***

“Haaah! Hahaha!”

Famel swung the huge iron bar with rough breaths.

Briton blocked it with his sword but was forced to stumble backward as if bouncing off.

As Famel tried to raise the iron bar again, Briton nimbly dove for Famel’s weak point.

“…!”

Famel blocked Briton’s attack with the back of his hand covered in sturdy leather gauntlets.

After a moment, Famel lowered his iron bar, and Briton sheathed his sword.

“Huff… huff…”

Briton, breathing heavily, showed respect to his mentor Famel.

Famel likewise showed respect to Briton, the future ruler.

“Your skills have improved remarkably, Your Highness. Hmhaha!”

His laughter rang out with a metallic tone.

But despite his mentor’s praise, Briton’s expression was somewhat dark.

Noticing this mood, Famel’s eyebrows twitched as he asked.

“Is something troubling you?”

“Master, you said the best defense is offense.”

Briton’s melancholic voice drifted out.

His silver hair rustled gently in the wind.

“…Should I just kill them? Defending is bothersome.”

And for a moment, a fierce killing intent flashed in his calm blue eyes.

It was directed at whoever dared to try to take that child away last night.

Seeing that cold gaze, Famel’s expression hardened as he shook his head.

“I have emphasized this many times! To become the master of a perfect army, one must gain the loyalty of supporters with an inclusive heart.”

The Aslet Imperial family, said to be descendants of dragons, had cruel rulers’ traits flowing through their bloodline.

They were born without compassion, and though they learned it through education, they never truly understood it.

“Feel and think with your heart, not just your head.”

Thus, though individually capable, there were numerous emperors throughout history who regarded their subjects’ lives as mere flies.

Without proper education, Briton, too, would be unable to control such tendencies.

“You mean logic alone isn’t enough.”

Briton said, gazing into the distance.

“I understand it in my head clearly.”

His lips twisted askew.

“But it’s difficult.”

Famel looked at Briton with serious eyes.

The disciple before him was truly an Aslet.

To the cruel and noble Aslet descendants, others were merely replaceable dolls. If flaws were found, execute them and place new dolls.

Thus, the nobles feared the Aslet Imperial family but could not offer true loyalty.

And Briton’s father, Parmes Aslet, was a heretic in the Aslet lineage… one who received genuine loyalty from his ministers.

Telling them to think rationally doesn’t help. They are already more cruel and rational than any other creature in the world. Parmes Aslet was like that, too.

But Parmes had human emotions that previous Aslet emperors and princes lacked. Instead of immediately discarding subordinates upon seeing flaws, thinking them useless, he would advise them to improve and use them again. He cherished his people even when replacements might have been more efficient.

Heisen had led that change.

One could say that’s what put him on the imperial throne.

After all, Parmes’ people willingly endured the long preparation in Galnem for the sake of their lord to whom they pledged loyalty.

Thus, Famel, as Briton’s mentor, hoped the crown prince would develop a warm heart like Parmes – unusually kind for an Aslet.

“Indeed, it would be better not to kill them. Their usefulness remains unchanged, after all. However…”

Briton’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“A warning would be appropriate. How dare anyone take my-“

A bird flying in the dark night sky cried out loudly.

Briton’s words “lady” were drowned out by the bird’s cry.

***

After returning home, I hopped onto a chair, and Adam brought the ledger.

It seemed all the employees had gone home.

“Ah, I’m tired.”

“What did you discuss with Young Duke Siegfried?”

Adam asked while bringing me warm tea.

Since I had tea earlier with Eden, I declined the tea and just let the sweet biscuits melt in my mouth.

The sweet taste seemed to ease some of my tension and fatigue.

“Well…”

How should I say this? It’s embarrassing to talk about.

It was quite different from the usual recruitment offers from ministers, after all.

“He fell for you, my lady. And confessed, I assume.”

“Yes. No, what?”

I looked at Adam who was grinning. He continued as if he knew everything.

My heart pounded in surprise at Adam’s perceptiveness.

“When I saw the young duke of House Siegfried waiting in line for three hours, I had already figured it out.”

“But… that’s impossible. When we met before, he had such a cold look in his eyes. To the point where I thought he disliked me.”

I strongly denied it, feeling my ears growing hot.

“And there hasn’t been any reason for him to like me. I haven’t even had a conversation with the young duke, or given him anything, or shown anything like… kindness.”

I tried to calm my mind while twitching my eyebrows.

“A marriage proposal, really. He’s just calculating things in typical Siegfried fashion.”

“As expected. My predictions were correct.”

Eden was truly the epitome of a noble young master.

He seemed like the type who would look someone up and down with a ‘How dare you?’ expression even if noble ladies passed him notes asking to meet.

“But you never know. He might have heard a lot about you from Duke Siegfried. And gradually developed his curiosity.”

Adam continued with a smile.

“And when he met you… perhaps he felt it was destiny? Sometimes you can sense these things even in a brief moment.”

Adam tilted his head as if asking if I’d never experienced such a thing.

I wanted to deny his deduction at first, but his reasoning did make sense.

In my previous life, when I fell for a rookie idol singer, I had only seen him briefly on a music show, but I was enchanted enough to search for him and join his fan club….. That had happened.

He wasn’t even one of the more popular members of that idol group.

‘Hmm, but still…’

“….”

Adam burst out laughing at my appearance as I frowned, seemingly lost in thought.

“His Highness the Crown Prince should be nervous. Another rival has appeared who wants to steal the lady’s heart.”

“…He was jealous.”

“It’s not like that. Like I said earlier… the young duke just made a strange proposal based on some odd calculations.”

I fluttered my palms while blushing.

Despite appearances, the mind in this body is that of an adult.

An adult shouldn’t be swayed by children’s words!

Ahem, I cleared my throat once and picked up the ledger.

“Let’s stop this conversation and look at the accounts.”

I opened the ledger, curious about how much we had sold today.

Adam had meticulously recorded the items sold and the revenue from the red beetroot products.

“Yes, let’s do that. As you requested, I’ve written it, dividing debits and credits to compare income and expenses.”

Adam seems to have faithfully carried out my request.

“Your method is really amazing. If we report this to the Department of Economy, it would be a new discovery…”

“This… is impossible.”

I interrupted Adam’s words while looking at the ledger.

I knew the business was doing extremely well because I saw it with my own eyes.

An enormous number of people had lined up to buy just two red beetroot products each.

“You mean today’s income?”

But did I really earn this much money?

When I nodded with a dumbfounded expression, Adam replied with a satisfied face.

“It’s not impossible at all. It’s all thanks to your abilities.”

Before starting the business, the initial costs alone were nearly 300,000 Brin.

Construction work at the front of the marquis’ mansion to open the store, building a huge storage facility in the garden, hiring people…

We also reclaimed fields for red beetroot and planted seeds for future products.

Although there was a pension, it was difficult to arrange money immediately, and it would have been even harder without Adam’s active help.

Anyway, I had calculated it would take a year to recover the costs invested to start the business. If business went very well, we might recover it in 6 months.

But according to the numbers written in this ledger now, the time needed to recover the business costs would be… just one week.

Because we earned 50,000 Brin in just one day?!

“Early congratulations on your business success, my lady.”

Adam spoke proudly to me as I remained dazed.

Am I really going to become rich?