Chapter 3
“Mom, here’s the newspaper.”
“Thank you.”
In her pajamas, Nivellia delivered the morning paper and asked,
“Mom, can you co-sign for me?”
“You’ve learned something new again, haven’t you?”
Celletina gave a gentle smile.
“I asked Dad, but he turned me down…”
“Guaranteeing someone’s debt is a serious matter, sweetie. You can’t go asking just anyone to do it for you. A truly admirable person is someone who pays off their own debt.”
“So that’s how it is?”
“That’s how it is.”
“I guess it can’t be helped…”
As her reward for completing the errand, Nivellia pulled a debt-reduction certificate from her pocket.
“Please add a sticker.”
A large grape was drawn on the certificate. Each time she completed a task, the adults would place a purple sticker on one of the grapes.
If she could fill in all 128 grapes, her debt would be erased.
“You brought the morning paper, so I’ll give you one sticker.”
“Can’t I get two?”
“Nope.”
“Mom, you’re so cold!”
“So ‘cold’ is Nini’s catchphrase these days?”
“‘Brutal’ is also my catchphrase!”
“…Where did you learn that one?”
Celletina, sighing, placed one sticker onto the certificate.
Nivellia scanned the still-half-empty sheet with a weary look on her face.
“Phew… Earning someone else’s money isn’t easy.”
Pffft—!
Celletina, sipping her tea as she read the paper, suddenly choked and began coughing hard.
“Mom! What’s wrong, Mom?!”
“Cough, cough…!”
“Mom’s dying! Mommy’s going to dieeee!”
Panicked, Nivellia rushed to the door and called for the nearby servants.
Thanks to her quick response in an emergency, she earned another sticker.
“I hope Mommy gets sick again!”
“……”
Celletina said nothing—only smiled faintly.
Sometimes, the innocence of a child carried a hint of cruelty.
Nivellia’s efforts to repay her debt continued.
She made sure to eat all her meals without being picky, picked up any litter she saw, and gathered fallen branches from the garden into a neat pile.
“What if we tried selling the remaining cookies?”
Deter, who had been keeping watch nearby, offered a suggestion.
“The leftover ones?”
“If we sell all the cookies, that becomes money, right? Then we can exchange that for stickers to put on your debt certificate. You could pay it off quickly that way.”
“There’s a way like that?!”
Nivellia rushed back to her room and pulled out the remaining cookies.
All 19 packages that had been left untouched after her business failed were still neatly stored in a box.
“What if we sold them to the staff here at the estate? Cookies help with fatigue, after all.”
“Right! When you eat them, the tiredness, um, it goes away!”
“How much should we charge?”
“One cookie for 25,000 Ubba.”
Smart little Nivellia hadn’t forgotten what Caleo had told her.
“So three of them would be, um…”
“75,000 Ubba.”
“Wooooow…!”
She didn’t quite understand the number, but it sounded huge.
Nivellia counted on her fingers, opening and closing them quickly to do her own math. A mischievous smile slowly spread across her face.
“If I sell them like this and get rich, I can rule the world…!”
“Our young lady has some bold ambitions.”
“If you rule the world, you become the queen!”
“Is that so?”
“And if you rule the queen… you become a saintess!”
“So the saintess is the most powerful of all.”
“Yup!”
After carefully placing the cookies into a round woven basket, Nivellia began walking around the estate to sell them.
“Buy!”
“…Pardon?”
“Buy! I said, buy them!”
“That’s not how you sell things, young lady.”
Deter gently calmed Nivellia down, who had been blocking a passing servant’s path, attempting to force a sale. Then she offered an example of how to do it properly.
“Hello, this is the Bankrupt Kitty Shop. We’re clearing out remaining stock. Would you like to try a cookie? We’re selling them cheap!”
“Ah, so it was a stock clearance.”
Only then did the servant recall the news of the shop’s bankruptcy and nod in understanding.
“How much are they?”
“Three cookies for 75,000 Ubba.”
“…Sorry?”
The servant glanced down at the cookies in Nivellia’s hand.
Three small, oddly shaped lumps—clearly homemade. And they cost nearly 80,000 Ubba? That was enough to buy a full cut of beef.
“These aren’t just ordinary cookies.”
Deter went on to explain their supposed effects.
“They’re effective for headaches, toothaches, menstrual cramps, stomach pain, back pain, and more.”
“Um, I’m a man, so the menstrual cramps might not really apply…”
“Well, you have a head and a back, don’t you? They’re also great for wrist joints!”
“…Are you sure these are cookies?”
Even if the benefits were real, the price—higher than meat—was the biggest hurdle.
“…Hmph.”
Sensing the sale slipping away, Nivellia’s shoulders slumped sadly.
The servant, feeling a little guilty, was about to apologize—when suddenly,
“Ah, wait.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
“Would this work, by any chance?”
It was a round, purple sticker—the kind used on Nivellia’s debt-reduction certificate.
“Oh!”
Nivellia’s eyes lit up.
“Madam gave it to me this morning. Could I pay for the cookies with three of these?”
“Yes! Stickers are good!”
“Then let’s trade—cookies for stickers.”
Nivellia hurriedly took out her certificate, with a big grape illustration on it. The servant peeled off three stickers and placed them on it, receiving the cookies in return.
“Young miss.”
Deter nudged her gently with her eyes.
“Thank you for buying them!” Nivellia said, bowing her head deeply.
The servant bowed back with a smile.
“No, no. May you prosper, young miss.”
“What does ‘prosper’ mean?”
“It means, ‘I hope you make lots of money.’”
“Then can you co-sign for me?”
“That’s… a no.”
“Oh… okay.”
Riding the wave of momentum, Nivellia went all around the mansion, eagerly trading cookies for stickers. Sometimes people tried to haggle, but every time, she stood her ground.
“These cookies are Nini’s pride.”
“Oh my, you even know the word ‘pride’? That’s a tough one.”
A green-haired maid giggled as she placed a sticker on the grape certificate.
“Pride is like a person’s legs. If you protect your pride, you can stand tall. But if you lose it, someday you’ll fall.”
“Young miss, you say such cool things sometimes.”
“If you like me, will you co-sign for me?”
“…Not enough to co-sign, I’m afraid.”
“Geez…”
What once seemed like an endless task was now more than halfway complete. Only two cookie bags remained in her basket.
“Heehee!”
Looking at her nearly-filled certificate, Nivellia grinned brightly.
“Now I don’t have to work so hard!”
“You still have to work hard and finish repaying your debt,” Deter said, peeking into the basket.
“There are two left. Should we keep selling?”
“Hmmm…”
Shaking her head, Nivellia took the two bags and tucked them into her pocket.
“I want to give them to Oppa. And Grandma and Grandpa, too.”
Nivellia was the youngest member of a large family that spanned three generations.
She lived with her grandparents, her parents, and her older brother.
There was also an aunt who was off traveling, but unfortunately, Nivellia didn’t remember her—she had left when Nivellia was much younger.
At any rate, Nivellia had a ten-year-old older brother.
Unlike Nivellia, who had snowy white hair, her brother had red hair, taking after their father and grandfather. But his eyes were the same vivid green as their mother’s.
Nivellia adored her brother.
“Nini!”
“HIIISSS!!”
…However, when her brother appeared with a loud voice, Nivellia hissed at him like an angry cat.
Seated on a soft velvet rug, Nivellia had been playing with her beloved Wolfie doll when her older brother suddenly appeared—startling her so much that she scurried into a corner.
She bared her tiny teeth in defense.
“HSSSS! Haaah!”
“Nini, it’s okay. It’s just me—your brother.”
“Whoa, whoa now…”
Soles Deiamor was used to this kind of greeting. With practiced ease, he calmed his sister’s startled heart.
Watching from a few steps away, Deter thought he looked like a zookeeper trying to tame a wild beast.
The only catch was—the “beast” was far too harmless, which was both its flaw and its charm.
“Did I scare you? I’m sorry. I rushed in because I missed you so much.”
“……”
“Do you recognize me now? Are you okay after the shock?”
“Oppa!”
Nivellia suddenly jumped up, puffing out her cheeks and swinging her fists.
“You scared me! You dummy! Dummy!”
Still upset over being surprised, she whined and complained for quite some time.
Soles let her punch him—just once. The rest he dodged effortlessly, choosing instead to wrap her in a big hug.
Nivellia wrapped her arms around his back as well.
“Have you been doing okay? Did you miss me?”
“I didn’t really miss you that much, but I still like you!”
Even though she had been fuming moments ago, now she was giggling foolishly, all smiles just from being held. She was unbearably cute.
“Where were you, Oppa? I was… maybe a little curious since you weren’t around.”
“I went to the forest to look at mushrooms. I found poisonous ones, and even made medicine from them. It was super fun!”
“Poison mushrooms are dangerous! If you eat them, you go straight to the grave!”
“To the… grave?”
The two siblings walked down the hallway hand in hand.
Following behind, Deter asked Soles curiously,
“What kind of mushrooms did you find in the forest?”
“Not many, since it’s spring. Yellow maidens, some silk trumpets…”
“Makes sense. Mushrooms tend to flourish more in summer and fall.”
“But—I did find something super rare.”
Soles suddenly made a spooky face and leaned in close to Nivellia.
She had just been sneaking a finger up her nose, but quickly pulled it away in surprise.
“A pink mushroom!”
“Pink!”
“It was a really pretty color. But apparently, it’s one of the most dangerous poisonous mushrooms out there.”
“Woooow…”
Nivellia nodded gravely, taking this information very seriously.
“Wanna come see it? I brought it back to show you.”
In the drawing room, the adults were already gathered, discussing what to do with the mushroom.
“It really does look like deer antlers.”
“Don’t touch it. The surface alone is highly toxic.”
“Dear, could you help mediate this deal for us?”
“Of course, Mother. How high should we set the asking price?”
“As high as we can get. Start by contacting both the information guild and the Mage Tower…”
“We brought Nini!”
At that moment, Soles’ voice rang through the room.
The adults, who had been deep in conversation about how to handle the toxic mushroom, turned around at once.
“Nini!”
With arms raised high, Nivellia proudly announced her arrival.
