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“Wow, you sound so incredibly confident now that a mine has been discovered, don’t you?”
“Let’s say it’s enough to cover your shopping for the rest of your life.”
“If you say so, would the Duke let me spend his money even after our deal is over?”
“Do whatever you want.”
Selena squinted her eyes when he answered too easily to her joke.
She had known men to be stingy when they were asked to open their wallets every time. Though Kalcion wasn’t like that, she wanted to press down his nose when he acted all confident.
“Okay, so you’re going to pay for everything I shop?”
“Of course.”
He was still relaxed.
She pouted as she had nothing more to buy. She peered outside the window to look around.
“Oh, over there!”
A relatively small store stood on the quiet side of the road. The coachman stopped the carriage as she yelled out.
“That’s a store, right?”
She was confused when she couldn’t see a sign. She got off the wagon and admired the front of the store.
The shops she visited before were all grand and magnificent to look at, but this store stood out the most to her.
Though the store wasn’t large, the entirety of the building was made of shiny white stone with flower carvings on them.
The most noticeable feature was a huge jewel embedded in the center above the building. The jewel was of course a fake, but it sparkled in the light of the street lamp.
She found it difficult to take her eyes off. As if the building itself was a gem.
The store didn’t even have a gate. Dion pushed open the door to reveal a brilliant glow coming from the inside.
“Please welcome.”
The hall, about the size of a living room, was made of sparkling jewels just like its exterior. Fist-sized jewels were attached to the roof that reflected the indoor lights.
“The place looked so pretty that I couldn’t help it.”
“Oh my, is that so? Allow me to show you your table. It hasn’t been long since we opened, so we’re accepting customers without any prior reservations.”
“I see…… Wow, these are really beautiful.”
There weren’t many items on the shelves. However, each one seemed to be shining like a work of art.
Though she came in intending to tease Kalcion, she wanted to try them all.
She chirped, pointing her hand on the jewelry set from the beginning to the end on the display stand.
“From here to here, everything!”
She looked back at Kalcion with sparkling eyes.
As did the staff with a stunned look on her face.
‘Will he be fine?!’
The staff seemed to be worried about the man’s financial expenses.
Kalcion nodded without any hesitation.
“Make the bill in the name of Renbird.”
He acted as if this type of luxury meant nothing to him.
“Any more gems you have?”
“Oh, we also take orders for custom-made jewelry. Do you want to see?”
“Yes! Everything you have!”
“Then, please follow me.”
The staff guided Selena to a room.
The room was also flashy like the exterior and the hall. In the center of the room was a black round table with five chairs placed around it.
Selena sat down on one of them. She raised her head to spot a grand chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. The glittery chandelier looked like a tower hanging upside down, and it was huge enough to tackle the average height of humans.
She felt ecstatic. Just sitting in this room made her feel blessed.
“This space is so beautiful.”
To Selena’s compliment, the employee smiled proudly.
“Our founder’s hobby is collecting jewelry, so he built this house to store his personal collections and opened a store.”
“Oh, my……”
“What color or type of jewelry would you prefer, ma’am?”
“Ah, I bought this dress at Lumera earlier, and I was thinking what might look good with it.”
“I see. When will you need it?”
“Within a week? I was thinking maybe I could wear them for this founding party.”
“Then, you better hurry and match your accessories.”
Mannequins – of various skin colors – were also present to try on the jewelry. An employee hung a dress on a mannequin with a similar skin color to Selena’s and then adjusted the lights of the chandelier.
“If we set the lighting, you can feel what the jewelry would look like at the actual banquet hall. And if it’s a dress like this.”
The employee went inside an adjacent room and brought out new jewels. They were available in various colors and shapes.
Selena’s eyes glistened and focused on choosing them.
After a while of hard concentration, Selena’s favorite combination was finally completed.
“Well then, we will notify you when it’s completed. At the time of the final touch-up, you’ll have to present…….”
“I will.”
Selena grinned ear to ear as she walked out of the store.
She happened to recall her strategy to rob off Kalcion’s wallet only when she got into the wagon and looked at him.
“Oh, right. Why did I spend time choosing? I should’ve just said I wanted to buy everything!”
“Do you like to wear jewelry?”
“What I just did was to make fun of the Duke. Besides, it’s nice. It makes me happy when I see something pretty and shiny.”
She didn’t know her face was sparkling, too.
Feeling Kalcion’s gaze on her, she covered her cheeks with her palms, wondering why she was getting so excited.
“The castle of Renbird and the mansion here are……. all grand and magnificent, but they don’t look too fancy. I prefer that kind of space.”
People’s tastes vary. It wasn’t strange for her to understand. Kalcion nodded.
“Shall I buy that one for you?”
“…..What? ……The store?”
“Don’t you want it?”
“…….Are you serious?”
“Why do you think I’m asking you then?”
She laughed at his generosity.
“Are you giving it to me? It’ll be mine forever if I don’t go back to my world, right?”
“Right.”
He answered with no hesitation.
Dresses and pieces of jewelry were considered a luxury, but buying buildings like the one she just visited were at another level. She was unable to grasp the scale of his wealth.
“How wealthy are you to say that you’ll buy me a house? It’s not just any house, it has jewels engraved in it.”
“Wealthy enough to exceed the prices of all the jewelry accumulated in the store’s warehouse.”
Enough to push people’s eyes out of their sockets.
“But even if I get it, how will I say it’s mine? I have no designated identity in this world.”
“You have.”
“……I have?”
She didn’t know that.
“As soon as you entered the castle, I asked one of my men to work on your status. On the contrary, some people will try to dig out your past.”
“Oh, my…… So, I just say that my name is Selena?”
“That’s right. If you say you moved to Renbird, it explains that your previous track record is vague.”
The next time she knew, she was at the front gate of the mansion.
Kalcion stopped by his room, took a document out of his drawer, and handed it over to Selena.
It was a document about her ID.
It had no residential registration card, but there were some administrative certificates instead.
“This is not owned by an individual, but it is issued and recorded by the relevant government office when someone is born or someone migrates.”
The document included her height, physique, appearance, hair color, and eye color. There was no record of her birth, but it was written that she migrated a year ago.
“So if I carry this, I’ll be allowed to buy a building and be protected by Renbird as its young citizen?”
“As long as you stay here.”
“I really became a living person here.”
The documents were needed if she ever had to present her identity, but her heart trembled for some reason. Her existence seemed to have been made permanent – like the dark color of the ink on this paper – in the world she thought she would leave one day.
This clearly proved her existence, even though she didn’t belong here.
“I became Selena who lives in Renbird.”
“Yes. You belong to me now.”
It meant she was under Kalcion’s government, but those words could also mean something else.
Selena fumbled her fingers over the letters. Those writings would never disappear until they’re burned down.
“What happens if I go back to the world I used to live in?”
“Then, you will be marked missing forever.”
“Why? You can just get rid of this document like you did when you made it.”
A moment later, he opened his mouth.
“Because it will not change the fact that you used to live in this world.”
For the first time, she felt like she was talking to the real Kalcion, not to her partner in the plays.
And for some reason, it made her heart flutter.