C13
"I want to purchase information about 'Louis Gargell.'"
He hit the table with his finger at my words.
"Louis Gargell. The eldest son of a local lord who owns lands on the western frontier. If there's anything unusual, it's a family that has accumulated a lot of wealth recently due to the discovery of a large number of silver mines in the west last year."
What? West?
I felt my blood pressure rising.
Belreck, the more I get to know this idiot, the more ridiculous he is.
It's a situation where I can do nothing but curse him.
Because the property and capital of the Seymour family were in the east.
That bastard is trying to isolate me in a remote region with no connections. So I won't set foot in Seymour again.
To put it bluntly, it was more of an exile than a marriage.
Do you think I'm going to suffer obediently?
I barely managed to calm down the anger that was rising and continued.
"Not just general information, I want to know his weaknesses."
I will somehow get out of the engagement that Belreck is pressuring. I will disgrace the name of the bastard who is pushing for this kind of marriage.
"You want a flaw that can attack your opponent."
"Exactly."
Having grasped my intentions, he flicked a coin with his thumb and index finger attached.
You're asking for an upfront payment.
I took a leather pouch from my bag and poured out my jewels.
His eyes opened a bit.
"No way, you didn't think this was all, did you?"
With an assertive and confident expression I had practiced in the mirror, I took out another sack and poured it.
At the sound of the jewels clinking against each other, the beast that was lying next to the Master with a sulky face twitched its ears.
"If you show me your information gathering capabilities, I will show you my financial power."
In general, first impressions are the most important.
I wanted to give him the impression that I was a more benevolent and generous customer than the Prince.
Aren't I better than the Prince? You will continue to do business with me, won't you?
I looked at the man with that in mind.
Sapphire, ruby, opal, obsidian, and even topaz. With all CMYK colors included, it will look more visually appealing.
"The princess has shown me so much sincerity; I should do my best as well."
The playful Master opened his mouth, picking up a jewel that was on the table.
"Who in the world doesn't have a weakness? Even Louis Gargell will have some with a bit of digging."
A faint smile.
He must have had that snake-like expression when he planned to accuse Deborah of blasphemy and send her to the monastery.
"It seems like you'll also invent weaknesses that don't exist."
I don't know how it is on someone else's part, but on my part, he's more reliable than anyone else.
Thinking it was a good idea to come here, I mentioned my next request.
"The second request. Is it possible to buy and sell noble titles?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Of course... you can buy and sell titles. You can even buy sincerity with money; it's like a title."
He toyed with the red ruby while making a greedy remark.
"And the price?"
"It varies for each title. The price depends on the seller. That's how appealing the nobility status is."
Damn it.
I'm not the only one who wants to buy a title.
It's natural for prices to go up when there's high demand, so I worried.
"I want to know the average selling price of a baron title."
My heart tightened, but I tried to speak calmly.
"There are few examples to make an average, but at most, this amount is enough to take over the title of a low-ranking family."
The Master dipped the tip of a pen in black ink.
"W-What?"
Seeing the feast of zeros that continued endlessly, I almost grabbed him by the collar. The price, which was increasing at a terrifying rate, suddenly stopped at some point.
"What, is it that expensive?!"
The price was even more absurd when converted to Korean won.
"10 billion*."
I was expecting at most a billion won; but this is too expensive.
However...
"It wasn't realistic in my previous life, but it's not a ridiculous amount for me right now."
The situation where I asked the Duke for 40 million won, judging it by the standards of my previous life.
I'm a spoon of orichalcum.
Deborah's foundation is different from Yoon Do Hee's in the first place, so it's possible to collect money.
No, I will definitely raise it.
I can't marry Thompson Gargell, who drools like a pervert when he sees a beautiful woman.
"It's not much."
The Master shrugged at my deception.
"Well, it's a small price for a princess who possesses a necklace of the same value as a house in the capital."
If it's a townhouse, it's at least between a billion and two billion.
"It's a good idea. That pink diamond, I want to turn it into gold coins. That's my third request."
I wondered whether to sell it or not because of the Duke, but I changed my mind when I saw the price of the noble title. I'll take the risk to sell it.
"What?"
The Master, frowning at my words, put down the pen and looked at me in astonishment.
"Why are you suddenly trying to resell it? I thought you were on a hunger strike and even in brief confinement to get that jewel."
"You know, you keep forgetting your duty as an informant; if you're going to keep asking me questions, give me these jewels too."
The absurdity of this moment passed through the glassy eyes of the man.
The man, with his mouth slightly open, slowly loosened his lips and let out a brief laugh.
I guess he's not offended.
I sighed inwardly. The reason I'm going in so recklessly is that, being the daughter of Duke Seymour, I'm sure I'm not weak.
In short, I was pretending to trust my father.
I thought even Young Hoon would be beaten by this smart guy if they caught him being a scaredy-cat.
"I forgot my duty again. I apologize once more."
The man apologized jokingly, with smiling eyes.
I was slightly surprised for a moment, as he seemed young.
"Thinking about it, how old is the Master? The more I look at him, the less I can guess."
"Princess."
Silently looking at the man's features, I regained my senses at his low-toned call.
"The pink diamond. You're trying to secretly sell it without Duke Seymour knowing, right?"
The Master immediately understood the intention behind my request to sell the diamond.
"Yes, that's correct."
"However, it's impossible to resell it secretly because it's a jewel that has already gained great popularity in the social world. If it goes back to the auction house or jewelry store, rumors will definitely surface."
I thought he would fulfill any request without hesitation like the genie in the lamp, but he was unexpectedly saying he couldn't.
"But there is a way to turn the jewel into gold coins without offending Duke Seymour."
The Master immediately came up with a good alternative.
"What could that be?"
He tilted his eyes like a fox at my question.
"Fifty-fifty."
"Don't tell me, are you asking for half the resale price of the pink diamond?"
"I'm glad we can communicate well."
Damn it. What's up with all these punks?
"That's nonsense. The percentage he's taking is too high. I'm willing to pay a commission worthy of his work."
"Princess. Pink diamonds are expected to increase in value several times in the future."
I softened my fierce expression a bit at his words.
The Master seemed to be aware of the number of pink diamonds being mined, like a jewelry store owner.
"In the long run, it's beneficial to sell it before the number of gems increases and the scarcity decreases. In exchange for having a high percentage for my action, I'll sell it for more than double the price of Duke Seymour's winning bid."
He spoke confidently, tossing a gold coin that was stacked on the table into the air and catching it on the back of his hand, showing the front of the gold coin engraved with the First Emperor.
"As I hold many shares, I am moving towards maximum profitability."
I lost myself in thought.
The point is scarcity; so, if it's an item that will gradually depreciate, it's profitable to sell it as soon as possible.
Furthermore, if he sells it at a much higher price than the winning bid, it would be a deal with not many losses even if it's split fifty-fifty.
I'm curious to see what kind of strategy this man will come up with.
"Still, fifty-fifty is too much. Seventy-thirty."
"If you can tell me why Cookie drools while looking at you, I'll go seventy-thirty."
As I contemplated what to do, I faced Cookie, who was looking at me with sad eyes.
Indeed, the reason why he was so fond of the beast raised by the Master was nothing much.
It was because I had five bags of catnip on my belt.
In line with the Master's claim that the cat-tailed seal represented the golden beast, I deduced that his pet was a cat-like animal, and my guess was correct.
For reference, pet breeding doesn't develop here, so catnip was used only for medicinal purposes.
So, he probably couldn't even imagine that I would offer cat medications to Cookie.
"... Let's go fifty-fifty. I'm not someone who sells information like you."
It's not much information for me, but it will be expensive information for the Master, who is presumed to be a feline person.
"It's also important to pique the Master's curiosity to get his attention and continue the deal."
It's a waste to tell him as a condition to raise the participation percentage to seventy-thirty.
I presented my final request, grumbling with a disapproving expression.
"The final request. What would be a good way to manage a secret fund efficiently?"
I may have countless jewels and accessories, but I have few gold coins on hand that can be used as cash here.
It wasn't necessary to have them since the Duke's financial manager would pay for it if I wrote a check when buying something.
However, the downside of using a check was that the items and item prices I purchased were sent to the Duke as a card statement.
"It's no different from being traced."
Even if I wanted to get a lot of gold coins by selling jewels, it was impossible to open a personal bank account because unmarried women aren't approved to have private property before their debut.
Accustomed to the convenient electronic financial system of the 21st century, I didn't know how to store and manage heavy gold coins instead of bills.
"If it's a secret fund..."
The Master continued, disinterested, holding his chin with his hand.
"People usually dig up their private land to bury gold coins, or secretly store them in a secret safe in the basement of their mansion."
Rich people do the same here too.
"Both are too troublesome for me. Is there any other way?"
As I furrowed my brow, trying to hide that I was at a loss, the Master slowly rubbed his white chin with his black gloves.
"Then, for a problem like this, you should show creativity instead of information capability, right?"
"..."
"If I show my creativity, what will the princess show me this time?"
Turning my words around like a snake, the Master asked me to show something more than my financial power, as if testing me.
As expected of a villain, it's not easy. Just by frowning a little, the weaklings would tremble on their own.
But I have one more thing besides financial power.
Making eye contact with him, I turned over the luxurious leather bag.
