* * *

Once again, as she busily spent her time getting a dress tailored, before she knew it, the day of the New Year’s party arrived.

In the meantime, she had sent a letter to Antes asking if he would be attending the New Year’s party, but received no reply.

She hadn’t seen him for well over ten days since the day the year changed. He didn’t even budge when she sang songs urging him to leave, but now there wasn’t even a hint of news even when she reached out.

‘It’s okay if you like it, or dislike it. Just give some kind of response. It couldn’t be because of what happened on your birthday…’

She recalled the embarrassing day when she had held his hand and sang a song. Unlike her, who was drunk, Antes was sober and had lost his words for a moment.

‘Say something at least. I am curious why there’s no contact,’ Luna was slightly upset.

Unlike the coming-of-age ceremony, the New Year’s party began at noon.

Thus, having woken up at the crack of dawn to get dressed and put on makeup, Luna could not hide her tiredness even before departing.

“Ah, Miss! If you lie down like that, your dress will get ruined!”

“Is it the dress that’s ruined by lying down? Or a decoration piece?”

Even if this was an occasion to flaunt her superiority, a minimum movement was warranted.

She would have liked to wear the men’s dress suits, but if she did so, not only would her entry be denied, but rumors of her insanity would inevitably spread.

‘If I ever have the opportunity to host a party at the mansion in the future, I must insist everyone wears dress suits. These people don’t know how comfortable pants are; they’ll be surprised.’

Although it was highly unlikely, it would be better if wearing dress suits became commonplace.

While she had such thoughts, Laura hurried Luna along.

“Miss, please get up! It’s time to depart!”

“Alright.”

Luna got up from the sofa and checked herself in the mirror one last time. Despite her tantrums, the dress itself was very pretty.

The theme was winter, so everything was white. To avoid looking too bland, tiny sapphires and diamonds the size of sand grains were sewn in.

No matter how small they were, their number was quite large, and one could say quite a fortune was spent without exaggeration.

‘The dress from the coming-of-age party, and this dress… I must wear them for a long time.’

Just as Luna, who had made up her mind, was about to board the prepared carriage-

“Ah! Miss! I forgot something!”

Saying that there was something forgotten, Laura hurriedly disappeared somewhere and then reappeared.

“You need to sprinkle gold dust on your hair.”

It seemed she went to fetch gold dust to sprinkle on Luna’s hair.

It seemed unnecessary, but since they owned a gold mine, Laura insisted that it must be flaunted, and wouldn’t change her opinion.

Thanks to her, from head to toe, there wasn’t a single place that wasn’t sparkling. Luna rubbed her forehead saying that looking in the mirror could almost blind her.

“If there’s a mirror, tell me in advance. My eyesight is precious. There’s no laser procedures here.”

“Lasi, Laser? What is this?”

“That’s advanced medical procedures to restore fallen eyesight. Actually, I don’t know much either. Anyway, they help improve eyesight.”

“Is there such a thing? I don’t understand, but don’t worry. You are very, very pretty. Indeed, the more you dress up, the more it shows.”

“What? Are you saying that again? That I’m not much without makeup?”

She thought it was a joke last time, but seeing Laura say it again, it seemed genuine.

When Luna pretended to be upset and asked, Laura hurriedly denied it.

“Oh dear! No, not at all!”

Then, perhaps worried that Luna would continue to probe, she quickly changed the subject.

“Ah, speaking of which, a letter arrived too. A servant brought it when you were dressing, I was going to give it to you after everything was done. It was from Presis, the company you asked for mining, right?”

“Yes, can you give it now? I should read it on the way to the Imperial Palace.”

Laura handed over the letter as if she had been waiting. Luna, thinking it would surely be the weekly report as usual, skimmed through the letter after setting off the carriage.

“…Huh?”

She then froze. Since she stayed frozen for quite a while, Laura, feeling puzzled, shook Luna and asked.

“What’s wrong, Miss?”

“Gold… gold has been found…”

Laura widened her eyes at Luna’s casually thrown words.

“Could it be from the mountain you purchased last time?!”

“Yeah…!

From that mountain! It came from the first mountain!

“Oh my…! So you have two gold mines now?!”

There had never been anyone like that before. Luna, excited for a moment while holding Laura’s hands, soon calmed down and read the rest of the information.

“We’ll have to see more, but so far only a very small amount has been discovered, so it may not be profitable. What do you think? Should we continue mining?”

“Miss, what is profitability? Is it about asking whether it’s worthwhile to mine?”

“It means the amount of gold found may not be worth the cost of mining. Like investing a hundred gold and only earning ninety gold.”

“Ah…!”

Most of the gold mines were discontinued due to this reason. Gold was found, but too little to be profitable.

“So, is the gold mine in Peils territory profitable?”

“There, there is no need to even discuss profitability as gold is pouring out.”

The situation was so bountiful that one could understand how much the author disliked Luna. They were making profits to the extent that even if someone secretly stole a little, it wouldn’t be noticeable.

Therefore, Luna decided not to give up on this newly discovered gold mine and try mining it.

‘It won’t lead to ruin if we mine for about a year.’

A typical noble might have wasted their wealth by investing in a gold mine business for a year without profit, but Luna was different.

She owned a gold mine that was a cash cow, so she had plenty of resources to waste.

“So, owning two gold mines is confirmed?”

“Well, for now. One is uncertain.”

“But gold has been found, right?! My goodness, two gold mines!”

Laura was very happy, suggesting that Luna might become the richest person in the Empire.

The fact that only a small amount had been found and might need to give up had already been forgotten. It wasn’t uncommon for mines to produce minuscule amounts of gold.

While Laura was fluttering with vain hope, the carriage arrived at its destination.

Getting off the carriage, Laura muttered to herself while glancing around.

“Oh my, there are so many nobles in the Empire.”

Luna agreed too. Maybe because it was a gathering of all the nobles in the Empire, it was quite bustling.

It was fortunate that Rosemary’s hair was golden, making it easy to find her in the crowded hall.

“Lady Luna!”

“It’s been a long time.”

“Good to see you.”

Rosemary was with other ladies of the gathering. It was a New Year’s party, and although it was expected to be with family, it seemed everyone preferred being with friends they hadn’t seen in a while.

Unlike Rosemary, the ladies meeting Luna after a long time asked about her well-being.

“Have you been well? Your dress is so pretty. Where did you get it?”

“Huh? Upon closer look, your design is similar to Lady Rosemary’s. Did you get it tailored together?”

“Is that gold dust in your hair? My goodness, it’s so beautiful. From afar, it was shining and I thought you were a fairy or something.”

“Next time, I should also sprinkle gold dust in my hair like you. Ah, my hair is light colored so it may not show.”

As the ladies, meeting after a long time, endlessly engaged Luna with a mix of affection and curiosity, a slightly excited Luna responded bashfully.

Observing this scene fondly, Rosemary turned her gaze to Laura.

“Laura. You look exceptionally cheerful today. Any good news?”

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have cared, but today Laura’s cheeks were rosy, and her lips were curled up, looking very cheerful.

“Indeed.”

“Really? What happened?”

“Well, it’s actually about the story I heard in the carriage earlier.”

Had Luna heard this conversation, she would have told her not to speak prematurely since it wasn’t confirmed yet, but she was busy greeting the other ladies.

“What…?! Lady found another gold mine…?!”

Eventually, Rosemary, who found out the truth, couldn’t help but exclaim. Thanks to that, not only the ladies of the gathering but also passing nobles turned their attention to them.

“What do you mean?”

“A gold mine? Another discovery?”

Therefore, Luna, who was momentarily pressing her forehead, burst into laughter and opened her mouth.

“Shall we move and talk? Thanks to Lady Rosemary for boiling the train barrel, I’ve unexpectedly become the center of attention.”

They couldn’t understand what the term ‘train barrel’ meant, but they could grasp the meaning. The young ladies agreed and slowly moved their feet.

“It’s true that a goldmine was discovered, but the amount is very small, so we need to dig more to know for sure.”

“Still, it’s confirmed that you found it, right?”

“Yes. A goldmine is still a goldmine. It’s like heaven compared to the mountains with nothing but dirt.”

“That’s… true.”

“My goodness! So, Lady Luna owns two goldmines?”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

Unfortunately, when the word got out that it was indeed a goldmine, the young ladies got excited and raised their voices again.

Thanks to that, even unrelated people came to know that Luna discovered another goldmine.

It seemed like she might climb onto a stage and announce the discovery of a goldmine, so Luna hurriedly urged the young ladies to head into the banquet hall.

“What did you spray on your hair? It was easy to find since it’s sparkling, but it’s very eye-catching.”