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Chapter : 17
“Hahahahahaha!”
At that moment, I couldn’t stop the laughter bursting out of me.
“So that’s it! I was a filial daughter!”
Good heavens!
To think I’d hear a title I’d never once been called in my entire life—here of all places!
Because of that unexpected word, my laughter just wouldn’t stop.
‘Right. The real Eani Nacelle truly loved her family.’
She believed her family were the only ones in this world who loved her.
That was why just a single sentence from the Duchess was enough to reduce Eani to a helpless state.
Having gone through experiences like that, it made sense that the woman in front of me could act so confidently.
‘But… the Eani of now isn’t the same person as back then.’
“As expected of Harton Seind’s parents. To think you’d make me laugh like this.”
“What—what are you talking about?!”
“Come to think of it, was I showing off in front of a master? Facing someone so skilled at threats, and all I asked for was money.”
How embarrassing.
I muttered in a voice that wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest, and the Duchess’s face flushed bright red.
When I didn’t move the way she expected, her whole body began to tremble.
“Do you think I’m joking right now?!”
“Hehe, please calm down and have a seat on the sofa~. Why are you just staring at furniture that’s meant to be sat on?”
“You! Are you using your amnesia as an excuse to abandon your father and sister?! Do you want to regret it only after you’ve lost everything?!”
“That’s enough.”
The Duke of Seind, who had been observing the situation, stepped in front of the agitated Duchess.
Seeing that his wife’s trump card hadn’t worked, he seemed to steel his resolve quickly.
“From now on, you’ll speak with me.”
After casting his wife a look full of contempt, he sat down on the sofa to my right.
The Duchess stood there for a moment, seething in place, as if she’d suffered a great humiliation.
How ridiculous.
She’d done far worse things to Eani Nacelle, yet she couldn’t endure even a moment like this.
‘Well, abusers never think their own sins will come back to them.’
My biological parents were the same.
That’s why they could abuse me so terribly when I was young.
Still, perhaps the Duchess had a shred of reason left. After forcing herself to calm down, she quietly sat beside the Duke.
Only then did I speak again, relaxed.
“I’ve been thinking about what an appropriate price for this treasure might be.”
“Speak.”
“……”
I paused for effect and observed the couple.
Even with their lives held in my grasp, they seemed eager to cling to their last shred of pride.
Their eyes clearly said, How much could she possibly ask for?
To meet their expectations, I smiled sweetly and opened my mouth.
“Shall we start at one billion?”
The Duke and Duchess made stupid noises, as if they’d been struck on the back of the head.
“Huh? O-one billion?”
“Do you even know how much you just said?!”
Even if they didn’t understand the true value of money, they clearly knew that one billion gold was an astronomical sum.
But what could they do? My financial education was only just beginning.
Unaware of my inner thoughts, the couple shouted firmly.
“I wouldn’t give you that amount even if dirt got in my eyes! I’d refuse even half of that—how dare you make such a demand!”
“That’s right. Speak realistically. How dare someone with no sense of economics act so recklessly!”
Yeah, I knew they’d reject it right away.
The moment they finished speaking, I replied.
“Then double it~.”
“What?”
“I’ll take twice the original amount.”
“Don’t you understand what I just said?! Stop spouting impossible bravado!”
“Then triple~.”
“Eani Nacelle!”
“Oh my, is it quadruple already?”
“Do you truly wish to die?!”
Clang!
Having reached his limit, the Duke drew the sword at his waist.
“I was prepared to spare at least your life! But you’ve trampled on my final mercy with your filthy greed!”
Shouting that, the Duke swung his sword straight at my neck.
Elin, waiting by the drawing-room door, widened her eyes, and the Duchess covered her face with her fan.
At the very moment the blade neared my throat, I didn’t even blink as I spoke.
“There are three things you’re mistaken about, Father.”
Stop.
The blade halted just before touching my neck.
The flustered Duke strained his arm, but the sword didn’t budge an inch.
Naturally—I was holding it in place with magic.
In that state, I spoke calmly.
“First, this isn’t a time to negotiate terms like business partners. This is the time I generously granted so that the two of you, whose lives I hold, might show some sincerity.”
“!”
“Second, that mana stone automatically teleports the moment my life is in danger. To where? Straight to the Imperial Palace~.”
“!!”
“And lastly—third.”
I slid my index finger along the frozen blade and smiled coldly.
“Aren’t you curious how I found that mana stone, Regis Seind?”
“!!!”
The instant I said that, I turned the magic I’d used on the sword directly on the Duke himself.
“Gah!”
Thud!
As if crushed by something from above, the Duke was slammed flat onto the floor.
This was the same principle as the magic I’d used to locate and move the vault on Tadibna Island.
A power that moves and controls objects without any physical force.
On Earth, a similar ability was called telekinesis.
‘Though to be precise, this magic moves things with invisible, pure mana.’
That’s what makes it simple—and that’s what makes it powerful.
Its downside is that it consumes mana very quickly, making it inefficient.
‘Of course, that doesn’t apply to a mage with an overwhelming mana capacity like me~.’
While I was briefly lost in thought, the Duke lifted his head and braced his legs, trying to resist the force pinning him down.
“Don’t underestimate me!”
As expected of the head of a noble house, perhaps?
Staggering but resolute, the Duke rose and regripped his sword.
Staring at him, I applied even more force to his body.
“Gaaaah!”
“Honestly, Father~. If you glare at me so threateningly, of course I’ll get scared, right?”
“Eani Nacelle—! You’re a mage?!”
There was a hint of fear in the Duke’s voice as he shouted.
Naturally. It was frightening.
Unless one was exceptionally strong, no one could stand up to a mage.
Though the Duke held a knightly title, he was in no position to handle magic.
“Hehe, I lost my memories and gained magical power~. But that’s not what’s important right now, is it~?”
I slowly tilted my head and spoke.
“Since I’ve gone to all this trouble, I think I should receive ten times the amount I first proposed.”
“You’re spouting nonsense! Demanding such a ridiculous sum—you’re completely mad for money!”
“Oh my, you caught me~.”
How did he know?
In my past life, my nickname was “the money-crazed bastard,” shortened to “money maniac~.”
I was just chuckling at the memory when a shrill cry came from the other side of the drawing room.
“How foolish!”
Turning my head away from the Duke, I saw the Duchess glaring at me with her eyes wide open.
Something in her hand glittered under the chandelier’s light.
“If you’re going to threaten someone, you should’ve guarded your item properly!”
It was the mana stone that had been rolling around on the floor.
Gripping it tightly, she shouted,
“Without this, you’re finished anyway!”
“Haha, I can always just retrieve the mana stone again, you know?”
I was saying that when my eyes suddenly widened.
The Duchess—
“Hngh!”
—shoved the mana stone straight into her own mouth!
Her outrageous act left not only me, but also Elin and the Duke, utterly shocked.
“Madam!”
“Wife!”
It was quite large to swallow in one go.
Yet after gagging a few times, the Duchess somehow forced it down her throat.
Gulp.
Her Adam’s apple bobbed dramatically.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
After swallowing the mana stone, she collapsed to the floor, panting heavily.
But the expression she gave me was triumphant.
“Well? Now what will you do? The mana stone you were relying on is gone—what now?”
I was genuinely impressed by her madness.
‘She really is bolder than the Duke.’
When I didn’t say anything, the Duchess’s smile widened.
“Now it’s your turn! I’ll make you pay dearly for mocking me all this time!”
At her words, I quietly slipped a hand into my clothes and took something out of my inner pocket.
It was identical to the mana stone she’d swallowed.
“…Huh?”
I casually dropped it onto the drawing-room floor.
Tap, roll—.
The mana stone rolled smoothly and stopped right in front of the Duchess.
She made a dumb sound.
“Huh…?”
I didn’t stop there. I pulled out another mana stone and tossed it onto the floor.
Tap, roll—.
And another.
Tap, roll—.
Another.
Tap, roll—.
Heh, I was in the mood. One more~.
Tap, roll—.
“……”
The Duchess stared at the mana stones scattered around, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
Watching her quietly, I curved my lips into a gentle smile.
“This is bad~. If you eat all of these, you’ll get an upset stomach.”
