"......What?"
"A hundred."
What do you think? Are you surprised? You never dreamed that I would ask for such a large sum, did you?
Then why did you ask me?
I brazenly raised my chin. Surpia could not hide her bewilderment that grew by the minute.
"I think the lady wants platinum coins."
"...But that's a bit..."
The surrounding atmosphere was also flowing with a strange nuance. It seemed that they were not very happy when platinum coins were mentioned.
Let's not be discouraged. They asked me for my opinion, so I just said it.
Surpia, who was quick to scan the documents in a hurry, stuttered in the end.
"Is-Is it true that you said a hundred?"
"Hm. If it's not a hundred I don't want it?"
I must never back down. I nodded my head and said with strength the word "hundred."
There was silence again.
Then Cade sighed deeply and grabbed his forehead. The strange thing was that while he seemed to be in trouble, the corner of his mouth was drawing an arc.
"It seems like you've only learned the number up to 100, so let's move on."
"Hm?"
What? Do you mean there's a number bigger than a hundred? Then Baon also called me with a smile on his face.
"Miss Irene. Please take a look at this."
"What?"
Several numbers were written on the paper Baon handed out, and he gave a brief explanation with a pen.
"This is one hundred. Then one thousand. Then ten thousand. After that, it increases in the order of 100,000, then one million, then ten million."
"...So?"
"The amount allotted to Miss Irene is far more than a hundred."
"......How much?"
"A million times a lot."
A million times? So how much is that all?!
At Baon's words, I just froze.
In the end, my budget was able to be set at a value higher than 100 million gold coins that I had requested.
And that's just the amount to use for the second half of the year.
That fact made me feel somber again. Once I get used to how the people here spend money, nothing else would be up to par.
Of course, it was Cade and the people around him who made that huge contribution.
"There's still a lot to learn."
"But I'm smart, so I can learn fast."
"That's right. Miss Irene's ability to learn is rather fast. A werebeast intelligence also develops according to the rate of growth. At your level, this is really advanced."
"......Hunf."
Look at it. They say I'm right, I puffed my cheeks.
After the meeting, we were heading somewhere. I thought they would send me back, but I guess not. Where are you going?
I rested my cheek on his shoulder and leaned back comfortably.
"Kasana said you are able to detect pheromones now."
It seems the place to where Kasana had rushed earlier was his office. He knew about Seth and Arban's daily routines, so I must be the same.
"Yes. Next time, she said we'll try to change my body slowly."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"I'll fly in the sky too."
I wish I could fly so high that I could walk around from place to place. I don't know how Kasana would teach me to fly, though.
Baon, who was walking next to us, spoke few words today. At this point, he should have intervened and said something. What's going on?
Upon closer inspection, his complexion was not very good.
"Baon."
"Yes?"
"Are you sick?"
"No, Miss."
"But how come you don't look so happy."
"Ah. The Lord took my vacation away and made me work all night long... It's because I'm busy."
"What's a vacation?"
"It's a day to rest."
I see...... Your vacation was taken away. Somehow I felt sorry for Baon. Cade snorted, ignoring Baon's words.
We arrived at the office, and as soon as he opened the door, Cade dropped me off.
"Let's play here."
"Why? Messi will be waiting for me."
"Messi is nearby."
Oh. I guess he has already followed me. But why in the office? There's nothing to play with here.
Still, it's not bad to be with Cade. I thought it would be better than playing alone.
I was sitting on the sofa to see if there was anything to play with, and the seal that was on Cade's table caught my eye.
"Do you want to play with it?"
"Are you talking about this?"
"Yes, that one."
It was a very luxurious, very expensive seal made of heavy gold.
Baon, who was looking at the documents with a face that he didn't want to do it, made a bitter expression.
"That's a seal that only the Lord can stamp. If you need it, I'll make one for you separately..."
"But I'm bored here."
There was nothing to look at in the office, where only basic furniture and things were arranged.
Cade laughed when I pouted with a gloomy face.
"Okay. Take it and play with it."
"Really?"
"What are you going to do with this?"
As far as I know, as long as I had this stamp, everything was allowed. I knew that because everyone was anxious to get Cade's stamp. I've seen vassals bring out documents that were not stamped with the seal.
Is this seal that great?
I looked at the stamp, which was a little heavy to lift with one hand.
"What about the red goo?"
"You're talking about ink. Here it is."
Baon gave me a square box. When I dipped it at the pad with strength and press it on the paper, the seal of the family came out clearly.
"I'm going to stamp like my Daddy."
"Then let's make a stamp here."
"Here? ...It's a real document, right?"
Do you really want me to stamp this? When I opened my eyes wide, Cade happily nodded.
"It's not a very important piece of paper. You can put it next to the signature."
Cade moved a bunch of papers piled up on one side in front of me.
Uh... I feel like he's sharing the work. It's probably just me, right? Baon glanced at the pile and secretly placed the documents he had on hand.
"Then please do this too, Miss Irene."
"......"
"All you have to do is stamp it. It'll be easy, right?"
I feel like I'm being forced to do something unintentionally. Unable to erase my doubts, I narrowed my eyes and looked at Baon.
Well. He wasn't able to go on vacation because it has been really busy, so I guess I can stamp a few documents for him.
"Okay."
It's not that difficult to stamp. I straightened my posture and crossed my legs as Cade did.
As he watched me do it, he laughed in vain. He must have found out that I was imitating him.
He told me to stamp next to the signature, right?
I held the seal straight so that it wasn't crooked and lowered it. And did the same for the next one, and the next one. It was fun to repeat it over and over again. Should I say that I feel like I'm really a kid?
"Are you having fun?"
"Yes."
"I'd like you to come here often and stamp some documents for me."
Baon seemed very sincere. Just stamping the seal like this was helpful.
I think I'm done with half of it. I decided to ask something I was curious about.
"By the way."
"Yes?"
"Where is Durias?"
He said he had gone on an errand earlier, but he didn't tell exactly what he was doing.
I felt like he was being evasive. When Baon, who uses direct speech without hiding anything, reacted like that, I was curious inside.
"Durias has gone to pick up someone."
"Who?"
It was such a great and important person that Durias even went to pick them up. Are there any guests coming to the family?
"Are you curious?"
"Yes."
"It's a secret."
Baon rolled his eyes as if teasing me. If you won't tell me, don't make me curious in the first place.
I looked at Cade. Baon didn't tell me, but I thought he might let me know.
Cade was looking out the window where the sun was setting down.
"By now, it must be slowly approaching the target point."
"I suppose so."
"Hey? Don't speak only between you two. You have to tell me too!"
It's fair for everyone to know together! I jumped up and put my hands on my waist.
Cade, who was staring at me like that, narrowed his brow.
"It's about you, so you might as well know it."
"...Is it about me?"
"Yes."
"What's that?"
"How you were born into the Astrophel family... Durias has been away for a while to find out about it."
I took a breath.
Now is the time to know the truth.
Then what then? What will happen to me after I know?
There were a lot of things I wanted to know, but I couldn't bear to ask. I was worried that I might hear something I didn't want to hear. It was a truth I was curious about but didn't want to know.
"Irene."
"Yes."
"I know what you're thinking, but don't let it get to you."
"......Yes."
"I'm just trying to make things clear."
I was relieved by those words.
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That's right. It's not my fault that I was born into this family. For I awoke to find myself as a member of the Astrophel family.
I was a little bit curious about how I was born amongst the Black Mambas, in fact, I was very curious about it.
If I was this curious, there was no way that Cade couldn't help but wonder.
Soon I will know the secrets of my birth. Now I couldn't avoid it without knowing it.