“Donations?”
“Yes.”
“In my name?”
“That’s right.”
The Duke of Sorpel’s eyes widened slightly.
“Who on earth would make such a large donation...?”
The news Rube, the butler, had just brought was enough to catch his interest.
“There were a total of thirteen places.”
Someone was making massive donations here and there under his name—under the name of the Ducal House of Sorpel.
“Hm.”
He, too, had a few places he regularly supported every month. But this time, someone had even set up a foundation and was donating through it.
“Did you look into it?”
“Yes.”
A strange smile hung at the corner of Rube’s lips as he gave a light nod.
“It was the Ghost Trading House.”
“Who?”
Ghost Trading House?
“The same Ghost I know?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Why would he do that?”
Ghost Trading House was a business the Duke of Sorpel had been watching with great interest of late.
Other people probably weren’t much different. It was currently the place sweeping up the most money in the empire.
Naturally, his curiosity over the owner of Ghost Trading House had only grown.
‘What exactly is going on between him and the Duke of Sephra?’
Just who was the owner of Ghost Trading House that the Duke of Sephra simply handed over such a massive business? It was baffling.
“You said his name was Chris Miller.”
He had tried to casually pry some information about the man from the Duke of Sephra, but it hadn’t worked.
For some reason, the man had just kept deflecting, which only made his curiosity soar.
And now, here, that name had come up again.
“Please take a look at this.”
Rube did not erase the smile on his lips as he handed over a few documents he’d been holding.
“What is this?”
“Do you remember the mine you gave to Lady Camilla?”
“The mine?”
Of course he remembered. As thanks for bringing the Guardian, he had said he would give her anything—and Camilla had taken a useless mine.
“These are the quantities of ore mined there, and the routes those ores traveled.”
“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”
After gifting the mine to Camilla, he had completely transferred all rights related to it to her.
He had even given the order not to interfere in any way until she herself asked, worried she might feel burdened.
“Did that child ask for some kind of help?”
So she hadn’t been able to find any use for the mine in the end and had run into trouble...
‘I’ve been feeling uneasy ever since giving her such a mine as a present.’
He’d been ready to exchange it for a better mine that very moment if she said the word.
“For now, please look over the documents.”
The Duke of Sorpel stared at Rube for a moment with a slightly puzzled look, then turned his gaze to the papers.
A short while later, his expression began to change by the second.
The ore production was far greater than he had expected. But what shocked him most was where those ores ended up—
“Sephra?”
Their final destination had been none other than the Ducal House of Sephra.
“To be more precise, they were delivered to the black mages under the Sephra household.”
“Black mages?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me...”
Rube did not explain further. If it was his lord, just this much was enough to put all the pieces together.
“Don’t tell me the ores from that mine are...!”
And as expected, Rube gave a small nod at the exact conclusion his lord voiced.
****
“Congratulations.”
Camilla blinked once at the Duke of Sorpel offering his congratulations, then a bright smile bloomed on her lips.
“Thank you, Father.”
Seeing Camilla accept his congratulations so calmly, as if she had already expected this, a smile also tugged at the Duke of Sorpel’s lips.
“So you meant for me to catch on.”
After learning that Camilla was the owner of Ghost Trading House... no, the owner of the mana stones, he had thought it over.
There was something he simply could not understand.
‘Why go that far?’
It was obvious the trail would lead back to her, so why had that child made those enormous donations in his name?
If not for that, even now he would have had no idea who the real owner of the mana stones or Ghost Trading House was—ah.
‘She was telling me.’
The moment he saw Camilla answer not {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} with embarrassment but with a bright smile, he was sure.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you in advance.”
“I was a bit surprised, that’s all.”
Camilla lowered her head slightly like a child who had done something wrong.
“I really didn’t think the mana stones would draw this much attention.”
She shrank her shoulders a little, as if she were frightened.
“If people find out a child like me is the owner of the mana stones, I think they’ll come at me like wolves...”
“Who would dare!”
She almost pointed straight at Marquess Gabuel and said, ‘That bastard, right there!’ but held herself back.
“And I didn’t want to give my busy father one more thing to worry about. I was going to tell you once things were more firmly settled.”
For a moment, she could almost hear the Duke of Sephra muttering to himself, “So I look that idle, huh,” but she pretended not to notice.
“But the scale of the business suddenly grew too big, and I missed my chance to bring it up.”
“You little thing.”
What mattered now was that the Duke of Sorpel was taking her words at face value.
‘Right.’
It really had been the right decision to make the donations under her father’s name. Who would believe she had donated that huge sum with nothing but pure intentions?
‘I thought it was going to kill me.’
But she’d had no choice.
The moment it became known through some other route that she was the owner of Ghost Trading House, it would be the perfect setup to brand her as a money-grubbing woman.
The single fact that she hadn’t told even her family that that trash ore had become top-grade mana stones was enough to spark such rumors.
So she had donated—through gritted teeth. In the name of the Ducal House of Sorpel.
‘Damn it.’
She had figured that would be enough for Rube, as the head of BLACK SHADOW, to realize the truth, and from there he would naturally convey everything to the Duke of Sorpel.
It would be a way to show that she wasn’t being greedy, and that she hadn’t been planning to hide it forever.
TAP TAP.
The Duke of Sorpel kept patting Camilla’s shoulder, as if to say she had done well.
‘Of course.’
It was astonishing enough that she had turned that troublesome ore into top-grade mana stones—on top of that, she had just taken a mine everyone had been scrambling for, one all three ducal houses had gone after.
Of course, Camilla had no need for the iron from the mine.
‘What I want is the other ore inside.’
Diamonds! She was already planning to hand the iron rights back to the Duke of Sorpel for a reasonable price.
He wouldn’t be petty enough to demand she just hand it over for free, would he?
“Th-This is absurd!”
At that moment, an outraged cry rang out. When she turned her head, Marquess Gabuel was glaring at her, his body trembling.
“How could this be!”
So it wasn’t the Duke of Sephra who had been making a fool of him with the mana stones all this time—it was that damn little girl!
He simply could not accept it. That he had gone through all that hardship, all while being toyed with by a mere child like her!
‘So what? What are you going to do, glare at me?’
Camilla gave Marquess Gabuel, who was looking at her as if he wanted to kill her, the brightest smile she’d ever worn.
‘What exactly changed because I’m the owner of Ghost Trading House?’
Even if we don’t share blood, I’m still the Duke of Sorpel’s daughter in name, you know? Is House Sephra so lofty and House Sorpel a joke? Do I look that easy?
“Ugh...”
Marquess Gabuel seemed to have had the same thought, because he quickly dropped his gaze.
“Hm.”
He simply did not have the nerve to withstand the Duke of Sorpel’s fierce eyes, which had followed Camilla’s gaze and were now fixed sharply on him.
‘Damn it!’
Things had gone from bad to worse. The person blocking his business wasn’t just backed by the Duke of Sephra—it was someone with the Duke of Sorpel behind her as well!
He’d been eyeing Ghost Trading House from all sides for some time now, looking for any chance to get his hands on the mana stone business again...!
“So what are you saying? The person you turned the mana stones over to was Camilla—that girl?”
A shocked voice rose from another side of the room.
“Why? Are you insane? No matter how close you are to your friend’s daughter, why just hand over such a good business?”
It was the Duke of Jevillan.
“I was here. He was here. Why her?”
What would a child that young know about running a business!
He was already reeling from the shock of losing the mine by such a narrow margin. Now, faced with this new revelation, he was completely thrown.
“You must have already forgotten the fact that you and I both just lost to that girl.”
“Urgh...”
The sting of losing the auction by such a slim difference washed over him again.
“It was never mine to begin with.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It was hers.”
“What do you mean—hey! You can’t just stop there. Where are you going?”
“The auction’s over. What’s the point of staying here?”
The Duke of Sephra stood up, clearly finding it bothersome, and headed outside. The Duke of Jevillan hurried after him.
“You have to finish what you were saying! Hey!”
Their commotion caused a small stir, but no one in the hall paid them any real attention.
“Th-This is impossible!”
“Lady Sorpel is...!”
Everyone was too stunned by the fact that the true owner of Ghost Trading House—of that Ghost Trading House—was Camilla.
‘And now even this mine!’
They could only stare, mouths hanging open, at Camilla as she beamed with the prettiest smile imaginable.
****
“Why? What?”
“......”
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“......”
“...Fine. I’ll set aside five top-grade mana stones for you.”
“......”
“S-Seven?”
“......”
“Eight! I can’t do any more than that.”
“......”
“...Ten.”
“Hmph, I suppose I’ll be generous and let it go at that.”
...Fuck.
She’d thought it would be enough to get the Duke of Sorpel on board. But there was still one landmine left at home.
‘Ravi, you petty bastard.’
As expected, the rumor had spread far and wide by that afternoon. That the true owner of the mana stones and Ghost Trading House was Camilla.
The moment he heard it, Ravi had come straight for her. Eyes blazing, no less!
Under his long, silent stare, Camilla had ended up voluntarily paying her “taxes.” Damn it... just how much had she lost on this whole thing?
“How could you lie to even me?”
