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Chapter 23
“You stingy jerk!”
Belaxina stormed back into her room, threw herself onto the bed, and shouted, “Ughhh!” while flailing her arms around.
It was a childish outburst from someone who couldn’t control her anger.
She always acted graceful and calm in front of others, but when she was alone, this was the real Belaxina.
[What a sight you are.]
Except today, she wasn’t completely alone—she had the green fairy, the system, who was great at arabesque.
“That speckled-haired guy won’t give me money!”
Of course, that didn’t mean Belaxina felt embarrassed or changed her attitude.
“He called it a draw, but now I’m being forced to help with the wedding without a choice, while my request gets rejected? That’s not fair!”
As Belaxina ranted loudly, the system tilted its head, remembering something she had said earlier.
[Didn’t you say you’re a slave?]
“So what?”
The system made a face, unsure how to respond.
Sure, it understood that going from a pampered duke’s daughter to a slave was a tough adjustment—but if she kept acting like this, she was only making it harder on herself.
[You seem to not understand, but a slave’s life is unfair. You’ll have to get used to it eventually, even if it’s tough.]
The system tried to be gentle, but Belaxina just snorted.
“Do you think slaves obey because they want to? They only obey because they get beaten senseless or threatened with death!”
[Well… when you put it like that…]
She wasn’t exactly wrong.
“That’s why I get to rebel a little. Avalkin can’t beat me or threaten to kill me.”
[Huh? Really?]
“Yup.”
Belaxina sat upright on the bed and smirked.
It had been a while since she made that classic villainess face.
“There’s a difference between a master–slave relationship and a power dynamic. It’s like how water is worth more than gold in the desert. I’m a slave, sure—but one with a clear purpose and no replacement. Where would he ever find another like me? There are only about twenty top noble families in the empire, and of those, barely any have an unmarried daughter.”
With growing confidence, Belaxina declared victory.
“Avalkin probably got rejected by every one of them. Just look at how much money he spent to buy me despite being broke. That tells you everything. I must be incredibly valuable to him. He can’t even risk whipping me, just in case something happens!”
She laughed like a wicked witch, and the system stared at her in disbelief.
[You actually calculated all that?]
If Margrave hadn’t bought her, she’d probably be in a nightmare somewhere right now…
It was hard to believe this devious, ungrateful girl was the same blood as Mirline, the overworked, tragic war heroine.
“Of course I did. When you’ve got power, you don’t need to think too hard. But when you’ve got nothing, you’ve got to use your brain a lot. You’ve got to consider every resource and plan your strategy carefully.”
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Belaxina clicked her tongue, shaking her head like she felt sorry for the system’s low IQ.
Then her expression suddenly darkened.
“That’s why I wanted that gold…”
If she’d gotten even a little prize money from that bet, she could’ve bought a decent miracle through the system. That would’ve given her a few more strategic options.
“…But who would’ve thought he’d say he’s broke?”
He was a high-ranking noble, for goodness’ sake. Sure, maybe he wasn’t flat broke—but it was clear he had zero intention of spending a single coin on her.
So stingy. The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got.
“Well, if it’s come to this, I’ve got no choice. I’ll have to escape before I become a married woman.”
[Wait, what? Escape?]
“Why so shocked? Running away is what slaves do, remember? I will regain my dignity, reclaim my freedom, and escape this place once and for all.”
[Hold on. When did you lose your dignity or get your freedom taken away?]
Even the system, whose job was to support her, couldn’t help but question such a ridiculous claim.
“……”
Belaxina just glared at the system with eyes full of venom.
Not even five seconds passed before the system awkwardly looked away.
[So, uh… where are you planning to run off to?]
It was a blatant attempt to change the subject, but Belaxina let it go.
Not because she was feeling generous—but because she needed the system’s help for her escape plan to work.
“Obviously, to Odiberti.”
[Odiberti? …Oh! For the gold, right?]
Belaxina nodded.
No matter where her final destination might be, her first stop would definitely be the Duchy of Odiberti.
Specifically, the secret vault in the tomb of the Duke of Outbayan.
The piles of treasure hidden there were her top priority.
“With that money, I can kiss this slave life goodbye in an instant.”
She smiled as she imagined throwing a heavy coin pouch at Avalkin’s face and shouting, “Who do you think you’re trying to enslave?!”
Sadly, that fantasy would never happen.
Because Belaxina had zero intention of paying Avalkin her ransom.
Her dream job—leader of a rebel army—required a lot of initial investment. Who has money left over for a rebellion after buying their freedom?
And besides, if the rebellion succeeds, she’ll become a founding empress with nothing to fear. If it fails, well—she’ll be dead anyway.
Why pay for freedom when I can take it?
Sure, it would be the wrong thing to do if she had a conscience, but Belaxina’s conscience took about 300 days off a year.
So skipping out on her ransom just seemed logical.
[But how are you going to get there? Odiberti’s in the southern part of the continent.]
“…Yeah, that’s the problem.”
Belaxina snapped back to reality at the system’s question.
Of course, her current location—Yeshken in the far north—was very far from Odiberti in the mountainous south.
Like, ridiculously far. Multiply that by ten.
It took me over a month just to get here from Licresa…
She thought of the magical carriage she had ridden with Avalkin.
It looked worn-down, but it was reinforced with materials from northern beasts, making it way faster than a regular horse-drawn carriage.
Even with that, it had taken over a month to get from central Licresa to here.
Going all the way to southern Odiberti with a regular carriage would take so long, it wouldn’t just be a change of season—it’d be a whole new year.
“So, hey… System.”
If normal methods wouldn’t work, she needed to use extraordinary ones.
“Isn’t there a miracle that lets you travel long distances instantly?”
[Nope.]
The system didn’t even hesitate for a second.
Belaxina pouted, then reached out and stretched the system’s cheek.
“Couldn’t you at least check first?”
Now that the system had proved useless, Belaxina punished it for both that and its earlier attitude—all at once.
[Stoophhh! I’ll chheck!]
The system squirmed and whined until Belaxina finally let go.
Blushing, it covered its red cheeks with tiny hands.
[Just because it’s a fantasy world doesn’t mean everything exists here, you know! I looked everywhere for a teleportation miracle when I was with Mirinae and still came up empty! That’s why I invented things like phones and trains instead…]
Just then—
Knock, knock.
“Shh. Someone’s here.”
Belaxina glanced toward the door and waved for the system to hide inside the book again.
–It’s me. Avalkin.
Avalkin had come to Belaxina’s room himself.
[Tch. Not like he can hear me anyway.]
Grumbling a bit, the system lay down on the open book and tried to cover itself with the cover like a blanket.
–I have something I want to give you. It’ll only take a moment, so please open the door.
Something to give?
Belaxina reflexively made eye contact with the system.
[Maybe it’s gold.]
It might be!
Belaxina’s heart swelled with unexpected hope.
