Chapter 63: CH 62

“Eh. You should have prepared well then,” Reina quipped at Paul.

“Meanie. You said I was the only one…”

“When did I?”

Reina playfully stuck her tongue at him, but still sat next to Eli. Of course, she ignored her friend, who kept shouting ‘traitor!’ at her.

Eli then poured the drink he reserved for her into her glass as if he had been waiting.

‘…Should I really capture this cutie and tend to him well?’

Though he’s only acting humanely towards her, it’s just so comfortable around him.

By the time that fleeting thought passed through her mind, the doors of the dining hall burst open.

“You guys have started eating already?”

It was Jeremy and Lehman.

‘Tch. Is it because he’s a devilishly tantalizing man?’

Was there a need for a guy to look as pure as a blossoming flower even with such a haphazard appearance?

Thinking that the world was unfair, Reina grumbled inwardly for a moment, but she went ahead and rubbed at the drool marks that might have been left around her mouth.

‘I should’ve washed my face instead of just brushing my teeth.’

“Reina just got here, too.”

Upon hearing this answer, Lehman walked towards them, staggering, and then sat down next to Eli, on the empty seat to his right.

“Everyone, what classes are you going to take next semester?”

Reina sipped her juice silently, turning her eyes away as Lehman asked that oh so natural question.

‘I don’t think I’m included in his ‘everyone’, am I?’

So, she wasn’t obliged to answer.

“I’m thinking about taking History of the Empire’s Economy.”

The first person to answer was Douglas. Then Fran, who was munching on a piece of bread next to him, widened his eyes and asked.

“Are you finally gonna take it?”

The question made Douglas’ expression sour instantly. In response, he nodded roughly.

The nine households that would lead the empire.

Although the peerage and roles they would take were clear in the meantime, it was the duty of the descendants of the nine households to have above-average knowledge in various fields, such as economy, society, politics, culture and art.

Of course, here we have Reina, who arbitrarily walked down the path of an idiot.

Well, here we have as well was the genuine idiot, Douglas.

“History of the Empire’s Economy might bring a lot of pressure to the student at first, but if you keep attending class, it won’t be that difficult anymore. It’s pretty easy as long as you’ve got the basic concepts down pat.”

Lehman gave Douglas some advice as he buttered a piece of bread.

Letis’ eyes, which had been half-closed until now, snapped fully open.

“Uwaah. Did you take the class before, Lehman?”

“Yup.”

“As expected of a genius.”

Lehman smiled shyly when Letis started clapping. He didn’t even try to refute it or anything.

“History of the Empire’s Economy isn’t a required subject. Will you be taking up a post in the Ministry of Finance later?” Fran asked.

As far as Reina could remember, Fran was from a family of merchants, and the Carter family had been serving at the ministry of finance for many generations now. That’s why Fran looked like he’d taken an interest in Lehman now that he mentioned he studied economic history before.

“No, not exactly. But I do think that it’s a necessary subject when in public office.”

“Ohh, really, as expected. A genius.”

Letis applauded the other young man once again. At this, Lehman burst out in bell-like laughter.

“Rather than being a genius as you say, I just find discussions about the gold standard[1] interesting.”

After finishing her main meal, this time, Reina took a bite out of the fruit that Paul gave her—oranges and apples that had already been peeled so that they’re easy to eat.

Munch, munch.

Reina munched away at the fruit as she watched Lehman and Fran, who went on to enjoy their own little conversation.

“Lehman, what you said just now seems interesting. But I don’t believe that it would be an effective policy.”

“Hmm… Is that so? As it is, I predict that it’s going to be difficult to handle the Empire’s growing economy with the current state of the treasury. That’s why I think that it’s not a bad alternative.”

While volleying a rebuttal back at Fran, Lehman raised his cup. However, when he realized that it was empty, he turned to Eli next to him and softly spoke.

“Eli, I’m sorry about this, but can you please pass me that juice over there?”

Lehman was pointing at the pitcher of juice that was in front of Reina, so Eli reached towards it.

Prior to this, Eli served as something of a partition between Reina and Lehman. So, as he turned to the side, the view between them was opened.

Reina made eye contact with Lehman, and she soon found an odd smile donned upon that guy’s mouth.

“……?”

Why’s he smiling?

Staring at him for a moment, Reina thought, ‘We kinda don’t have an amiable enough relationship that he’d smile at me though?’ At the same time, Eli turned once more.

“Here.”

“Thank you, Eli.”

After receiving the pitcher, Lehman calmly poured some juice into his own glass, then he spoke.

“What’s on your mind, Reina?”

“…Huh?’

With a reaction like that, it’s obvious that no questions were expected to come her way.

Who? Well, everyone in this room, including Reina, thought so.

As the members of the nine households looked at Lehman with confused faces, he blinked and put on a harmless smile.

“Hm? Why is everyone looking at me like that? Reina looked like she had something to bring up, so… Perhaps, did I say something wrong?”

“……”

With the atmosphere gone cold, Lehman covered his mouth as if he had realized only then. Right then, his warm expression became subdued.

“Ah, you haven’t taken the class yet. I’m sorry. I thought you’ve already taken it because it’s a required subject for the members of the nine households… I’m sorry.”

‘Haa… Why is this kid always saying sorry?’

At the rate that he’s going, soon enough, he might just apologize for even just breathing.

Lost in thought for a second, Reina shrugged and answered directly.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m planning to take the class soon. It’s in line with my interests anyway.”

Everyone there looked at Reina in shock.

“Economic history… No, are you saying that you’re interested in economics itself?”

“Absolutely. I love economics.”

FYI, she wasn’t pulling this out of thin air.

Do you know what her nickname was in her previous life?

It was none other than ‘Money Bug’.

After all, considering the built-up resentment ‘Han Jae-hee’ had against money, she strove to become well-versed in the matters of economics, and she studied up a lot on investments and economic history.

In order to eat well and live well, it’s only natural that you have to know the flow of money first.

‘So, as soon as I became aware of my reincarnation, I dug up on the Empire’s economy.’

It was for this reason that, in the eyes of Reina Chantra, who had knowledge in modern economics—even if they were aristocratic children of the renown nine households of the empire—these people here were all just itty bitty kiddies who knew only about the economics of the middle ages, or at best, just the renaissance era.

¹ The gold standard – a monetary system in which the value of a country’s currency, such as the United States dollar or the British pound, was tied to the value of a specific amount of gold. This system is now obsolete in the modern world, however.

As gold’s value increased, prices in terms of gold began to fall. This placed major stress on the banking system. Numerous bank runs reinforced a growing crisis, further increasing demand for gold instead of bank notes. Monetary intervention in the United States and other countries led to the gold standard’s downfall.

(here we go again alkjdfl first there was that thing about vaccines, and now we got economics LOL r.i.p my brain, apologies to you guys in advance if I make any mistakes in my translation)