IHRS 07

Chapter – 07

The only thing I asked of Marsha was one thing.

“These are the documents that can bring down the Leweiz Marquisate. I’ve spent two years of my life on this. Will you deliver them? Just make sure they get into Asel’s hands.”

In the original story, Laura takes the blame for all the crimes of the Leweiz family and is executed. The rest of the family, including Gepetto, sacrifice her to save themselves.

Knowing that future, I wasn’t about to suffer the same fate.

From the moment I became Laura, I had been secretly collecting the Marquisate’s confidential information to hit them where it hurt. Being an adopted child, I still bore the Leweiz name, so smuggling out internal documents wasn’t difficult.

I buried the accumulated intelligence in the backyard of the temple. In my mind, it was a place where the Marquis would never think to look—but it ended up being quite clever.

‘Thanks to this, I don’t even have to go far to retrieve these documents.’

Marsha was delighted.

“That’s wonderful! If His Majesty sees this, his memories will surely return. We can send it under your name as the submitter.”

“That won’t do.”

“Huh?”

“The documents must be delivered anonymously.”

I explained to Marsha, who looked puzzled.

“Asel doesn’t trust me yet. If I hand over documents attacking the family under my name, he’ll think it’s a trap and won’t even read them.”

It was better to make it look like someone else, a righteous person who hated the Leweiz family, had done it.

“If that’s the case… understood.”

After Marsha left for the palace, I went to the stock exchange.

Just like in modern times, this world also had multiple trading venues.

I went to the exchange operated by the Macherta guild. True to its reputation as a legal gambling hall with volatile fortunes, the entrance was already loud and bustling.

“Hey, why did you sell? You should’ve waited!”
“Who said Markan Steel would rise? You scammer! Argh!”
“Sell or not? Fine, I’ll sell! Let’s go!”

The lively clamor filled the trading floor. People shouted in incomprehensible tongues or stared blankly at the ticker boards while staff rushed back and forth.

‘It’s been a while since I came here.’

Laura was a noble in name only and had no private fortune. To prepare for the future, I had dabbled in stocks and had successfully earned a large sum.

‘As I became more well-known, more unusual requests came in, so eventually I sent proxies.’

Incidentally, the money I earned was kept in a shadow account under the guild leader, so the amount was negligible to him and the Leweiz Marquis wouldn’t be able to touch it.

‘I should have made the account in my own name.’

Now that the guild leader had forgotten me, there was no way to prove the shadow account was mine—meaning I had lost sight of my fortune.

“Welcome to the Macherta Exchange. Would you like to buy or sell? If you don’t have a particular stock in mind, we can make recommendations.”

The clerk was someone I had never seen before. Her hair neatly tied up made her appear quite young.

“I’d like to buy.”

I handed over the list I had prepared. It included stocks in shipping, shipbuilding, and distribution—ones I predicted would soar.

“I’ll take 500 shares of each. Payment will be with this.”

I handed over part of the fifty million Marks Gepetto had given me, after setting aside some for living expenses.

The money was untraceable cash, which made transactions easier.

My reason for buying was simple.

‘Princess Marien is visiting the Empire with the trade agreement.’

Rumors of the trade activation between Arietta Kingdom and the Empire had previously caused the related stocks to soar, but the negotiations had collapsed, and those once-booming stocks had dropped sharply.

‘This is a politically themed stock, then?’

Influence requires money, whether to set up shelters or manipulate the world. My goal was to sell at a peak for short-term profits.

‘If I short-sell when prices hit the floor, I can make even more.’

I was confident in the rise because Marien’s trade agreement was the pretext.

Marien came to the Empire to become Empress by marrying Asel. In the original story, she tried to oust Seraphina, Asel’s fiancée, by manipulating high society, but was discovered and expelled back to her kingdom.

She was a minor villain. My interference had altered some events, but the major plotline remained, so Marien’s role stayed the same.

“…Please wait while I confirm!”

The clerk froze as if the machine had jammed, then hurriedly opened the money pouch and counted the coins.

“Order… confirmed!”

She glanced at me several times, perhaps worried I might cancel at the last moment. I stood silently, and she filled out the red purchase slip and whisked the pouch away.

“We will bring the stock certificates shortly!”

There were only two things in the world that could capture Macherta guild leader Dindin’s attention: gold, and the owner of gold.

The latter had almost disappeared, leaving him mainly interested in the gold itself.

Unrefined, the metal reflected its raw essence. Smooth, square bars seemed to contain the order of the world itself.

So naturally, gold, and more gold, drew me in. Seeking it was no sin.

Others could not understand him.

“Here we go again,” they muttered.
“What do you need all that money for? You can’t take it with you when you die!”

It didn’t matter. Envy and misunderstanding followed him because he was born holding a golden kingdom. He had no interest in people.

Many sought him, but he ignored them all.

“This is all bought by one person?”

It was extremely rare for him to show interest in anyone.

“Y-yes…”

The clerk, called over by someone of such exalted status, shrank back. Honor mattered little to her, but why she had been summoned did.

Dindin’s eyes, like melted gold, were beautiful yet terrifying—almost inhuman.

But he was different.

“By the heavens.”

He cupped his cheeks in his palms in admiration. The stocks the woman had purchased were exactly the ones he had suggested—the jackpot gold mines.

No one else could understand him, and he assumed that would remain so forever.

‘Has there ever been anyone who could see the world the way I do?’

The woman might have been an agent for someone, but he trusted his instincts: she was genuine.

‘How did she hear about Princess Marien’s arrival?’

Marien had arrived yesterday, but no banquet had been held, and very few knew. If the news got out, the stocks would spike. By then, buying would only be chasing the price.

‘Her judgment is incredible. Even if she’s not rich, she can invest fearlessly.’

He wondered how she would act. Would she follow the same choices he would, or would she fall after a lucky strike?

Even though she shone like the sun, radiant only at night, once she caught his eye, she became a celestial body in his world.

“I wonder… what will she do?”

He grinned, mixing excitement with anticipation.

The clerk quietly stepped backward.