The eastern annex of the Grand Duke Descartes' estate.
Within that annex was the residence of Serdian, the young lord of the Grand Ducal family.
A little past lunchtime.
Serdian's aide, Jed, entered his office.
"I heard His Grace invited that child, Lucillea, again and had lunch with her today."
"...I see."
Serdian turned a page of his book with little interest. Watching him, Jed swallowed a sigh.
"What kind of child is she, anyway? This Lucillea."
At that, Serdian's fingers paused briefly on the page.
"Who knows."
"'Who knows'?"
"She talked a lot."
"...Pardon?"
"I said she talked a lot."
"..."
Talked a lot?
"That's all?"
Seeing Jed's confusion, Serdian asked,
"Have you ever seen a child talk that much in front of His Grace?"
"...Ah!"
Only then did Jed let out a quiet exclamation.
"She ate well and talked a lot in front of His Grace. Not only that..."
"And?"
For the first time, Serdian lifted his eyes from the book.
He stared into space for a moment as if gathering his thoughts before continuing.
"...She praised me."
"Pardon?"
"Said I was good at eating carrots."
"...What?"
"And she even told His Grace to give me more authority."
"...What?!"
"She's the first child I've ever met who says whatever she wants in front of His Grace."
Remembering the moment, Serdian unconsciously smiled.
Jed's expression immediately turned serious.
"So she's not someone we can underestimate."
But Serdian merely lowered his gaze back to the book.
"Talking a lot and eating well doesn't make someone special."
"But... she was personally chosen by the Grand Duke."
"..."
When Serdian remained silent, Jed asked carefully,
"Aren't you upset at all, Lord Serdian?"
He was referring to the Grand Duke continuing to search for his biological child even after already naming an heir.
Most people would have felt hurt.
Yet Serdian remained calm.
"It would be improper for a successor to resent a decision made by His Grace."
Jed puffed out his lips in dissatisfaction.
"Yes, yes. Clearly I'm the only terrible person here for being unhappy about His Grace's decision."
"Haha."
The grumbling remark finally drew a laugh from Serdian.
Jed was both Serdian's aide and one of the very few people within the Grand Duke's estate who truly belonged to Serdian's side.
Having sworn loyalty to him, Jed wanted nothing more than for Serdian's position as heir to remain secure.
Because he genuinely believed it.
Serdian was the one destined to lead the House of Descartes into the future.
Lord Serdian is different from the other chosen children I've seen.
The aura he had awakened at such a young age only grew stronger with time.
Even in recorded history, there had never been a case of someone progressing so rapidly.
It wasn't simply because the Grand Ducal family provided him with limitless support.
Serdian himself sacrificed sleep and devoted every waking moment to training.
People misunderstand him because he's stiff around others and rarely shows emotion, but...
The future head of a Grand Ducal house couldn't spend his days smiling kindly at everyone.
Lately, the branch families and vassal houses had been moving suspiciously, but that was likely because they were wary of Serdian's overwhelming talent.
Maybe those branch families are still waiting for the Grand Duke's lost bloodline to return.
That was why every time the elite search unit brought in a new child, Jed grew anxious.
What if the Grand Duke's real child truly appeared?
What if that child pushed Serdian aside and claimed the position of heir?
Sensing Jed's unease, Serdian spoke.
"No one can stop a parent from searching for their child, Jed."
Not even a god.
Jed sighed heavily.
"And what if they really do find the lost child and bring them back?"
Serdian answered without hesitation.
"Then it would be something worth celebrating. It would mean the burden that has tormented His Grace all these years has finally come to an end."
Elbadin had already told Serdian why the Elite Search Unit had been created.
The Grand Duchess had vanished, only to later be found dead.
And the child she carried had disappeared without a trace.
Who could possibly imagine the pain of losing an entire family in a single blow?
"I know what you're worried about. But because of that tragedy, the Elite Search Unit and the Guardian Corps were created. Countless people were saved because of them. I myself reached this position because I was chosen by the Elite Search Unit."
"..."
Jed's eyes slowly lowered.
That's exactly why I'm afraid, Lord Serdian...
The fact that Serdian wasn't the Grand Duke's blood relative.
The fact that he was merely someone chosen by the Elite Search Unit.
If a child more talented than Serdian appeared, his position could be taken away at any moment.
His place was far more fragile than it seemed.
And Serdian surely knew that better than anyone.
Serdian looked up at Jed.
"As I always have, I'll continue training every single day without rest."
He added that if he kept doing so, he would eventually become stronger than anyone else.
"And if someone stronger than me still appears?"
A playful grin spread across Serdian's face.
"Then it can't be helped. I'll simply hand the position over."
"Lord Serdian!"
Jed nearly jumped out of his seat.
Serdian only smiled faintly before closing the book he had been reading.
"Enough of this. Let's go."
"Huh? Where?"
Serdian rose from his chair and waved the book in his hand.
"To the library."
The library of House Descartes.
Near one of the towering bookshelves packed with books, Lucillea sat in a patch of shade, avoiding the sunlight.
The soft rustling of turning pages echoed through the library for a long time.
By the time the sunlight beyond the windows had begun to slant toward evening—
Thump!
Lucillea closed the book she had been reading and turned toward the window.
The cover read:
"The Hereditary Structure of the Nobility and the Flow of Currency in the Seraphium Empire."
Earlier that day, during lunch with Elbadin, Lucillea had realized something.
She knew absolutely nothing about the economy of this world.
The only thing I remember is Grandma using copper coins to buy bread and vegetables at the village market.
In truth, Lucillea had never even seen a silver coin in person.
Her life with Briola had never been wealthy, and the things Briola bought at the market were always inexpensive necessities.
As for gold coins?
Their value was completely beyond her imagination.
If I'm going to become independent from the Grand Ducal family someday, I need to learn this now.
That was why she had come to the library.
Books, after all, were the best teachers available.
Master Noah always told me to learn theory from books.
Unfortunately, memorizing this tome—which was thicker than her forearm—in a single day was impossible.
Every page was packed with difficult terminology.
Lucillea tapped the cover.
Let's just remember the important parts.
She didn't particularly care about noble inheritance systems.
But she had learned that:
Then even one silver coin a month would keep me from starving, right?
Granted, she'd have to eat nothing but bread.
As she walked between the shelves, Cookie, perched atop her head, suddenly spoke.
[One silver is that shiny round thing, right?]
Yeah. How do you know that? Even I've never seen one.
[Shred steals them from people in town all the time!]
"..."
Lucillea coughed awkwardly.
A-anyway. Mei said the maids in the Grand Duke's estate earn six silver coins a month.
[Six shiny silver circles!]
Exactly.
A small laugh escaped her before she fell back into thought.
According to the book, the average maid only earns about two silver coins.
That meant the Grand Ducal family paid exceptionally well.
Then how much is my monthly allowance?
If the maids earned six silver...
Wouldn't her maintenance allowance be even higher?
Eight silver?
Ten silver?
Or maybe...
One gold coin?
Considering how lavish the Grand Ducal family was, it didn't seem completely impossible.
Alright! Starting today, Operation Save Money begins!
[Ooooh! That sounds impressive! What's the plan?!]
Nothing special.
Lucillea grinned.
I'm just not going to spend any of it.
[...Huh?]
Whatever her allowance turned out to be, she'd save as much of it as possible.
That was something she had plenty of experience with—even from her previous life.
First, I'll ask Mei exactly how much I get.
Lucillea pushed back her chair and stood up.
It's a little embarrassing to look like a money-obsessed kid, but whatever.
If you grew up poor, that sort of thing was only natural.
After returning the heavy book to its proper shelf, she slowly turned around.
Hehe. I hope they give me a huge allowance—
Then—
Huh?
Among the rows of reddish-brown books, a single volume stood out.
It didn't belong there.
And somehow, it immediately caught her eye.