Chapter 5

“What if I don’t hire you?”

When I asked with a bit of curiosity, Daniel hesitated, then spoke in a smaller voice.

“40 gold coins.”

Even calling double the amount, it wasn’t an amount I couldn’t pay at all.

It’s just that 20 gold coins was such an absurd number.

The situation flowed more easily than expected. Having made my decision, I relaxed my body.

“Let’s contract for 20 gold coins right away.”

“…Excuse me? Does that mean you’ll hire us?”

Daniel’s eyes widened.

Neither I nor she expected it to end so quickly, but from my perspective, there was no need to think further.

It was better to hire someone to handle operations along with acquiring the publishing company anyway.

I would have had to find someone even if it wasn’t Daniel.

‘There are only two people anyway.’

The relatively small burden made it easy to decide. If it didn’t work out, I could fire them later and just pay the 20 gold coins.

“If there are no other clauses, shall we write the acquisition contract?”

“Yes, yes.”

When I gave her a look, Chloe, who had been waiting behind, came forward.

<Empire Certified Acquisition Contract>

Though it looked like simple paper, a magical contract that glowed subtly like it was coated was placed on the table.

All the matters mentioned earlier were written in as special clauses, which I checked thoroughly once more, and Daniel stared intently at the contract.

“Both parties agreeing, please place your index finger here.”

“…Is the contract finished with this?”

“Yes, the publishing company belongs to Miss Katarina, and administrative processing should be completed by tomorrow.”

Just by thinking about it in my mind, my fingerprint was imprinted on the contract.

While watching Daniel, who still looked dazed despite Chloe’s explanation, I went through the plans I’d made one by one.

Since things had come to this, it seemed better to take care of everything today.

“First, I’ll change the publishing company’s name.”

‘Sparkling Gem and Pen’ wasn’t intuitive and had a somewhat tacky feel compared to Brien or Liu.

Daniel, startled by my words, nodded vigorously.

“…Yes! You can change it however you like.”

Inspired by sparkling gems, I changed it to the name of my favorite gemstone.

“Then let’s make it ‘Sapphire.'”

“I’ll go to the administrative office tomorrow to change the publishing company name and take down the sign right away!”

“I’ll give you 10 gold coins as initial investment costs instead of acquisition funds, so take them together.”

The sight of her hurriedly pulling out a notebook from her pocket and earnestly taking notes was quite trustworthy.

She was certainly different from the start compared to the publishing company employees I’d met before.

When I sent the predetermined signal to Chloe, she carefully placed the manuscript she’d been holding in front of Daniel.

“And this is the manuscript for the book I’m publishing. Please read it when you get back.”

“Th-thank you! I absolutely won’t lose it.”

She hurriedly took the envelope containing the manuscript and hugged it as if handling something extremely precious.

I’d often seen that behavior from Chloe.

Without realizing it, I smiled and said to her:

“I’ll visit the publishing company in two days to take a look, so go home for today.”

Seeing Daniel’s face smile brightly for the first time as her tension finally seemed to release, I stood up.

‘I’ll be seeing her often from now on.’

The smooth acquisition put me in a good mood, but the real beginning was just starting.

---

Let’s just not make mistakes.

Daniel repeated those words in her head all day as she moved.

Even while waiting in the reception room, she tried to maintain her composure, but the moment she encountered Katarina, her mind went blank, making those efforts meaningless.

‘What was I trying to say?’

They say seeing beautiful people makes you lose your memory.

Daniel, shocked by the noble young lady with an appearance reminiscent of red roses and elegant bearing, couldn’t escape for a while.

Compared to that, her own appearance was shabby beyond words, and it had already been years since she’d bought new clothes.

Less than half of what Daniel had prepared to say came out of her mouth.

“But why… am I not waking up from this dream?”

No matter how much she pinched her thigh, she continued to feel pain.

She couldn’t say everything she meant to say, but she’d gotten money to solve her immediate debts and livelihood, and could continue operating the publishing company unchanged.

Just when she thought she’d have to give up her dreams without publishing a single book, she’d instead gained the opportunity to unfold her dreams.

The book manuscript she’d wished and hoped for most.

As she left the mansion and felt the weight of the envelope in her arms, she realized once again that this was reality.

‘I need to hurry and tell Greg too.’

Her only employee and younger brother, two years apart in age.

He was probably waiting anxiously at home right now.

Daniel quickened her pace, retracing her steps, and when she arrived in front of her house:

Knock knock—

“Why are you so late?”

As soon as she knocked, the door burst open and Greg appeared to greet her.

“Were you waiting?”

“Come in first. I made stew, so hurry and eat.”

Come to think of it, since Daniel had left early in the morning, all she’d had was tea given at the mansion.

Hunger hit her belatedly, and she carefully placed the envelope on the sofa, then pulled out only the contract to show Greg.

“Ta-da, we got hired together. Now we don’t have to worry about starving!”

Though these were things already discussed and decided with Greg, she’d lost sleep until just last night.

Daniel showed him the contract in her brightest voice and watched his reaction.

“Good job. Let’s eat.”

Though it didn’t quite meet her expectations…

Looking at her stoic younger brother’s face, Daniel headed to the dining table while Greg reheated the pot.

“You cooked it well. It’s delicious.”

Soup with only vegetables as ingredients, more bland than the tea she’d had at the mansion.

It was a very familiar taste to the siblings who had been barely getting by each month.

“Now I won’t have to hand over the publishing company to Gordon.”

She could pay off all her debts with the 20 gold coins received as acquisition money.

Though it was practically a bargain price, she found meaning in being able to keep the publishing company she’d maintained for 2 years.

Plus, working from now on would bring only steady income without expenses.

“Give me more.”

Daniel emptied several bowls of soup, filling her empty stomach.

The two of them silently emptied all the soup in the pot, and then:

“Now explain.”

Using Greg’s words breaking the silence as a signal, Daniel detailed the entire process from first entering the mansion to leaving.

“…There was a reason for that stupid look on your face.”

“Calling your heaven-like sister stupid?”

Though Greg thought there were unnecessary sentiments mixed in here and there, Katarina certainly seemed different from ordinary nobles when he heard about her.

Just not speaking down to commoners was an extremely, very rare noble trait.

“I’ve never seen anyone as white as rice cake in my life. I guess there are humans that God carefully crafted.”

Watching Daniel ramble on without stopping, Greg’s eyes grew narrower.

“So you received a manuscript too?”

“Oh, right.”

She jumped up from her seat and brought the envelope that had been carefully placed on the sofa.

“I haven’t read it yet either.”

Since this was the first manuscript received in 2 years of operating the publishing company, she excitedly pulled out the contents.

On the very first page, only the title and author’s name were written along with white space.

“Masked Ball?”

“…It seems to be a novel. And Karma? This looks like an author’s name, but wasn’t her name Katarina?”

Though they hadn’t checked the content yet, both siblings clearly showed disappointment in their casual glances.

Most books published by nobles under their own names focused on philosophy and education, and among them, philosophy books sold best.

Daniel swallowed once, then turned the first page.

Rustle—

The sound of pages turning echoed in the house where silence had suddenly descended.

The two read the novel simultaneously, with Daniel reading first and setting it down for Greg to take and read.

One page, two pages.

As time passed, their pace gradually slowed as they became more deeply absorbed.

「”Isn’t it stuffy here with so many people?”」

When Rose discovered Edwin and spoke to him.

「”Trust me and… would you like to follow me? It’ll be much more fun than staying here.”」

Watching the scenes flow like water, Daniel unconsciously covered her mouth.

Rose unhesitatingly led Edwin out of the ballroom and ran refreshingly through the imperial garden.

Through concise action descriptions and brief exchanges of dialogue, the image of the two people was naturally drawn. As the novel’s end gradually approached, the thickness of the paper in their hands quickly thinned.

“Read faster.”

So much so that when she kept rereading out of regret, Greg next to her urged Daniel on.

‘It’s definitely a novel, but…’

Since it was a type of content they’d never seen before, the two stayed up all night reading it multiple times.

“I’ll go to the administrative office to change the publishing company name first and take down the sign. Oh, I need to order a new sign too.”

Confirming that day had broken, as if by appointment, they left the house instead of sleeping.

“Then I need to go to the patent office to register, then handle book registration.”

A day had passed, so Katarina would visit the publishing company tomorrow.

Daniel and Greg moved busily, doing legwork, and thanks to that, they learned about various conditions including bookbinders and magic towers.

“This novel absolutely must be published.”

“Commoners, no, even nobles will find it entertaining.”

Despite not sleeping, their faces were full of vitality.

On the morning of the day Katarina was to come, the new sign <Sapphire> replaced where the <Sparkling Gem and Pen> sign had been.

Watching that scene, Daniel felt not regret but rather a feeling of her heart swelling with emotion.

This was the first time in her life she’d seen such a bright future so clearly.