CHAPTER 118……………………………………………….
The Meaning of Family (2)
So that’s their plan—to live off my house.
That was the first thought that crossed Marquis Crow’s mind the moment he heard Hildegard speak.
Arms folded, the marquis tilted his head toward the ceiling and furrowed his brow. But when he lowered his gaze back to Hildegard, his expression had returned to its usual faint smile.
“Well now, I’m honored. But tell me—no matter how I look at it, with my limited understanding, I can’t see why either Her Majesty the Empress or His Majesty the Emperor would hold the marquisate in such high regard. What could the reason possibly be?”
The marquis’s thin lips stretched into a long smile. As always, his face looked base and vicious. His tone was impeccably polite, but the message was clear: I see right through your scheme, so don’t waste your effort.
A smile much like her grandfather’s curved Hildegard’s lips as well. Not a single drop of blood connected them, yet at that moment their expressions were identical.
“What are you saying, Grandfather?” she replied lightly. “The marquisate is my maternal home, and you are my only family. Didn’t you say that even after finding your biological granddaughter, I was still your granddaughter? Even when I become Empress, I intend to do my utmost for the marquisate and for you. You’ll do the same for me, won’t you?”
Her voice sounded almost innocent, as if she truly believed every word. Had she not been wearing the same faintly mocking smile as the marquis, he might have taken her at face value.
As if. I’ve watched her for how many years now?
Despite her beautiful appearance, Hildegard was a child with a cruel, merciless hand.
At first, he had chalked it up to her harsh upbringing in the orphanage. But by that logic, Anje had suffered no less. Losing his father at such a young age, he had earned money himself while caring for his sick mother.
What the marquis liked most about that story, unsurprisingly, was the fact that Anje had earned money with his own hands. He knew better than anyone how grueling it was to wander the streets to make a living at an age when others were nurtured by warm-hearted nannies—because he himself had lived that life.
That was why, among his two sons, his wife, and even Hildegard, the marquis believed Anje understood him best.
Though there were some obstacles and misunderstandings for now, he was convinced that once he brought Anje into the marquisate, everything would fall neatly into place.
Which means I’ll need to clean up those nuisances sooner or later…
Staring steadily into Hildegard’s violet eyes—so similar in color to his son’s yet utterly different in atmosphere—the marquis gave a small nod.
“Of course. The House of Crow will do its utmost to help. Within our means.”
There was a carefully concealed condition in his words, but Hildegard seemed delighted nonetheless.
“Will you continue to let me use the marquisate’s crows?”
“Go ahead.”
As soon as he returned from his journey, the marquis had purged his household retainers, subordinates, and crows—starting with those who had so easily defected to Hildegard.
So even if Hildegard took charge of them again, the crows would only pretend to follow her while reporting her every move back to him.
“When I ascend to the position of Empress, the inner treasury alone won’t be enough,” Hildegard said. “You’ll help with that too, won’t you, Grandfather?”
The marquis inclined his head slightly.
“Only naturally.”
Once Hildegard became Empress, people seeking profit would line up to curry favor with her. Imagining the benefits he could reap by acting as an intermediary between her and them, the marquis smiled as if to reassure her.
“Behind Your Majesty stands this old man. Just say the word.”
Hildegard hesitated for a moment. Could she trust the marquis?
The answer was no.
But who else did she have by her side? For a fleeting instant, she thought of the group of women who followed her under the name of friendship, then shook her head. They all trailed after her for what they wanted; none of them were truly useful.
“I hear the nobles of the South and East are opposing my marriage.”
The marquis, lounging sideways on the sofa with his chin propped on his hand, nodded for her to continue.
“I need to silence them.”
“Do you have a plan in mind?”
After blinking her half-lidded eyes, Hildegard spoke slowly.
“His Majesty is too soft. It’s gotten even worse lately.”
That’s a very polite way of saying he’s abandoned state affairs and immersed himself in women, the marquis thought, a sneer flickering across his lips.
“When I become Empress, I intend to teach those who don’t know their place a lesson. They say grain prices are too low to turn a profit, so taxes should be lowered. Does that make any sense?”
“How about the imperial family buying grain in bulk to stabilize prices?” the marquis suggested.
“Wouldn’t that be giving them exactly what they want? Then the southern nobles would think they’d beaten the imperial family.”
“So that method doesn’t appeal to you.”
“Of course not. As I said, I plan to teach the nobles some manners.”
“And how do you intend to do that?”
The marquis’s eyes narrowed.
What on earth is she planning?
“The duty of a vassal is to obey orders. Yet instead of celebrating a great national occasion, they throw ashes on it by whining about taxes. It’s unforgivable. So I plan to deal with the very taxes they complain about so much—of course, in the opposite way they want.”
“And that is?”
“I’m going to raise the grain tax dramatically. I already received His Majesty’s approval.”
Strictly speaking, he had said, Do as you see fit, but to Hildegard it meant the same thing.
The marquis straightened, doubting his own ears.
“What?”
Hildegard let out a heavy sigh.
“It’s not that I want to do this. But the imperial finances are worse than expected. We can barely afford to buy remaining grain and store it as reserves. If that fact were to leak out, everyone would grow bolder and look down on the imperial family. There will be backlash if we raise taxes, but it will die down soon enough. Being cursed for a while is better than being treated as a joke.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to leave this to His Majesty to handle?” the marquis asked.
Absurdly enough, he was genuinely worried about Hildegard. Raising taxes—was she trying to spank a crying child? He had always thought her clever; how had she grown so foolish without his noticing?
No matter how blinded one might be by power, this was too much.
“I’d like to, but as you know, His Majesty is very busy. Still, we can’t leave state affairs unattended, can we? So I’ll have to step in. First, I plan to push this through after the wedding. His Majesty wants it to be grand and splendid. You’ll help with that too, won’t you, Grandfather?”
“Yes… Your Majesty.”
Despite the marquis’s unenthusiastic reply, a bright smile spread across Hildegard’s face.
Though the midday heat lingered, the season had turned to one where cool breezes blew in the afternoon.
Recently, Duke Side had been visiting the imperial palace far more frequently.
That was because a single fox had slipped into the palace and turned the entire place upside down.
Riding in a carriage bound for the palace, Duke Side sat with his arms folded, lost in thought.
The leaves of the roadside trees were gradually taking on color, as if washed from the top down with yellow paint. Gazing at the autumn scenery passing by, the duke suddenly spoke.
“After the last war, we should be returning taxes, not raising them again. I can’t understand what they’re thinking. Do you know anything about it?”
“What would I know, having been locked up the whole time?” Anje snapped back curtly, then sighed.
Furious over Anje’s secret visit to Grand Duke Algernon’s estate, the duke had finally confined him in earnest. He claimed that moving about freely would not only hinder his recovery but also risk reinjury.
Protests that he was fully healed were useless. The fact that he needed permission even to stroll in the garden made Anje grind his teeth. He had always known the man was terrible—but still.
“You say you know nothing… yet Gray’s been going in and out of that room dozens of times.”
The strange bird-like noises the man made every night had been unbearably irritating. Just thinking about it was enough to crease his brow.
“He only ever reports to me enough to justify his pay, then goes straight to you.”
A man in a woman’s bedroom at night, even for work, was distasteful.
The duke pressed his lips together in displeasure.
The only reason he hadn’t confronted Anje about it was because he knew Anje harbored no particular feelings for Gray. Bringing it up would only make him look like the strange one.
