I had one when I was young and had lost a few over time.

“Ah…..”

“Ian Calafi, through long meditation, gained the inspiration and crafted this piece himself.”

Ian Calafi, could he be a transmigrator like me? I had serious doubts.

Anyway, this rainbow umbrella seemed to be viewed as an extremely radical and artistically valuable item among the nobles of Albreon.

“How did he come up with such an idea?”

“It’s such an elegant item.”

They were looking at me with sparkling eyes of envy.

Though I was taken aback by how different the gift was from what I expected, I could clearly feel the lady’s warm affection towards me.

“…Thank you, Lady Alens.”

I expressed my gratitude to Lady Alens.

“…Damn it.”

Duke Guermont, who had been admiring the brilliant rainbow umbrella’s appearance, shifted his gaze to Lady Alens as if admitting defeat.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something to nitpick, he hurriedly exclaimed.

“How could this fragile umbrella possibly defend against enemy attacks…?”

“It has an anti-blade function. Oh ho ho ho!”

As if anticipating Duke Guermont would catch onto this point, Lady Alens laughed loudly.

Oh, an anti-blade function.

This is actually amazing?

“…Grr.”

In the end, Duke Guermont lowered his tail in frustration.

Just as the atmosphere was reaching its peak, a man newly entered the ballroom.

I could see Lady Alens’ eyebrows trembling slightly.

And I too slowly shifted my gaze to the man who had startled her.

The tall man wore his brown hair bound in a severe ponytail.

His steel-rimmed glasses lent him an austere air.

His measured steps and pristine black uniform, pressed to perfection, commanded attention.

Wherever he walked, people stiffened at his presence, while Parmes’ lips, in contrast, curved into a knowing smile.

The ladies who had been looking at Lady Alens with admiring eyes also flinched in surprise when they spotted the man and wiped the smiles off their faces.

I knew him.

Very well, in fact…

He was my neighbor.

The person who invited me to his study and showed me many books containing knowledge of the world.

And the one who gave teachings that didn’t quite resonate with me when I was just a country girl.

“The most important thing in the world is…”

Thump, thump.

His shoe steps echoed on the marble floor.

Finally, his footsteps stopped in front of me, and I blankly looked up at the man who had arrived before me.

“Money, my dear.”

It was as if I could hear that voice from Galnem village again.

“….”

His cold and dry, yet gentle voice spoke through parted lips.

“Happy birthday, Arinel.”

***

3 years ago.

Uncle Amrus who lived next door was so knowledgeable that he seemed to know everything about this world.

I wondered why such a capable scholar would live in a rural village like Galnem.

Since I was young, I would often go to Uncle’s house and look at the books in his study.

“This book might be more interesting than that one.”

He would often intervene when he saw me trying hard to choose books while standing on my tiptoes, and the reading field he recommended to me was economics.

But I wasn’t very interested in economics-related books.

Ironically, because I had double majored in economics in my previous life.

After choosing it, I had quite a hard time as it didn’t suit my aptitude.

“The price of goods is determined at this point where supply and demand meet, and there are about four factors that shift the demand curve. Two are shown here, but two are missing.”

“…Continue, Arinel.”

“Income, and related goods…”

The terms related to those two were normal goods, inferior goods, complementary goods, and substitute goods.

“The number of buyers and future expectations are also related.”

“….”

Uncle Amrus, who had been thinking deeply, nodded.

Then he began writing down what I had said in his notebook.

“Then what do you think about supply?”

“When other conditions remain constant, if demand rises, supply quantity increases, and if it falls, supply quantity decreases.”

“…Remarkable. You’ve grasped the essence of the market.”

I felt guilty under Uncle Amrus’s gaze as he looked at me like I was a child with extraordinary insight.

After that, I shared lightweight content learned from macroeconomics and opinions about taxation and monetary policy.

Uncle’s reaction was even more intense than before, and he meticulously wrote down every single word that came out of my mouth in his notebook.

“Arinel, I’ve been thinking.”

One day, Uncle said to me like this.

“You were born for this country’s economy.”

“Pfft, what are you saying?”

We were just residents of the rural village of Galnem in the Albreon Empire, so I chuckled at Uncle’s blank expression as he said such things to me.

Even if what I knew was more than what the average person in the empire knew, the knowledge of a mere country kid wouldn’t be much help. No matter how much I talked, who would take me seriously?

And it was only because uncle was a fellow villager that I could freely talk about the things I had learned… If he were a scary high-ranking official, wouldn’t it be hard to even open my mouth?

“Arinel, just remember this.”

Even on the day before Uncle Zimmer and the villagers left, Uncle Amrus held my hand and said.

“The most important thing in the world is… money.”

Back then, I thought he was just a money-obsessed economics enthusiast.

***

“So Duke Siegfried has finally come as well.”

Lady Alens’s voice woke me from my brief reminiscence.

The Iron-Blooded Finance Minister.

In <I will no longer be the Tyrant’s lover>, there’s a scene where the female protagonist Amelia goes to see Duke Siegfried.

Even when Amelia begs for food, saying the orphanage children are starving from famine, he doesn’t even blink an eye.

‘So, how much are you willing to sell them for?’

To the shocked Amelia, Siegfried continued as if asking why she was making him state the obvious.

‘Surely you don’t think your insignificant compassion is worth more than the gold coins that would come in when those orphans work abroad?’

Reading that scene, I had cursed him as a heartless bastard.

“Arinel.”

But to think that Uncle Amrus from Galnem village, the economics enthusiast… is that terrifying Duke Siegfried!

Now I understand why I felt déjà vu when I first saw Eden Siegfried.

The father and son had similar auras.

“Uncle… no, Your Grace?”

“I’m so happy to meet you again like this.”

I looked up at him with wide eyes full of surprise.

Was Galnem village’s true identity an elite noble village of Albreon from the start?

There were seven households there.

Me and Mom, and Uncle Zimmer. Uncle Fanel, Aunt Piolet, Uncle Amrus. The twin aunt and uncle. And Edgar, the only resident who didn’t interact with others.

But following those two, now even Uncle Amrus turns out to be a Duke… My head was spinning.

“I prepared a birthday present for you. My gift is…”

He held out something like an elegantly woven cylindrical basket to me.

Having received the gift, I looked up at him with a dazed expression.

His eyes were hard to see because of his glasses reflecting the chandelier light.

“…The number of gifts is different from others’ to begin with.”

Uncle Amrus had always liked numbers.

There were three gifts inside the cylinder.

One was bound paper, another was a small case, and the last was something made of iron like a horse token.

“How petty. A quantity offensive is unfair.”

“Hohoho! The number of gifts doesn’t matter. What matters is how elegant and precious they are.”

Duke Guermont and Lady Alens spoke while eyeing Uncle Amrus warily.

I suddenly recalled scenes from the village.

The uncle and aunt which would end up fighting among themselves while explaining their fields to me.

They fought desperately back then too, saying ‘Arinel will succeed me’…

Don’t tell me they’re still continuing that here?!

“Heh, first, that round token is a free pass to the Economics Academy. The Albreon Economics Academy has many books containing deep and broad knowledge about all fields of study, not just economics. Arinel, your father also used to study elementalism through the ancient books at the Economics Academy.”

“…My dad too?”

“Yes. But your father never had a free pass. It’s something that allows free access even to top-secret information, only given to those specially trusted by the Finance Minister.”

It looks like a Joseon Dynasty horse token, but it’s an access pass that can view even the empire’s classified materials. I thought it might be useful someday.

“And in that case next to it is a writing instrument by ‘Paul Raymond’. Lady Alens would know what this is too.”

At Uncle Amrus’s, no, Duke Siegfried’s words, Lady Alens drew in a sharp breath.

Lady Alens, who had worn an expression of ‘that much is nothing’ when he introduced the first gift of the access pass, was now flustered.

“Impossible. Paul Raymond’s writing instruments are something that can’t be obtained even with money!”

Unlike with Ian, I had never heard of the craftsman named Paul, so I stood there with a bewildered expression.

“It’s the masterpiece of a fountain pen craftsman, with only three pieces existing on the continent.”

Duke Siegfried’s proud voice was heard.

It seems like an amazing gift… But should I use something so precious that I couldn’t obtain even with money?

“Finally.”

Duke Siegfried said, pointing to the rolled paper.

“Open it yourself, Arinel.”

He smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth.