Chapter 121

“You hurt my feelings when you say that.”

I pushed the coin pouch away.

“It feels like you’re doubting the purity of my goodwill.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Serena offered the coin pouch again.

How could she doubt my goodwill?

I approached her so kindly that it sometimes felt excessive, and at other times it made her confused.

“Ever since I first met you, I’ve always just been grateful to you, Shion.”

Her raspberry-colored eyes were firm.

“But.”

She stood straight and dignified.

“The Verchellos cannot rise with the pity of others.”

“Isn’t that just your pride, milady?”

“Yes, it’s the last bit of pride for a Verchello to be a Verchello.”

The Verchellos’ situation was pathetic.

They were not in a position to refuse help.

Yet, the reason she offered the coin pouch was not because the money was light.

It was because her resolve was heavy.

No matter how much I showed my goodwill, I was a person from outside the family.

If the Verchellos couldn’t stand on their own without my pity, then it was time for them to disappear.

Even if it was disappointing, sad, and even painful, that’s what honor was.

Serena, who was protecting her position as the head of the family at a young age, always had such a resolve.

“What if I don't accept this pouch?”

“I will leave the pouch and return.”

She chose to pay a price for my goodwill.

The next choice was mine.

Would I accept the price she paid, the value of her resolve?

“What will you do, Shion?”

I smiled gently.

“What do you want me to do, milady?”

“Please accept it.”

“Then I will accept it.”

I quickly took the coin pouch.

It wasn't even pocket change for me, but it felt heavy.

That was because the value of one's heart could never be so light.

“I hope our friendship doesn't end just because I accepted this money, right?”

“What do you want me to do, Shion?”

“I want to eat your bread again next week.”

“Then I will do that.”

They naturally promised a day that hadn't come yet.

Even though Serena had rejected my goodwill, I didn't lose my smile.

“Since you don't like pity, I'll give you a new offer.”

I, Shion Pollinglight, took out a metal tin from my pocket.

It was the peppermint and raspberry lozenges I would eat at any time.

I had just gotten a large supply from the Shaebo Confectionery.

Serena naturally held out her hand, and I naturally handed her a candy.

The same scent came from both of our mouths.

“I’ll give you a goodwill with a price. Let's form an official sponsorship relationship.”

“…Sponsorship?”

Serena de Verchello brushed her side hair back at the unexpected proposal.

No matter how much they had fallen, they were still the Verchellos.

They had more than one mouth to feed.

If an individual were to sponsor such a family, they couldn't just be an ordinary wealthy person.

“As for the amount, let’s see…”

Noticing Serena's concern, I smiled gently.

My blue eyes curved into a crescent shape.

“How about a hundred Maesh gold coins to start?”

“…Pardon?”

A hundred Maesh gold coins.

It was an amount that could buy a few small shops like the Art Gallery Lamponé and still have some left over.

It was an amount that an ordinary wealthy person could not easily offer.

Serena looked at me again.

“That much money would certainly be an immediate help… but aren't you overdoing it? The gallery doesn’t have many customers.”

“We have customers!”

“I know. I know that galleries are run by the money of a few wealthy clients. So I know you have a lot of cash. But a hundred gold coins…”

Serena covered her mouth.

“You don't have to overdo it, Shion.”

“Milady Serena. You're mistaken.”

I bit and swallowed the candy.

There was a crunching sound.

“A hundred coins every month. In cash, of course.”

“……!!!”

Serena couldn't believe it. But my blue eyes were unwavering.

Only then did she realize that my words about sponsoring her with a hundred gold coins every month were genuine, and she was so shocked that she almost fainted.

She couldn’t help it.

A hundred gold coins every month!

You’d have to have a profitable business like the Del Conti mill to earn that much money.

No, you’d probably have to combine two or three such profitable businesses.

He was offering to sponsor her with an astronomical amount of cash every month, money that a normal person would never be able to touch in their lifetime and with Maesh gold coins, the most reliable currency in the West!

“…Do you have that kind of money?”

“Coincidentally, I do.”

“…How?”

“That's a secret.”

I, Shion Pollinglight, put my index finger to my lips.

I had many secrets.

There were many things I couldn't reveal.

Serena’s question lingered in her mind and awakened another question.

“Why…”

She raised her raspberry-colored eyes.

I looked into her eyes.

For a moment, I thought I saw an incredibly sad face, but I took it as a mistake.

There was no reason for me to have a sad face and I quickly put on a smile.

“Why me, why go to such lengths…?”

“I wonder?”

I shrugged.

Would she understand if I told her it was because of the screaming from the empty eye sockets?

Would she understand if I told her it was because of the screams that couldn't possibly disappear?

She wouldn’t know.

She couldn’t know.

So I endured once again and fed the hunchback.

Instead, I habitually spun secret, plausible words.

“I’ll be in Merion for a while, the Verchellos are better than the Del Contis and sponsoring the Verchellos isn’t a huge burden for me.”

“……”

“Besides, I’ve become friends with you, Milady Serena.”

They were all excuses.

From beginning to end, they were just plausible words and didn't contain a single real reason.

Serena de Verchello noticed that and I noticed that she had noticed, but I didn't care.

Instead, I rummaged through the table and took out a random pouch.

It was a pouch of gold coins I had set aside as an emergency fund.

Maesh gold coins came pouring out.

I had counted exactly fifty coins and put them in this one pouch, enough to buy a house with a garden.

Serena's eyes, watching the gold coins pour out so nonchalantly, were filled with an emotion closer to fear than bewilderment.

In her eyes, I had instantly transformed into an unknown entity.

I didn't care and just flicked a gold coin.

“This might sound arrogant, but sponsoring you with a hundred gold coins every month is not a difficult decision for me to make.”

“…It does sound arrogant.”

“Oh my!”

The lighthearted joke broke the fear.

Serena saw me as me again.

Although a bit of shock remained.

I gave a rough explanation.

Even if I couldn't go into details, I told her that I had a few small mines, that a considerable amount of money was deposited into my account every month, and that I would show her the mines if I got the chance.

Serena waved her hand.

“…No, that’s enough.”

Serena de Verchello's voice was cautious.

“I repaid your goodwill with my pride and rudeness, but you are approaching me with even greater goodwill.”

“Then please repay me with goodwill now.”

“Will accepting the sponsorship be considered a favor to you, Shion?”

“Of course.”

She smiled carefully, but softly like a maiden.

This sponsorship would be a great help to the Verchello family.

She realized that the empty dream she had always had, the revival of her family, no longer felt empty.

“I'll accept your offer, Shion. I’m so embarrassed.”

“Is there shame in survival?”

Instead of answering, she smiled even more deeply.

She just smiled.

Without any intention of showing off, I spoke of the next step of her dream.

“Then the Harvest Festival will be the most urgent matter, milady.”

“Yes. Since it's come to this, I must enter.”

They had no money, but the Parade of Seven Carriages at the Merion Harvest Festival was a very attractive opportunity.

If they participated in that procession and proclaimed the Verchellos’ prosperity, the restoration of their former glory would be a big step closer.

She had just been on the verge of giving up with tears in her eyes because the situation was not favorable.

“Since you are my sponsor, you have the right to interfere in the Verchellos’ affairs. But can you leave the Harvest Festival to me? I have my own plan.”

“I can hear what that plan is, can't I?”

“Of course. Please hear me out.”

Serena said.

“My grandfather used a special carriage for the Harvest Festival. The repair costs were enormous and we didn't have the money to decorate the procession, so it’s just been rotting in the warehouse until now…”

She lowered her head.

There were gold coins on the table.

Fifty coins.

It was more than enough money to fix the old carriage like new.

Money, that damn money.

It was so hateful, but she couldn't live without it.

People said money wasn't everything in the world, but if you didn't have it, you couldn't do anything and if you had it, you could do so many things.

Such money, a monstrous amount of money, gold that she had always craved, had suddenly rolled into her lap.

“…Now, thanks to this.”

Serena worried that her earnestness would become a simple desire.

It was a lot of money, and a lot of money had a great magical power.

It was the kind of gold that could make her forget her purpose and dream if she wasn't careful.

“That’s a relief.”

The boy who offered the gold, I , Shion Pollinglight, smiled brightly.

I had a destiny.

I had an even deeper secret.

A mere amount of gold was too light to twist a soul that was already strong and had already been twisted.

The magic of money felt too light to me.

“It's not interference, but I can watch, can't I, milady?”

“It would be a pity if you didn't come, Shion.”

“I’ll definitely go.”

***

It was two days after the sponsorship began.

Serena and I walked down the street.

I wasn't very tall and Serena was quite tall for her age, so we shared almost the same eye level.

Two eyes at a similar level, one blue and one raspberry-colored.

I chewed on a lozenge.

Still, I bought some snacks from a street vendor that were only eaten by children and offered them to Serena.

Serena accepted them as if she didn't mind.

They were too sweet, but that's what made them taste good.

“How are the carriage repairs coming along?”

I took out my third lozenge and asked.

“I entrusted it to a craftsman who has had ties with our family since long ago. He was also the former head of the craftsmen’s guild, so he knows a lot of technicians.”

“In that case, Arellay Irellas?”

“You know Master Arellay?”

“A person from Merion should know him.”

Is that so? Serena tilted her head.

Arellay Irellas was certainly a notable person in Merion, but he wasn't someone who was active on the outside.

She wondered if I, who had only been in Merion for a little over a year, would know him.

“Anyway, he’s right here. Master Arellay’s workshop…”

“Heyyy!!”

A shouting sound.

“This isn't it!! This isn't it, I say!”

An old man came running out, yelling loudly.

A few people who seemed to be apprentices tried to stop him, but the old man didn't budge.

The old man, who had been yelling at the sky, his gaze fell on Serena.

“This isn’t… huh? The Verchello milady?”

“Is something wrong, Master Arellay?”

“Something wrong? Of course there is.”

Arellay Irellas, an old man who wanted to live a quiet life, mumbled.

“It’s a complete bust. Give up on the carriage repairs.”