chapter 47
Although the Ingda Marquis family was widely known as a prestigious noble house, their main source of income came from the crops produced in their fertile lands.
However, in recent years, a drought had made conditions in their territory difficult.
“Josephine, could you maybe talk to the family about this?”
“Polius, can’t you ask Count Veldert for help instead?”
Josephine suppressed her anxiety and spoke quietly.
She couldn’t understand Polius at all—he had made a mistake himself, yet he was asking her if the family had no mines!
“Think about it. Father still considers Damian his son, even though that guy ran off long ago! If I ask to borrow money for the creation stone business, he’ll just say, ‘Why are you going into the same industry as Damian?’ It’s obvious!”
She had a point. Josephine bit her lip.
“So what about Lady Martis…”
“Recently, she said she had some task assigned by Father and left the country. We can’t reach her now.”
“Of all times…”
They had borrowed money from the Martis side, and until now Clara had only helped them indirectly, not invested directly. So Josephine had thought they might have the resources…
“We’ve already given the wizards the money in advance! Damn it—if we can’t get the mana stones now, that money will vanish into thin air!”
“Then my dowry, and the money Polius got from selling the building…”
“Exactly. I already crossed the line by selling the building without Father’s permission! If I ask to borrow money now, I might lose my position as heir altogether!”
Josephine felt completely helpless. Polius hadn’t taken decisive action; he had acted recklessly without any plan.
At this point, Josephine couldn’t hold back her frustration any longer.
“Then why on earth did you give the money in advance? Even if it was for a risk allowance, you could have split the payment if you’d just explained it properly!”
“What? You’re saying this is all my fault? Melanie Clotilde tricked me—what was I supposed to do!”
“What kind of trick? Explain it.”
“Uh…”
“And why did you fall for it?”
Polius raised his voice in frustration.
“If you saw things were going wrong, why didn’t you stop me?”
“How could I, when I was only listening to Lady Martis?”
Their emotions flared.
When things didn’t go his way, Polius grabbed Josephine’s shoulders and said sharply, almost gnawing his words:
“Remember, if you can’t get the Ingda Marquis to lend us the money, all the investment we’ve made so far will disappear into thin air.”
“…”
“Josephine, do you want to lose to Clotilde again?”
That Clotilde. That Melanie.
Josephine stayed silent, and this time Polius, worried, tried to console her.
“We have the <13th Knight>, don’t we? Don’t you know everyone says they’ll definitely watch once it’s released?”
“…”
“We just need to hold on until the launch of the creation stones! You haven’t forgotten that the <13th Knight> belongs to the Veldert family, have you?”
In the end, it was clear: they just wanted her to get money.
The initial satisfaction of taking Clotilde’s fiancé was fleeting. Now, Josephine couldn’t even understand why Melanie had chosen a man like that.
“Where are you going? To the Marquis’s residence?”
“…”
“Josephine Ingda, answer me!”
Josephine spun around. Things had become such a mess that there was nowhere else to turn.
No matter what, the only way to improve the situation was to trample Black Moon through the creation stone business.
Without even greeting Polius, she turned and got into the carriage.
In a low voice, she spoke to the driver:
“Take me to the Ingda Marquis residence.”
“Yes, milady.”
Josephine had decided to confront her father.
Polius had been tiresome, but she had already come too far to back down now.
“What could we possibly lack compared to Clotilde!”
“They say your daughter is weak and will die soon? She must take after her mother. Haha! But our Josephine has become the flower of society!”
Her father had always been happiest when she achieved more than Melanie.
Even when she brought Polius home, instead of punishing her for his affair, her father praised her.
‘If that’s the kind of father I have…’
When she arrived at the mansion, Josephine took a deep breath before entering the Ingda Marquis’s study.
She steeled herself and went inside.
“It’s unlike you to ask for a meeting at this hour.”
“Father, I need money.”
Josephine spoke directly. With everything happening at once, she didn’t have the energy to beat around the bush.
“Money? What are you talking about?”
The Ingda Marquis looked bewildered.
But Josephine continued without hesitation:
“I actually invested my dowry into the creation stone business…”
“That was for your marriage! Why would you touch it?”
“I thought that since marrying Polius would make it effectively his, it wouldn’t matter to use it now.”
“What? Are you serious…? You’re not even married, nor officially engaged!”
She had expected that reaction.
But since she had already broken up with Melanie, it was only natural that Polius would come to her.
“In that case, to solidify our relationship, we need to intertwine further in business.”
“You…”
“So that people will recognize that Polius chose me because Josephine, and by extension the Ingda family, is superior to Clotilde.”
Josephine struck at her father’s soft spot—though in truth, it was also her own vulnerability. The Ingda family had long suffered under the Clotilde family.
“I’ll make people acknowledge that Polius chose me because Josephine Ingda is a more attractive and capable woman than Clotilde.”
“…”
“If we can defeat Melanie Clotilde’s business, this time we’ll finally flatten Clotilde’s nose.”
As expected, mentioning Clotilde changed the Marquis’s expression.
“Explain in detail why you need the money.”
The Ingda Marquis had grown up hearing repeatedly that in his generation, he must beat the Clotilde family.
Josephine began outlining her business plan in front of her father.
“So please help us. With the <13th Knight>, it’s bound to succeed.”
The Marquis swallowed hard. He wasn’t pleased she had rushed into business or used her dowry—but with Clotilde as the competitor…
‘Right, and besides, we have the <13th Knight>.’
For the Marquis, the <13th Knight> held the most cherished memories, and he knew his generation held the most money.
Since it had already happened, there was nothing to be done. Better to…
“There’s no problem with the <13th Knight>, is there?”
“Of course not.”
The Marquis hesitated briefly, then nodded in approval.
“My grandfather and father, and I since childhood, always learned we must defeat Clotilde.”
“…”
“Then return victorious, Josephine.”
With the loan secured under the Ingda Marquis name, there was no turning back.
Josephine nodded grimly.
‘Whatever happens, I just need to hold on a little. I’m not an idiot. I can pay off the loan quickly.’
Just as Polius always claimed the business would succeed, Josephine had confidence as well.
With the money from her father, if they could just obtain the mana stones, everything would proceed smoothly.
But she immediately faced a problem.
“There are no mana stones available?”
The number of mana stones on the market was always very limited.
Since Melanie had made artifacts with mana stones, their value was expected to rise, and sellers were reluctant to release them.
Some available mana stones were astronomically expensive, and none were obtainable at previous market prices.
“We could get them if we paid ten times the normal price…”
“What? Ten times?”
Josephine was horrified.
“Mana stones were already expensive, and now ten times the price?”
Polius, hearing this, also felt despair.
“This is… impossible. At this price, we’ll actually lose money. Even if creation stones are popular, who would buy at this cost? Whether renting or selling, there’s no solution.”
While they had faced despair many times during the business, this time it felt hopeless.
“Of course, mana stones are ridiculously expensive. I understand why you’re worried.”
Even Clara, usually extremely optimistic, felt the need to intervene seeing Polius so dejected.
“But then, are you okay with losing all the money invested so far?”
“W-well, that’s…”
“The money already spent on creation stone technology and production included Polius selling an extreme building, plus Lady Ingda’s dowry.”
Clara’s green eyes glinted. She struck the very point Polius had been too disheartened to face.
“Polius, stay calm. If we can’t get the mana stones now, all that money will simply vanish into thin air, won’t it?”
