The arrival of a "Heroine" in a web novel is usually marked by the scent of lilies, a halo of divine light, and a sudden, inexplicable drop in the IQ of every male character within a five-mile radius.
Princess Seraphina of the Holy Kingdom did not disappoint.
She entered the Grand Hall not as a conqueror, but as a victim. She was draped in gossamer white, her hair the color of spun moonlight, and her eyes—perpetually glistening with unshed tears—were the exact shade of "innocence" that made my corporate skin crawl.
"Alaric," she breathed, her voice a flute-like melody that seemed to bypass the ears and vibrate directly in the "protective" centers of the brain. "I have crossed the Forbidden Barrens to reach you. I heard you were... ensnared by a woman of cold stone."
I sat on the Chancellor's chair, leaning back with a quill tucked behind my ear. I didn't look at her. I looked at the [Market Volatility Index] flickering in my peripheral vision.
[Warning: High Levels of 'Plot Armor' Detected!] [Target: Seraphina (The Original Heroine)] [Status: Protagonist Aura is active.] [Market Sentiment: Shifting. The Nobles are experiencing 'Nostalgia for the Original Plot'.]
"Princess Seraphina," Alaric said. He didn't move toward her. He stood like a monolith beside my desk, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. But I could see the tension in his jaw. The "Plot" was pulling at him, a physical force trying to drag him toward the woman he was "destined" to love.
"Alaric, look at me," Seraphina pleaded, taking a delicate step forward. "Do you not remember the Vow of the Star-Crossed? The contract our fathers signed with the blood of the Sun God? You are mine, by divine right. This... this accountant you call a wife is nothing but a temporary shadow."
She produced a scroll. It wasn't parchment; it was made of woven light. As she unrolled it, a projection of an ancient, sacred contract filled the hall. It was beautiful. It was romantic. It was a legal nightmare.
The "Destiny" Contract
I finally stood up, my heels clicking against the marble. "Let me see that, Princess. I have a professional interest in 'Divine Rights'."
Seraphina recoiled as if I had tried to touch a holy relic with dirty hands. "You? You would dare lay your hands on the Will of the Heavens? You are a common thief, Evelyn. You stole a throne that was never yours."
"I didn't steal it," I said, stepping into the light of the contract. "I stabilized it. There's a difference."
I activated the [Venture Capitalist's Eye].
[Audit in Progress: The Vow of the Star-Crossed] [Type: Fixed-Term Engagement Contract] [Clause 1: The Groom must provide 'Eternal Devotion'.] [Clause 2: The Bride provides 'Divine Blessing'.] [Clause 3: Penalty for Breach: The Kingdom's Sun shall go dark.]
"Interesting," I murmured, walking around the glowing text. "Alaric, did you know you were part of a Leveraged Buyout of your own soul?"
Alaric looked at the contract, his eyes clouded. "My father spoke of a vow. He said it was the only way to keep the darkness from the borders. I thought... I thought it was just a legend."
"It's not a legend, Alaric. It's a Pre-Existing Lien," I said, turning to the Princess. "Seraphina, this contract was signed twenty years ago. It's an 'Old World' asset. But the Ravenstone Empire underwent a Chapter 11 Restructuring last month when the Merchant Guild tried to seize the assets."
Seraphina blinked, her "innocent" expression flickering with genuine confusion. "What... what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the Seniority of Debt," I said, my voice turning into a whip. "By the laws of the Continental Regulatory Commission—which, I might add, just recognized my new currency—all previous contracts tied to the Imperial Throne are subject to Audit and Valuation based on current market conditions."
The "White Lotus" Audit
I stepped closer to Seraphina. She smelled like lilies, but underneath that, there was the sharp, metallic tang of desperation.
"You didn't come here because you love Alaric," I said, my eyes flashing with a cold, blue light. "You came here because the Holy Kingdom is Liquidating. Your 'Divine Blessings' are failing. The 'Star-Crossed' vowing was a desperate attempt to merge with a stronger economy before your own country hit a total collapse."
Seraphina's eyes went wide. The tears finally fell, but they weren't tears of love. They were tears of a CEO whose secret embezzlement had just been discovered.
"That's a lie!" she shrieked, her voice losing its musical quality.
"Is it?" I reached out and tapped the air.
[Skill Activated: 'Divine Credit Score'!] [Target: The Holy Kingdom of Seraphina] [Credit Rating: F (Junk Bond Status)] [Total Debt: 12 Million Soul-Coins to the God of the Underworld.]
The hall gasped. The glowing contract in Seraphina's hand began to flicker and turn a sickly, bruised purple.
"You're not a 'Heroine', Seraphina," I said, my voice echoing through the silence. "You're a Toxic Asset. You're trying to offload your kingdom's debt onto Alaric's shoulders by using a romantic loophole. You aren't offering him 'Divine Blessing'; you're offering him a Hostile Takeover of his Life-Force to pay off your own creditors."
Alaric stepped forward, the cloudiness in his eyes vanishing. The "Plot Armor" that had been pulling at him snapped like a brittle thread. He looked at Seraphina not as a lost love, but as a fraudulent business partner.
"Is this true?" Alaric asked, his voice like the grinding of tectonic plates. "You would bind my soul to pay for your father's failures?"
"Alaric, I... it's for the good of the world!" Seraphina sobbed, reaching for his hand. "Only our union can stop the darkness!"
"The 'Darkness' is just a metaphor for your nation's Unfunded Pension Liabilities, Seraphina," I said, stepping between them. "And as the Chancellor of this Empire, I am denying the merger."
The Poisoned Clause
Seraphina's face transformed. The "White Lotus" withered, and underneath it was a woman who had been trained since birth to win at any cost. She clutched the purple-glowing contract to her chest.
"You think you can just say no?" she hissed. "The Vow is blood-bound! If Alaric breaks it, the Sun God will strip this land of its light! You'll have your 'Credits' and your 'Mines', but you'll be living in a world of eternal ice! I am the only one who can keep the sun in the sky!"
The nobles began to murmur in fear. This was the "Ultimate Threat"—the environmental catastrophe clause.
"The Sun God, Sol, and I have already had a meeting," I said, crossing my arms. "And he's a lot more interested in Faith Dividends than he is in an old, stagnant contract. But since you want to play 'Breach of Contract', let's look at Clause 4."
I pointed to a tiny, microscopic line at the very bottom of the glowing scroll.
"Clause 4: 'Should the Groom find a partner of higher Divine Valuation, the previous Vow shall be rendered Null and Void upon the payment of a Termination Fee.'"
Seraphina laughed. "Higher Divine Valuation? There is no one in this world with more light than a Princess of the Holy Kingdom!"
"You're right," I said. "In this world, there isn't. But I'm not from this world."
I turned to Alaric. "Alaric, do you trust my math?"
"With my life," he said, without a second's hesitation.
I reached up and touched the [Imperial Crown] on my head. I didn't funnel magic into it. I funneled Trust. The collective faith of the eight thousand soldiers I had paid, the merchants I had saved, and the God I had restructured.
[System Final Directive!] [Calculating 'Evelyn's Divine Valuation'...] [Basis: 100% Productivity, 0% Debt, 100% Alaric's Devotion.] [Result: INFINITE.]
A pillar of light—ten times brighter than Seraphina's—erupted from me. It wasn't the soft, weeping light of the "Heroine." It was the blinding, aggressive gold of a Bull Market.
The "Vow of the Star-Crossed" didn't just flicker; it evaporated. The purple light turned to ash, and the scroll in Seraphina's hand crumbled into dust.
"Termination Fee: Paid in full," I said, my voice ringing out like a gavel.
The Final Liquidation
Seraphina fell to her knees, staring at the ash in her hands. She was no longer a Princess; she was just a woman whose last-ditch effort to save her failing firm had gone up in smoke.
"Guards," Alaric said, his voice cold and final. "Escort the 'Princess' to the border. She is no longer welcome in the Ravenstone Empire. And tell her father... if he wants to discuss a 'Mercy Loan', he can send an envoy to the Chancellor's office. We might buy his kingdom for scrap metal."
As Seraphina was dragged out, screaming about "Fate" and "Destiny," the hall returned to silence. The nobles bowed—this time, not out of fear, but out of a deep, terrifying respect for the woman who had just audited a God and a Heroine in the same afternoon.
Alaric turned to me. He didn't say anything. He just reached out and pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair.
"Is the audit over?" he whispered.
"The external ones are," I said, leaning into him. "But I think we have some Internal Governance to discuss."
"Later," Alaric murmured, his grip tightening. "Right now, I want to enjoy the 'Surplus' of having you all to myself."
[System Final Notification!] [Reputation: MAX] [Alaric's Interest: 100% (Title: 'Soul Partner')] [The Story has reached a 'Complete Path'.] [Final Valuation: The Ravenstone Empire is the wealthiest, most stable nation in the history of the genre.]
I looked out the window at the setting sun. It was bright, steady, and perfectly managed. In my old life, I had always been looking for the next big deal. But here, in this world of magic and math, I had finally found an asset that was truly priceless.
I smiled, closing the ledger in my mind.
"Let's go home, Alaric. The markets are closed for the day."