All Who Desire Gold, Must Protect It
As I stepped out of Count Serpine's residence, I couldn't help but whisper "Yay!" seventeen times in my heart.
One hundred billion gold? What on earth am I going to do with it? It's all mine, but there are still expenses to think about.
First, the Demia Temple doors need fixing. Then Petia's clothes need to be tailored. I also need to buy groceries and some paper. Writing ledgers obviously requires paper.
Of course, I won't buy something as fancy as deer hide parchment. I'll stick to the cheapest grade of sheepskin parchment.
As I recalled every expense on my mental list, my mom from back home suddenly popped into my mind.
Even though we weren't close, she had done a lot of housework at home, so I had seen quite a bit.
Every month-end, Mom would drag her assistant boss or accounting sister and discuss all the spending details with them.
Paying this person more, cleaning up that one's accounts, how much was spent back then, why was that purchase so expensive this month, and so on.
While I was in elementary and middle school, watching Mom made me think things like "She earns so much money yet she's so stingy."
By the time I was ready to go to university, I started watching her more closely. Oh, it's discounted? Oh, there's support money?
From that point on, I vaguely thought maybe one day I'd run a business myself. After all, I'm Mom's daughter.
I watched her back as she worked.
While pretending to game on the living room sofa with headphones on, I secretly listened to Mom's working voice.
Ah, suddenly I feel bad about the money in my account. With the condolence money added in, it's almost one hundred million.
After twelve years, I guess so. The anger I felt toward Mom back then has dulled quite a bit. I was all fired up saying I would never look at Mom again...
Whether I looked at Mom or not, I had one hundred million gold in my hands. I could use it for a world tour. If Mom suddenly started acting different and ran to some distant grandmother's house to rummage around, would she end up living like this?
Facing the fate of an immortal slave, I realized how foolish my life had been.
As these thoughts swirled, my inner excitement began to fade.
Now I can look back on those times with a cold, detached gaze. But back then, I had been terribly wounded.
Because Mom showed no respect for the death of her own mother, my grandmother?
Of course there was that reason too. But peeling back the layers, the real anger and betrayal came from something deeper.
Mom doesn't love anyone truly. Even if I die, my funeral won't be held the way I want, without any sorrow, like she's just doing her job.
I loved Mom, yet she never loved me back.
It was the moment I could no longer deny it.
"Look here."
At that time, the only family I had was Mom, so I felt it was unbearably sad, painful, and hopeless.
For twelve years I hadn't seen Mom, yet now I had a mother named Louise who truly loved and cherished me.
Still, somehow, Mom remained the only one in my heart, the cold and merciless Korean one.
I have kind parents and a gentle older brother, yet sometimes I feel like a true orphan.
Hey."
I wasn't sure if he was looking for Mom, but I still longed for Mom,
!"
Someone grabbed my wrist and twisted me around. Because my body spun, I instinctively turned to face the person.
At that instant, a tear fell from my eye. It was inevitable after thinking about Mom.
The man who pulled me was Count Serpine's second son. He growled at me and pulled, then his face went pale the moment he saw my face, as if burned by fire.
"A-ah? Does it hurt? I'm sorry. That, no, does it hurt? No,"
"No, rather, what,"
What kind of nonsense is this? Grabbing someone's wrist, claiming it as a scandal, even if it's just flour dough in my head, I have to think like that.
The same scathing words were preparing to fly out of my mouth.
"The northern snake doesn't care about his life."
A hot-blooded warning from someone from the south rang out behind me.
Honestly, to modern eyes it might look ridiculous.
A twelve-year-old boy glaring at a fourteen-year-old boy, saying he doesn't care about his life, while the fourteen-year-old boy, eyes wide with excitement, was holding the wrist of a twelve-year-old girl and saying,
"The southern beast thinks he's human and barks."
But both boys were the kind who could casually kill people.
Here, killing meant intentionally and maliciously killing someone from our side.
Killing someone from another faction for gain or to annoy them wasn't considered murder here. It was close to righteous execution. This was a neighborhood where the law was far away and fists were right next door.
Demia walked over with heavy steps and grabbed the second son's wrist.
"Let go. Before I snap you in two."
He meant to break it. Or maybe something even crueler.
"In front of a lady... Truly, beast-like. Seeing those eyes, you're not even a beast,"
Count Serpine's second son gritted his teeth. He seemed to have forgotten who was holding his lady's wrist.
And when the word beast came up, Demia, already furious, could no longer hold back.
A faint singing sound leaked from Demia's mouth. I didn't know what it was, but it couldn't be anything good.
If the second son messes up here, my one hundred billion gold will...
"Ah!"
I screamed at the top of my lungs, and both the second son and Demia turned to look at me at the same time.
"It hurts..."
When I shouted, the second son startled and let go of my wrist. Then Demia carefully gripped it, like glass about to shatter,
"Why? Where? Where does it hurt? Let me see. Just a moment."
Singing in a high, clear voice with his face white as a sheet.
As he cast his healing magic, the wrist that had been throbbing slightly healed in an instant.
The swelling pain in my feet and legs, which I had walked a lot lately, disappeared as if washed away.
Glancing over, the second son looked shocked. The light feathers that had wrapped around my whole body vanished in a flash.
I knew Demia was quite skilled, but I didn't know exactly how skilled. Judging by the second son's face, he seemed pretty formidable...
I'm not sure if it's okay to open up abilities like this.
What if he gets hurt?
Feeling worried for no reason, I tugged Demia behind me. But unlike before, Demia resisted with strength and didn't follow me.
Ah... This guy was made of ice needles but his insides burned like flames. Had my pride been pricked again?
Ah, no. Demia was staring straight at my wrist.
And the second son next to him didn't even glance at him, ignoring him completely as he looked me in the eye.
His eyes widened as if he could detect even a gram of lie,
"Does it hurt? If it's even a little, you must tell me."
He put pressure on me. His face looked like he thought I was trying to worry about him, the second son, and smoothly handle this situation by enduring the pain.
I knew I wasn't that kind of person, yet why...
Unsure what to say, my mouth went dry. While I was at a loss for words, Demia turned his head and glared at the second son.
"I,"
Demia's voice was very low. Unlike before, his expression was almost gone.
Suddenly I realized. When he's truly angry, his expression disappears.
"Name only one reason why I shouldn't kill you."
His voice held the certainty that there wouldn't be even one such reason. Demia really seemed like he wanted to kill me, so I had no choice but to lean on him,
"Ah, it feels a bit dizzy..."
I had no choice but to rely on Demia.
Demia was weak to me.
As expected, Demia glared once at the second son saying "We'll talk later" and lifted me up in his arms.
He was so delicate-looking that it was surprising how he picked me up like a cotton doll.
"Let's go."
Demia quickly carried me and started walking fast. From behind his back, I made a wry face at the second son.
"I'll pay you back for this debt later."
As his face twisted in shock, I let out a little laugh.
"Oh my, Arian!"
Ah, what am I going to do.
"Why is Arian acting like this?"
"The northern snake tried to break Arian's wrist."
Don't overdo it. There's no way he was trying to break my wrist.
Thinking about it now, the second son must have called me. I had just missed his voice while lost in thoughts about Mom, but Demia was making an absurd accusation to Petia that the second son tried to break my wrist.
Petia bustled around and pulled the blanket up from my bed, while Demia gently lowered me down. As if even the slightest roughness would make me break somewhere.
This is driving me crazy. Why are you pretending to be in pain for no reason?
"How dare the Serpines threaten my Arian?"
Petia panted as if Count Serpine had punched her in the chest. Unable to hold it in any longer, she opened her mouth.
"High Priestess. Demia."
Both of them looked down at me at the same time. Their momentum was like resistance comrades listening to a final will.
"I'm not in pain."
At that, Petia looked puzzled. Demia was slightly puzzled before eventually realizing I was faking the pain and his face grew ugly.
The moment he took a deep breath as if about to shout at me, I blurted out,
"I sold Chador. For one hundred billion gold."
Demia, who had taken a deep breath, couldn't shout and swallowed hard while coughing.
Petia's eyes widened. She blinked, moved her lips, looked confused, and shook her head wildly before whispering to me,
"You don't have Chador, Arian."
"I do. It's hard to explain. That's not the issue. Accepting one hundred billion gold isn't the problem either. The real problem is that we have to leave here with the one hundred billion gold."
One hundred billion gold was an enormous amount of money. The scribe we met earlier earned only about thirty-five gold a year, and it was comparable to the royal annual income.
Count Serpine would definitely give me the money. But whether he would allow me to leave this fiefdom with it was another matter.
He said he would give it, didn't he? It's not like he said he wouldn't take it back.
Would a god really take back money offered to it? Of course not. If the god was scary, there was a way around it.
First, leak a bit of information to mercenaries. When the mercenaries robbed us, Count Serpine's knight squad would punish the mercenaries at the right time. And the money would be swallowed, along with a moral justification.
The wedding of Count Serpine's successor was only three days away.