I buried my face in my hands, taking deep breaths to calm down. I couldn’t go berserk with Nanya sitting next to me, not after the torture she had endured. And I didn’t want her heroic image of me replaced with a memory of a mad demon. Once I calmed, I lifted my head and looked at Midori and Aoi.

  “Before I completely lose it, can someone tell me?” I asked, rubbing my temples. “Whose brilliant idea was this, and why did you think we needed a palace in the first place?!”

  “Mine, of course,” Aoi said, puffing out her chest like she had done something amazing.

  “Yeah, it was that worm’s idea,” Midori added, trying to avoid getting scolded, though she knew it wouldn’t work.

  “And you were with her,” I said, frowning. “Why didn't you stop her?”

  “I tried, um, but…” she muttered, looking away.

  I turned to Aoi. “Why?” I asked. “Tell me.”

  “What do you mean why?” she said, crossing her legs. “You’re a lord now. You can’t sleep on a chair in some rundown inn.”

  “I’m—” I froze, finger in the air, words slipping from my mind. This argument felt endless. And looking at their stupid faces, I knew it was already too late.

  “Anyway…" I sighed, glancing around, "what’s done is done."

  Every part of the building, from the architecture and painted walls to the polished floors and furniture, screamed luxury. I had no idea how much a hundred gold coins were worth here, but it didn’t seem enough to buy this place.

  “So," I swallowed hard, "how much did this cost to us?”

  A heavy silence filled the room. Both of them looked away. “Or let me put it this way… do we even have any coin left after buying this ridiculously extravagant palace?”

  “It’s not a palace,” Aoi muttered, rolling her eyes. “It’s a small mansion.”

  “Small?!” I snapped. “You call this small? How many rooms does this place have, a hundred?”

  “No,” she said, looking away, her voice dropping. “Around twenty. I think.”

  “You could’ve bought an inn instead! Or wait,” I said, turning to Nanya. “Does the inn you work at even have twenty rooms?”

  “No. It’s a small place. We only have twelve in total.”

  “See?” I shouted at Aoi. “Now take out the coin pouch.” I pointed at her chest. “Right now. I want to see how much we have left.”

  She first looked away, reluctant. But when she realized there was no way out, she reached to her chest, took the pouch, and placed it on the table in front of us.

  The pouch, full just yesterday morning, couldn’t even stand upright now. It sagged to the side, looking pitiful. I picked it up, opened it, and turned it over. The gold coins fell out. I counted them while I put them back.

  “Five… Ten… Fifteen… Twenty.” I spun to Aoi. “That’s it? Out of one hundred gold, you left only twenty in a single day?”

  “Well… we gave one to the innkeeper, and three went to potions. Wait,” she said, digging at her chest and tugging at her kimono, eyes searching. Then she pulled out a single gold coin, holding it up with sparkling eyes, as if it solved everything. “Here. Twenty-one!”

  I stared at her with tired eyes and sighed. I grabbed the coin, dropped it into the pouch, and slid it across the table as far away from her as possible.

  “That’s it. You’re not touching this again. You clearly have no idea how to handle money.”

  Then my eyes landed on the crate of potions spilled on the floor, my hand trembling with anger as I pointed at them.

  “And look at this! I said get something that works, not the entire shop!”

  “Oh, come on,” Midori said, waving her hand. “I thought it would be good to have some extras on hand.”

  “Extras? Extras for what?” I snapped. “So you can throw them on the floor and smash them?”

  “Let’s not even get into that!” she said, pointing at Nanya. “When we got there, I didn’t expect to see you like that with her—”

  “Okay, fine!” I cut her off, my face burning. I wanted to forget this moment fast. I turned to Aoi. “So how much did you actually spend on this place? Eighty?”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Well, you know,” Aoi said, leaning in and tapping my shoulder, like she was about to spill gossip. “It was nine percent off. Normal price a thousand gold, they said one hundred. Of course, I lowered that too.”

  She leaned closer, her voice dropping into that warm, dangerous whisper. “The man practically lost his tongue when he saw my… irresistible beauty. So we got it down to seventy five.”

  Then she winked at me, all proud and happy. I planted my hand on her face and pushed her away.

  “Who sells a thousand-gold house for a hundred, then even drops it to seventy five?” I said, rubbing my temples. “You got completely scammed. Either this place is about to collapse, or they sold you someone else’s house.”

  “No, no,” Aoi said confidently. “The guy explained it, nothing to worry about. It’s just… supposedly a haunted house, ghosts and all, but who would believe that—”

  “Ghosts?!” I almost jumped. “You two bought us a cursed house? Are we all getting haunted tonight?”

  “Come on,” Midori said, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you actually believe that."

  “A thousand-gold house, and the guy almost gave it to you for free? Are you kidding me?” I sighed long and deep. “Whatever… I really don’t want to argue about this anymore."

  We sat in silence. My eyes wandered over the white walls, the gold-trimmed decorations, every detail of the palace that screamed I didn’t belong here. Then, with a sad expression, my gaze landed on the almost empty pouch on the table.

  “My lord,” Nanya muttered, “if it’s not a bother, I want to ask something.”

  “Yeah..."

  “Why do you carry all this gold with you?”

  “What else would we do?”

  “My boss keeps her money in the bank, even just silver. She says thieves are everywhere. Maybe you do too… I’ve just never seen this much gold at once.”

  “A bank?” I lifted my head, stunned. “In this era? In this city?”

  “Yes, the Royal Bank. Right across from the barracks.”

  “Sh-shut up, furry tail!” Aoi jumped in. “There’s nowhere safer than my chest in this world. And you,” Her finger trembled as she pointed. “why don’t you go back to that wreck of an inn already?”

  “Aoi!” I yelled. “Behave yourself.”

  “I… I can’t go back to that inn anymore,” Nanya muttered. She looked like she was about to cry again.

  “You can’t go back home either. Whoever is after you knows that place too,” I said softly, then glanced at Aoi, eyes sharp. “Just… ignore her. You don’t need to go anywhere.”

  A small, relieved smile appeared on her face, but her eyes were still wet, full of fear and worry.

  “But if you want to go to family or relatives, we can take you,” I added. “It’s no trouble.”

  “I have no one,” she whispered, looking away. “I’m an orphan.”

  “I see,” I muttered. “You know, I’m an orphan too. I lost my family very young.”

  She turned her head and looked at me, a warm look in her eyes. “I’m sorry—”

  “No, really,” I cut her off. “You don’t need to be sorry or worry. You can stay here as long as you want."

  I turned to Aoi, my voice tinged with anger. “After all, we’ve got more empty rooms than we know what to do with!”

  “So what? The furry tail is staying with us?” Aoi asked with a frown. Then she waved her hand. “Anyway, we needed a servant.”

  “No one is anyone’s servant here!” I snapped. “You would better get that into your head fast.”

  I turned to Nanya. “You don’t need to worry about them. They’re just… a bit wild, but not dangerous.” I glanced at them and added, swallowing, “Well, most of the time…”

  Nanya smiled, her eyes shining. She moved to hug me again, but Midori grabbed her swaying tail in midair and pulled her back.

  I stood up and walked toward the large window, then looked outside. In front of the building was a huge garden with neat trees and flowers, perfect landscaping, even a small angel statue and a little waterfall. This cursed place screamed wealth in every detail.

  I turned and walked through the hall, then noticed the stairs leading up. So it had two floors. Remembering the money we had spent on this extravagance made my mood sink even more, and my stomach growled with hunger.

  “Well,” I said, “among all this gold and shiny junk, is there anything we can eat in this house? Or are we going to chew on the last of our coins?”

  “Ah, um,” Aoi said, looking away. “We just moved in and didn’t really get the chance to shop yet…”

  “So there is nothing to eat?” I asked. “We spent almost all our money on stone piles and decorations, and now we are starving. Great.”

  “The market isn’t too far. If you want, we can go and—”

  I walked to the table, pulled one gold coin from the pouch, and before she could finish, tossed it at her with a lazy flick of my hand.

  “Fine,” I said, sinking onto the couch. “You two go buy some food. The innkeeper said one gold gets a lot… And from what I can tell, you like shopping anyway. Just get something to eat, and fast.”

  They walked to the door, reluctant but with no choice. Suddenly, Midori paused and looked back, narrowing her eyes. “You aren't coming?”

  “No,” I said. “I have things to talk to Nanya about.”

  They sighed and left. They weren’t in any position to argue with me anyway. I turned to Nanya. Our strange dynamic had clearly confused her. She stood there, staring at the half open door they had left behind, lost in thought.

  “Hey, uh, you said you are an orphan, right? Did you grow up in an orphanage, or did the innkeeper take care of you all this time?”

  “I grew up in an orphanage,” she muttered. “But when I reached adulthood, they found me a job at that inn and sent me there. I’ve been working there for two years.”

  “I see,” I muttered. “Then how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “No problem, my lord. I’m seventeen.”

  “Oh, almost the same age as me,” I muttered.

  Soon, my introverted sides took over, and a strange silence fell. Two strangers sat side by side on a couch, alone in a huge house. For a moment, all we could hear was each other’s tense breathing. I couldn’t handle the pressure anymore.

  “Those men who came are after you… but if you’re not ready to talk about it, you don’t have to. It’s really fine—”

  “No, no,” she said, waving her hand. “I’m better now. Really.”

  “Fine, then. Do you have any enemies,” I asked, “or some strange men obsessed with you, you know?” I glanced at her briefly. “I mean, you’re cute and hard to miss.”

  Hearing that, her cat ears shot up and her tail wagged in excitement before she tried and failed to hide it. She quickly looked away, clearly betrayed by her own body.

  “No,” she murmured. “I mean… I don’t know.”

  She thought for a moment, then looked back at me. “But one of them,” she said, “even though I didn’t see his face, his voice… it felt like the man who tried to choke me that night.”

  “You know,” I said, anger rising as the memory came back, “I suspected it too. I just wanted to be sure. So now… we have a lead.”