TL: Zimming
The warning light in her head blinked.
Leblaine crept back and murmured.
âI, Iâm sleepy.â
Then the three boys surrounded Leblaine and asked affectionately.
âAlright, kid.â
âLetâs go.â
Leblaine said, âYes!â and walked to her room. The three boys who were following the child up the stairs, glanced at their father.
âThe blue roseâ¦hmph.â
âStop.â
âShh.â
After the siblings disappeared, Theodore spoke in a dreary voice.
âNos.â
Nos, who watched from the beginning gulped.
âYes.â
âI think they like nicknames, so please make it for them one by one.â
âHuh? â¦yes.â
Theodoreâs eyes blackened.
***
The next day when I woke up, I saw a blue rose stuck in a vase and groaned.
âFather will be happy if you give him this.â
I was easily persuaded by Henryâs irresistible smile.
Iâm sorry that I didnât give it to him, but if I had given it to him, the mansion might have collapsed.
I shuddered at the thought of my father, the demon I saw yesterday.
I was so scared that I could see my father spitting out fire from his mouth with a blue rose in my dream.
Then, I could hear a few knocks and a familiar voice.
âLittle miss, are you up?â
It was Laura.
âYes!â
When I shouted, the door opened as Laura and the three maid with the water came in.
I washed and changed with the help of the maids.
âWhatâs your schedule for today?â
âWould you like to have lunch at the mansion?â
âShould I get your coat ready?â
The maids asked me, but I only nodded.
âIâm going out today. Iâll take a look at the shopping district.â
âIâll tell lord Noanoke!â
The war of nerves among the nobles surrounding Vallua intensified. Since there was a high possibility for Dubbled to win Vallua, Dad was concerned about those greedy hyenas, so the chairman was bound to follow me when I went out.
âWell, itâs not bad for me.â
Iâm going to the office of hope merchant guild today, so I have to go with the chairman anyway!
I thought of what I want to do in my head.
First of all, I have to do Seriaâs job because she went to look for the childrenâ¦â¦ itâs been a while since Iâve been socializing, so I have to see the ladies.
âThe most important thing is to find a way to respond to Duke Marcheâs attack.â
The chairman had the nerve to say I had the upper hand, but it was actually meant to reassure me.
Regressing is my last resort.
âWell, Iâm sure the chairman knows this and pretended he didnât.â
I love my family very much, but objectively, now the Dubbled is still behind the Duke of Marche.
âItâll be different in a few years, but itâs after the Continental War.â
Many years are left.
If Marche attacks before then, there is no proper way to respond.
âWe need Dubbled to be a powerhouse beyond Marche as soon as possible. It wonât be easy, but I canât ignore this, so letâs find a way.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Having arranged what I should do in my head, I left for the shopping district with the chairman.
When we entered the office, Seriaâs deputy Curtis greeted us.
âLong time no see, Danju*.â
*TL note: Another mistake :(, Leblaine has a nickname on the merchant guild. Everytime she went there people called her Danju. Iâm sorry for this.
âYes. Have you heard from Seria?â
âI think itâs going to take a long time as the area where Duke Vallua hid the child was restricted. We need permission to come and go. But sheâll try everything to see the children with her own eyes.â
âThatâs understandable. They are precious siblings to Seria.â
Seria was very excited when I told her where the Duke of Vallua had hidden the children.
âI hope not all of the children are dead.â
Thinking so, I checked the documents Curtis brought.
Hope merchant guild was collecting information throughout the empire, so there were interesting rumors.
âMarquis Nodelli is buying a ruined mine?â
When I checked the document and made a puzzled expression, Curtis put down the teacup in front of me and nodded.
âI think heâs looking for something.â
âHow come?â
It didnât happen before I regressed.
Above all, most good mines were already owned, so mines were not a good investment destination at this time.
âThe House of Nodelli received a diamond mine from the Emperor when the Marquis married Princess Ingrid.â
The diamond mine was full of high-quality black diamonds.
I thought of it and suddenly realized as I lifted myself up.
âThatâs it!â
The chairman, who was about to sit on the sofa, looked back at me and asked, âHuh?â
âCurtis, get out of here.â
âYes.â
When Curtis went out, I checked the window and outside the door as I whispered,
âHeâs looking for the suwon.â
âSuwonâ¦â¦ You mean a spirit stone that generates water? But isnât it only a legend?â
âNo, the suwon is really there.â
The place will be on the market in the near future.
And the owner is Marquis Nodelli
âLegend says itâs deep in Nymphâs lake, but itâs in a mine?â
I donât know how the Marquis of Nodelli knew that the mine, but otherwise there is no reason to buy the ruined mine.
However, most provinces are supplied with water from the Amentar River, so it would be unnecessary to have a source of water. Unless thereâs a big drought like five years ago.
âDrought?â
âThatâ¦â¦ no way!â
âThere will be a big drought soon. The severe drought has dried up the Amentar River, which is called the Empireâs lifeline.â
The Marquis of Nodelli was a man without a business brain.
Itâs a good thing that there was a huge profit from the mines he received when he got married, or his family would already be ruined.
People laughed at him because of his suwon project.
All he did was to distribute it to other countries suffering from a long dry season.
Compared to investment and efforts, profits were not significant.
Until the drought comes.
âAfter the drought, the price of water soared to the ceiling.â
The period of the drought is three years.
Until then, there has been no rain in the empire, and it takes two more years for the Amentar River to function properly.
Hence, that place has more power beyond the emperor.
âThatâll get my family to reach Marcheâs family in a short time!â
âI need to find it.â
âThe water source?â
âYes, first of all, I should investigate the mines that Marquis Nodelli bought⦠hm.â
âEverything we heard might not be everything.â
âThen we have no choice but to buy all of them.â
âYour wealth is not far off from Nodelli, but it might be a problem if you suddenly spend that amount of money.â
âIf it becomes like thatâ¦â¦.â
I touched my chin and grinned.
âThereâs a way!â
***
I went to visit my dad.
Dad was about to meet the nobles at Rosario tower, where the nobled usually gather.
After about 30 minutes, the nobles started to come out of the room.
âDad!â
When I raised my head, my father, who was leaving the tower while talking to the nobles, saw me.
âBlaine?â
âI was hanging out in the shopping district and the chairman said it was time for you to finish up.
âSo what brings you here?â
âThatâ¦â¦ soâ¦â¦.â
I didnât have a good excuse, so I shouted,
âI miss you dad!â
Then the nobles grinned.
âWhat a lovely child.â
I smiled innocently, and my dad gave me a big hug.
Then, I glanced back at the nobles.
âDoes your child visit you often?â
âHuh? Ahâ¦â¦ not at all. I donât know what my daughter is into these days, she never visited me.â
âMine is just annoying. My daughter never let me enter her room after puberty!â
âStill, a daughter is cuter. I only have annoying sons. I envy you.â
Among the smiling nobles, my fatherâs expression became arrogant.
âShe always rubbed her sleepy eyes and waited until I got home.â
âI envy you!â
âShe frequently waited in front of the gate.â
âOh!â
âShe came to see me again today.â
âIsnât she the cutest daughter in the Empire?â
Dad raised his lips when he saw the nobles screaming âI envy youâ simultaneously.
âShe even has a great reputation because of the long distance teleportation device!â
âYour daughter will remain in the history of the Empire for a thousand years!â
My dad nodded satisfactorily, and I moved my gaze away as it was a situation where dad had said the words, but the shame was mine.
âWhat should I give you as a gift?â
My father asked me.
âI had waited for this moment.â
âAllowance!â
The nobles grinned.
âYouâll have to give her a lot.â
âAh pocket money. My kids havenât been asking for pocket money since they grew up.â
âYes. Most can be purchased with seals, so thereâs nothing can be done about it.â
My father lightly rubbed my cheek with his fingers and said.
âHow much do you need?â
âHmm, soâ¦â¦.â
I looked into the air and calculated the amount inside.
âThe amount I have at the merchant guildâ¦I still need more.â
After I counted, I spoke with a bright face.
â50 million francs.â
ââ¦â¦!â
âWh, what?!â
â5, 5, 50 million?!â
The smiling nobles froze. It seemed that people thought I didnât understand that the amount of money would be a yearâs allowance of a common noble family.
I quietly extended my hands and posed cutely. It was also the pose that captured the maidsâ hearts.
âPleaseâ¦â¦.â
50 million francs.
I have to buy it with that.
Dad was silent for a moment and looked at Nos.
âNos.â
The nobles gave me a look of condolence with a look as if Iâll be in trouble.
Dad said,
âDispose of some islands.â
ââ¦â¦what?!â
Nos was surprised and opened his mouth.
âI need an allowance for my daughter.â