Chapter 71
Kuh—barely managing to cover her mouth, Wilhelmina stifled her laughter.
“You don’t need to grant me the authority of an exclusive merchant. I don’t need to host this enterprise either. But please, grant me the opportunity to serve the Leighton territory.”
“You’re asking me to employ you?”
“Yes. Right now, the Leighton territory needs a shepherd dog.”
Just from that word alone, Mikhail realized what position she was asking for.
It meant she wanted the role of monitoring merchants within the territory and protecting the market from external threats.
It was quite different from the role of a financial officer.
While the financial officer focuses on managing money, the shepherd dog she spoke of was a position focused solely on surveillance and punishment.
“No one is more suited for this role than I am. Someone with no ties to any merchant guilds in the West, yet capable of uncovering their corruption. I assure you, the only talent you need, Your Grace, is me.”
It sounded arrogant—bordering on insolence—but no one refuted it.
The merchants being accused had no words to defend themselves, and Mikhail…
‘He never underestimates anyone because of their status.’
Wilhelmina believed that if she revealed her capability, he would evaluate her objectively.
Mikhail might not believe that, but Wilhelmina trusted him completely.
And as proof, Mikhail turned to face Jane with a solemn expression—devoid of any trace of humor.
It was the face of a man truly contemplating her usefulness, not joking in the least.
“…This cannot be allowed, Your Grace.”
Realizing things were heading toward the worst possible outcome, Yulkes forced his mouth open.
“She is my daughter, a child of the Goldrail family. To give her such a position—I cannot permit it!”
“She severed her ties with you.”
He was the one who punished her, and yet it sounded like Jane was the one who abandoned him.
Unable to bear that, Yulkes raised his voice rudely.
“Even so, she is my flesh and blood! There is a sacred law no power can deny! A child must never defy a parent’s will—you know that as well, Your Grace…!”
And then, in his fury, he committed the fatal mistake of touching the Leighton household’s reverse scale.
Even as he clapped his hand over his mouth in regret, it was already too late.
‘Parent and child,’ is it? To bring up filial ties in the ducal house where the previous duke hasn’t even been dead for a full year…
And despite the rumors—that Mikhail might have been the one to kill the previous duke—he dared to speak so recklessly…
“No, no, Your Grace! That’s not what I meant!”
“It’s all right, Yulkes Goldrail.”
“I only meant that you are far greater than the late Duke, of course…”
“I have no interest in hearing your evaluation of the ducal house. Jane Goldrail seems far more composed as a merchant than you.”
At Mikhail’s cold, metallic words, everyone in the banquet hall froze.
The warm, gracious image he had displayed upon entering had completely vanished.
‘What… is this?’
Even Jane, who had been watching the situation carefully, felt such a chill that she unconsciously stepped back.
She had felt this sensation before, somewhere…
‘Exactly like… the late Duke.’
She had seen the previous duke once—at Yulkes’s investiture ceremony.
An old man so frail he needed someone to hold him up to move—yet his gaze alone crushed everyone present.
Hostility, madness, and arrogance mingled in those eyes—a gaze that felt like staring into the eyes of a demon king from a fairy tale.
That same suffocating aura now emanated from Mikhail, making the image of the previous duke overlap with him in her mind.
“You seem to need a little more… time for reflection.”
“T-that is…”
Mikhail slowly raised his hand.
The knight standing guard at the banquet hall entrance moved in response to his gesture, approaching Yulkes.
Just as Yulkes was about to kneel and beg for his life, Wilhelmina spoke up.
“Knight, arrest Yulkes. His words are no longer worth hearing.”
“…Yes, ma’am!”
The knight hesitated for only a moment—startled that the order came from Wilhelmina, not Mikhail—but quickly complied, seizing Yulkes.
“Let this be clear to all of you. If you wish to prove your innocence, submit to an investigation. I will not forgive slandering the accuser while refusing to properly refute the charges.”
Wilhelmina’s command bound the merchants tightly.
Several who had thought of her as nothing more than a puppet matriarch lowered their heads in shock and horror.
As Yulkes was dragged away toward the corner of the hall, the atmosphere around Mikhail returned to normal.
He gave a bitter smile and murmured to Wilhelmina.
“I was planning to do that myself.”
“I know.”
Mikhail cleared his throat lightly and turned his gaze back to Jane.
“Jane Goldrail, I have seen your ability. Whoever may have helped you, the evidence you presented was thorough, and your resolve was bold. I also understand the necessity of the cleansing you propose. It was a grave mistake to allow such corruption to persist.”
“Then…”
“But there is still one last reason I have yet to find before I can trust you.”
“And that is…?”
“Loyalty.”
Mikhail glanced briefly at Wilhelmina before continuing.
“You are a merchant who values integrity. Your ability to judge even your own family objectively is commendable. However… I do not know if that extends to loyalty to the Leighton house.”
“…”
“So answer me. If I choose you, will you swear loyalty to me? Or… to the one who showed you favor?”
For the first time, Jane’s expression faltered.
She had not expected such a blunt question.
Mikhail knew she was aligned with Wilhelmina.
But ultimately, Wilhelmina too was a member of House Leighton.
Whether Jane swore loyalty to Mikhail or Wilhelmina, nothing would change.
And yet, Mikhail demanded a clear answer.
“I…”
Her restless eyes wandered aimlessly—until they found Wilhelmina.
The woman mouthed something with an indifferent expression, as if wondering why Jane was hesitating.
Jane wanted to ask, ‘Really?’ but with Mikhail watching, she couldn’t.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Jane answered calmly.
“The one to whom I will swear loyalty is…”
Whatever her answer was, Mikhail smiled and clapped his hands.
Clap, clap. In the deathly silent banquet hall, his satisfied voice rang out.
“Welcome to House Leighton, Jane Goldrail.”
Jane squeezed her eyes shut and bowed deeply in salute.
The evaluation ended, and all the merchants were escorted to the detention cells under guard.
They would remain there until their sentences were carried out.
Watching them being dragged away one by one in their luxurious attire, Jane struggled to calm her trembling heart.
It was finally over.
Three months of relentless effort, day and night, had led to this moment.
Mikhail bid her a leisurely farewell, saying they would discuss business starting tomorrow, and returned to the castle.
In the end, he entrusted the management of the ducal enterprise to Jane as well.
She had been grateful enough just to be appointed as an inspector—yet now she would work alongside the financial officer on the project.
‘Still, never forget—your main duty must not be neglected.’
From now on, her primary occupation was no longer selling food supplies, but monitoring and investigating merchants.
She had already drawn up an organizational chart for the investigative bureau and planned inquiries into suspicious guilds, but now that she truly held the post, the weight of it hit her.
The Leighton Duchy’s Anti-Tax Evasion and Financial Crimes Task Force—Investigation Officer Jane Goldrail.
For the first time, she felt the full gravity of that title.
Amidst a mix of pride and apprehension, she spotted a familiar figure leaving the hall.
A middle-aged man, his complexion haggard compared to when he had arrived—Yulkes.
Almost unconsciously, Jane walked toward him.
“…Jane.”
Yulkes noticed her as well.
His eyes blazed with fury as he glared at her.
He looked as if he might lunge at her any second, but the knight guarding him kept him in check.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“….”
Jane narrowed her eyes at the words he spat like venom.
“I raised you wrong. If I had known you’d turn out a parricidal wretch who’d bare her fangs at her own father, I’d never have given you so much affection. Your mother must be weeping blood in heaven.”
He had never shown her affection. Her memories of her mother were faint as well.
Yulkes had never been a devoted family man; her mother had likely died after a life of hardship.
“What? Justice? An investigator? You’ve lost yourself in childish fantasies! The misdeeds you exposed were necessary evils for the survival of our guild. Those crimes were choices we had no option but to make in order to survive in the marketplace!”
