Free Web NovelAs expected, Raul had noticed this too.
The simple fact that the gold coins were too new was not, by itself, proof they were counterfeit.
However, once she looked at the Exchange Offices records Arnold had given her, the existence of these coins still stood out as unnatural.
She had originally requested that information in hopes of reading trade conditions from exchange logs and thus gauging Galkhein’s dealings with each nation.
According to those records, in the past few years there had been no entries of Galkhein Gold Coins being exchanged for Fabranian Gold Coins above a certain amount.
For a counterpart that had conducted no large trade and had no consolidated exchange activity even at the nearest port to be holding a hemp sack full of brand-new gold coins—that was unnatural.
Once you held suspicion, appraisal could determine authenticity. In past lives, Rishe had checked the genuineness of goods many times as a merchant.
What lay here was without a doubt cheap counterfeit coinage, manufactured without the statutory quantity of gold.
“The Fabranian state must be involved in the production of these coins. I can’t believe for a moment that Lady Harriet could have arranged them by her own will.”
After all, Harriet wasn’t even allowed to choose the kinds of books she read.
A girl denied even modest freedom could not unilaterally commission counterfeit money.
Raul slung one leg over the other, propped his cheek on his hand, and laughed.
“How very strange. For what possible reason would Fabrania mint Galkhein Gold Coins?”
He was asking though he knew—perhaps to test her.
“The materials for counterfeits are kept cheaper than the face value of the currency. In other words, you use cheap substance to acquire something expensive.”
“Mhm, mhm. So Fabrania did all this because they wanted to get rich in Galkhein.”
“...When a state counterfeits another nation’s coinage, there are several effects they can aim for.”
Recalling the future, Rishe spoke with a pained expression.
“The circulation of counterfeit coins inflicts economic attrition on the target nation.”
“...”
Once counterfeits spread, an economy plunges into chaos.
In the future, that was precisely what had happened. Counterfeits were discovered in several countries, trust in currency itself declined, and even trivial transactions demanded verification.
The economies of those countries slowed at once.
Even within Fabrania itself, circulation of counterfeits had been confirmed.
In all her previous lives, the tale had gone that “the wicked Queen Harriet impoverished the people so badly she had to mint counterfeits.”
...It’s very likely that the act of ‘purchasing jewels from foreign countries’ attributed to Lady Harriet was, in itself, true.
Rishe clenched the hem of her dress tight.
But strictly speaking, it must have been ‘the king ordered her to do so.’ It wasn’t indulgence. It was ‘use the target nation’s counterfeit coins to turn that nation’s property into Fabrania’s’...
In fact, the King of Fabrania had handed Harriet counterfeit coinage for her journey to Galkhein and told her to “shop to your heart’s content.”
In the rumors I heard in past lives about Lady Harriet, it was said she bought goods from abroad rather than at home. Jewels and dresses could have been procured domestically, and yet...
That ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) was precisely the reason—to flood other countries with counterfeit and, using that counterfeit, strip them of wealth.
Counterfeits by the Fabranian royal house, for enriching Fabrania by plundering other nations... It’s painfully short-sighted.
Arnold, by contrast, sought to shield Galkhein’s economy by choosing measures that would not cause other nations to suffer a shortage of gold and silver.
For one’s own country to remain prosperous, trade partners must be prosperous as well.
Fabrania, however, was attempting a blunder that could, in time, corner their own nation.
In fact, Fabrania’s economy collapses completely five years from now.
Fabrania then pinned it on “Queen Harriet’s profligacy destroyed the treasury,” making her a scapegoat to purge the public’s resentment.
I can’t help feeling there was also a gagging purpose in Lady Harriet’s execution... If she were a ‘criminal,’ even if she tried to denounce the counterfeits, her credibility would be thin.
Thinking of the woman she’d known across lives, Rishe’s chest tightened.
Even as the people starved, wealth piled up in the Fabranian royal house... which is exactly why, five years later, after bringing the Sigwell Kingdom and others under their wing, they were able to join the war against Galkhein.
Thinking of that, it was clear the Fabranian royal family’s true aim had been victory over Galkhein, not the relief of their people’s hunger. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
“When merchants were called in for shopping, Lady Harriet was frightened the entire time.”
“...”
“But it wasn’t because the Head Lady-in-Waiting scolded her, nor because costly purchases scared her. ...It was, I suspect, the fear that ‘I must use counterfeit coinage as my fiancé commanded.’”
Seen that way, her “mistake” yesterday made sense.
“Yesterday evening, when we went out to shop in town, Lady Harriet said she had ‘forgotten her Galkhein Gold Coins in her room.’ Going back to get them would have taken too long, so we exchanged her on-hand Fabranian Gold Coins at that time.”
“...Huh.”
“But I doubt she truly forgot them. ...Even at the cost of being scolded herself, I think she improvised to avoid using Galkhein counterfeits.”
Before that outing, Harriet had volunteered to make her own preparations instead of having a maid do it.
As a result she “forgot” the coins and drew the Head Lady-in-Waiting’s exasperation—but in truth, she likely did it on purpose.
“Lady Harriet was not trying to pin a crime on me.”
She told Raul that clearly.
“Quite the opposite—she meant to denounce it. Fabrania, and... what she herself was being made to do.”
“—...”
She had likely resolved to denounce it last night.
But when the Fabranian knights entered, she could no longer confide in Rishe.
“The Fabranian knights told Lady Harriet, ‘Do not meet anyone without a knight present, save for your brother and your maid.’ So Lady Harriet may have thought that was her last chance and slipped this pouch into my bag.”
And the very reason Fabrania was so intent on isolating her from others must have been the fear that Harriet would divulge their secret.
“Sir Oliver. His Majesty the King of Fabrania desired marriage with His Highness Arnold’s younger sister, but that engagement didn’t happen, correct?”
“Yes. Since then he has made several overtures toward friendly relations with Galkhein, but His Majesty the Emperor seems uninterested.”
In the future, Fabrania would use Harriet’s “crimes” as a pretext to subjugate the Sigwell Kingdom and add its strength to a war against Galkhein.
Their motive was not only self-interest but also enmity toward Galkhein.
Spite over being refused the engagement to Arnold’s younger sister, wounded pride—perhaps those played a part as well.
In past lives, relations between Galkhein and Fabrania never became particularly friendly. Trade wasn’t that active either, so Fabranian counterfeits seldom flowed into Galkhein.
This time, however, Harriet had come to Galkhein as a Sigwell princess.
“Sir Oliver. If Fabrania seeks friendship with Galkhein, it may also be because Galkhein is the largest great power nearby, correct?”
At her question, Oliver nodded.
“If the counterfeit matter is true, their aim would be to plunder other nations’ wealth and impoverish them. If their counterpart is a great power with which they can conduct large trade, the profits from counterfeit grow as well.” freёwebnovel.com
At present, the design of Galkhein’s gold coins didn’t require much technique to imitate.
Individuals had, in the past, attempted forgery, and counterfeits had surely circulated as a result.
This time, though, a foreign state was plotting the crime at national scale.
“Raul. ...You noticed these counterfeits, didn’t you?”
Rishe met his red eyes head-on.
“If Lady Harriet is dragged into the crimes of her future household, it won’t only make her personally unhappy. In time, it will pull in the Sigwell Kingdom as well and blow up into an international crisis...”
Indeed, that was what had happened in her lives until now.
After Harriet’s execution, Fabrania had demanded reparations from Sigwell on an outrageous logic.
With no specialties aside from books and running their state under the protection of allied nations, Sigwell had no choice but to comply.
Unable to pay reparations, they were forced to join a reckless war against Galkhein instead.
Many died in that war, and Raul would not have been unscathed.
She didn’t know how Sigwell’s story ended—because Rishe had lost her life there.
“That’s why you tried to save Lady Harriet now, isn’t it? ...Even if it wasn’t by royal command.”
“...”
Harriet had said that since leaving for Fabrania for her bridal training, she hadn’t been allowed to return to her own country even once.
She had come here only because of the celebratory occasion of “Rishe and Arnold’s wedding.”
Without this window, Harriet would not have seen her brother Curtis or Raul before her own marriage.
In other words, in the lives until now, Raul had not made it in time to rescue her before the wedding.
“Fabrania allowed Lady Harriet to travel because there was the pretext of ‘the wedding of the Galkhein crown prince.’ They must have instructed her to circulate counterfeit Galkhein Gold Coins during this opportunity.”
Harriet’s attendance was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Fabrania.
And it was the same for Raul.
If not for this wedding—if His Highness Arnold and I were not marrying—Raul could never have approached Lady Harriet like this. Among all my lives, this seventh is the first time the chance to rescue Lady Harriet has appeared.
Thinking that, she could see why Raul would seize the moment and go so far as to become Curtis.
“...Ah, for heaven’s sake.”
Uncrossing his legs, Raul leaned forward and covered his face.
“I can’t believe it. To think that Harriet would reveal the existence of the counterfeits to you...”
“Raul...”
She met Oliver’s eyes; he nodded back.
Buoyed by that, Rishe spoke to the bowed Raul.
“It may be difficult to borrow His Highness Arnold’s strength at this stage.”
Of course Rishe knew Arnold was a kind man.
But she knew equally well that he was highly rational and wary of his father, the Emperor.
As with the Koyol Nation, he would not choose to aid another state unconditionally.
“Even so, if there is anything I can help with, I want you to let me assist.”
“...”
Raul drew a long breath.
Then his shoulders began to tremble slightly. Before she could wonder why, he suddenly snapped his head up.
“Ha—hahaha!”
Laughing in delight, he looked at Rishe and grinned.
“—Just kidding!”
“...!?”
He stuck out his red tongue with a bleh and shot her a mocking look.
