“I will buy only two years of your time.”

“Ah……”

The moment she heard his answer, the emotion Ribeta felt was relief. Only two years, not a lifetime. That alone made the weight of ‘marriage’ feel more than half as light. A deep breath escaped her naturally. Only then did she realize she’d been holding her breath without knowing it. The entire time Diego’s gaze had been fixed on her.

Ribeta swallowed dryly. Her mouth was parched like a desert from extreme tension, but she didn’t think to ask for water. Diego’s real story had only just begun. He was gradually revealing the secrets he’d been hiding, mixing them into the conversation. She felt she needed to maintain this flow and learn a few more secrets.

“……If I live as a substitute for two years as you say, Count, will you eliminate the debt?”

“I called it an investment, didn’t I.”

“It may be an investment to you, Count, but not to me. I can’t believe my two years are worth 80 million sola.”

“Hmm.”

That was the end of Diego’s response. With his ambiguous reaction that was neither affirmation nor denial, Ribeta found it difficult to guess his intentions.

She’d thought she had decent intuition. But in front of Count Ruperto, she felt like she’d become an idiot who knew nothing.

Diego placed his hands folded on his knees. An aurora-like light rippled from him as he sat with his slender legs crossed. If there were a sun that didn’t lose its light even at night, it would probably feel like that.

That’s why Ribeta couldn’t readily accept his proposal. He was someone who didn’t suit her at all. Lady Barea must be someone similar to him, which is why marriage talks had come and gone.

She had no confidence in acting as such a remarkable person for two whole years.

However, if the Count continued to push, Ribeta would have to follow his words regardless of her own will.

Diego had spent an enormous sum of money with no rhyme or reason to buy her from Lerrbatia. In other words, Diego was now Ribeta’s owner, and if he gave an order, she had to follow it. Even if that order was unreasonable and absurd. Just as Melissa had.

But Diego was different from Melissa. He was making a ‘proposal,’ not an ‘order,’ to Ribeta right now. Orders couldn’t be refused, but proposals and transactions could be.

Though Ribeta knew nothing about him, she could be certain of this much. Perhaps she could be so certain because he’d called this conversation a transaction.

‘……Ah. I see.’

Ribeta realized. Right now, Diego was treating her as ‘businessman Diego Ruperto,’ not as ‘Count Ruperto.’ Not as slave and master, but as he’d said, in an ‘equal relationship.’

“You said you wanted freedom.”

Ribeta emerged from her thoughts and nodded. Freedom. It was the answer to the question thrown at her by the masked man in Lerrbatia—now that she thought about it, he’d also been Diego—asking if she was worth 34 million sola.

Diego tilted his head back slightly to look at the sky. His sharp, smooth-lined jaw stood out. Beyond his proud nose, as confident and prideful as he was, starlight shone clearly.

“What do you think rules this world?”

It was a sudden question. It was also a difficult question to answer readily. Ribeta was already overwhelmed just thinking about what ruled and oppressed her.

“You can say whatever comes to mind. There’s no right answer.”

“Then…… wouldn’t it be His Majesty the Emperor?”

The sole sun of the Solania Empire. The Emperor was an absolute existence no one could challenge, and his orders were ones no one could defy. It was a solid truth that had continued for hundreds of years.

Diego nodded.

“That’s right. His Majesty is the absolute ruler of the Empire and the supreme one who reigns over all, maintaining order through strict imperial law.”

Ribeta listened quietly to the Count’s words. Honestly, she didn’t know why he was saying such things, but his gentle voice held an irresistible power.

“That may be true now, but it won’t be in the future.”

Diego took out a small pouch from his br*ast. When he turned the pouch over, gold coins poured onto the table. Golden coins cascaded like a waterfall. The gold coins piled up like a mountain, then soon began to overflow to the floor. Some even fell at Ribeta’s feet.

Ribeta stared at the flowing gold with wide eyes.

“The axis of power will shift. Freedom is like a flag planted on top of this thing called money. In the end, without money, you can’t enjoy anything.”

Hearing his words, things came to mind.

The family debt that swelled like a snowball in an instant, the title that became completely useless when they couldn’t repay the debt, the Sirente Exchange overflowing with slaves from fallen noble families, nobles collapsing day after day…….

He was right. Even Melissa had lived so splendidly, but once she was buried in debt, hadn’t she become unable to do anything?

“It seems you understand.”

“……Even so, I want freedom. I had nothing from the beginning. I think even someone like me can wish for something and dream.”

Ribeta spoke quietly but in an unwavering tone. Just because she had no money, just because she was of lowly birth, she didn’t want to give up even the dream of wanting to live like a human being.

Then Diego replied coldly.

“I don’t dream and such. But I do like transactions. Very much.”

Diego flicked up a gold coin with his finger and caught it. He stood that gold coin on top of the golden mountain, then leaned toward Ribeta.

“So make a transaction with me.”

“……I’m sorry to say the same thing, but I have no confidence I can be worth 80 million sola.”

“Humans are excellent assets in themselves. If polished well, their value is bound to rise. How far that value can extend is another matter.”

Diego’s eyes suddenly changed. It was the same cool gaze as when he’d asked her about her worth while wearing a mask at the Lerrbatia auction house. Ribeta couldn’t move at all, as if her entire body was bound by his gaze.

“And what I’m buying isn’t just your time.”

“What…… Ah.”

The other fact Ribeta hadn’t thought of was the point about being a substitute for the lady. If she accepted Diego’s proposal, she would have to live not as ‘Ribeta’ but as ‘Lady Barea’ for two years. So Diego would be buying both Ribeta’s time and Lady Barea’s time simultaneously.

“I’m glad you understand quickly, as expected.”

Diego plucked a single flower in full bloom. He shook off the dirt on the stem, trimmed the lifeless leaves, then wrapped it as if packaging it with a handkerchief. Then he placed it on Ribeta’s hand.

Ribeta, who had been lost in tremendous anguish, suddenly raised her head at the soft touch.

“The contract period is two years. After two years, we’ll divorce, and I’ll pay alimony immediately.”

“You’ll eliminate the debt and even give me alimony?”

“Whether to live as a slave for life, or live as a substitute lady for two years and find freedom. The choice is yours.”

Diego passed by Ribeta with a gentle smile that didn’t match his firm tone. She’d been about to ask for a little time to think. It was a resolute gesture as if he’d seen through even that and wouldn’t give her time.

Ribeta stood up from her chair and looked back. His retreating figure walking between the flower beds dyed white was elegant and fearless.

She gripped tightly the flower and handkerchief Diego had left behind.

“Freedom……”

※※※

Ribeta agonized all night. Since the answer was already decided anyway, it was closer to worry about the future than agonizing.

‘……If I could, I’d want to run away.’

When she was young, there had been a few times when she’d taken lessons in place of Melissa, who hated studying.

At first, she’d been incredibly excited and happy to be able to wear Miss’s pretty dresses even briefly. She’d been happy seeing Miss rejoice that she could go out to play. When her Miss was in a good mood, Ribeta got scolded less often.

But the ending that came to Ribeta was disastrous. When the tutor praised Ribeta for taking lessons in her place, Melissa, furious to the tips of her hair, accused Ribeta of being a thief.

“Mother, look at her. She stole and wore my dress and hat! She must be crazy!”

“No. No, Madam. I didn’t steal them.”

“I praised you for being pretty, and your liver jumped out of her belly. How dare you think to wear Melissa’s dress on your lowly body?”

Melissa and her mother came with scissors and tore to shreds the dress Ribeta was wearing. They didn’t care that Ribeta’s skin was getting wounded. No, they actually enjoyed watching her fair and soft skin get cut and bleed.