After that, it was a quick conclusion.

While other parts of Hotel Chronos were certainly excellent, the elevator was truly an unparalleled structure.

Of course, people were enthusiastic. Thus, when the presentation ended, the promised investment was truly enormous.

Even considering the possibility of later cancellations, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that 90% of the water had already been raised.

‘…This is ridiculous.’

And this is my impression.

I had heard before that Lord Joseph was skilled in business.

But that was just something I had heard with my ears, so I hadn’t really grasped it properly.

But now that I’ve actually seen and experienced it.

…It was truly beyond comprehension.

‘This doesn’t seem to be just good business skills. It’s simply revolutionary, isn’t it?’

What did I do, you ask?

This was obviously something that needed to be invested in. Honestly, it would be foolish not to invest.

By any means, this elevator was a structure that had to be completed!

But when I said I would promise to invest, Lord Joseph winked and asked me to wait a moment?

“Duchess.”

It seems the surrounding affairs have finally been settled.

Waiting in the carriage to return to the mansion with Lord Joseph, I asked as soon as he entered.

“Is this also the ability of a regressor?”

It was a question without context. Nevertheless, Lord Joseph understood it as if by magic and laughed softly with a breath.

“It’s similar. So, I’m thinking of dividing the profits from Hotel Chronos 5:5. What do you think?”

“Pardon?”

But what is this about?

As I tilted my head and expressed my confusion at this irrelevant answer, his kind explanation followed.

“Actually, the elevator is a structure that would have been created about a year later due to the Duchess’s needs in the original timeline. I’m just using it in advance. So I think it’s only fair to share the profits with the Duchess.”

What?

It was an astounding story.

So you’re saying the elevator was originally entirely my profit?

If you were going to do this, you should have just kept your mouth shut.

This was clearly an infringement of intellectual property rights. You conscientious thief!

“Make it 8:2. Of course, with me taking 8.”

Although I almost lost my temper at the end, today’s outing was quite successful.

Ah, when I say outing, I don’t mean Lord Joseph’s investment presentation.

I don’t know about Lord Joseph, but actually, I had a separate real purpose for today’s outing.

It was to lay the groundwork for solving Teacher Ernestine’s problem.

According to the plan I had set up in advance, I made contact with three noblewomen specially designated by Lord Joseph today.

According to the information, they were all people who had a favorable impression of Teacher Ernestine.

That information seemed to be true, as they almost cheered as soon as I brought up Teacher Ernestine.

Of course, I knew that noblewomen who enjoy the culture of high society love music and art, especially opera, more than anyone else. But…

‘Honestly, I didn’t expect such an enthusiastic response.’

It’s almost like the level of a popular prima donna or primo uomo?

As it turns out, Teacher Ernestine was a well-known figure in high society as a music teacher, known through word of mouth.

Someone everyone in the know knows about, but keeps quiet about to those who don’t? The prima donna who currently has a tight grip on the theater scene apparently received vocal coaching from Teacher Ernestine before gaining fame.

When I told them that such a Teacher Ernestine was working as a tutor for the Daiern family, their eyes all widened.

‘They kept pressing me about whether she was writing the libretto for a new opera well.’

They even seemed to be giving me a bit of a look.

As if my monopolizing Teacher Ernestine was some great sin.

So what did I do?

“I’m not sure, but I said it might be a profit issue. I also hinted that Teacher Ernestine’s family circumstances seem quite difficult. When I said that’s why she seems to be focusing on tutoring work for now, they were surprised. The rumors will probably spread through high society within a week.”

I didn’t bother mentioning anything about her patron, Baron Baden, or the lump-sum contract.

It’s better to let them dig into the detailed circumstances on their own.

“Lord Joseph also met with the manager of Bloria House and Baron Baden earlier, right?”

By the way, unlike me who has just now gotten involved in this matter, Lord Joseph had already been participating in Teacher Ernestine’s affairs for a while.

The first thing such a Lord Joseph did was to acquire an opera house.

At the same time, he gave one instruction to the former owner who is now the manager.

He said not to accept Ernestine’s libretto for the next quarter.

The manager was very surprised by this decision but didn’t oppose it, he said.

Of course, Ernestine’s operas are masterpieces that always draw huge audiences.

But if you ask whether they bring great profits to the theater, that’s not necessarily the case.

‘The theater is always on the verge of deficit, so they ended up looking for someone to acquire it.’

Baron Baden was said to take as much as 70% of the profits.

With that kind of structure, staging Ernestine’s plays would actually result in a loss for the theater.

It’s only natural that a large amount of money is needed to stage a large-scale production like an opera.

‘It takes a lot of time to train numerous actors and musicians, and to produce costumes and sets.’

In particular, the biggest expense is the price tag of the prima donna, who can be called the flower of the opera.

If there’s no one to replace her, the industry reality is that you have to pay whatever she asks for.

“What did the two of them say?”

“As it happens, Baron Baden had gone to see the manager for the next quarter’s performance. With a libretto that Teacher Ernestine had already completed.”

“But the manager refused it.”

“I heard Baron Baden was furious.”

When the manager refused Ernestine’s new libretto, Baron Baden initially sneered, they say.

It seems he thought that since Ernestine’s name value was so high, it wouldn’t be a problem even if Bloria Theater refused.

He said he would give other theaters a chance, so don’t regret it later.

But it wasn’t that simple.

Ernestine’s librettos were works that required such large-scale facilities and numerous actors.

“It seems Baron Baden tried his best to find a new theater on his own.”

The problem is that there aren’t many large theaters capable of staging an opera.

Moreover, Baron Baden’s tyranny was apparently a well-known story in the industry.

“In the end, he came back to Bloria House with the condition of taking only 60% of the profits.”

“And he was refused again, I suppose. Because it’s no longer about the profits now.”

“That’s right. Only then did the manager tell him that I, who had acquired the opera house, had declared that I would not accept Teacher Ernestine’s libretto.”

That was the reason Baron Baden came to see Lord Joseph along with the manager.

Not the manager, but Lord Joseph was the one he needed to talk to in order to negotiate the profits or whatever to sell the libretto.

“So I said I would think about it for now.”

“With 60% of the profits?”

“Of course not. He lowered his tail to 50%.”

He probably insisted that any more than that would leave no profits for Teacher Ernestine.

“So the conclusion is…”

We exchanged glances and smiled at each other.

“We just need to wait, right?”

“Yes. It will be settled within a week.”

“This is better now.”

The Baroness Baden looked around the room with a satisfied face.

Only after covering the gargoyle statue, changing the bedding and curtains, and even the carpet, did the room become quite cozy.

Until then, it was more like a monster exhibition room rather than a bedroom.

The Duchess’s taste is really like a witch’s, isn’t it?

‘While she had such pretty furniture, why did she deliberately buy such dark and gloomy things?’

Perhaps it was intentional to upset her because she didn’t like her. No, that must be it!

Because the furniture and bedding that now newly decorated Baroness Baden’s room were originally the ones that filled this room.

‘It would have been even better if we had ordered new ones.’

There wasn’t enough time in the schedule to do that.

As a chaperone, she couldn’t be separated from Princess Euphemina, and above all, things like curtains and bedding are custom-made, so it would take at least a week.

It’s not difficult to wait for the production period.

The problem was that this mansion was much scarier and creepier than expected.

Especially since the two tutors fainted after going out into the corridor late at night, and even received a chilling warning from Duchess Daiern.

When one is already anxious, shouldn’t one at least feel a bit more at ease?

‘Hmm, but…’

However, there was still something unsettling.

It was because the words of Teacher Zephet kept echoing in her ears.

“…”

The Baroness’s gaze turned to the gargoyle statue covered with green cloth.