FSTE 04

Chapter 04

Isabel, the mistress of the Lapis Lazuli Trading Company.
She was a woman so famous that her name was known even in remote villages of enemy nations.

If there was one problem, it was that half of her fame was infamy.

A seductress who stole another woman’s husband at a young age.
Later, a wicked woman suspected of poisoning her husband and his child from his former wife.

In truth, the latter incident was concluded to have been revenge by the former wife.
Apparently, the poisoned wine Isabel had sent was used in cooking, leading to the tragedy.
Even so, most people firmly believed that Isabel had framed someone else to cover up her own crime.

That said, no one could deny that her talent for business surpassed that of her late husband.
It was none other than Isabel herself who had grown the Lapis Lazuli Trading Company to its current scale.

“Still, ‘the richest woman in the world’—that’s a bit too much flattery.”

Isabel gazed calmly at Lian, a faint smile on her lips.

“The world is wider than you think. Even among famous nobles, there are plenty of women richer than I am.”
“But they’re merely women born into wealthy families. They’re different from you, Lady Isabel, who earned your wealth with your own power.”
“Oh my. Your words are as pretty as your face.”

Such people were rare in this world, but in Lian’s previous life, there had been quite a few like Isabel.

She was an ambitious woman.
Though she still retained her beauty even at the age of forty, her looks were merely one of the weapons she possessed.
Praising her for that wouldn’t earn much in return.

“So, how much are you planning to sell this child for?”

Face and personality—both passed.
There was no reason for Isabel to reject someone like Lian.

“Three hundred dwarf gold coins.”
“Oh my….”

If only the price weren’t such a hurdle.

It wasn’t that Isabel lacked the money—in fact, she had more than enough.
Still, the rich weren’t fools who scattered money everywhere.

“He named the price himself, so there’s no use looking at me like that.”

The boss gave a dry chuckle, as if he couldn’t believe the number even though he’d just said it himself.

“Child, if you wanted to haggle, simply throwing out a high price isn’t the way to do it.”

The reckless bravado of a naïve boy who didn’t understand the ways of the world.
Isabel seemed to think so as well, laughing it off lightly.

“He is indeed exceptionally handsome. But one hundred fifty gold coins. That seems like a fair price to me.”

It was slightly higher than even the boss had expected.

Truth be told, it wouldn’t really matter if Lian were sold for that price.
Even if they squeezed out more, none of it would trickle down to him—it would only benefit the boss.

It was obvious that the boss had accepted Lian’s proposal half out of amusement.
If the deal went through, great—but he didn’t seem serious about selling him at that price.

For Lian as well, it was enough as long as he achieved his goal of becoming Isabel’s slave.

“Then I’ll prove that I’m worth that much.”

Yet there was a strange stubborn pride in those words.
A desire to have his worth properly acknowledged—

Even if that worth was nothing more than a slave’s price.

Math had always been one of Lian’s strongest subjects, even in his previous life.
His ability to solve complex calculations mentally was so remarkable that even his math teacher had been impressed.

“If there are nine crates, each containing thirty-two sheepskins priced at twelve silver coins per piece, what’s the total?”
“Fifty-seven gold coins and thirty-six silver coins.”
“Oh my. Already?”

On top of that, the currency system of this world was rather bizarre.
Twenty-five copper coins equaled one silver coin, and sixty silver coins equaled one gold coin.
Despite using a decimal system for counting, it lacked intuitive consistency.

There seemed to be a complicated historical reason behind it, but regardless,
it was an obvious fact that even merchants frequently made calculation errors.

“Uh… um. That’s correct.”

Isabel’s accountant, who had been furiously clicking his abacus beads beside them, nodded.

Unlike Lian, who answered immediately after hearing the question,
it took the accountant about five seconds to reach the answer.

“Impressive. So your confidence in arithmetic wasn’t an empty boast after all. Then….”

Isabel gradually raised the difficulty of the problems.

At first, they required nothing more than basic arithmetic.
Then they moved on to increasingly complex calculations involving formulas.

“…so what profit can we expect?”
“A total of one thousand two hundred seven gold coins and twenty-four silver coins.”

And Lian usually answered without taking more than five seconds.

“Is that correct again?”
“J-just a moment, please!”

Clack-clack-clack—

Meanwhile, Isabel’s accountant busily slid the abacus beads for quite some time.
The reception room filled with nothing but the sound of the abacus.

“H-haha! This time he’s wrong! Altogether, it’s one thousand eighty-eight gold coins and thirty-eight silver coins!”

The elderly accountant shouted triumphantly, clenching his fist.

Hearing this, Lian seemed to ponder briefly, then broke into a gentle smile.

“When you had to multiply by seven-twelfths midway, didn’t you just divide by half instead?”
“What? Th-that can’t be right!”
“Try calculating it again. See whether I’m right or wrong.”

He was certain.
In Lian’s head, he had already double-checked the math twice.

“Diego, verify it again.”
“Y-yes…”

The accountant, shrinking under Isabel’s gaze, nervously began recalculating.
She wasn’t the type to go easy on someone out of years of loyalty.

Clack-clack—

Eventually, only the subdued sound of abacus beads echoed through the room.

And after a long while…

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake. The boy’s calculation is correct….”

The accountant bowed his head deeply, his face flushed with humiliation.
It wasn’t a competition, but it was a complete defeat.

“Then here’s the final question.”

Isabel deliberately adjusted her posture and turned her back to the accountant.
Behind her shoulders, his face darkened further.

“This man earns two gold coins and thirty silver coins a month as salary. Then how long would you need to work to be worth three hundred gold coins?”

His looks were worth one hundred fifty.
So by the accountant’s logic, five years of work would make up the remaining one hundred fifty.

“I’ll be your slave, Lady Isabel. That means for life, until I die.”
“Hehe. Correct.”

After all, in social dealings, quick wit and tact were just as important as calculation skills.

Lian frowned at the cold sensation around his neck.
A metal collar with a lock—proof that he had become a slave.

Handing the key over to Isabel and signing the bill of sale, Lian formally entered slavery.

“To actually squeeze three hundred gold coins out of that temptress… this bastard’s really something.”

The boss hummed cheerfully, tucking a box containing three hundred gold coins under his arm.
Even if every child at the market sold, he wouldn’t earn half this amount.

“Take care, kid. Hope we meet again.”
“I’ll pass. It was filthy meeting you—let’s never see each other again.”
“Kek. Bold little brat. Right, this is your share.”

Ting!
With a clear ringing sound, a single gold coin traced an arc through the air.

“Huh? Wh—what!?”

Lian caught it reflexively and stared at it blankly.
The first gold coin he had ever held in his life.

It was bitter money, not something he could fully rejoice over—but gold was still gold.

“I’m not joking. You don’t seem like the type who’ll stay a slave forever. When that time comes, let’s build a good business relationship.”

With that, the boss whistled and disappeared into the street, having said all he wanted.

“For life….”

The boss was right.
That was what he’d told Isabel—but of course, it was just lip service.

Lian’s dream was to become the kept man of a rich widow.
He had no intention of being satisfied with merely being a slave.

‘But it won’t be easy. There’s precedent—myself.’

Of course, he had no intention of killing Isabel and stealing her fortune.
But regardless of Lian’s intentions, Isabel wouldn’t think so.

The moment she saw her own past reflected in Lian, he would have to be prepared to lose his head.

‘The moment I try to stand above her, it’s over. I must never forget to play the obedient one.’

A young, beautiful trophy.
That was the role Lian had to remember and faithfully perform.

“This will be your room from now on.”

Lian’s eyes widened in astonishment.

A room with a spacious terrace overlooking the sea.
Pristine white bedding that looked demanding to maintain.

It was such a splendid room that it could easily pass for a luxury resort hotel somewhere along the Mediterranean.

“Isn’t this a bit too good for a slave?”
“If you buy a jewel, you store it in a display case worthy of it.”
“But is it really okay for a slave to stay in the room next to the master’s?”

The layout even connected directly to Isabel’s room without passing through the hallway.
For Lian, who had planned to gradually close the distance between them, the treatment was almost overwhelming.

“No matter what the world says, if I decide it, then that’s how it will be.”

Click.

The sound of the door locking echoed.
Isabel approached and gently stroked Lian’s hair with a provocative touch.

“Shall we carefully check the quality of the other side I haven’t inspected yet?”

Her fingertips tickled his ear, then traced down the nape of his neck.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t been sold merely as a decorative doll.
And this was a step he naturally had to pass through to become the kept man he dreamed of.

“L-Lady Isabel? You don’t have to rush like this. I’m not going anywhere.”

Flustered, Lian’s face flushed red.
Though his coming-of-age ceremony was only a few months away, wasn’t this a bit early?

And his partner was a beautiful woman who looked young for her age—but still in her forties.
Even with a hormone-fueled teenage body, he needed some mental preparation.

“Quiet. You just do as I tell you.”

Isabel forcefully pulled Lian’s head into her embrace.

“…!!?”

Faced with the suffocating gravity of that overwhelming mass, Lian’s mind slowly went blank.

An overpowering sense of motherhood he had never felt in either his past or present life.
Before this, even a seventy-year-old sage would be reduced to a newborn infant.

‘That’s right! If you think about it, I’m technically older!’

Physical age was just a number.
If he counted both his past and present lives, he’d lived nearly fifty years in total.

With that thought, Isabel began to look more and more like a younger beauty.

“Well then, I suppose you’ll need some time to adjust to an unfamiliar place.”

Just as his resolve was finally hardening,
Isabel slowly loosened the arm that had been holding his head.

“For today, rest well in this room. That’s an order.”
“Y-yes…?”

Without a hint of hesitation, Isabel left the room.
As if she’d had nothing in mind from the start except teasing an innocent boy.

“Is this… push and pull or what…?”

The adolescent blood that had been boiling inside him suddenly had nowhere to go.
Instead, Lian’s mind felt oddly blank.

He felt thoroughly toyed with.

Sure enough, that woman truly was a temptress, just as the rumors said.