Chapter 02 …

I Am the Mistress of the Onueve Dragon Ranch

The dead were the dead, and the living had to continue living even after the funeral was over.

Louiseette, who had returned from the funeral, immediately changed out of her rain-soaked clothes. Without even the time to bathe, she headed straight to her father’s study. She needed to understand the state of the family finances.

Until just a few days ago, she had never once cared about the price of a slice of meat on the dining table or silk stockings in her wardrobe. But now that she knew there was a debt of one million laurans, she could not remain the same.

“What will happen if we cannot repay the debt?”

She might become a beggar she had only glimpsed through the carriage window, or fall into a depth she could not even imagine. Louiseette was terrified of that possibility.

“First, I need to know how much property we still have.”

She opened file boxes at random. After struggling for quite some time with documents filled with difficult terminology, she finally grasped the general situation.

The Onueve family was unquestionably ruined. Louiseette was not an expert, but compared to what she had casually learned from her parents’ conversations by the fireplace, the situation was pitiful.

All the rural estates and vacation villas the family once owned were gone. Her father had sold them off one by one. And yet even that had not been enough to cover the debt—it was absurd.

The only remaining asset was the capital mansion. The house she and her mother currently lived in. If it were sold, they would be left homeless.

“Still, if we sell the mansion, it might help a little… The house is worth 350,000 laurans? Only that much?”

Even though it was old, it sat on prime land in the capital’s most prestigious district!

Frustrated, Louiseette opened another file box and spread the certificates of jewelry ownership across the desk. Her father’s, her mother’s, and her own precious ornaments—some inherited from her grandparents. If she added everything together…

“No… even at best, it barely reaches 100,000 laurans…”

The more she calculated, the more despairing the reality became. If she was not naturally upright and proud, she would have burst into tears.

Even if they sold everything and repaid 450,000 laurans, more than half—550,000 laurans—would remain. How could such a debt ever be repaid? Her mother and Louiseette, who had lived their entire lives as nobles, had no skills. Even if they became governesses, seamstresses, or maids under another family, they would never be able to repay it in a lifetime.

“Th-there might be other assets. Father, please… please…!”

Holding back tears, she searched the desk frantically. Eventually, she climbed a ladder and began desperately going through the bookshelves.

Was there anything left? Please, just one thing. Even a tiny plot of land would do. Why hadn’t she ever asked about the estate while her father was still alive? As regret and self-reproach rose within her, she accidentally knocked over a book near an art volume—and discovered it was a document folder.

Her eyes widened.

She quickly climbed down, picked it up, and opened it. Recognizing it as a property ownership certificate, her eyes lit up.

“There was one! This hasn’t been sold yet!”

Examining the document closely, she traced the letters with her fingers as she read aloud.

“Let’s see… ‘Onueve Dragon Ranch’… Ah, that place they mentioned earlier.”

It was the same place mentioned during her conversation with the Dragon Knight Stellarius. The dragon ranch she had never once visited.

Remembering the man’s insolent behavior and the handkerchief, Louiseette pouted—but still felt relieved that at least this property had not been sold. After reading carefully, she muttered:

“It’s in a rural mountainous area, so land prices are very cheap. That must be why it was left unsold.”

Indeed, the Hayet region was said to be rugged mountain terrain, even infested with monsters. And since the ranch had been half-abandoned, it likely had little resale value.

“What a waste… If it had been properly managed, things might have been different. Father really was careless with finances…”

Though she had no right to say so, having never cared about it herself.

Not every noble house could own a dragon ranch. Even families that owned multiple estates and ranches in the countryside could not casually handle dragons.

Dragons were among the most valuable creatures ever recorded in magical bestiaries—the highest-class beasts ever domesticated by humans. They were extremely sensitive to their environment, making incubation difficult, and raising them into usable adults was equally challenging.

Because of that, very few people could handle dragons properly. There were exceptional individuals like Stellarius, but… thinking of him again made Louiseette shake her head to erase the thought.

In any case, the Onueve Dragon Ranch had significantly declined. Even the balance sheet on the back of the document showed a steady decrease in livestock numbers. At this rate, selling it would not even begin to cover the debt.

To think that all that remained of the once-great Count Onueve family was such useless land.

Sighing deeply, Louiseette thought of the once-glorious estates and villas they used to own.

At least she should be grateful that something still remained. Just as she was wondering what to do next, she heard a knock at the study door.

“Louise, are you there?”

It was her mother, Catherine.

Louiseette quickly composed herself and turned.

Her mother had already changed clothes and entered in a robe.

“What is it, Mother? Are you drinking again?”

“I drank because my head was spinning from all that crying. It’s not that. I just now remembered something I heard at the funeral, and I needed to tell you.”

Catherine said this while gulping down liquor. She seemed unable to bring herself to speak without drinking.

“Lady Saintine said that Duke Truffaut has been widowed for a long time and is looking for a new marriage partner. It seems he has had his eye on you for some time. If our family is in financial trouble, he is willing to solve everything as if it were a bride price. Lady Saintine will handle the arrangement. What do you think?”

Louiseette stared at her mother in shock.

“Duke Truffaut? Me?”

“Yes. You’ve seen him a few times at the imperial palace, don’t you remember?”

“Mother, is that really the issue right now? He… he is older than Father. He’s sixty this year!”

“And you are twenty. That is old enough to marry.”

Catherine beat her chest as if the alcohol was catching up with her.

“Louise, think carefully. I married at eighteen and had you at nineteen. It is time for you to leave those young lady gatherings.”

“That was your generation! Who gets married at twenty these days? Especially to an old man as a second wife…”

“Do not speak so lightly! Do you know what position that is? You would become a duchess!”

Catherine glanced at the scattered documents in the study and immediately understood the situation. Her previously weak demeanor sharpened instantly as she rushed over and gathered the property papers.

“Look at this. This mansion, these jewels—everything is about to disappear. Do you want to end up relying on relatives? Do you think you can become a governess and repay a one-million-lauran debt?”

Her mother clearly knew the estate situation better than she did.

Catherine pulled out documents listing the debt sources and shook them.

“Dozens of families, banks, companies… all together—one million laurans. It’s terrifying.”

Realizing how pressured her daughter was, Catherine softened and embraced her shoulders.

“My dear Louise, I would never send you somewhere bad. If this continues, you might end up married to a butcher or worse. Compared to that, becoming a duchess is far better.”

“But, Mother…”

“An older husband is not always bad. When you become a young widow, there is no freer position! You keep the wealth and do whatever you want. So endure just a few years. Where else will we find one million laurans? Think of your mother.”

Catherine took Louiseette’s hands warmly. She looked nothing like the grieving woman from the funeral.

Louiseette took a deep breath.

She was used to her mother’s sudden mood changes. So instead of arguing, she swallowed her emotions.

“Alright.”

Catherine tightened her grip.

“I’ll think about it.”

Later that night

Think about it?

No matter how many times she thought about it, the answer was the same. What young woman would willingly sell herself to an old man for money?

Unable to sleep, Louiseette came out to the sitting room at night and sighed deeply.

She felt like drinking strong alcohol herself. If she had not grown up watching her mother rely on alcohol to steady herself, she might have already poured herself a glass.

She recalled Duke Truffaut.

If he had been an older man with dignity, perhaps she might have considered it.

But reality was unbearable. A fat, aging man with gray whiskers and a balding head—becoming his second wife… Unthinkable. Was this truly the fate of a girl once called the greatest beauty of high society?

How shameless Duke Truffaut was. If he had any dignity, he would not have proposed marriage to a twenty-year-old girl. But the moment he learned of their financial ruin, he reached out.

Debt was such a fatal weakness.

She wanted to refuse out of pride, but in the end, she would likely be forced into an arranged meeting.

Especially Catherine, who valued status deeply, seemed quite pleased at the idea of making her daughter a duchess.

“I can’t believe my life is turning out like this.”

Louiseette buried her face in her armrest, half resenting her father for leaving them in debt, and half resenting her mother for pushing her toward marriage.

But hatred toward one’s parents had limits. In the end, she forgave them inwardly and looked up at the fireplace.

There, on a round pedestal, sat a decorated egg.

“….”

She stared at it carefully.

Then suddenly stood up.

A dragon egg.

The most valuable and dangerous creature domesticated by humans, extremely sensitive to its environment. If conditions were unsuitable, it could remain in an egg for decades without hatching.

It was displayed in the mansion as a decorative artifact. To Louiseette, it had always been just another object, though guests often admired it with awe.

A thought struck her.

She rushed to the egg, lifted it from its stand, and held the oval object in her hands.

She did not know why Stellarius had come to the funeral.

She did not know why he called it the “Egg of Fleur.”

But one thought exploded in her mind.

The man had said he would pay any price for it.

Then… could it possibly be worth one million laurans?