Chapter 53

"Thierry. Did you get Princess Deborah's signature on the sign-up form?"

Thierry scratched his head at the question filled with the 5th Princess' obsession.

"I'm sorry, but the Princess has been staying at home recently, so I haven't been able to meet with her."

"Why?"

"She said she was sick."

"I can't believe she's sick, that can't be! As her future close friend, I should pay her a visit, right?"

"No. It's better to leave her alone for a while. It's just a simple illness caused by stress."

"Did she get sick from stress? How?"

"The Seymour servants are keeping their mouths shut, but there are rumors that the Princess has lost the one and only pink diamond in the Empire. She didn't know and went to the night market after the ball, and it seems she was pickpocketed."

"Oh dear!"

Princess Deborah deserved to be grabbed by the neck and collapse.

The most famous jewel in the Empire has been lost; and even if she is Seymour's Princess, it is a waste.

The gem, which had been attracting attention for its rarity since its first appearance, has increased its fame and value at this imperial ball.

'Isidor made a great contribution to creating more buzz around the jewel.'

Duke Seymour's affection for the Princess and Isidor's popularity were combined, and the jewel became a symbol of envy of young ladies.

Perhaps the price was now much higher than it was when Duke Seymour won the bid.

"Since it fell into the hands of thieves, the jewel must have already been sold on the black market."

The 5th Princess was astonished and had a pitiful expression.

"There are also rumors that Philap Montez, who previously failed to bid for the pink diamond, is trying to retrieve Princess Deborah's lost jewel."

The 5th Princess frowned.

"It doesn't look good to go back. If Philap secretly obtained the jewel and gave it to Mia Vinoche, would Princess Deborah stay still?"

"She would never stay still. The Princess could really lose her temper this time and explode."

Thierry clicked his tongue and muttered.

***

"Hnnn. Hnn!"

Princess Deborah's stride showed no energy, so Cookie hovered around her anxiously.

The Blancia Master narrowed his eyes as he looked at her pale face and quivering lips.

"Princess. You don't need to act in front of me."

"I was so immersed in it that I even deceived myself. It hurts my heart to feel a sense of loss as if I really had lost that jewel."

Seeing the Princess muttering with a serious face, unable to make jokes, Isidore clenched his fists tightly and swallowed a laugh.

A week ago.

"Pretend to lose the pink diamond? This isn't all there is to your plan, is it?"

At first, Princess Deborah was skeptical of the Master's plan and taken aback.

"I apologize, but this is the easiest and simplest way to resell your jewel without offending Duke Seymour."

"Who would believe that I lost the jewel? No one dares to touch me. Rather, it is more convincing to say that the mouse stole the cat's bell."

"That's why a festival where you walk the streets wearing a mask is the most appropriate."

"..."

"A lot of the pickpockets at the festival's night market are quick-witted. Skilled knights are often hit, and it is not strange to lose all your valuables even if you have an escort. Everyone would think that the ignorant noble lady got robbed while wandering around."

"Haha. And what if I really lose it?"

"After leaving the imperial court, summon the space magic pouch and put the jewel inside it. Then, pretend you lost it for a while."

After contemplating for a while, Princess Deborah finally accepted the Master's offer.

"Master, in exchange for being the protagonist of this scam, get me an invitation to the auction being held in front of the black pot."

"I see the Princess is also interested in the auction."

Just in time, Princess Deborah knew about the 'Noir Pot', an infamous auction event held only on certain days.

"I was also going to encourage you to attend. Connecting the end of the imperial ball and the start of the auction makes this scam more convincing."

However, Isidor hid advanced information that the 'Noir Pot' would have auction items that Duke Seymour would like.

'I'm sorry, but that information will be used by my real body to score points.'

The Duke will be happy and grateful to her for giving him a book written by Bellemont, the 6th head of the family.

A pretty good picture will be produced, where she lost her jewel while going into the night market to buy Duke Seymour's gift.

Few fathers would scold their daughters for their carelessness in such a situation.

'Duke Seymour seemed to cherish Princess Deborah more than I expected...'

Duke Seymour was also included in the list of those who dared to retrieve the pink diamond that Princess Deborah boldly lost.

'But I can't sell the same thing to Duke Seymour twice.'

Above all, his precious client wouldn't want it.

"Master. How much did you sell the pink diamond for?"

Princess Deborah asked with her characteristic sharp voice.

"I sold it for 2.5 times the winning bid."

Just like when the Master met the Princess for the first time, he bounced the gold coin upward and snatched it lightly over the back of his hand.

Then, when the side facing up showed the bust of the first emperor, he smiled.

"I was lucky. Things went well thanks to the Princess who raised the value of the jewel at the ball."

"What kind of pushover, I mean, what kind of rich person bought it at that price?"

"I sold it to a foreign collector who collects rare items. He's a man who has an excessive amount of money."

"A foreigner. You saved me all the trouble. It's quieter to send it to a faraway place than to have it wander around within the Empire. It also saves us future troubles."

As Princess Deborah said, it was cleaner there.

'Although I suffered some loss.'

After secretly contacting people who were willing to purchase the pink diamond, Montez bid the highest price except for Duke Seymour, followed by a collector.

However, Isidor did not hand over the pink diamond to Philap Montez.

He fiddled with the gold coins, hiding his complex and subtle mood.

Because it was not an Isidor-like decision, who moved only for profit.

In addition, the pink diamond was expected to be released two more times in the future, so its value would gradually decrease. Creating a perfect situation to provoke Philap.

'But I still don't feel like it...'

Most would think that if Philap retrieved the jewel the Princess lost, he would give it to Mia Vinoche, but Isidor disagreed.

It was his intuition as a man.

Maybe it was because of Philap's expression as he stared at him before the last song of the ball began.

With a sharp smirk, he tossed the faulty coin, which was embossed only with the front face that showed the emperor, once again.

***

'Master, I love you very much.'

The moment I heard that the Master sold the pink jewel that I didn't need at 2.5 times the price, I almost confessed my feelings.

I wanted to hug that lucky man who only got heads when tossing a coin.

'As expected, I have to be with a lucky person to be lucky too.'

The proposal to split it into 50-50 because it would be sold at twice the price, honestly, I thought he was half bluffing.

'Finally, a huge amount of gold coins is in my hands.'

Until now, I had been inefficiently gathering gold coins by selling jewels little by little.

I opened my mouth while calming down my heart, which started beating fast.

"Now it's time to settle the amount of money acquired from selling the jewel."

"I'm as sure of the money calculations as I was of the request result."

The Master moved his finger lightly.

Then, four large boxes flew through the air and fell beside me with a loud noise.

"Hnn!"

Cookie, with its eyes wide open, hurriedly backtracked next to the Master, and suddenly growled, revealing its teeth towards the boxes of gold coins.

'This is the cold, hard cash, I mean, gold coins I've only dreamed of.'

When the lid of the shiny ebony wooden box was opened, the gold coins that were tightly packed gleamed dazzlingly.

"There are the boxes sent by the jewel buyer. The amount has been confirmed, and it is all of the Princess' share."

Life is so sweet.

In an ecstatic mood, I swept the large boxes into the space magic pouch, and then tried to put a solemn and serious expression on my face.

"Can I have another cup of tea?"

He waved his finger and poured the hot black tea.

"Master. Now let's talk about the business. We are partners."

I took a sip of the tea and spoke in a serious voice.

It's still too early to pop the champagne.

I'm in a situation where I can't be satisfied with only about 2 billion.

Because of the strict status system here, there were many social restrictions if you didn't have a nobility title.

To some extent, even the patent certificates I had received at the most have become a useless thing.

It's sad that my aristocratic status disappears just because I don't get married, but it's depressing and sad to think that my monthly pension will also disappear.

'So, I have to go straight for the 10 billion won.'

I clenched my fists with ambition.

"Now that I've made money, I'm going to invest properly in my business."