☣ Chapter 3 ☣
Forget saving the estate. It’s already hard enough surviving alone in this cruel world. Forget it… I should just run away while I still can.
Penelope’s foot twitched.
No, what kind of heartless thing is that to think? There’s only ten days’ worth of emergency food left! Are we all supposed to die? Where’s your conscience?
The two sides of her mind clashed fiercely.
Unaware of the battle inside her head, Sir Cain quietly stood behind her as her escort.
In the end, Penelope stayed where she was.
Not because she was brave.
She simply had nowhere to run.
And abandoning the estate like this weighed heavily on her conscience.
After what felt like forever, it was finally her turn.
Looking completely exhausted, Penelope spoke.
“I’m the acting lord from the Halo Estate. I’d like to meet the branch manager.”
After she presented her identification with the lord’s official seal, the bank clerk looked her up and down.
Then he frowned as if she were a nuisance.
The branch manager’s attitude wasn’t much different.
“I heard you’ve come from Halo. What business does the acting lord have with me?”
Penelope got straight to the point.
“I’d like to apply for a loan from the Imperial Bank.”
“Hmm… I thought that might be the case.”
His tone sounded as if he had expected it all along.
The branch manager calmly looked through a document filled with numbers.
He was checking how much money could be squeezed out of the Halo Estate.
In truth, it was nothing more than a formality.
Everyone already knew where Halo’s income came from.
Taxes collected once each autumn…
And money earned from growing herbs.
The Halo Estate grew Red Herbs in spring, Blue Herbs in summer, and Green Herbs in autumn.
But this year’s harvest had completely failed.
Although she felt embarrassed, Penelope stood straight and waited.
For her…
And for the people of the estate…
This was their last hope.
After lazily reading through the documents, the branch manager raised an eyebrow.
“I see that Halo Estate received a loan six years ago. If you use your farmland as collateral again, we’ll lend you one hundred thousand gold.”
“One hundred thousand isn’t enough. Couldn’t you make an exception just this once?”
“No matter how much you plead, the farmland of Halo Estate isn’t worth any more than that.”
“But if you could just help us this one time…”
The branch manager cut her off.
“I think you’ve misunderstood something. A bank lends money based on a customer’s ability to make a profit. We don’t simply hand over money because a noble asks for it.”
He spoke as if he were lecturing her from above.
Behind her, Penelope heard Sir Cain grind his teeth.
This isn’t exactly unexpected.
She swallowed her anger and spoke calmly.
“Then I’ll use the lord’s castle as collateral. Would that still not be enough?”
“The lord’s castle?”
For the first time, the branch manager’s eyes changed.
Offering the castle as collateral was almost the same as giving up the estate itself.
“My Lady, that’s…”
Sir Cain spoke in alarm.
Penelope raised a hand to stop him.
“Sir Cain, don’t say another word.”
If she couldn’t get this loan today…
The people of the estate would starve before spring arrived.
No…
Some might starve to death within two weeks.
Their biggest source of income had already disappeared.
If that happened…
The people would scatter in search of survival.
Most would become squatters, wanderers, or mercenaries.
Many would die meaningless deaths.
That was usually the fate of poor people who had lost their land.
Sir Cain lowered his head.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He knew the estate was on the edge of bankruptcy.
But the branch manager didn’t wait for either of them to recover.
“So, how much are you asking for?”
Penelope immediately lifted her head.
For the first time…
Hope appeared in her eyes.
She swallowed nervously.
“One million gold. Please lend me one million gold.”
“One million…”
The branch manager looked surprised.
But not because he thought it was too much.
Instead…
Greed filled his eyes.
For one million gold, I could swallow an entire northern estate.
Even if he stripped the estate of everything valuable, he’d recover the loan easily.
He could even tear down the estate and build villas for nobles.
Halo’s location near the Grand Duke’s territory made it even more attractive.
Still…
He hesitated.
He wanted to make the proud noblewoman standing before him even more anxious.
Once I take the lord’s castle… this arrogant woman will have nowhere left to go.
For some reason…
He wanted to see that happen.
Just then, Penelope added firmly,
“The repayment period will be one year.”
“Excellent. Very good.”
“The interest rate is ten percent.”
“You’ll pay it every month.”
The branch manager smiled broadly and held out his hand.
Penelope bit her lower lip.
Damn it… Even the interest rate is insane.
Even these crazy interest rates had risen because of the heroine’s actions.
And this was considered cheap because it was the Imperial Bank.
Penelope lowered her eyes before standing up.
“Please give me the loan in Imperial gold coins.”
For the first time…
The branch manager looked troubled.
The Emperor’s death had caused many unexpected changes.
One of the biggest was inflation.
Paper money was losing its value every day.
Gold coins, made from real gold, still held their value.
Which made them far more precious.
“I’m very sorry, but we don’t have many gold coins stored in this branch. Imperial Bank checks are widely accepted in the North. I’ll issue the loan as a check instead.”
“If you won’t give me gold coins, I’ll go to Tembel Bank.”
It felt like lightning had struck the branch manager.
Tembel Bank?!
Tembel Bank was the Imperial Bank’s greatest rival.
Its greedy manager might even lend Halo Estate two million gold.
With a one-year repayment period, that’s practically free money.
The branch manager was certain of one thing.
Halo Estate would never repay one million gold within a year.
They probably couldn’t even pay the interest.
This foolish noblewoman simply doesn’t understand money.
Right now she probably believes she can repay it.
A few months from now she’ll realize she can’t even earn a single penny.
He laughed to himself.
I’ll seize pieces of the estate instead of collecting the interest.
Eventually… the entire Halo Estate will belong to me.
Maybe… even that woman.
“I can’t let Tembel Bank steal such a perfect opportunity.”
A sly smile spread across his face.
…What’s with that look?
A chill ran down Penelope’s spine.
Instinctively, she took a step back.
Sir Cain glared coldly at the branch manager.
“Oh… It seems I was mistaken about how many gold coins we have in our vault.”
“If you’ll wait just one hour…”
“No, let’s prepare the contract first.”
Less than an hour later…
The branch manager handed Penelope several heavy bags filled with gold coins.
Sir Cain silently carried the bags over his shoulder.
Penelope carefully put away the loan documents.
“Have a safe journey.”
“I look forward to seeing you again.”
The branch manager personally escorted her all the way to the front entrance.
Sir Cain placed the bags of gold onto the waiting carriage.
He looked at them as though they weren’t treasure…
But a burden.
“At least… I got the loan.”
Penelope stopped walking.
Her heart was pounding so hard it felt as if it would burst.
Her legs tingled as though she had been struck by lightning.
“I-I thought my heart was going to explode…”
She had pushed forward out of pure determination.
She never imagined it would actually work.
Without realizing it…
She had overcome the biggest obstacle she had faced since arriving in this world.
Judging by the branch manager’s reaction…
He had clearly been satisfied with the one-year repayment period.
To be honest…
Even Penelope herself would have thought someone was insane if they claimed they could repay one million gold within a single year.
“At least I have money now.”
“Now then… where should I go next?”
