A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

83 – Festival of Silver and Iron Blood (6)

I have thought that the me before regression and the me after regression are different.

Contrary to what the princess of the ruined country said, ‘I am someone who did nothing,’ I am now doing my best every day.

My father has changed.

In the past, when my father lived as a married couple with his mother, he became quite tired and had a hard time.

So when he gave birth to Letard, he may not have had any more marital relations after that.

To be faithful to my role as the ‘Margrave of Gibraltar’.

Since he could not handle emergency situations as much as he did as the husband of one woman, he decided to become the guardian of the canyon.

But what about now?

Even if the gorge collapses, my father is willing to make my mother happy for her.

And above all, the person who I thought changed the most was my mother.

Thanks to my mother’s changes in her, I was able to recognize that the before and after regression were completely different.

The couple’s relationship was restored again, and the result was the birth of a new life called Ruby.

In many ways, I was convinced.

People before and after regression are different people.

From noble mtl dot come

-Why do you still want to kill the emperor?

I once asked myself a question.

The emperor of the past and the crown prince of today are different from their positions.

We all know that our actions are paving the way to take over the kingdom, but wouldn’t the outcome be different?

The same goes for Astasia.

Because I never thought that the person she was before and the person she was after was the same.

After returning, I felt guilty as a ‘person who could not be protected’ and hoped to live more comfortably here in Gibraltar.

However.

At this moment, I realized.

In the end, the fundamentals of people do not change.

Unless you go through an extreme experience of ‘return’ like me, the fundamental human tendency itself does not change whether before regression or now.

As for the point at which human inclinations were perfected, I thought it was approximately the current age of the crown prince.

However, even a fully grown tree is ultimately born from a single seed, and it begins when the roots extend into the ground and sprout.

In the end, just as the small seed grows into a huge tree, the ‘fundamental’ does not change.

I realized that now.

“Astacia.”

“Uh, come on, it’s troublesome if you suddenly call me by that name… ?”

When I suddenly called her by her name, Astasia quickly looked around.

“Ah, even if there is no one around to listen… !”

“Yes. Of course. Are you afraid that I won’t be able to tell the difference?”

Others are already not listening.

Actually, I don’t mind listening to it.

Only those who can hear it are right next to me, and those who would be dangerous to listen to are not nearby right now.

“It’s the best gift.”

“Uh, really?”

“Yes. It makes me want to put back the gift I prepared, cut my hair, and give it as a gift.”

“Well, we’ll do that later!”

“Later?”

“Yes! Well, if I cut my hair now, it’ll be short and unsightly, so, um…”

Astacia stretched out her hand behind me and pretended to hold my hair like horsehair behind her.

“If, later on, you grow your hair like other nobles and it ends up like this, you can cut it for me then. That will be fine, right?”

“I can still cut it as much as I want.”

“Oh my. Please do that. So, come on!”

Asta Sia spread her hands out to me and smiled broadly.

“Give me the gift you prepared!”

“If you ask too confidently, it will be difficult if you look at me with such expectant eyes.”

“Since you made me look forward to it, I hope it will be a meaningful gift to me as much as I worked hard?”

“Then… Like this.”

Slowly, the time has come.

“It’s been a peaceful day for a long time, so now it seems like the best time to give a gift.”

“Timing… Ah?”

Hwieueuing.

“The fireworks have begun.”

In the night sky of Gibraltar, red fireworks exploded in the dark space.

“Wow…”

“Originally, I wanted to show it in the canyon over there, but it was a festival.”

“Fireworks like that in the canyon… ?”

“There’s nothing we can’t do. It’s not like the canyon is collapsing.”

Everyone in the square looks at the fireworks.

Some people make wishes, some hold hands and make vows, and some exchange gifts and promise tomorrow.

“Princess.”

“Uh, uh…”

“First things first, let me give you this.”

I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and placed it in Astasia’s hand

“Handkerchief… ?”

“I made it myself.”

Gray handkerchief.

But in the middle, purple and light blue embroidery is woven.

“…Isn’t this usually what women do?”

“It’s normal for a woman to do it, but won’t there be people who try to give the princess their handkerchief in the future?”

If you are wondering whether you should give it or not.

“If that happens, just say you don’t need it because you already have the handkerchief.”

“Hmm…”

“You can think whatever you like.”

“If I keep doing this, I might misunderstand?”

“Do you think it was a misunderstanding?”

“…Huh, okay. Then what about the second gift?”

“As expected, you are quick-witted. Would you like to unfold the handkerchief?”

“Where… Huh?”

“It’s a gift certificate.”

Inside the handkerchief, there was a piece of white paper the same size as the imperial thaler.

“Gift certificate…”

“Would you like to turn it over?”

“…1 hour free pass to Gray Gibraltar?”

After Asta Sia looked at the contents on the front, she smiled and looked at me.

“Are you seriously giving me this?”

“If I’m going to give something as a gift, I have to give it the most valuable item, but I can’t think of anything else that’s most valuable to me.”

“You?”

“Yes. Am I wrong?”

Astasia shook her head and swept her gift certificate-1 hour free pass-with her hand.

“That’s right. You can’t arbitrarily set the price. … Oh?”

“That’s right. This is essentially a blank check.”

“Can I give you something like this?”

“Instead, I will only do what I can, so it will be difficult if you later say, ‘Why can’t I do this?'”

Hehe… Ah, that’s the most important thing!”

Astasia waved the gift certificate back and forth.

“There is no expiration date! I don’t know if Lord Gray knows, but imperial gift certificates are usually valid for one year. If you don’t write this down-“

“Everyone will abuse it. Just like everyone who comes to the festival.”

It’s like creating a gap in the battle between knights.

If you give yourself the opportunity and get stabbed, you will become a fool, but if you successfully attack by reversing the opponent’s attack, you will become the winner.

And sometimes, being stabbed by that attack and being defeated can be a win.

“The fact that the expiration date is not specified means that the gift certificate recipient can freely decide the expiration date.”

“…Oh?!”

“I will use one hour of my life for you, princess. There is no expiration date.”

I folded the handkerchief again.

“Keep it well. Think about where you will use it.”

“Ugh… That’s a problem. If I receive something like this, I’ll have to worry about when to use it.”

“I guess you think of me every time you think of a place to use it?”

“Wow. Is that the purpose? Should I use it up quickly?”

“This is a unique bond that will not be issued in our lifetime.”

“Wow! That’s too much!”

I have no intention of producing something like this in the future.

“But a bond? I don’t owe Lord Gray anything?”

“There are a lot of things I consider debt.”

“Hmm… Buying Lord Gray an hour of his time with just a strand of hair. I guess I’m getting too much for nothing.”

Astasia held her handkerchief in her arms with a serious expression.

“Just one year… No. Can I keep it like a treasure for seven years and then get it back with a lot of interest?”

“As much as you want.”

“Wow. Really. Compound interest? Oh, this compound interest…”

“Use it whenever you want, whether it is compound interest or private loans according to the imperial legal interest rate.”

“…I think I may have received too big a gift.”

Astasia smiled softly and turned her face.

“Ha, really. I only gave her her her her her hair her her her.”

Pa-euang.

Fireworks explode.

“…Is that the third gift?”

This time, fireworks of gray, purple, and sky blue explode in succession.

“No. It’s just something I was instructed to do from the time I was hired.”

Gold and green fireworks explode one after another.

If it weren’t for the ability to adjust the color and shape of the explosion magic, we wouldn’t have hired mid-level wizards as fireworks agents in the first place.

“Do you like it? “I have prepared three gifts for you.”

“…No, it’s still not enough?”

“You are very greedy.”

“That’s right, there’s still one left!”

Astasia approached me with her eyes full of anticipation.

“What is it? By any chance, did you just kiss the back of my hand?”

“Even if it’s not a gift for a special day like this, I can give it to you every morning?”

“…It’s a waste! How much did you lose?”

“That’s why I would have told you from the first day. It’s a shame.”

You can’t turn back time that has already passed.

“I can turn over the gambling hourglass, but I can’t turn back time.”

I came back, but I didn’t go back on my own.

“Instead, in the future, we will create a world where you can smile brightly.”

“…”

“It has been that way until now, and it is what we intend to do in the future.”

If your thoughts have changed a little.

“I plan to move more proactively to the point where I can be recognized by someone.”

If I were to meet even the princess of a ruined country again, she would stab me in the heart with a sword and exclaim in anger, ‘Why did someone who could do this even now!’

“Then, the festival is slowly coming to an end, so let’s enjoy the last one comfortably.”

“Oh, is that the third time?”

“No.”

I took out the jewelry I had kept in my arms.

“Actually, I’m a bit embarrassed to give you this.”

“Are you embarrassed?”

“I prepared a ring, but I bought it at a festival market, so why don’t I have a ring box in the world?”

This is a ring given to Astasia, but this is the first time there is no ring storage box.

“But I couldn’t make the ring box out of wood pieces. I tried to prepare it in advance-“

“You were trying to scare me?”

“… He always stayed close to you, and when you were about to leave early in the morning, you pulled his collar and used him as a pillow to hold you.”

“Hehe. I’m sorry. If I had known this would happen, would I have let you go every time I tried to sneak out?”

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“Just kidding. Would I really do that? I did that unconsciously in my sleep. Unconsciousness.”

“I guess so.”

I took out the ring.

“Princess. It is said that dwarves have the greatest skill in handling weapons. This basically means that they handle metal with great precision.”

“Could it be…” ” ?”

“And it is said that the dwarves crafted all kinds of jewels and gave them to the dragons in the past in return for keeping them safe.”

“Are you saying it’s the ring?”

“Yes.”

I looked through antiques without much expectation, but I ended up finding something truly miraculous.

“It seems that the person who was selling the antiques was selling them without knowing their true value, and it was really unfortunate for that person.”

“Wow. It looks like it’s in a very strange condition. In the Empire, they call it ‘vintage.'”

“Even if it looks a little old on the outside, it’s different when it’s like this.”

I flowed mana into the ring on my palm.

“…Artifact?”

“It’s just an ornamental artifact. As you can see, it doesn’t have much effect other than glowing in the dark.”

Gray mana flows slowly along the ring’s flaws and glows softly.

“How did you find out about this?”

“I was looking for something that could contain mana.”

Just.

All I will say is that while serving as the Margrave, I amassed a considerable amount of antiques.

‘Cultural assets become money.’

Collectors are people who burn hundreds of millions of dollars to keep treasures in their personal warehouses simply because they have historical value.

‘Once, there was an item that sold for more than the daily profit of Gyeongryongjang.’

Through the open canyon, many cultural assets and artifacts were transferred to the empire, and the Thaler became entirely mine.

“If you ever run out of money, sell this. If you sell it to someone who recognizes its value, you can get at least 100 million won.”

“100 million gold… Is it okay to give me something so expensive?”

“No. 100 million thaler.”

“…?”

Astasia tilted her head for a moment.

“Fuha! What, did you know how to make jokes like that?”

“Does this sound like a joke?”

“Of course! Even if it’s a ring, what’s 100 million thaler worth? You’re bragging!”

“Is that so?”

Well.

‘This side is real, but the other side is fake.’

I prepared one pair, but the other one is an elaborately made counterfeit.

‘It may stimulate the desire of collectors to collect, but it can’t be helped because it is an item that is more valuable if there is a pair.’

The ring presented to the guardian dragon of Nostrum as a memorial to the founding of the nation before the fall of the dwarves is only recognized for its value when the pair exists in its entirety.

“When I think about it, it probably won’t reach 100 million.”

“Right? But…”

Astasia extends her left hand to me.

“It’s a gift from Lord Gray to me, so I can just assume it’s worth that much! After all, a gift is in the recipient’s heart!”

“Always, say the same thing.”

“Yes?”

“…If you always say that, maybe I’ll give you an extravagant gift next time?”

“Hehe. Lord Gray can’t do that, right?”

“…Yes, princess.”

I held the ring.

“If it were a room with two people, I would kneel down, but please understand that I can’t do that here.”

And the ring on Astasia’s hand-

“This is my-“

P—ang!

The moment when the fireworks exploded brilliantly.

Whisper.

Before I knew it, I attacked Astasia right away.

Startled, Astacia grabbed me and tried to turn me over, but what she saw in her eyes her her was a fireball that was getting bigger and bigger.

Something penetrates her nose into Astasia’s scent.

Premiere.

Magic stone powder that maximizes fire magic.

Malice and murderous intent.

And the smell of silver amplifies it even more.

Kwa—–!!

The spark of Explosion magic that exploded in the sky did not disappear and instead hit the festival square.