Chapter 38 – ​38

The ​next ​day, ​Euro ​paced ​around ​a spacious room ​inside ​the ​annex. ​In ​the novel, this was ​where ​Clope had stayed ​until just before ​her ​death, ​after ​her ​wedding ​to Melione.

For lunch, ​as ​always, ​he ate with ​Melione in the dining ​hall. Not ​much conversation ​passed between ​the two, ​and ​once ​Melione finished his ​meal, he ​headed up to his ​office.

Euro was also scheduled ​to spend the remaining ​time until ​evening ​in his own office, receiving instruction ​on estate management from ​Raymond.

However, ​a ​change ​in ​schedule occurred when ​Dent returned ​with ​some of the ​Relics ​of Yanli that Euro had ​requested, all ​in ​less than a ​day.

Since ​he ​couldn’t ​openly ​order them ​to ​be brought ​to his office on the third floor, ​Euro naturally moved ​to the annex ​with Raymond to wait ​for Dent.

The ​items Euro had ​instructed ​Dent to procure ​from the auction ​house were ​all ​brought to ​Silon ​by a ​merchant ​ship that ​had ​set ​sail ten years ​ago ​for the ​purpose ​of ​exploration.

The ​captain of that ship claimed the items were “Relics of Yanli” from an ancient kingdom. However, that was merely his claim; nothing had been proven.

This was because there was no evidence to confirm whether an ancient kingdom across the sea actually existed.

Strictly speaking, the items the captain brought could have served as that evidence, but no one bothered to verify it. There was simply no profit in doing so.

The ‘Relics of Yanli’ were treated as mere trash among collectors. The reason was simple: their appearance was so bizarre that they evoked no desire for ownership.

Whether they were relics of an ancient kingdom visit our siteor not, an object had unauthorized copyto at least not look repulsive unauthorized copyfor someone to consider displaying it in their home, but these items were far from appealing.

The statues, whose proportions were so disastrous that one could say they were definitely not made by a proper sculptor, were actually the more tolerable of the lot.

The captain had put up clumps of dirt—of which it was impossible to tell what they were meant to be—as ornaments at the auction, leading everyone to believe he was putting on a show.

The cost of exploration was not a small sum, nor was it something an individual could handle alone. Thus, one had to secure funds through sponsorships or investments from nobles.

The merchant ship that brought the Relics of Yanli had also received a massive investment before departure, and upon its return, proving the results of the exploration was essential.

Even if the principal wasn’t guaranteed, the investing nobles needed to save face by claiming there had been some discovery or that at least rare trade goods had been brought back.

If a ship returned with nothing to show for it, the nobles who invested would be nothing more than fools who had thrown their money into the sea.

Therefore, the captain’s desperate insistence that all those items were priceless relics seemed like a frantic struggle for survival.

However, this happened because they were blinded by the outward appearance of the relics and failed to recognize their true value. This included the captain, who had sent all the relics to the auction house.

The things left behind by the ancient kingdom of Yanli were truly astounding legacies. Ironically, the true value of those relics was revealed at the end of the novel.

After Melione’s death, Crown Prince Gail searched every corner of the Spiorene mansion to find any trace of the deceased Clope.

Upon entering the annex where Clope had spent most of her time, he discovered an unsightly bust in the hallway in front of her bedroom.

This was because the captain of the merchant ship had offered [visit our site]one of the relics he stolen contentbrought back to Silon to Melione, following tradition.

Melione had instructed that it be placed anywhere, and thus it ended up in a corner of the annex hallway.

Gail was infuriated by this. The sight of the neglected bust overlapped with the image of Clope, who had lived miserably tucked away in the annex even after marriage.

At the same time, looking at the distorted face of the statue made Gail feel unpleasant, as if he were staring into a mirror. Unable to contain his rage, he eventually lifted the heavy bust and slammed it onto the floor.

What was revealed were gold and jewels overflowing from between the shards of the broken statue. In the first place, those absurdly shaped statues and ornaments were all a ruse to hide gold and gems.

Gail collapsed and sobbed in the hallway in front of the bedroom where Clope had died. The novel ended by comparing the treasures spilling from the broken bust to Gail, who had lost everything only to gain an unwanted Silon.

After waiting for some time, the closed door opened and Dent entered along with Raymond. Together with several servants, they struggled to carry three wooden crates into the room.

“The books?”

“I’ve placed them in your office. I looked for what I could find, but they aren’t particularly rare,” Dent replied, wiping sweat from his forehead. Having carried the luggage himself to avoid drawing attention by using too many servants, he looked quite exhausted.

“Good work. But how did you get these so quickly? Were they up for auction?”

“No, the Relics of Yanli are treated as dead stock even at the auction house… I heard they don’t even accept items for listing unless they look somewhat decent.”

“Then where did you get these?”

“I have an acquaintance who is a collector. He stolen contenthad won a few lots beforehand, buying unauthorized copythem without even looking at the shapes because he thought visit our sitethey might be worth money. When I asked if he’d sell them, he was thrilled.”

I bought them at a reasonably fair price, Dent muttered with a long sigh. In truth, calling it a “reasonable price” was a stretch; for Dent, the very act of paying money for these things was irritating.

The acquaintance, who had claimed he didn’t care about the price as long as someone bought them, had subtly raised the selling price once Dent showed active interest, and Dent had spent the entire morning arguing over the price.

“…I brought them for half of what the man originally paid, but thinking about it now, it might not have been such a reasonable price after all.”

He couldn’t bring himself to ask, Why on earth are you making me pay money for this trash? He felt it would have been better to spend the entire budget on collecting books; he didn’t even want to consider collecting this kind of junk a hobby.

One does not call a person who piles trash in their room a “collector.” They should simply be viewed as a madman.

Dent had felt a certain level of anticipation when Raymond offered him the position of Euro’s valet. He was the second son of the Rave family, a vassal house that had served the Spioren Dukedom for generations.

Of course, being young, the only person he had seen while growing up was the current Duke Spioren, Melione.

However, having heard many stories from his parents since childhood, he knew how precarious the current state of the Spioren Dukedom was.

For generations, the Dukes suffered from a curse, making it difficult to properly manage the estate, and the Duchesses who married into the family fared no better.

Thus, he hadn’t held high expectations for this marriage, but Raymond had persuaded him to work for Euro, saying that this time might be different.

He had added that Euro had come to Silon voluntarily to break the Duke’s curse and cure him.

To be honest, Dent thought it sounded like [visit our site]a pipe dream. A flash [stolen content]of suspicion [stolen content]that it was a lie crossed his mind. However, Raymond informed him that Euro possessed a healing ability.

A healing ability—it was something he had only heard of and had never actually seen. Dent found it hard to believe, but Raymond insisted he had seen it personally.

Raymond was not the type of person to lie about such things. That was why Dent had become a valet with the intention of helping Euro, but seeing how things were going now, he wondered if Raymond had also been deceived by Euro.

In Dent’s judgment, any human who ordered someone to pay money for this kind of trash could not be sane.

‘The captain and this man are the same. Trying to get through the situation with lies somehow…’

If Euro had said he intended to enjoy himself briefly and intensely in Silon before dying, rather than dying miserably as an illegitimate child in Norden, Dent might have felt some sympathy.

Watching Dent pout with a look of dissatisfaction, Euro reached out his hand toward Raymond.

“You brought the hammer, right?”

Without a word, Raymond placed the hammer in Euro’s hand. However, Dent’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “A-a hammer? Why?”

“Open all the boxes. I don’t want to deal with cleaning up later, so don’t take them out.”

Euro lightly swung the hammer and ordered all the standing servants to leave.

“Cleaning up? What… Surely you aren’t planning to smash them all?”

“…”

“If you were going to break them anyway, why did you make me pay for them? There are plenty of things you can break for free! Like wine bottles, for example…!”

Unable to hold it back any longer, Dent finally let out the words he had been suppressing. No matter how overflowing the budget was, he couldn’t stand to see it spent this way.

However, Euro pushed Dent aside and strode toward the open boxes, raising the hand holding the hammer.

“My lord!”

Dent shouted while covering his ears, and simultaneously, with a loud thwack, the statue shattered. And just as described in the novel, gold and jewels began to pour out from the gaps.

“Knock, and it shall be opened!”

Unlike Gail in the novel, Euro jumped up and down in his spot while looking at the overflowing jewels. In this moment, he didn’t envy the first-place winner of the survival game one bit.