amount of sweets each day.
Who would have thought that a bakery with no customers would become the representative dessert shop in the Yones district?
As a result, gold coins piled up like mountains in Blanchia's vault.
"How much did it sell for?"
Gerard, whose eyes were astonished, regained his senses at the Guild Master's question.
"Here, you can check it."
Gerard carefully placed the papers on the table with the final winning bid for the pink diamond.
As the man examining the papers furrowed his brow, the enormous beast by his side growled, narrowing its pupils.
He made an unprecedented profit, but Gerard turned pale as he looked at the seemingly dissatisfied Master.
"Duke Seymour took it."
The Master left the papers with a mysterious expression.
The fact that the Duke of Seymour won the jewel meant that his daughter, Deborah Seymour, became the owner of the pink diamond.
"Of course, I thought Mia Binoche would take it."
The Master's predictions were wrong twice today.
He expected the jewel to sell for a lower price than the actual winning bid, and he was convinced that the winning bidder would be Philap Montes.
Did I underestimate Deborah Seymour too much?
Recalling the information gathered by the guild members about Deborah Seymour, the man toyed with the gold coins stacked like a tower on the table.
"I knew she was the Duke's daughter, but... did I miss something?"
The man with a crooked mouth tossed a coin into the air and caught it on the back of his hand.
He played with his hands until the coin's faces appeared, and suddenly he spoke.
"Gerard."
"Yes, Master."
"Didn't I ask you to keep a close watch on high-ranking nobles?"
Displaying his displeasure, the Master ordered the informant in charge of the Seymour family to investigate Deborah again.
However, a week after giving such an order, a completely unexpected client appeared before him.
"How the hell did Deborah Seymour get here?"
As he looked at Deborah Seymour, dressed in a black hood, the Blanchia guild's Master, Isidor Visconti, felt embarrassed secretly.