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Chapter 125
“I-I greet Your Highness.”
Daniel, who had been standing there dumbfounded with his mouth wide open, hurriedly bowed.
“F-Forgive my rudeness, Your Highness, I—”
Pession frowned. He had only come out to walk around comfortably, but being the center of attention was the last thing he wanted.
“Who is this?”
“T-that…”
Daniel tried to introduce himself, but his throat was choked, and he stammered again.
Humiliated, face burning red, Daniel cursed the twins in his mind.
Why on earth was the Crown Prince, who could only be seen inside the Imperial Palace, here of all places?!
Daniel had never, ever imagined that he would meet the Crown Prince in such a place!
‘If you brought His Highness along, you should’ve at least warned me!’
The twins, of course, hadn’t expected this either—Pession had simply followed along when they brought Arellin—but Daniel had no way of knowing that.
“He’s our cousin.”
“Daniel Sperom.”
The twins, who had finally caught up, smiled sweetly at Daniel.
‘Those brats did this on purpose.’
Pession shrugged.
“Y-Your Highness…”
“Lower your voice.”
“Y-yes.”
Fortunately, since it looked like the kids were just playing together, no further attention was drawn to them.
But Daniel only grew more frustrated. He thought the twins had meant actual children of his age when they said “friends.”
‘Wait a second…’
Looking again, Daniel realized the quiet boy beside the Crown Prince was the second son of Muebisk.
‘Then who’s that girl?’
The moment his eyes met the girl’s rosy pink gemstone-like eyes, Daniel flinched.
Because as soon as he looked at her, Pession’s gaze sharpened.
‘…What?’
The twins stepped in.
“This is Arellin.”
“And this is Harun.”
They gave Daniel quick introductions and once again tried to signal him.
“We were planning to play just by ourselves.”
“What do you think, big brother?”
The twins were radiating please leave us alone energy—but unfortunately, clueless Daniel misinterpreted it as a desperate please join us.
After offending the Crown Prince, Daniel desperately wanted to escape, but the twins clearly had other plans.
“R-right. Since His Highness is here, I should guide him around even more.”
“?!”
With a near-crying face, Daniel forced himself to lead.
“Just trust me and follow along!”
Despite his bold declaration, his expression was nothing but miserable.
The twins’ faces darkened immediately.
Pession shot them a look that said, What kind of nuisance did you drag along?
The twins answered with an equally resentful look, We didn’t want this either.
Thus began a time none of them wanted—a joyless, tragic farce.
* * *
The Sperom Trade Exhibition, contrary to its stiff name, was full of fun and curious things.
All of it was the desperate handiwork of mages, scrambling for research funding.
“Mages submit lots of inventions here to sell, but most of them are useless. Just toys.”
“Why? They look fine to me.”
“That’s because you’re still young and don’t know better. They cost a fortune and aren’t worth it.”
Daniel Sperom, though only fifteen, looked almost like an adult thanks to his rapid growth.
Maybe that was why—after being flustered by the Crown Prince at first—he quickly regained his confidence and became arrogant again.
‘What would kids know?’
“Hey, did you see this? It’s a secret, but this is going to be the next Sperom flagship business item.”
Daniel puffed up, repeating things he’d overheard from his father.
“I’m even thinking of investing myself.”
In truth, Daniel had no money for that.
He had started his first business at fourteen with the help of his father, Philip, but hadn’t made any real profit yet. On the contrary, he was sinking his allowance into it.
So he couldn’t understand why the twins were trying their hand at business.
‘Hah, they’ll crash and burn for sure.’
Having always lived under the pressure of his father’s words—“You must surpass the twins”—Daniel decided to take out his frustration now.
“Have you thought about a business item?”
Noel and Ciel shook their heads.
“Your first business is important. I know because I tried it myself—business is really tough.”
Daniel sighed.
“Expectations are so high too. It was bad enough for me, but for you two it’ll be even worse—you’re direct heirs.”
“Guess so?”
“You absolutely can’t fail. Everyone has high hopes for you! So I’ll help. Just trust me.”
Ciel blinked.
In truth, the Duke of Sperom had allowed the twins to start a business not because he expected success, but to give them experience.
Growth doesn’t come without hardship—an old Sperom family belief.
But the twins just thought of it as a fun new “game.”
“You’ll help us?”
“Of course!”
Daniel eagerly led them.
“This is what I recommend.”
His suggestion was face accessories.
“You know how stickers are trending in the capital right now? Everyone’s getting into fashion accessories.”
Daniel’s so-called “Golden Eye,” an ability to see price trends, was a weaker version of Ciel’s Eye for Value—but still somewhat useful.
“Mark my words, this will be the next big thing!”
Ciel tilted his head.
And with reason:
[Well-Made Face Accessory (Exhibition Item)]
[Value: 542]
According to Ciel’s Eye for Value, it did indeed have decent value.
“Huh…”
Items had different valuation standards than people.
Given that sticker products had recently shot up from 102 → 654, 542 was no small number.
“Looks okay to me.”
The twins both looked at Arellin.
“What do you think, Arellin?”
Arellin glared at the accessory with open disdain—who would buy this trash?
“I don’t like it.”
“What?!”
Daniel snapped.
“You heard her, big brother.”
“Then we don’t like it either.”
The twins had already decided from the start: their business choice would be Arellin’s pick. No hesitation.
Daniel couldn’t believe it. Face flushed with humiliation, he shouted:
“What do you know?! This is guaranteed to skyrocket in value! The next trend after stickers!”
“You twins—you’d rather trust some little girl with no Golden Eye than me?!”
But the twins knew the truth.
It was Arellin who had turned stickers into a fashion craze in the first place.
“Th-that’s absurd!”
Unable to accept it, Daniel raged. How could he be dismissed by a much younger girl?
“Then what would you invest in?! If what you pick is more useful than mine, I’ll step back quietly.”
Arellin gave him a look that said, Why should I bother with something so tedious?
Pession asked quietly, “Should I step in?”—but Arellin, lost in thought, shook her head.
“If what I choose really has higher value, you’ll back off?”
“Of course. I’ll admit your judgment surpasses mine.”
Ciel’s Eye for Value would settle the score.
Arellin nodded.
Daniel smirked confidently.
‘Impossible. Among all the items here, nothing’s higher than the face accessory I picked!’
He already considered himself the winner.
“Go ahead, bring it on.”
And sure enough—
“This one.”
Arellin pointed to a strange-looking artifact.
[RRR Mana Engine Mk.1 (Prototype)]
[Value: 56]
“Pfft…!”
Daniel burst into laughter. Even Ciel was surprised.
Purely by numbers, Daniel’s pick was a landslide victory.
But Arellin remained calm.
“If it were me, I’d make an exclusive contract with the mage who made this, push them to keep developing it, and buy all the patent rights.”
Her confident voice carried certainty. Ciel was even more baffled.
‘Value 50 means it’s practically useless…’
Daniel sneered.
“This piece of trash? You’d pay for that?”
The mage who had made it looked crushed by the insult, but Daniel didn’t even notice.
Arellin replied coolly,
“Of course it looks like trash when you see it like this.”
“What?”
“This is like the foundation stone of a building.”
Arellin set the mana engine on the ground.
“Because with this, I’d create something new.”
“Something new?”
“A carriage that doesn’t need horses.”
As soon as she said it, the mage’s illusion magic enveloped the mana engine, showing the shape Arellin described: an automobile.
At that moment—
Ciel’s eyes widened.
[RRR Mana Engine Mk.1 (Prototype)]
[Value: 167]
The mana engine’s value had changed.
a
