“You’ll give me the land in exchange for money?”

“Yes.”

Ilion rested his chin on his hand and looked at me. It was the answer I had finally come up with after pondering in my room for half a day, but Ilion’s reaction was lukewarm.

“Why?”

“I’ve been thinking, and it seems developing that land would be too difficult for me. I get terribly carsick every time I go to the mountain, I don’t like the smell of workers’ sweat, it’s too hot, I get sunburned…”

I started laying the groundwork, shaking my head and grumbling just enough to not deviate from the concept of an immature person who found it unpleasant after actually trying it.

“Weren’t you the one who wanted to cultivate a garden?”

“Of course, I’m very disappointed. But we can’t waste resources, can we? Magic stones are a very useful resource for the empire, right? So I’ll give it to you, Duke.”

“And you’re asking for money in return?”

“Yes!”

For now, I decided to hold off on bringing up the topic of breaking off the engagement from my side.

I had no intention of developing it either. There was no reason to struggle when any investment in that land would be confiscated for treason before I could even recoup the investment costs.

Rather than clinging to the land and ending up as dew on the guillotine, it was better to cleanly hand over the land to Ilion and take the money.

“Here’s the land deed. I’ll give it to you.”

The Duke quietly looked at the document and then opened a drawer. He then took out a stack of white papers. What could that be?

“I’ll have to decline. I have no intention of investing without any compensation, so I’ll pay you a suitable price.”

The item he took out was a stack of blank checks. Why are you coming out of there? This wasn’t the picture I wanted.

I left the office with a dazed expression, holding the piece of paper with Ilion’s signature. Until recently, he was fussing over whether to buy a single dress or not, and now suddenly a stack of blank checks.

Is this like giving me treatment befitting my upgraded status from an insignificant fiancée to a business partner? But unfortunately, I wasn’t happy at all.

Returning to my room, I threw the stack of white papers to one side and burrowed into the blanket, writhing.

As expected, superstition was just superstition. I knew it when I bought it, but I couldn’t help feeling angry. Damn that fraudulent fortune-teller!

With the situation deviating greatly from what I had planned, I twisted my body, thrashing about on the bed.

“What are you upset about this time?”

Lily, who saw me return dejected after leaving with such determination, asked as if she wasn’t even surprised anymore.

“Lily, could you prepare a plate with some water?”

“Why?”

“So I can drown myself in it.”

“By the way, it was in the newspaper that you attended the Marchioness’s party. Would you like to see it?”

Lily skillfully ignored my nonsense and handed me the newspaper.

“Being a celebrity sure is busy.”

As I opened the newspaper Lily handed me while making an unnecessary quip, I saw a brief article with a photo of the party held at the Marquis’s mansion in one corner.

“Anyway, it seems the party was quite eventful. An anonymous baron got drenched while smoking, and some lady spilled champagne all over herself. Really, it seems there were people as clumsy as you, Miss.”

“…Y-yeah, seems so.”

Although it all seemed to be about me, I just mumbled vaguely and turned the page.

‘Is there any interesting article?’

As I was flipping through the pages listlessly, one article caught my eye.

“This is it!”

“Huh? What is?”

“Lily, get ready.”

“…Yes? Where are you planning to go?”

Although some trust had been restored after this morning’s events, it still wasn’t enough to fill the deep swamp of distrust, as Lily looked at me with worried eyes.

I showed Lily the advertisement page in the newspaper.

Right, it was a mistake to shift direction to real estate from the beginning. I should have decided on this route from the start. There’s nothing as scary as gambling when it comes to spending money!

Seeing the casino advertisement in the newspaper, Lily was looking at me with the worst expression I’d seen today.

***

The outskirts of the capital were lined with numerous entertainment facilities, including casinos.

The slight difference from the red-light district was that they paid a bit more attention to security because many nobles frequented these places?

Lily, following me, nagged with worry about why we were coming to such a place. Even if the security was good, the atmosphere was quite different from ordinary streets.

“More importantly, will anyone recognize me if I wear this?”

As I put on an exquisitely shaped butterfly mask and asked, Lily frowned. It was a mask I had bought in town before coming to the casino to hide my identity.

“Anyone who knows you would recognize you.”

That’s troublesome. I hurriedly took out some makeup and drew a mole next to my lip.

“How about now?”

“Then… they might not recognize you…”

Lily muttered uncertainly. I guess this only works in dramas after all.

“Come on, stop looking so gloomy and put on your mask too, Lily.”

“Are you really going in?”

“Why else would we have come all this way?”

“…Sigh.”

Lily let out a long sigh and followed behind me.

The casino entrance was brightly lit with flashy lights despite it still being daytime. As befitting the largest and most eye-catching building in the area, they seemed to have put considerable effort into the exterior as well.

Passing through the entrance and arriving at the chip exchange counter, I wrote 5,000 gold on the blank check and handed it to the cashier.

“Miss, are you really exchanging all of this?”

Lily asked in surprise.

“Of course. The Duke said to use it as I please, didn’t he?”

“Even so, this is…”

At my answer, Lily grabbed her forehead as if she had a headache.

Of course, I knew how ridiculous this amount was too.

But acting ambiguously would only waste time. I needed a more definitive blow to break away from Ilion now.

Even if he threatened to demand repayment, I could just hand over the land then. In fact, I would welcome it if he asked for repayment.

‘Should I have written a smaller amount since I’m going to hand over the land anyway?’

The employee who took the check glanced at the signature at the bottom and then looked at my face with a surprised expression.

Then he scanned it with some device I had never seen before. It seemed to be a process of verifying that the check was genuine.

“The minimum chip denomination is 10 points, equivalent to 1 silver, and the maximum is 1 million points, equivalent to 100 gold. How would you like to exchange them?”

I didn’t plan to enjoy this place for long anyway. It would be annoying to carry around so many chips.

“Please exchange all of it for 1 million point chips.”

“Understood. If you wish to exchange for higher or lower denominations, please use the exchange counter inside the casino.”

As I received the chips and looked around carefully, the inside was quite different from the outside.

Despite it being a weekday afternoon, many people were enjoying gambling, and it felt like watching a scene from a movie set in Las Vegas.

On one side, people were cheering, while on the other side, sighs could be heard. Since I had never been to a casino even in reality, I looked around nervously.

From slot machines powered by magic stones to dice, roulette, and card games, there was a variety of games.

With complimentary drinks and food, there couldn’t be a more enjoyable playground if you had money.

After quickly scanning the games, I chose one and sat at the table.

I didn’t understand the rules of card games, and slot machines had low betting amounts per round, so it would take a long time to spend 5,000 gold. So the game I chose was roulette.

Well then, shall we shoot a public service announcement?

As I sat at the table, the person next to me who had been playing glanced at me and then gaped at the chips I placed on the table.

“Oh my, it seems a young lady from a rich family has taken a liking to gambling?”

“Yes. I’m here to have some fun.”

“Is this your first time playing?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve come to the right place! You see, I’m a regular at this casino. If you do as I say, you’ll make a tidy sum too. For beginners, it’s safer to bet on odd/even or colors…”

“Five 1 million point chips on number 4.”

“!”

Thinking I didn’t know the game rules, the man was confidently trying to explain, but I cut him off and bet five chips on number 4. In money terms, it was 500 gold.

As soon as I placed the chips on the number board, all eyes in the vicinity turned to me at once. Maybe I should have called a bit less attention?

“Miss…”

Even Lily made a sad face and pulled on my arm.

But my goal was to squander money as quickly as possible, so I just poured in the maximum betting amount possible per round.

My plan for today was to quickly play 10 rounds and return home. I had neither much interest in gambling nor any desire to listen to advice from the man next to me who was pretending to know everything.

“Wow, you’re quite the big spender. But rather than going all-in on number 4, you have a higher chance of winning if you spread your bets.”

The man shook his head at my choice and bet two 100-point chips on black. For all his know-it-all attitude, his betting was timid.

“I think it’ll be black this time.”

“Ah, I see.”

I picked the wrong seat. I frowned, thinking it was fortunate I came wearing a mask.

The dealer announced the end of betting and threw the metal ball.

With a clattering sound, the roulette wheel spun dizzily and slowly decreased in speed, and the number where the ball landed started to become visible.

People held their breath and fixed their gaze on one spot.

However, their gaze was fixed not on the roulette wheel, but on me.

I stared at the dealer with a dazed expression. The dealer also looked back and forth between the roulette wheel and the board in disbelief before meeting my eyes.

The dealer finally managed to open his lips.

“F-four, black, even. Congratulations!”