Chapter 10: CHP 10

............a week ago, late in the evening,

In at a time when I was writhing on the inside with frustration because of Duke Seymour's remark,that 40 million won is a small amount.

'I should have asked for more then, I can't believe him... a small amount.'

Haaaaa.......(っ－＿－)っ

"What to do with it?"

I was wondering what to do with the pink diamond necklace that Duke Seymour gave me.

'Is there a way I can resell it?I'm not sure.'

I had no intention of carrying this thing around.

If I wore this necklace and walked proudly at the Academy and in the social circles, I would only provoke Philap Montez the protagonist's lover, who failed to make a successful bid.

I know that Deborah is supposed to be a villain, but I don't want to provoke the main characters.

It's even worse to get involved with the female protagonist, who attracted all kinds of misfortunes.

'To be honest, I want to resell this thing and win more money.'

However, if the only pink jewel in the Empire is brought back to the auction house, there is no way Duke Seymour wont find out.

'If I sell this jewel, it will hurt his pride and he will think that I looked down on his sincerity.'

The act of putting the diamond up for sell at the auction house is not something Deborah would do.

'In the end I have no choice, until I find a way to sell it,I have to take great care of it and when it is necessary to wear it at events.'

"I just have to wear it few times in front of Duke Seymour."

Originally, the necklace was meant to be an accessory that made the protagonist appearance stand out at the Academy, but apparently it met with the wrong owner.

'Of course, this is better than having nothing.'

After I looked long enough at the meticulously crafted necklace,I opened the jewel case to put it inside.

The design of the case was very luxurious and inside I found the quality certificate.

It was very strange to receive a quality certificate,in none of Deborah's memory is there any information that jewelry's come with a certificate.

That caught my curiosity.

'How many carats does the diamond has?'

I reached for the velvet envelope with art nouveau decorations.The envelope was seald with gold colored melted wax.

But as I was scraping the gold seal carefully something caught my attention,the stamp imprinted on it....

"What is it?"

On the seal was imprinted a faint stamp,I barely managed to realize what it was,it looked like a cat with a long tail.

"Who could it be....?"

After seeing the stamp, an unpleasant feeling kept bothering me, like when you want to say something quickly but the next moment you forget and you can't remember it all day.

'Who ownes such a stamp in the novel?'

The citizens of the Azutea Empire expressed their beliefs,preferences or their guild and family's name through seals.

Just as the Seymour family has the distinct feature,that in every generation the heir is always born as twin brothers,through the double-headed snake.

'To which character is this stamp related or is it a group?

A cat,a cat...a cat?

Who used it? Who,who...?'

Just as I was about to pull my hair out of my head because of how much that cat stressed me, out of the blue I remembered.

"BLANCIA!!!"

'How could I forget something like that?'

That cat with the long tail was the seal used by the BLANCIA Master when he was satisfied with a deal.

Unlike other characters in the novel, the Blancia Master used several seals to secretly express his mood.

In the novel, the Crown Prince always rushed to the Blancia Master with a request,whenever he had a problem.

.............

"Deborah Seymour keeps harassing Mia.

I want to get rid of that wiked woman, but it's not easy because of her family. If you find a way to get rid of her, I will give you whatever you want."

The Crown Prince, who wanted to score points with Mia,the female protagonist,requested the Blancia Master to find out Deborah Seymour's weaknesses.

So the Blancia Master made a plan,he secretly spread a rumor that there is a way to curse the person you hate the most,that rumor lead to Deborah making a contract with a sorcerer.

She even made a cursed doll that looked like the protagonist,that's how she was caught in the trap laid by the Blancia Master.

"Aaaa, a cursed doll.

How should I take advantage of this situation?"

The Crown Prince asked questions after questions, without noticing that this was the master's plan all along, to rob the gold coins from him with every question he asked.

"You can accuse her of blasphemy."

"What a great idea!

Even the Seymour family members are merely human beings in front of the sanctity and authority of the saint."

The Crown Prince then gave an enormous reward in gold coins and land to the Blancia Master,who made it possible to create conclusive evidence to bring Deborah Seymour to trial.

The cat with the long tail was the seal used by the Blancia Master when he stamped the land registration he received from the Crown Prince.

"This is the first time I have seen you using that cat stamp.I thought it was a decoration for your desk because you never touch it."

"Haha,I only use this stamp when I am satisfied with a deal."

"It seems that this seal is shaped like a cat I didn't expect you to like girly things."

"It's a seal depicting this young one over here, don't they look the same?"

The Crown Prince laughed,while looking between the golden beast next to Master and his cat seal.

(゜-゜)(。_。)

"You're joking right?

But,for what does the cat's long tail stands for?

"Originally the price was 10 gold coins, but I am feeling good right now,so I will explain it to you if you give me 9 gold coins and 99 silver coins.

It is a special discount only for you the Crown Prince."

"I really shouldn't have asked you that, if I continue like this I will become bankrupt."

............

After I recalled all their trifling conversations, I took a deep breath while I put my hand over my pounding heart.

"Calm down, calm down,calm down!!"

Aaaaaaaa... but I'm so excited it's difficult to calm down.'ヽ(^○^)ノ

'I wanted to meet the Blancia Master so bad.'

So I teared the envelope open and unfolded the jewel's certificate with shaky hands.

"I was right!"

Just as I expected, the name and address of the jewelry store that sold the pink diamond are written on the certificate.

'I might be able to contact the Blancia, through this address.'

I felt my soul swell with anticipation.(*^▽^)/★*☆♪

'The Crown Prince's most precious and powerful cheat key.

There is no rule stating that I can't use him.'

Thanks to the Blancia Master's outstanding intelligence and genius planning abilities, the Crown Prince was able to have the most important role among the protagonist's lovers.So he received a lot of suport from the readers.

'To be honest, all the Prince did was order the Blancia Master to do this,to do that while giving him money...'

The most annoying thing is that the Blancia Master planned everything, yet still the Crown Prince was the number one popular vote each time.

'I really want to do business with Blancia's Master.'🤑

I can't use Deborah's position as Duke Seymour's daughter as a mean to use his human resources,because of her reputation,and Duke Seymour only provided Deborah with three things:

• one,a dignity or what remained of her dignity

•two,servants to serve her

•three,a guard to protect her.

Having no one to rely on, the Blancia Master was like a long awaited rain for me.

We ,both ,are really a fantastic match, a super capable person who does everything you want with no hesitation if you give him a lot of money and me, who has lots of money.

Besides, if the Crown Prince used him all the time, and nobody found out,he must be good at keeping secrets.

In the novel the Crown Prince went to the store run by Blancia,and then he said a secret code to an informant who was posing as the store manager.

But unfortunately, no specific name or location was described in the novel.

However today I found a clue about the store location run by Blancia,in the jewel's certificate.

'This jewelry store that sold the pink diamond must be the one that is run by the Blancia guild.'

I couldn't believe that I, a pushover,won the lottery.

'So lucky!'

Even though I didn't drink caffeine, my body was trembling and I couldn't sleep that night.

.......................

............. I finally found him, the Blancia Master ,right in front of my eyes,I tried hard not to let my excitement show.

It's obvious that if I showed ,even a little bit,I would be looked down on by him.

'My pushover life will end from now on.'

Deborah's facial features were originally frigid that I looked cold even when I wasn't trying.

I opened my mouth while making a 'cold expression' that I had practiced in a mirror,to look more serious.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

After I finished my sentence,the Blancia Master, suddenly started laughing like he was crazy.

I was surprised at how wide his shoulders are.

Because he is someone who handles information, there was a prejudice made by the readers that he is small and frail, but looking at him I noticed that his upper body, covered by the black robe, looks bigger than that of my guard.

'What exercises did he do to have such a body?

Seeing that he can make things move without touching them,he must know how to use magic and he is athletic at the same time.

What on earth is he?'

As I looked at him up and down with a suspicious feeling,our eyes met.(゜゜;)(。。;)

The Master opened his mouth, smiling.

"I swear that you,princess are the first client who has aroused my curiosity.I even forgot my duty as an informant. I apologize."

"( ï¿£-ï¿£)"

"What kind of request does the Seymour Princess have?"

I slowly repeated the contents of my requests that I have prepared,in my head.

I opened my mouth while facing him, who had his eyes slightly closed.

"My first request is to find information about 'Louis Gargell'."

The Master tapped his fingers at my words.

"Louis Gargell,is the eldest son of a local lord that owns some land in the western border.

There isn't anything unusual,except for the fact that his family accumulated a lot of wealth recently due to the discovery of a large amount of silver mines in the west last year."

'What,the west?!'

I felt my blood pressure rising.

'Belreck! the more I get to know this jerk, the more annoying he is.'

This is a situation where I can't do anything but curse him,because the Seymour family's estate and the capital are in the east.

'That bastard is trying to isolate me in a faraway region without any connections,so that I can't set foot in the Seymour family again.'

To put it bluntly, it was an exile, not a marriage.

'Belreck,you think I'm going to go obediently?'

I barely managed to,slowly ,calm my anger that was about to explode.

"No,not just general information, I want to know his weaknesses."

'I am going to disgrace the name of that bastard that is pushing for this marriage. Belreck's plan won't go as he wants.'

"I understand,you want something you can use to attack your opponent."

"Exactly."

Master quickly understood my intentions, so he made a coin-shaped sign with his fingers.

'He is asking me for advance payment,right?'

I took out a pouch from the leather bag and poured out it's content on the table.

The Master's eyes sparkled a little.

"Do you think this is all I have?"

With a confident expression I took out another pouch and again poured it on the table.

At the sound of the jewelry hitting each other, the beast that was lying next to the Master wiggled his ears.

"If you show me your information gathering skills,I will show you my financial power."

Usually, the first impression is the most important one,so I wanted to make him feel that I was a much more generous customer than the Crown Prince.

'Master,I am better than the Crown Prince,you must accept me.'

I stared at the Blancia Master with that thought in mind.

"Princess you have shown me so much sincerity, I should do my best too help you."

The Master said in a playful voice after he picked up a jewel from the table.

"Don't worry,there is no person in the world that doesn't have a weakness? I am sure Louis Gargell will have some if we dig a little."

The Master said with an expression that guaranteed success no matter what.

'He must have had the same viper like expression when he plotted to accuse Deborah of blasphemy and send her to the monastery.

It feels like......he will make up weaknesses if they don't exist.

I don't know what it's like to have him as an enemy but,for me, he is more reliable than anyone.'

Then I brought up my next request.

"The second request.

Is it possible to buy or sell nobility titles?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"Yes,you can buy and sell titles.

You can even buy sincerity with money, it's exactly like a title."

He fiddled with a red ruby while he made that remark,with a thin smile.

"And the price?"

"Depends,it's different for each title. And the price is up to the seller,because of how attractive the nobility status is."

'God damn it.

I am not the only one who wants to buy a title.'

It is only natural for prices to rise when there is a lot of demand,that realization made me feel restless.

"How much is the average selling price of a baron title."

I tried hard to speak as calmly as I could.

"There are to few examples to make an average price but at most, this amount is enough to buy the title from a low-rank family."

Then the Master wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

'WHAT?'

I froze,becauze of the zeros that continued to no end.The zeroes that kept increasing at a scary pace, stopped suddenly at some point.

I almost grabbed him by the collar.

'Why is it so expensive?!'

The price was even more absurd if I where to convert the gold coins into Korean won.

'Ten Billions...'

I expected a billion won at the most,but this......is too expensive.

'However,I must keep this in mind that this price was unimaginable in my previous life, but not anymore,now it is no longer a ridiculous amount for me.

I must remember when I asked Duke Seymour for 40 million won, after judging the price by my previous life's standards.

I must not forget that now I am an orichalcum spoon.'

Deborah's life and living standards are different from Yoon Do Hee in the first place,now it's possible to gather this amount of money.

'I will definitely gather it.....I cannot marry Thompson Gargell,a pervert who drools whenever he sees a pretty woman.'

"I see,It's not to much."

The Blancia Master shrugged his shoulders at my bluff.

"It must be a small price for the Princess that owns a necklace with the same value as a townhouse in the capital."

'A townhouse, it should be at least between 1 billion and 2 billions.'

"What a a good idea.

That pink diamond, I want to somehow, change it,into gold coins. That is my third request."

I kept wondering whether to sell it or not because of Duke Seymour, but I changed my mind when I saw the nobility title's price.

'I will take a risk and sell it.'

"What?"

The Blancia Master, frowned at my words and looked at me, dumbfounded.

"Why are you trying to resell it?

I know the you were on a hunger strike, and even on a short confinement,in order to get that jewel?"

"Master do you know?.....that you keep forgetting your duty as an informant, if you want to continue to ask me questions,you should also give me this many jewels in return."

The shock he had when he heard my demand left him ,for a moment, petrified and speechless.His mouth that was slightly open, slowly loosened and let out a short laugh.

'So I can assume that he doesn't feel offended.'

I sighed inwardly.

The reason why I am taking a risk like this is because I am Duke Seymour's daughter,and in people's eyes I am sure that this fact is holding ,to some extent,the guarantee that I have gold to spend as much as my heart desires.

And if something where to happen, everyone knows that Duke Seymour has my back and will help me.

To put it simply, I was pretending to trust my father to help me.

"It seems that I forgot my duty again.

I apologize once more,Princess."

The Blancia Master apologized playfully, with smiling eyes.

I was surprised for a moment,because he looked so young.

'Now that I think about it.... how old is the Blancia Master? The more I look him, the harder it get's to guess his age.'

"Princess Deborah."

I quickly recovered from my thoughts when I heard the thick but at the same time soft voice, calling my name.

"That pink diamond...you are trying to sell it secretly,without Duke Seymour's knowledge, right?"

The Blancia Master immediately grasped the meaning behind my request to sell the pink diamond.

"Yes."

"But, it is impossible to resell it even secretly because this jewel has already gained great popularity in the social world.

If it returns to the auction house or the jewelry store again, a rumor will definitely spread."

I thought that the Blancia Master could solve any request without a problem ,like the Genie in the Lamp, but unexpectedly he is sure that it can't be done.

"But there may be a way to turn that jewel into gold coins without offending Duke Seymour."

The Blancia Master immediately came up with an alternative.

"What way?"

He squinted his eyes like a fox at my question.

"Fifty-fifty."

"You are asking me for half of the resalle price?"

"I am glad we can communicate well,Princess."

'What the hell is it with all these punks?'

"That is complete nonsense.

The percentage you take is too high,but I am willing to pay you a commission worthy of your work."

"Princess,you don't know,but pink diamonds will be released several more times in the future."

I almoust dropped my fierce expression after I heard his words.

The Blancia Master seemed to be aware of the quantity of pink diamonds that are mined.

"In the long run, it is more beneficial to sell it before the number of pink jewels increases and the scarcity drops.

And in return for having a high percentage as my share, I will sell it for you for more than double the original price."

The Blancia Master spoked very confidently, throwing a gold coin high in the air catching it on the back of his hand, showing one face of the gold coin,engraved with the First Emperor.

"And because I will have half of the gold,I'm moving towards maximum profitability."

I was lost in thought.

'His point is scarcity.

It is normal that if an item is going to depreciate gradually,the profitable way is to sell it as soon as possible.

Besides,if he manages to sell it at double the original price, as he told me, I won't have any losses even if we have to split the profit fifty-fifty.

I am curious about his plan.'

"But fifty-fifty is too much.

Seventy-thirty."

"If you tell me why my Cookie drools every time he looks at you, I will agree with seventy-thirty."

I was contemplating what to do when Cookie looked at me with depressed eyes.

The reason why this beast ,raised by the Master,liked me so much wasn't a big deal.It was because I had five catnip pouches hidden on my waist.

This idea came to me because in the novel the Master and the Crown Prince where talking about how the stamp with the cat depictet his golden pet.

So I assumed that the Master's pet must be some kind of cat,and my guess was correct.

The pet culture is not yet developed here, so catnip is used only for medicinal purposes.

'I don't think he would ever imagine that I tempted Cookie with cat drugs.'

"I'm not selling information like you do,I'll accept your fifty-fifty."

It is not an important information for me but,it is important information for the Master,who I presume is a cat person.

'It is important to arouse his curiosity,that way I can continue to see him.

It's a waste to tell him my secret in exchange for raising the share percentage to seventy-thirty.'

"You're not falling for it."

The Master said while grumbling with a disappointed expression.

"My final request.

I want to know a good way to manage a secret fund efficiently?"

I have countless jewels and accessories, but,few gold coins in my hands that can be used as cash here.

There was no need for Deborah to have them since Duke Seymour's financial manager paid for anything when she wrote a check when buying something.

But the disadvantage of using checks was that everything I would buy would be known by Duke Seymour,like a card statement in the modern world.

'It is no different from being tracked.'

Even if want to own a lot of gold coins by selling the pink diamond, it is impossible to open a personal bank account, because,here, unmarried girls can not have any private property before their debut.

Because I was used to the convenient electronic financial system of the 21st century, I was at a loss on how to store and manage heavy gold coins instead of banknotes.

"Well If it's a secret fund...."

The Master continued, uninterestedly,while supporting his chin with his hand.

".......many people usually just dig into their private land to bury gold coins, or secretly put them in a safe hidden in their mansion somewhere."

'What!Rich people do the same thing here, too.?'

"No,both ways are too troublesome for me. Isn't there any other way?"

The Master frowned while he thought about it and slowly rubbed his chin with his fingers.

"For a problem like this, I should show creativity rather than information ability right?

If I show you my creativity, what will the Princess show me in return?"

Copying me from earlier,the Blancia Master asked me to show him something other than my financial power, as if testing me.

'As expected from a him, he is not an easy person. Just from a little frown from him,a weakling would shake in fear.'

But I do have one more thing besides financial power.

I made eye contact with him,then I flipped over the leather bag.

"What do you say about this?"

Seeing my secret weapon falling from the bag, the Blancia Master started to laugh again.

"Then?"(^_^)

"It's definitely an object hard to get unless you are a princess."

.......................