C84
"Why are my ears itching so much?"
As I touched my ear and frowned, the nearby guys shivered.
"What the hell did I do...?"
The rumors about Louis Gazelle becoming impotent have nothing to do with me.
I glanced at the blackboard feeling ridiculous.
The lecture ended with the political science professor announcing that there would be a debate class this semester, so I got up from my seat and looked at the pocket watch.
Today was that day.
The day specified in the tea invitation.
After a while, there was a small tea gathering at the <Epsilon> sorority house.
"Finally, I'm going to have a tea party with the ladies."
What's so great about it that it makes me so nervous...?
It seemed fun to sit among the ladies and chat.
Because I like listening more than talking.
"Can I hear about the stories of the ordinary everyday lives of the aristocratic ladies of the Empire?"
It's not like a thesis on the comparative evaluation and applicability of the recently published mana purity measurement method by the Mana Research Institute.
It's not that I hate researching with the Fifth Princess, but I'm not a department genius who enjoys learning like her.
"I want to take a break from studying."
How many times do I need to attend classes?
"But why is no one here?"
I was so excited to socialize that I got confused about the meeting time for a while.
When I started to think that everyone might have fled because of my attendance at the meeting, Margaret, who was beside me, said cautiously.
"Princess, the afternoon tea party starts at four o'clock."
"Cough, cough! I, I didn't feel like the meeting much, but I was thinking of looking at the paintings. The paintings of the new artist are displayed in Epsilon's permanent exhibition room every month."
"You're not wasting your free time but using it to develop your artistic perspective."
She looked at me so positively that it hurt my conscience.
"That, that's right."
Hey! Troublesome conscience.
"Yes. Please take your time and come back."
"Yes."
She left the place not to interfere with my appreciation and sentiment, and I entered the main building feeling embarrassed.
The interior of the Epsilon building was very well decorated.
Above the arched windows, there were delicate sculptures representing animals, and the floor was entwined with intricate and elegant geometric patterns.
As I walked and looked at the oil paintings hung inside the permanent exhibition room, I heard piano sounds in the distance.
"He plays well."
It was a soft accompaniment that felt lyrical.
After walking while listening to the calm and beautiful sound unknowingly, I ventured further into the labyrinthine interior of the main building.
"The building's structure is quite peculiar."
As I walked towards the left door, the sound of the keyboard gradually grew louder and then stopped.
"Thierry! Is it time to play the piano?"
In a short time, the impatient voice of a man was heard from one side of the hallway.
"The piano performer was Thierry Orge."
"I'm always in the music room."
Now that I think about it, he told me to go to the music room if I wanted to meet him.
"He has wonderful talent."
I thought he was just a light-hearted playboy, but I almost see him differently.
If only he weren't so talkative.
"What are you going to do with the pocket watch you left at the pawnshop? If you can't find it, my life is at stake. You said you could win with dice!"
"Why are you so impatient when it's only entrusted to you? Guillaume, your father is the minister in the Administration area. My father is a swordmaster. I can do this in just a second."
"Is this the right time to joke?"
The piano left a deep impression for just a moment, but the conversation was so ridiculous that it made me open my mouth.
These kids have no doubt pawned their house items for gambling.
There seemed to be a black sheep in each wealthy family who was dishonored by gambling.
"Why are you the only one relaxed when we're in the same boat? Are you hiding money somewhere? You also said you ran out of pocket money."
"There is a way to overcome this crisis. Come closer."
While listening to his crazy story with fascination, Thierry Orge suddenly lowered his voice, so I strained to hear what he was saying.
I can't hear what he's saying.
I moved my body more stealthily...
"What?! A madman forged a hatching stone?!"
However, Thierry's conversation partner, a guy named Guillaume, suddenly spoke loudly and leaked the confidentiality.
"Hatching stone?!"
They're talking about the sacred egg.
I closed my mouth at the unexpected word.
The hatching stone in the Orge family might be related to the white turtle spirit, which Mia received as a gift in the novel.
"Are you crazy? Lower your voice!"
"Because it's ridiculous, I said it because I wondered if I had
"Anyway, let's be careful."
"No other guy will come to this music room. All the ladies will go to the women's hall for their meeting."
"Damn it."
I quickly looked around and hastily hid between the pillar and the wall where the sculpture was.
"Listen to me first."
Thierry whispered about something again so that I could hear well.
"He left it for almost seventeen years."
"..."
"It's no different from a rolling stone."
"Hm. Really?"
Guillaume's gruff voice softened as if he had been persuaded.
"You're thinking of forging Holy Spirit eggs that couldn't be incubated because there were no artifacts for seventeen years."
I immediately realized the situation.
Thierry, your tricks worked quite well.
It's relatively easy to forge a rough stone instead of a refined jewel or watch.
"By the way, Sir Diery hasn't been coming home much. His pride must have been wounded by losing the joust. Pft!"
"After pretending to be cool and handsome, he lasted three seconds with Isidor. Pfft!"
What kind of great personalities are these?
Since Diery, the owner of the Holy Spirit egg, hasn't returned home recently, they meant to say they were presented with a better opportunity to replace him with a fake product.
I'm sure I hit the jackpot.
The iron sword was brought from the auction house located in front of Noir Pot's booth during the Spring Flower Festival.
I'm not sure, but there must be incubation artifacts.
Since I won the sword, the novel's content has changed in some way.
The white turtle spirit in the novel that Diery plotted and gave to Mia still remained as an egg, and Thierry planned to hatch that egg.
"If you're thinking of replacing it with a fake egg, how are you going to deal with the real egg?"
This was my biggest concern.
Since I wanted to have the Holy Spirit of the White Turtle from the novel.
This is because the Holy Spirit's light attribute has the ability to detect cracks in the barrier. I can prepare for a sudden disaster.
"So?"
"The black market."
"But there's no way to find the things you left as collateral. In the midst of this, interest will also increase. Those vicious idiots..."
Thierry and Guillaume seemed to have pawned their items as collateral to make money in a usurer's pawnshop.
Even if they secretly sold the Holy Spirit, it seemed like they couldn't handle it.
"Well, since it's a Holy Spirit that has no artifacts to incubate it, it won't be sold at a very high price. As Thierry said, it's currently just a stone with only a 0.001 percent chance of hatching."
"So, this game is more important than ever."
Thierry muttered secretly.
"Honestly, if you hadn't rolled the dice, we wouldn't be in this situation. The atmosphere was good until then."
"The red horse is a real deal. And I had a very good dream recently. A golden rose came out, but I felt extraordinary."
"Well, the racetrack is good enough to trust your guts."
Those crazy guys.
After discovering the plan of those troublemakers to retrieve the items in collateral by increasing the money at the racetrack with the initial money from selling the Holy Spirit, I pulled my hair automatically.
"Are you thinking of gambling again in the midst of this?"
Leaving aside my headache because of their recklessness, things will get problematic if Thierry hands the egg over to the black market.
"It's not a black market for no reason."
Like the pink diamond, there's a possibility that it will secretly enter another country.
"What do I have to do?"
These gamblers might sell the egg I was looking for at this moment, so I bit my lips in anxiety and approached the music room with a gambler's heart.
"Hmm. That's a surprise."
Thierry looked at me, who suddenly appeared as if he had seen a ghost.
"How, how is she here?"
"Sir Thierry told me the other day to go to the music room if I wanted to see him. Don't you remember?"
"I, I?"
Thierry, who seemed nervous with his eyes wide open, roughly brushed his dark, curly hair as if he were thinking of the formal greeting he had given me.
"Thierry, is it true?"
"I think so."
"I already knew that you're brave, but I didn't think it would be this much... Didn't you hear?"
"I didn't know you would really come."
I opened my mouth as I watched "Dumb and Dumber" muttering with clouded eyes.
"Sir Thierry's piano performance was very good. The plan to forge the hatching stone also left a very deep impression."
When I emphasized the word "forge," the eyes of the corpulent man who was supposed to be Guillaume convulsed rapidly.
"Oh? What is he suddenly talking about?"
"He clearly mentioned it a moment ago. Hatching stone, forge. In a very loud voice."
"It seems the princess misunderstood something, but it was a story of a close friend. How could we, the esteemed executive members of Epsilon, do that?"
I nodded my head as I watched Thierry shamelessly talking in a relaxed tone.
"Yes. I'm willing to deal with you if you do that."
"...What?"
"After changing the Holy Spirit egg that Sir Diery has for the fake egg, aren't you supposed to secretly put the real egg on the black market?"