12. Business Partner (1)

In my past life, my father was a cheating and abusive drunkard. My mother and I were his personal punching bags whenever he would come home he would find one way or another to vent his anger on us. And when he felt like he didn't want us anymore, he left us.

I was only fourteen at that time and my younger sister was ten. My mother and I worked and with time even she started seeing me and my sister as burdens. She started cursing at us and beating us whenever she was too stressed.

I worked hard enough and cracked the exam for the government job but even that didn't satisfy her. She still blamed me and my sister for her misery and how she never had even a single moment of happiness.

I thought maybe my sister and I could stick together but even she was so engrossed in her social life, changing boyfriends with seasons that she and I were like detached strings. She preferred looking for love outside.

In that situation, I found little solace in anime, manga and books so, I started to consider them above anything else for me. Because as a human, one needs something to comfort themselves when they don't have anything else at all.

Anime held my hand and walked with me when I was lost, it gave me moments to smile when I wanted to drown in my despair, and it made me cry as I embraced the number of protagonists who struggled with their lives.

Still, as much as you loved the fantasy you couldn't forget that you lived in reality, it would always come to you reminding you that the moments of happiness would only last like the fleeting clouds and what was inevitable was the pain that returns after every step.

My sister got fed up with my mother's constant curses and once she entered college she left the house, my mother, unable to hold on anymore committed suicide.

All I had left was myself and the shadows of the words that my mother and father hurled at me. It rooted deeply into my heart and I started hating the idea of having a family, I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone or rely on anyone.

That changed a little when my Chief took me in, he gave me the strength to believe in myself and to face my troubles head-on and not keep blaming myself for everything.

Now seeing Duke Arthur standing in front of me with that longing expression only made my heart ache, I wanted to trust him but I also didn't want to be attached only to be abandoned later. 

[Goddess of Wisdom laments.]

[Defender of Divine Glory praises your endurance and will.]

"Oh, so, you guys are still here. I thought you bailed out after the Dragon incident."

[Goddess of Wisdom asks you to move on.]

"Easier said than done."

[Defender of Divine Glory tells you that you are "Reina Aurelius" now so you should move ahead with that identity.]

"Reina Aurelius... What happened to the original Reina anyways?"

[Goddess of Wisdom gestures at Defender of Divine Glory to answer.]

[Defender of Divine Glory answers that the real Reina is in the afterlife.]

I hummed lightly before sighing.

It wasn't long before I ended up falling asleep but was still restless as the nightmares plagued me.

The next day, I met up with Viscount Ainsworth in the library and he gave me the materials about the court case, Rune was with me since he didn't want to be left out.

"Are these all?"

"Yes, Young Miss."

I nodded and then looked at Viscount, "Viscount, is it possible to forge a noble status or buy one for a person?"

"It is but, why do you ask of that, Young Miss?" I smirked as I looked at him.

"Because there's someone who will require it when the time comes."

"Pardon, who?"

I wrote a name and a brief background of the person on the piece of paper and Viscount gave me a confused look.

"Buy a title for this name, a Baron's or Earl's is fine." I said and placed a small bag of gold coins on the table.

"These are fifty gold, if you require more tell me."

Viscount's eyes went as wide as saucers as he heard me, "Fi-Fifty gold?!"

"Will you do it or not?"

"Ye-Yes, I will. But, fifty gold is way too much, Young Miss."

"Then keep the rest for yourself, you haven't received the salary for the past two months, right?"

"Young Miss... how?" He gasped and I smiled.

"Don't worry, Viscount. You are the loyal aide of my father so we must repay you well."

"But-"

"Hurry now, this thing needs to be done within two days." I snapped and he stood up quickly before bowing and leaving the library.

"Who is this person, Reina?" Rune asked once we were alone and I looked at the game of chess that was on the table beside us.

I picked up a pawn and the queen from the game and showed it to Rune.

"The hidden Master."

He looked confused and I smiled, "It's fine, you'll know soon. Besides, I have some more things to discuss so, shall we play a game of chess?"

Rune didn't understand at first but as soon as we started playing I started telling him about my plan. He had earned my trust by risking his life and I needed one ally who would be close to me so, I had chosen Rune for that role.

"Do you think this will work?" He asked and I smiled at him as I placed my Queen right in front of his King.

"I know it will work and Check."

He blinked as he stared at the game and then smiled, "Fine, I'll help you in whatever way you want."

I won the game of chess and earned myself one companion.

The system told me that this world would be destroyed after 15 years so, I had limited time to build enough power myself so that I could influence the politics of the kingdom and the future King himself and being a Duke's daughter could only do so much.

I had to become a power that could rival the strongest factions of this kingdom and for that, the first and foremost things that I needed were money and information.

The issue of money was solved but for information, I would have to build it with time and from scratch. There were also a lot of other things to support so, I needed as much manpower as I could get.

I made a rough plan as to how I would move forward with the limited sources for now and waited for the person that the Duke mentioned. The news about the mine of magic stone would wreak havoc and it would also attract a lot of negative attention so, the business partner was required to be strong.

I wondered if Duke's person fit the criteria.

Two more days passed by and the maid entered my room huffing and puffing as if she had run a marathon. 

"Young Miss, Hi-His Grace has summoned you to his study, it's urgent."

I walked over to the Duke's study not knowing that the person waiting for me there would become one of the founding pillars of my plan.