Chapter 21
Lucas, who was checking the proposal I had chosen, skimmed through the documents several times as if he couldn’t believe it.
It seemed like he was trying to see if he had missed some important point…
“Of course there’s nothing like that.”
This proposal was a complete mess from start to finish!
Even I would have crumpled it up and thrown it away if I didn’t have memories from my past life.
But I couldn’t just use my past life as an excuse.
“…You really chose this?”
“Yes.”
“…Uh, um, is there a special reason?”
“It’s a treasure ship. It looked cool!”
“Because it looked cool…?”
“Besides, it has my family’s heirloom on it. Poor thing. I want to help.”
“Because it’s pitiful…?”
Lucas quickly fell silent as he blinked at me, feigning innocence.
The content of the proposal was as follows:
A long time ago, the man’s ancestors became wealthy through trade across the continent. But one day, returning from a major deal in which they had invested all the family’s wealth, they encountered a typhoon, and their ship sank.
The ship carried an enormous sum of money and the family’s treasures. The story went that the family was utterly ruined, making the recovery of the treasure ship impossible.
“So if I invest 1 billion gold, you’ll raise the treasure ship, sell the ancient gold coins, and give me a cut of the profits.”
A treasure ship, ancient gold coins, and a pitiful backstory—what a ridiculous proposal!
“But this is real.”
The treasure ship the man spoke of did indeed exist.
It had been confirmed through the fairies who had tormented me with their chatter in my past life.
Fairies could not lie.
They couldn’t stay in one place and roamed across the continent—sky, land, sea, and mountains—they could go anywhere.
After long travels, they would return to the Misty Mountains and recount to me the many events they had observed. Among these stories was one about the treasure ship.
The Celestial, sunk with enormous gold coins.
“I remembered the ship’s name because I thought, if I find it, I’d become rich.”
And then, the name, which I had temporarily forgotten, appeared in the proposal!
Not only that, but the description of the ship in the proposal perfectly matched the one described by the fairies.
No one could know it that accurately just from rumors.
I immediately called the man who sent the proposal to the Winter Mansion.
He appeared in front of me, looking dazed, as if he still couldn’t believe the Grand Duke’s granddaughter had chosen his proposal.
With a moderately plump build and a sly mustache, he looked exactly like a conman.
“No wonder you’ve never received investments before.”
“I’ve read your proposal. I’m very impressed that you tried so hard to recover your family’s heirloom.”
“You are the first to empathize with my story. Everyone else dismissed me as nonsense and turned me away.”
“My goodness.”
I nodded sympathetically, and he seemed encouraged, continuing excitedly:
“But the treasure ship does exist! Years ago, I found our ancestors’ navigation logs and know the exact location where it sank. So we can easily find the Celestelani!”
“Oh, navigation logs?”
“Yes! In the eastern seas of the continent. The Setorinia carries ancient gold coins received as payment. Their value would now be around 100 billion.”
“Oh my! 100 billion!”
“So if you invest 1 billion gold, I’ll give you half of the profits from the Celestelani!”
I added casual interjections while sighing inwardly.
“Hey, you… the ship’s name keeps changing every time you speak…”
He didn’t even tell me the correct name in the end.
“That clumsiness is probably why he never got investors and why the opportunity came to me instead.”
I approached the man, clasped his hands, and smiled warmly.
His eyes widened in surprise.
“Great, let’s sign the contract immediately. I’ll invest a full 1 billion gold.”
“R-really?”
“Of course. If I didn’t mean it, why would I have called you here?”
“Th-that…”
Tears quickly welled up in the man’s eyes. He seemed genuinely moved.
“Everyone else ignored me, yet you’re helping….”
He gripped my hands tightly, still in shock.
“Finally, I can recover the heirloom! You are our family’s benefactor, miss. I’ll never forget this favor.”
“Favors? This is a mutually beneficial deal.”
“I will succeed in raising the ship and give you great profits!”
“Yes. But the ratio will be 80 to 20. Of course, I get 80.”
“What? But…”
“Without my investment, there are no profits. If you miss me, it’ll be hard to find another investor.”
“But 80 to 20 is too…”
I looked at the man sweating profusely and exaggeratedly sighed.
“Fine. Let’s make it 70 to 30. I can’t give more than this. If you refuse, there will be no investment.”
“No, that’s fine! That’s enough!”
He nodded quickly.
If I had started with 70, he would have hesitated longer. By first demanding 80 and then offering 70, resistance was lowered.
“My real goal was always to get 70 anyway.”
I smiled in satisfaction and asked Lucas, who had been watching the whole scene,
“Lucas, get the contract ready.”
“…Is this a dream?”
From his perspective, the process seemed impossible. He blinked several times, unable to believe it.
Of course, this was reality.
And it would surely bring huge profits.
“Kana.”
“Yes, father.”
In the guest wing of the Winter Mansion, among the many guests, the ones receiving the most attention were from the Oset family.
Kana Oset.
She was Lucas’s likely fiancée, chosen as the next Grand Duchess, though the Grand Duke’s approval had not yet been granted. In the Senate, this was the accepted conclusion.
Thanks to this, the Oset family was under as much scrutiny as the main family—until the Grand Duke’s granddaughter appeared.
“That low-born girl has finally started moving.”
“Yes. I heard she recently called a businessman to the mansion.”
“That business must fail. You understand, right?”
“Of course, father.”
Kana smiled gently. A beautiful smile everyone called angelic.
“You don’t need to worry. When I met her recently, she was a truly clueless child.”
“But she’s of the Grand Duke’s bloodline. Don’t underestimate her.”
“But the businessman she brought….”
Kana let out a small laugh.
“The beggar baron, Diezo.”
“What? Baron Diezo?”
Baron Diezo was famous in high society as someone who begged wealthy families with absurd treasure ship tales.
He boasted of his ancestor being a great maritime king but had no proof.
Yet the Grand Duke’s granddaughter had chosen him as her carefully selected businessman!
“Hahaha. There’s no need for me to interfere. The Grand Duke’s granddaughter is this foolish? And Lucas, her aide, didn’t stop her?”
“Lucas probably wants to become Grand Duke himself. He pretends to oppose it, but who wouldn’t crave that power?”
Kana looked out the window with a soft smile.
Through the window, the magnificent Winter Mansion lay sprawling before her.
Who in the world wouldn’t covet this mansion?
“Kana, you will become Grand Duchess. Your child will be the next Grand Duke. Our Oset family will then engulf the main family.”
Kana smiled beautifully at her father’s ambition.
She was lucky her father was ambitious. That’s how she had reached this point.
As soon as Kana was chosen as a strong candidate for Grand Duchess, her father excitedly pulled in money from everywhere.
At the time, Kana and Lucas’s marriage was practically certain, so everyone generously contributed.
Her father indulged in luxury and gambling with that money.
But the Grand Duke’s granddaughter appeared, and their position changed instantly.
Those who had previously given money generously now became ruthless lenders, pressing them for repayment.
“I must marry Lucas, who will become Grand Duke.”
Otherwise, ruin awaited them.
When she first came to the Winter Mansion as a child with her father, Kana thought: she wanted to live magnificently in this magnificent place.
That dream was now within reach.
If that foolish, low-born girl disappeared, it would soon become reality.
“What does the blood in one’s veins matter?”
Could something so trivial really change a person’s life?
After all, that girl was also half low-born blood.
Wealth and glory should belong to those who work for it.
It seemed unfair for someone who made no effort, like that child, to receive rewards without effort.
“The goddess Rosiante would understand. I’ve worked hard all this time.”
It was fortunate the girl was foolish enough that no intervention was necessary.
The goddess would not reward such a child anyway.
By now, the smile had disappeared from Kana’s face.
