I’d fucked up.

I’d royally fucked up.

I’d absolutely, positively fucked up for good.

Apparently, I forgot to take capitalism into account. Sure, this world was different. Sure, people were different. But were they really? Was anything different other than just their technological progress and sophisticated middle age world? No matter what world, greed was the same.

The church set the price of Elixirs to be sold for about 1 gold. That was true. Zena told me I could probably sell it for higher. Den meanwhile hadn’t seen the actual elixir. Mom told me to keep it a secret. I think they were definitely trying to protect me and not get my head clouded with money and stuff. And under normal circumstances, that would have worked. But I guess Mom hadn’t seen the whole murder thing coming and that messed up our lives.

Regardless, I still should have accounted for this possibility. Not only would I be targeted by everyone around me. I would also-

Sigh.

“It’ll be alright,” Shia said, as we walked down the corridor. We caught a lot of attention. Mostly me. I wouldn’t call it bad attention but, yeah, I saw greed in those eyes. But word shouldn’t have spread that fast. It shouldn’t have spread at all since the only people outside were the duke’s guards and Sibrian… but.

“How? You literally just said…”

“Well, you’re still his son.” She leaned closer. “I’m sure he won’t be able to do anything to you publicly if the Duke favors you,” she whispered.

The main problem wasn’t the families around me. It was my own family. As in the Barack family. They were a lot docile nowadays but according to Shia, the family was way brutal back in the day and the moment Sharmon finds out about the potential of me having a lot of money, he would use the money for himself and amass and army and get back at his enemies.

Is that why he sent Shia and the guards with me. So, we can get favors from the duke together….

He was shrewder than I thought. I had to give him credit there. However, despite everything he hadn’t gotten me just yet. Sure, I made a lot of mistakes. I fucked up big time. But at the same time, I wasn’t out of options. Let’s say he hated my gusts after this for not giving him money and threw me out of his family, the Borges family would take me in. I was on good terms with Anya and it would have sucked to be not protected by the Barack family but at the same time, as long as I could make to the Duke promise to protect me, it was going to work out. Hopefully.

Speaking of the Duke, no one saw him. He ran away with my elixir and disappeared. Judging by how frantic he was, it was safe to say he wasn’t doing this for the fish at least.

He said he doesn’t have enough potions. So maybe he had some injured commander or something? Seemed possible.

Anyway, that said, with nothing better to do, we headed for the dinner hall. It was packed. No, not overcrowded. Just packed. Eighteen tables. All round tables for eighteen nobles. Ours was empty with three seats? “Someone’s dining with us?” I wondered.

“I have a bad feeling about this one,” Shia said.

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Well, that was rare. She usually wasn’t the one to look that displeased. We took our seats. A maid came with some glasses, plates, handkerchiefs and stuff. “Would you like a drink?” she said. “Fresh wine from the winery.” Apparently, they were serving red wine. Looked delicious but I didn’t have any reason to get intoxicated tonight. One wrong move and I was going to end up dead.

“No thanks,” I said.

This place was beautiful. Warm lighting, soft piano music and a dancer dancing with the melody.

However, I got a lot of stares. It was a little jarring, especially considering I preferred not being the center of attention.

“I’ll take half a glass.” Looks like someone didn’t care about her health. This world doesn’t have a drinking age, huh?

Come to think of it, I hadn’t had a drink in this body either; I hadn’t seen any raging drunks either for that matter. I was tempted to find out whether alcohol tasted the same in this world too but, Let’s wait till fifteen at least.

I opted for water and cheered. Shia drank, eyes locked with mine. Was she trying to be foxy or something? I made a face, sticking my tongue out, and she snorted, spraying a bit of wine everywhere. Luckily, none on her dress.

Heh- I couldn’t control a giggle, and she didn’t seem to care either. Not very noble like but we were kids.

“Enjoying ourselves,” manly voice. The duke.

“Yes sir,” I said, standing up, offering a bow.

“No need, no need.” He smiled amiably and sat down.

Oh.

“You seemed to be in quite a hurry. Everything sorted out, sir?”

“Yes.” He said. “Do you have more?” He seemed very calm. And blunt too.

“We do not discuss business over meals,” Shia said. “In fact, we don’t even talk during meals.”

Young miss, you’re talking a duke. He’s three ranks above us. And we’re ‘his’ guests!

Strangely the duke laughed. And he laughed loud. “True. Business should be discussed in private.” He struck a thoughtful pose. “But since our food hasn’t arrived yet, let us discuss something else. Say, Soler, how do you find my daughter?”

This felt like a trick question. No matter how I was going to answer- “She’s a respectable noble lady and commands great respect in the academy through nobility and diligence. With her cheery yet sublime attitude, she is well approachable and noble-like, I think.” What the fuck does that mean though? I had no idea what I just said.

“How would you like my daughter’s hand in marriage?”

Silence.

Was he joking? He had to be. I mean, this was sudden. Not just sudden but absurdly surprising. First, he asked me about his daughter and then just randomly offered her hand to me? No, didn’t seem random. Seemed very preemptive if nothing else.

I took a good look at his face. Oh, he’s serious. I could have sworn my nose felt wet.

“Shouldn’t you ask your daughter first? I understand noble customs but there’s a good chance I won’t inherit my father. There’s also a good chance I might decide to live as an adventurer. I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be with someone like that.”

In noble families, if your parents told you to marry someone, you were obligated to do so. Especially for the women. They rarely got to choose their partners. Even so, I tried to sound sincere. I couldn’t just reject him outright without looking like a fool, so I was taking a roundabout way.

“Hmm… my daughter values freedom over being stuck in our customs. I’ve always seen her be melancholic whenever she’s at home. She rarely smiles. She rarely speaks. She rarely eats. It’s almost as though she’s given up on life. Bored of it. Yet, she requested I hold this tea party.” He stared, he stared at me. “You can guess why I entertained the idea.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t because I told her I liked castles…”

He grinned. “Think about it. You don’t have to answer right now. Fill your stomach first.”

The food arrived. A roasted chicken, grilled meat. Steak. Fresh fruit salad. The finest Honey Crisp I’d seen in a while and even pies and cakes and tea and… it was a feast of sorts.

However- “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to speak with my sister in private after the meal. I’ll give you my answer later.”

I heard a snicker. The dining hall was silent, so even a mere snicker sounded loud. I sighed. “Whoever just laughed,” I took a breath. “FUCK YOU!” I smiled. “Let us eat.”

One of the nobles in the back fumed, turned red, but quickly just ducked while the rest laughed, but at him not us.

“Indeed,” the duke said, pretending nothing happened.

Okay maybe, the outburst wasn’t nice but I was at my wits end. What the fuck!

I took a bite of the Honeycrisp and ate it without thinking about anything else. The food was good; my mood, not so much.