/
His response seemed effortless, but Siervian wondered why the thoughts she could clearly see were different from what he said.
“What’s wrong?”
Her brother was glaring at Garambell’s Prince, but quickly smiled gently at Siervian when she looked at him.
“I will make sure to visit Garambell together.”
“Wahh, yes, yaay! Your Hwighness the Crown Pwince!”
After celebrating, she focused and shook her head again.
It was clear that her brother also wanted to see the sea.
* * *
“Princess! It’s a great success, a great success!”
A few days after Prince Abrel came to the palace— at this time, Marco came to visit Siervian and was celebrating loudly.
“Huh? Great success?”
Marco just went to the Princess’s Palace and made a fuss.
While bowing his head, Marco held out a book to Siervian, who was eating cookies.
‘Wha—!’
“Look at this, Princess, I invested in the feather decorations as you said, and orders have exploded this month.”
“Mmh, Sebi can’t read yet…”
“Oh, is that so Your Highness? Then I’ll leave it to the head maid.”
She nodded shyly, but Siervian had already roughly looked at the numbers.
She had a hard time suppressing the beating of her heart.
‘The timing of the investment seems to be just right.’
Even considering that, it was a huge amount of money.
Thanks to Marco teaching her about the market price of commoners in detail, she finally acquired a sense of the value of money.
“Princess, how did you know that the feather decorations would be popular?”
This was the investment stock Siervian had secretly informed Marco of not too long ago.
Recalling the reason why it was a trend in her past life, Siervian struggled to hide her adult-like bitter smile.
‘…I had a hard time because of that.’
The Vuingpi was a colorful feathered bird that only inhabited the Northern Empire. The bird was characterized by unusually abundant feathers that could adapt to cold weather.
In her previous life, the feathers of the bird were a decorative material that made a trend into the continents.
This was because the other Kingdoms had always envied the culture of the Empire.
‘It was back then before I made my debut, when I was only 14-years old.’
In the Imperial Society, what nobles used as a headdress quickly spread to various decorations such as fans and corsages.
On her first social appearance, Siervian went out with that headdress.
’Oh my, when is that a trend again?’
‘Right, yes. Goodness, Her Highness the Princess was quite the sight, ahem, ahem.’
The problem was that the trend in the continent was not popular anymore.
She ate the food and wore every dress the Empress ordered because Siervian was under her care at the time.
Back then, Siervian only hated the people who swore at her, but now she could clearly see that it was the work of the Empress.
“That’s a secret with Sebi, got it?”
Ironically, when Siervian wore the feathered headdress, the trend returned.
So right now, this will be the first trend in her second life.
“…Yes, well. Alright.”
“Thank you.”
“However, Princess, there’s a rumor that has spread because I made a good investment after visiting Your Highness’s Palace. Is that alright?”
When Siervian met Marco, the ladies-in-waiting kept their eyes on him.
That said, Siervian looked around to see if there were people nearby and said to Marco.
“It’s all wight, Marco does everything for Sebi anyway.”
It was actually unintentional, but it was good.
After the Garambell’s delegates had a personal meeting with the Princess, the palace had accidentally drawn people’s attention.
Siervian was wary of the situation, knowing that excessive attention might lead to twists and turns.
However, it was difficult to find out that they picked investment stocks.
[ Marco William ]
Emotion: Uncomfortable
Thoughts: Hmm, I’m sure it’s a good thing that I’m highly regarded because of my abilities, but it’s not fair to take the Princess’s credit. I’ll have many things to do better for the Princess.
Furthermore, Marco’s honest confession this conversation gave her confidence.
Marco scratched his cheek for a moment and continued the conversation as if he had remembered something.
“By the way, Princess, I don’t think I can come to see you for a while.”
“Why?”
“Well, when the Garambell’s delegates returned. I heard that there’s a trade that requires a number of people from the Ministry of Finance.”
Trading had always been the main business of the Empire, but the items that go with the delegates are special.
Expensive items that are difficult to deliver will most likely be traded.
[ Marco William ]
Thoughts: Darn, this is the right time for business to spread like mana. They would’ve just sent someone else, but because I’m a noble I need to go. The money’s not even worth it.
It seemed that a noble like Marco would be suitable for the job because the trade will be held in another kingdom.
Marco was particularly disappointed to go while he was saving money.
“Got it, take care of Parim.”
“Yes, thank you for your concern. They’ve just gotten out of the woods with the endemic disease, so they’ll be taking back plenty.”
Marco answered with a puckered face, as if he was regretful about being in the trade.
It was a weird face that Marco had made, so Siervian covered her mouth to laugh secretly.
‘Hmm, the trade with Garambell. This has never happened in my previous life, will this affect me?’
Until now, it had been a future that did not deviate much from the previous life.
Siervian seemed to be in a lot of trouble because she could not predict the ripple effect of the incident.
Her goal was to create a future that was as beneficial to herself and her family as possible.
“Come here, Sebi wants to say something.”
“What? Okay, okay.”
After thinking about it, Siervian carefully beckoned Marco again.
Marco quickly changed his expression and hurriedly lent his ear, perhaps due to the previous experience.
“Please go see if you can buy some grain.”
“Buy some grain?”
“Shh.”
“Ah, Yes.”
She was worried about the price of grain when she heard about it at the meeting in the Emperor’s Palace.
Siervian had a glimpse of an idea of what she will do in the southern kingdom in the future.
[ Marco William ]
Thoughts: Hmm. Right now the grain prices have gone up by ten percent. Depending on the situation, there may be another rise.
The Mosae Kingdom, the successor to the Western Empire, was famous for its granaries.
It was a powerhouse that was blessed with the grace of plains, located between Garambell and a high mountain.
Originally, the west coast would have suffered for years from the aftermath of an endemic disease, but this time things would be different.
‘After all, it’s the money I earned, so if there’s any food left, I’ll be able to even help the slums.’
It didn’t seem like a bad choice in many ways.
“I will look into it, Princess.”
Marco nodded calmly, even with a puzzled face.
In any case, they could reach Garambell only after passing the Mosae Kingdom.
Not realizing that Siervian had even thought of that, Marco nodded his head for a moment.
“And, Sebi has a favor to ask.”
“What is it, Princess?”
Siervian had been silently twiddling her fingers and then whispered in Marco’s ear in a much quieter voice after he replied.
Whisper, whisper.
[ Marco William ]
Thoughts: A s-slush fund? The Princess could get caught up in big trouble later on. What should I do? How can she think like this at such a young age? Is it because she’s from the Imperial Palace?
Contrary to what he said earlier, Marco couldn’t make a sound and just opened his eyes wide.
With shaky eyelids, Marco quickly looked around the drawing room.
Siervian had used a voice so small that if there were maids beside her they still couldn’t hear, but she was afraid there might.
“I promise I won’t do anything bad, I promise, here.”
“…You promise?”
Though unsure, Marco also hung his pinky, it was an unconscious act.
Looking at his still lingering doubts, Siervian threw bait that he could accept at once. Fluttering, raising the two little fingers.
“And from those things, this… Marco can take this much.”
Her father will know everything about her investment anyway.
But Siervian had always felt that she needed a little bit of her own secret money.
Of course, it wasn’t for bad use. It was the money she needed to escape and live a new life if the future could not be changed.
“Huh.”
When Siervian whispered more and told Marco about the portion he would receive, Marco’s eyes shook even more.
“I-I will always be loyal to you, Your Highness.”
[ Marco Willliam ]
Favorability: +50
Siervian scratched her cheek as she watched Marco, who eventually gave in to money.
Worrying Marco like this, she promised to let him have a good life.
* * *
Autumn had almost arrived.
The autumn season of a six-year-old has a special event for the people of the Northern Empire. It is the age at which one starts drinking Harmin tea.
‘Time had already passed like this.’
Every Imperial citizen drinks Harmin tea every month from the autumn season of the age of six to adulthood.
It was because the Northern Empire controlled a wide range of temperature with magic, there was a concern that the mana concentration that should be in the air sometimes became thin.
‘Now that this barren place has been enriched, there must be side effects.’
Mana is the source of magic, but it is also an essential element of the human body.
Exposure to places with insufficient mana concentration for a long time causes a disease called ‘mana sparsity’.
Harmin is the leaf that prevents sparsity. The solution that the first emperor had in mind was to have the Empire drink tea from the Harmin leaf.
‘Um, what should I do?’
So far, Siervian had been relaxing, and the leisurely days seem to continue.
The trade group that went to Garambell had not yet returned, so Siervian still had no idea if the future would be different from her previous life.
The Emperor’s stubborn intention was to spend her childhood leisurely, so the daily routine of Siervian was the same.
‘Come to think of it, why is the Magic Tower Lord’s favorability so high?’
She’d only met the Tower Lord a handful of times, and he looked at Siervian with pity.
Unlike Magic Tower’s elder council, the Tower Lord as an individual maintained a friendly relationship with the Imperial family.
‘Even if I look many times, the favorability points are still high?’
Perhaps the scent of mana had an effect on it.
So Siervian thought comfortably, thinking that his interest in her would soon fade.
“From the Harmin Garden, I got a call to take the Princess right now.”
“No, why suddenly? Ettiqu…”
But then her peaceful everyday routine was suddenly involved with an urgent task.