Chapter 57 - 19. The Duke’s Successor (4)

Metal… sound?

Carl imagined what was in the sacks.

If you demanded something in huge amounts, the easiest place to get it would be from the top as long as you have money. Considering the huge amount, it seemed like she won’t have any problem with money.

“Let’s go back now.”

“Yes?”

But a few minutes later. Fanora suddenly said let’s go back to the carriage. He thought they would stay here for a long time, but it seemed that all she had to do was load the sacks.

“Ah! No wonder the carriage was too wide for the two of us.”

It wasn’t until he entered the carriage again that Carl realized. The front seat, which had been empty so far, was filled with sacks. From the very beginning, it was clear that the carriage was rented for carrying it.

“I will give you a ride until Verba Street, so get a new carriage from there and go straight back to your home.”

“Yes, Lady Fanora.”

So, is this the end of today’s work? Carl thought for a moment. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, but today’s work is already over? 

Just like the animal lovers’ club earlier, the social party he attended was because he was forced by his family. He couldn’t get along wherever he went, just like oil in water. He was shunned by people’s perception that he was weird.

But Fanora was different. Even though she wasn’t from the Andras family, she was the only one with similar interests. She always understood, even when he acted out of courtesy.

“Excuse me, Lady Fanora, this happened last week. When I went to the border.”

So Carl began to bring out the daily stories he had been secretly putting up with.

“So, that… Lady Fanora?”

Of course, it didn’t take long for him to stop babbling. This was because Fanora had been rummaging through a sack as if she was not paying attention to the conversation.

“…Are you listening?”

“Carl. You’ve grown a lot while I haven’t seen you.”

“Yes? Ah, thank you!”

“It feels like just yesterday that our eye level was similar.”

In addition, Fanora suddenly brought up a sudden remark.

Certainly, Carl, who was going through a growing period, had undergone changes in his physique over the past season and had become closer to becoming an adult. But why did she bring that up now?

“Was your hand always this big… I wish my fist is like this.”

Fanora stopped looking at the sack and glanced at Carl. Soon her eyes touched Carl’s hand, and she noticed that the wounds on his hand had increased. But that was not the point.

“If it’s this big, you can carry a few heavy sacks by yourself, right?”

“Yes…?”

“This is the reason I called you today. Now, this sack is yours.”

Cling. By the time the carriage had crossed the great bridge, Fanora had handed over the sack she had opened to Carl’s hand. It was only then that Carl could check the stuff in the sack.

“Gasp!”

There were none other than gleaming platinum coins, the currency of Kingdom Kasius.

“I-i-is this real…?!”

It was the first time for Carl, who was born as the third son of the family and had never dealt with large goods, to see such a large amount of money.

“Don’t tell me everything in the sacks…”

“Why? Do you want more?”

“N-No. That’s not it!”

Although he was a nobleman, he had a vague sense of money, but with this amount of money, he knew he could buy many of the things he wanted.

“Why are you suddenly giving me so much money?”

Fanora calmly explained whether Carl was bewildered or not. “Don’t you remember? I borrowed your money.”

“!”

At that moment, a scene flashed in Carl’s mind. One day, Lady Fanora said he wanted to meet him and asked to lend him all his money.

“I borrowed your money, spent it well, and the time has come to pay it back.”

However, the money he lent at that time was only about half of the platinum coins in this sack. But how could she raise the money to this point just by one season?

While Carl pondered the question in his mind, Fanora asked once more, “Anyway, can you hear me?”

There was no need for Fanora to explain it. Because she knew the future. The combination of the future a few years later and the midnight novel, in which Vasago became the main character, made her have more than one or two pieces of information in her hand. Fashionable hat styles, materials used for producing it, herbs that would become scarce, the name of the streets where land prices would rise, the appearance of the winner of the horse spear competition… Fanora didn’t even have to use all the knowledge she knew. Her fortune doubled through the bold investment method in which she put all her fortune. And the result of her rolling the money was the amount of money in this carriage.

A total of 15,000 bil. I made the transaction under my position as the fiancée of the duke, so they won’t steal the money, right? Having money from the top was good for achieving donations and entering the salon. If even a single penny is missing, I will set the merchant’s house on fire. 

When moving alone, it was difficult to deal with large-scale transactions, so finding an intermediate distribution policy took time and fees. Still, it was okay as long as her goal was achieved.

“How much all of this? Oh my gosh…”

From Fanora’s point of view, she was not impressed because it was easy money earned by using her future knowledge. But Carl seemed to think differently.

“Lady Fanora, I only need to receive the same amount I lent you. You don’t have to give me this much money.”

As Carl was about to return the sack, Fanora said without raising an eyebrow, “Carl, are you disobeying my orders?”

“Yes? But…”

“As someone who lost in a duel, do you have any complaints?”

“I’ll be quiet…”

Until now, no one had even dared to look at someone with Andras’s name. When Fanora looked at him with fierce gaze, Carl turned his head in disbelief without knowing it.

“As expected, I can’t beat Lady Fanora. T-then I will be grateful!”

As soon as Carl received the sack like that, Fanora finally loosened her expression. With that, she already paid my debt. The time they had left was short until they reached the main street.

“By the way, Carl. Where did you tell until before? After saying that you met Sankrit’s mounted troops at the border…”

“!”

“How did you kill the enemy? I’m curious about the back story.”

Carl smiled broadly at Fanora’s words. The way back home wasn’t boring.

* * *

“It was a fruitful day.”

Rattle. Upon arriving at Celsius mansion, Fanora got out of the carriage, loosening her stiff shoulders. For her, who had only pocket money for herself, 10,000 bil more was money she could touch only after living her second life. But she didn’t regret it even if all the money disappeared in one donation.

If it’s money, I can earn it again. She thought it was right to disappear easily as it was easy to earn.

But it was then.

“Mother…?”

Maybe she was waiting for her who was going out. It was a rare moment for Fanora to meet Hanar Celsius on the first floor.

“You’re coming back at this hour, Fanora.”

Hanar Selcius responded to me with a sinking look. Those eyes seemed to look at her like an enemy who was neither her child nor stranger. Even if several years have passed, how could Fanora forget about it?

“Yes, Mother.”

Fanora adjusted the hem of her dress and gave a perfect greeting. In order not to offend Hanar, she called her as mother. However, Hanar continued to show displeasure. 

“…”

“…I tried to stay still, but I can’t believe it when I see your behavior.”

Behavior? Before Fanora could even bring her doubts out of her mouth, Hanar pulled out a few letters from her arms and showed them. Looking at the letters, it was probably an invitation to a party somewhere.

“I’ve chosen the parties for you to attend in the future. Go and show your face and widen your connection.”

So far, Fanora has had a total of 22 birthdays.  21 times in her past life and 1 time in this life. However, it was only once that Hanar wished her a happy birthday throughout her life. Around the age of 16 after regressing, the moment she had to show off in front of the nobles.

“…”

But such a person even tried to kill her in the past by poisoning her food. 

For me? There was no way she would do this with the concern of her eldest daughter. Fanora instinctively didn’t want to follow her words.

“What’s wrong? Fanora.”

With Io in her grasp, she could kill Hanar with her bare hands, just borrowing a piece of God’s power. Then I think I will be able to forget all these painful memories. But Fanora couldn’t do that. Because the servants in the hall were glancing at them with their eyes down in front of Hanar.

“…”

As always, it wasn’t the time yet. Although she had a lot of anger, there was nothing good about showing that already.

“Mother. I’m sorry, but…  before you tell me, I already planned the party I will attend until the fall of this year…”

“Until fall? You must have accepted every invitation that came to you.”

“Ah! That, godmother advised me to do like that…”

Hanar flinched when she brought out godmother. At the same time, Fanora played as a fragile woman, making an expression that looked like she was about to cry if you touched her and looked into Hanar’s eyes.

“I’m sorry for coming home late today. After my debutante, it doesn’t seem like I ever officially offered a prayer, so I stopped by the temple.”

“…”

“I-I’ll be back earlier next time!”

Fanora then hurriedly moved. As she disappeared without hearing the answer, Hanar tried to adjust her expression. However, the letters Hanar held in her hand were already crumpled. 

“Butler, go get the coachman of the carriage Fanora rode in today. It would be nice if I could give him a few pennies.”

“Yes.”

How long has it been since Hanar issued such an order? After a while, dusk fell outside, and it became dark. 

“I can’t believe Fanora donated a huge amount of money to the temple. She didn’t even sell her mine, so where did she get the money from? Did she borrow it from the duke?”

Even though it was quite late, the lights in Hanar’s office were still on. It was because Fanora recently increased her worries. 

“These days she has been leaving without servants more often. What the hell is she doing behind the scenes…”

To be precise, Fanora’s behavior changed. Hanar thought that child won’t bother her anymore because she had crushed her spirit and made her into an obedient child. But recently, she didn’t move according to Hanar’s will. In addition, Fanora had a series of suspicious connections that couldn’t be regarded as just luck. 

Did Aloken really fall in love with Celsius’s insignificant daughter? Was it a coincidence that child caught the eye of Iva Maquil…? But Hanar couldn’t guess anything. Since her daughter had been completely neglected since she was locked in the corner of her room, it was too late for Hanar to notice her changes. Just taking care of this mansion is going to make my head explode… 

And a little later. A light knock rang as she rested her forehead on the desk. 

“Come in.”

“Mom!”

Purson, her son, came to visit. Purson told her what he wanted to say as he entered her office and complained about it. 

“What’s wrong? Was today’s class hard?”

“No, listen to me. Fanora, that girl saw me in the hallway earlier but didn’t even say her greeting and went in.”

“Oh my God.”

“What’s wrong with her these days? She suddenly engaged to a duke, and I think she must be up to something. She must be crazy.”

Although her son was already grown-up and about to graduate from the academy, in Hanar’s eyes, he was still her delicate and precious baby. So Hanar looked at him with a gentle look, which was completely different from when she saw Fanora. 

“Your sister seems to be jealous of her younger brother. This family will be yours in the future.”

“No, it doesn’t really matter to me… But what if Celsius’s reputation is ruined by her going around like that? Can’t Mom get her under control?”

He had clear, soft, wheat-colored hair resembling his mother, who gave birth to him. Hanar looking at Purson’s hair color reminiscent of warm autumn, said while hugging his son’s cheek, “…My son, hang in there.”