Chapter 11
Marquess Leholas.
I didn’t know what he had been like in the past, but now he was a far wealthier and more powerful house than Balfruga.
If you ranked power in the empire, he was easily within the top five!
Unlike the merchant groups of Prug or the Fox Merchant Alliance that I had dealt with before, he was the kind of man who could truly be called a heavyweight.
“Hoo—haa—hoo—haa.”
I took a deep breath for the first time in a while.
Just thinking about facing a man of this caliber after dealing with small fry like Prug made it impossible to stay calm.
“My lady, here’s some tea with calming effects.”
Bella quickly brought over a warm cup of tea, noticing my state.
“Mm.”
I reached out and took the cup.
My hands were shaking so badly it looked like the cup had been caught in a storm.
“Sis, are you okay?”
Roos grabbed my hand.
The moment I saw his worried red eyes, my trembling stopped—and my resolve solidified.
I have to do this.
Right now, I’m the only one who can protect Roos.
Lately, Roos had filled out a bit; he wasn’t as skin-and-bones as before. He had started reading and writing the common language of the continent, and could now run ten laps around the training grounds with ease.
If I break here, Roos will break with me.
I have to protect him.
“Roos, come here. Let your sister hug you.”
I opened my arms, and Roos came into them.
He had grown a bit taller, but still fit perfectly in my embrace.
Feeling his warm body, I held him tightly.
I could feel his heartbeat.
“If it’s too hard for you, you can just ignore it. It’s not a big deal for me… I’m fine, sis.”
“Fine? What part of this is fine?!”
Honestly, if Roos had gone around causing trouble saying a marquess dared to ignore a duke, I might’ve been able to brush it off.
And do you even know how much hair I’ve lost worrying about that debt?!
If I let this slide now, I’d be lying in bed ten years later still thinking, ‘I should’ve taken that money!’
“Roos, don’t say things like that. Just cheer for your sister. Or do you think I’m going to lose?”
“Uh-uh! No!”
“Then you think I’ll win everything, right?”
“Yeah! Sis is the strongest in the world!”
“Good! With that kind of support, I feel invincible! I’ll go take care of everything!”
“Yeah!”
With Roos cheering me on, I headed to the office.
If I couldn’t ignore it, then the only answer was to move forward.
I sat in my office chair and pressed the communication device.
It was a magical tool that allowed long-distance communication.
However, it could only be used in specific locations, and installing it cost an absurd amount of money.
Even using a mana stone worth one million marks only allowed ten minutes of connection—it was a money-devouring monster.
Fortunately, the one installed in the ducal estate during its prosperous days was still functioning.
It was old, but as long as it worked, that was enough.
Thanks to the letter I had sent in advance, Marquess Leholas’s face soon appeared.
He was an elderly nobleman with white hair and a heavy presence that filled the screen.
“Pleased to meet you, Marquess. I am Pelia Balfruga.”
“I am Talin Leholas.”
After I greeted him politely, he returned the courtesy.
“I’ve heard that the new Duke of Balfruga has married, but I didn’t expect to meet you like this.”
He smiled warmly, as if he were a kind old man.
He already had a rough idea why I had contacted him—he was clearly no simple man.
“We haven’t held a wedding yet since the Duke isn’t of age.”
“Is that so? Then please do invite me when the ceremony happens. Hahaha.”
We smiled at each other.
What a pleasant atmosphere…
“So, what brings Balfruga to contact us?”
“You must be busy, so I’ll get straight to the point. As you may have heard, we recently caught a merchant alliance attempting to defraud Balfruga.”
“Hmm? I’m not sure why that concerns Leholas. Isn’t that something between Balfruga and the merchants?”
He was an expert at feigning ignorance.
Anyone listening would think I was the one making false accusations.
“That’s exactly why I contacted you. The merchants say they were merely used—and that the mastermind behind it was Marquess Leholas. Therefore, Balfruga is demanding compensation of 2 billion marks under imperial law.”
Don’t panic.
Don’t panic.
A fight is all about momentum!
I ignored my racing heart and smiled calmly.
“Did those merchants really say that? That I ordered the fraud? And Balfruga believes them?”
“Yes. There is evidence and witnesses. Why wouldn’t we believe it?”
“Evidence, you say?”
“Do you think Balfruga would bring this up without evidence?”
“In Balfruga’s current situation, that seems quite possible.”
…That old man.
Was he mocking our financial situation?
My insides were boiling, but I kept smiling.
This was where my past life working customer service came in handy—smile and say, ‘We appreciate you, dear customer~’
“If Leholas has no intention of paying compensation, we will proceed under imperial law. I trust you understand the punishment for fraud.”
Despite my provocation, the marquess didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled calmly.
As expected of a noble who had lived through politics for decades.
Was he brushing off a child’s provocation?
“Do you think Balfruga can handle the consequences of this?”
A warning—don’t make unnecessary trouble.
“Balfruga simply follows the imperial law established by His Majesty. Everything will be decided by the Emperor, not us.”
In other words: we don’t care—we’re filing charges.
I raised the complaint document stamped with our family seal.
Inside were testimonies written directly by members of the Fox Merchant Alliance.
They described how cruel Leholas was, how he set a trap for Balfruga, and how they were forced to comply under threats.
Even though Rouen and his men refused to testify, the surviving eight merchants had cooperated to produce a rather convincing story.
By now, Leholas was probably calculating rapidly in his head.
As he said, Balfruga couldn’t handle this alone.
But the Emperor could.
Powerful nobles were always checked by the Emperor.
And considering recent minor disputes between the Emperor and Leholas, this would only provoke further pressure if I pushed it.
“The Emperor won’t protect Balfruga forever.”
That was also true.
Leholas wouldn’t fall over something like this.
Unable to vent his anger on the Emperor, he would likely direct it at us.
And we couldn’t be sure the Emperor would protect us either.
“That’s exactly why I’m speaking to you now.”
I tapped my lips with my finger.
“The Emperor is more expensive information than you are, Marquess.”
Meaning: pay reasonably, and we stay silent.
Money—or handing leverage to the Emperor.
Leholas was sharp.
He laughed.
“Hahaha. Good. Very good. If it can be solved with money, then money is best. How much do you want?”
“3 billion marks!”
I answered with a bright smile.
“The law states 2 billion, doesn’t it?”
“1 billion is for confidentiality. We could already earn 2 billion through a lawsuit anyway, so you should pay extra.”
For the first time, his poker face cracked.
I smiled brightly.
“What will it be, Marquess?”
After the call ended, a cold light filled Marquess Leholas’s eyes.
“A clever girl. I’ve been outplayed.”
“I apologize, my lord.”
His subordinate knelt in apology, but the marquess’s expression did not change.
“Where did that girl come from again?”
“She was brought from an orphanage by a steward named Treon, who serves the ducal house.”
“She knows her place, uses her cards well even in disadvantageous situations, and extracts everything she can. Smart for her age. If she were my child, I would’ve made great use of her.”
For the marquess, that was high praise.
The plan had failed, but he seemed oddly amused.
“Should we send an assassin, if she’s becoming troublesome?”
“No. Not necessary. No need to draw the Emperor’s attention over something so trivial. Paying 3 billion marks is better than dealing with that old fox. He might use this as an excuse to investigate our estate.”
He thought of the Emperor like a sly old fox.
“But what if that ducal house recovers…?”
“If 3 billion marks could save them, they would’ve already recovered. This was just a fluke. Balfruga is not a house that can be revived so easily.”
The marquess said firmly.
“More importantly.”
His cold gaze turned to his subordinate.
The man swallowed hard and lowered his head.
His punishment for failure had not yet been decided.
The fraud using the Fox Merchant Alliance was his responsibility.
“Make sure you cover the cost yourself.”
“Yes, my lord!”
At least his life was spared.
His back was drenched in cold sweat.
“How is the plan with the Ministry of Economy progressing?”
“Smoothly. If nothing changes, the young lord will take control.”
“Hmm.”
With a dismissive gesture, the subordinate stepped back cautiously.
“Oh, and…”
“Yes, yes!”
“Don’t forget to deal with the one who handled this matter. You won’t disappoint me again, will you?”
The marquess’s blade-like eyes pinned him down.
“Rest assured. I will handle it cleanly, without leaving any trace.”
The Fox Merchant Alliance thus disappeared from the world.
But it didn’t matter.
Such small pieces were plentiful in the marquess’s world.
“Leholas paid Balfruga 3 billion marks?”
Treon Ibaropha couldn’t believe what he was hearing and asked again.
He was the man who had gone to the orphanage and arranged Pelia and Roos’s marriage.
After Pelia signed the marriage registration, he had immediately left for the capital to report to the Emperor, while Pelia was sent to the ducal estate.
He had just received confirmation that Roos was officially recognized as the Duke of Balfruga when he heard the shocking news.
“Has Marquess Leholas gone senile? What on earth happened?”
When he asked again, the servant replied hesitantly.
“Well… they say it was some kind of compensation settlement… I don’t know the details either.”
“Compensation? Who handled it? Prug? Or Duke Lucius?”
“No… rumors say it was the Duchess…”
“What?”
That puppet woman?
Something was definitely wrong.
He had planned to stay a few more days in the capital, but now it seemed he had to return immediately.
Treon looked toward the north—toward the Balfruga territory—and gave an order.
“Return to the castle as quickly as possible.”
