Chapter 50
50
"What do you mean, a lot?"
"The sister who lived near the orphanage showed me a ton of these a long, long time ago."
"Really? Are you sure it's Spinelle?!"
"It looks exactly the same..."
At my words, the vassals exchanged glances.
Viscount Dubois approached me and asked.
"Who is the owner? Where do they live?"
I shouted, "It's Sese!" and then gave the address.
The place where Seria, who would have bought a disguise Magic tool with the money I sent, was staying.
Viscount Dubois immediately sent an administrator to the place LeBlaine had told him.
And three days later, the administrator brought back a box full of Spinelle.
"So there really was an owner of a Spinelle mine we didn't know about..."
Viscount Dubois clutched his forehead in shock, and the vassals asked the administrator.
"What happened?"
"That woman named Sese was quite clever. She knew that if it became known that a commoner like herself owned a mine, she would be targeted and robbed by nobles or the Temple."
"So that's why she didn't release the Spinelle into the market?"
"She was taking her time preparing to set up a trading company and find a High nobles to back her."
The vassals' expressions brightened.
"With this, we no longer need to rely on the Temple. Call back the envoy we're negotiating with."
The Duke, who had been tapping the armrest of his chair, spoke.
"No. Don't let the Temple know that we've secured Spinelle."
"What do you mean..."
"Noth, you are to buy up all the Spinelle as the owner mines it."
"Is there really a need to stockpile that much?"
"It's not stockpiling. We'll be distributing it into the market at rock-bottom prices."
The vassals jumped at what he said, but Henri twisted his lips.
"You're trying to devalue Spinelle."
If Spinelle was oversupplied in the market, the price would inevitably fall.
If the value of Spinelle, the Temple's source of funds, was lowered, the Temple would naturally take a direct hit.
A vassal who understood the Duke's intentions asked with a worried voice.
"But that will also affect us."
Henri replied to that.
"The Temple won't last long. They'll have no choice but to sell the devalued Spinelle mine."
In that case, Spinelle would eventually be monopolized by Sese's trading company. After that, they could just raise the price.
"But buying up so much Spinelle and reselling it at a low price will cost us a huge amount of money. I don't know if we can withstand it..."
Isaac, who was leaning loosely next to Henri with his chin propped up, said.
"Are you stupid?"
"Pardon?"
"Who do you think we are?"
Dubled had other nicknames besides being the worst family.
The golden vein of the West.
A never-ending source of funds.
It was a family that always boasted a 100% win rate in these kinds of chicken games.
The Duke massaged his temples and said in a low voice.
"If the Temple comes begging, tell them this. If they don't utter nonsense like we'll take over LeBlaine's education, we'll let them eat gruel."
- So declared the richest man in the Empire.
The vassals bowed their heads in unison.
A vassal who came out laughing after the meeting said.
"Isn't the little miss truly a miraculous person?"
"Indeed. If it weren't for her, we would have been completely played by the Temple's tricks."
"This isn't the first or second time she's saved Dubled like this. It's as if she's the goddess of fortune."
The vassals who were talking each fell into thought.
'Was she an angel after all?'
'Dubled's little fairy...'
'Cute...'
At that moment, LeBlaine, who had fallen asleep, did not know that her followers had increased en masse.
Huuuaaam, I yawned and rubbed my eyes.
I felt like I had taken a pretty long nap, but my body was still heavy.
A few days ago, I used Divine Power alone for the first time without Bune because of Viscount Roman. It was an unfamiliar task, so I seemed to have used much more Divine Power than planned.
'I've also been thinking a lot like an adult because of Spinelle, so it's no wonder my body isn't feeling well.'
I stretched and got out of bed.
"I'm hungry. I wanna eat bread... (I'm hungry. I want to eat bread...)"
I was sucking on my finger when I flinched.
'This seems serious.'
More than when I first met Bune.
There was no one in the room, so it was even scary. It was proof that my mental state was reverting to that of a child because my physical condition was not good.
I shook my head to try to come to my senses, but tears kept welling up.
"Wuu..."
As I was hiccuping and crying, the maids came into the room.
"Oh my, little miss. What's wrong!"
The maids, surprised by the tears in my eyes, quickly approached me.
"Scary alone..."
The maids fussed over me, trying to soothe me.
"Come now, little miss, don't cry. We have good news for you."
"Good news?"
When I asked, the maids exchanged glances and smiled.
"Your room is finished!"
It's finally done.
Until now, I had been staying in the guest room that the Duke had given me when I first came to Dubled Castle.
I should have had my own room in the West Wing right after I was adopted, but time was delayed due to the construction of safety devices.
Wizards from the Magic Tower and even Court Wizard traveled between The Capital and the Territory of Dubled to complete a perfect Barrier.
'My room...'
For some reason, my heart fluttered and my tears disappeared.
Having a room decorated just for me, only mine, was the first time since my first life.
'Even in my first life, it wasn't completely my room.'
It was just a desk and a new bed in one of the rooms in Duke Amitié's mansion.
The maids led me to the room.
'It's in the West Wing after all.'
I walked, following the maids, looking around the West Wing.
"Here we are."
I opened the door and took a deep breath.
A large window with bright sunlight shining in and neat beige walls.
All the furniture in the room was unified in white, but it was decorated with elegant gold trim on the corners and bases, making it luxurious.
The sofa was a lovely apricot color. Sweet-smelling candles were placed on the sofa table and bookshelf.
It was so enormous that it couldn't even be compared to the guest room I had been staying in.
"This is the reception room. That door leads to your personal study where you can read or study."
"Across from that is the bedroom. There's also a bathroom and a dressing room inside the bedroom."
"We've brought in new clothes and accessories such as ribbons in the dressing room."
"There's also a big, wide bathtub in the bathroom. It's a wonderful place where warm water flows all day long. And..."
While the maids were explaining the room structure, I stood frozen.
"Little miss?"
The maids looked at me strangely.
"Don't you like it?"
I couldn't say anything, so I clenched and unclenched my hands, opening and closing my mouth, and fidgeted.
Before Duke Amitié handed me over as a sacrifice for the ritual, he let me live in Mina's pretty room like this.
Duke Valois also let me rest in such a pretty room before experimenting on me.
[LeBlaine, it's time to fulfill your mission.]
[You've enjoyed too many things, so you have to pay the price.]
The voices of Duke Amitié and Duke Valois echoed one after another.
I also desperately begged, clinging to their pant legs in the places they took me, saying, "I was wrong. I was wrong. Just kill me, I was wrong."
At that time, familiar people came in from outside the open door.
The employees parted like the Red Sea, and the young dukes who walked through the gap looked at me.
"It was noisy, so you moved rooms."
Isaac looked around my room and continued.
"It's near our rooms. Hey, kid. You can't come looking for us at night because you're scared, okay?"
Then he coughed and cleared his throat, saying, "Come exactly three times a week. Got it?"
"......"
"What, why aren't you answering? Geez, fine. You can come four times a week. Happy?"
"......"
"What's wrong? Why do you have that expression?"
Isaac looked at the maids as if asking what was wrong. But the maids just shook their heads as if they didn't know the reason.
Henri asked.
"What's wrong?"
"This not Leubu's room."
"This is your room, LeBlaine."
"But, but... this princess room!"
Henri asked back, "What?" and Isaac was bewildered, saying, "What are you talking about?"
"Room too big and pretty..."
"What are you talking about. Hey, kid. The bigger and prettier the room, the better! And the room you've been staying in so far was also big and nice."
"That guest room! Guest room good! But Leubu room small and dark. So not my room. Here big and pretty, so not my room!"
In my head, the grown-up LeBlaine seemed to be saying, Please stop talking! But as a child, I was constantly scared.
Like Duke Amitié and Duke Valois, they might give me a nice room and then betray me if I was happy.
What if it hurts that much again this time? What if I regress again?
When I regress, it's really, really painful.
It was like my whole body was being torn apart and then put back together.
I looked at the young dukes with a frightened face. Their eyes were trembling finely.
Henri stared blankly at LeBlaine like someone who had been hit. Then, when tears began to well up in the child's eyes, he flinched and came to his senses.
"You don't have to live in a small, dark room anymore."
"......"
"This is your room, and this castle is your home."
Henri wiped LeBlaine's wet eyes with his sleeve.
"So please don't cry. It hurts my heart too much."
The hand stroking my head was very careful.
After LeBlaine calmed down, Henri said to the maids.
"For the time being, let her continue to stay in the guest room."
"Yes, young master."
Just in time, Leah came and took the child with reddened eyes, saying, "Oh my, little miss!"
Henri watched LeBlaine leave in Leah's arms before turning around.
But Isaac was frozen in the same position as when LeBlaine started crying.
"What, get out of the way and leave."
Henri said with a frown. Isaac looked at his brother, dejected like a puppy with drooping ears and tail.
"Brother, what kind of room did LeBlaine live in before?"
Born as the youngest young duke of the Dubled family, he could not easily imagine a small, dirty room.
Even the room in the dormitory where he stayed seemed to be connected by attaching about two of the guest rooms where LeBlaine stayed.
It was the same for Henri.
"There are records of LeBlaine sent by the Empress Dowager in the administrator's office. It will say where she grew up."
"Let's go."
"Okay."
The young dukes immediately headed to the administrative office where Noth was.
Everyone was flustered when the young dukes suddenly barged in and demanded LeBlaine's records, but they soon found and handed over the records.
"Do you have orphanage data too? The same as the interior of the room."
"Yes. I checked it before... Ah, it's here."
Isaac looked at the picture the administrator gave him and frowned.
"No, I'm talking about the room the kid lived in. Not the shed."
"That is the room."
"What?"
