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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Lessons in Investment
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Though she had a mountain of debt to repay, Nibelria hadn't given up on her dream of becoming rich.
Today, she'd run an errand for Kaleo, transferring sheets of backing paper into a box.
She'd briefly lost focus midway and run off to doodle instead, but in the end, she'd completed the task perfectly.
"Phew."
Nibelria wiped her pristine forehead with the back of her hand, pretending to be exhausted.
"Thanks for the help, Nini."
Kaleo stuck a sticker onto her debt reduction certificate.
"One, two..."
Nibelria tallied up her remaining debt. The certificate was already covered in purple stickers.
"Wow! I just need nine more stickers! Then no more debt!"
"That's impressive. Even adults struggle to pay off debt like this."
Kaleo praised her sincerely. Nibelria giggled and leaned her head against his arm.
"Daddy, once Nini pays off all her debt, should I start another business?"
"Hmm, not sure. Feels like it'd flop again..."
"No way! I'll do better this time."
"How about making money some other way instead of business?"
Nibelria's ears perked up.
But Kaleo didn't explain right away.
"Hmm, might be a bit tough for you, Nini."
"I'll study! Nini will study hard!"
Nibelria grabbed Kaleo's collar, begging to be taught.
Moved by his daughter's enthusiasm, Kaleo choked.
"Gah, wait—urk...!"
"Teach me! Teach me!"
"Okay, just let go of Daddy's neck for a sec...!"
Kaleo finally pried her off and straightened his rumpled collar.
He ignored the secretary's loud guffaws from behind. He'd chew the guy out later.
"Do you know what investing is?"
"Investing?"
Nibelria tilted her head.
Kaleo explained as simply as he could.
"Someone couldn't start a business because they had no money. You saw that and lent them some. They succeeded big time with it."
"Then I'd be jealous! Shouldn't have lent it!"
Kaleo buried his face in his hands for a moment.
The secretary hunched over his desk, shoulders shaking with stifled laughter. Dether bit her lip and looked away into the distance.
Ahem. Kaleo cleared his throat and continued.
"Anyway, they succeeded with the money you lent them, right?"
"Yeah, but that makes me sad..."
"No, listen. They made money, didn't they? So they'll give you some as thanks for helping them."
"They have to pay back what they borrowed!"
"It's not just the borrowed money."
Kaleo finally dropped the key info.
"They give you a share of the profits from the business."
Nibelria's eyes went wide with shock.
"Not just the borrowed money?"
"Exactly! Say they earn 100 Uba. They'll give you 10 Uba as thanks for the loan."
"Th-there's a way to make money that easy...!"
"But if their business fails, you won't even get your original loan back."
Kaleo checked if she understood.
"Uh-huh, so..."
Nibelria repeated what she'd heard.
"If they make money with the money I lent them for business, they share the profits with me. Separate from the loan repayment!"
"That's right."
Excited by this new knowledge, Nibelria hurried back to her room.
Sitting at her desk, she revised her plan to get rich with a determined expression.
"Nini will make money through investing now."
"Where do you plan to invest, miss?"
Dether asked, bringing a snack of chocolate cookies and milk.
Nibelria dunked a cookie into the milk glass and replied. Milk soaked her fingers, turning them white.
"Mommy!"
The empire's top earner, Seletrina Dayamor Lubeo.
"Mommy always succeeds."
"True. You only get returns by investing in winners."
But Seletrina, home from work, turned down her daughter's investment pitch.
"Mommy already has so, so, soooooo much money that she doesn't need investments. What to do?"
"Hing..."
Devastated, Nibelria flopped face-first onto the floor.
"Hehe, you can't give up that easily."
Seletrina scooped up her fallen daughter and said,
"That's why you have to invest quickly to make money fast. Or you could invest in companies that haven't succeeded yet?"
"But if they fail, I won't get my money back."
"You already understand that far?"
Impressed by her daughter's grasp of 'risk,' Seletrina promised help as a reward.
"Want me to introduce you to a few good investment spots?"
"Yes! Please!"
"But Nini."
"Yes?"
"Do you have any money?"
"...That damn money!"
Kyahhh!
Nibelria clutched her hair and screamed.
"Money, money! What's so great about money?!"
"Money's awful, isn't it? But to make money, you need money first."
That's the way of the world, Seletrina said.
She patted her daughter's bottom consolingly, helping her endure this harsh reality.
Nibelria, who'd been huffing, soon calmed down.
"Pat the left side too, please..."
Seletrina obliged, patting her left cheek as well.
Late at night.
While Solles and Nibelria journeyed through dreamland, the adults enjoyed a light drinking session.
As their conversation deepened, the drinks and snacks on the table dwindled.
"Man, Nini's really something..."
Kaleo murmured in quiet admiration.
"She's my daughter, but I never knew she had that kind of grit."
"It's been two years already, hasn't it?"
Seletrina counted on her fingers.
Nibelria's quest to get rich had now entered its second year—a full half of her life spent striving.
But reality didn't care that she was only four, or the empire's most noble little lady.
She'd challenged herself countless times over those two years.
Digging for coins, demanding 100 Uba per errand, and more.
Whenever she'd scraped some together, she'd buy lottery tickets or bet on adults who seemed likely to win at card games.
Every attempt failed, of course, leaving her buried in debt. Her sticker-plastered debt certificates already numbered over twenty.
Once a month, without fail, she'd rack up more debt.
So why was Nibelria so desperate to get rich?
"You all remember, right?"
Kaleo gave a wry smile.
"When Nini showed up with a live mouse in her mouth."
"The whole mansion flipped out that day."
Ardores remembered it vividly too.
It was the day the family gathered in the garden gazebo for lunch.
Nibelria, who'd been viewing flowers with Solles, suddenly dashed off somewhere and returned with something in her mouth.
A live mouse.
The shocked adults rushed her off for teeth brushing and called a physician to check for bites.
Instead of scolding her, they asked why.
"Nini, meow!"
I'm a cat, so I have to hunt.
That was Nibelria's reason for catching the mouse.
Muniel calmly explained to her granddaughter, who called herself a cat.
"Nini is a person now, so no biting mice."
"But meow..."
"See? You have hands and feet like Grandma. No fur. No tail?"
"......"
"People don't catch mice. They hunt money."
"Money?"
"With money, you buy food, houses, clothes. So let's hunt money instead, Nini. It's way harder than mice, but you can do it."
"Okay!"
From that day on, Nibelria started chasing money.
"...Thinking back now, it's hilarious."
Muniel swirled her glass gently as she spoke.
"That pure, innocent face—like she couldn't hurt a bug—biting a mouse."
"Don't talk like she's someone else's kid. She's your granddaughter, Mother."
"Remember she's your daughter first."
"Solles never did anything like that."
"Nini takes after you. You and your sibling were such troublemakers, while our grandson takes after his mom—kind and sensible."
Muniel glanced at Seletrina, who answered with a shy smile.
"But there was another reason too, I think..."
"The wolf, maybe?"
Ardores, who'd been quietly drinking, finally spoke.
"Yes, the wolf."
Nibelria had a special love for wolves.
"She still adores them."
"Why does she love wolves so much? Come to think of it, she's been that way since she was a baby..."
"Speaking of wolf."
Knock knock.
Muniel rapped the table with her knuckles.
Reclaiming the conversation, she said,
"In a few days, we have a guest coming to the mansion."
"One of yours, Mother?"
Seletrina asked.
"More like..."
Muniel paused, then smiled brightly.
"Nini's guest."
A few days later.
"The Degladis Duke is coming."
"Really?"
Nibelria's ears perked up, still sleepy from the morning.
She sat obediently at her vanity, letting Dether brush her hair, while eavesdropping on the maids tidying the bedroom behind her.
"Why does a guy with a perfect face and perfect body have to be taken already?"
"He doesn't want to marry you."
"Thanks for proving our friendship's worthless, you jerk."
"It's like he has special muscles built in. Those thighs are total horse thighs."
"Does he eat just grass? Horses eat grass and get ripped..."
"He moves a lot, that's why they're so firm!"
Nibelria chimed in confidently.
Dether and the other maids froze mid-task.
"Horses move tons, so they don't get fat!"
"Of course, our young lady is so smart."
"Nini moves a lot too, so no fat!"
Climbing down from the vanity chair, Nibelria's chubby belly stuck out prominently.
"......"
Nibelria stared silently at Dether and the other maids for a moment.
"Have you all not been moving enough?"
