"I want to buy information about ‘Louis Gargell'."
He tapped his finger at my words.
"Louis Gargell. The eldest son of a local lord that owns land in the western border. If there is anything unusual, it is a family that has accumulated a lot of wealth recently due to the discovery of a large amount of silver mines in the west last year."
What, w-west?
I felt my blood pressure rising.
Belreck, the more I know this jerk, the more ridiculous he is.
It's a situation where I can't do anything but curse him.
Because the Seymour family's estate and capital were in the east.
That bastard is trying to isolate me in a faraway region without any connections. So that I don't set foot in Seymour again.
To put it bluntly, it was more of an exile, not a marriage.
‘Do you think I'm going to suffer obediently?'
I barely managed to soothe the anger that was rising and continued.
"Not just general information, I want to know his weaknesses."
I will somehow get rid of the engagement Belreck is pushing. I'm going to disgrace the name of the bastard that's pushing for this kind of marriage.
"You want a flaw to attack your opponent."
"Exactly."
Having grasped my intentions, he formed a coin shape with his thumb and index finger attached.
‘You're asking for an advance payment.'
I took out a pouch from the leather bag and poured out my jewels.
His eyes widened a little.
"No way, you didn't think this was it, did you?"
With an assertive and confident expression that I had practiced in the mirror, I took out another sack and poured it.
At the noise of the jewelry hitting each other, the beast that was lying next to the Master with a sulking face wiggled its ears.
"If you show me your information gathering capabilities, I will show you my financial power."
In general, first impressions are the most important.
I wanted to give him the impression that I was a more benevolent and generous customer than the Prince.
It's money that's already been ripped off, but I didn't want to give it away mindlessly like the Prince.
‘Aren't I better than the Prince? You're continuing the deal with me, right?'
I stared at the man with that in mind.
Sapphire, ruby, opal, obsidian, and even topaz. With all CMYK colors included, it will look more visually appealing.
"The Princess has shown me this much sincerity, I should do my best too."
The playful Master opened his mouth, picking up a jewel that was on the table.
"Who in the world doesn't have a weak spot? Even Louis Gargell will have some with a little digging."
A thin smile.
He must have had that viper-like expression when he plotted to accuse Deborah of blasphemy and send her to the monastery.
‘It seems you will also make up weaknesses that don't exist.'
I don't know what it's like on someone else's side but, on my side, he is more reliable than anyone.
Thinking it was a good idea to come here, I brought up my next request.
"The second request. Is it possible to buy and sell nobility titles?"
He raised his eyebrows.
"Of course… You can buy and sell titles. You can even buy sincerity with money, it's like a title."
He fiddled with the red ruby while making a miser-like remark.
"And the price?"
"It's different for each title. The price is up to the seller. That's how attractive the nobility status is."
Damn it.
It's not just me who wants to buy a title.
It's natural for prices to rise when there's a lot of demand, so I became restless.
"I want to know the average selling price of a baron title."
My heart tightened, but I tried hard to speak calmly.
"There are few examples to make an average but, at most, this amount is enough to take over the title of a low-rank family."
The Master soaked the tip of a quill pen with black ink.
‘W-What?'
Seeing the feast of zeros that continued to no end, I almost grabbed him by the collar.
The price, which was increasing at a scary pace, stopped suddenly at some point.
‘What, is it that expensive?!'
The price was even more absurd when converting the gold coins into Korean won.
'10 billion.'
I expected a billion won at most; but this is too expensive.
However…
‘It was unrealistic in my previous life, but it's not a ridiculous amount for me right now.'
The situation where I asked the Duke for 40 million won, after judging it by my previous life's standards.
‘I'm an orichalcum spoon.'
Deborah's foundation is different from Yoon Do Hee in the first place, so it is possible to gather money.
No, I will definitely gather it.
I cannot marry a Thomson's gazelle, who drools like a pervert when he sees a pretty woman.
"It's not much."
The Master shrugged at my bluff.
"Well, it's a small price for a Princess that owns a necklace with the same value as a townhouse in the capital."
If it's a townhouse, it's at least between 1 billion and 2 billion.
"That's a good idea. That pink diamond, I want to change it into gold coins. That's my third request."
I was wondering whether to sell it or not because of the Duke, but I changed my mind when I saw the price of the nobility title. I'll take the risk to sell it.
"What?"
The Master, frowning at my words, put down the quill pen and looked at me, dumbfounded.
"Why are you trying to resell it suddenly? I thought you were on a hunger strike, and even on a short confinement, to get that jewel?"
"You know, you keep forgetting your duty as an informant; if you're going to continue asking me questions, give me this many jewels too."
The absurdity of this moment passes by the man's glass-like eyes.
The man, who had his mouth slightly open, slowly loosened his lips and let out a short laugh.
‘I guess he's not offended.'
I sighed inwardly. The reason I'm going in recklessly like this is because being Duke Seymour's daughter, I'm sure I am not weak.
To put it simply, I was pretending to trust my father.
I thought even Young Hoon would get beaten by this smart guy if he got caught being a scaredy-cat.
"I forgot my duty again. I apologize once more."
The man apologized playfully, with smiling eyes.
I was a little surprised for a moment, as he looked young.
‘Thinking of it, how old is the Master? The more I see him, the more I can't guess.'
"Princess."
Quietly looking at the man's features, I came to my senses at his low-pitched call.
"The pink diamond. You're trying to sell it secretly, without Duke Seymour knowing, right?"
The Master immediately grasped the intention behind my request to sell the diamond.
"Yes, that's right."
"However, it is impossible to resell it secretly because it's a jewel that has already gained great popularity in the social world. If it returns to the auction house or jewelry store again, a rumor will definitely appear."
I thought he would solve any request without hesitation like the Lamp Genie, but he was unexpectedly determined that he couldn't.
"But there is a way to turn the jewel into gold coins without offending Duke Seymour."
The Master immediately came up with a good alternative.
"What might that be?"
He bent his eyes like a fox at my question.
"Fifty-fifty."
"Don't tell me, you're asking for half the resale price of the pink diamond?"
"I'm glad we can communicate well."
Dammit. What is it with all these punks?
"That's nonsense. The percentage you take is too high. I'm willing to pay a commission worthy of your work."
"Princess. Pink diamonds are expected to be released several more times in the future."
I softened my fierce expression a little at his words.
The Master seemed to be aware of the quantity of pink diamonds mined, like an owner of a jewelry store.
"In the long run, it is beneficial to sell it before the number of jewels increases and the scarcity drops. In return for having a high percentage for my share, I will sell it for you for more than double the price of Duke Seymour's successful bid."
He spoke confidently, throwing a gold coin that was piled up on the table high in the air and receiving it on the back of his hand, showing the front of the gold coin engraved with the First Emperor.
"Since I have a lot of shares, I'm moving towards maximum profitability."
I was lost in thought.
The point is scarcity; so, if it is an item that is going to depreciate gradually, it was profitable to sell it as soon as possible.
Besides, if he sells it at a much higher price than the winning bid, it was a deal without much loss even if it was divided fifty-fifty.
I am curious about what kind of strategy this man will come up with.
"Even so, fifty-fifty is too much. Seventy-thirty."
"If you can tell me why Cookie drools while looking at you, I will make it seventy-thirty."
I was contemplating what to do and faced Cookie, who looked at me with depressed eyes.
In fact, the reason why the beast raised by the Master liked me so much wasn't a big deal.
It was because I had five catnip pouches on my waist.
According to the Master's line that the seal of the cat with a tail depicted the golden beast, I inferred that his pet was a cat-like animal; and my guess was correct.
For reference, the pet culture was not developed here, so catnip was used only for medicinal purposes.
So, he probably couldn't even imagine that I offered Cookie cat drugs.
"… Let's go for fifty-fifty. I'm not the one selling information like you do."
It's not much information to me but it will be expensive information for the Master, who is presumed to be a cat person.
‘It is also important to arouse the Master's curiosity to attract attention and continue the deal.'
It is a waste to tell him as a condition of raising the share percentage to seventy-thirty.
"You're not falling for it."
I brought up my final request to him, who was grumbling with a disapproving expression.
"The final request. What would be a good way to manage a secret fund efficiently?"
I may have countless jewels and accessories, but I have few gold coins in my hands that can be used as cash here.
There was no need to have them since the Duke's financial manager will pay for it if you write a check when buying something.
However, the disadvantage of using a check was that the items and prices of the items I bought were forwarded to the Duke like a card statement.
‘It's no different from being tracked.'
Even if I wanted to get a lot of gold coins by selling jewelry it was impossible to open a personal bank account, because unmarried ladies are not approved of having private property before their debut.
Accustomed to the convenient electronic financial system of the 21st century, I was at a loss on how to store and manage heavy gold coins, not banknotes.
"If it's a secret fund…"
The Master continued, uninterestedly, supporting his chin with his hand.
"People usually dig into their private land to bury gold coins, or secretly put them in a secret safe in their mansion's basement."
‘Rich people do the same thing here, too.'
"They're both too troublesome for me. Is there any other way?"
As he frowned, trying to conceal being at a loss, the Master slowly rubbed his white chin with the black gloves.
"So, for a problem like this, I should show creativity rather than information ability, right?"
"…"
"If I show my creativity, what will the Princess show me this time?"
Returning the words I said like a snake, the Master asked me to show something other than my financial power, as if testing me.
‘As expected from a villain, he is not easy. Just from frowning a little, weaklings would shake on their own.'
(T/N: the word used here is 쪼랩, which refers to low level/beginner users (or weaker people) in an rpg.)
But I have one more thing besides financial power.
Making eye contact with him, I flipped over the luxurious leather bag.
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