CHAPTER 53………………………………………
“Raollet pretended that Raollet was Hamilax’s daughter, gave birth to her, and raised her as the Berkshire princess. And to avoid the mandatory paternity test required during the title conferment ceremony, she even hunted down the Gold Dragon that protected Berkshire.”
Because of the cost of hiring a dragon slayer, Raollet ended up spending nearly half of her personal fortune.
Although Ariana knew about Raollet’s misconduct, she had no intention of pretending she knew about it just yet.
Right now, she was young and powerless.
That was why she intended to reveal the truth at the decisive moment.
She didn’t particularly feel sorry for Uncle Hamilax, who was unaware of Raollet’s wrongdoing.
After all, in the original story, Hamilax was also one of the people who tormented Ariana, the villainess.
“The reason Dandolo became obsessed with swordsmanship was because, ever since we were young, Raollet subtly kept comparing him with my brothers. Raollet probably just liked men who were good with swords because she had fallen for Father, and she kept praising them. But Dandolo started learning the sword because he wanted to receive Raollet’s love.”
Her brothers hadn’t submitted applications to participate in the swordsmanship tournament.
That meant Dandolo was the only direct member of the Berkshire family participating in this year’s competition.
Under normal circumstances, Dandolo would likely win the youth tournament…
But the winner of the upcoming swordsmanship competition had already been decided: Peres.
“No one in the entire world can beat Peres’s skill… And even if someone tried to bribe the judges, the power wielded behind the scenes by the male lead—the mastermind—is something even Berkshire can’t match.”
Actually, Ariana had slept poorly last night.
Because Peres had appeared in her dream.
“The only thing about you that’s somewhat worth looking at might be those pink eyes. What do you think?”
Even the fingers of Peres that had touched near her eyes felt vividly real.
It was a dream where she was tortured by Peres, who had come to carry out his threat.
Maybe that line had left the strongest impression among the things he said to her.
Or maybe it was because she had experienced Peres torturing a yakuza.
“Come to think of it, I never forget Peres’s face.”
It felt even stranger because Ariana had never dreamed about her father or her brothers.
Dreaming about her half-brothers was due to trauma, but seeing Peres in a dream…
Calling this feeling longing would be too much.
It was simply—
“I don’t want to see Peres in dreams. I want to see the real person.”
Even after dreaming of being tortured by him, Ariana felt more curiosity than fear toward Peres.
Just then—
Ramiell came running toward Ariana, who was tending to the tulips and lost in thought.
“Princess!”
“?”
“Did you perhaps know this would happen? In the Terran Empire! The price of tulips, which used to be 1 silver, has already skyrocketed to 50 gold—500 times higher!”
“…50 gold?”
There were surely many eyes secretly watching Ariana from the darkness.
This was the moment that would determine how the reports about her actions would be delivered.
So Ariana barely shook her head.
“Of course I didn’t know. How would I know the future?”
Even though Ariana shook her head, the excited Ramiell spoke loudly as if she had been given a mission to celebrate on Ariana’s behalf.
“Five hundred times! Merchants from various countries in the Terran Empire are desperate because they can’t get tulips right now. Especially the most popular ones are tulips from our empire. Recently the Terran Empire has been making money through trade, so they’ve been decorating their corridors with still-life and landscape paintings, right? Well, the high-priced still-life painters are all picking tulips as the ‘King of Flowers.’ They always place tulips at the center in a cone-shaped composition! One flower costs 50 gold—about 25 million won! Isn’t that ridiculous?”
It’s going to rise to 500 million.
“Waa…”
Still, since a single flower being worth 25 million won was already unbelievable, Ariana opened her mouth in amazement.
Even though she knew this would happen, seeing the bubble begin still felt somewhat fascinating to her.
Hearing the long-awaited news brought new emotions.
“And the tulips you’re growing, Princess, are the ones called the ‘Semper Augustus,’ known as the emperor of tulips! It’s the rarest variety, so it’s the most expensive!”
“Congratulations, Princess!”
“Your eye for things is truly exceptional!”
After Ramiell’s congratulations, the other maids also began celebrating one after another.
She thought she wouldn’t feel happy because she already knew this would happen.
Was I worried it might not follow the original story? Or am I just happy because everyone is happy for me?
Ariana felt a bit dazed but smiled along with the excited servants, finding them adorable.
After all, she knew that the single tulip she was touching now would one day be treated as more precious than a diamond ring.
“What was it again? Apparently gardening has recently become an enormous trend in the Terran Empire. Please forgive me for wondering what you were thinking when you started growing a garden! I didn’t even realize it was a trend, yet you were already leading it! Noble ladies love decorating their gardens luxuriously, and tulips are perfect for that. They say the buds resemble crowns, making them look noble. And tulips are also an exotic flower to the Terran Empire.”
“That explanation is complicated.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m just too excited!”
Ariana shook her head to indicate it was fine.
Ramiell carefully hugged her.
Ariana stayed still in the warm embrace.
Thinking of Ramiell as her absolute supporter gave her a sense of stability.
“I knew you were this clever, Princess. Or maybe you have a natural talent for predicting trends? Haha, anyway, I’m really happy. I truly hope you succeed.”
“You must be a genius, Princess.”
While quietly held in Ramiell’s arms, Ariana recalled Peres’s AU side story.
—“We hit the jackpot. The subprime mortgage short-selling options doubled overnight!”
When Peres had heard that news while holding the receiver, had he felt something similar to what she felt now?
Or had he been even more excited?
Maybe it was more dramatic.
Since Ariana had only witnessed that moment briefly, it was hard for her to fully understand Peres’s feelings.
What Ariana felt now was relief.
The sense that she had done well… and the strange certainty that she had not been wrong.
If decorating gardens was fashionable among wealthy noblewomen, and tulips were the most boast-worthy flower among them, then it made sense why the price was skyrocketing.
Although some details were occasionally wrong, she could feel the force of the tyrant novel’s narrative trying to follow historical accuracy as much as possible.
Actually, it’s too early to celebrate.
This was only the beginning of the price surge.
And for now, there was someone she needed to meet.
Helly, the husband of Arpe—the youngest daughter of the House of Schwaben—was described in the original story as having excellent political assistant skills.
Helly’s family, the Marquis House of Deschker, was insignificant compared to Berkshire, which was why he became a live-in son-in-law.
However, he had a fairly handsome appearance and was intelligent.
Arpe, on the other hand, was the most foolish among the children of Schwaben.
“People are usually attracted to qualities they themselves lack. Aunt must have been drawn to Uncle’s looks and intelligence.”
Ariana had been thinking deeply about something.
Among the direct members of Berkshire, who should she first turn into an enemy in order to increase her control over the family?
And who should temporarily become her ally and walk the same path toward a shared goal?
After much deliberation, she chose Arpe.
And the man in front of her—Helly—was someone Arpe, the spoiled youngest daughter of Berkshire, loved as dearly as her own life.
As the saying goes, the one who loves more is the weaker party.
If Ariana could recruit Helly, Arpe would automatically follow.
Another reason Ariana chose Arpe was that among the five people who currently owned shares of Berkshire, she was the easiest and most naive to approach.
Of course, in the original story, Arpe had a bad relationship with Ariana and cruelly bullied her at every opportunity.
Ariana planned to tame Arpe by appropriately mixing the whip and the carrot—also as a form of revenge.
“This is the first time we’re properly greeting each other.”
