chapter 17
“I clearly remember giving 500 gold each time… Brother, did I make some kind of mistake?”
“W-well…”
There was no way to escape. No matter what excuse he made, there was a flood of people ready to refute it.
Rianna’s lips trembled.
“Are you even human?! How could you deceive us for over ten years?! Did you think it was okay to watch your wife and children suffer in poverty? Did you really think that was acceptable while they went through all that hardship?!”
With her fists clenched tightly, she struck her husband repeatedly.
If only he had said something, but Ashbel just took the blows silently, which only made Rianna’s anger reach its peak.
“Why can’t you answer?! Answer me quickly! Speak! I said speak!”
“I-I was going to give it… I swear…!”
“Do you call that an explanation?!”
Rianna finally collapsed, clutching her forehead, shouting at the top of her lungs. Blood rushed to her head, making her dizzy.
The reality in front of her was unbelievable. Rising anger and frustration clouded her vision.
“M-Mom!”
“…Mom!”
Caroline and Daisy hurriedly supported Rianna. Ashbel stood helplessly by, unable to do anything.
When she had screamed and fought back before, she had been fierce. Now, seeing her humiliate herself in public, Chloe and Stella laughed at them.
“It’s best not to waste any more time on this. Stella, go and get your hair done.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Stella secretly stuck out her tongue at Jeremy and quickly followed her mother.
Daisy, burning with renewed anger, tried to chase after Stella to grab her hair, but Caroline barely stopped her.
No one was in their right mind. It was a situation too chaotic to witness.
Serena, averting her gaze from her foolish family, spoke clearly to Jeremy.
“As you can see, we can’t entrust anything to our parents. They embezzled money for over ten years—how could we trust them?”
Her older sisters weren’t even worth mentioning.
Serena continued without pause.
“I may still be young, but I’ve managed the household since I was even younger. So please, don’t tell me that I must leave everything to a guardian just because I’m young. I’m asking you. Please.”
Jeremy blinked slowly and alternated his gaze between Ashbel, who had lowered his head, and Rianna, who was wiping away tears.
Why wasn’t he agreeing immediately? Worried, Serena grabbed Jeremy’s sleeve again.
“…If I must leave it to a guardian because I’m too young, then I’d rather donate it. Use it for the poor. It’s far better than having it squandered on gambling.”
If that were impossible, she would burn it or throw it away. Or, like Harpe once did, she could assign it to the Roselantis Count family.
Having prepared multiple resolutions for when the money was no longer in her hands, Serena was interrupted when Jeremy’s warm hand touched her head.
“Yes, don’t worry. According to your grandmother’s will, all of this will be inherited by you once you find the documents.”
“W-wait! Even so, she’s too young…! She’s only ten!”
Ashbel protested but quickly fell silent under Rianna’s piercing gaze.
Serena’s eyes shone with relief.
Jeremy continued where he had left off.
“However, the title is another matter. Under imperial law, a guardian or representative must manage any noble titles until the heir reaches adulthood.”
This law had arisen during the empire’s annexation of other countries, allowing them to easily absorb the royal power of defeated nations.
Ashbel lifted his head slightly upon hearing that she couldn’t inherit the title immediately and rolled his eyes.
“Just the title? Not the wealth?”
“Yes. I’ll need to check carefully, but even as a minor, you can inherit property and lands.”
Serena’s expression brightened when Jeremy confirmed it.
“Inheriting just the wealth is enough. I don’t care about the title. What would I even do with it?”
She didn’t care about titles. What mattered to Serena was having enough wealth to leave home freely whenever she wanted.
“And even if you had the title without money or land, what could you do with it?”
The only thing that would come to mind would be flaunting the title arrogantly.
But having a title without wealth wouldn’t earn respect from anyone. She had already seen her own family—nobles who weren’t treated properly—and knew this well.
Whether noble or king, without the financial backing, a title is nothing but an empty shell.
‘At least if they had fame or skill, like a war hero, knight, or scholar…’
If she were to look for any reputation in Ashbel, it would be that he never obtained the hereditary title of the eldest son and lost all his wealth to gambling until his death.
Jeremy raised his eyebrows, seemingly impressed by her practical observation.
“That’s true. You’re young but clever. I’m relieved to have you by your brother’s side.”
“That’s a relief indeed. Not a single coin will go to you,” Serena added.
Hearing that nothing would go to her husband, Rianna felt slightly uplifted.
Supported by her daughters, she stood and addressed Serena with a triumphant expression.
“I’ll handle the finances from now on. No need to worry. A child should be a child. Leave the big matters to me.”
What nonsense.
“You didn’t even notice Father embezzled our living expenses for over ten years—how can you manage the property?”
“W-well… he deceived us intentionally. How could I have known when he was set on tricking everyone?”
“Exactly. You didn’t know until I found out.”
“Yes, you just learned a little earlier than I would have. Surely, I would have realized eventually.”
No, she hadn’t known—none of them had, even on the day she passed away.
Her mother, her older sisters, and even she herself had lived a lifetime in poverty, unaware of the truth.
‘Even if I had known, it wouldn’t have improved our situation.’
Even a slight surplus of money was never used for meals—they were always spent on unnecessary luxuries.
No matter how secretly Serena saved money, Rianna somehow always found it to buy more frivolous things.
Of course, it was only pocket change, so it wasn’t significant.
‘If it had been something expensive, I could at least sell it and recover some of it…’
All Rianna ever bought were small lace ribbon brooches.
Seeing her mother struggle to match them with old clothes using that tiny amount of money made Serena furious just thinking about it.
‘I don’t know how much property my great-grandmother left, but it would be spent on luxury goods in less than a month.’
No, luxury has no limits—it could even be a single day.
Serena said firmly,
“No. Absolutely not. I’ll spend it as I wish, no matter how much it is.”
“After all I did raising you, you can’t even consider that?”
Pretending to be noble, Rianna snapped, demanding money with a greedy expression.
“Hey! How dare you speak to your mother like that? Have you finished?”
As expected, Daisy couldn’t contain her anger and shoved Serena’s shoulder forcefully.
Caroline joined in, pushing Serena’s other shoulder.
“Exactly! And didn’t you do something wrong when you fell into the lake?”
“That’s right! It was weird ever since. I thought you were dead because you didn’t wake up, and then suddenly you opened your eyes and pushed me into the lake!”
“Don’t you remember all the effort Mom put into raising you?”
“Exactly! Just because I fell into the lake, you forgot everything?”
“Why aren’t you answering? I asked if you remember being fed and clothed!”
“Answer me quickly, you naughty girl!”
Honestly, there was no point arguing with such illogical anger. Serena always knelt down and apologized, even when it wasn’t her fault.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
