CHAPTER 56……………………………………….
“Now you’re telling me to even meet the Grand Duchess Mason and have a conversation with her?”
Marchioness Bellon slammed the desk after reading Rizaina’s letter.
Bang!
With the loud crash, documents and invitation cards fluttered down to the floor.
“She’s the niece of the Seventh Imperial Consort, yet how can she have so little sense of her place? She’s trying to manipulate me like a puppet!”
The Marchioness of Bellon was furious—and at the same time felt miserable beyond words.
She was enraged at the foreign princess who didn’t know her place, yet her own situation forced her to obey the girl’s demands. The thought was both painful and humiliating.
Just then—
A man in his early twenties with curly brown hair and glasses opened the door and walked in.
“Mother.”
“…Ian.”
Ian Bellon.
He was the Marchioness Bellon’s only pride and hope.
Seeing her grown son for a moment washed away her anger.
“You’re here, my son.”
“Is it that woman again?”
Ian glanced indifferently at the letter Rizaina had sent and tossed it onto the desk.
“Just deal with her moderately and send her away.”
“I want to handle it moderately!”
The Marchioness exploded with the frustration she had been bottling up.
“But she doesn’t know what ‘moderate’ means!”
Rizaina never knew when to stop. She kept making demands.
At first she said she wanted to become the Marchioness’s proxy.
Then she pretended to receive support from the Bellon family.
And from time to time she even demanded money.
Money—that was the biggest problem.
As time went on, Rizaina began demanding enormous sums.
At first, pouring out the budget allocated to the Marchioness was enough.
But as the amount Rizaina demanded grew larger, she had to sell her jewelry and dresses.
Now she had even stolen the family seal and was forced to touch the marquis family’s funds.
“If your father finds out about this, I’m as good as dead!”
Ian frowned as he watched his mother burst out in hysterical anger.
“Mother, why are you taking it out on me?”
“What? No, that’s not— When did I ever take it out on you…?”
“You shouldn’t have let her get hold of your weakness in the first place.”
“I-Ian….”
“I don’t know what exactly the problem is.”
The Marchioness’s eyes trembled.
Her son’s gaze was so cold and indifferent that it felt as if her heart had been cut by a knife.
Ian’s eyes drifted to the sword hanging on the wall before moving away again.
“Just don’t block my future. Finish it cleanly.”
Noticing where his eyes had landed, the Marchioness suddenly felt a chill run through her chest.
“Deal with that woman properly.”
“Ian! You—!”
Bang!
After saying that, Ian left the room without looking back.
Left alone, the Marchioness’s gaze again fell on the sword hanging on the wall.
*
Edwin walked endlessly while swallowing his irritation.
He wanted to kick a stone or something, but too many people were watching.
Damn it!
The accident at the mine would have been bad enough on its own, but his luck was terrible.
Dozens of miners had died, meaning compensation had to be paid to their families.
The mine that funded everything is wrecked—what money am I supposed to pay them with?!
It wasn’t that he didn’t have the money.
But giving that much money to people who weren’t even nobles felt like a waste.
Why should I care about the lives of those bottom-dwelling people?
Of course, he couldn’t simply refuse to pay compensation.
Even if he was a bastard, he was still of imperial blood—and the Grand Duke of Mason.
Unlike Baron Berkshire, who had become a bank director by squeezing money through loan-sharking, Edwin had a certain dignity to maintain.
“Is the accident response mostly finished?”
“Ah, yes. But the victims’ families were wondering if you would meet them—”
“Meet them for what? They should be grateful just for receiving compensation.”
Edwin turned and boarded his carriage.
The man managing the mine looked like he had a lot more to say but did not dare stop Edwin.
“Damn it, my luck is terrible.”
It was misfortune on par with the time he had nearly died while sailing abroad to start a business.
“I’m starting to think meeting Rizaina was the beginning of all my bad luck. Nothing’s gone right since bringing her here.”
It was Rizaina who had helped Edwin when his ship had wrecked and he had lost everything overnight.
Yet Edwin had completely forgotten that gratitude and instead blamed her.
“Come to think of it, I still haven’t paid back the money I borrowed with that land as collateral.”
If he failed to repay within the agreed period, the land used as collateral would become Rizaina’s.
Though it’s almost wasteland. She probably won’t bother taking it.
But if Rizaina did demand the land, Edwin would not stay quiet.
Even if it was barren, it was still an extremely vast plain.
If necessary, he planned to speak to the emperor, repay the debt, and reclaim the land.
It was an unfair contract—but Rizaina had knowingly lent him the money anyway.
Lying comfortably in his seat, Edwin suddenly sat up.
“Wait… how much was that territory worth again?”
Now that he thought about it, the land he had given as collateral might actually be worth more than the money he borrowed from Rizaina.
“Right. I should say that and squeeze more money out of her.”
On top of that, Edwin had lent Rizaina two pieces of land because she felt uneasy having no place to stay in Ephelverno.
“If you consider that too, she should be paying me money continuously.”
Rizaina would never be able to refuse him.
After all, she had been living in the Mason Grand Duke’s household—being fed and housed—for quite some time.
At that moment, the carriage stopped.
The moment Edwin entered the grand ducal mansion, he asked for Rizaina.
“Grace, where’s the princess?”
“…Princess Rizaina is in the garden of the annex.”
“Is that so?”
No sooner had he heard the answer from the head maid than Edwin headed straight to the garden.
There, Rizaina was strolling while laughing with her maid.
“Rizaina!”
“Oh my, Edwin!”
Rizaina immediately ran toward him after spotting him.
But Edwin pushed her away when she tried to embrace him and asked calmly,
“Do you have some money?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
He gave no further explanation.
Now that he thought about it, there was no need to even mention the land he had previously given.
Since Rizaina had followed him all the way to Ephelverno, this place was her home now.
And he was the one providing her with food, clothing, and shelter.
Naturally, he thought he deserved compensation.
“I heard there was an accident at the mine today. Is that why?”
“How do you know about that—”
“The butler told me. He said he was worried about you.”
Rizaina deliberately didn’t mention Trisha.
Edwin seemed to be relying on her emotionally for the first time in a while—she didn’t want anyone interfering.
“Do you need money to deal with the accident?”
Edwin frowned.
“What would you do with that information?”
“…Pardon?”
“So. Do you have money or not?”
For someone asking for a loan, his attitude was unbelievably arrogant—almost as if he were the one in the superior position.
Rizaina was dumbfounded.
She realized what Edwin wanted.
A source of funds who lent money but still behaved obediently toward him.
…Just like Baron Berkshire.
The thought of being reduced to the same position as Baron Berkshire was unbearable.
“Actually, I met a good investor recently.”
She wasn’t like him.
She wasn’t stupid enough to just hand over money and be discarded once she was no longer useful—and her status was far higher.
“I mentioned you, Eddie, and they seemed willing to invest quite a large amount.”
“…Is that true?”
“Of course.”
Edwin would never be able to abandon her.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll meet them. Leave things like this to me—you should be handling bigger matters.”
Having decided to hand over Baron Berkshire’s secret funds to Edwin, Rizaina smiled inwardly.
If money runs short, I can just borrow from the Marchioness Bellon.
If she gained Edwin’s favor now, it would return to her many times over—no, dozens of times over—in the future.
The emperor would never abandon his son Edwin.
And if the Marchioness Bellon thought of it as an investment for that future, there would be no reason for her to feel wronged.
*
“I heard compensation was paid to the families of the miners who died in the accident.”
“Yes, of course it was.”
Through the mirror, Trisha met Jane’s eyes and gave a small smile.
“After all, the secret funds of Baron Berkshire that we were monitoring have disappeared as well.”
“Everything is going exactly as Your Highness predicted.”
Jane didn’t know the exact plan Trisha was drawing.
She could only infer the rough outline.
But she was certain that every situation was turning in Trisha’s favor.
“Still, we can’t be careless. Those two are the type who might jump in any direction.”
“That’s true….”
Jane nodded obediently.
She applied powder to Trisha’s face and colored her lips red, giving her a lively appearance.
“There, all done.”
After the makeup, Trisha looked even more beautiful than usual.
“Your Highness is truly so beautiful…”
Thinking that Edwin—her own husband—wouldn’t even look at her and instead spend his time with Rizaina made Jane’s anger boil.
“It’s fine. Today’s goal is just to stay as quiet as possible.”
Though she didn’t know if things would go as planned.
“Let’s go, Jane.”
Today’s schedule was to attend a banquet held by the Bellon Marquis family.
The very banquet to which Rizaina had handed Trisha an invitation.
Even knowing it was a trap—
Trisha stepped into it willingly.
