“Have you heard?”
“The Gracia Empire?”
“I hear a new emperor will be crowned soon.”
“So in the end the second prince won.”
The three dukes had gathered in one place for the first time in a while. Their latest shared concern was the Gracia Empire.
The long civil war had ended and a new emperor was about to take the throne; it was extremely important news.
At present the two empires were allied, but long ago they had fought constantly for continental hegemony.
As houses charged with defending the Fable Empire, it was only natural that they kept their feelers out for the Gracia Empire’s every move.
The Gracia Empire?
Camilla, once again being held as collateral by the Guardians today, also pricked up her ears at their conversation.
When it came to the Gracia Empire, she knew a fair amount herself. She hadn’t wanted to, but in the lives that kept repeating, people were always chattering about it.
Nothing’s changed this time either.
Camilla already knew the second prince would become emperor.
The only difference was that, unlike the three dukes, she hadn’t spared it a bit of interest because it had nothing to do with her.
Ah! Right!
Then one fact popped into her mind. That the Gracia Empire no longer had nothing to do with her.
Mana Stones. She’d completely forgotten.
Not to mention, that Top-grade Mana Stone currently in her possession used to belong to the Duke of Jevillan.
“Heh...”
A silly little laugh slipped out of Camilla before she knew it. A very big customer would soon show up wanting to buy Mana Stones.
“Camilla?”
Gah!
Catching herself letting out a materialism-drunk giggle, Camilla hurried to fix her expression.
Arsian had already warned her not to make that kind of face in front of other people.
“Is something the matter?”
Seeing the three dukes’ gazes turn toward her, Camilla answered as naturally as she could.
“No, it’s just... King is cute.”
[Gyuu?]
She quickly scooped King, who was lying beside her trying to nap, into her arms. Then she gently stroked his head as he looked up at her like, What is it?
“Isn’t our King just adorable?”
[Gyuu Gyuu!]
When King lifted his head in a haughty little tilt, clearly understanding the praise, Camilla burst out laughing in genuine amusement.
“Come to think of it, I heard a new mineral came out of the mine this time.”
The Duke of Jevillan’s eyes flashed as he looked at Camilla.
“Yes. I actually have something to give the three of you.”
Camilla picked up three small boxes she’d set aside and placed them in front of the three dukes.
Realizing they were gifts, the men immediately opened them.
“This is...”
They were heavy rings of the sort men commonly wore. The platinum bands weren’t flashy, but the design was extremely delicate.
Above all, the stone set in the center of each ring—
“A diamond?”
In shape and shine it was clearly a diamond, and yet...
“How can it be this color...”
It had a very strange hue.
Overall you could call it blue, but that wasn’t all.
It was the sort of color you’d say there was only one of in the entire world. It was absolutely not a color that could be produced artificially.
“It’s a blue diamond.”
The rings were made from the new mineral that had just come out of the mine. # Nоvеlight # It hadn’t yet been discovered anywhere on the continent; these three were seeing it for the first time.
“I-is this really a diamond?”
“Yes. The color’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s being mined only in very tiny quantities, so we’re planning to sell it only to VIP customers.”
That was a lie. The yield was lower than that of ordinary diamonds, but it wasn’t so little that you would call it vanishingly rare.
Still, Camilla had decided to hide that fact thoroughly from everyone else.
Once you put words on something like “extremely rare” and “scarce,” people’s desire to buy it and the price both naturally went up.
“...This is the new mineral that came out this time?”
“Yes.”
The Duke of Jevillan couldn’t tear his eyes away from the ring. His expression shifted from moment to moment as he stared at the blue diamond.
With his body trembling, it was plain he was suddenly remembering how he’d lost the mine over a tiny difference in price.
“Should I give you mine at least?”
The Duke of Sorpel slid his own ring toward him as he spoke, that self-satisfied smile tugging at his mouth.
“......”
The Duke of Jevillan’s body shook again.
“Can I have mine too?”
At the following comment from the Duke of Sephra, his expression twisted even more miserably. Unlike the Duke of Sorpel, the Duke of Sephra had absolutely no malice, and that made it all the more infuriating.
*****
“There’s been word from the Imperial Family.”
“I knew it.”
“You already expected they would reach out?”
“Well, more or less.”
No sooner had she stepped into the office than Chris quickly brought up one particular item of business.
“It’s about trading Mana Stones with the Gracia Empire, isn’t it?”
“...Yes.”
His expression, usually so composed, crumpled fast.
He couldn’t help but be shocked, seeing her already know everything in a report he hadn’t even delivered yet.
He’d experienced her foresight ability firsthand during the mine auction last time, but he still hadn’t gotten used to it.
“The Gracia Empire says they want to purchase our Mana Stones.”
A smile naturally curled around Camilla’s lips. It meant a very big customer was ready to crack open their wallet.
The Gracia Empire was an extremely cold country. Naturally, heating facilities were essential, and those facilities required Mana Stones to maintain them.
“I heard Marquess Gabuel has been working very hard over there in the Gracia Empire.”
“I’m sure he has.”
To survive after losing his existing buyers, he would have had to find new markets, and there was no place better for a marquess like that than the Gracia Empire.
“But they’re not idiots either.”
It was only natural for their eyes to turn to Top-grade Mana Stones rather than low-quality ones.
“And in the long term, this is more profitable anyway.”
Mana Stones weren’t something you could use forever. They were consumables that had to be replaced regularly.
From their perspective too, it was more cost-effective to install high-quality Mana Stones and use them for a long time than to constantly swap out inferior ones.
“There’s a reason people obsess over ‘Top-grade, Top-grade.’”
If the price of buying ten cheap ones and using them and the price of buying one Top-grade one and using it were the same...
The answer was obvious. They would naturally lean toward the latter, since it would also cut down on labor wasted on replacements.
“The Imperial Family asked that we reply as quickly as possible.”
“Hm.”
She was very satisfied that they had contacted her directly rather than going through the Duke of Sorpel.
It meant the Imperial Family acknowledged her as the owner of the Mana Stones.
“I’ll contact the Imperial Family myself.”
“Understood.”
Chris gave a slight nod, then went on to brief her on a few more matters.
In the middle of it, his gaze flicked to the side.
He could see Dorman off to one side brewing tea. She always came alone—so why had she brought him this time?
“Would you like a cup of tea as well, Mr. Chris?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you now. My lady, please have your tea.”
“Mm.”
As he watched Camilla take a sip, Chris asked,
“So, why is he...?”
“To put him to work at the café.”
“Excuse me?”
The first one to react to her words wasn’t Chris but Dorman.
“W-what do you mean, my lady? The café?”
Judging by the way his eyes went round, this was the first he’d heard of it.
“You can at least try to prove you’re worth keeping around there.”
“What...! I’m already more than proving my worth.”
“When? Where? How?”
“I-I clean very diligently.”
“Lately the other staff have been working harder than you.”
“And I brew tea very well!”
“The tea I brew myself tastes better.”
To be more precise, the tea she brewed the way Derrin had told her to was far better.
“A-and I help with your baths—”
“Do you seriously want to die?”
He was dragging out memories she wanted to forget, over and over. Huh?
“You’re being too harsh!”
What was he even talking about?
“In any case, from today on, whenever I’m not at home you’ll be working at the café, Dorman.”
Thanks to recent word of mouth, they had quite a few more customers now. At first she’d needed a bit of shilling, but the desserts were so good that the place’s reputation had spread on its own.
Seeing Laila happily screaming that they were short-handed, she’d decided to reinforce her with manpower that had been loafing around the house.
“If you fail to prove your worth even there...”
“I-if I do...?”
“Curious?”
As Camilla’s lips curved up slightly, Dorman instinctively stepped back a pace from her.
“The shoes I’ve been buying lately, you know—they all seem to have especially sharp heels.”
“I’ll work hard! I’ll prove it with everything I’ve got!”
“Mm, you’d better. Head to the café right now.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Watching Dorman dash out of the room, Camilla clicked her tongue.
Ever since the other servants had started attending her properly again, he’d been quietly slacking off.
Just a moment ago she’d dragged him here after catching him napping under a tree.
I might let it slide with someone else, but I’m not going to sit and watch you slack off.
Only once she’d thought that did she finally look satisfied and start quickly working through the remaining documents.
Chris, who had been quietly watching the entire exchange from the side, gave a faint shake of his head.
*****
“A delegation?”
“Yes.”
She had sent her reply straight to the Imperial Family. That they would agree to the trade.
In response, the other side had made another proposal through the Duke of Sorpel.
“They say they’d like to meet you in person at least once.”
The Gracia Empire had expressed a desire to meet her, the owner of the Ghost Trading House, in person and conduct the trade face to face.
“So I’ll be part of the delegation...”
To mark the new emperor’s accession, the Fable Empire was assembling a congratulatory delegation of its own to send.
That part’s nothing new, so it doesn’t surprise me much.
What did leave her a bit taken aback was the fact that she would be going as part of that delegation.
“I would rather you didn’t go.”
The Duke of Sorpel’s expression made it plain he didn’t like this business.
He didn’t like the idea of Camilla going so far away.
“Appointing a proxy is an option too.”
“That’s true, but...”
If this were an ordinary deal, she would have agreed with the Duke of Sorpel. It would have been simple to send Chris or another representative to finalize the trade.
“But this is the Imperial Family.”
It wasn’t just anywhere; it was the Gracia Imperial Family asking to see her face and make the trade in person. Even she, with all her nerve, found it very awkward to refuse.
“I’ll go.”
“Hey! Do you have any idea what that place is for you to just go there?”
Ravi, who had been keeping his mouth shut and leaving the conversation to their father from one side, couldn’t hold back anymore and exploded.
Ludville said nothing, but his expression wasn’t good either.
