CHAPTER 44: JUST LIKE ME

When Luke uttered these words, the eleven people who were already listening to him attentively continued to listen to him with strange excitement.

"My offer to you is that these businesses will be given to you, no rent will be charged for one year, and your tax payments will be reduced by 3% for one year. If you accept the offer, I will give you twenty gold coins per month until your sales begin to flow smoothly."

When Luke finished speaking, he noticed the open mouths of the eleven people lined up before him, and then added, "But that’s not all. If you can reach the sales target I will specify within a year, the monthly rent payment of five gold coins we will charge you after a year will be reduced to one gold coin. I don’t think I need to tell you that there is no limit to the profits you can make."

As soon as he said these words, one person from the group of eleven stepped forward and asked, "Great Hiera, may I ask where to sign?"

Luke smiled and, without hesitation, produced a document as if he already knew the woman standing before him.

This woman’s name was Valentina Frost. She was a fallen noble. Her family, or rather her father and mother, had fallen into gambling debt and lost everything. Valentina, on the other hand, had been taking care of her two younger siblings not only as a sister but also as a father and mother since she was twelve years old.

According to the information Luke had received from Kevin, despite all her efforts and her life, which could be described as ’shitty,’ Valentina had never once been angry with her siblings. She was respectful, organised, punctual, devoted to her family, did not drink or smoke, and, in short, was a very good person, if not perfect.

Additionally, Valentina’s gift was "Jewellery Carving." It was a rare and respected profession throughout the empire. However, those who possessed the gift of jewellery carving could not showcase their skills unless they had a sponsor who could provide them with immense jewellery.

She was exactly the person Luke was looking for.

"Valentina Frost, I’ve heard a lot about you," Luke said, clearly surprising Valentina.

"I’ll put you in one of the most magnificent business buildings I’ve created in the city. It’s a large business located in the area where the long bazaar is, consisting of three floors, each floor measuring 300 square metres. A business whose sole purpose is jewellery and gemstone trading." Luke said suddenly, then slid the document he had prepared across the table to Valentina, who was standing right in front of him, and said, "Read it."

When Valentina read the contract and everything written inside, her eyes filled with tears. The young woman almost collapsed to her knees.

She was 23 years old. For the past eleven years, she had been taking care of her two younger siblings and working extremely hard on her daily chores, which had left her on the verge of collapse. She didn’t eat so that her siblings could eat. She didn’t drink so that her siblings could drink.

This contract was now rewarding her for everything she had endured up to this point.

Luke had, of course, added some extras to the contract... for the necessary people, of course. After learning their life stories, personality information, and other necessary details, he had changed the contracts of the eleven people he had chosen one by one.

He had offered them such good opportunities that they could not refuse their contracts.

Luke was not an ordinary nobleman of an ordinary empire or kingdom.

Whether Alfred the Second liked it or not, he was a member of the Hiera bloodline and one of the highest nobles of the Hiera Empire. His people—humans, half-humans, elves, dwarves, half-demons, vampires, and many others—would live under equal and favourable conditions, regardless of their race, age, or gender.

The reason Valentina started crying was precisely this:

[The party presenting the contract (Party A) will offer the following conditions to the party signing the contract (Party B): Luke Ibn Alphonsine Hiera, Party A, will sponsor Valentina Frost’s two younger siblings based on Valentina Frost’s oath of allegiance. The school expenses, stationery, food, and clothing expenses of the two younger siblings will be paid directly by Luke Ibn Alphonsine Hiera until they turn eighteen.]

This was one of the clauses of the contract, and this contract was specific to Valentina.

This was the reward for Valentina being able to live in such a strange, shitty, yet good world up until now and sacrificing her own interests for the sake of two people she valued.

Was there a better sister?

Perhaps there was.

Was Valentina one of those ’best’ sisters?

Absolutely.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, thank you so much, I’m so glad you’re here..."

The young woman began to speak these words with tears streaming down her face. Luke smiled and said, "I have a family too, and I know I would do the same for them. We were born into different ranks and positions, but unlike you, I had good parents, including my father, who agreed to send me into exile."

Then, without pausing for a second, he said:

"If you swear allegiance to me and use your gift only for the name of Hiera, I swear that you and your descendants will be welcomed in a way that will be applauded under the Hiera surname. Continue living, Valentina, and show us what a jeweller with more jewels than she could ever imagine can do."

Without a moment’s hesitation, Valentina signed the contract and declared that her entire family would live under the name of Hiera in the name of Nyx.

Then it was the turn of the other ten people. They quickly read the contracts, and each of their expressions was the same as Valentina’s.

Luke had not chosen these eleven people simply because he wanted his wish to be granted. It was not because he could use their pain. Luke was not a bad person.

He simply wanted to save the eleven people who had been abandoned by the world, just like him, and give them a new purpose in life.

That purpose was to live for Luke Ibn Alphonsine Hiera.