[CHAPTER 102]
The garden of the Granger Count’s estate.
A mat was spread out in the middle, and Aizen and Jena lay side by side on top of it.
With autumn approaching, the sunlight was warm while the breeze was pleasantly cool.
The black aura Jena usually emitted stood no chance against nature.
“Ahh.”
It felt like an evil spirit had been exorcised and her spirit was purifying itself.
Ever since she had been chased out of Jackjack’s house, she had locked herself in her room, endlessly replaying what she had done wrong and reviewing only her research.
Her tattered mental strength was restored in a single dose of warm sunlight.
“Do you feel a bit better now?”
Strictly speaking, it was thanks to the lover who willingly lay beside her and held her hand.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Not at all.”
“If the young lady’s younger sister hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t even have known you were feeling depressed.”
“Ariana contacted you, Duke?”
Aizen nodded and gently soothed Jena.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Well…”
Jena poured out everything, from Lady Owen getting angry to her visit to Jackjack’s house, without leaving out a single detail.
“It had been a long time since I’d made a mistake while making medicine, and I promised myself it would never happen again, but then this happened, so I think I was just really shocked.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“It’s fine.”
“But what did I actually do wrong?”
“Jackjack won’t tell me anything, so it’s really frustrating.”
Jena let out a deep sigh.
After thinking for a moment, Aizen suddenly spoke up.
“You’re the greatest genius pharmacist I know.”
“Do you really think your medicine was wrong?”
Jena’s eyes wavered briefly at the serious question.
Soon, she answered in a firm voice.
“No.”
“There’s no way my medicine was wrong.”
She had been shaken for a moment by Lady Owen and Jackjack’s fiery anger, but having inherited the memories of Esther, once called a genius pharmacist, there was no room to doubt her own abilities.
Come to think of it, was it normal to say there was a problem but never explain what the problem actually was?
That was strange.
Now that her mind had calmed, such doubts began to surface.
“Then there’s only one answer.”
“They’re lying on their side.”
Aizen drew a clear conclusion.
Vitality returned to Jena’s face.
Her blue eyes, having regained their confidence, shone with intelligence.
“Even if my medicine really did cause a problem, selling the land straight to Young Lord Owen feels suspicious.”
“It would be worth digging into.”
“Yes!”
After answering spiritedly, Jena suddenly rolled her body to the side.
She snugly settled against Aizen’s side and whispered shyly.
“But can we stay like this just a little longer?”
“As long as you like.”
With a soft chuckle, Aizen slid his arm under Jena’s head to let her rest on it.
Watching the two from afar, Greta quietly turned away.
It was heartwarming, but she had no desire to witness her masters’ romance firsthand.
* * *
Early evening, as the sun was setting.
Jack prepared to go out with an excited expression.
Sophia, Jack’s mother, who had just come out of her room, looked at her son and asked,
“Are you going out again today?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not sick anymore, Mom, so you’ll be fine on your own, right?”
“Talk to my sister for me, okay?”
Jack replied indifferently.
Sophia looked at her son with concern, but unlike before, her complexion had returned and she looked healthy.
The new medicine had worked wonderfully, and her condition had nearly completely improved.
The doctor had even said that if she kept taking the medicine consistently, she would surely make a full recovery.
And yet, Jack had lied to Jena.
“Alright.”
“Still, don’t come home too late.”
“Ah, do you think I’m a kid?”
“I’ll handle it myself!”
After snapping irritably at Sophia, Jack left the house, his steps heading toward an entertainment district lined with taverns.
When he entered a tavern where simple gambling was also available, voices greeted him from all sides.
“Jack, you’re here?”
“Let’s play at our table today!”
“No way!”
“You said you’d hang out with us today!”
Watching his friends bicker over him, Jack smiled contentedly.
Until just a few days ago, he had often been dismissed as a worthless guy.
His mother was sick, his sister was busy earning money, and he lazed around at home doing nothing.
But the huge sum of money he received after handing over the land to Nicholas Owen instantly raised his status.
Heh heh, selling it to that young master was the right call.
In fact, when Sophia first began to improve after taking the medicine, Jack had planned to sell the land to Naomi Owen as promised to Jena.
I’m the one who needs that land.
You’ve already received the medicine, so if you lie and say it didn’t work and sell it to me, I’ll give you twice the amount they offered.
He even promised to pay the purchase price directly under Jack’s name.
It was a perfect opportunity to pocket the money alone without his family knowing.
Swayed by those words, Jack took Nicholas Owen’s hand.
And with the money he received, he indulged every night in reckless drinking, gambling, and pleasure.
“Hey, hey, stop fighting.”
“I’ll buy drinks for every table tonight!”
“What?”
“Jack, you bastard!”
“You’re a real man!”
“Everyone, let’s raise a toast to Jack!”
At his grand declaration, everyone cheered and hoisted Jack up.
Jack enjoyed the atmosphere, feeling like he had become someone important.
The excessive stimulation numbed his brain, leaving him already reeling as if drunk.
So he failed to notice.
“But are you really okay?”
“Spending money like this?”
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine!”
“Mom and my sister don’t even know anyway!”
“It’s all my money, hahaha!”
That someone was watching him.
* * *
The truth of the incident was revealed far too easily.
Just three days after tailing Jackjack with Aizen, they learned that he had been bought off by Young Lord Owen.
Since he boasted about his money every night while frequenting gambling dens and taverns, it was impossible not to notice.
“He took the medicine from me and the money from the young lord!”
Was this what they called creative economics?
While seething with anger, I also worried about how to resolve the situation.
Even knowing that Young Lord Owen had bought off Jackjack, that fact alone wouldn’t be enough to reclaim the land.
The documents had already been signed, and the land transaction was complete.
Is there a way to make Young Lord Owen give up the land, or to void the contract with Jackjack…?
As I desperately racked my brain, Aizen spoke beside me with displeasure.
“This is beyond shameless.”
“After all the effort the young lady put into making the treatment, to turn his back on the benefactor who saved his mother over such petty money.”
“Exactly.”
“I thought he was just a dutiful son, but turns out he’s a flaming example of one.”
“I also wonder whether the mother truly didn’t know about her son’s disgraceful behavior.”
“In the first place, the landowner was the mother.”
“She must have agreed to the sale to Young Lord Owen.”
As he grumbled while stroking my hair, my eyes suddenly widened.
“Yes.”
“It seemed like the son handled the transaction as a proxy.”
So Jackjack wasn’t the landowner.
But in the contract Lady Owen had shown me, there was clearly only Jackjack’s signature under Nicholas Owen’s name.
“Duke…”
“If a contract is conducted through a proxy, is it easier to break than one signed directly?”
“Yes.”
“If you can prove that the proxy lacked proper authority at the time of the contract.”
“Hehehe.”
At last, a breakthrough.
A smile slowly spread across my lips.
If they had bought off the son, then couldn’t I buy off the mother instead?
Since they started this mud fight first, I decided not to hesitate either.
Let’s see how this goes.
Taking advantage of the evening when Jackjack was away, I went to his house.
A young woman I had never seen before opened the door.
She must have been Jack’s sister.
“Who are you…?”
“Hello.”
“I’m Jena Kreutz.”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
“I’m Julie.”
“What brings a noble young lady to our house…?”
“How is your mother doing?”
“I’m actually the one who made the treatment, and I was curious about her condition.”
When I replied with a bright smile, Julie’s eyes widened.
She hurriedly flung the door wide open and invited me in.
I accepted without hesitation and slipped inside.
Greta stayed outside to stop Jack in case he returned early.
It seemed they had just finished dinner and were eating dessert, as a middle-aged woman stood up awkwardly from the table while peeling an apple.
“Who…”
“Mom, this person made your treatment.”
“She’s Miss Jena!”
“Oh my, is that true?”
“Our son said he barely managed to obtain it from a famous physician in a neighboring country.”
She covered her mouth in shock.
Jackjack, you lying bastard.
I was furious that he had passed off the medicine I had worked myself to the bone to make as someone else’s achievement, but there was one small relief.
At least these people weren’t complicit in Jackjack’s wrongdoing.
Their bewildered reactions felt genuinely innocent.
That must be why Jackjack had been spending money behind their backs.
Feeling that things would be much easier than expected, I smiled and spoke,
“I have something important to discuss with you both.”
“Would you be willing to listen?”
