TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 167
Today, the Young Lady’s room was peaceful as always.
“One… two… three.”
Sitting at the table for the first time in a while, the Young Lady and I were focused as we basked in the warm afternoon sunlight, counting the payment she received from Malik for Academy work.
The more the empty money pouch filled up, the higher the corners of her lips rose.
“Hehehehe…!”
“Young Lady, your laughter sounds like that of a noble evading taxes.”
“It’s money I don’t have to pay taxes on…!”
“That statement just now sounded very much like a villainess.”
“It’s fine because I am a villainess.”
The Young Lady wore a Satisfied Smile as she diligently counted the money.
“Hehe… a hundred chocolates.”
Watching the Young Lady fiddling with the Platinum Coin with a chuckle, I corrected her misconception.
“Young Lady.”
“Hmm?”
“Please do not underestimate the Platinum Coin.”
“Why?”
“Just a hundred chocolates?”
At the mention of a hundred chocolates, I scoffed and picked up a Platinum Coin from the table. Spreading my Palm like an ASMR YouTuber from my Previous Life and holding the coin up to the Young Lady’s eyes, I confidently declared.
“With a slight exaggeration, you could buy a thousand.”
“Hiiiik!”
At the word “thousand,” the Young Lady dropped the Platinum Coin she was holding. As the coin rolled on the table with a Degururu sound, her pupils also seemed to roll along with it.
“A thousand?!”
“Even if not a thousand, you could definitely buy over a hundred.”
With the coin’s value skyrocketing from a hundred to a thousand, the Young Lady’s pupils began to Tremble even more.
The Young Lady let out a loud “Hooo” and exclaimed.
“If I sew a thousand eyes onto a Teddy Bear, can I earn one of these?”
“No.”
“What about ten thousand?”
“Hmm… probably not that either.”
Realizing that the amount was unattainable even as a Side Job, the Young Lady let out a loud snort as she stared intently at the Platinum Coin.
“Hooo…”
The Young Lady engaged in a staring contest with the First Emperor engraved on the coin.
“Hooo…”
Indeed, money seems to have a certain allure.
The Young Lady was in a staring contest. Perhaps she was evaluating whether this could truly play the role of a thousand chocolates. Unable to easily let go of the Platinum Coin, she bit into it with an “Ahng” and nodded with a Pleasant Smile.
No, that’s not it.
Should I say she wore a Sinister Smile instead?
The Young Lady, with a Sinister Smile befitting a Thief, began watching me closely.
“Ricardo…”
“Yes.”
“You know…”
Dragging out her words and diverting her gaze, the Young Lady sneakily glanced at the Platinum Coin in the corner of the table while her fingers twitched. Watching her, I smiled.
‘She’s being way too obvious.’
The Young Lady, underestimating someone with Slum Origin, amused me as I observed her attempted crime with a Satisfied Smile.
-Sneak.
After checking my reaction, the Young Lady spoke again.
“How many Gold Coins does it take to turn into a white one?”
“A hundred.”
“Oh…”
“So if I gather a hundred, they turn into a white one?”
My hard-earned salary, now heading toward the Young Lady’s Treasure Pouch. As the Young Lady, with a Lupin-like gesture, reached out, I responded with a subtle smile.
“That’s right. If you work very hard and collect a hundred, you can exchange them for a White Gold Coin.”
“I’ve only ever used white ones, so I didn’t know.”
“That’s certainly a Villainess-like way of thinking.”
“But, Young Lady.”
“Hmm?”
“Do I look like a Green-haired Head to you?”
“Squid legs?”
“No.”
I smiled gently and grabbed the Young Lady’s wrist. Startled, her shoulders twitched in surprise.
Careful not to leave a mark on her small, delicate wrist, I gently placed her trembling hand on the table, looking into her eyes.
Though my hand brushed against the Treasure Pouch in the process, I pretended not to notice, preserving the Young Lady’s Self-Esteem. It certainly wasn’t because I was embarrassed.
The Young Lady looked at her clenched fist on the table and said.
“N-no!”
“I haven’t said anything yet, though?”
“Th-that’s!”
Seeing the Young Lady pretending not to know while looking out the Window, I became certain. Even though my words sounded like a line from an actor promoting Gambling Amusement in my Previous Life, what could I do?
That Guy lost an arm, but I don’t plan to.
As I tidied up the table, I wore a Cruel Smile.
“The Young Lady must have put a White Bottle Cap in her money pouch.”
Feeling an unfamiliar object as I searched the pouch, I smiled.
With a “Thud,” the foreign object was placed on the table, rolling naturally to a stop in front of the Young Lady.
A White Bottle Cap.
The Young Lady’s pupils began to Tremble violently.
“Am I right?”
“Stop writing a novel! Ricardo, you must have seen wrong!”
“Hehe… wouldn’t we know for sure if you opened your hand, Young Lady?”
“Hiiiik!”
The Young Lady couldn’t lie.
Looking out the Window when lying.
The Trembling of her eyebrows.
As the Butler who has served the Young Lady for 13 years, not noticing such things would be absurd.
With a face that practically screamed, ‘I’m lying,’ I confidently declared.
“I’ll bet all the money on the table and a 130-Gold Bath Bomb that there’s a Platinum Coin in the Young Lady’s hand.”
“Eeeek…”
The Young Lady clenched her fist tightly and glared at me. Her Trembling, flustered gaze made me smile involuntarily, but…
“Then I’ll bet a week’s worth of chocolates!”
“That’s my money, though.”
“Eeeek! Lend it to me!”
“Alright.”
Seeing the Young Lady’s spirited response, my heart fluttered slightly.
‘Did I bet too much…?’
No.
Looking at the Young Lady’s face, I was certain. Though my focus wavered momentarily at the sight of the shaking Treasure Pouch, I couldn’t back out of the bet over something so trivial.
And as the Butler who cares about the Young Lady’s health, I couldn’t let it go.
“A week is too little.”
“It’s not little!”
“Let’s make it two weeks.”
“No way!”
“Are You Nervous?”
“Eeeek! No!”
The Young Lady clenched her fist tightly and accepted the bet, provoked by a single word that could stir up everyone in the world.
Now that the condition to witness the Young Lady’s trembling pupils and sharp expression had been met, I began to unfold her clenched fist.
“Kkung Jjak Jjak. Kkung Jjak Jjak.”
Humming a tune, I started loosening the Young Lady’s tightly clenched fist, beginning with her pinky finger.
“Shall we take a look?”
I smiled as I looked at the coin the Young Lady was holding tightly. With a confident smile, as if to say, “This is my victory as always,” I prepared to tease the Young Lady.
“Oh? It’s a Gold Coin?”
An unexpected friend greeted me.
The Young Lady looked at me with a Bright Smile, her eyes sparkling with Dopamine as she gazed at the Gold Coin in her palm. Seeing her expression, I wore a face as if I had lost everything, staring at the same spot as her.
“No… This shouldn’t be here.”
The Young Lady smiled as she spoke.
Like a Protagonist in a movie, she Elegantly pulled out a piece of Chocolate from her Treasure Pouch and said.
“Fool. Ricardo, you Idiot.”
I looked at the Young Lady chewing on the Chocolate and thought.
‘When did she take it…?’
I was sure I saw her take it.
No way…!
‘There’s no way she could deceive the eyes of a Swordsman on the verge of becoming a Sword Master.’ As I thought that, I recalled a moment when my concentration had briefly wavered.
-Eeeek! Stop it!
‘Was it then?’
Had she swapped it in the instant my eyes were drawn to the swaying Treasure Pouch? It was certainly a Mistake, one I couldn’t help but acknowledge as a man.
As if affirming my thought, I saw a White Coin glinting between the folds of the Young Lady’s Treasure Pouch as she swept up the Platinum Coins piled on the Table.
‘As expected.’
So, a Villainess is truly a Villainess.
Admitting my defeat, I nodded and simultaneously took the Young Lady’s hand with a Smile.
“There’s still something left to check.”
“Hiccup…!”
“The Treasure Pouch.”
“I… I won!”
Seeing the Young Lady freeze with a hiccup, I spoke with a chilling Smile.
“Are you so sure?”
“Eeeek! Gomtangi!”
-Bear!
“Bite him!”
-Bear…
The Young Lady shouted as she watched Gomtangi, who had laid back down with her chin resting on the ground.
“You stupid dog!”
“She’s not a dog; she’s a bear.”
“You called her a dog last time, Ricardo!”
“She’s grown too big to be called a dog now.”
“Eeeek!”
As I tickled her, a Platinum Coin fell out of the Young Lady’s Treasure Pouch. She laughed awkwardly and said.
“Wanna trade it for one Chocolate?”
“I’ll limit it to three days.”
“Eeeek! I won!”
“Isn’t that a rather underhanded method?”
“No, it’s not!”
It was a day filled with laughter.
Of course.
“Take it if you can!”
Because of the Young Lady’s stubbornness to put a Platinum Coin back into the Treasure Pouch and challenge me to take it, there was an unexpected expense.
Still.
“Uh… I lost.”
It was an amusing day.
*
After the fierce bet had ended, evening arrived.
Under the Moonlight, Olivia began rummaging through her Treasure Pouch.
“Hmmnya.”
Out came a Chocolate.
Out came a Gold Coin.
And out came a Candy she had been saving.
Finally, something caught Olivia’s fingertips, and she smiled brightly as she pulled out a White Coin under the Moonlight.
“Wow…!”
Enough for a thousand Chocolates.
Though she had used Platinum Coins lightly in the past, seeing one again after a long time felt refreshing. It was her Wealth, after all, and she hadn’t touched it in a while.
“Hehe…”
To Olivia, this money was precious.
Not because it could buy a thousand Chocolates, but because it was money Ricardo had worked hard to earn. Even though it was Ricardo’s money, Olivia cherished it, thinking that if she saved it up, she might be able to slightly reduce his Unpaid Salary later.
“With this, it’s one thousand one hundred and twenty Gold…”
What should she do with this money?
No matter how much she loved snacks, she wasn’t a Pig who only ate Chocolate. She wanted to give a Gift to the Butler who was always by her side.
Since she had earned a lot of money.
One Gift wouldn’t be too much… right?
“Ricardo isn’t very healthy, so should I buy him medicine?”
Now that there was nothing to hide, she wondered if it would be okay to hide in the Wardrobe again. At the same time, she worried whether he might be tired of it since she had done it once before.
-Whoooosh~
At the sound of a Chilling Wind that seemed to herald the arrival of a Ghost, Olivia pulled the Blanket up to her head and closed her eyes.
“Eek!”
It seemed she would have to sleep with Ricardo tonight.
“Ricarrrdooo!”
And then.
-Ding.
Darkness returned once more.