As soon as she arrived at the ducal mansion, Arthe, who had tasted the desserts she had bought in abundance, was lying comfortably on the sofa in her room.

The ducal mansion’s cuisine she was eating after 20 years was excellent, but Newport House’s desserts were so delicious that she regretted not having tried them in her previous life.

The devilish taste of sweet and bitter chocolate, sugar, and plenty of butter!

“To be this happy, yet I couldn’t even eat them before, calling it luxury.”

Touching her full belly and savoring the taste of desserts, Arthe fell into deep thought and muttered.

“Indeed…… Old Walter’s teaching was not wrong. Spending money, despite being a financial loss in terms of assets, makes people this happy.”

Arthe, who had only known how to suppress her desires, was fully enjoying the happiness of acting as her heart desired.

As they say, there may be those who have never tried something once, but there are none who have tried it only once.

Arthe had already awakened to the true taste of spending money through just one intense shopping experience.

‘However, to continue living like this……’

Arthe’s expression, which had been patting her belly with satisfaction, darkened instantly.

The debutante ball, Empress Mariposa, and the ducal house’s downfall.

It was a clear fact that everything was reality.

Moreover.

「First is survival! Second is money!」

Old Walter had emphasized this so much for 20 years!

‘Losing this joy in just one year would be…… insulting Old Walter’s teaching.’

Thinking of life in the underground prison, Arthe’s fine brow furrowed with all her might.

Already the terrible hunger, awful loneliness, and stench seemed to hover around her nose.

“No!”

At the disgusting memory, Arthe screamed and rose from the sofa.

Though it was a memory she hated to the point of grinding her teeth, there was still one thing she wanted to remember.

Arthe, who hurriedly headed to the duke’s study, looked at the bookshelf where newspapers of the Sable Empire were collected and recalled her conversation with Old Walter.

20 years ago. It was not long after Walter had saved Arthe’s life.

「Damn, only the rich bastards will become even richer.」

While waiting for Arthe’s meal to end, Walter, who was sitting in an old chair reading a newspaper, suddenly spat out curses and grumbled.

「What are you grumbling about so much?」

「Ah, I got angry reading the newspaper. Really, where do rich people hear insider information to make investments?」

「Investment? Have you ever invested too, Walter?」

To Arthe, who had been taught that taking interest in money or business was vulgar, investment was an unfamiliar and difficult area.

But when Walter, who wasn’t even a noble, brought up investment talk, Arthe’s eyes widened.

「Ah! Of course. A few years ago too, when importing some agricultural product called beets became popular, I put all my emergency savings into it, but when beet prices crashed, I lost everything.」

As if remembering that bitter memory, Walter clicked his tongue.

「You said it was popular, so why did you lose money?」

「Because commoners like me are always one step behind. There’s even a saying that when commoners start investing, even the neighbor’s dog is investing.」

「What does that mean? Is investment such an easy thing that even the neighbor’s dog can do it?」

「No, it’s just a saying…… The sweet part is already gone. Miss, you’re a noble and don’t know such things? Information is money, money!」

The meaning of those words was just vague at the time.

However, after Old Walter left her side, chewing newspapers in hunger, Arthe had to acknowledge it.

Politics, diplomacy, commerce, trade, even the power struggles between families. The flow of power was so obviously concentrating in just one place.

「Thank you so much. Arthe, it’s all thanks to you and your family!」

The empress’s words that it was thanks to the Frey family were not wrong.

Her family had failed to see through the times. No, perhaps they had seen but pretended not to see and turned away.

‘……I cannot repeat the same mistake.’

Having finished her resolution, Arthe began organizing the newspapers in the study by type.

To take revenge on the empress, she could not miss even a single piece of information.

Looking at the newspapers in the study, Arthe first organized the past events one by one and wrote down all the events in her memory.

Her memoir continued to be written until dawn broke outside the window and the duke, who had eaten breakfast, entered the study.

“Ah, Arthe! What on earth are you doing here!”

Seeing her in the study with bloodshot eyes, the duke was shocked as if he would faint.

However, Arthe opened her mouth with a calm face, paying no attention.

As always, it was polite and respectful speech.

“Father, did you sleep peacefully through the night? Could you spare me some time?”

“What, what on earth…… Don’t tell me you spent the night here?”

Surprised that his daughter had appeared in the study unexpectedly, the duke, who was even clutching his heart in shock, stammered.

However, Arthe spoke with a calm tone and a bright smile.

“Father, let’s proceed with marriage talks.”

“Proceed with marriage talks? Whose?”

When the duke asked back with a dumbfounded face, Arthe tilted her head as if asking something obvious and answered.

“Mine, of course.”

“……”

The duke’s mouth fell open.

Something must definitely be wrong with his daughter after she fell from the horse.

“No, Arthe, what’s this sudden……”

“Sudden? Father. Didn’t you always say that meeting a good marriage partner and marrying is the duty of a noble young lady?”

That was right. It was he himself who had always said to marry a young man from a good family to elevate the family’s honor.

Something was definitely seriously wrong.

Unable to refute his own words, the duke, who had turned pale, opened his mouth in a thin voice.

“I’ve been watching you for a few days and you must have hurt your head when you fell from the horse. I’ll immediately bring a renowned doctor……”

“Father, I am perfectly fine.”

Arthe firmly cut off the duke’s words.

At that too-firm tone, the duke stared at his daughter’s eyes with a blank face.

After looking at his daughter like that for a long time, the duke finally opened his mouth in a hoarse voice.

“But you keep saying such absurd things……”

Arthe silently placed several cut newspaper pieces in front of the duke.

“No, what is this again……”

The duke’s pupils slightly enlarged as he frowned and picked up the newspaper.

The newspaper described that the Ter Trading Company, which had an exclusive contract with the Frey ducal house, had signed an exclusive contract with a trading company personally operated by the empress when their contract period ended.

“This…… there was an unavoidable problem. It’s not something for you to worry about—”

“It’s not just this.”

The newspapers Arthe handed over next also contained content about various interests that the Frey family had held flowing to other families.

They were brief articles that wouldn’t be noticed unless paid attention to, so they were articles he hadn’t cared about, but when gathered together, the amount was considerable.

Nevertheless, the duke tried to raise his voice in protest.

“But, Arthe, this is only a part. The family’s business is still strong……”

“Father, how many of those businesses operate under the Frey family name?”

Arthe interrupted the duke’s words and asked back.

The duke, who had been protesting, could not continue speaking at his daughter’s question that cut through his words.

“I also know that many businesses operate under the names of vassal families like the Person or Borden family. I also know the fact that they have been with us for a long time.”

Arthe, who continued speaking with calm eyes, paused for a moment to look at her father, then took a breath and slowly exhaled.

“However, they are not the Frey family.”

“……”

“The words that the Frey family is a pillar of the empire are already a thing of the past.”

By now, the duke’s eyes had long stopped wavering.

Though he had thought his daughter was crazy, it was definitely a matter that could not be overlooked.

However, even so, the duke, who still had one doubt remaining, tried to raise his voice.

“……But marriage talks so suddenly. What on earth do these things have to do with your marriage!”

“Father, there is only one thing the Frey ducal house needs right now.”

“……”

“Someone who can add powerful strength and justification to a declining family. Yet someone who can never abuse the family’s power.”

“But where could you find such a person……”

“Father, you know this person too.”

“So who exactly……”

The duke, who had been raising his voice as if frustrated, suddenly realized the meaning of those words.

Because there was only one answer to all the words Arthe was pointing to.

Thud.

The book that had been held limply in the duke’s hand fell onto the study’s carpet with a dull sound.

“Don’t tell me, now that…… that fool……”

Though the duke trembled only his lips, not knowing what to do, Arthe, who could no longer hear, steeled her heart once more.

「You must marry a good partner to elevate the family’s honor!」

‘Marriage for family honor.’

She had felt keenly for the past 20 years how much ‘bullshit’ Teacher Bartier’s and her father’s words were.

However.

「First is survival! Second is money, I tell you!」

Old Walter’s teaching had always been right.

What Walter, who was like that, emphasized above all else.

「Whether it becomes porridge or rice, first, live! If you live tenaciously without choosing means or methods, sunny days will come in life, you know?」

「It’s been over 10 years since I’ve seen sunlight. Old man, really, where exactly is this sun supposed to shine?」

「You never know about life. Look at me. Even though I’ve seen all sorts of terrible things in my lifetime, I’m still alive, so I can have conversations with a miss who was once a noble lady—how wonderful is that?」

Now she thought she’d never see sunlight for the rest of her life, but those words she had dismissed as a joke had really come true.

She had come back to life and could save her family and take revenge, so what was marriage?

Having finished her resolution, the memories of her previous life that she couldn’t believe began to be drawn in Arthe’s mind.

「By the way, Prince Cardi, who went to the academy, won’t be returning this time either, right?」

The imperial palace’s burden who was ridiculed by the nobles.

That fool who, despite being the only heir to the throne, could not inherit the throne.

The rotten rope she thought she would never grab.

Before she knew it, her eyes thinking of that rotten rope held resolute determination.