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if it’s a Count from the neighboring territory, I knew roughly. Was it Count Duncan, right?
“My brother will die if he goes there. I know how harshly the Count treats his servants. An uncle I know went there and became a black corpse.”
Count Duncan owned a mine, and perhaps a black corpse meant a man who died working in the mine.
The mining business wasn’t that hard.
‘Besides, they need little kids.’
Mines often had to work in narrow tunnels, so they needed small children.
Without money or strength, children would be pushed into the farthest corners, narrow corners, and dangerous crevices of mines. Of course, the children usually died before they reached adulthood.
Whether they are crushed by a pile of stones, suffocated, injured by a sharp pickaxe, burned, or suffocated deep in the mines from lack of oxygen.
I don’t know if there are any children who can overcome the difficult process, but even when they become adults, they have to work in the mines the same, and their lives are never long.
“I said I will give him all of this, so leave my brother and take only me, but This is not enough! Damn it!”
Joy hit the floor with her fist. So, this potato is the property that Joy saved for her brother. It’s an effort to prevent the younger brother from being dragged into the mine. This is the result of two months’ preparation without coming here to repay this month’s grace.
However, the Count did not even consider such things as potatoes as a means of trade.
It is reasonable.
Even if I looked closely, it seemed that it was not enough for the ransom of the labor.
“So, lend me ten blancs. I will work to pay you back.”
In that situation, Joy remembered Dorothea’s words last time not to sell her life for 10 blancs. She didn’t know if 10 Blancs would be the ransom for her brother, but she needed the money.
Dorothea thought Joy’s calculations were absurd.
Who would give up taking them to the mines for only 10 blancs?
It was more expensive than that filthy potato, but for the Count who owns a mine, it was money he could even get on the road.
Furthermore.
“You say you are going to the Count’s mine. If you go to the mine, it will be difficult to contact you, and I never know when you will die. How do you repay the favor?”
“Well, if I take a little bit of the bread I get there and send it here…”
“you’re stupid? How do you send bread from there to here?”
The mine, of course, was located in an isolated area away from the village. Who would deliver a piece of bread from there to here? The labor force of the person carrying it was almost a waste.
Besides, even if you send a loaf of bread, someone will eat it. If it’s bread for mine workers who have been sold because of their debt, it’s probably hard to eat, and the amount will be small.
I shook my head at the stupid idea.
Joy’s face was wet with despair.
“Then oh, do you want something, Princess? If the princess wants it, I will give it to you, including my liver and gallbladder.”
Joy asked earnestly with a face that was very frightened, not like usual.
“Where am I going to use your liver and gallbladder for?”
Afraid and hopeless.
“Damn, please help! You told me not to sell my life for 10 Blancs! this is The most important thing in my life!”
Joy pulled in and grabbed my legs with both arms and stretched them out.
Then the servant who was by her side tried to remove Joy.
I raised my hand to those servants and made them stand still. Stefan looked at me, and I made eye contact with him. We didn’t say anything but nodded to each other.
“Alright. I’ll save your brother.”
In my words, Joy raised her head and her face was full of brightness.
Simple and nice just like usual.
“In return, you have something to give me.”
I said with an expressionless face.
Joy nodded.
“Whatever! I will repay you with all my body, Princess!”
* * *
“Why did the princess give me this…?”
Count Duncan looked at the box of gold in front of him and asked.
Although it doesn’t look bulky, Duncan, who runs the mine, knew how much the small gold cost.
“The reason is simple. Potatoes are delicious, I need a liver and a gallbladder, and she has a debt.”
“Yes?”
Count Duncan could not understand my words.
“I paid off Mr. Gutt’s debt, who lives in Black village.”
“Gutt?”
Duncan was very unfamiliar with the name. Was there a Gutt among the royal family? But isn’t a black village the village where those dirty and lowly beggars live?
Duncan glanced at my servants, and quick-witted he took a list of debtors and looked through them.
“He was a gambler who borrowed 500 blancs.”
Gutt was an insignificant debtor that Duncan didn’t know. Looking at it, Gutt had a total debt of 3,000 blancs, including debt interest.
“Gambler? Why did the princess pay the debt?”
“ I said it. Potatoes are delicious, I need a liver and a gallbladder, and she has a debt.”
“Ummm…Okay.”
After repeating my words several times, the Count nodded as if he finally understood.
‘I don’t know if it’s potatoes or liver or gallbladder, but it’s because of debt.’
Those who are addicted to gambling are insane to even owe the princess for having a debt of 3,000 blancs. If you even put your children as collateral, you might be able to come to your senses. That’s what gamblers are.
That’s what gamblers are like.
If you are in debt and spend all your fortune, you will make a lot of money by gambling again. They are truly hopeless. It makes making money a lot easier though.
“Hmm.”
Count Duncan groaned deeply when he saw the gold sent by me. If the Count takes the children who will act on behalf of Gut, it is impossible to fulfill the debt, so he arranges it like this.
“Princess, by the way, with this amount of gold, even the debt interest of a person named Gut is left over.”
Even half of the gold bars were already enough for Gutt’s debt and interest. But there are still six gold bars left.
“Pay off the debts of the children in the mines with the rest of the money.”
“Yes?”
“If it’s not enough, tell me.”
‘Cause what’s left is money. As I always think, the only good thing about being born in the Milanaire family was wealth.’
“I also hope that in the future, I don’t want the children to work in the mines.”
“Princess Dorothea, I’m sorry, but this is not a matter for Princess Dorothea to be involved in.”
Dorothea was a young princess who barely came here to recuperate.
Of course, Princess was on top of him in her status, but she was not in a position where she could say this and that. Even the emperor could not easily get his hands on the operation of his mine.
In addition, there are certain things that only small children can do in the mine, and it is difficult to operate the mine without children. This means that it is not just a debt problem.
“I know. It’s not something I’m involved in, I only hope so.”
I finished talking and took a sip of tea. I was well aware of Count Duncan’s mines. I had overturned it once before returning, but they called me the tyrant again.
You don’t know how much criticism there was when I enacted a law prohibiting children under the age of 14 from being forced to work. The nobles were angry that he had no children to use, and the children and their parents cursed that there was no place to earn money. The Duncans were also one of the aristocratic families who opposed me.
So I am the tyrant who raised my sword and shut their mouths, but I was still not sure if the law had been properly implemented.
‘Now I’m not even an emperor.’
I don’t care, I  have no qualifications, and I have been tired of fighting like that for a long time. However, paying off the debts of not only Joy but other children…
‘It’s all because of the bucket list.’
To fill the bucket list of living a good life. It was really easy to buy good deeds with money.
“Well, I can see why the princess has such a heart.”
The count nodded, listening to the young princess’s words indifferently. It must have seemed pitiful for children of the same age to do such a thing.
Living in a prosperous way sometimes you can afford to show sympathy and compassion to the poor.
“But those kids are the ones who have to make money anyway. The mines are their workplace and guaranteed jobs that make a living.”
Duncan smiled.
Will those who work on behalf of their parents who owe gambling like Joy be free, by paying off their debts right now?
After all, their house is in debt again. They can’t get out of poverty even if they are not in debt.
The mine was a poor job, but compared to other jobs, it was paid enough to make a living, so those who were in a hurry or rushed to the edge of the cliff were in a position to earn a lot.
“Where will they go if I kick them all out?”
starve to death on the streets Or will they be beaten to death by his gambler’s father?
Duncan said with a leisurely smile.
I was already well aware that those words would come out.
“They are little children. At the very least, we need to be able to do things that don’t require our lives.”
No matter how poor you are and if you have to start earning money early, there are plenty of other safe things to do besides mining.
The Count’s eyes seemed to melt at me, and he looked at me lovingly.
“Oh, a soft-hearted, kind, and pure princess.”
Duncan spoke commendably, but it didn’t sound like a compliment to me at all. Because it seemed like he was making fun of me for being an idiot who didn’t know anything about the world.
“That kind heart is touching me, but no matter how much money the princess has, you cannot save everyone in the world. Don’t you call yourself human because you’re not a god? Humans should also know how to keep sympathy and sadness in one side of their heart..”
No matter how much money you have, you can’t save everyone in trouble.
At the Count’s words, I shut my mouth. I know. already better than anyone.
looking at what my mouth says, it seems that I have not yet thrown away all the greed and regrets I had accumulated in my past life.
“ I will go back after knowing about the Gut side.”
“Yeah, I don’t know anything else. So we will see about that.”
Duncan smiled.