CHAPTER 34
“Excuse me.”
“It was just bad timing, but it’s all my fault. Don’t worry about it.”
Auguste glanced at Kaas, who was standing tall behind Linaria.
The neatly dressed knight’s uniform, the sword at his waist, and his changed hair color.
“So he ended up becoming a knight?”
“Yes. My father officially acknowledged him and appointed him as one.”
“Hearing that makes me curious.”
“I didn’t come here to satisfy your curiosity, my lord.”
“Ah, right. Shall we sit and talk? If you want something to drink, it’s on me.”
“No, I’m not thirsty. There’s no need to buy me anything. Let’s talk while walking.”
At her firm refusal, Auguste looked slightly taken aback.
“Alright, let’s do that.”
Before getting to the main point, Auguste brought up a light topic.
He talked about how, being treated like a hero, he’d been volunteering to help maintain public safety lately.
“There are crimes that go unnoticed, like the recent commoner kidnapping cases. If I can stop even a few of them, it’s a good thing.”
Volunteering without being ordered.
From the imperial family’s perspective, it must’ve felt like a windfall.
“And spending a million runes to buy a slave while you’re supposedly out fighting crime—is that alright?”
“Actually, after we parted, I arrested the slavers who might’ve been problematic. It was kind of like an undercover job.”
It was moments like this that made Auguste seem genuinely diligent.
“That sounds difficult.”
“Not at all. Thanks to it, I got to see you.”
He grinned brightly.
“So, did you really come here just to see me today? I’m honored.”
“I have a favor to ask, my lord. Please let me meet Duke Brimstone.”
“My father?”
Auguste looked puzzled.
“Why not just go directly? It’s not like you’re some peddler. No one would turn away the only daughter of the Obel family.”
“That’s exactly the problem. Because I am from Obel. In Brimstone, I’m treated worse than a peddler.”
She mentioned Brimstone’s hatred for Obel as if it were nothing.
“I came to ask before I get thrown out.”
“Hmm. It’s not a difficult favor but…”
“Is there something you want from me?”
“It’s not like we’re that calculative with each other.”
Auguste waved his hand dismissively.
“But if I had to say, there’s just one thing I want to ask.”
It would’ve been a simple question—if it had been anything else.
“Go ahead.”
“Do you despise me?”
No. It wasn’t simple at all.
“You saw what happened just now and didn’t say a word. I found it strange you didn’t even comment.”
“Was I supposed to?”
“Not necessarily, but… you don’t like me. Ah, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I just think you’re being honest.”
Auguste gestured again, trying to show he meant no harm.
“So I assumed you’d naturally criticize me.”
“I think you’re misunderstanding me, Lord Brimstone.”
“Hmm? Misunderstanding?”
“That matter is between you and her. I didn’t think it was my place to say anything.”
“…”
“It wasn’t my intention, but if my actions so far seemed rude, I apologize.”
“Seriously…”
Ha, ha.
Auguste burst into loud laughter. Linaria didn’t understand his sense of humor at all.
“Linaria, you really know how to draw a line.”
After laughing to his heart’s content, Auguste spoke.
Did that mean he didn’t want to grant her request?
If Auguste refused, she would need to find another way.
“Alright. I’ll take you to my father.”
But Auguste readily agreed to help Linaria.
⋯⋯⋯
“Isn’t this Young Master Auguste?”
The aide, who had been in the office with Duke Brimstone, was startled by Auguste’s sudden entrance.
Duke Brimstone looked equally surprised.
“Auguste? What is this about? I thought you’d be on patrol around this time.”
“I brought a guest.”
“A guest? Why would my guest be coming through you…”
The duke, glasses on and busy reviewing documents, looked up.
His eyes met Linaria’s. A faint look of displeasure appeared on his face.
“Kunner, I’ll hear about that matter later.”
“Understood.”
The aide left.
Duke Brimstone still didn’t put down his pen, keeping his gaze on the papers as he spoke.
A clear sign he had no intention of treating Linaria as a proper guest.
“I recall your last proposal being declined. So what face do you have to walk in here with my son?”
Linaria didn’t flinch at his sharp tone.
She had expected at least this level of coldness.
“Your son invested one million runes in me.”
“What?”
Apparently hearing this for the first time, the duke looked at Auguste.
“Haha… there were some circumstances.”
Auguste looked troubled, not expecting her to mention the exact amount.
The duke seemed ready to press further about those “circumstances.”
But Linaria hadn’t come to stir up drama in the Brimstone household.
“So that makes it one hundred million runes.”
“One hundred million?”
Hearing the amount suddenly multiplied by a hundred, the duke’s eyes narrowed.
He seemed to suspect she was here to ask for more money.
But Linaria didn’t back down and spoke firmly.
“That’s the amount I’m going to repay you from now on.”
Exchanging Auguste’s life for a mere million runes didn’t sit right.
So instead of repaying her debt to him, she decided to take the Brimstone name itself.
The duke’s reaction to her claim of repaying one million with one hundred million was—
“You’re going to give me one hundred million? What, are you planning to stab your father in the back and sell out your family?”
He was, naturally, dumbfounded.
He seemed to think she was bluffing.
“Of course not. I wouldn’t do something so cowardly.”
“Then where is this one hundred million supposed to come from? Even your claim to repay a single million seemed ridiculous. Now you say a hundred million—it sounds like a bad joke.”
The duke looked ready to throw her out immediately.
“Linaria.”
Auguste stepped in.
“Technically speaking, since I paid that money, shouldn’t you be repaying me?”
His tone was light.
He seemed to want to prevent a fight between the two.
“Honestly, I’d be happy if you just gave me a day of your time. If that’s too much, you don’t even have to repay me.”
“Auguste. That doesn’t add up. Paying a hundred million runes for a day with the Lady of Obel? That’s a foolish loss.”
“Father.”
The duke’s remark was brutally blunt. Auguste was about to reply when—
Linaria interjected.
“That’s true. It doesn’t add up.”
Both father and son turned their eyes to her.
Duke Brimstone looked at her as if, for once, she was finally saying something reasonable.
Auguste, on the other hand, looked completely confused.
“The duke has likely been troubled by miscalculations lately. For example, in the ledgers…”
“Wait. Auguste, leave us.”
The duke quickly cut her off.
“But father—”
“Even if you brought her, she is my guest. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
In the end, Auguste left, and once the door closed, the duke rubbed his face tiredly.
“So, what miscalculations are you talking about?”
“I guess it was something the young lord shouldn’t hear.”
“And something you shouldn’t know, either.”
The duke glared at her sharply.
“Linaria Obel. This is my estate. You’d best watch what you say. I won’t go easy on you just because you’re my niece.”
“I’ve never assumed you’d treat me kindly because of blood ties. And I don’t consider you an uncle either. We’re even.”
“…How charming.”
He’d been the one to speak harshly first, but now that Linaria didn’t even blink, it left a strange feeling in his chest.
It was probably because she resembled his little sister so much.
Duke Brimstone tried his best to ignore the swelling emotion.
