Kaela, who was about to reflexively place her hand on Peon’s outstretched hand, suddenly realized something. She had grown accustomed to him extending his hand.
‘I shouldn’t get used to this.’
She was always supposed to be ready to abandon everything, so why had she already become so familiar with this? Kaela held Peon’s hand with a sense of powerlessness.
He doesn’t even say he’s leaving. Everything just changes the moment he takes her hand. The surrounding air had transformed.
By now, she was used to the ground beneath her feet changing, and after blinking, the temperature, humidity, light, and smell would all be different. However, the endless hill of gold coins was unfamiliar.
Peon, who had been quietly staring at Kaela, asked, “How is it?”
A desert? Yes. The ‘terrain’ was like a desert. The problem was that it wasn’t composed of sand, but of gold.
Kaela stood on the glittering gold, mouth agape, looking around. Gold stretched endlessly. It was so vast that her voice would echo in the space, and the ceiling was so high.
“Can I touch it?”
“Go ahead.”
As soon as permission was granted, Kaela picked up a gold coin and examined it closely, listening to the sound it made when touched. It seemed to be high-purity gold.
“Is this real?”
When she asked this, Peon suddenly laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking, causing her to blush up to her neck. However, since determining whether it was real or fake was a truly important matter, she didn’t withdraw her question.
“I thought you’d ask for more. They’re all real.”
“Wow, I thought so, but I just had to ask. Wow…”
Another refreshing laugh was heard, but Kaela paid no mind, scooping up gold coins and sprinkling them around like water.
“Wow!”
Peon, who had been covering his mouth and laughing, quietly watched Kaela playing like a child.
Rumors had long circulated that the heir to the Ostein Duchy was known for her financial acumen from a young age.
How much must she have suffered, loving this so much, yet spending four years in the poor Lusenford, dealing with the embezzling butler and nasty head maid, unable to properly manage the household?
The sin of letting a precious young lady suffer from poverty, cold, and hunger continued to haunt him.
“It’s fascinating.”
“Were you wanting to see something like this?”
“It’s like a story from a fairy tale. The dragon who kidnaps a princess always seems to live like this, piling up gold coins. I was curious.”
Peon crouched down beside Kaela, who was throwing gold coins.
“It’s similar to our story.”
She looked up and stared at Peon. Similar? How?
“Not at all.”
It was completely different. At least the dragon didn’t throw itself into pitch-black shadows, didn’t feel nauseous, and didn’t pull out hearts.
“Totally different.”
“I see.”
If his wife says so, then that’s how it is. Peon nodded.
“Can I ask one more thing?”
“By all means.”
“Just out of pure curiosity, are your assets formed only of gold?”
Kaela couldn’t understand why Peon would laugh every time she asked a question.
Wasn’t it a perfectly rational and reasonable inquiry?
When assessing asset status, wouldn’t one consider gold, silver, jewels, the historical value of those jewels, the artistry of the craftsmen who created them, along with company values, breweries, and real estate? She had never heard of an asset owner who purely held gold.
“I’m not saying gold is bad, but isn’t it safer and better to have diverse types of assets? Of course, with this much gold, there might not be much risk, but still…”
Kaela, who had been speaking earnestly, eventually became dejected and looked at Peon.
“Was my question that strange?”
“No, I’m not mocking you. It’s just that you ask things in such a uniquely unexpected way that ordinary people wouldn’t. I’m not making fun of you.”
Peon quickly waved his hand, belatedly remembering that Kaela was sensitive about people laughing at her words.
“If I made you uncomfortable, I’m truly sorry. But all your questions are fresh and unexpected, and I enjoy them. I want to keep hearing them. That’s all.”
Enjoyed? It was the first time she’d heard such a response, but it was far better than being told she was funny. The fact that he wanted to keep listening was okay too.
“Are you angry?”
“Not for that reason.”
“Thank you. And no, our assets are not formed only of gold, oh wise expert.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”
“Aren’t you curious about what else there is? Don’t you want to ask?”
Clearly curious, the well-mannered lady took a step back.
“I’m curious, but asking such things would be impolite.”
Peon’s smile turned slightly bitter. She was genuinely interested as someone who managed finances, but only within the bounds of propriety. Nothing more.
“Why would it be impolite? You’re my wife.”
“No, that’s not quite…”
This time, Kaela was startled and tried to wave her hand, but it was immediately caught by Peon.
“It’s true. Since it’s true, are you more surprised? Or do you want to go see something new?”
She contemplated very carefully. Her sky-blue eyes rolled over the massive gold coin hill, and then she raised her index finger.
“Just a little more…”
Who knows when she’ll get to play on a gold coin hill again. She should do everything she wants at times like these.
“Okay. Play to your heart’s content.”
Peon nodded, biting back a laugh. Immediately, Kaela began scattering gold coins into the air.
Under the brightly lit illumination, glittering gold coins flew about. Peon laughed and threw coins alongside her, like playing with a child.
Unlike in Ostein, where she had suffered from the suffocating laws and etiquette in Craine and Lusenford that had to be followed precisely to survive, Kaela sat down on the gold coin hill, excited like a true Princess of Ostein.
When she sat, Peon laid down right beside her. As if he knew she wanted to lie down too.
Thanks to this, Kaela lay down, feeling just like when she was younger. She loved Peon because he understood and respected her feelings so well.
“Did you usually play with gold coins like this?”
“Hmm, no, not really.”
They lay side by side, gazing at the ceiling that reflected and glimmered with a golden light.
“When I was eight? There was that place near Keruzhan in Ostein, Arsaces, right?”
“Yes.”
“A princess was passing by and stayed for a while. She stayed quite long. That princess often played with me, saying I was cute. And just then, the man who was to become her husband brought a gift before their wedding. I saw it next to the princess.”
Kaela raised her hand and drew a large box.
“It was about this big, so heavy that two adult men had to carry it. When they opened the box lid, it was packed full of gold coins. That was the most gold coins I had ever seen.”
“You wanted to touch them back then.”
“Well, yes. I just wanted to play with them.”
“The Duke of Ostein would not have allowed it.”
“My father was strict about how money should be handled.”
Kaela nodded, then stretched out her arm sideways, waving it up and down.
“Wow, when would I ever get to do something like this?”
“You can come and do this whenever you’re bored.”
“No, thank you.”
She couldn’t keep bothering him every time she wanted to come, and they weren’t quite at that point in their relationship. Kaela looked at Peon lying beside her.
She was always used to looking at him. So when Peon noticed her gaze and met her eyes, Kaela hesitated slightly.
‘This is probably as good as it gets.’
She didn’t know how long this marriage would last, but perhaps this was the best their relationship could be. They might sympathize with each other, having discovered wounds and been deeply hurt, but that would be all.
Peon says he won’t let her go until the end, but she knew well that she wasn’t worth that.
‘I’m powerless and depressed.’
No one would tolerate such a wife until the end and still call her beautiful. He would gradually get tired, grow weary, and eventually give up. So this must be the best they could do. Probably.
Kaela was the first to break their eye contact.
“That’s enough. Let’s go.”
She would live long and see more. She had seen the gold coin hills. It was enough now.
The momentary excitement quickly cooled, and Kaela was far too exhausted to maintain that mood. She would return to the townhouse. She rose and took Peon’s outstretched hand.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
Kaela was ready to return to her ordinary, quiet life. Then she stared ahead.
As the glittering gold light receded and the surroundings darkened, she unconsciously drew closer to Peon, huddling her shoulder. She moved just a little, and the actual distance barely narrowed.
But Peon immediately wrapped his entire hand around her shoulder and slowly waited for her to get used to the darkened surroundings.
Soft light was gradually seeping from the floor, and many glittering stones were reflecting that small light.
“Oh, oh?”
“Do you like playing with jewels?”
Another hill was fully spread out. Peon didn’t miss a single moment of Kaela’s expression – her eyes wide with surprise instead of her usual lifeless look, her mouth open.
****
Kaela always sat like a shadow. Having experienced so much, she was no longer swayed or surprised by anything. Even when suffering injustice, she didn’t get angry or feel aggrieved. She had no anger and rarely smiled.
Peon was holding onto her expressionless face and soulless eyes, trying in any way to grasp her and make her feel some emotion.
“Wow…”
Today was a success. When she made a cute sound about a mountain full of gold coins, he quickly matched her response, and her usually pale cheeks flushed pink.
“Wow…”
She rarely spoke. Kaela, who usually only spoke when absolutely necessary and kept her mouth shut, had forgotten herself, repeatedly exclaiming “wow”.
Kaela, who had lived without enjoying her age, believing she needed to appear dignified to be less ignored, now looked like a proper twenty-one-year-old for the first time.
She even clung tightly to his arm, unable to reach out, simply watching the jewels pouring down.
“Touch them.”
“Oh, no, I can’t.”
“Why?”
There were so many. Tourmaline, topaz, aquamarine, spinel, garnet, amethyst, turquoise, ruby, emerald, opal, sapphire, peridot, and an overwhelming number of pearls and diamonds.
While not quite covering a desert like the gold coins, the stones were enormous, rivaling the size of gems in the Kervan series, scattered around like common pebbles.
“Gold is fine, but touching jewels could damage them. Their value would decrease. It’s important.”
Her wide-eyed expression and perfectly rounded lips as she chattered were so adorable. While she was mimicking being a human, he restrained himself from immediately kissing her.
“I see.”
“Is it okay to just pile them up like this? They could break if pressed.”
“Dragons always cast preservation magic when storing jewels or gold.”
“Oh, I see. That’s fortunate.”
“So you can touch them, throw them, even lie on top.”
“Gold and jewels are different.”
“How are they different?”
Peon continued to ask, smiling.
“Gold is money, but jewels have a value far greater than money.”
“That’s true. These jewels will have immense value for our descendants. In that sense, why not take more?”
Casually mentioning they would have children, he pulled Kaela’s hand.
“Don’t just look at them like a precious artifact belonging to someone else.”
Did he think she would simply draw a line, saying this wasn’t hers?
“But…”
Holding back his desire to say it was all hers, Peon approached very carefully.
“This is just a small part, Kaela. A very small part. Besides this, there’s more. Paintings considered lost or burnt, sculptures thought to be broken, crafts, and an enormous number of ancient books.”
“Paintings and books?”
He gazed at Kaela, who reacted immediately, maintaining a bland expression but with greedy eyes, not missing a single detail. He devoured every slight emotional change.
“Yes. Plenty of those. Pick a few from here. I’ll make anything you want. As a set.”
Seeing Kaela, who had something else she wanted but couldn’t bring herself to ask, he sighed slightly.
“And after making those, let’s go see the paintings.”
One thing at a time. If curiosity grows bit by bit, tomorrow might be something to look forward to.
These two are something cute 🥰