The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Married Life in a Former Enemy Country in Her Seventh Loop

“I have something my lord and I would like to ask of you, Lady Rishe.”
Oliver opened that way.

“We would like you to arrange an introduction to Chairman Cain Tally of the Aria Company.”
“To Chairman Tally?”
Oliver nodded and spread a single sheet on the table.

It was the gold–silver price chart Rishe had just handed to Arnold.
“My lord and I have reviewed this information. I take it this reflects not only simple data collection, but also an appraisal of various world conditions.”
…As expected. The two of them aren’t merchants, yet they understand the effort it took to compile this.

Oliver’s calm violet eyes met hers, and he smiled.
“As for the plan for Recoinage, you are already aware, Lady Rishe. …My lord.”
At that cue, Arnold gave permission with his gaze.
Oliver picked up a rolled document from the edge of the table and unfurled it before Rishe.

“Wow…”
At the sight of the beautiful design, Rishe couldn’t help letting a voice slip.
It depicted an eagle, wings spread wide, each feather patterned in fine detail. Scattered petals floated above it, and two swords crossed.

“It’s a very lovely illustration. Splendid yet dignified, and at the same time so delicate…”
It was captivating, but what exactly was this?
The instant the question arose, Rishe caught herself.

“Could it be…”
Given the flow of the discussion, she was likely not mistaken.
“Do you intend to use this intricate design as the motif for the new coinage?”

“Correct,” Oliver answered breezily—but this was no small matter.
“Even you, Lady Rishe, must be surprised. Coinage must be mass-produced, and each piece must be free of any defect whatsoever.”
“You’re quite right, Oliver. Even if you carve a master die and pour into molds, a design this intricate wouldn’t release cleanly. You would need exceedingly advanced techniques to strike it…”

She stopped there—and finally understood.
She looked up at Arnold beside her, and his eyes—already on her—met hers.
…That’s why, when Your Highness touched my ring yesterday, you brought up the Koyol Nation!

Her earlier inference—that he had mentioned Koyol because of its dwindling gold and silver—was not wrong in itself.
But there had been another meaning to Arnold’s invoking Koyol then.
“—You’re going to use a technical partnership with the Koyol Nation for the Recoinage!?”

“….”
When she checked the neighbor at her side, Arnold narrowed his eyes in quiet amusement.
“Just as I pictured—that’s exactly the expression you’d make.”
“W—what!”

Worried about what face she’d just shown, she pressed her cheeks with both hands.
Her delight had probably reached her face. Embarrassing as it was, she couldn’t help it.
That Arnold would… rely on the Koyol Nation—on Prince Kyle.

Perhaps sensing her happiness, Oliver glanced her way and, with a nod, supplied:
“For your reference… it was my lord, not I, who brought up Koyol.”
“!”

“We use what can be used. That’s all,” Arnold said, curt as ever—but she was happy all the same.
…And yet, I think something feels off.
Unaware of Rishe’s private doubt, Oliver continued.

“The regular purpose of Recoinage is to prevent the spread of Counterfeiting. Since we are reminting, we would rather make counterfeits themselves hard to produce. With Koyol’s technology, which specializes in delicate goldwork, imitation would be difficult even for those who aim to counterfeit.”

“…”
“With the Aria Company, we would like to discuss how to move gold and silver abroad after Recoinage, as well as procurement needed for the reminting. What do you think, Lady Rishe?”

“Of course—if there’s anything I can do, I’ll help without reservation. I’d like to contact Chairman Tally at once, but…”
Rishe looked up into Arnold’s eyes and voiced the unease from a moment ago.
“The two of you are hesitating, aren’t you?”

“……”
At the instant she pointed it out, Arnold drew his brows a fraction.
Across from them, Oliver’s eyes went round with surprise. Judging by that reaction, her guess had landed.

“What makes you feel that way?” Oliver asked, a bit flustered, while Arnold kept silent, studying her.
Under their gazes, Rishe spoke.
“With Koyol’s technology, a gold coin with this intricate motif can be manufactured. …But even if it’s technically feasible, the cost of manufacture would be excessive.”

The price of a thing is not set by the value of its raw materials.
It also includes the facilities to make it, the personnel, the transport and procurement of inputs, and the costs of distributing the finished goods.
The same holds for gold and silver coins.

If issuing one gold coin costs more than a gold coin itself, the more you mint, the poorer your country becomes.
“Your consultation with Chairman Tally is to keep those costs down, isn’t it? Meaning, depending on the Aria Company’s calculations, this Recoinage proposal might… be scrapped.”
“…My, my…”

“And, Your Highness—”
When she again looked up at the man beside her, Arnold regarded her with his eyes slightly lowered.
“When I first heard about Recoinage from you, I asked, ‘Do you intend to remake Galkhein’s currency with less precious metal content?’ And yet…”

The reply she received—‘That’s right’—had been, somehow, unlike Arnold.
“What you gave me was a somewhat ambiguous answer. I wondered if you were keeping something from me, but if ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) it were you, Your Highness, you would hide it perfectly. …Or you would make a joke so transparent it’s obviously a lie.”
“…”

“So I felt perhaps it wasn’t a secret at all—but a worry. And that worry led to a reply uncharacteristic of Arnold.”
At that, Oliver softened into a smile and looked to Arnold.
“Now then, my lord. It seems your fiancée has seen through you?”

“…”
“Why not at last share what’s on your mind? I might be of help.”
His words surprised Rishe.

“Oliver—you don’t know what’s troubling His Highness either?”
“Ordinarily, he would consult me a bit more. It seems that in this matter, my lord once considered a ‘fallback plan,’ but…”
Arnold, propping his cheek on the settee’s armrest, only said with a bored look:

“…No matter how you look at it, that plan has no grounding in reality.”
Again, words unlike Arnold.
He was always pragmatic. That such a thing—a “plan without reality”—had come from him seemed distasteful to Arnold himself.

“It’s close to a fairy tale—one might even call it ridiculous. So I discarded that fallback without examination. It’s a fool’s idea.”
“…Well, if you put it that strongly, my lord…”
“But, Your Highness,” Rishe said, looking straight up at him.

“If it’s something you truly wish for—doesn’t that make it a dream that can be realized?”
“…What?”
Arnold looked at her, startled.

But Rishe believed, so she continued, dead serious.
“Bringing a fairy tale closer to reality—Your Highness has the mind and the hand to do precisely that. And now you’ve even shown the stance of working with others, like the Koyol Nation and the Aria Company.”
“…You,” he murmured, brows drawing in.

“Do you truly intend to believe in me—no matter how far it goes?”

“Yes. Because for the two months since we met, Your Highness has proven it, again and again.”
“…”

She believed in Arnold’s power not because she knew the future.
But because, up close like this, she had watched what he did.
“Is it that you can’t believe in your own strength, Your Highness?”

At that, Arnold furrowed his brow.
“Even if something feels like a fairy tale to you, it may not be so to someone else. With another party’s technology or knowledge, it can become a dream within reach. If people who share the same dream gather, its outline might come into view.”
“…No such people exist.”

“I wonder. Because that’s—…!”
Arnold’s fingers touched her chin.
He tipped her face up with that hand, aligning his gaze with hers head-on.

“Rishe.”
Even without doing that, she wouldn’t run—but in a voice a shade lower than usual, as if instructing her, Arnold said:
“No one can believe in the substance of something without form.”

“…”
Why does he look so lonely?
She parted her lips—then no words came.

His eyes, looking down at her, seemed to reject whatever she might say.
“…My lord.”
Oliver’s voice made Rishe flinch.

Arnold clicked his tongue softly, slid his hand away from her—and just then, a knock came at the door.
“Your Highness Arnold. Sir Oliver. May I have some time to discuss tomorrow’s security?”
“….”

At the knight’s voice, Rishe rose from the settee.
“Then I’ll excuse myself for now. I’ll see that the Aria Company is informed.”
“Lady Rishe. My apologies.”

“If there’s anything else I can do, please call on me. …Your Highness, I’ll see you at dinner later.”
“…Ah.”
Arnold took Rishe’s hand as she stood, and, threading his fingers with hers, said:

“Later.”
“…!”
The mood from a moment ago had vanished from him.

His eyes were no longer terribly lonely, nor did he show any sign of pressing down her words.
Confused, Rishe answered in a small voice.
“…Yes…”

Then, after greeting the knights, she left the room.
I thought I’d offended him…
Apparently, that wasn’t it.

Could it be… he was struggling against something?
If so, against what?
As she turned that over, her head filled with Arnold. She wanted to know as much as she could—what he was thinking, what he was concerned about.

Because of that, she failed to sense the presence stifled so close at hand.
“!!”
“Hey.”

A hand seized her arm and yanked her into the shadow of a pillar; Rishe blinked.
Pressing her back to the wall and covering her mouth with his palm, Raul smiled in Curtis’s face.
“Now we can finally be alone, just the two of us, young lady.”

“…mmph.”
With her mouth clamped by that big hand, Rishe glared at him, mumbling.