Chapter 175: Sugar baby talent

Reaching across the desk, she slid open the bottom drawer and pulled out a financial ledger. With a proud, theatrical smile, she dropped it onto his open patent notes.

"Prepare to praise me until sunset," Mira announced, tapping the cover. "Open it."

Eren arched a brow, pulling one hand from her waist to flip open the embossed cover.

His blue eyes scanned the meticulous columns and immediately widened.

Spread across the ledger were dense rows of certified transaction stamps, receipts, and compounding equity figures from the capital’s central exchange. The numbers at the bottom of the final page carried enough zeros to buy out an entire mid-tier noble estate in cash.

Mira beamed with pride, shifting slightly in his lap to look at him eye-to-eye. "Just as you instructed, I took the money you gave me weeks ago and split it. Half went directly into those obscure logistics and mana-crystal refinement firms you suggested. But the other half? I used my own instincts and spread it across three emerging guilds in the southern ports."

She puffed out her chest with radiant, smug satisfaction, poking his nose with her finger.

"And guess what, Young Master? Every single one of them hit massive returns this quarter! You are officially rolling in gold—and you have your brilliant, beautiful maid to thank for it!"

’Damn, my sugar baby is an apex financial predator.’

In his past life, the market mechanics in this game were notoriously brutal. The trade stock mini-game’s algorithms shifted commodity prices unpredictably with every single playthrough, making static walkthrough guides utterly useless. When he handed Mira that check, he deliberately hedged his bets on the safest firms.

Yet Mira hadn’t just followed his safe, boring instructions. She had analyzed the trade and pulled off returns.

Emma was an unstoppable siege engine on the battlefield. Norelia was a genius in combat magic and mana engineering. But Mira? She was operating on a terrifying echelon of pure economic warfare.

"Mira, you terrifying, magnificent capitalist," Eren murmured with admiration.

Mira puffed her bountiful chest out even further, resting against his collarbone. "A proper sugar baby doesn’t just drain her sugar daddy’s wallet, young master. A true professional multiplies his assets so he never has to lift a finger for the rest of his lazy life."

Eren burst into a laugh. Locking his arms around her, he buried his face into her red locks and ruffled them with unabashed affection.

"You’re a terrifying little genius, you know that?" he whispered against her ear.

Mira instantly melted in his arms. She let out a contented, breathy purr like an affection-starved kitten, her fingers curling happily into the fabric of his shirt.

The cozy moment was broken by knocking at the main door.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Mira blinked, her green eyes fluttering open with an irritated pout. "Is that Norelia or Captain Emma?"

"Neither," Eren answered calmly, his gaze sharpening toward the entrance as he gently loosened his grip on her waist.

Mira stood up, brushing down the skirt with a sigh. "I’ll go see who dares to interrupt my cuddling hours."

Mira walked across the room, grumbling in low, disappointed mutters under her breath.

She turned the handle and pulled the door inward.

Standing in the hallway was a tall, sharply dressed young man with striking, messy black-and-white hair with striking red streaks. The moment his eyes landed on the curvy, red-haired beauty framed in the doorway, his lips parted into a wide, impossibly charming grin that practically radiated theatrical arrogance.

"Hello there, lovely young lady," Vaelis greeted smoothly, leaning a hand against the doorframe. "Pardon the intrusion, but would this happen to be the humble residence of Lord Eren Volsver?"

Mira blinked her green eyes, caught entirely off-guard by the explosion of unprompted charisma. "Uh... yeah. Yes, it is."

His grin widened, gleaming with skillful charm. "Delightful. And might I ask who this breathtaking fairy gracing the entrance is? An exquisite house guest, perhaps?"

"I’m his personal attendant," Mira replied, her brow furrowing in deep suspicion as she folded her arms across her chest.

"An attendant? What a tragic waste of divine beauty," Vaelis sighed dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. "A jewel like you should be draped in silk and served rare wines on a silver platter, not stuck answering doors for a grumpy noble boy. Tell me, sweetheart, have you ever considered abandoning this place for an evening of proper—"

SLAM.

The door met the frame with force, inches from his nose.

Eren casually lowered his hand from the handle, letting out a bored, flat exhale.

Mira turned around, staring at him in complete bewilderment. "Who on earth was that?"

"Just some random, delusional lunatic asking for loose change," Eren replied smoothly, already turning back toward his study desk with hands stuffed into his pockets. "Ignore the pests, Mira. They multiply whenever the weather gets nice."

The door latch gave a sharp snap, swinging wide open again before Eren could take two steps.

"And is this so-called ’random lunatic’ also the brilliant consultant who helped you with the mechanical schematics for your so-called project, and the key helper for your investigation?!"

Vaelis stomped inside, his veins on his face twitching in pure, indignant outrage as he dusted off his tailored coat.

This was the Demon Commander in disguise as a foreign exchange student whose plan was to drag the rogue, retired Demon Queen Carolynn back to her throne by any means necessary. Instead, the flamboyant bastard was currently standing in Eren’s hall, throwing a tantrum like an offended child actor denied center stage.

Eren turned around, letting out an exhausted, long-suffering sigh.

"Mira," Eren murmured with a wry smirk, tilting his head toward the kitchen nook. "Please brew a pot of black tea for our uninvited guest."

Mira nodded slowly, eyes darting between Eren’s face and the dramatically offended guest. Still thoroughly baffled by the bizarre dynamic, she offered a polite, skeptical curtsy and walked into the kitchen nook to boil the kettle.

The moment she turned the corner, Vaelis made himself completely at home.

Striding past the entrance with casual insolence, the disguised demon commander strolled directly over to Eren’s desk. He leaned over, tilting his head as he looked at notes and drafts.

"My, my," Vaelis chuckled, lazily picking up a page covered in dense mana-circulation equations and flicking the edge with a gloved thumb. "Eren, this design looks like a goblin drew it. You need to pay attention to your drawing skills."

Eren slapped the book shut and snatched the notes right out of his grip.

"Why the hell is the glorious undercover commander currently breaking into my dorms to complain about the draft?"

Turning to lean against the edge of the desk, Eren crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a sharp, unamused blue gaze at the flamboyant demon.

"Skip the critique, Vaelis. What are you doing at my doorstep on holiday?"

"Straight to business as always. Such a charming host," Vaelis replied, leaning against the armrest of the sofa with a smirk. "I’m here because I just got a solid lead on The Substance... but only if you are willing to listen to it."