Erina and Sandes finished their dinner in a warm atmosphere and sat facing each other in the office, just like the day they first met.

The only difference was that it was the Kerenik mansion, not the mansion located in the village next to the mana stone mine.

Unlike then, when they were wary and drawing lines with each other, the atmosphere of sitting and the table that had been empty were different now.

Sandes handed Erina a teacup filled with steaming yellow tea.

“It’s chamomile tea, good for sound sleep. I thought you might need it.”

“Thank you, Lord.”

Although puzzled by his strangely gentle behavior, different from how he treated others, Erina quickly dismissed the thought.

In the original story, Sandes had wanted to get his hands on the mana stone mine.

Erina concluded that this behavior was simply because she now held the mine that Sandes wanted.

“I thought it would be good to clarify the contract details before His Majesty speaks about the mine tomorrow.”

Indeed, their deal had been discussed in rather vague terms.

Moreover, all conversations from their first meeting until now had been through Heila, so they had never discussed it in detail even once.

Erina nodded carefully, feeling the warmth of the teacup through her fingertips.

In truth, Erina had only thought about escaping from the Iolles mansion, chased by an unjust reality and an uncertain future.

Knowing from the original story that he was a very reasonable person, Erina had also blindly trusted him without much thought.

There was too much to think about.

She had to envision the future by ruminating on the original story only she knew, and she had to rethink the future that had been distorted because she had twisted the original.

She had to think about how to deal with others’ changed reactions, and she also had to think more about Revil.

She also had to prepare for the worst actions they might take if cornered.

With so much to think about, she hadn’t properly focused on the deal.

“That’s right.”

Erina had to admit that she had acted too hastily.

In the original story, the mana stone mine had a significant share in their disgusting yet brilliant future.

But Erina had twisted the original and taken it away.

Rose was now merely a mistress, and the future where she could be recognized by people had disappeared.

Erina had shattered the honor that Peiron had been proud of.

She was no longer the Erina from the original story, trapped like a bird that could no longer fly.

She had trampled on her own gloomy future and escaped.

Now she no longer had to overwork her mind.

With that thought alone, Erina felt her tensed shoulders relaxing a bit.

“Shimillden.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Shimillden, who had set up the tea by calling a maid, placed a document each in front of Sandes and Erina.

“I’ve summarized the rights of the mine owner and the imperial laws regarding mines based on historical records.”

As Erina put down her teacup and picked up the document, slowly reading from the top, Shimillden explained from the side.

“To briefly explain, the mana stone mine is entirely owned by its owner. However, by law, 3% of what is mined must be supplied to the imperial family. In return, the imperial family exempts the owner from all taxes and assigns the imperial knights as guards.”

Considering that the basic tax was 10%, this was a rather generous treatment.

Also, the assignment of the imperial knights, who only guard royalty, meant that it was highly valued.

It was a well-known fact that when the mine owner dies, the glowing mana stones lose their power and become useless rocks.

However, it had been continued like a custom by successive emperors who wanted to block even small threats in advance.

“You’ll probably be assigned knights right away when you go to the palace tomorrow.”

Erina nodded at Sandes’ words, and Shimillden continued with the explanation.

“As for the mine’s shares, Your Excellency, who is in charge of manufacturing and distribution, will have 30%, and Lady Medelia will have 70%.”

Considering that he was in charge of manufacturing, distribution, and management, it was quite a satisfactory ratio.

Sandes would handle all the troublesome work as Erina wanted, and Erina would just watch the money coming into her account.

“Lastly, we’ve left the exclusive distribution period blank for now.”

Due to the significantly different size compared to previously discovered mana stone mines, no one could estimate when the mining and distribution period would end.

If the exclusive distribution period is not set, the Kerenik Marquis family will hold power for a considerably long time.

Sandes thought he couldn’t decide the period arbitrarily, so he included it in the negotiation items.

“If you have a period in mind, feel free to say so. Or would you like to think about it a bit more before deciding?”

In response to Sandes’ considerate words, Erina’s answer was without hesitation.

“No. I’ll leave it as it is for now.”

Pleased with her answer, Sandes smiled softly, his eyes curving.

“Then I’ll have to work hard to keep it that way.”

Erina felt that his attitude was markedly different from when they first met, evident in that smile and tone.

A soft smile without any wariness, a friendly tone without distance, clear sky-blue eyes containing only Erina.

Erina was a bit flustered by his subtly peculiar gaze.

Shimillden, watching from the side, chuckled and handed quill pens to both of them.

Erina pushed aside the teacup in front of her and signed at the very bottom where her name was written.

Erina Bril Medelia.

She was no longer bound by the shackles of Iolles.

Pleased by this fact confirmed once again, she signed quickly.

As soon as Erina finished signing, Sandes’ name came into view.

Sandes de Ville Kerenik.

Middle names are usually given to those of royal lineage or those who marry into royalty.

But Sandes hadn’t married into royalty.

Erina began to question Sandes’ name for the first time, something she hadn’t paid much attention to before, thinking it wasn’t particularly relevant to her.

Erina tried to recall the parts about Sandes in the original story.

He was a villain, but his role in the original story wasn’t that significant.

The original story mainly focused on Peiron and Rose’s love, and Erina’s misdeeds.

As if it was a story created to highlight Rose.

In such an original story, Sandes appeared out of nowhere after Peiron reported the mana stone mine to the emperor.

It felt as if he had appeared simply to emphasize that Rose was loved by everyone.

The description of Sandes in the original story was very brief.

The Marquis of Kerenik, who held the empire’s trade in his hands and received the emperor’s trust like Peiron, a man who courted Rose but gracefully withdrew when rejected.

His appearance also ceased after the mana stone mine became imperial property, after approaching Rose for quite some time.

Before Erina realized she was a character in a novel, she had never heard much about Marquis Kerenik in social circles, as if they were hushing up detailed talk about him.

All she knew was that he was called the emperor’s hidden shadow and that he had appeared like a comet, receiving the emperor’s full trust.

The only thing she had learned through rumors was that he had a close relationship with the emperor.

Erina was once again startled by the fact that all she knew about him was his name.

As she raised her head after staring at his middle name, she met Sandes’ eyes, still looking at her with a smile.

“Are you curious?”

Erina, somehow feeling as if her thoughts had been exposed, averted her eyes in embarrassment.

“Ah, no. Not really…”

“I wish you were curious.”

Erina looked at Sandes with wide, round eyes in surprise.

“I wish you wanted to know about me as much as I’m curious about you.”

Flustered by his sudden approach with such dizzying words, Erina pretended to busy herself gathering the neatly arranged documents.

Sandes couldn’t help but laugh out loud, finding her fumbling attempts to avoid him adorable.

Seeing Erina’s cheeks turn red, Sandes hurriedly finished signing, worried she might run away.

“It’s not really something to hide. Most people who aren’t new nobility know about it anyway.”

As Sandes handed his signed document to Erina, she took it while handing her document to Sandes.

“I am the illegitimate child of the former emperor.”

Sandes started talking lightly, as if discussing the tea they were drinking, while signing the document.

“What?”

As Erina asked in surprise, Sandes finished signing and handed the document to Shimillden.

“It’s a typical story. A maid catches the eye of the former emperor, becomes his mistress, and even bears a child. The mistress, unable to endure the empress dowager’s jealousy, escapes from the palace with the child.”

Erina felt a strange emotion as she watched Sandes talking about his own story so nonchalantly.

“As time passed, the mistress died, and the wandering child caught the attention of the current emperor. Most of the former emperor’s illegitimate children had died either before birth or before they could walk.”

It wasn’t a story that could be told without emotion.

Erina couldn’t imagine how much pain Sandes must have endured to be able to talk about his past trauma so calmly.

After all, it had taken Erina a long time to become numb to her own past memories.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.