Chapter 69 - 22. By Personality (5)

“This is an alchemist from far beyond the sea.”

“That person is an alchemist?”

“Look carefully from now on.”

The wealthy-looking stranger smiled at her. Fanora stared timidly at the figure introduced as an alchemist.

Soon after, the alchemist began pouring Kasius’s currency into the water tank prepared in the room.

“He does magic to turn such a small amount of money into an expensive jewel!”

“Pardon?”

Fanora thought as she listened to her fiancé’s remarks. That kind of alchemy is a scam.  She usually reads books related to science. So she felt negative about mystic studies and elemental transformation techniques, which were the earlier science stage. However, soon the alchemist did something amazing.

“Oh my gosh!”

She was obviously staring at the water tank. As the alchemist beckoned in the air, bubbles rose from the water tank, and in the blink of an eye, the coins he had dropped into the water turned into beautiful rubies.

“Can I touch it?”

“Of course, Lady,” spoke the stranger alchemist fluently in Kasius language.

Fanora fumbled as she cautiously reached inside the tank. There’s no way something like this is possible. Everything was suspicious. But Fanora couldn’t find any evidence of deception even though she carefully examined the tank.

It’s ridiculous. Did he really use magic? In addition, the alchemist only waved his hand in the air before changing the coin, so he didn’t put his hand directly into the water tank.

“You may be surprised. In fact, this is thanks to another holy relic that I have.”

“Holy relic?”

“I have the fourth holy relic that can transform things into whatever you want them to be. This power could break the balance of the world, so it has been kept secret.”

When the holy relic was mentioned, Fanora really wanted to know more. At that time, she still had her innocence, so she wasn’t easily suspicious of others. It might be true. More than anything, she saw the coins turning into big rubies with her own eyes. 

“Are you convinced now? You have to invest in this. If you save money, that alchemist will turn all your coins into rubies!”

“…”

“What’s wrong? By any chance, do you hate ruby? How about another jewel?”

He explained that the people gathered here would share the jewel as much as they invested.

Then Fanora said, “Why does he need initial funding…? If he has that ability, he can infinitely increase his jewels. Selling jewels, getting the coins, and turning them back into jewelry…”

As she expressed her doubts, the alchemist who was listening behind her came to her.

“It’s because of the price.”

“The price?”

Naverius, who was standing by, helped. “You idiot. Have you already forgotten what the knight who returned from searching for the holy relic said? Except for you, everyone in the kingdom knows. They say you have to pay the price if you use the holy relic.”

“…”

“Even this person, if he uses the holy relic power, his life span will be shortened. The price increases if you use something valuable.”

Fanora still had doubts about the alchemist’s magic. Still, she kept her mouth shut, fearing Naverius would be mean to her again.

After the alchemist’s showdown ended, only Haures, Naverius, and Fanora were left in the huge room.

“I brought all the cash I had at your word, but…”

“Is this it?”

Fanora handed him the sack she had brought. However, Naverius’s expression wasn’t good.

“Is it not enough?”

“Of course, it’s not enough. He’s only going to use the holy relic once. So you have to change as much as possible at that moment.”

“So, the initial investment funds… that’s why you needed it.”

“Do you know how serious this is? The deadline is this month!”

He explained. The alchemist asked him to collect a sum of 30,000 bil. If the minimum investment wasn’t achieved, the alchemist would go to a new noble who would give him 30,000 bil.

“I have already prepared all the money, but what if you’re the only one who lacks this much?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry, is that all? If this screwed up because of you—”

But at that moment. A calm-looking man who was watching them from the side opened his mouth. “Celsius.”

Haures Hoppen. The man spoke kindly to Fanora, who was crying. “As far as I know, Bael Celsius gave you a mine on the day you turned 16.”

“!”

“Wouldn’t the value of the mine fill the remaining amount?”

The sapphire mine my father gave me! It was a property she had forgotten about. But Fanora hesitated when the mine was mentioned. “But that—”

Naverius didn’t give her time to ponder. “Really? You mean you own a sapphire mine? That will do. I’ll make a document by this week, so just bring your seal tomorrow!”

“Naverius, the mine is really, really expensive.”

“You can’t even do that for me?”

As Naverius looked serious, Fanora looked at him.

“…”

What should she answer? She wriggled her hand in confusion.  Then Naverius threw another sentence.

“When this is over, you will become the richest person in the capital. Your family, who looked down on you, will be surprised.”

“…”

“You can buy all the dresses you want to buy. The only thing to do is to make it happen!”

Fanora wasn’t interested in dresses. However, it was certainly a sweet reward to be recognized by her family members who neglected her.

“I’m afraid…”

But in the past, she had a passive personality. So she didn’t say that she would willingly invest, but her fiancé’s words that followed were decisive blows.

“If you help me this time, I will accept your proposal.”

“!”

“So will that work?” said Naverius, holding her pale hand.

Fanora asked in a trembling voice. “What… What about Vasago?” What about the true love that he had insisted on so much?

“In fact, while you were staying at home… I parted away with Vasago.”

“…!”

“So I thought about it. And it seemed like it would be better to get back together with you rather than meet another lady.”

“Naverius…”

“If you finish this job, you will have a lot of money. If you’re rich, happiness will naturally follow, right?”

Naverius Demangdwi. A beautiful man who stole the hearts of many women in the ballroom, smiled at her ugly face.

“I’m sorry for all this time. Let’s live well together, Fanora.”

Fanora found his current words more tempting than any other thing. Maybe all relationships she had would return to normal.

“Alright.”

So, in the end, Fanora gave away her entire fortune, even the mine, as her investment fund. But you knew the end of this. As soon as the money was received, the alchemist disappeared. In short, Fanroa was swindled.

“H-how did this happen? Where is that person…”

“I don’t know about this too! I’m going crazy right now because I lost all my investment money!”

“N-Naverius. Then our marriage—”

“Is it time to say such a thing?!”

After being swindled, Fanora, who visited Naverius, was brutally hit by the door. Naturally, he didn’t keep his promise to marry her if she helped him with the investment.

“Heuk… hu…”

In addition, Fanora’s family found out that she had sold the mine for this and began to treat her less than an animal in the house. Even Bael, who had been indifferent to her, was busy getting angry whenever he saw her.

He thought it couldn’t get any worse than this. Everything got worse at the same time. Even Naverius lost that much money. However, despite going through all these circumstances, Fanora foolishly forgave Naverius.

That’s right. Naverius is a victim of the scam along with me. She tried to understand the situation her fiance was in. Even if he didn’t keep his promise to marry her, she considered it was inevitable for him.

But how did this timid lady harbor anger? It was sometime later. Finally, the moment came when Fanora truly hated Naverius.

“Is Lady Fanora Celsius at home?”

“Why are you looking for her?”

It wasn’t long before a visitor came to her. The royal knight of the capital said this to Fanora in her room. “I will arrest Lady Celsius.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“If you have something to say, do it in front of the investigator.”

Ironically, she was accused of committing a scam.

“Scam?! What do you mean by scam!”

Fanora complained of a series of accidents. So when the royal knight suddenly came in and tried to take her away, she felt extreme fear. She asked for help from anyone she saw.

“I-It’s not like that. I didn’t do anything… H-help me…”

Trembling like a little animal, she said, “Help me, Father…!”

Bael frowned and turned away from his daughter. Fanora was in shock and stopped rebelling. She then made her way to the nearest constable.

“I sold fake jewelry?”

Upon arriving, she heard of the crime she had been brought to. The investigator explained that she was accused of selling cheap crystals as real jewelry to a jewelry store run by a commoner.

What are you talking about? She thought it would be no big deal when she made her statement in front of the investigator. There must have been a mistake. But as time went on, the atmosphere felt strange.

“Isn’t this Lady Fanora’s personal seal?”

“T-that can’t be true. W-why is this here…”

“In addition, all the store employees’ testimonies point to you.”

There was evidence everywhere that she was a scammer. A seal she didn’t remember taking was stamped on the transaction document, and everyone said they saw her at a store she had never been to.

“I don’t know them! They were mistaken for someone!”

The investigator shook his head.

In the afternoon, after the investigation was completed. Fanora finished her statement and was temporarily released. It wasn’t a heinous crime; she wasn’t arrested because she was a noble.

“Someone duplicated my seal.”

And at this time, Fanora, who was released, thought. She had rarely made a deal in her life that was important enough to use a seal. But only recently. She once stamped a document with her seal on it.

“Don’t tell me…!”

Fanora first used her personal seal when she turned over the sapphire mine for investment purposes. So, she assumed that her fiancé was involved in this.

“Naverius!”

When she thought her fiancé had framed her, her hair turned white, and she went to the ball where he was supposed to be without any plan. However, Naverius’s reaction was different from what she expected.

“What? Your seal? What kind of nonsense did you say suddenly?”

“What? B-but… You’re the only one who knows the exact shape of my seal…”

Somehow, Naverius didn’t seem to know that she was under investigation. No, she was sure. If he knew about this, with his personality, he would have sarcastically said, ‘Is it okay for a scammer to come to a ball like this?’

Didn’t Naverius steal my seal? At that moment, there was a cool thought running through her head.

“Then…”

Come to think of it. Isn’t there another noble involved in the alchemist’s swindler case? Fanora went straight to another noble at the ball.

“Sir Haures!”

A gentleman with soft platinum hair tied calmly looked at her.

“What can I do for you?”

He was a talented young master from the Baron family who was making a name for himself in the society in the capital. At the same time, he was an old friend of Naverius.

“I don’t know if I can ask you this, but…” Fanora met him and opened her mouth with difficulty.

By any chance, who now has the mine transfer document that was used back then? And by any chance, did you duplicate the seal that was used in the document?