Episode 6
“This is quite valuable. Where did you get this?”
Suspicion lingered in Roman’s eyes as he looked at me.
His question didn’t feel unpleasant so much as natural.
A boy wearing loose clothes that didn’t fit his body had produced an item that clearly didn’t suit him, so it was only to be expected.
He might even have been thinking I stole it.
“It’s my mother’s keepsake. I need money urgently, so I want to borrow against it.”
I answered honestly, just as it was.
A man named Roman must have dealt with all sorts of people coming to borrow money. I thought that if I told a clumsy lie, it would only invite more suspicion.
“Is that so? A keepsake, you say. Let me see…….”
After examining me slowly, he turned his gaze back to the necklace. The look in his single eye as he inspected the necklace was fierce and sharp.
“If you leave it as collateral, 100 karat at 20% monthly interest. If you sell, I’ll give you 500 karat.”
Having finished his appraisal, he raised his head and quoted me a price for the necklace.
100 karat? That’s laughable.
That price was absurdly low.
He probably thought I didn’t know much about jewels.
Unfortunately for him, I knew the market price of platinum well. Before my regression, I had occasionally followed my half-sister to jewelers.
“That’s strange……. When I stopped by a jeweler’s this morning, the owner said he’d pay 300 karat per gram if I sold. He said that necklace, even just the chain without the jewels, weighed at least 3 grams.”
Of course, the part about stopping by a jeweler’s was a lie.
I mixed lies with the truth I knew to create a plausible story.
I also made sure to blink my eyes and tilt my head to look as though I truly found it strange.
“Ahem, well, that’s…….”
Confusion flickered in Roman’s brown eyes at my unexpected counterattack.
He cleared his throat a few times, then opened his mouth as if he had no choice.
“……You’re quite something for a brat. 300 karat at 20% monthly interest. If you sell, I’ll give you 1,500 karat. No more.”
300 karat…….
I glanced at Roman, who still hadn’t let go of the necklace, and smiled inwardly.
He had managed his expression befitting a pawnshop owner, but he couldn’t control his actions.
If that necklace had been of low value, he would have set it down on the desk long ago.
I felt I could get at least 500, maybe even up to 800 karat, but I had no intention of haggling unnecessarily.
The amount he offered was close to what I’d had in mind anyway, and since it was money I would have to pay back, it was better to borrow only what I needed since interest would accrue.
“I’ll take 300 karat at 20% monthly interest. Do I pay the interest when I come to retrieve the item?”
“Yes.”
Roman nodded at my question, reached out, opened a desk drawer, and took out a sheet of paper.
He took the pen from the ink bottle on the desk, wrote something on the paper, and held it out to me. It was a contract.
“It’s a collateral contract. You can read, can’t you? I’ve written in the principal and interest rate, so you just read the terms carefully and sign at the bottom.”
“Yes.”
I took the contract he offered and read the contents carefully.
The collateral period was 6 months.
It stated that the principal and interest had to be repaid within that period, but if that wasn’t feasible, you could get an extension of up to one year if you paid just the interest.
‘Six months is plenty. Starting next month, I’ll get 200 karat each time, so I can come retrieve it in 2 months.’
After my power manifested in the past, they had given me an allowance of 200 karat under the pretext of dignity maintenance fees.
Compared to my half-sister Viarte receiving 1,000 karat, it was a paltry sum, but back then I was incredibly happy and treasured simply having my own money.
For the first few months, I couldn’t even bring myself to spend it, saving every bit.
Saving, my ass. I just ended up blowing it all…….
I suppressed the urge to twist my lips again and picked up the pen.
Nothing seemed particularly problematic.
While I was signing the contract, Roman opened the cash register behind the counter and took out the money to give me. He still held the necklace in his hand.
“Here, count it. 300 karat.”
Roman held out a bundle of 10-karat bills to me.
I had thought he might give me a check since the amount was large, but thinking that this was indeed like a pawnshop owner, I took the bills and checked the count.
“Yes. That’s 30 bills. Thank you.”
After counting once and then once more just to be sure, I bowed my head slightly to Roman in thanks.
As I folded the bundle of bills in half and pushed them deep into my pants pocket, he asked,
“When are you planning to come retrieve it?”
“I think I can come back for it in about 2 months. Please take good care of it until then.”
I answered thoughtlessly, thinking it a natural question to ask someone borrowing money. But Roman’s eyes shone strangely at my answer.
“Two months, you say? Very well.”
A sudden ominous feeling came over me.
The look he had shown me just now resembled far too closely the look my half-sister Viarte had when she was scheming something against me.
‘Surely he won’t sell the necklace, right?’
That suspicion suddenly crossed my mind, but there was no other choice but to trust Roman.
I needed money, and the necklace was the only thing I had worth any.
The strange thing was, I had thought I wouldn’t care even without the necklace, but the thought that he might actually sell it made my chest tighten.
“I’ll see you in two months, then.”
I don’t know why my footsteps felt so heavy.
As I headed for the door, I deliberately emphasized the words “two months” once more.
If he had made up his mind to sell the necklace, there was no stopping him. Still, I thought that if I repeated it several times like this, he might feel at least a little guilty.
“Understood. See you in two months, then.”
Roman’s voice from behind sounded somehow excited, but I forced myself to ignore it, telling myself it was just my uneasy heart, and opened the door.
When I stepped outside, Lakein, who had been leaning against the wall beside the door with his arms crossed, straightened up and approached.
“Are you finished with your business?”
I nodded at his polite question.
“Yes. But I need to stop by two more places. Where is the largest accessory shop in town?”
I asked him as though I knew nothing, even though I knew which shop was the biggest. Then the name I knew flowed from his mouth.
“The largest accessory shop in town is Esther’s Shop. It is not far from here, but will it be alright to walk?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Please lead the way, Sir Hekeus.”
It was just a stone’s throw away, so I had no intention of riding a horse with him.
When I answered promptly, he readily nodded.
“Understood. This way.”
As I was about to follow Lakein, I saw his horse tied up beside the pawnshop.
Wondering if I would have to come back here later, I looked at him and asked,
“Sir Hekeus, shouldn’t we take the horse with us?”
“Do not worry. I will bring it while you are at the accessory shop.”
The words “We could just take it with us now; why go through the trouble of coming back?” circled in my mouth, but I didn’t let them out.
Because I felt he must have a reason for doing so.
I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake as before by speaking rashly based solely on my own judgment.
Esther’s Shop was about two blocks from Baker Pawnshop.
When we arrived in front of Esther’s Shop, Lakein stepped ahead of me and reached out to open the door.
“Please enter. I will go get the horse.”
“Thank you.”
When I nodded lightly and went inside, the sound of the door closing quietly came from behind.
How strange…….
Both at the pawnshop earlier and now, he was acting as though I were the young lady he served.
‘Was he always that kind of person?’
I was understanding him less and less.
Then again, since I didn’t know what kind of person Lakein had been before becoming my escort knight, I supposed that was possible.
Letting out an invisible sigh inwardly, I headed toward the counter where a sophisticated proprietress in her early thirties stood.
The proprietress was bent over, opening the display case door and arranging accessories with a white-gloved hand.
When I approached, she sensed my presence and raised her head with a smile.
But that smile vanished immediately after she looked over my attire. It seemed I didn’t look like a customer.
So I quickly spoke to her.
“Madame Bovari? I’ve come because there’s a piece of jewelry I wish to purchase.”
“Oh my~ Have you come to buy a gift, pretty child?”
Pretty? My face involuntarily scrunched up. I was clearly dressed as a boy, yet she said pretty…….
For a moment, I felt anxious that I might not look like a boy, but remembering that Roman had referred to me as a boy, I calmed down.
More than that, the smile that bloomed again on Madame Bovari’s lips when she heard I had come to buy something was incredibly memorable.
Neatly pinned-up copper hair, a sophisticated dress that emphasized her curvaceous figure.
In appearance alone she looked like a noble lady, but her attitude in dealing with people was undeniably that of a merchant.
I suddenly recalled the Countess talking about Madame Bovari with my half-sister.
‘I heard she opened an accessory shop with the inheritance she received after her husband died young. That’s why she’s so ambitious and has great aspirations for business.’
The Countess and my half-sister had not looked kindly upon Madame Bovari. They smiled and laughed in front of her, but behind her back, they tore into her mercilessly.
The reason was that they looked down on her for being a woman in business.
Of course, back then I had nodded along with them.
Like most noble young ladies, I too had thought it only natural to live modestly and meet a suitable man to become his wife.
But after dying once and coming back, my thoughts had changed.
Now Madame Bovari seemed amazing.
It might have been partly because my heart had grown cold from the contract, but the desire to carve out my own life like hers was even greater.
I wanted to stand tall by my own strength, not leaning on someone else.
Lady Croisen? You can give that to a passing dog for all I care.
A sneer surged up from deep within my heart. I barely suppressed the urge to throw that title into a trash bin right then and there.
It was disgustingly repulsive, but until I could stand tall by my own name, Herna, that title would serve as a shield to protect me.