<h4>Chapter 23: Anniversary Eve</h4>


    Leaving the Baron''s office, Vicente again followed in the footsteps of butler Mason as he walked alongside his father''s guard.


    As he walked through that property, he looked at the surroundings again, as any curious child would do upon entering such a residence.


    But what was in Vicente''s mind were not childish thoughts.


    ''In a ce like this, there must be a lot of jewelry and gold bars...'' He looked in the direction from which he saw a group of women walking.


    Jewels and gold bars were reserves of value anywhere, whether on Earth or in Pris Realm.


    One would never have their social and financial position 100% secured, so diversifying their options would always be necessary.


    A nobleman could lose their title or even be pursued by a powerful enemy. Since financially well-positioned people had no way to ensure they wouldn''t face problems, they needed ways to move their wealth around.


    If one had to flee, it would be challenging to use property and warranties that must be sold through legal methods.


    Coins could easily be problematic to carry above a certain amount because even though there were magical storage items in this world, normally, even high-level items had small volumes.


    Hence there was a demand for high-value items such as gold bars on Earth and jewelry in Pris Realm.


    Vicente knew this was so because of what he had learned from his father and seen in his own family.


    Whenever Andrew had savings above a particr value, he sought to buy jewelry and precious stones, items that could easily be taken on an escape.


    Knowing this, he readily thought that a ce like this must have countless riches in jewelry, not only for women but for men as well.


    As a good bandit, he could not ignore the opportunity.


    ''In the future, I need to approach some other Baron or people with ess to their residences.'' He thought. ''For the moment, I won''t be able to do anything, but the earnings from a theft of property like this could help me significantly.''


    "Young Vicente, I hope your sisters improve from their situation." The butler said this as he reached the exit of that estate and said goodbye to this boy.


    "Thank you for your words, Butler Mason. I hope to return with the Baron''s grain in a few weeks."


    "Hmmm."


    ...


    After Vicente''s previous encounter with the first Baron he had seen, weeks passed, and the time for Lauren''s awakening wasing!


    She would be 14 tomorrow, so today was the eve of her magical awakening, the most important moment in the life of magicians in this world.


    After months of living as a blind person, she had mastered some of her current senses and gotten used to her life''s darkness.


    During thest few weeks, she had heard about Nina''s treatment, something that was supposed to yield results in the future but which, for the moment, had not changed this girl''s situation much.


    On the other hand, her brother worked increasingly, making the agreements he should have and had already fulfilled some of them.


    Vicente had been spending a lot of time dealing with Andrew''s affairs during these months, taking care of the family''s economy a little more and easing the burden on his father''s shoulders considerably.


    Perhaps this was why Andrew had sunk even deeper into his new normal, intensified his drinking, and practically stopped leaving his room.


    In thest month, he had not left his room even once, and his daughters did not see or hear him for days.


    Only Vicente knew how his old man was doing, but it was out of his control to change what was happening.


    On the one hand, he had too many responsibilities to deal with. On the other, even though he was someone mature and with possibilities, he could not boss his father around.


    At the end of the day, Andrew was still an adult, and Vicente was still a child!


    And so, on the eve of Lauren''s awakening, things for the Fuller family had not improved much since the tragedy of months ago.


    ...


    At dusk that day, Vice returned to the apartment at the resort where his family was still staying and sat on a sofa, rxing his body.


    He had just returned from his responsibilities, having participated in a delivery earlier, and then converted part of the coins into valuable items.


    His father was not a nobleman, so he had nond to farm. Andrew was not a salesman but a dealer of items.


    Not every noble had the ability to negotiate or have good contacts. Therefore, merchants like him existed to mediate between producers and consumers, whether they were family leaders or ordinary kingdom citizens.


    So only a tiny part of the amount collected by Vicente actually belonged to his father.


    But for the part that did belong to him, Vicente had readily saved what he deemed necessary to pay for short-term expenses and used the difference to purchase precious items.


    He didn''t know about tomorrow, but he was sure of the risk of carrying coins around. So whenever he could, he bought high-value-added items that he could carry with him and his sisters.


    Today he had done this once again and bought a type of crystal simr to the diamonds on Earth.


    Having spent almost the entire day on his feet, as he settled down on that sofa, he closed his eyes and sighed.


    From that seat, he could hear Nina ying with some dolls in their room and Lauren walking toward him.


    He opened his eyes and saw his sister, who, at the moment, looked much more like an adult than a child.


    Her breasts were notrge, but their volume was enough for one to easily notice them. On the other hand, Lauren''s best attributes from a man''s point of view were her legs and hips, which were rtivelyrge for her height.


    Vicente saw her and sighed again, knowing he would soon have trouble with her suitors.


    Even as a blind girl, she would certainly attract many men with her physical attributes!


    At the same time, her face was like Kate''s, with soft white skin, pink and plump lips that were hard to ignore.


    "Vice, are you back? How was your day?" She asked as she slowly walked towards her brother, with the same apathetic look as always.


    Since losing her sight and her mother, she had never smiled and almost always had the same expression on her face.


    Vicente looked into Lauren''s closed eyes and said. "Hmm, same as always. Nothing out of the ordinary... I got a few more coins for the family."


    "That''s good." She said, but without showing any sign of satisfaction in her voice.


    "What about our Father?" Vicente asked as he looked in the direction of his old man''s room.


    She moved her head down and said. "He must be in his room. I didn''t hear anyone leaving."


    "Sigh... Will he go with us tomorrow?" He asked, thinking it would hurt his sister even more if Andrew didn''t go.


    But she wasn''t worried about that.


    "Don''t worry, Vice. We will be leaving very soon. I believe he will leave with us tomorrow." She said before turning around and returning to her room.


    Vicente looked at the door to his father''s room and then walked over after a few moments.