Chapter 09
“Is that girl the new bride brought in by Duke Icard this time?”
“Yes. But she has quite a few unusual traits.”
At the horse racing event, Duke Icard appeared with Evan and Laria, drawing the attention of everyone present.
It was no wonder—people never imagined that Duke Icard, who was rapidly consolidating his power, would show up at a horse racing venue.
Most people considered Duke Icard merely competent, but a few who could read the flow of things found him suspicious, as if he were trying to manipulate the empire from behind the scenes…
For reasons unknown, it was vaguely clear that his schemes were bigger than they appeared.
All kinds of intelligence guilds had analyzed that, if things continued as they were, in a few years the only force capable of countering him would be the royal family.
If his only son, Evan, happened to marry into the royal family, there would be no one left to stop Duke Icard.
“How strange,”
murmured Sven Bestian, head of the dark information guild.
“What on earth did he bring that girl in for?”
Laria was of no real help as a potential bride.
The Count and Countess of Rostri had died suddenly in a carriage accident, leaving almost no inheritance for their children. Yet Duke Icard immediately took Laria as a bride simply because she had nowhere else to go.
Technically, “taking her as a bride” was just submitting a marriage registration to the royal family.
Even the Rostri family’s debts were entirely paid off by Duke Icard. Of course, the amount was nothing to the wealth of the Icard family.
“That’s absurd. Someone like Duke Icard wouldn’t act on such human reasons.”
Until now, most politically-minded people had expected Evan to pair with Princess Ellani.
Princess Ellani was the right age for Evan and was the first in line for succession. Eventually, she would inherit the empire, though the emperor was still very young.
But Duke Icard shattered expectations by marrying Evan to Laria instead.
“There must be a reason,” Sven muttered.
Indeed, this move caused his political opponents to lose their standing, but using the marriage of his only son in this way seemed inefficient.
Moreover, Evan had become a married man without understanding the situation.
“And now, parading them together at the horse racing event… just to show off,”
Sven clicked his tongue.
Everyone knew Duke Icard had essentially neglected raising his son. Suddenly pretending to be a harmonious family was definitely strange.
“There’s a reason,” Sven said, his eyes falling on the girl with pink hair.
She walked with a slight skip, her flushed cheeks and smiling face like a sparrow—insignificant yet eye-catching. Fourteen years old, with no background and no distinguishing traits.
“I’ll have to watch her closely.”
Sven’s gray hair fluttered slightly in the wind.
“To read Duke Icard’s hand, I need to know Laria Rose Icard.”
Sven was a dark information broker who always looked at the bigger picture. Anything unknown to him—useful or not—was a maddening obstacle.
Whether he later sold the information or not, he desperately wanted to know why Laria had been chosen as Evan’s bride.
He quietly concealed his presence and crept close to Duke Icard’s entourage.
The special seats that Ordi had guided us to were incredible. From our high vantage point, we could see the horses running clearly.
Evan stared thoughtfully at the betting slips brought by the event staff. While he pondered several possibilities, I had only one concern.
“Um…”
I sighed and spoke to Evan.
“Could you lend me some money?”
“What?”
“I want to bet for fun, but I have no money.”
Setting pride aside completely, I gave him a pitiful look.
I had expected Duke Icard to give me some pocket money just for showing up at the horse racing event, but he said nothing. I had no choice but to cling to Evan in desperation.
“I’ll pay you back if I win.”
How pitiful I was.
Not having money was truly sad. I silently vowed never to waste money again if I ever had it in the future.
“No cash?”
“Yeah…” I murmured dejectedly.
Duke Icard, arms crossed, interjected.
“You are not yet of age, so the steward must not have allocated a budget.”
“Yes.” I blinked and looked up at the duke sitting beside me, trying to look as pitiful as possible.
“Of course, it’s not inconvenient, but… I just don’t have cash…”
“Here.”
He pulled a gold coin from his pocket and handed it to me.
A gold coin! I was shocked but quickly accepted it.
“This is payment for your painting.”
Painting? I thought he didn’t like it?
“Thank you!”
I was overjoyed. Evan looked at my beaming face and said seriously,
“We should inform the steward to set a budget. Even if you are a minor, you bear the Icard name. You should have cash available equivalent to what I have.”
But Duke Icard said nothing. After a while, he finally added,
“Why bother? I’ve already given you more than enough for the painting.”
“Pardon?”
“If you need pocket money, paint something.”
Wait… does that mean if I keep painting, I’ll keep getting paid?
‘It barely took me ten minutes to doodle. And one gold coin? The pay rate is insane.’
Anyway, it meant no budget allocation would be made. Not that it mattered. From this moment, I would never be short on cash!
I handed the gold coin to the event staff. Even just one, it was the largest denomination and a considerable sum.
“I’ll bet it all.”
I boldly checked the betting slip.
Seeing my slip, Evan, the staff, and even Duke Icard—who had shown no interest—widened their eyes.
“Laria? You’re really betting it all?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m doing.”
“Don’t be so careless just because it’s someone else’s money,” the duke muttered with a smirk.
“Well, it’s just a child’s game anyway.”
A child’s game… with a gold coin.
Soon, the starting pistol fired, and the horses took off.
The male lead of the original story, Seymour Rittsua, was also at today’s horse racing event.
He was a commoner desperate to become a noble and was obsessed with buying a title.
‘A typical monster born of capitalism.’
And as the male lead, money naturally flowed his way.
One unique aspect of the original The Empire’s Great Deal was that the male lead’s financial moves were described in detail, making it enjoyable to see him grow his fortune even in a romance story.
He managed estates, made various investments, and tracked the three ancient magical items on the continent to earn astronomical sums.
The important point here was that Seymour scored his first big win at this very horse racing event.
‘From now on, he’s my role model.’
The episode where he laid the groundwork for buying a title happened here.
I couldn’t resist—since the payouts were huge, I placed my money on the horse that would win.
[Pick the 1st Place Horse – Black Horse]
A black horse that had gone unnoticed, unexpected first place, enormous payouts.
Black Horse’s past performance was poor, and it had little experience as a racehorse.
‘But today, it will win.’
Seymour saw Black Horse before the race and bet with confidence. Even Evan’s interest in horses couldn’t beat the male lead’s luck.
Everyone looked at me as if I were throwing money away, but I stayed completely calm.
Then the race began… and by the end, chaos erupted at the racecourse.
The black horse, which no one expected, came in first. The payout was an astonishing 34,012 times.
