It’s not like I put all my faith in her, It’ll just be better for me if she did it for me. If the deed wasn’t done after I send the money, I’ll simply hire someone else to do it. The money spent for this can’t be considered a lot either.

It’s a chance to build connections with a formidable entity. I have my guesses on who she could be, and most of her suspected identities would make it only beneficial for me to get closer to her.

I was expecting her to decline, but since she accepted, that must mean I can be of use to her.

After the conversation I stay silent for the rest of the class, listening to the teacher at times. I end up drifting off in my own world after a while, thinking about my plans later.

Suddenly, without shifting her gaze from the teacher, she whispers softly, “Hey, you’re not listening to the teacher.”

Slightly shocked, I answer without looking away from the teacher as well, “I’m surprised you noticed.”

“I guessed.”

I couldn’t think of what to reply to that, so I kept silent.

After an awkward minute, she speaks up again.

“Who are you really?”

“Me? I’m Qiu Xue of course.”

“Don’t lie.”

“What do you want me to say? I’ve been Qiu Xue since I was born.”

“The old Qiu Xue would never act like you currently.”

“I just realised my predicament after hitting my head.”

“Oh really.”

“People mature at different times, this was just mine.”

“I don’t have anything to say to that.”

“I may be doing things that the previous me wouldn’t do, but that’s just circumstances at play.”

I pause before continuing, “I don’t have a choice but to do these things.”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here speaking to you right now.”

She shrugs, not denying my words.

“If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?”, I sigh helplessly.

She remains silent.

When class ended, as she packed up her books, she said lightly, “I’ll believe you. Even if you weren’t the old Qiu Xue, it’s not my business anyway.”

As she turned around to leave, I heaved a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, she turned back, “If you were different though, I like the current Qiu Xue more.”

She laughs lightly, as she leaves the classroom, leaving me with an awkward expression.

“Haiz. It’s so hard dealing with her. I still can’t read her at all.”, I think to myself, shrugging it off.

I head for my carriage as usual, instructing it to head for the Beelze family mansion.

As I arrive, I notice a huge mansion, generously decorated with precious jewels. If you compared this estate to my house, it’ll make it seem like our family was being frugal.

I’m shocked by the luxuriousness of the place, and as I stood outside, the Beelze young master steps out, welcoming, “Ah, my dear friend, you finally came. Don’t stand on ceremony with us, just come in!”

He leads me along the grand pathway, filled with a line of maids bowing at my arrival.

Honestly this is rather breathtaking. Just from appearances alone, my Duke house definitely can’t compare to this sight.

He brings me in into the main hall, inviting me to take a seat near the top, usually reserved for esteemed guests.

Soon after, a burly man with a sharp nose like that of the Beelze young master walks in.

He looks at me and laughs in approval, “Truly a dragon amongst men! The Duke has a good successor!”

Of course he’ll flatter me, he probably thinks I have father’s support in the succession, so it’s almost certain I will become the next Duke.

Even without that, the general public looks rather highly at me succeeding the Duke, since the sons of the second wife usually don’t have a right to the title. If not for the second wife having sons highly talented in magic, they wouldn’t have any chance.

“You flatter me, you flatter me! I still need to count on noble families such as yourself for support.”, I laugh heartily, implying that his family was a noble one, or at least could become one soon.

“You think too highly of us, young lord, we little ones are the ones that need your support!”

“How could that be? I have much to learn from the older generation…”

After another round of pleasantries and flattery, his eyes turn serious, saying seriously, “Well, I’ve heard from my son that you’re looking to sell Supreme Pavillion?”

I put on a solemn face as well, “Yes. That is completely true. This matter is of grave importance to me.”

I emphasise on myself, not the family, further confirming his suspicions that this is to help my peaceful succession.

“We’ll of course cooperate with you as much as we can, what is the sum you’re looking for, young lord?”

“It’s nothing much, just 100,000 gold.”

His face cracks, “100,000?! Young lord, you must be joking, one of these shops not matter how successful can only make about 500 gold a year!”

“It’s not unreasonable. Annually, all the shops can make about 15,000 gold. You can easily make that amount back in 7-8 years.”, I retort casually.

“That’s too much, you may not know this, but normally we merchants price their business at 3-4 times their annual income, since a business can't be guaranteed stable earnings for that long! No one would price it at 7-8 times!”, he tries to reason, visibly agitated..

“Of course, I know that this is a lot of money if we’re considering just the value of the shops alone. But there’s more value in them than just their income, isn’t there?”, I grin evilly.