“Ugh. Nothing is going right.”
Sebastian, who had just returned the horse he borrowed, was furious at how things were unfolding, completely different from his original plan.

“That idiot. If only she hadn’t been caught by that Baron Terramis or Tiramisu or whatever his name is, I could’ve escaped today.”
Sebastian kicked a stone at his feet irritably.

At that moment.
Neigh.
Clop-clop-clop.
Hearing the sound of horses approaching, he quickly hid himself.

Soon, several knights in uniform passed by in a hurry.

“Damn it. I need to get out of here fast.”

Sebastian was already wanted throughout the empire.
He was being pursued by the imperial knights for multiple cases of marriage fraud and impersonating a noble.

Fortunately, since he had never revealed his true identity, all the imperial knights had was a composite sketch of him.

‘Just one last big score, and I’ll disappear.’
It was a golden opportunity that had come his way. A clueless noble lady had easily trusted him and handed over the money.

If he could just secure the 40,000 litas Espin mentioned… soon, an enormous amount of money would be in his hands.

“Ha…”
Sebastian let out a deep sigh as he looked up at the sky and headed quickly toward the shadowy pawnshop in the capital, rumored to accept anything.

“Turn all of this into cash.”
Sebastian pulled out a heavy pouch from deep within his coat and placed it on the pawnshop counter.

‘See you soon, my treasures, but in much larger amounts.’
When the pawnshop clerk, wearing a disinterested expression, opened the pouch, the jewels inside were revealed.

“How much for all of this?”
‘It should fetch at least 50,000 litas.’
It was the result of 10 years of relentless scamming without a single day of rest.

This would serve as the foundation for him to seize even greater wealth.

‘40,000 litas will go to Espin, and I’ll use 10,000 litas to secure a ship for smuggling.’
It was a perfect plan.

He had already been promised 300,000 litas for disposing of the Count’s seal. Once he handed over the seal and secured the money, all he had to do was board the ship, and everything would be neatly resolved. With that kind of money, he wouldn’t have to care about anyone else’s opinions anymore.

“30,000 litas. I can’t give you more than that.”
“What? 30,000? Are you kidding me? Do you take me for a fool?!”

Sebastian exploded in anger at the amount, which was 20,000 litas less than he had expected.

‘That’s 10,000 litas short of what I need to give Espin.’

At that moment, the guards stationed at the pawnshop stood up. Feeling the intimidation from their large frames, Sebastian suppressed his anger and spoke again.

“Take another look. Do you know how many jewels are in here?”
“The red ruby, sapphire, and diamond… they’re all fake. You don’t even know how to evaluate jewels, do you?”
The clerk mercilessly tossed the fake jewels aside and shook his head.

Sebastian’s shoulders slumped, just like the jewels rolling weakly on the floor.

‘Then I’m short 10,000 litas. Damn, I’ve already used up all of Jane’s money too.’

There was no other way to get more money.
If he couldn’t secure 40,000 litas now, all the effort he had put into Espin would go to waste. He had already given her 10,000 litas. No matter what, he needed to get the seal.

At that moment, a flyer caught his eye.

[Do you need money? Interest-free, collateral-free loans available same day!
Visit us anytime when you need money.]

“Hey. Give me that loan.”
“How much do you need?”
“20,000 litas.”
“Collateral?”
“Collateral? Isn’t this supposed to be collateral-free? It says so right here.”
“Interest-free and collateral-free loans are capped at 200 litas.”
“What? Collateral? Where am I supposed to get that?”
“Then we can’t lend you the money. For that amount, collateral is required.”

Sebastian scratched the back of his head furiously at the clerk’s words.

“This is driving me crazy. I’ll pay you back double, no, triple in two days.”
“How can I trust you?”
“Triple. I’ll pay back triple. I have a guaranteed source of money.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. If I don’t, you can take my jewels. I even have more at my lodging.”

As always, Sebastian smoothly fabricated a lie.

The clerk, tempted by the thought of more jewels, licked his lips and fell into deep thought. After a moment, he handed a piece of paper to Sebastian.

“A body forfeiture agreement? What’s this?”
After reading the paper, Sebastian looked at the clerk in shock.

“Yeah. Sign this, and I’ll lend you 10,000 litas. That’s all I can do.”
“I need 20,000 litas.”
“20,000 litas is absolutely out of the question.”

Fine. He could secure the ship after handing over the seal.
But without this 10,000 litas, everything would fall apart.

‘This is my last chance. If I can just get Count Leon’s seal… 300,000 litas will be mine.’

Blinded by the enormous sum of money that seemed just within reach, Sebastian signed the agreement.

“From now on, one of our staff will follow you around. Don’t even think about running away.”
Two large men appeared behind the clerk.

Sebastian wasn’t scared of them at all. After all, he could pay back this petty sum in no time.

***

“Head butler, I have something to say.”
“Yes, please speak freely.”
“You’re well aware of how I’m being ignored in this household, aren’t you?”
“My lady, it’s not that the Count is ignoring you…”
The head butler’s eyes widened in surprise.

“There’s no need to make excuses. I’m fine. But even the maids are ignoring me.”
“Is that true?”
The head butler was momentarily shocked into silence.

He likely hadn’t known about this. In the novel, he had apologized for this and left the house with Espin, so this was credible.

The servants were probably too afraid of the head butler to act out in front of him, but behind his back, they had been ignoring Espin.

The head butler, unable to say anything for a while, finally knelt in front of me with a choked expression.

“I apologize. It’s my fault for not managing the servants properly. To think they dared to disrespect you, my lady. It’s my failure for not noticing sooner.”
I patted his shoulder.

“I know it’s not your fault. Please stand up.”

The servants’ behavior toward Espin was undoubtedly influenced by the Countess and her daughter, who openly disregarded her. This led the servants to believe they could do the same. Moreover, Espin, being naive and starved for affection, was too afraid of the maids’ dislike to speak up, allowing their behavior to worsen over time.

But this situation worked to my advantage now.

“So, head butler, I’d like you to replace all the servants in this mansion two days from now. All of them, at once.”
“Yes, understood.”
The head butler agreed too easily.

“Are you sure? This is quite a big task.”
“Yes. Since it’s not the social season, we don’t have that many servants, and the Leon household pays higher wages than other families, so it won’t be hard to find replacements.”
“Won’t Father be angry?”
“Once he understands the reason, the Count will surely approve.”

Oh, good. I was prepared to throw a tantrum if necessary, but it seems the Count doesn’t pay much attention to such matters.

Satisfied with how smoothly things were going, I nodded cheerfully.

“Thank you. Oh, but leave one maid behind.”
“Who would that be?”
“A maid named Jane. And… I have one more favor to ask.”

I pulled out a small earring I had hidden in my sleeve.

It was a delicate flower-shaped earring with emerald gemstones, the same color as Espin’s eyes.

The head butler looked at the earring with a puzzled expression.

“I’d like you to hide this deep in Jane’s room.”

‘This will create a rift between Jane and Sebastian.’

I looked at the earring with a satisfied smile.

***

The day of Sebastian’s visit finally arrived.
When I heard he had arrived, I hummed a tune and made my way to the drawing room where he was waiting.

“Sebastian!”
That face I hated so much suddenly seemed delightful today.

In contrast, Sebastian looked slightly pale, as if he had been through a lot lately.

“Espin…”
“I missed you, Sebastian.”
He forced a smile onto his weary face.

“Please, have a seat, Sebastian.”
“First, here are the 40,000 litas I promised.”
“This is such a large sum…”
“For the future, we’ll share, this much is necessary.”
“Sebastian, hearing your words has suddenly lifted my gloomy mood. I’ll make sure to bring the seal by tomorrow morning.”
“Yes…”

“Sebastian, aren’t you curious why I was feeling so gloomy?”
“Oh, no, I am curious. I’m curious about everything about you, Espin.”

‘What a robot.’
He responded like an automated answering machine.

“Do you remember the earrings I wore during our last meeting?”
“Earrings?”
Sebastian nodded, pretending to remember.

“Yes, they were very beautiful earrings. Of course, not as beautiful as you, Espin.”
“Really? They were my favorite earrings. You know how much I love emerald green, don’t you, Sebastian?”
“Yes, I do. You love it because it matches the color of your eyes. But why do you mention the earrings?”
“They’ve gone missing.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“I think they were stolen. I’m certain I checked that they were safely stored that day.”
“Oh dear. If there’s a thief in the house, you must catch them quickly.”
“I’ve already asked the butler to handle it.”
“You did the right thing. Such thieves must be punished.”

Sebastian, who had been responding mechanically, now looked at me with desperate eyes.

“But, my lady… this time, you must bring the seal…”
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the drawing room door.

“Who is it? Come in.”
The door opened, and the head butler rushed in.

“My lady, we’ve caught the thief who stole the earrings.”
“Really? Who is it?”

The drawing room door opened again, and Jane was dragged in by two maids, her arms restrained.

“I didn’t do it. I swear I’m innocent!”
Jane cried out in a trembling voice, pleading her case.

“Stop whining and come here. We’ve caught the thief.”
The maids roughly pushed Jane forward, making her stumble to the floor before me.

“My lady, I didn’t do it.”
Jane, who had been bowing her head, finally looked up.

“Sebas…”
“….”
And then, Jane’s eyes met Sebastian’s.

A faint smile appeared on Jane’s lips, seemingly believing he would save her. But Sebastian, appearing as though he had seen a ghost, turned pale and averted his gaze from her.

“So, you’re the thief who stole my earrings.”
I stood before Jane with a triumphant smile.