As Kaella was about to reflexively place her hand on Peon’s outstretched hand, she suddenly thought. She had become accustomed to him reaching out his hand.

‘I shouldn’t get used to it.’

She should always be ready to give up everything, so why had she already gotten used to it? Kaella took Peon’s hand with a helpless feeling.

He doesn’t even say he’s going. Everything just changes the moment he takes her hand. The surrounding air changed.

Now she was used to the ground beneath her feet changing, and after blinking, the temperature, humidity, light, and smell all changing. But the endless hill of gold coins was unfamiliar.

Peon, who had been quietly staring at Kaella, asked.

“How is it?”

Is it a desert? Yes. The ‘terrain’ was like a desert. The only problem was that it was made of gold instead of sand.

Kaella stood on the glittering gold with her mouth wide open, looking around. The gold stretched endlessly. It was so vast, and the ceiling so high that voices echoed.

“Can I touch it?”

“Of course.”

As soon as she got permission, Kaella picked up a gold coin and examined it intently, listening to the sound it made when struck. It seemed to be high-purity gold.

“Is this real?”

When she asked, Peon suddenly laughed out loud, shaking his shoulders, and this time her neck turned red too. But since whether it was real or fake was truly an important question, she didn’t withdraw her question.

“I thought you were going to ask for more. It’s all real.”

“Wow, I thought so, but I just wanted to ask. Wow…”

Another clear laugh was heard, but Kaella paid no attention and scooped up a bunch of gold coins and sprinkled them, as if scooping up and sprinkling water.

“Wow!”

Peon, who had been covering his mouth and laughing, quietly watched Kaella playing like a child.

There had been persistent rumors that the heir who would become the next Duke of Ostein had been sharp about finances since childhood.

She likes it so much, but for 4 years she couldn’t even properly manage the household while suffering under an embezzling butler and a spiteful head maid in the poor Lysenford. How heartbroken she must have been.

The sin of letting a precious young lady suffer from poverty, cold, and hunger to death was never erased and always tormented him.

“It’s amazing.”

“Is this what you wanted to see?”

“It’s like something out of a fairy tale. The dragon that kidnapped the princess always lived with gold coins piled up like this, I was curious.”

Peon crouched down next to Kaella, who was throwing gold coins while squatting.

“It’s similar to our story.”

She looked up at Peon. Similar? How?

“Not at all.”

It wasn’t similar at all. At least the dragon didn’t throw itself into a pitch-black shadow, not knowing what to do alone, and vomit, and rip out its heart.

“It’s completely different.”

“I see.”

If his wife says so, then that’s how it is. Peon nodded.

“Can I ask one more thing?”

“Of course.”

“This is just out of pure curiosity, but you didn’t form your assets only with gold coins, did you?”

Kaella couldn’t understand why Peon laughed every time she asked a question.

Isn’t it a very rational and reasonable question?

When assessing wealth, don’t you consider gold, silver, jewels and their historical value, and the artistry of the craftsman who worked on them, as well as company value, wineries, real estate value, and so on? She had never heard of a wealthy person who only had gold.

“No, I’m not saying gold is bad, but it’s safer and better to have assets in various forms, right? Of course, with this much gold, there’s probably no risk, but still.”

After speaking earnestly, Kaella finally looked at Peon dejectedly.

“Is my question that strange?”

“No, I’m not mocking you. It’s just that you ask things in your own unique way that most people wouldn’t, that’s all. I’m not laughing at you.”

Peon, who realized a bit late that Kaella was sensitive about people laughing at her words, quickly waved his hands.

“I’m really sorry if I offended you. But all your questions are fresh and unique, and I enjoy them. I want to keep hearing them. That’s all.”

Enjoyable, he says. It was the first time she’d heard that, but it was much better than being told she was funny. That he wanted to keep hearing them was nice too.

“Are you angry?”

“If that’s the reason, I’m not angry.”

“Thank you. And no, I haven’t formed my assets only with gold, our expert.”

“Oh, really? That’s good then.”

“Aren’t you going to ask what else there is? Aren’t you curious?”

She must be curious, but the well-mannered young lady took a step back.

“I’m curious, but it would be rude to ask about such things.”

Peon’s smile turned a bit bitter. She really only has curiosity as someone managing finances, within the bounds of not being rude. There’s still nothing beyond that.

“Why would it be rude when you’re my wife? This is all yours.”

“No, that’s not…”

This time Kaella was startled and waved her hands, which were then caught by Peon.

“It is. So do you want to play with it more? Or shall we go see something new?”

She considered very carefully. Her sky-blue eyes looked at the huge hills of gold coins, and she held up her index finger.

“Just a little more…”

When else would she get to play on hills of gold coins? At times like this, you have to do everything you want.

“Alright. Then play to your heart’s content.”

Peon nodded while biting back a smile. Immediately, Kaella began throwing gold coins into the air.

The gold coins glittered and flew under the bright lights. Peon smiled as he watched Kaella playing like a child and threw gold coins along with her.

Unlike in Ostein, where she had to strictly follow stuffy laws and manners to survive in Klein and Lysenford, Kaella finally sat down on the hill of gold coins like the true Duchess of Ostein, feeling excited.

When she sat, Peon lay down right beside her. As if he knew she wanted to lie down.

Thanks to that, Kaella, who lay down following him, thought it was just like when she was young. What she liked about Peon was that he understood and respected her feelings well.

“Did you usually play with gold coins like this?”

“Hmm, I never did.”

The two lay side by side, looking up at the ceiling that glittered with reflected golden light.

“When I was about eight? You know Arsaces, next to Keruzhan in Ostein, right?”

“Yes.”

“The princess from there was passing by and stayed for a while, a bit longer than expected. That princess often played with me because she thought I was cute. And just then, the man who was to be her husband brought her a gift before their marriage. I saw it next to the princess.”

Kaella raised her hands to draw a large box.

“It was about this big, so heavy that it took two adult men to carry. When they opened the lid, it was full of gold coins. That was the most gold coins I’d ever seen.”

“So you wanted to hold them then.”

“Well, yes. I just wanted to play with them.”

“The Duke of Ostein probably didn’t allow it.”

“Dad was strict about how to handle money.”

Kaella nodded and then spread her arms out to the sides, moving them up and down.

“Wow, when else would I get to do this.”

“You can come do it whenever you’re bored.”

“That’s okay.”

She couldn’t ask him every time she wanted to come, and they weren’t that close yet. Kaella turned to look at Peon lying next to her.

She was used to always looking at him. So when Peon felt her gaze and looked back at her, Kaella hesitated a little.

‘This is probably about right, isn’t it?’

She didn’t know how long this marriage would last, but this was probably the best their relationship could be. They might pity each other after discovering each other’s wounds and being terribly hurt, but in the end, that would be all.

Peon said he wouldn’t let go of her until the end, but she knew well that she wasn’t worth it.

‘Because I’m lethargic and depressed.’

There’s no one who would endure such a wife to the end and still call her pretty. They would gradually get tired, bored, and give up. So this must be the best. Probably.

Kaella was the first to break eye contact.

“That’s enough now. Let’s go.”

We’ll see what happens as time goes by. We’ve seen the hills made of gold coins too. It was enough now.

The briefly excited mood cooled quickly, and Kaella was too tired to maintain that feeling. They could just go back to the townhouse now. She got up and took Peon’s outstretched hand.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Kaella was ready to leave the gold coin hills and return to her ordinary, quiet life. Then she looked ahead.

As the glittering golden light faded and the surroundings darkened, she unconsciously drew her shoulders closer to Peon. She moved just a little, so the actual distance closed wasn’t much.

But Peon immediately wrapped his arm around Kaella’s shoulders and waited slowly for her to get used to the darkened surroundings.

A faint light was slowly seeping from the floor. And there were many sparkling stones reflecting that small light.

“Oh? Oh?”

“Do you like playing with jewels?”

More hills spread out before them. Peon didn’t miss a single moment of Kaella’s surprised expression, her eyes wide and mouth open, instead of her usual listless look.

*

Kaella always sat like a ghost. She had been through so much that she didn’t get agitated or surprised by most things. Even when faced with unfair situations, she didn’t get indignant or feel wronged. She had no anger, and she didn’t laugh much either.

Peon held onto that expressionless face and those soulless eyes. He tried his best to hold on, to make her feel any kind of emotion.

“Wow…”

Today was a success. When she made that cute comment about mountains full of gold coins, he quickly matched it, and her usually pale cheeks flushed pink.

“Wow…”

She didn’t talk much either. Kaella, who usually only spoke when absolutely necessary and kept her mouth shut otherwise, was now exclaiming “wow” repeatedly, forgetting that she was making such exclamations.

Thinking that she needed to appear dignified to be less disrespected, Kaella hadn’t lived according to her age, but now she finally looked properly like a 21-year-old.

She even clung tightly to his arm, unable to reach out her hand, just watching the cascading jewels.

“Touch them.”

“Ah, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

There were so many. Tourmaline, topaz, aquamarine, spinel, garnet, amethyst, turquoise, ruby, emerald, opal, sapphire, peridot, and an eye-popping amount of pearls and diamonds.

Of course, it wasn’t on the scale of forming a desert like the gold coins, but the gems were so large they rivaled the Kervan series, piled up and rolling around like common stones.

“Gold is fine, but touching jewels can damage them. It decreases their value. It’s important.”

She looked so pretty with her eyes wide open and her lips pursed in a round shape, chattering away. Since she was at least acting human-like now, he had to resist the urge to kiss her right there.

“I see.”

“Is it okay to store them piled up like this? The jewels could break if they’re pressed.”

“Dragons use magic to store jewels and gold too.”

“Ah, I see. That’s a relief.”

“So it’s okay to touch them and throw them around. You can even lie on top of them.”

“Gold and jewels are different, I’m telling you.”

“How are they different?”

Peon kept asking with a smile.

“Gold is money, but jewels have much greater value than money.”

“That’s true. Your jewels will have enormous value for our descendants. In that sense, why don’t you take more?”

Speaking casually about them having children, he pulled Kaella’s hand.

“Don’t just look at them like you’re viewing someone else’s precious artifacts.”

Did you think I’d just watch you draw a strict line saying this isn’t yours?

“But…”

Wanting to say it’s all yours but holding back, Peon approached very carefully.

“This is just a small part, Kaella. A very small part. There’s more besides this. Paintings thought to be lost or burned, sculptures believed to be broken, crafts, and an enormous number of ancient books too.”

“Paintings and books?”

He watched Kaella’s immediate reaction with feigned indifference, devouring every little change in emotion with greedy eyes.

“Yes. There’s a lot of that too. Since there’s so much, why don’t you choose a few things from here first? I’ll make anything you choose into a set.”

Seeing Kaella looking around, wanting something else but unable to say it, he sighed a little.

“And after we make all that, let’s go see the paintings first.”

One at a time. If she becomes curious about little things, she’ll look forward to tomorrow.