“Has she arrived?”

“Yes, Lady Ines.”

The other guest was Kacey, who had recently become a maid in the empress’s palace. She entered with a bright smile.

So, the three of them sat facing each other in the reception room of the imperial palace, not the prison in Romfield.
After Ines introduced the two to each other, some time passed, but Charlotte still couldn’t easily adapt to the situation. However, such sentiments were not unique to her alone.

Ines, at this moment, considered it truly miraculous.

Kacey first casually talked about her daily life.

“I’m still in the learning stage, but it’s easy to see that the situation in the empress’s palace is very serious.”

In response to Kacey’s words, Ines nodded. With the empress fleeing, her closest maid also disappeared.

Even the assistant maids left their positions. The previous influences were almost entirely expelled or sent away from the palace. So, it was a stage where everything had to be started anew.

Kacey explained the events that had taken place relatively in detail. Ines listened carefully to her story.

The atmosphere among the three people in the reception room continued to be consistently gentle.

“Charlotte, you’ll have to return to the temple soon, right?”

“Yes, there’s not much time left.”

“What are your thoughts afterward?”

Charlotte bit her lip for a moment. Her family would probably not accept Charlotte, even as a divorcee whose noble status had likely disappeared.

She had less than six months left to live in this harsh world as a commoner.

“I haven’t… thought about it yet.”

“How about staying in the palace afterward if it’s okay?”

“What?”

“Of course, being a maid will be challenging. But I think working here won’t be so bad.”

Charlotte couldn’t say anything for a moment.

“It’s okay even for a while. Until you secure the money to settle down, or until you find a new job.”

“Okay.”

“Really?”

Ines asked with a truly joyful voice, and Charlotte nodded in response.

“Of course. To be honest, I felt so lost. There’s not much time left now. The time for me to stand on my own.”

“Then, I’ll tell them that you don’t need to return to the temple.”

“Is that… possible?”

“Of course, this is the imperial palace.”

Kacey, who was watching the two, also smiled gently.

“But what can I do in the palace?”

“There’s no need to decide right away. There’s still time.”

Before mentioning the purpose and proposal that she had summoned the two for, Ines pondered for a moment. The request and suggestion she was about to make to these two were by no means light. However, Ines considered these two to be absolutely necessary.

Staying only inside the palace had more constraints than expected. It meant that the two of them had a lot they could do in the future.

“Kacey, Charlotte, there’s something I’d like to ask and suggest to both of you.”

The eyes of the two pairs, shining with determination, turned towards Ines. The gaze was significantly different from what Ines had seen in Romfield, causing her breath to momentarily pause.

Ines took a deep breath, then went to the desk in the reception room, taking out a bundle of papers. She brought it in front of them.

“Huh?”
Charlotte quickly recognized what the item was, but Kacey tilted her head.

“This is a Mondrei Banknote from Mondrei Bank.”

“Ah… now that you mention it, I’ve seen it before.”

At Kacey’s words, Ines’s eyes sparkled.

“Really? Where?”

As if not remembering well, Ines asked with a tilted head. Then, Ines continued.

“Where you’ve seen it isn’t important right now. What I want to ask is about this.”

Ines divided the bundle into two and presented it to the two.

“I want to find out how much credit this banknote currently holds within the system.”

“What does that mean?”

“I know that Mondrei Banknotes are used like currency even within the system. But I want to know the exact scope of that. And I also want to know what conversion value it holds.”

Mondrei Banknotes were easily used for buying high-value items. Whether it was weapons, military supplies, or grain, one could pay with banknotes and later exchange them for gold or sanvate. It depended on how the parties involved in the transaction negotiated.

“Simply put, I want to know if I can actually live with this banknote.”

However, Ines also wanted to know if banknotes were accepted in regular transactions between people, in markets, when buying and selling small items.

“So, you’re curious if you can use this money to buy fruits or bread?”

Charlotte was already referring to banknotes as money. That was precisely what Ines was aiming for.

Turning Mondrei Bank into the central bank of the empire.

So, creating a new unified currency, not in sanvate but in banknotes.