Countess Marie Von Windsor of Saras sat in her comfortable throne like chair, behind her big silver desk, surrounded by aides who were eager to please inside her large gorgeous office.
In front of her sat a gorgeous young man, no older than sixteen with a woman whose beauty was also divine who sat beside him.
This was none other than Valerian and Uriel.
Usually it was impossible to get into this room unless one was a direct subordinate of Marie.
Grand nobles and Kings often tried to have a meeting with the Countess but even that was difficult without massive amounts of bribery and flattery.
The Family Overseer of the Von Windsor family in Saras, Countess Marie was a very wealthy woman.
She looked to be in her late sixties but had a youthful grace and poise.
She was beautiful. Her high cheekbones and black hair with streaks of white running through it radiated dignity and power.
Von Windsor was a name that held strength on the entire world of Idris and members of this family always felt in control.
However Marie was unable to relax. The reason she was unable to relax was the item on her desk.
A large platinum chain, with a menacing bat biting down on a blood red diamond. The smaller yellow and orange diamonds in each link shone with a metallic beauty.
'Great Avarice the Cornucopia...' She thought. "Could it really be?" Her voice sounded shaky and her throat was dry.
"Touch it and you will know." Valerian said calmly as he sipped some of the tea he had been offered.
'The boy is right.' she thought. 'If it is the genuine Cornucopia, I will know once I touch it. And if it is not, I will kill him myself.'
"All of you...leave." She said. Her voice was still shaky but still held its omnipotent authority within these walls.
Her aides looked confused but dared not argue. They shuffled out of the room and closed the golden doors behind them.
Marie reached out her hands slowly. She still had not looked away from the artefact.
She swallowed her saliva with great effort to sooth her dry throat.
She was too afraid that this was a dream or that if she looked away for even a moment then this item of true greed would disappear.
Her fingers finally touched the necklace and the Countess stiffened as a message was transmitted to her mind by the enchanted accessory.
'Who are you?' the necklace asked.
'I am Greed.' The Countess replied.
'What do you seek?' the necklace asked.
'To grow and keep my wealth.' Marie thought strongly.
'I am the Most Sanguine, I am the Cornucopia, Horn of Plenty. I have grasped the laws of Greed and will peer into your soul as my master has requested.'
This happened in seconds but it felt like a lifetime.
'You...will do but remember...Absque Argento..." the voice began to fade.
"Omnia Vana." Marie finished as she woke up from her trance panting and exhausted.
She no longer held her poise but now looked like an excited child who had just returned from a day of mischief and debauchery.
It was the secret motto of the Von Windsor Family, words from a secret language used by the First of their race.
'Absque Argento Omnia Vana'
"Without money all is in vain." Valerian said calmly and sipped his tea again. The words drew Marie's wild eyes to him and they settled.
She knelt down.
"I am Marie Von Windsor. I do not know who you are but the possession of the Cornucopia cannot be contested. Welcome to Rex Capital Bank, Mass Shareholder."
"What do my current holdings look like?" He asked.
"Currently, Shareholder, the assets of the Cornucopia account have been marked as [Unlimited]. The account has been growing throughout the ages and have been untouched since the bank's founding."
"Please continue." Valerian smiled and sipped his tea.
"There were some major losses due to unforeseen disasters but all losses were recouped and multiplied for any inconvenience.
"Currently if we let all your standing wealth flow into the world, rapid inflation would occur and the global economies will suffer. I suggest your wealth be used lavishly but with consideration as well."
Valerian smiled from ear to ear. Now, money was an inexhaustible resource. He finished his tea. Stood up. Took the necklace and walked out of the room.
The Von Windsor Family was a family of vampires as well as everything people on Earth thought the Rothschilds were and more...so much more.
Banks were a vampire secret. Vampires, specifically, the Von Windsor's ran the biggest banks in the world. Their reach could select and remove kings and queens, even topple kingdoms.
The only mistake people assumed about the Von Windsor Family is that because of their massive wealth they owned the banks but that was not true.
The Family did have a share of the company but it was only three percent!
That is why the owner of the Horn of Plenty was described as the Great Avarice, they controlled ninety-seven percent of the wealth brought in by banks.
Great Avarice did not even begin to match or describe that level of greed.
When Valerian established the bank system on Idris he modelled it after the banks on Earth where he had been before his soul came here.
He was not a soulless, heartless monster. He had measures in place that made banks fair and just but also greedy. They never left a single copper on the table.
Valerian had received a black and silver metallic card from the bank. Only his name was on it along with the words, Rex Capital Bank in the corner and the bank crest which were two golden hands clasping each other.
"What is this?" Lucien asked.
"A Magus card." Marie stated.
"A magus card is used by high net worth individuals for purchases. You enter a store with mage glass. Mage glass used to be for only testing people's aptitudes and spying but it is also possible to use it for purchases." the aide who brought it further explained.
Valerian knew what Mage glass was. If you put the same enchantment on two tablets made of Mage glass then you effectively connected them together.
It seems Mage glass had other properties that had not been explored.
'So this works like a debit card back on earth. How amusing since this world has become less advanced than when I left it.'
When Valerian and Uriel saw the village Peter lived it had been a sign that technology and civilisation had deteriorated.
When they arrived in the kingdom's capital that was confirmed. The capital looked like a medieval European kingdom with hints of a low class magic in the air.
After the bank, Jata and Uriel entered the carriage and found a sleeping Peter.
"The world is more messed up than we surmised." Valerian said calmly.
"Shall we abandon it and go to the stars?" Uriel asked.
"No, there is still much to do here."