Another peaceful day in the young lady’s room.
“One… two… three.”
For in the warm afternoon sunlight.
The emptier the money pouch became, the higher her spirits rose.
“Hehe…”
“Your laugh sounds like a noble evading taxes.”
“This money isn’t taxable!”
“That statement makes you sound like such a villainess.”
“I am a villainess, so it’s fine.”
With a satisfied smile, she continued counting the money eagerly.“Hehe… 100 chocolates.”
Seeing her play with the platinum coin, I decided to correct her misunderstanding.
“Young Lady.”
“Whaaat?”
“Don’t look down on a platinum coin.”
“Why?”
“Only 100 chocolates?”
Scoffing at the idea of 100 chocolates, I held up one platinum coin from the table, displaying it to her like an ASMR YouTuber in my past life, and stated confidently.
“You could buy almost a thousand with just one of these.”
“Eeek!”
Dropping the platinum coin in shock, her eyes widened as it hit the floor and rolled away.
“One thousand?!”
“You could easily buy over a hundred.”
Her eyes trembled even more at the realization that one coin’s value jumped from a hundred to a thousand chocolates.
With an exaggerated gasp, she spoke again.
“If I sew a thousand eyes on teddy bears, could I earn one of these?”
“No.”
“Ten thousand?”
“Hmm… that wouldn’t work either.”
Realizing the futility of earning such a sum with side jobs, she stared intently at the platinum coin, puffing her cheeks.
“Hooo…”
Having a stare-down with the first emperor depicted on the coin.
“Hoo…”
Indeed, money has its appeal.
Engaged in a comical stare-down to judge whether the coin was worth a thousand chocolates, she bit the hard-to-close platinum coin with a mischievous grin.
Or should I say, a wicked grin?
With a smirk that only a thief might have, she glanced at me furtively.
“Ricardo…”
“Yes.”
“You see…”
Drawing out her words, she looked discreetly at the platinum coins on the far side of the table, her fingers twitching. Watching her, I smiled.
‘Too obvious.’
Coming from the slums where begging was a way of life, her actions were too transparent. Focusing on her attempted crime, I observed her with an amused smile.
– Sneak.
Seeing my gaze, she continued.
“How many gold coins does it take to turn into a white one?”
“A hundred.”
“Oooh…”
“Once you gather a hundred, it turns into a white one?”
With her eyes now locked on my hard-earned pay inching towards her precious pouch, I replied, slightly amused.
“Yes. You can exchange a hundred for one white coin if you work really hard.”
“I’ve only used white ones, so I didn’t know.”
“Quite the villainous perspective.”
“But, Young Lady.”
“Whaaat?”
“Do I look like someone you can fool easily?”
“A squid leg?”
“No.”
Grinning, I gently grabbed her delicate wrist, causing her to flinch in surprise.
Careful no.
Desmond Olivia, looking at her clenched hand on the table, spoke.
“N-no!”
“I haven’t said anything yet?”
“Th-that’s…”
Looking away out of the window, she pretended not to know, confirming my suspicions. While my phrasing echoed a certain actor known for gambling in my past life, I shrugged it off.
He lost an arm, and I don’t plan to.
Clearing the table with a cruel smile, I declared.
“You must have put a white bottle cap in the money pouch.”
Feeling something unexpected in the pouch, I smiled.
Placing the foreign object on the table, it rolled towards her and settled naturally.
A white bottle cap.
Her eyes trembled violently.
“Am I right?”
“Don’t make stuff up! Ricardo, you must have seen wrong!”
“Well, open your hand and let’s see.”
“Eek!”
She couldn’t lie.
Looking out of the window whenever she lied.
Her eyebrows trembling.
Serving her for 13 years, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.
Reading her expression, “I am lying,” I confidently bet.
“I bet all the money on the table plus a 130-gold bath lotion that you’re holding a platinum coin.”
“Eeek…”
Clenching her fist tighter, she glared at me. While she trembled, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Well, then I bet a week’s worth of chocolates!”
“That’s my money.”
“Eeek! Lend me some!”
“Sure.”
Her spirited response made my heart race a bit.
‘Did I bet too much…?’
No.
Seeing her face, I could be sure. Although momentarily distracted by the flashy pouch, I couldn’t back out now.
Besides, as her butler concerned about her health, I couldn’t give up.
“A week is too little.”
“It’s not!”
“Make it two weeks.”
“No!”
“Are you scared?”
“Eeek! No!”
The one word that triggers everyone spurred her to accept the bet, clenching her fist even tighter.
Now, seeing her determined face, I unfolded her fingers one by one while humming.
“Shall we see?”
Seeing the coin in her hand, I smiled. But my expected victory was overturned.
“What? A gold coin?”
Unexpectedly, a gold coin greeted me.
With a bright smile, she looked at me. Shining eyes gleamed with dopamine, gazing at the coin in her hand, I desolately looked at it as well.
“No… This shouldn’t be here.”
She spoke with a smile.
Coolly and proudly, as she pulled a chocolate from her precious pouch like a movie protagonist.
“Idiot. Ricardo, you fool.”
Seeing her eat the chocolate, I wondered.
‘When did she take it?’
I clearly saw her take it.
No way…
‘Could she deceive the eyes of a Sword Master-to-be?’ Thinking back, I realized a moment of distraction.
– Eeek! Stop it!
‘Was it then?’
Focusing on the sparkling pouch for a moment, she must have switched it. I had no choice but to admit my mistake.
Affirming my suspicions, I saw a flashing white coin in her precious pouch filled with platinum coins.
‘As expected.’
Villainess indeed.
Acknowledging my defeat, I nodded and smiled, holding her hand.
“There’s still something left to check.”
“Hiccup…!”
“The precious pouch.”
“I-I won!”
She hiccupped, frozen in place. Smiling eerily, I responded.
“Are you sure?”
“Eek! Gomtangi!”
– Bear!
“Bite him!”
– Bear…
Seeing Gomtangi lying back down, she yelled.
“You traitor!”
“He’s a bear, not a dog.”
“You called him a dog before!”
“He’s grown too big to be called a dog.”
“Eek!”
With a tickling touch, a platinum coin fell from her precious pouch. Awkwardly, she murmured.
“Trade it for a chocolate?”
“Just for three days.”
“Eek! But I won!”
“Wasn’t it a sly trick!”
“No!”
It was a day filled with laughter.
Of course.
“Take it if you can!”
Her insistence on the precious pouch with one platinum coin led to an unexpected expense.
But still.
“Well… I lost.”
It was a fun day.
*****
After the fierce bet, evening arrived.
Desmond Olivia rummaged through her precious pouch under the moonlight.
“Hmm.”
Out came chocolates.
Gold coins.
Even the saved-up candy.
Feeling someht.
“Wow…!”
A thousand chocolates.
Seeing a platinum coin she hadn’t handled for a long time felt renewed. Reviewing her fortune, it was her property after all.
“Hehe…”
This money was precious to Olivia.
Not because it could buy her a thousand chocolates, but because Ricardo had earned it with great effort. Although it was Ricardo’s money, saving it bit by bit to pay his due salary eased her mind. She cherished the coin.
“Combining this, it’s eleven hundred and twenty gold…!”
What should she do with this money?
Though she loved snacks, she wasn’t a hog eating only chocolates. Wishing to give a gift to the butler always by her side, Olivia made plans.
Since she earned a lot, a small gift should be fine… right?
“Should I buy medicine for Ricardo since he’s so weak?”
Considering hiding things, or the possibility he might get bored if she did it again, she pondered.
– Whoooosh~
Hearing an eerie wind as if ghosts were roaming, Olivia pulled the blanket over her head and shut her eyes.
“Eek!”
It seemed like tonight she would sleep with Ricardo.
“Ricardo-oo!”
And.
-Ding.
Darkness enveloped again.
End of Chapter
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