Surprise and Joy

A winery for me?

Angelica almost thought she had misheard, but her Beyonder hearing and memory denied that possibility. She lowered her gaze to the property deed and transfer contract in her hands and read them carefully once more.

This was indeed the documentation for a wine estate on the outskirts of Backlund, one Angelica had visited before.

Not long after returning to Backlund as "Christine Teresa," she had been invited by a coal mine owner to spend a leisurely weekend at the estate. The vast vineyards and luxurious attached villa had left a deep impression on her, especially the extensive woodland belonging to the estate. Such land was exceptionally precious in the capital of the Loen Kingdom, where every inch was worth its weight in gold.

Finally, she saw the estate's current valuation in the corner of the transfer contract:

35,000 pounds.

In an instant, Angelica heard her own breathing grow heavier.

"I think I should hear your thoughts first."

After a moment, she calmed herself somewhat and reluctantly set the documents on the tea table, looking at Baron Cinderas seated across from her.

It was not that Angelica was unmoved by 35,000 pounds. Rather, she felt that offering an estate worth tens of thousands of pounds as thanks—and as the unspoken "hush money"—was far too extravagant.

In fact, Audrey's reminder had prepared her to some extent for the Baron offering compensation, but she had expected at most three to four thousand pounds, equivalent to the annual expenses of many minor noble families.

Could there be some conspiracy involved? Another test by that Spectator demigod, perhaps? Or did Baron Cinderas intend to crush me beneath the enormous operating and repair costs of an estate this size, taking revenge for humiliating him that day?

Unaware that Angelica was maligning him