Chapter 7
There was only one thing I asked Marsha to do.
“Gather the evidence that can bring down the House of Leways. I spent two years compiling it. Just deliver it to the Imperial Palace. All that matters is that it ends up in Axel’s hands.”
In the original story, Laura is executed after taking the blame for all of House Leways’ crimes. Jeppetto and the rest of the family offer her up as a scapegoat and survive.
Knowing that, there was no way I would suffer the same fate.
Ever since I became Laura, I’d been secretly collecting the marquisate’s classified documents to stab the Leways family in the back. Even as an adopted daughter, I still bore the Leways name, so smuggling out internal information wasn’t that hard.
I buried the compiled documents in the backyard of the temple. I’d thought it was a place the marquis would never bother to check—and it turned out to be the perfect hiding spot.
‘Thanks to that, we didn’t have to go far to retrieve them.’
Marsha was thrilled.
“This is such a relief! His Highness will surely regain his memories once he sees this. Shall I put your name down as the submitter?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Pardon?”
“The documents must be submitted anonymously.”
I explained to the confused Marsha.
“Axel doesn’t trust me right now. If I attach my name to these and accuse my own family, he’ll think it’s a trap and toss them without reading.”
It would be better to make it look like a random righteous citizen, someone who hated Leways, had done it.
“If that’s the case… understood.”
After Marsha left for the Imperial Palace, I headed to the stock exchange.
Just like in the modern world with its various financial firms, this world had multiple markets dealing in stocks.
I went to the exchange run by the Macheerta Merchant Guild.
As expected of a legal gambling den where fortunes rose and fell, the place was lively from the entrance.
“Damn it, I shouldn’t have sold! I should’ve waited!”
“Who the hell said Marcan Steel was going up? That lying bastard, I’ll kill him!”
“Should I sell? Ugh, screw it—let’s go!”
The noisy atmosphere came from the trading floor.
Clerks were darting around amid people shouting in unintelligible bursts or staring blankly at the flashing price boards.
‘Been a while since I’ve come here.’
Laura was a noble only in name and had no personal wealth. Knowing I needed funds for the future, I got into stocks and even managed to make a fortune.
‘But the more famous I became, the more weird proposals I got—so in the end, I used a proxy.’
For reference, all that money was placed under an alias account beneath the merchant guild’s leader. The guildmaster considered my wealth crumbs compared to his, so he never touched it. And if I’d stored the money under my own name, the Marquis of Leways would’ve likely seized it.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I’d have created an account in my own name.’
Now that the guildmaster had lost all memories of me, there was no way to prove the alias account was mine.
That money was as good as gone.
“Welcome to the Macheerta Exchange. Would you like to buy or sell? If you don’t have a particular stock in mind, we can provide recommendations.”
The clerk was unfamiliar. With her neatly tied-up hair, she looked quite young.
“I’d like to buy.”
I handed her a pre-written list.
It had stocks from the port, shipbuilding, and distribution sectors—only those guaranteed to skyrocket.
“I’ll buy 500 shares of each. Here’s the payment.”
I offered a portion of the 50 million marks Jeppetto had given me—just the amount I’d set aside for daily expenses.
Since his money was dirty, it came in cash. At least I didn’t have to bother with currency exchange.
There was one reason I was buying these.
‘Soon, Princess Marien will visit the Empire to negotiate a trade agreement.’
Rumors had already driven up relevant stocks under speculation of increased trade with the Kingdom of Arietta.
‘But they were just rumors.’
The deal fell through, and those skyrocketing stocks plunged, hitting the daily lower limit for several sessions.
‘Isn’t this what they call political-themed stocks?’
No matter what I wanted to build—relief shelters or anything else—money was power.
My goal was to sell at the peak and make a short-term profit.
‘And if I could short sell on the drop too, even better.’
I was confident they’d spike because Marien’s trade deal was just a cover.
Marien was coming to the Empire to marry Axel and become Empress. In the original story, she tried to drive out Seraphina, Axel’s betrothed, by manipulating social opinion—but was exposed and banished back to her kingdom.
Basically, a low-level villainess.
Even though I had altered some events, the core plot remained unchanged—so Marien’s role would likely stay the same.
“J-just a moment while I verify everything!”
The clerk, who had frozen like a broken machine, hurriedly opened the money pouch and began counting the gold coins.
“O-Order received!”
She kept glancing at me, likely checking to see if I’d change my mind and cancel.
When I stood still, she grabbed a red purchase order, jotted something down, and then rushed inside with the pouch like she was fleeing.
“I’ll bring your stock certificate shortly—please wait!”
There were only two things that interested Dindin, the head of the Macheerta Merchant Guild.
Gold. And the owner of that gold.
The latter had all but vanished from existence, so his obsession was now entirely with gold itself.
Unrefined gold held a rough, primal beauty. A finely polished gold bar, so smooth you could see your reflection in it—contained the logic of the world.
So give me gold. Gold, and more gold.
It was gold that first seduced me. Craving it was no sin.
People didn’t understand him.
“There he goes again…”
“What’s he even going to do with all that money? You can’t take it with you when you die.”
He didn’t care. Envy and misunderstanding followed anyone born with the golden touch.
That’s why he didn’t like people.
Countless people sought to meet him—drawn by the mountain of gold he sat on—but he ignored them all.
“Please, save our business. We need your help!”
“That kind of money means nothing to you! You could toss it to us like spare change!”
But they weren’t gold.
Which is why—
“So this is what a single person bought?”
It was rare for him to show interest in anyone.
“Y-yes, sir…”
The clerk, suddenly summoned by someone said to be so lofty that even seeing his face was a blessing, shrank in fear. She had no idea why she’d been called.
His eyes were like molten gold—beautiful, and terrifying. Not human.
Meanwhile, Dindin—
“My goodness.”
—cupped his cheeks with both hands in astonishment.
The stocks the woman bought were the exact ones his golden intuition had selected. It was a jackpot.
No one had ever truly understood him. He thought he would live his whole life that way.
‘Could it be…?’
Could someone who saw the world through the same golden lens as him actually exist?
She might’ve been acting on behalf of someone else, but Dindin trusted his instincts. That woman was the real deal.
‘Where did she even hear about Princess Marien’s arrival?’
Marien had only arrived yesterday, and no banquet had been held. Very few knew she was in the Empire—let alone her reason for visiting.
Once the truth got out, related stocks would soar. But by then, it’d be too late to invest—just a desperate chase.
‘It’s not just information. Her judgment is outstanding.’
From her appearance, she didn’t seem wealthy enough to casually toss around that kind of money. Yet she made the decision without hesitation.
She had the heart of a beast.
“What will she do next?”
If she truly had the golden touch, she’d sell soon. But maybe she just got lucky.
Still, he couldn’t help being intrigued.
What would she do? How would she act?
Would she make the same choices he would? Or would she prove it was just a one-time stroke of fortune and crash?
Even if what he’d glimpsed was a moon reflecting borrowed sunlight—once she caught his eye, she became celestial in her own right.
“What now, I wonder?”
He grinned in pure excitement and anticipation.
‘He’s terrifying…’
The clerk quietly backed away.
