“May? Weren’t you supposed to arrive in three days?”
Even if she traveled from the capital through the gate, it would take at least seven days.
No matter how urgent the return order was, she would still need time to wrap up her duties.
That’s why he had estimated three days, but he didn’t expect her to arrive so quickly.
“That’s not the important part right now! Look at this!”
May pulled out a silk flower from her bag.
Ian’s expression hardened.
“This is…”
The flower, shaped like a jar with six petals, was a lily of the valley.
“A jewelry store that opened a week ago is copying our silk flowers. Exactly the same!”
Unable to contain her anger, May stomped her foot.
Ian, without answering, stared at the lily of the valley in his hand.
It was Ian himself who had created the silk rose and built the brand’s image.
This had never happened in the original story, nor had it ever been mentioned.
It was entirely possible for someone to copy it.
The problem was that the silk flower they chose to mimic was shaped like a lily of the valley.
It would be nice if it was just a coincidence, but the lily of the valley was the symbol of the heroine, Yekhaterina.
“Duke?”
“Is the store’s name ‘Yekhaterina’ by any chance?”
“What? Yes! How did you know?”
May asked, her eyes wide with surprise. Edelmar answered as if it were obvious.
“Because in ancient language, ‘Yekhaterina’ means ‘lily of the valley.’”
As Ian looked down at the silk lily of the valley, he moved his mana.
In an instant, a blue flame flared up.
The blue fire affected nothing around it, turning only the lily of the valley into ashes.
“Duke, why did you do that all of a sudden?”
“It’s fine. I knew they would copy it.”
“What?!”
May asked in shock.
“When something becomes a trend, people always imitate it. The silk flowers became popular, so everyone is copying them.”
“Then what about our jewelry store….”
The words ‘Isn’t it going to go bankrupt?’ were left unsaid.
“Do you really think one imitation flower will make the entire store collapse?”
May’s throat tightened in frustration.
“No! I built this store. There’s no way it could fall apart from something like this!”
“Then what are you worried about?”
“But…”
“It’s just a marketing tactic for the store. Even if they copy it, its value won’t decrease, and people will know who started it first, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Okay…”
May answered gloomily.
“Good. You’ve had a hard journey, so rest today and come to the study tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
Ian then turned toward Edelmar.
“Grand Duke. I have a request.”
Edelmar chuckled.
He already knew what Ian was going to ask without him having to say it.
“You want me to investigate the jewelry store owner?”
“Please, in detail.”
“Of course.”
Since the flow of events had changed, there was no harm in the heroine appearing earlier than expected.
However, he still didn’t understand why they were copying his jewelry store.
‘If they are targeting Rose, I can’t just sit by and do nothing.’
Ian raised one corner of his mouth.
***
“Here’s the list.”
Fred handed over a list with 20 names on it, watching Ian’s reaction carefully.
“It’s fine. I’m just tired. Who’s in charge of the training?”
“Mix will handle it.”
The name of the academy’s top graduate came up. Ian nodded and said,
“Then proceed with that. Did you tell May about the bank?”
“Yes. Miss May is very pleased about it.”
“Good.”
After delivering his report, Fred left.
“Are you lacking of sleep?”
Ian massaged his temples.
“A little.”
“Is it because of the jewelry store? Or Rose?”
Ian sighed.
“It’s Rose.”
“Are you don’t like Lachik?”
“That’s not about it.”
According to the information gathered through the guild, Lachik was timid and kind-hearted, not a bad person.
The problem was that Rose was projecting Marianne onto Lachik.
If it were just projection, it wouldn’t be an issue, but since that day, Rose had been having nightmares.
She would cry, calling for her mother whenever she fell asleep.
Seeing her mother through Lachik seemed to have triggered forgotten memories of the past to resurface in Rose’s dreams.
Still, they couldn’t send Lachik away.
Hurting a child who had already projected their mother onto someone else would only cause further pain.
After hearing Ian’s explanation, Edelmar stroked his chin.
“Are you planning to go to the Grand Duchy?”
“Huh?”
“If the environment changes, the child’s thoughts may change as well.”
Ian hesitated for a moment before rejecting the idea.
“I can’t leave right now.”
The bank building was already completed.
Once the three-day training session ended, it was scheduled to open immediately.
For the people and the local residents, the concept of a bank was unfamiliar.
If any problems arose, they needed to be addressed swiftly, and only Ian could handle that.
“I see. How do you plan to promote it? I assume you’ve left the merchant group side to Miss May, but what about the general public?”
“Oh, this is it.”
Ian handed Edelmar a promotional leaflet from the desk.
Edelmar’s eyebrow rose as he looked at the brightly colored leaflet.
“A lottery?”
***
“Hello! Come get your lottery tickets!!”
In the middle of the square, a man shouted loudly, handing out flyers.
“What’s this?”
“Do you know what a lottery is?”
“How would I know that?”
Among the murmuring crowd, a man approached the one shouting.
“What’s a lottery?”
“Hello! A lottery is this.”
The shouting man pointed to the numbers attached at the end of the flyer.
“What are those?”
“The Diess Bank is opening in three days, and we’ll announce the winners there.”
“Winners?”
“Yes! The flyers we’re handing out come with lottery tickets that have numbers on them! On the opening day, we’ll announce the numbers, and those who have matching numbers will receive money!”
At that moment, the people’s eyes widened.
“Money? You’re giving away money?”
“Yes! The first prize will be 1 gold, the second prize 500 silver coins, and the third prize 100 silver coins!”
The square suddenly fell silent.
People looked at each other in disbelief, as if they couldn’t trust what they had just heard.
Then, a brave man shouted loudly,
“How can we believe that!”
The man who had been handing out the flyers waved his hands and replied,
“What would we gain from tricking you? We’re not even selling these lottery tickets—they’re being given out for free!”
“But what if you use that money to blackmail us later?”
“Oh, come on. Our Diess Bank’s main branch is located in the Duke’s territory. Why would we do something like that? This lottery is just a way to promote our bank, not to threaten anyone.”
Despite his playful response, the suspicious looks didn’t completely disappear.
“What exactly is a bank?” someone asked.
“A bank is a place where you deposit your money.”
“Deposit money?”
The people looked confused, as if they had heard something ridiculous.
“Who would trust a stranger with their money?!”
“Exactly! Exactly!” another person chimed in.
The man then grinned widely and said,
“Because when you deposit money in the bank, it grows.”
“What?!”
“Money isn’t livestock—how can it grow?!”
“That’s what interest is. At our bank, even if you deposit just one silver coin, we’ll pay you interest.”
At the man’s words, people began to murmur amongst themselves.
In this world, saving money meant hiding it deep inside their homes.
But if what the man said was true, that even one silver coin could grow with interest, it would be much better to leave their money in this so-called bank rather than just keeping it at home.
“How can we trust you!”
“Haha. You don’t have to believe me. But if you don’t, you’ll miss out! We’re just here to tell you the facts! If you want to know more, take one of these flyers. They’re free, and they come with a lottery ticket, so there’s no loss for you.”
Even if they didn’t trust the bank, there was no harm in taking a free flyer.
Cautiously, people began to approach the man one by one.
The man smiled broadly as he handed out the flyers.
***
Late at night.
Ian walked around the room, holding a sobbing Rose in his arms.
“Shh, it’s okay.”
As he comforted her, the sound of her sobbing gradually faded, replaced by the soft, even sound of her breathing.
“It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
Once again, Rose had been tormented by nightmares.
Ian had spent what felt like an eternity holding and soothing her, as she screamed in her sleep, begging someone not to die.
Tears that hadn’t yet fallen still lingered in the corners of Rose’s eyes as she finally drifted off to sleep.
‘Yes. She got better faster than I expected.’
When she had first arrived here, Rose had been a deeply withdrawn child.
Even though people had approached her gently and Ian had showered her with love, Rose’s ability to adapt had been surprisingly quick.
It was hard to believe that she was a child who had been through such hardships.
That’s why Ian had let his guard down.
In truth, he had been ignoring the signs. He had only wanted to see the happy side of the child who had been reborn.
He had thought it would be best if they simply forgot about the past.
But Ian’s selfishness had only caused the child more pain.
“Sniff… sniff.”
Rose started to whimper again, as if she was having another nightmare.
“Rose, it’s okay. It’s okay.”
Ian gently patted her back and softly sang a lullaby.
“When mother goes to pick oysters in the shade of the island, the baby stays alone.”
It was the lullaby he had sung to baby Yoori on Earth. As he sang, Rose’s whimpering slowly subsided.
Although Rose had fallen asleep again, Ian continued singing.
“You have a nice singing voice,”
Edelmar who’s leaning against the door with his arms crossed. Ian hadn’t noticed when he had entered.
“What brings you here?”
“Is this why you haven’t been able to sleep?”
“You’ll wake the child.”
Ignoring the subtle hint to leave, Edelmar continued,
“Just ease her memories.”
Ian looked at him intently.
“If the memories are causing her pain, wouldn’t it be better to erase them?”
Ian glanced at Rose, who was sleeping while sucking her thumb, and replied,
“Erasing the memories doesn’t erase the body’s memory. It could cause more problems.”
Ian hadn’t dismissed the idea of erasing Rose’s memories.
Every time he saw the child suffering through her nightmares, he wondered if it might be better to just erase those painful memories.
But even if the memories were erased, the body would still remember.
Without memories, Rose wouldn’t understand why she was afraid of men or why she felt the urge to comfort crying women.
If that happened, the child might feel increasingly disconnected from her actions and thoughts.
If he truly wanted the child to be happy, she would need to accept those painful memories as part of her life.
And as the adult and her guardian, it was Ian’s responsibility to help her do that.
“So, what brings you here?”
Edelmar uncrossed his arms and said,
“The crown prince is selecting friends.”
“Friends?”
“Yes, he’s nine years old now.”
Friends of the crown prince.
The word ‘friends’ sounded nice, but in reality, it meant selecting close aides who would eventually serve the crown prince when he became emperor.
Considering the original story, Ian had intended to keep as much distance as possible from the crown prince.
Just as Ian was about to say it didn’t matter who the crown prince chose, something occurred to him, and he stiffened.
“…Don’t tell me Rose is included in the selection?”
“That’s right.”
