The Golden Ears' Eye for Value
Ah, that kind of setup?
"So, to sum it up, Her Highness the Princess fell for you at first sight and will stay at the mansion from now on, seducing you relentlessly?"
"That's right."
"What kind of third-rate romance smut is this? The title would be The Princess's Seduction, printed on cheap paper where the ink smears and it tears after a couple reads—exactly the kind of story you'd find in one of those. And right before the finale, there'd be some twist where the protagonist turns out to be the princess's half-brother from another mother."
"You read that stuff?"
His description was oddly specific. Though the half-sibling twist wouldn't fly because of lifespan issues. The imperial family are half-dragons, after all.
"......I don't read it myself. My older sister loves that kind of thing. I just snuck peeks at what she was reading."
"You have a sister?"
"Yes. Well. Unlike me, who was raised as childhood friends with you, Your Excellency, she was an unplanned child, so she doesn't have much connection to the Riddle family."
"Ah."
The Gunt family is a satellite house of the Riddles. They exist to serve the Riddles, so whenever someone from the Riddle house gets pregnant, the Gunts have a kid at the same time to raise as a playmate. But that doesn't mean they only have kids then.
Torso, born on the last day of December, might have ended up with a pretty ordinary life if he'd been born just one day later.
"Torso, you had a wild phase too, huh? Sneaking your sister's books. Didn't peg you for that."
"......Anyway, regardless of my sister's smut tastes, something seriously weird has happened to you, Your Excellency."
"The weirdest thing is this world itself, though......"
"Hm. Can't argue with that. The whole world is complicated and bizarre."
Torso nodded in agreement at my mumble, like it was the most natural thing.
What a strange world. Everything was changing at breakneck speed, and we were on the cusp of that massive turning point: the Hero clashing with the Demon King.
Old-fashioned values were crumbling, new tycoons and capitalists were shoving their way into parliament.
So, in a sense, it was an era where anything could happen and no one would bat an eye.
Hell, wasn't there some evil spirit possessing a noble on one side, pushing slave reforms? Compared to that, a pampered princess falling head over heels for a possessor at first sight wasn't that weird.
"I get it. Thinking about it, most of what you do, Your Excellency, was never something I could fully grasp from the start anyway. If I can't understand it, maybe the smartest move is just to trust and accept it."
"Exactly. Especially when it comes to matters of the heart."
"Anyway, for our business going forward, the key point is that the imperial family will sit tight until the Hero defeats the Demon King ten years from now, right?"
"You nailed it."
"That's all I need. I'll build a business operations plan around those ten years—recovering invested funds and positioning for re-investment in emergencies."
Whether it was the blonde-tanned delinquent princess's twisted NTR fetish or his sister's smut preferences, none of it seemed to faze Torso much.
It hit me again how the nickname "Money Ghost" suited him way better than me. He lacked that human touch.
And that's exactly why I could trust him with everything. As long as I stayed the "money-making guy," Torso would never betray me.
"Torso."
"Yes."
"What kind of person was I?"
"Pardon?"
It suddenly made me curious. In the original story, what kind of man inspired such fanatical loyalty from Torso—the kind where he'd lay down his life?
A trash who treated lives and dignity like flies. The nightmare of widows, orphans, and debtors. A merchant who'd sell his own blood drop by drop if he could weigh it.
The Golden Ears.
I'd already used my blessing to read this body's past, but personal viewpoints are limited, and no way could my brain process and remember twenty full years from a blessing.
So, I wanted to know.
"I mean the old me. Before we started the talent business......"
The Golden Ears I'd possessed—the one fated to die at the Hero's hands, hated by fate itself. Was he worth this wise, capable friend throwing his life away for?
I was curious.
The Golden Ears was a villain, but the kind who commanded such loyalty that hordes of underlings died protecting him.
So, I wanted to hear the story.
"No, forget that. What was Count Riddle like before I possessed him?"
"......You're saying it out loud yourself?"
"Nah. It's all out in the open with the princess anyway."
And I needed to tell Torso too.
He was my right hand. Everything I did went through him in practice.
How could I hide something from him that others knew and still expect proper countermeasures?
Torso had to always be the one who "knew me best."
"You'd already guessed everything anyway. I never really tried to hide it."
"True. It never seemed like you were trying to."
"I had to show it. That I'm not the same as 'Karl Riddle.'"
"Show who?"
"Fate."
"......"
"And to everyone 'Karl Riddle' wasn't human to—to show them."
Sometimes, you have to do good deeds just to prove a point to someone.
"That we deserve to survive."
"That 'survival issue' you mentioned before?"
"Yeah."
"Hm."
"That's why I wondered. If my survival can only come at the cost of 'Karl Riddle's' death...... At the very least, I need to understand who he was, as much as I can."
"......"
"And he seemed like a pretty good friend and lord to you."
I didn't feel particular guilt over taking the Golden Ears' body. I didn't choose to possess it, and in the end, the guy died by his own sins at the Hero's hands.
But a baseline of respect? Yeah, I could do that.
Even if he was a money-mad monster right up to the end, he wasn't evil to everyone.
At minimum, I wanted to give the people he left behind a chance to mourn him.
Because I'd stolen his entire "life," no one could mourn the Golden Ears now.
"The old you, Your Excellency...... Hm. Wasn't such a great friend. Not a great lord either. He didn't know how to say thanks, didn't care about building up his subordinates' face or reputation. As a person, rock bottom. As a boss, barely passable."
"Harsh critique......"
"But he had one thing that outshone everyone else."
"Outshone?"
"Yes. Your Excellency had...... incredible judgment. He could spot the value in people and things at a glance, and he never skimped investing in what was worthwhile. Probably because from childhood, he'd used his Blessing to peer into the true nature of objects. He grew up learning from textbooks free of tricks or errors."
"Judgment, huh......"
"Thanks to him, the family vaults never ran dry. He had a knack for haggling valuables dirt cheap, which earned him a bad rep among merchants. But their eyes were just bad—they couldn't spot gems. Unfair on you, though I doubt you felt 'unfair' about it."
A jerk of a personality, but with killer business sense and talent. Classic villain archetype.
"He's different from you now in personality and character...... But you two do share something."
"Share?"
"Yes. He never stinted money on valuable people. That's why everyone he recognized was loyal. Double the pay of others, way better treatment. Sure, the low-paid ones grumbled, but those types could be replaced for pocket change. The truly irreplaceable—the valuables—were all recognized and placed perfectly."
"......"
"Come to think of it, he seemed to know that losing people was the biggest loss."
Because he saw people as tools, he spared no expense on valuable ones.
That was the Golden Ears.
In other words, he was merciless to the worthless.
Couldn't coexist with my view of valuing people themselves...... But in a way, that made him the most similar to me.
We both cherished what had value, after all.
"......"
From childhood, reading countless people's deepest secrets via his Blessing—what did the Golden Ears see in humanity?
No clue. I couldn't grasp the mind of someone who saw people as tools.
But there were things I could do without understanding.
"He treated you well, right?"
"Made me more than comfortable."
"Haha. Yeah, figures. You're competent, Torso......"
"A useful tool."
Just like I respected the virtue hidden in the imperial family's laziness, I could respect the virtue in the Golden Ears' vice.
He was the best "master" to his own people—that was his merit, even as someone who owned people like tools.
At least he let them know they had value.
"Guess I should thank Karl. Thanks to him, I've got a great subordinate to make full use of."
"No need for thanks. As long as the money rolls in, he'd let you use his life or body however."
"Doubt it."
That guy got uglier than expected right before the Hero killed him.