Chapter 5: A Gift from Cedric

Eliana woke up earlier than usual.

She was so excited about the dungeon that she woke up on her own.

When she went to the dining room, her parents were not there yet.

She ate breakfast first, and just as she finished eating, her father entered the dining room.

“Good morning, Eliana.”

“You’re up quite early.”

“Good morning.”

“Is Mother still resting?”

Since her mother usually came with Father, Eliana felt worried when she wasn’t there.

“She stayed up late last night, so she’s still sleeping.”

Eliana nodded at her father’s answer and sipped her tea after breakfast.

“Did you wake up early because of the dungeon?”

The previous day, Eliana had told her parents that she had become S-rank.

She had also told them about defeating the S-rank monster and everything that had happened at the guild.

“Yes.”

“I’ve always wanted to explore a dungeon, so I was so excited that I woke up early.”

Seeing Eliana speak happily, Gilberto smiled with satisfaction.

The butler came to inform them that Cedric had arrived.

Eliana waved to her father and quickly left for the guild.

Left behind, Gilberto murmured quietly.

“So they insulted the family, and she struck back…”

“No wonder Eliza collapsed…”

Only the butler, who knew the real reason the lady had fainted, showed a bitter expression.

Just like the previous day, Eliana and Cedric entered the guild while holding hands.

Ellie spotted Eliana.

“Eliana!”

“Over here!”

She called out from the far end of the reception counter.

The two walked toward Ellie.

Some women who didn’t know about yesterday tried to approach Cedric.

However, other adventurers hurriedly restrained them.

When Eliana turned around, one of the restrained women glared at her.

Eliana ignored her and continued walking toward Ellie.

“Yesterday must have been difficult.”

“The master told me everything.”

“Congratulations on your engagement and the dungeon.”

Ellie held Eliana’s hands and congratulated her.

“Thank you, Sister Ellie.”

“And I’m sorry about yesterday…”

Eliana apologized with a troubled expression.

“It’s alright.”

Ellie spoke kindly and guided Eliana and Cedric upstairs to where the master was waiting.

They knocked on the door, received permission to enter, and stepped inside.

The master was sitting on the sofa waiting.

When they sat down across from him, he handed Eliana an S-rank pin.

Each adventurer rank used a different gemstone color for their pins.

S-rank and SS-rank used rainbow-colored gems.

S-rank had one gem.

SS-rank had two.

“Eliana will receive special permission directly from me.”

“Lord Cedric will receive normal permission since he is already enrolled in the academy.”

The master placed two silver cards on the table in front of them.

The cards were labeled Dungeon Permit.

Their names were written on them as well.

“With these, you can enter the dungeon whenever you want.”

“Congratulations, Eliana.”

“Go hunt plenty of monsters and bring back lots of drop items.”

Eliana stared at the silver card and began imagining all the money she could earn.

“Lord Cedric!”

“Let’s enter the dungeon right away!”

She invited him enthusiastically.

However, Cedric looked apologetic.

“Lady Eliana.”

“We cannot enter the dungeon today.”

What!?

Eliana froze in shock.

“A dungeon cannot be explored in a single day.”

“And tomorrow we are scheduled to visit the ducal house.”

“So it will have to be another day.”

Eliana had completely forgotten.

Tomorrow they were visiting the ducal house to finalize their engagement.

She had also forgotten that dungeon exploration required preparation.

“I’m sorry.”

“I was so excited about the dungeon that I forgot about tomorrow and the preparations.”

Eliana lowered her head apologetically.

“In that case, would you like to at least visit the dungeon entrance?”

“You’ve never been there before, right?”

Eliana’s mood instantly improved at Cedric’s suggestion.

“I want to go!”

She replied with a bright smile.

Cedric chuckled.

They thanked the master and left the room.

After saying goodbye to Sister Ellie, they headed toward the exit.

The same women from earlier glared at them again.

Eliana sighed and returned their glare with cold eyes.

A faint chill of magic radiated from her gaze.

The women inhaled sharply.

They had underestimated Eliana because of her delicate appearance.

But now they could clearly feel the overwhelming difference in their magical power.

The women lowered their eyes to the floor, silently admitting defeat.

Cedric held Eliana’s hand.

“Lady Eliana and I will become engaged.”

“I will not accept any objections.”

“Anyone who lays a hand on Eliana will disappear.”

His words carried a clear warning that opposing them meant opposing the ducal house.

He pulled Eliana along and returned to the carriage.

The dungeon was about an hour away from the guild by carriage.

The kingdom’s second dungeon was located far from the royal capital.

They stopped the carriage at a plaza near the dungeon and walked for a short distance.

Soon the dungeon gate came into view.

It was a massive gate.

A dragon-like creature coiled around the pillars.

Eliana stared at the dragon carefully.

‘Wait…’

‘Is that a dragon… or a Chinese dragon?’

Cedric noticed her staring.

“Apparently the creature on the pillar is imaginary.”

“It seems you recognize it, Lady Eliana.”

Eliana nodded.

“It existed in the world of my previous life.”

“But it was more like a divine creature.”

“Perhaps the person who built this was also reincarnated.”

“Maybe…”

Cedric took her hand and guided her toward the dungeon entrance building.

The building looked like a temple from Greek mythology.

A massive door stood in the center.

Eliana looked around the area and felt something strange.

‘I feel like I’ve seen this place before…’

‘But this is my first time here.’

‘It must be my imagination.’

Cedric called her name.

Eliana stopped thinking about it.

Later, Eliana would deeply regret ignoring that feeling.

Cedric noticed Eliana looking disappointed as she stared at the dungeon gate.

“Lady Eliana.”

“Since we came all the way to the dungeon town, shall we explore the town?”

“And we can buy anything necessary.”

“We should prepare for the dungeon today.”

Eliana nodded enthusiastically at Cedric’s wonderful suggestion.

The two headed toward town.

The carriage could not enter the town, so the driver waited outside.

The town was full of shops for adventurers.

“Let’s visit the magic tool shop first.”

Eliana didn’t understand why they needed to start there, but she followed Cedric.

She had completely forgotten about preparing and hadn’t even researched what items were necessary.

“Lord Cedric.”

“Can I leave the preparations to you?”

“I was so focused on entering the dungeon that I didn’t research what we need.”

Eliana admitted honestly.

Cedric happily agreed.

Feeling relied upon by Eliana, Cedric walked proudly into the magic tool shop.

The shop was filled with various magical items.

Cedric asked the shopkeeper,

“Do you have magic bags?”

“What size?”

“The largest capacity you have.”

“Two of them.”

The shopkeeper grinned and disappeared into the back room.

He returned quickly holding two black waist pouches.

“This is the largest capacity.”

“It can hold an entire noble mansion.”

Eliana was shocked.

Even normal magic bags with standard capacity were extremely expensive for adventurers.

Cedric asked the shopkeeper for the price.

“How much?”

“Three hundred gold coins each.”

Eliana flinched.

‘Three hundred gold coins…’

‘This world’s cost of living is about one-third of Japan’s.’

‘That’s about ten million yen…’

“I can’t buy that…”

Eliana muttered unconsciously.

“It’s alright, Lady Eliana.”

“I will pay.”

“This comes from my personal assets.”

“It has nothing to do with the ducal family.”

Eliana immediately refused.

“No!”

“I can’t accept something that expensive!”

She waved her hands in refusal.

“Then consider it an engagement gift.”

“You probably wouldn’t be happy receiving jewelry.”

“If this were a ducal engagement gift, it would cost far more.”

“This is actually cheap.”

Cedric took Eliana’s hands and began persuading her.

A larger magic bag meant they could stay in the dungeon longer.

They would not have to worry about food or supplies.

Cedric had secretly planned this.

It was all part of his scheme to spend more time with Eliana.

“You said you would leave the dungeon preparations to me, correct?”

“If you don’t want the magic bag, then shall I buy you a large gemstone instead?”

‘Jewels could be sold for money…’

‘But I can’t sell a gift…’

‘I don’t want jewels…’

‘Maybe the magic bag…’

Cedric noticed Eliana’s gaze drifting toward the magic bags.

He leaned closer and whispered near her ear.

“If it’s a magic bag, no one can see what’s inside.”

“Why don’t we use your knowledge from your previous life to create useful dungeon items together?”

Cedric pulled away and smiled gently.

“I’ll take the magic bags…”

Eliana had been completely persuaded.

She ended up receiving the magic bags from Cedric.

Later, both the viscount house and the ducal house burst into laughter when they heard that the engagement gift was a magic bag.

Meanwhile, Cedric felt extremely satisfied as his secret plan progressed perfectly.