Paul bowed his head and whispered to Cedric, who asked in an urgent voice.
After listening to Paul quietly, he nodded slightly and sighed.
“I’m sorry, I’m going out for a second.”
“It’s okay.”
It looked like some urgent news had arrived.
As I watched Cedric leave the store after apologizing, I pushed the ring he had taken out to the side and called the store owner.
“Hey, do you have a blue sapphire here?”
“Ah, sapphires aren’t used well for wedding rings… Wait a minute.”
“No, it’s not a wedding ring.”
I refuted adamantly, hearing his words and vigorously waving my hand at the owner, who was about to walk to the back of the counter.
The purpose of visiting the jewelry store was blurred because of that kid, Cedric.
“Anyway, really…”
When we sat down for a second and he offered to try a ring, I should have declined earlier.
[He probably wouldn’t give up anyway.]
In a fruitful voice, Caliberne clicked her tongue.
“What’s wrong with you?”
[You’re weak in front of the Emperor. You already said no at first, but he pretended to act pitiful, so you fell for it quickly.]
‘…It didn’t agree that quickly.’
I responded timidly at Caliberne, then looked to confront the store owner.
Because it was clear that if I didn’t explain quickly, it might well continue to be misunderstood.
“Oh, if it’s for an engagement ring… However, the current trend isn’t sapphire—”
How could I explain to him this?
I wanted to tell him that Cedric and I weren’t in a relationship, but when he asked if it was an engagement ring, I was really speechless.
It took a lot of effort to remove the hard expression from my face and say ‘No.’
“No. I’m really sorry, but I’m not here to buy a ring, but a magic stone.”
Still I managed to cut his words off and talk to the jewelry owner, who looked very excited.
Then he put on a very disappointed expression for some reason.
‘What did you expect?’
“Should I go to another store next time?”
However, there were no stores as good as this one, so I decided to disregard this situation.
This store was located in an alley, and the jewelry was of high quality and not easily noticeable.
And even though I came without a disguise, he seemed to have no idea who I was.
So, even if I continue to buy jewelry here, I don’t need to worry about strange rumors leaking out.
“Oh, a magic stone? Please wait.”
The owner, who was visibly pleasantly surprised, quickly erased his expression and disappeared behind the counter with a serious expression.
When he returned, he was holding several blue sapphires.
“I brought as much variety as possible, but…”
As I was looking at the sapphires, which looked like a dozen or so, one by one, the shop door opened and a well-dressed man and woman walked in with their arms crossed.
“Welcome.”
The owner greeted them with a pleasant smile, but they ignored him and looked through the display case arrogantly.
“I heard the most valuable Tritkian diamond was in stock here.”
The man who spoke of the purpose of visiting the store shrugged off, and the owner nodded his head and told me.
“Oh, could you pick up one for a second? I’ll be right back.”
Nodding towards the owner as he approaches the man and woman asking for something.
“Are you talking about Tritkian diamonds?”
Soon after, the man and the owner had a few more words, and the man demanded that the owner bring jewels in an overbearing manner.
When the woman who had been clinging to the man made eye contact with me while I was picking a sapphire, she whispered to him with an eerie smile.
“Oh my, wasn’t that girl Ciel Minerva?”
“That’s right. Why did we come to a place like this when a woman called a knight doesn’t suit this?”
She covered his mouth and spoke in a whispering posture, but it was a voice that could be heard by anyone.
“I can hear you guys, you know.”
I was already familiar with this kind of thing because I often heard stories behind my back as if they were deliberately slurred by the nobles.
“She’s alone, too. Who comes to a shop like this these days, without a lover or fiancee?” The woman giggled and said.
“I don’t know. I heard she’s trying to seduce His Majesty, but did it eventually fail?”
‘Hey look at this! I’m not flirting with him, he’s the one flirting with me.’
As expected, the rumors amongst the aristocracy are slow.
Those who didn’t belong to the aristocratic group were forced to communicate only with one another, alleging that their level was low.
Despite having the upper hand and the game gradually changing, the imperial faction was trapped in their own world and had no idea how the real world works.
At that time, when I thought, ‘If you don’t know well, you should stay still,’ the man smiled and whispered to the woman.
“Even the sapphire you’re choosing was cheap without decoration.”
For reference, ordinary people don’t know, but mana jewelry was more expensive than ordinary jewelry of the same size.
Even if I explain it to the aristocrats who only play and eat and never go to the front lines, they will not understand.
‘There’s no other way to be eaten by these humans.’
I placed the sapphire I was looking at on the display case and smiled at the owner who had brought the diamond.
“Well, here’s the Tritkian diamond with outstanding transparency, color, cut, and size, and a market price of 60 million Kerta.”
After hearing the owner’s explanation, the woman exaggeratedly covered her mouth next to her.
“Oh my god! 60 million Kerta!”
The man, satisfied with the woman’s reaction, threw out a check and told the owner.
“I’ll pay you in a lump sum hereㅡ”
“Excuse me.”
At that moment, I interrupted the man and called in the owner.
“Aren’t you going to sell that diamond to me?”
“What?”
“I’ll buy it for twice the market price. Sell it to me.”
Immediately, the owner’s mouth opened wide.
Not only that, but the faces of the men and women who were about to buy diamonds gradually hardened.
“I still have a long way to go to be surprised.”
If there’s no one next to me to buy it, I could buy it.
Of course, there’s not enough reason to buy it, so there should be someone who would distribute the jewelry as a cauldron, but now he’s busy talking to the servants over the glass window, so let’s move on.
“Well, the guests who came first still have priority…”
The owner looked back at the man with a gaze of no idea what to do with the jewelry.
“Really?”
I deliberately pretended to be disappointed and looked through the jewels in the showcase.
“With these sapphires, ah, no. How much was all the jewels in this store?”
“Hmm, why are you…”
“Just tell me.”
“That, that…”
The owner swallowed his saliva and spoke in a trembling voice.
“400 million… I think it’ll be 470 million Kerta.”
“470 million? It’s cheaper than I thought.”
When he heard that I said it was cheaper than I thought, the hands of a noble man shook like crazy as if there was an earthquake.
“If I’m going to buy them all, why not sell them all to me?”
To the owner, who was standing blankly holding the jewels, I spoke in a calm voice.
“If you want, I’ll count it higher than the market price.”
Now the owner had no worries about the man and woman.
He put the diamond he was trying to hand over to them tightly in my hand and said with an incredible bewildered eyes.
“Are you really serious…?”
“I’m serious.”
The owner bowed and shouted to both male and female guests in response to my unwavering response.
“I’m sorry, but today’s business is closed, so please leave now, sir.”
The corners of my lips rose slightly as I stared at them in a daze.
‘As expected, I like being young and rich.’
I thought to myself as I saw the back of the man and woman leaving the store without gaining anything.
At first, they held out swearing.
However, realizing that the owner was not paying any attention to them, they left the store looking like their soul escaped.
There were so many gems, I told them to take only the magic stones and send the rest to the imperial palace.
“Are they still talking?”
Across the street, Cedric was seen standing in front of the carriage, continuing to speak with Paul and several other guards.
It seemed that their work wasn’t over yet.
Sera, who had been in front of the window before, could be seen running from afar.
As soon as I tried to wave at her, someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.