“Here you go,” I told the butcher as I hung a dead boar upside down on a rack. I became a regular supplier, so I didn’t go to the front counter anymore. I simply went to the back of his shop and did the business. Additionally, he prepared hind legs separately so that he wouldn’t need to chop up a perfectly fine boar. He could make more coins that way. Grabbing a pair of hind legs wrapped in paper, he handed it over to me along with six iron coins.

“Here is the payment,” he told me with a grin. “I wish you could catch more. Your catch is sold as soon as I skin it and prepare. It cannot get any more fresh than this.”

“Is it the same person?”

I couldn’t imagine eating roasted boar every single day. No matter how good something was, you wouldn’t want it every single day.

“It’s mostly the same maid who purchases it. But I don’t care. It’s first come and first serve. She just happens to be the first one most of the time.”

“Just so you are aware, I won’t be doing this for much longer.”

The butcher looked shocked and froze for a bit. “What? For real?”

I nodded. The Fat Lady was almost complete. In fact, Duman had flown her to test it, and it was a successful flight. We were almost ready to depart.

“Maybe for some more days, and that’s it. I’ve got a job now.”

“Man, that is just too bad,” he muttered with a sigh.

“Don’t hunters sell you enough boars?”

“Well, they do and they don’t.”

What does that even mean? I wondered.

He explained, “They bring skinned games and they are always a day old at least. Your catch is extremely fresh, and the rich want fresh meat.”

For hunters, every bit mattered, so it was understandable that they would skin their catches to get extra out of fur and whatnot. In doing so, their meat would not be as fresh as my catches which I was selling almost immediately after it was caught.

“Does freshness make that big of a difference? I mean a day old doesn’t sound that significant?”

“To us common folks, it won’t matter. But I’ve been hearing that it matters to the nobles. I guess their taste buds are different? Or delicate? Who the fuck knows. The bottom line is that they could tell apparently.”

“I see. Sorry about that.”

Honestly, I wasn’t sorry. I wasn’t going to do this for the rest of my life. The dude was just displeased that his earning was going down somewhat. Hm, yes, I did earn quite a bit over about a month. Seven iron coins day was decent. I wasn’t spending on food and a room, so I was saving everything I earned. A month of this would have earned two silver coins and ten iron coins. A whole year would earn me 25 silver coins. If I took a second job or could take on guild receptionist shifts, I would have earned far more. Jane earned about 15 silver coins over two years as a guild receptionist. Yes, the earning was more than decent, but I didn’t feel that this was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

“Anyhow, I will do this as long as I can, but no more guarantees, sir.”

Looking clearly disappointed, he slashed his chopping knife hard on a wooden board, slicing off some chunk of meat he was preparing for sale. Perhaps, worst of all, he didn’t give me a reply. Whatever. Leaving him behind and holding my hind legs wrapped in thick paper, I gleefully walked toward the guild. It was a husband’s job to feed his woman well, and I was proud that I was feeding Jane well. She finally no longer devoured the roasted hind legs and ate properly with manners. She probably had enough of it to be honest. You can’t have the same thing over and over every single day and end up enjoying it. I should probably get her boiled shrimp now with the earnings. It would be far more expansive, though. She wouldn’t be able to consume it every single day, maybe once a week perhaps.

“Hello, good sirs!” I exclaimed to a small group of carpenters who were working on building a new house on the corner lot I was approved of about a month ago. I could also spot Derdin who was wearing very lightly, revealing his overly skinny and heavy wrinkled body. I had a feeling that the man wasn’t doing well health-wise because he looked horribly underweight. My house was to be his last project, and he would retire completely afterwards. I heard that he may send his son away after handing him some money so that someone else could inherit the workshop but I doubt that gossip was true. Who’d send his own son away?

“Good to see you, lad,” Derdin responded after some coughs. At the moment, they were done with the foundation work. This was the most crucial part of any structure construction. The foundation had to be done as perfectly as possible. As long as the foundation was done right, a house could be rebuilt swiftly even if it was burned down. It was done by digging out some earth to create a rectangular hole that was about knee deep in general, and then they would gather sizable rocks and throw them in there to fill the void. As they placed the rocks, they would use gravel to fill gaps. This would accomplish several things that were very important to any wooden construction. One, the foundation would raise the whole building a bit above the soils, giving it a safety net in case of heavy rain and such. This would prevent rotting of load bearing wooden pillars as well as a direct side effect. Two, it would level the ground to build upon. Three, a properly done stone foundation gave a house a nice, fancier, look. Looking around, I saw some houses without a proper foundation. They must have done it to save some money. I could understand that. But, for a house to last for generations, a foundation had to be done and done right. There was no doubt that Derdin was doing the foundation right, which was why it took almost a whole month just for the foundation to complete.

“I see that you are doing a masterful job, sir,” I told him.

“Of course! This is my last project. I must do this right with all my knowledge I gathered over the years.” Then his hard coughs followed. Yeah, the guy wasn’t doing well. He could well be dying.

“I will see you later, sir.”

“Have a good day, lad.”

Then I continued on and shook off my lingering thoughts about Derdin. I had nothing to do with him. His probable impending demise wasn’t my concern.

The guild lobby looked fairly tame today when I entered the guild. There were two guild receptionists with Jane being one of them. She had no one to serve, so I was free to interact with her.

“Hey, Jane,” I said to her with a smile.

“Hey,” she replied back, again with a smile. Her eyes caught the package I was holding. “The legs?”

“Yeppers. Will hand’em over to the cook.”

“Thank you, Faro.”

“Not a problem.”

The female receptionist who was standing a short distance from her pouted after being done with an adventurer.

“Man, I wish I had a guy,” she muttered half-jokingly with a visible pout. Surprisingly, despite a lot of young men and women being together, the guild didn’t actually have that many couples. Married ones were even rarer. In fact, as far as I knew, there were only three married couples within the guild, and we were one of the three. It … It … would have been four if Meizei survived … God…, damn it … Tears formed in my eyes immediately. I looked away to avoid being seen and proceeded to the kitchen, handing over the hind legs in a rush. I really should avoid thinking of them… It wasn’t good for my mental health. Getting over it wasn’t possible, I realized. This was going to be with me until I drew my last breath.

“Amanda…, Meizei…, Ayaan…,” I mumbled in a whispering tone as I walked away from the kitchen with my eyes downcast. “I won’t forget you three.” Then I scoffed. “More like I cannot forget the three of you. You lot will linger in my head forever until I die, probably.”

This was especially true for Amanda… I really, truly, wished her to be here from the very bottom of my heart. I wanted her to bless my marriage with Jane. I really wanted to cry. I walked up to Jane, placed my hand on her shoulder and made her forcefully turn toward me.

“What…?” She was surprised, it sounded like.

“I am sorry. I just want to borrow your chest.” Then I plunged my face into her chest, sobbing very subtly.

“Let, let’s go outside,” she said hurriedly. Truthfully speaking, this wasn’t the first time I broke down like this. She must have known why I was acting like this. Case in point, she embraced my head warmly as she rushed out.

“It’s alright,” she whispered to me as she rushed out of the building. For others, we must have looked like we were having a romantic moment because some of them whistled excitedly. Fuckers! Not everything was about boobs and pussies… Not everything was about …

“I feel like your breasts have grown larger,” I remarked. My wave of sadness was already over. And I wasn’t joking. It did feel like her boobs became bigger.

“Maybe because you’ve played them?”

I had no idea that playing with them would make them bigger. What do you know, I learned something new.

“Anyway, sorry, it was a momentary burst,” I said while taking my face out of the valley.

“I can't get mad at you really.”

“By the way, have you seen the house? They are finally done with the foundation.”

“Have they? They were taking a really long time just for the foundation. By the way…” She hesitated to continue for some reason.

“What is it?”

“Haven’t you felt that the foundation is a little too big?”

“Huh?”

“We asked for a house with four bedrooms, but the foundation looked quite big for a house of that size.”

I never actually paid any attention to the size of the thing. Recalling what I saw a moment earlier…, it did look like she had a point. The foundation … did look quite large.

“Let’s go check right now.”

“I am sorry, but my shift hasn’t ended. I can’t abandon my post.”

“Then I will go right now and check on it.”

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

Having a little bigger house wasn’t an issue by itself. But, if Derdin was building a house much bigger than we asked for…, then there would be an issue. Thankfully, only the foundation was completed. It wouldn’t be too late to revert if the plan was for a bigger house. Leaving the guild behind, I made my way to the foundation swiftly.

“Oh? You are back?” one of the workers said to me. Looking around, I didn’t find Derdin.

“Excuse me, but do you have the floor plan of the house?”

“The floor plan? No, we are just following the boss’ orders.”

“Then do you, by any chance, know how big the house is going to be?”

The worker laid his eyes on the foundation and took a moment to calculate.

“I’d wager this is for a house with six bedrooms. Four rooms on the second floor and two on the first.”

That was two more bedrooms than we asked for … Wait.

“Why just two rooms on the first floor?”

“The kitchen and living room take up a considerable amount of space. A house of four bedrooms is probably better to be a bungalow.”

“How come?”

“Like I said, the kitchen and the living room take up a good amount of space. If it’s a two-story, the space taken up by those will be enough for four small bedrooms on the second floor. But it’s better to have at least a room on the first floor for a maid or whatnot. In the end, having two rooms on the first floor enables four good-sized bedrooms upstairs. This is a logical choice.”

“What if I want a bungalow?”

He shook his head. “The lot is too small for a bungalow with four bedrooms. It has to include the kitchen and the living room also. A two-story is the logical choice.”

“And, if it’s a two-story, six rooms are ideal for the lot size?”

“That’s correct.”

Folding my arms, I let out a short sigh. This wasn’t a huge issue but wasn’t ideal, either. Six rooms! The house was going to be almost empty when we moved in. It would feel weird to live in such a big house with just two people. Am I going to need a maid? How much is a maid? That was such an unneeded expanse I didn’t want to think about.

“What a headache,” I whispered to myself as I bid good-bye to the carpenter who was readying polished lumber for load bearing posts. There were two other men with him who were taking a short break sitting on top of the lumbers. The reality was that we were probably getting more than we paid for, so it wasn’t something I wanted to complain out loud. At the same time, selling the house wasn’t an option, either, because getting permission to build a house was nigh impossible at the moment. We were basically stuck with a home that was too big for the two of us for the time being.

“Maybe rent out some rooms?” I wondered aloud on my way back to the guild to inform Jane. When I informed Jane about the state of the house, she also had a look of concern.

“A house of that size…, we might actually need a maid,” she mumbled. Employing maids wasn’t exclusively done by nobles. Anyone wealthy hired them. The “wealthy” part was a troublesome one for us because we weren’t. I had the money in gold coins but had no regular income that was high enough to keep a maid hired probably. To be fair, our current earning level was enough for us to be able to live pretty comfortably without ever going hungry. The issue was that we were trying to become a level above just being commoners.

“Would it be possible … to have some sort of a passive income?” I wondered aloud, feeling somewhat desperate. I mean, I had 14 gold coins sitting pretty. It wasn’t a stretch of an imagination that I was thinking of making money with money.

“Is that even possible?” She, too, was skeptical. She hailed from a farming family. The way of the merchant was lost on her, and it went the same for me.

“I have, eh…, a merchant friend who might be able to help me out.”

That merchant friend was Esther. We hadn’t talked for years since we were forced to break up, and she might not even meet me. Hell, she might not even remember me anymore. It’s been like seven years or so. We were just kids back then. Having made up my mind to see her, I made my way to a specific market stall she used to work at in the central market. She no longer worked in the market anymore. Nowadays, she worked mostly in the background, especially after her marriage to the young lord Flissing. In fact, I heard that she and Julian set up something called a company. Its name was JnE Co. I could easily guess what JnE stood for: Julian and Esther.

“Hey, is Esther at the company?” I asked the guys working at the stall, who were mostly selling breads, waterskins, and boar jerky to miners. It was getting closer to noon, so they were starting to gather for lunch.

“What? Who are you?” One of them responded rather aggressively.

“I am just asking.”

“It’s none of your biz. Bugger off.”

I tossed an iron coin over to him.

“She’s there,” he said with a change of his tone. I had to make sure because she wasn’t always present in Ceres. She made frequent visits to Dido where the main house of the Flissing was located. I could have just asked their butler at the company house but I doubted that I’d get an honest answer. At least, if I knew that she was there, I could insist on meeting her and get a better chance.

“Thanks.” And I headed toward the Southern part of the city where JnE Co was. The company house wasn’t actually that far away from my parents’ farm. It wasn’t even a house; it was a large unconventional manor. It’s not even really a manor, though. It was just a giant warehouse with a house attached to its side. The giant structure was where they were storing all the goods. This place was always busy as far as I knew with carts going in and out until evening. Sometimes even evenings would get busy. When I got there, it was busy with over ten carts present around the warehouse which had a giant set of doors in front that was wide open at the moment, allowing carts to enter and leave as needed. Armed guards were present also, who became immediately alert due to my presence. I was unknown to them after all. I raised my hands midway at once.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I am no threat.”

“State your business,” said a guard with his hands on the grip of his sword on his belt.

“I’ve come to see Lady Flissing.”

The guard scoffed. “She is busy. Bugger off.”

“Just give her a message, will you?” I wanted to toss a coin at him, but my hands were up at the moment.

The guard glanced back where there were two more guards. They exchanged looks, and he turned his attention back to me.

“Bugger off,” he demanded.

“Well, I tried,” I said while lowering my arms, and the guards took it as a sign that I was giving up. Hell, no. I wasn’t. I dashed toward the trio of guards as soon as my hands were down, grabbed his collar, and threw him down.

“H, Hey!” The other two shouted while drawing their swords out. I kind of wanted to draw my sword, but that would only escalate the situation further. Therefore, I punched his abdomen hard with my fist after making a swift dash at him. He threw up whatever was in his stomach right after and fell to his knees. The last remaining guard looked shocked by the sudden defeat of his two comrades. My training paid off. I felt that my balance was good.

“I mean no harm!” I exclaimed. “Just relay my message to her. That’s all I ask!”

At this point, the commotion had attracted everyone’s attention in the vicinity, and uneasy silence befell.

“Well, this has gotten awkward,” I said to myself. The two defeated guards were back on their feet already. The one who I punched was in no condition to fight, however. His face was pale, and orange goo was around his mouth.

“That’s enough!” A familiar voice was heard. I was pretty sure it was Esther’s. Yeah, I expected her but I didn’t expect her to be dressed in such an attire. She wore a pair of light gray pants with a leather vest and white blouse. She certainly didn't give off an image of a lady. Her flaming red hair had been cut to her shoulder level. Regardless, nothing changed the fact that she was a smoking hot woman to my eyes.

“Lady Flissing, it’s been a while,” I said rather gleefully. I could never call her by her name because she was sort of married and I, too, was married. I was in no position to be friendly with a married woman. She was the official mistress of Daniel Flissing, the only son of the Flissing. Even though she was only a mistress, young Lord Flissing made it clear that she was to be treated as if she was his official wife. Being a mistress wasn’t exactly the same as a marriage, though.

“Lord Fenchel,” she said, leaning ever so slightly forward. She knew that I was titled, meaning she was well-versed in politics.

“Lady Flissing, it’s been a while,” I repeated.

“Please come in. You are here for a talk, I presume.”

“Yes.”

Clapping twice, she exclaimed, “Get back to work!” She was displaying authority clearly, and the workers seemed to respect her.

“I would normally bring out a cup of Macomaco tea, but you wouldn’t appreciate that,” she said after leading me to a guest room which had a square table with a sofa on each side. The room was clearly meant for negotiations of some sort. There was a large window with a folded set of curtains, letting sunlight in.

“Anything but that is fine,” I said. In all my life at home, I drank that tea. I know people loved it but, for me, I’d rather drink water. Speaking of the tea…, ehm…, crap. I’ve never given Jane that tea, have I. She’d love it. Making a mental note to drop by at my parents’ house to get a bag of the tea, I waited for her to sit down. A maid soon came over, and she gave her some orders outside of the room and she came back in, sitting down on the opposite side of me at last. Crossing her legs, she leaned her back into it.

“It has been many years,” she said.

“It has.”

Seven or so years. I could sense that her eyes lingered on my left shoulder for a moment.

“I thank you for your service,” she said. She must have known the story of how I lost my arm.

“It’s nothing,” I replied with a smile. “And I had to go.”

“Why would you say that?”

“I was a useless boy. I had to accomplish something and I did at a small cost.”

I was someone now. I was quite positive that Jane would have rejected me if it wasn’t for the mission. I would still have my left arm but wouldn’t have the gold coins. More importantly, I would still be limping. I was even younger than her by two years. She would have rejected me for sure. My left arm was a small price to pay to be brutally honest. I could be mistaken, but she looked sad for a brief moment.

“Don’t undervalue yourself too much. You have tried, have you not?”

That was true… I did try… a lot.

She added, “I’ve seen many men who didn’t even try and complained that their lives sucked. You’ve tried. You are better than most.”

I simply smiled. Then she said something that’d shock me.

“If we weren’t cousins, I would have ended up with you.”

I wasn’t sure whether she really meant it or was simply trying to comfort me. Either way, she had ways with words. When I was just about to make a reply, a maid knocked and entered, carrying a silvery plate of two cups of tea. It was probably time to change the subject.

“I’ve come here to ask for your advice,” I told her after taking a sip of green tea.

“Ask away. I shall assist if I am able.” She, too, took a sip of her tea.

I explained to her about my financial situation along with the upcoming house.

“I’ve been trying to earn money, and it has been successful. But the level of income I am seeing won’t be able to support the level of our lives once we move in. It’s kind of a big house. So, that got me thinking… I have these gold coins -”

“How many?” She interjected.

“Ten gold coins.”

“Ten, huh…” Folding arms, she leaned back into her sofa.

“So, ehm, I was thinking if there were any ways to make money with money? Does that make sense to you?”

“Of course, that’s what we, merchants, do. We make money with money. What you are describing is something called an investment.”

“An investment?”

“Some nobles do this as well. They invest a certain amount of money and then live off interest.”

“Interest? What?” I was completely clueless as to what she was even talking about.

“Yeah, I guess this is something you wouldn’t know.” She sighed. Unfolding her arms, she leaned forward a bit. “Allow me to explain thoroughly. This may take a bit -”

According to her, wealthy people could easily live off by investing a sizable amount of their own wealth and they’d live off “interest”. This was predominantly for landless nobles who didn’t have a regular income via taxes. Generally, it wasn’t enough to live lavishly entirely on interest only, but having any form of passive income was God-send for them.

“Ten gold coins is a lot,” she added. “Normally, we get one or two gold coins as an investment. And we pay out 1% of interest bi-annually.”

“One percent?”

“If you invested a gold coin, you’d get a single silver coin twice in a year. If a noble family invested two gold coins, they’d get a total of four silver coins a year. If you invested ten gold coins, you’d get twenty silver coins a year.”

“Twenty silver coins…,” I mumbled. Jane, earning 6 iron coins a day, managed to save up 15 silver coins in 2 years. Twenty silver coins a year wasn’t bad at all.

“But do remember the meaning of an investment. You won’t have your ten gold coins with you. We will have it. We will draft a contract accordingly and so forth. People have to be able to trust their merchants because there is always a chance that merchants might flee one night, leaving you in limbo.”

I was pretty positive that JnE Co could be trusted. Julian had been with the city pretty much since the very beginning. Esther was his heiress because he refused to marry. I heard that this was the reason why she refused to become an official wife for the Flissing. She wanted to remain here and carry on doing merchant thingy.

“So…, I hand you the money, and you use it to earn money while you give me a share of your profit twice a year?”

She beamed a smile. “You’ve got it. Just so you know, if you do invest ten gold coins, that would be the largest investment I’ve ever seen. People generally invest one or two gold coins. Not many actually have that many gold coins in hand.”

“The money … will be safe, right?”

“There is a risk,” she said earnestly. “We may lose some of it. That’s why there is a term of ten years before you can withdraw your investment.”

“What happens if you do lose some of it?”

“Your investment itself is protected as long as you withdraw it after ten years. Even if we did lose all of it, we will be forced to pay you out of our own pockets. But that’s unlikely to happen as long as I am in charge.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “I can see why people invest a gold coin or two, so there are some risks.”

“Of course. Like I said earlier, merchants can flee. Business ventures may fail. There are risks. You have to trust us.”

I wanted to trust JnE Co. I wanted to trust Esther as well as Julian. Even so, investing ten gold coins sounded risky. At the same time, ten silver coins every 6 months would allow us to have an upper class living standard. I was swayed but I needed to talk to Jane before making the final decision.

“Can I come back tomorrow morning? I am going to need to talk to Jane.”

“Are you married now? Is Jane her name?”

“I am, and yes.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks. It is … nice seeing you as well.”

I noticed that she glanced at my left shoulder once again. What was I supposed to tell her about that? Finishing up my cup of tea, I stood up and told her.

“I will see you tomorrow morning.”

“Of course, please do come with your wife.”

Did she want to see Jane? Well, why not? When I went back to her and explained about the investment, she became as pale as a ghost.

“WHAT?! Why would you give your money away?!”

I was a bit worried that she might not understand the concept of investment and she didn’t.

“It’s called an investment,” I tried to explain. “I lend them money, and they use my money to generate profit.”

“What if they run away with the money?!”

A valid concern.

“Jane, it’s JnE Co. They are backed by the royal court. Why would they run away?”

She began to bite her thumbnail with a very nervous expression on her face. “Still…”

“The co-owner is going to meet us again tomorrow morning. I am sure she can explain better than me.”

“She?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Her name is Esther, the mistress of the Flissing.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of her.”

It took her a moment to calm down. Taking a deep breath with both of her hands on her waist, she breathed a sigh of relief. We were in her quarters at the guild which was a small room with just a single bed, a small closet, and a small desk. Her bed was just barely large enough for her with very little wiggle room. We couldn’t make out on there even if we wanted to.

“Yeah, I sort of see why you want to do that,” she concluded. “Better than having the money just sitting in dust.”

I was trying hard to make our new lives work. She had to see that.

“We will meet her in the morning.”

She nodded along. “Alright. Ten silver coins every six months doesn’t sound too bad actually. Me being out of commission during pregnancy won’t impact us much.”

With a smirk, I tried to hug her, but she refused and backed out.

“Not here. You know the rule.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I just wanted to hug her, though. Well, I guess I’ve been asking her to do it with me a bit too frequently. In my defense, I couldn’t resist the urge sometimes. Women are … nice.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

The two women shook their hands in the same guest room I had been a day prior. Both of them were wearing pants, which made me realize that it was becoming rarer to see women in dresses.

“My name is Esther, and I am the co-owner of JnE Co.”

“My name is Jane. I work as a guild receptionist.”

“Have a seat, both of you,” she said while beckoning over a maid. “Just some tea.”

After we sat down, Jane immediately started asking a barrage of questions which Esther answered promptly without any hesitation. Then it was Esther who brought out a scrolled parchment.

“This is the contract,” she declared. “Please read it through.”

The tea cups the maid brought over, none of us was drinking it. The air was intense in the room with Jane hell bent on trying to find some sort of flaw. The key aspect of the contract was that the investment had a ten-year term, meaning I wouldn’t be able to withdraw my investment for at least ten years. And I’d receive ten silver coins every six months. If demanded, JnE Co had to give me a report on how the money was being utilized but only once a year. Interestingly, the interest after ten years increased to twelve silver coins per six months. Esther explained that it was due to inflation. Whatever that was, I had no clue.

“I want to add a clause,” Jane said after reading up the contract.

“What would it be?”

“Should my husband perish, I want his eldest child to be able to inherit the investment.”

We were a very young couple, me being 15 year-old and Jane being 17, so I didn’t think about the inheritance. But she had a point. Given my line of work, it was entirely possible that I could get killed by monsters. I also liked that she didn’t put herself in the line of inheritance. She placed our future child.

“That is a reasonable request,” Esther admitted. “I shall add that.”

“Please do.”

“Anything else?”

“How can we guard against you altering the contract unilaterally?”

Beaming a smile, Esther replied, “Simple, we can entrust the original copy to the royal palace. Each of us will keep a copy. Now, we don’t normally do this. Given the size of the investment, however, I suppose it does deserve royal protection.”

Jane nodded along, looking more confident as the conversation went on. She was becoming convinced that we weren’t going to get scammed. Well, Esther would never pull such a thing on me. Though I agree that being cautious wouldn’t hurt. The amount was huge after all. Esther had the contract amended to add the clause and came back to us for my signature. Jane’s was not needed. Once I put down my name on the bottom of the parchment, Esther put down hers. Then she called over three more scholars to put down their names in a corner after going through the contract. Once everything was in the clear, she rolled it up and offered to walk with us to the palace to entrust the original contract. The royal palace would make copies for us in a few days.

“How long have you two been married?” Esther asked.

“Several months,” Jane replied.

“Are you fifteen as well?”

“No, I am seventeen.”

Esther’s eyes narrowed. She was older than me also.

“I guess … that it must run in the family?” she said with a crooked grin. Jane had no idea what she was talking about, but I knew. My brother had two wives who were older than him, and so did I. Of course, I kept my mouth shut on this.

“Do you have any children, Lady Flissing?” I asked. As far as I knew, she had been married for some years now.

“Not yet, but I am pregnant.”

My eyes went wide. “Oh, congratulations.” Jane congratulated her as well. I couldn’t see any baby bumps, so it must have been early. Looking up, she sighed deeply.

“I’ve surely come a looong way…,” she whispered.

Even I, who grew up in Ceres, didn’t know how she ended up here. It was very probable that she had a story just like me. But It would be something I’d never find out since our paths were too far apart. If there was anything common between us, it was the fact that we both were awkwardly nobles. I had a titular title which meant nothing other than loosely granting me nobility. She was a mistress of a high noble, also making her sort of a noble but not really. It didn’t take us long to reach the royal palace which was crawling with visible elementals. Earth, fire, water, and wind elementals were all over the large gate of the palace. A pair of guards standing by the gate seemed to have gotten used to them and were showing no emotions. They recognized Esther as soon as we were into their visual range.

“Lady Flissing.” They both gave her a firm nod and acknowledged her. “Those are…?”

“My clients, allow us an entry please.”

The guards glanced at elementals which approached me and Jane and looked as if they were sniffing us. A brief moment later, they withdraw.

“All clear,” the guard declared. “Enter.”

The gate opened slowly, revealing a well-lit stone passageway.

“Our destination is not far. See that door over there? It’s the scribe’s chamber. That’s it,” she said, pointing at a reddish door. It was only like twenty steps into the palace.

“Is it going to take long? If not, we shall keep the gate open,” the guard asked.

“It won’t take long. In fact, we are just dropping this off.” She showed off the scrolled parchment. Nodding affirmatively, the guard kept the gate open.

“We just drop it off?” Jane wondered.

“This is not the first time I am doing this. We drop this off, and they will copy it. It will take a few days for them to copy properly. The copies we get won’t be just ordinary copies. They will be certified copies signed by court scholars.”

“It sounds like it’s going to cost.”

“It does, but no worries. It’s on me. I mean, your husband is investing ten gold coins. The cost of certified copies is really a drop in a bucket.”

Although Jane didn’t know, I wasn’t keeping my gold coins around me. In fact, I was keeping it in the royal bank. Duman and Roseline did probably the same. There was no way physically keeping the gold coins would be safe. It would be stolen eventually. I wasn’t aware of banks until mom told me. She specifically told me to keep the money in the royal bank for safety.

“Well, I am going to visit the bank and withdraw the investment,” I told Esther.

“Very well, I will go with you.”

“You will?”

“I am not going to carry ten gold coins with me. That would be too dangerous. I am going to deposit them straight away.”

That made sense actually. She was pregnant even. There was no point in risking anything.

“Jane, would you wait at the scribe’s chamber? We will be back shortly.”

“Okay, I want to ask them a few questions anyway.”

The bank wasn’t even far away. It was just another twenty steps or so. It was behind a blue door.

“She seems shrewd enough,” she remarked with a grin. What was she playing at? She was in no position to judge my wife. We were inside of the bank by the way which was a spacious room divided in half. The room was divided with a stone wall that has a large rectangle hole in the middle. There was a chair on each side with the other side having a desk in addition to a chair. The other half was initially empty. However, as soon as Esther rang a bell attached to a wall, a woman in a robe dashed in along with three guards and a mage.

“You are in no position to say that,” I rebutted. “Come on. We are both married to different partners.”

“You aren’t wrong, but I do miss the old days. Do you not?”

I was … struggling to make a name for myself when I was hanging out with her. But I did feel she wasn’t wrong. If I could go back seven years ago…, I would have definitely made far wiser choices.

“Let the past be past,” I said firmly. “Esther, you have a different path now.”

She smiled brightly. “You’ve grown.”

“I am not a kid anymore. I have a wife and soon a family to look after. I am a man now.”

Our conversation was soon interrupted.

“Miss Esther, welcome back. A withdrawal perhaps?” The woman behind the wall divider spoke after sitting down.

“I am going to withdraw,” I told her.

“Please have a seat. Your name please?”

“Faro Fenchel.”

The banker’s eyes went wide for a moment but she acted normally. She stood up and went out of a door, coming back a moment later with a file. Once back in her seat, she handed over a blank piece of paper to me.

“Please write your signature please.”

I complied and handed it over. She compared the signature with the one on the file. Then she looked at me as if confirming my appearance with the one written on the file.

“Very well, Lord Fenchel. What is your business?”

“I’d like to withdraw ten gold coins and give it to her.”

“I see. What is the purpose of the withdrawal?”

“An investment.”

It was at this moment Esther approached me.

She told her, “You don’t need to bring out the coins. Just directly deposit it to my account.”

The banker nodded along. “Understood.”

It was essentially a fund transfer. The banker verified Esther’s signature as well. Overall, it took some time for everything to be completed because they were being really meticulous about identifications, which was a good thing probably. When we were out of the banking room, Jane was already waiting by the red door of the scribe’s room.

“All done?” She asked.

“Yep, the money has been transferred,” I answered. Suddenly, she walked toward me, grabbed me by my arm and forcefully dragged me away from Esther.

“Let’s go home,” she told me.

“Uh, sure. Lady Flissing, it’s been a pleasure doing the business with you,” I hurriedly turned my upper body around and told her.

“Likewise,” she replied while waving subtly with a bright smile on her face. It kind of felt like she was enjoying this scenario. “By the way, the ten silver coins every six months, the payment will be directly deposited into your bank account.”

By the time she was done talking, we were already pretty far away. In fact, we were just out of the gate.

“I’VE GOT IT!” I had to shout. I got a feeling that Jane was being a bit jealous. Why, though? Esther was a married woman. There was nothing to fear, and it wasn’t as if I was going to cheat on her. Oh, well, what do I know about women? I will just let her be.