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chapter 7
One hundred billion?
Iona froze and tilted her head slightly.
The Constellations usually gave ten or a hundred diamonds. How many would one have to collect to reach 100 billion diamonds?
[Constellation ‘<Urgent> Husband Broken into 14 Pieces, What Should I Do?’ mentions the Hourglass of Helheim.]
At that moment, Iona recalled the faint words she had seen before she died.
[An unidentified contractor used <Hourglass of Helheim> on you!]
It definitely seemed like that…
[Constellation ‘Master of Lies’ grumbles.]
[I also don’t have 100 billion diamonds.]
[Constellation ‘Cat-Head Enthusiast’ scolds her, saying it’s because you’ve been gambling.]
Iona lightly brushed off the Constellations’ chatter and focused on the key point.
“Is there information about the Hourglass of Helheim in this booklet too?”
[Constellation ‘Master of Lies’ answers yes.]
“Um, excuse me… but could someone other than Master of Lies answer this? I just can’t trust him.”
[Constellation ‘Master of Lies’ protests that sometimes he does tell the truth.]
[Ten high-class random boxes worth one billion each at once! You ended up getting the Hourglass of Helheim, but instead of keeping it for yourself, you used it for me.]
“Who did that?”
It was a spontaneous question, straight from the heart.
No matter how she thought about it, there was no one who would do that—and that made it even more puzzling.
[So you kept your memory while reversing time. Feeling the world’s distortion, we watched you… and some took an interest in the ‘genre’ you possessed.]
Money was extremely important. She had felt that painfully in her past life.
If diamonds could give anything—money or otherwise—they would be all the more precious.
‘Who revived me, making such a sacrifice?’
Staring blankly at her notebook, she added one final line.
Seventh. Find the benefactor who revived me and repay their favor.
Her heart leapt with a pleasant rhythm.
It was the first time in her life.
Someone had done something for her, and it was something of enormous value.
It was overwhelming, and yet she felt grateful. Did she even deserve it? Thanks to this, she could take revenge.
In truth, her misfortune was probably just one of many typical human misfortune stories.
The reason high-dimensional Constellations had taken an interest in her was likely the Hourglass of Helheim.
‘If I ever find them, I want to grant their wish. And I want to ask: why did you give me something so huge? Perhaps they won’t even remember giving it to me.’
A random box is truly “random.”
Buying ten of them without knowing what would come out—and then using it for her.
She wanted to ask why and with what intent.
‘This is strange. Someone in this world is rooting for me. And the moment I realized that…’
Her chest burned.
Somehow, she felt courage.
Then, the door opened slightly, and someone boldly peeked in.
“Big Sister! I came to rescue Sugar Big Sister.”
It was Blanche Theresia.
“Why are you here?”
“Hurry! The knights sent Shushu away for a moment.”
Blanche suddenly barged in, urging her on with a bright smile.
Silver hair, eyes like pink diamonds—signs of the Theresia family. Now an adult, yet still unwrinkled and girl-like.
Blanche was a lady admired among both the Theresia family and the paladins.
Even Felix Theresia, usually so stern as if born with frozen facial muscles, faintly smiled when seeing his sister.
But to Iona, Blanche was—politely speaking—naïve.
Honestly, spoiled and bratty.
“Come on, come out quickly. It’s fine. I’ll tell Shushu all about Big Sister when I see him!”
How many times had that face fooled her?
It seemed whenever there was a problem, it ended up on Blanche, who would cry.
Iona finally swallowed a sigh, put down her quill, and quietly faced Blanche.
Blanche flinched, then rolled her eyes.
“No, I’m fine. It’s comfortable being alone and quiet.”
“That’s nonsense! You can’t even enjoy tea time. The weather’s so nice these days!”
When Iona didn’t move, Blanche flung the door wide open and rushed forward, firmly taking her hand.
Even though she hadn’t been given permission to be so casual.
“Are you worried Brother might get mad? There won’t be any problem if you say you had tea with Shushu. Trust only Shushu!”
A truly radiant innocence.
If done without intent, it might look cute.
But Iona already knew.
She knew why Blanche had come here today, rolling her eyes.
“Don’t think you can brush off the painting.”
Quietly speaking, Blanche’s eyes went wide.
“I don’t care how you heard it, but I won’t let it slide like before. What you did is theft.”
“Big Sister, why are you suddenly like this? Did Shushu do something wrong…?”
Blanche’s briefly stern expression softened again into a playful one.
‘Life must be easy for her. Just acting cute solves everything.’
She envied that sincere belief that everyone would listen.
‘I could never have that, no matter how much I tried in life.’
Enduring Griselda’s scolding and the butler’s coldness, she helped with the family’s affairs.
She stayed up all night reading documents, some about the paladin order’s expenses.
Even though it clearly wasn’t her duty, she quietly did it.
She hoped that excelling in even that would earn her a place here.
“I’m not going to listen to anything you say, so leave.”
Iona sharply withdrew her hand, cutting off the conversation.
“Don’t forget. It won’t be long now.”
“Wh-what do you mean…?”
“This year-end royal banquet. You should think carefully if you don’t want to embarrass yourself there.”
“Big Sister, you’re suddenly… like a different person. Scary.”
Blanche was utterly taken aback.
Normally she could hide her confusion, but today it was impossible.
‘I thought pushing would make her give in! Why is she like this, when just yesterday she couldn’t even lift her head?’
Iona had wrecked the house before.
After returning from shopping, the hallway was a mess.
Even when she heard her mother had fallen ill, Blanche wasn’t particularly worried.
A cornered mouse will bite, after all.
The Iona Blanche had seen so far was like a stiff, dull piece of wood.
‘Brother loves cuteness so much. Acting charming gets him to give everything. If you fail, you just fight.’
To Blanche, that was how men were.
Act cute and they hand over everything you need.
But Iona wasn’t as naive… there was no helping that.
“Big Sister, if it weren’t for Shushu, the painting would’ve stayed hidden. Hanging it in the gallery let it see the light.”
“I don’t recall asking for that.”
“Goodness, why make things difficult for Shushu?”
If Blanche had said she came to rescue her, Iona would have accepted it politely.
But now, Iona was as cold as if not a single needle could pierce her.
Her once-bowed head was now straight.
As the gloomy atmosphere vanished, a subtle dignity radiated from her.
Blanche felt suddenly awkward and prideful.
“I have nothing more to say, so leave. Never come barging in like this again.”
