“We’ll be seeing each other often from now on. I look forward to it, Rain.”

Closet’s graceful demeanor as she extended her hand with a bright smile was so elegant it bore no resemblance to her usual childlike attitude. Bellia felt proud and pleased watching her sister like this.

“Closet. After I leave for the empire, he will be able to help you in many ways. If there’s anything you need to know, you can ask him.”

Then they quickly established a way for Closet and Derek to contact each other separately. Since young Closet would have difficulty going outside the palace to meet Derek, they decided to mainly communicate by letter and Derek would visit the palace for important matters.

“Please use the advance payment I’ve provided to cover the costs of Closet’s requests.”

Recently, Bellia had passed on a lot of information to Derek. They were stories whose importance could vary greatly depending on how he utilized them.

As if recalling that, Derek nodded.

After confirming his willing agreement, Bellia said to Closet:

“So don’t hesitate to ask if there’s anything you want to know. Understand?”

“Thank you, elder sister.”

Closet seemed to have noticed the unspoken deal between Bellia and Derek. Being a smart child, she appeared to instantly grasp what a great opportunity this was.

After finishing Closet and Derek’s greetings, Bellia sent her sister out and arranged time to speak with Derek separately. She had a very important favor to ask.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

“Yes. It’s a really important matter.”

Derek’s expression turned serious at Bellia’s words.

Bellia was silent for a moment, then soon opened her mouth as if resolved.

“Please look into Callid, the second prince of the Ingot Empire.”

It’s not that she hadn’t investigated him at all.

But things like his position in the empire and his reputation among the nobles were now useless at this point.

Beyond those superficial investigations, she needed to confirm in more detail the things he had hidden.

‘He didn’t tell me when I asked him directly.’

Once she realized that Callid, whom she had believed to be on her side, was hiding something from her, she couldn’t just let it go.

Moreover, Callid wanted Bellia to dig deeper into him. So there was no problem with investigating through the information guild like this.

“…You mean His Highness Prince Callid?”

But Derek, seemingly surprised by Bellia’s unexpected request, asked back.

“May I ask exactly which aspects you want me to look into?”

“The unofficial work he’s doing in the empire, the things he owns, the people around him, his relationships with them… Anything related to him.”

At Bellia’s words, Derek fell silent for a moment, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Princess. This is a very high-level information request even in Lunes. Investigating royalty is not an easy task even for the guild. It’s too risky for us to accept this request as is. Besides, to be honest, I’m not confident we can investigate perfectly to the extent you want.”

It was a difficult thing to say easily as the head of an information guild.

However, investigating royalty was such a burdensome request that he had no choice but to say so.

Though well aware of this fact, Bellia pretended not to know and asked him another question.

“Have you finished investigating the medicine I told you about before? Surely you must have analyzed its composition.”

Bellia was certain that Derek would have investigated the ingredients of the medicine she gave him to check its composition. There was no way the cautious man would have simply believed her words and given it to his mother.

“…There was no problem with the medicinal ingredients.”

“Do you believe me a little more now?”

It was medicine that had been verified in the future. So there couldn’t have been any problems with the ingredients.

“Moreover, when I asked a pharmacist in our guild, they said the combination of ingredients was very innovative and that if the medicine was made this way, there’s a high chance your mother’s condition would improve.”

Bellia shrugged as if it was only natural.

However, Derek continued with a serious face.

“But that’s just a possibility, and since it’s medicine to be used on my mother, we need to be cautious.”

“You’re right about that. But you know it’s better to treat her as soon as possible. If we delay any longer, it might really become difficult to do anything.”

Bellia’s words were spoken out of genuine concern, but Derek seemed to hear them as a threat and let out a faint sigh.

“…Princess. It’s true that curing my mother’s illness is more important to me than anything else. But this isn’t a personal matter. The greater the risk, the more carefully we need to think about it.”

“Oh my. That wasn’t my intention. I brought this up simply because I wanted to confirm my information capabilities to you once more.”

Bellia smiled softly.

“Derek is still doubting me. So I thought you might not believe the information I’m about to give you now.”

Then she dropped a single word.

“The holy relic of the divine nation.”

Bellia recalled how the appearance of the holy relic of the divine nation in her previous life had caused a huge impact.

But at that time, it wasn’t Lunes but another information guild that discovered the relic. She remembered Derek telling her about it with frustration, as if his pride had been hurt.

‘I still have a lot I can reveal.’

The information she could use from the future was endless. And Bellia intended to thoroughly utilize it.

“If I tell you the location of the relic, would that be enough compensation for taking the risk?”

Derek let out a dry laugh at Bellia’s words. He must have been very surprised that Bellia knew they were secretly searching for the relic. Derek closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. Finally, he opened his mouth.

“…It’s too sweet an offer to refuse. Alright. Please tell me the location of the relic. Once we confirm and verify the information is true, we will immediately begin investigating the second prince as well. However, it may take a long time, and we may not be able to provide you with the perfect information you desire.”

“That’s fine. Just do your best.”

Afterwards, Bellia lowered her voice and carefully relayed each word to Derek.

Who currently possesses the relic, where that person is keeping it, and even how to get to the storage location – all in great detail.

“Do you really not have the ability of foresight?”

Derek seemed to believe that Bellia had the ability to foresee or prophesy. Bellia didn’t give him a precise answer.

“Well, let’s just say I saw it all in a dream.”

When Bellia replied jokingly, Derek seemed to realize he wouldn’t get an answer from her and shook his head as he stood up.

“Then I’ll contact you after confirmation.”

Scratch, scratch.

The pen glided smoothly across the paper.

‘I need to start preparing for this now.’

The system of the knighthood also needed to be changed a bit.

But it was difficult to touch it right away. So she had to prepare step by step from now on so that they could respond immediately when the enemy invaded.

“Princess. It’s almost time for your appointment with His Majesty.”

“Ah, right. Thank you.”

Bellia quickly rolled up the paper she had been writing on, packed it away, and stood up. She steeled herself for the upcoming appointment. To convince her brother and father, she needed to approach logically.

But there were clearly parts that Bellia couldn’t explain. Things that would be impossible to make them understand without telling them she came from the future.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t get caught up on these details.

Bellia left the room to meet the king and Herald, filled with worry.

It wasn’t far to the king’s office.

“Father.”

“Oh! Bellia. Come in.”

The king greeted Bellia with a bright smile and gestured to an empty seat. Herald was already seated across from that spot.

“Elder brother. I’m late.”

“No, I just arrived early because I had something to discuss with Father.”

Bellia sat down with a bright expression at Herald’s kind response.

Today’s appointment was arranged at Bellia’s request.

“So, what kind of story did you summon us here to tell?”

“Summon? I just asked for a moment of your time because I wanted to share some information I learned that could be helpful to the kingdom.”

Bellia answered, startled by the word ‘summon’. But the king continued to tease her with a playful expression.

“Then is this a time to scold us?”

“Father…”

As Bellia laughed awkwardly as if embarrassed, the king burst into hearty laughter.

“Alright. Let’s hear the story you’ve prepared.”

The king placed his hands on the desk.

Bellia took a deep breath and spread out the paper she had prepared in front of her. She also unfolded a large map of the continent beside it.

“Oh?”

Bellia pointed to the parts she had marked in advance.

“First, I’ll talk about the mine negotiations.”

“I was just discussing the mine negotiations with Father today.”

“How much of a share are you thinking of?”

“We’re planning to demand 40 percent. After all, it’s a mine within Ronica’s territory, so I thought 40 percent would be enough when considering future taxes.”

Bellia nodded. It seemed they were thinking of a slightly higher percentage since the empire had little reason to interfere in the negotiations.

In the past, when they discovered a gold mine jointly with the empire, they only managed to get a 30 percent share in exchange for taxes. Even now, thinking about that time made her blood boil. This time, she had no intention of being taken advantage of like that again.

“That’s not bad. But ask for a little more.”

“Bellia. But Prince Callid said he would divide a certain share between the empire and the kingdom. We can’t just make demands recklessly.”

The king asked Bellia what she would do in such a situation.

“We should insist. Callid is clearly a prince of the empire. It’s ridiculous that the empire, which did nothing during the investigation process, would take an additional share when the prince already has ownership.”

They had discussed this repeatedly in related meetings.

But Bellia was engaged to the empire’s prince and was soon to become the crown princess. There was no need to make Bellia’s future difficult just to gain a little more share.

That compromise resulted in a 40 percent, or 40/100 share.

“Ask for 5 percent more. It may seem insignificant, but it’s an amount too precious to give up.”

“Wouldn’t it look good if Prince Callid takes 40 percent, the kingdom takes 40 percent, and the empire takes the remaining 20 percent?”

“Why should the empire take 20 percent of the gold coming from our perfectly good land? To be honest, even a tiny gold nugget is precious, but we compromised this much because of Callid’s position.”

The king smiled gently at Bellia’s firm words.

“Will you be alright living as the crown princess in the empire soon? I’m worried about you.”

Herald asked with concern.

Bellia shook her head firmly.

“Don’t worry about me. Not now, not in the future.”

She understood her family’s concerns. But what happened to everyone in her previous life? Didn’t they lose everything and collapse just because they were too concerned about her?

This time, she would never let that happen.

“Father.”

Bellia opened her mouth seriously.

“After I leave for the empire, a fight for the throne will break out there. You need to prepare for that time.”

At those words, the king closed his eyes and fell silent.

In that silence, Bellia calmed her heart. These were difficult but necessary words.

In her previous life, all information from the empire was intentionally blocked, and her family suffered without knowing anything about the situation. There was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again this time. Bellia wanted to prepare for any situation as much as possible.

After a long silence, the king asked.

“Did Prince Callid want the throne?”