Helena was munching on the cookies Rias had prepared for them.

  Rias had said it would take a little time to retrieve the Record from storage. After all, it contained information on noble houses. So she had ordered refreshments for Helena and Laysandra while they waited.

  Laysandra held her teacup tightly, careful not to spill even a single drop, while Rias quietly went through some of her personal documents at the desk.

  Helena took a sip of her tea and let out a soft sigh of relief.

  “Ah.”

  The sound echoed more than she expected. The room had been completely silent before that.

  Laysandra glanced at her. Rias also looked up briefly, then returned to her work without comment.

  Laysandra tugged lightly at Helena’s clothes. She wanted to ask her, quietly and urgently, whether she truly was from a noble family. But before she could speak, the door opened.

  A member of the Merchant Guild entered, carrying a triangular object that looked almost like a trophy. He placed it carefully on the table.

  “I’ve brought the Record, Lady Rias,” he said.

  Rias did not look up immediately. She finished organizing her documents first, then nodded.

  The man said nothing more and left the room, leaving the Record behind.

  Helena finished her tea. Laysandra tried to do the same, but the tea was still too hot. She flinched slightly.

  “Calm down, Lyasi,” Helena said lightly. “Take your time.”

  Rias finally spoke.

  “Lady Helena, this tool is called the Record. It holds general information about noble houses. We do not usually take it out so casually, but I used my authority to retrieve it.”

  Her eyes flicked toward Helena.

  Her expression showed no emotion, but her thoughts were far from calm. Was this girl truly a noble, or was she lying and wasting Rias’s time? If it was the latter, Rias would make sure the consequences were severe enough to be remembered for generations.

  Rias stood up from her chair for the first time and moved to stand beside Helena and Laysandra. She adjusted the Record so it sat directly in front of Helena.

  Helena examined it with interest. A magic tool, perhaps. She had not used one in a century. Earth did not have magic tools, though it had its own replacements. Artifacts powered by mutant cores or raw aether.

  She placed her empty cup down.

  “So,” Helena asked casually, “where’s the keyboard? Do I type my name, or is this thing voice activated?”

  Rias did not understand the words, but she understood the intent.

  “You simply need to place your finger here,” she said, pointing to a small indentation beneath the triangular screen. It was shaped perfectly to fit any finger.

  Helena tilted her head slightly. A fingerprint scan?

  She placed her finger inside.

  “It will take a small amount of your blood,” Rias added. “You do not mind?”

  Helena nodded.

  Rias pressed a small switch on the side of the Record. Helena felt a light prick at the tip of her finger, like a needle. She let it happen without flinching.

  “Alright. You can remove your finger now,” Rias said.

  Helena pulled her hand back and looked at it. There was only a tiny drop of blood.

  Rias took out a handkerchief and wiped Helena’s finger clean. The gesture was smooth, practiced, almost elegant.

  Laysandra crossed her fingers tightly, her eyes fixed on the screen.

  The surface of the Record flickered, turning hazy.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  All three of them stared.

  One watched for profit.

  One watched out of curiosity.

  One watched for her very fate.

  The screen cleared.

  An image appeared.

  Helena.

  She looked younger in it, maybe sixteen. Very different from the woman who now looked around twenty-five.

  “Ahhh…” Laysandra let out a sound as her vision went white.

  Rias’s smile widened. It was not a dud after all.

  Text appeared beside the image.

  Helena Winterwell

  Eldest Daughter of the Winterwell Family

  Helena spoke immediately, as if nothing dramatic had happened at all.

  “Can we proceed now? If possible, I’d like to sleep in my own house tonight.”

  “Yes. Yes, of course,” Rias said quickly. “Lady Helena, I will show you the best options available.”

  Helena turned to Laysandra.

  Laysandra had collapsed.

  She looked like someone who had just won a gamble after losing ninety-nine times in a row.

  Helena shook her gently.

  Laysandra snapped awake with a scream.

  “EXECUTION!”

  Her senses rushed back as she looked around. She was not on an execution platform. She was still in Rias’s office.

  Her eyes darted to the Record. To the name.

  She stared for a second longer.

  Then relief flooded her face.

  I’m saved.

  Helena placed a hand on Laysandra’s head and patted her gently.

  Laysandra instinctively leaned into it, then froze.

  “I’m not a child!” she protested, straightening up. “And why didn’t you tell me you were from a noble family?”

  Helena blinked.

  “I forgot.”

  Laysandra stared into her eyes, clearly debating whether friendly punches were still considered friendly.

  Helena turned toward Rias.

  Rias stood there with a smile that looked very carefully pasted onto her face.

  Helena could feel it even before Rias spoke.

  Half an hour passed, and the troubled look returned to Rias’s face.

  Again.

  More rejections.

  More carefully worded explanations.

  Helena had called several grand mansions decent. Just decent. Nothing more.

  Rias leaned back slightly, fingers laced together, her thoughts racing.

  What exactly does she want? A sky castle?

  She had already shown everything officially available. Or almost everything.

  There was still one.

  But that one was not meant to be sold like this. Not casually. Not to someone who walked in off the street, noble or not.

  And the Winterwell family was not known for absurd wealth. They had status, yes, but not this kind of spending power.

  And yet the woman sitting in front of her behaved as if the world’s treasury belonged to her.

  Helena watched Rias closely.

  She had nearly chosen one of the grand mansions. Nearly. Her instincts had nudged her toward it.

  But something felt off.

  Rias was holding something back.

  That realization alone was enough for Helena to change her mind.

  She rejected the decent options one by one, calmly.

  Rias inhaled, about to say the familiar line.

  This is all we have.

  Helena sighed instead.

  She already knew how to push past this level.

  Without another word, she placed five shining coins on the table.

  The sound they made was soft.

  Heavy.

  Final.

  Rias looked down.

  Blink.

  Laysandra looked down.

  Blink.

  Rias slowly removed her glasses, polished them with her sleeve, and put them back on.

  Then she looked again.

  Her eyes widened so abruptly it almost hurt to watch.

  “P-P-P… Platinum Gold Coins?” Rias blurted out.

  Helena smiled. “A small gift from me.”

  Laysandra froze.

  She had never seen a Platinum Gold Coin in person, but she knew exactly what it meant.

  The highest valued coin on the continent.

  One Platinum Gold Coin equaled one thousand Gold Coins.

  With a single Gold Coin, a family of four could live comfortably for a month.

  Helena had just placed five thousand Gold Coins on the table.

  Enough to buy a high-quality house near the Noble District.

  Just like that.

  Rias stared at the coins, then at Helena, her mouth slightly open.

  Helena tilted her head, amused.

  Rias knew she had been caught.

  Still, she carefully picked up one coin, examining it from every angle. The design was impossibly intricate, layered with micro-patterns that could not be replicated by ordinary means.

  Platinum coins were notorious for this. Nearly impossible to counterfeit.

  This one was real.

  Perfect.

  Fresh.

  Too perfect.

  Rias did not ask how Helena had obtained them.

  She smiled instead.

  A big fish.

  No. Bigger.

  She slid the coins discreetly into her pocket and cleared her throat.

  “I apologize for my earlier behavior, Lady Helena.”

  Helena waved it off cheerfully.

  “Don’t worry, don’t worry. So now show me what you’ve been hiding.”

  Rias hesitated, then nodded.

  “Well, Lady Helena… first of all, I cannot sell that property to you directly.”

  Helena’s brow furrowed slightly.

  Still not enough?

  Rias raised a hand quickly.

  “Not because I don’t want to. Simply because the authority to sell it does not belong to me.”

  Helena leaned forward, listening.

  “But,” Rias continued, “there is a way for you to obtain it.”

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue-and-gold card.

  An invitation.

  Helena took it and examined it carefully.

  It was an auction invitation, but not just an auction invitation.

  It carried Rias’s personal recommendation.

  A silent statement. This person is worth our time.

  Helena glanced at the date.

  Her eyes lit up.

  “Tonight?”

  “Yes,” Rias said. “The Grand Auction is tonight.”

  She smiled knowingly.

  “There will be many valuable items. And one in particular that I believe Lady Helena will like very much.”

  Rias opened a separate file, one kept apart from the rest, and slid out a final document.

  Helena looked at it.

  Then she grinned.

  She raised her eyes to Rias.

  “I like it.”

  Rias straightened, her tone shifting.

  “This property is the pride of the Merchant Guild,” she said. “It originally belonged to a ducal household.”

  Helena listened quietly.

  “As you know, only dukes may maintain their primary residence within the capital. This estate belonged to a duke family that no longer exists.”

  A faint chill ran down Laysandra’s spine.

  “After the fall of that house, the land was reclaimed by the royal family,” Rias continued. “Properties of that rank are not meant to be bought or sold. At best, they are bestowed by the crown.”

  Helena tilted her head.

  “Then how did the Merchant Guild get it?”

  Rias giggled softly.

  “We are the Merchant Guild. Given enough time and persuasion, we can convince almost anyone to sell their soul.”

  She waved it off lightly.

  “The Guild Master secured it legally. It was not easy.”

  Her eyes gleamed.

  “For years, we have restored it. Expanded it. Perfected it.”

  She spoke with quiet confidence.

  “No house in the capital, aside from the Royal Palace itself, can compare.”

  She straightened.

  “This kingdom currently has three active ducal houses. One fell a century ago. This estate belonged to that fallen house.”

  She gestured subtly.

  “Like the other ducal estates anchoring the district, this one stands in the final direction.”

  Helena leaned back.

  “So it still represents ducal authority.”

  “Yes,” Rias said. “Power. Prestige. The highest noble status short of royalty.”

  Helena smiled faintly.

  “Then how much would it cost?”

  Rias thought for a moment.

  “The most expensive residence belongs to Duke Merlo. By market estimation alone, its value is no less than one hundred Platinum Gold Coins.”

  She met Helena’s gaze.

  “This estate would exceed that.”

  Her smile sharpened.

  “This is not just property. It is status.”

  She extended her hand.

  “So. Will you participate in the auction under my recommendation?”

  Helena glanced at the offered hand, then back at Rias.

  “Aren’t you trusting me a little too much?” Helena asked. “What if those coins were all I had?”

  Rias laughed.

  “Do you know what I did before I worked here?”

  Helena shrugged. “No idea.”

  “I was a gambler,” Rias said, clasping Helena’s hand.

  “And tonight,” she added, eyes shining, “I’m gambling on you.”