This Reincarnation Requires a Subscription Fee

“The apology should come from you, shouldn’t it? How inconvenient must it be for others when you lot take over the entire shop like this?”

‘Ah, seriously!’

I ground my teeth in frustration. Back when I was Greslin, who looked every bit like a villainous dark mage, not a single person dared to pick a fight with me! But now, with Reshia’s face, which looked so gentle and kind, these scoundrels seemed to think they could make a fool out of me.

I took a deep breath and turned to the staff member.

“It seems like these gentlemen are interested in what we were about to purchase. Please, show it to them.”

“Pardon? But…”

The staff member hesitated, startled. Noah also looked at me as if questioning what on earth I was saying, but I gave a reassuring wink.

“These insignificant folks must be here to buy something equally insignificant, so go ahead and show them what we were planning to buy. From the shop’s perspective, it doesn’t matter who buys it, as long as it gets sold today, right?”

The man burst out laughing heartily and puffed out his chest.

“Now you’re making sense! Hey, staff, bring out whatever you were going to show them! We’ll buy it all!”

The staff member glanced between me and Noah, gauging our reactions. I nodded, signaling it was really okay.

Reluctantly, the staff member approached the man and presented the designs, fabrics, and embellishments that had been prepared for us.

“Very nice!”

The man arrogantly lifted his chin.

“I’ll take everything! How much is it?”

“Yes, it’s 30 billion. Excluding the tailoring fee.”

Thirty billion!

I gasped in shock. ‘What kind of dress costs thirty billion?’

It seemed this shop was determined to make a fortune off the Elpinard name.

But unlike me, who was taken aback, the man merely scoffed.

“Hah. Thirty billion? That much is no problem at all….”

Of course, it didn’t take long for him to realize something was amiss.

“What?”

His eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.

“Th-thirty billion?”

“Yes.”

“For this?”

“Yes.”

Each time the staff member answered firmly, the man began to sweat profusely.

“Wh-what, how could this possibly cost s-so much, I mean, what’s the reason?”

The word “expensive” seemed to be on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of me and Noah, so he stammered instead. The staff member bowed politely and began to explain the reasons for the dress’s exorbitant price.

“The skirt is entirely adorned with diamonds, which is why it’s so expensive. The Duke of Elpinard himself insisted that only the finest materials be used, so we went to great lengths to procure them.”

“D-D-Duke of Elpinard?” The man jumped in shock.

He glanced at Noah with a look that clearly said, ‘That kid can’t possibly be the Duke of Elpinard, right?’

Catching the man’s gaze, Noah let out a small chuckle and stepped forward.

“Noah Elpinard. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m that ‘unknown kid’ you’re thinking of.”

“N-No-N-Noah Elpinard!”

By now, the rumors that the Duke was grooming Noah as his heir had spread far and wide. There was no way this man hadn’t heard the name. His face turned pale as he took a step back.

“But I was told the person who reserved this place at this time was Viscount Viper….”

‘Ah.’

It finally clicked why the man had been so obnoxiously rude. During debutante season, booking a fitting at this atelier was like pulling teeth. It just so happened that this time slot was reserved under the name of ‘Viscount Viper,’ a rather insignificant noble, so he had shown up to cut in line, assuming he could get away with it. He must have been confident that, because the reservation was under a minor noble’s name, he could act out without repercussions.

‘But Viscount Viper is…’

“Hah.” Noah tilted his head, seemingly in disbelief.

“Viscount Viper is the alias Duke Elpinard uses when he wants to make a discreet reservation. Every noble worth their title knows that. You didn’t know?”

“N-N-No… I-I…”

“How utterly insignificant must your family be for you to be this clueless?” Noah taunted, but the man was already too shaken to hear him properly.

With the Duke of Elpinard’s influence so widespread across the empire, it was unthinkable to casually mess with the person he was raising as his heir.

“I-I’m terribly sorry! I didn’t recognize you, my lord!”

I waved a hand dismissively with a benevolent smile as the man groveled before me.

“Oh, there’s no need to apologize. But you do need to purchase the 30 billion dress we were planning on buying. How will you be paying? Cash? Check? Bill of exchange?”

I asked sweetly, but the man, clutching his daughter’s hand, slowly began to back away… until he spun around and bolted out the door, shouting, “I-I’m sorryyyyyyyy!”

‘Hmph. You should pick your battles more wisely.’

* * *

After we chased away the troublesome customer, the atmosphere in the boutique grew noticeably warmer.

“Oh my, it looks absolutely stunning on you!”

Just as the boutique staff had said, the dress was indeed beautiful.

‘If I didn’t know the skirt was covered in diamonds, I might be able to stand a bit more comfortably…’

Wearing this to the debutante ball, I’d probably spend the whole time looking down to make sure no diamonds had fallen off.

“I don’t think I can…”

Just as I was about to decline, the door to the VIP section of the boutique suddenly opened, and someone walked in unannounced.

It was the Duke of Elpinard.

“Grandfather!” 

Noah eagerly ran over to the Duke’s side. I also wanted to greet him, but I was frozen in place, too afraid that the diamonds on my dress might fall off. The Duke glanced at me, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, then he turned to the boutique staff and barked, “Pay for everything. Immediately.”

* * *

“Three hundred billion.”

I lamented to Axel, still in shock.

“Three hundred billion for a single dress! They say it’s because the skirt is entirely covered in diamonds.”

“Is that so?” 

I tried to expose the Duke’s outrageous extravagance, but Axel didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

“Since you can’t wear the dress more than once, he probably expects you to just keep the jewels,” Axel remarked.

“What? You can’t wear it more than once?”

Shouldn’t a dress that costs three hundred billion be something you wear until the day you die, then pass on to your descendants?

Seeing my reaction, Axel shook his head as if I still had much to learn.

“You can never wear an outfit again after wearing it to a royal event. If you recycle it, it’s like announcing to the world that your household is struggling financially.”

“That’s ridiculous. So everyone buys a brand new dress just to wear to a royal event, and then never wears it again?”

“It might not always be three hundred billion, but yes, everyone commissions a new outfit for each event.”

“Unbelievable…”

I slumped into my chair, overwhelmed, and Axel sat down next to me.

“Try to think of it differently. This isn’t just extravagance; it’s about putting money into circulation. It’s contributing to the economy.”

“What?”

“Think about it. The Duke’s coffers are overflowing with gold and jewels. If they just sit there, it’s useless. By spending, he keeps the economy moving.”

‘Is that so…?’ 

I tilted my head, still pondering, and Axel added, “Spending is also a duty for those who have wealth. You need to start recognizing that responsibility more clearly.”

The idea that spending could be considered a duty was something I had never thought of before. As I rubbed my chin, deep in thought, Axel casually threw out another question.

“Who are you planning to have as your escort for the debutante?”

“Is that something I can decide? I thought it was already set with the Duke.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Really?”

But I didn’t have anyone else in mind. I had just assumed the Duke would be my escort and hadn’t even considered other options. Lily, Rose, and Daisy had all said, “You’ll be going to the debutante with the Duke, won’t you?” So if it wasn’t decided yet…