CHAPTER 3: YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO BE THERE (VXVIII)
Part 057
A donation auction has begun. She sat down and looked intently at the items being put up for auction. Since you’re at a sponsorship party, you’ll have to buy whatever fits. Nothing stands out. A few even lifted their license plates, but gave up because they couldn’t keep up with the rapidly rising prices. Adrian eagerly asked if she wanted it, but she said no. Why would he buy that at that price? It would be like donating his raw money. When she saw that a Madame Rosaline’s early work was sold at a whopping 1.2 million gold, she completely put her mind down. It was too much.
At that time, the auctioneer picked up a piece of white cloth with a very difficult face.
“Eh… Also, next is a handkerchief. It’s called a handkerchief with a black wolf embroidered on it. It’s an item with a lot of stories. There’s no doubt that it’s a very unique piece.”
‘Hey, why was that over there? Ahh! Don’t open it! What is that. That’s over there, and was that the one she gave to Franz earlier? Jenny! Why was she doing this to me!’
“Now, let’s start with ten thousand gold.”
The people who participated in the auction smiled and raised their license plates. It seemed that there were people who said that they would win the bid as a joke because they spent money anyway.
‘No, never. That dark history roaming around in places I don’t know, absolutely no way!’
“Yes, woman number 32, 50,000 gold came out. Don’t you have 100,000 gold?”
50,000 gold was enough. Who spent 50,000 gold on something like that? She was preparing to win the bid, but Adrian, who had been sitting still, raised his hand. His eyes sparkled with flowers blooming on his face.
‘Oh, screwed up I also came to know.’
“Yes, guy number 33, you got 100,000 gold. From now on, it goes up in increments of 100,000 gold. Don’t you have 200,000 gold?”
She lifted the license plate and glanced at Adrian. Their eyes met, and Adrian lifted the license plate with a smile on his face.
“Yes, 200,000, ah, 300,000 gold came right away. Do you have 400,000 gold? Yes. The man number 44 in the back has 400,000 gold. Don’t you have 500,000 gold?”
Why was he like that again? It must have looked fun because Adrian and she lifted it competitively. She was not kidding right now. That’s 500,000 gold. With tears in her eyes, she lifted the license plate again. Adrian took the plates so he couldn’t lift them anymore.
“Yes, woman number 32. You asked for 500,000 gold. Do you have 600,000 gold?”
The money she brought today was 500,000 gold. To think she had to invest half of her yearly allowance to buy that thing. Fortunately, the grandfather sitting in the back seemed to have no intention of spending up to 600,000 gold. She confiscated Adrian’s license plate, so now it’s a winning bid. Or so she thought…
“1 million gold”
Adrian, who raised his hand, did something crazy.
“Yes, 1 million gold! 1 million gold is here. Don’t you have 1.1 million gold? Lady #32, would you like 1.1 million gold?
“Eh?”
She had to put down the license plate with tears in her eyes. Why did her lover needlessly have a lot of money?
“Yes, the handkerchief embroidered with black wolves was sold to man number 33 for 1 million gold!”
It was sold at the second highest price in today’s auction. Having received the handkerchief, Adrian unfolded it with a proud face.
“The spirit of the wolf-“
“Don’t do it. Don’t say anything.”
“No, this is really-“
“Don’t do it. Are you going to take it away?”
Having said that, it seemed like a good idea, so she approached to snatch the handkerchief, but Adrian quickly folded the handkerchief and tucked it into his bosom. She couldn’t bear to put her hands inside Adrian’s clothes, so she was shaking his feet, but Count Joachim and his wife approached.
“Did you enjoy the auction, Duke?”
Adrian didn’t even look at her this time, but she had her original mission and stepped forward.
“I’d like to make a donation, can I hear an explanation of the foundation’s operation?”
“Of course. Lady, I’ll explain in detail in the drawing room.”
Count Joachin continued to look at Adrian and guided them into the building. The Count took out some of the pamphlets that had been placed in front of us as we sat side by side on the sofa. Support for medical expenses for soldiers who were injured during military service, sponsorship for those whose households find it difficult to engage in economic activities, support for children’s education, support for wives’ economic independence, and so on. The sound and plausible contents were guided on high-quality parchment. The soldiers of Laurentian are a voluntary system, not conscription. Because the soldiers were treated well, the salary they received during military service was quite good, so it became a mandatory course among commoner men to raise seed money for marriage or business funds.
If you served for 5 years and were in the reserve for 5 years, you would receive 100 gold each season for 5 years and 50 gold for 5 years as a reserve. Among the nobles, there were many enlisted people aiming for the position of commander. Like Adrian, if you major in military science at the academy and pass the annual commander exam, you were commissioned as a lower commander. Since the final destination was a commander, the second son and younger of each aristocratic family who couldn’t inherit the family were open to promotion along with the administrative exam.
In any case, active duty is treated fairly generously, but in the case of a dropout due to an injury, all support disappears, so foundations and organizations with this purpose generally received a favorable response. Didn’t quite a lot of nobles come and spend a lot of money today?
She nodded and asked.
“What is the total amount of the foundation’s funds?”
“Young lady, we are not supposed to inform anyone about the financial status of the foundation except for the management team.”
“Is that so? Then, how many people have benefited from the foundation so far?”
“Heh heh. It’s so many that it’s difficult to count it accurately. Young lady.”
“Then, how many people are currently applying?”
“That’s exactly what I figured out…”
“It’s okay even if it’s roughly. You can tell me in hundreds or thousands.”
“Well, I know there are about 1,000 of them. The young lady is curious about everything. Heh heh heh.”
“I’m curious about how the money I donated is being used. Since there are 1,000 people, is the number of disabled soldiers 1,000? Is it 1,000 including their families?”
“I’ll have to look for the data before I can tell you. Young-ae. Rather, would you like to see this pamphlet about the children we applied for and made it to the academy? We support promising children through a one-to-one sponsor system. Are you interested in individual sponsorships?”
Without answering questions, he unfolded several sheets of paper with the personal details of the children, which would make his mind wander. Individual sponsorship? It’s good. But what she wanted was not the casted samples like this, but the whole winter, she subtly added Adrian to be put in again. Power tastes better when you use the door like this.
“I have a lot of time, Count. I’m very curious about how many people will benefit from this foundation that I will sponsor, so you can look up the data and come and wait. Aren’t you curious about it, Adrian?”
“I’m curious about what Damian is curious about. Count, don’t make me wait long.”
Adrian fired a smile like a flower at me, and steel icicles that shoot with his eyes at Count Joachin. Count Joachim jumped up saying he knew, and pretended to rummage through something, but he said he didn’t know where the data was because it was sudden, and he bet 5 gold. She thought that he would be sitting as a face madam anyway, but how could he be so blinded by the circumstances of the Foundation? It’s the same whether he really didn’t know or didn’t want to know.
“I think the relevant documents are somewhere else. Haha, next time you come back, I’ll prepare them in advance. Duke.”
‘Look, look I knew it would be like this.’
Even if they say they wouldn’t ask about the price, and they didn’t ask about the price, wasn’t there anyone asking about this while receiving a large donation, not 1 or 2 gold? You should have prepared fake documents, but the basics were not there.
“Then, I’d like to discuss donations again later when things are complete.”
As she got up from her seat, Adrian, who automatically jumped up, held out her hand for an escort. Count Joachim scrambled to catch them, but left the parlor without answering. She left the front door and before she knew it, a carriage was waiting. Homer bowed to Adrian, and sat quietly beside Franz. She got into the carriage, and Adrian followed.
“How about Adrian’s carriage?”
“I came on horseback because I was in a hurry.”
“You did? Shall I take you there?”
“No. I’m going to the count’s house.”
“To my house?”
“Aren’t you going to have a meeting with Homer from now on?”
“Yes, I’ll have to tell him a rough story.”
“I’ll be there too.”
Adrian said firmly and took his seat across from her. Her carriage was smaller than the one that Adrian and she usually ride. In Adrian’s carriage, even if they sat across from each other, their knees did not even reach, and now it seemed difficult to even get into the carriage. It was so cute to see Adrian, with his long legs crushed into a narrow carriage, stubborn with a troubled voice.
“Adrian, are you jealous?”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Really?”
“You go to parties with other men without telling me, and even have meetings at this late hour, but I’m not jealous.”
‘Just say you are.’
She burst into laughter as she watched Adrian, who had a grim face and tried to straighten his legs that wouldn’t be all wrinkled. He wanted to sit across from her, but then his legs got stuck, and she felt sorry for him bending his long legs here and there, so she got up and went to the seat next to Adrian and held his hand. The face instantly melts away.
“You’re not jealous.”
“Did you try to free it?”
How could he play a joke, and at once she opened her eyes and replied.
“Well? How would you like to have it released?”
She untied her hand that had been held in his hand, clasped it, and held it back. She sat with her body half-turned, met his eyes, and his smile was so pretty, so she kissed Adrian’s left cheek with a bird kiss. As soon as there was a noise and she came out, Adrian’s eyes, which instantly turned red, flashed under the night stone embedded in the carriage roof. It was only for a short time, but Adrian’s energy suddenly changed and she was a little nervous. But soon, Adrian smiled like a flower in full bloom. Then he got close in an instant and stole her lips. It was a much shorter kiss than her surprise kiss, so she couldn’t even remember how it felt, and she was confused, but Adrian was still smiling like a flower. She laughed at that bright face.
His empty right hand approached her left cheek. She laughed as his well-proportioned index finger gently tickled her cheek, and then he stretched out his palm and covered her entire cheek. For some reason, the heat starts to rise in her face. The moment she felt his fingers brush her ears, she felt the body heat wrap around the back of her neck. Come to think of it, he has a smiley face, but his eyes have been strangely red since before.
He was getting closer. Gradually, he laughed on purpose. She always thought it was a big deal because she was weak against this face, but she closed her eyes.
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Translator Note:
Sorry for any mistake during the migration ^^,
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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