“Of course, Carl, you’re fired.”
“You can’t just fire me. Unlike the other employees, I was hired by the Lord, not the Lady.”
“Well, under normal circumstances, yes, but not now. Both Theodore and Berengella are away. don’t you know that when an elder of the house is suddenly absent, the person next in rank has authority?”
Carl’s face, which had been pale, darkened.
“Right now Berengella and Theodore are ‘missing’. I am exercising the authority of the master ‘temporarily’ until Theodore’s whereabouts are found.”
“Neither Berengella nor Count Theodore are missing.”
“Really? Do you know where they are? Then quickly take me to them. If the noble council finds out that Theodore is not missing, they will take away my authority.”
There was no way that would happen.
The moment he appeared again, Theodore would have to pay the price for ruining the crown prince’s birthday banquet.
Carl also didn’t want Theodore to return. When he returned, the incident regarding the affair would become even bigger, and Jane would suffer more.
In the end, Carl had no way to stop Rachel’s from taking authority.
Carl replied quietly.
“…All right. I will pack my bags and leave the mansion later today.”
“Aren’t you glad? You’ll be able to be with your daughter all day without worrying about the mansion.”
“To be honest, yes.”
“Ahaha. You’re so straight forward.”
Rachel smiled brightly and whispered to Carl’s back as he turned around, about to leave the parlor.
“Where are you going, this isn’t over yet, I’d feel so disappointed if the result of you cheating me and helping my husband have an affair for so long only ended in your dismissal.”
“Are you going to kill me right here and now?”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Rachel leaned back, resting her elbows on the armrests of her chair.
“You do realize that Theodore siphoned off the Elrosa’s fortune and sent it to Jane, and he also lied on his taxes. Berengella made a big fuss about it the other day.”
“Why are you telling me that?”
“I think someone must have helped him. There is no way that idiot Theodore could have siphoned off the wealth and evaded his taxes by meticulously calculating the amount on his own. There’s no way he didn’t get caught because he was lucky for all those years.”
“…”
Both Rachel and Carl knew that Theodore wasn’t that meticulous. He was not the type of person who could evade taxes without being caught by officials.
“Someone smart must have helped him, someone who wouldn’t lose anything if the wealth leaked out of the House of Elrosa, someone who would never reveal that Theodore had taken it.”
Rachel leaned forward and looked into Carl’s brown eyes.
“I think Carl fits the bill, what do you think?”
The money that left the Elrosa’s found its way into the pockets of his daughter, Jane. When it is discovered that the money is missing from the Elrosa’s, Jane will be blamed.
Carl was the only one who had no need or reason to stop Theodore from siphoning off the fortune, as it was all going to his family in the end.
Carl avoided Rachel’s gaze.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It may have been because Theodore ordered you, so you were unable to avoid the situation. The Elrosa family will face charges of concealing assets and tax evasion.”
“… I did it because my master told me to. It was never something I wanted.”
“Do you have any proof?”
Carl finally bit his lip.
There was no evidence that Theodore had ordered Car to hide the assets.
A lazy Theodore would have just said something along the lines of, “I want to give Jane some money, so help me out. The family’s finances would have been an afterthought, and he would’ve had Carl do it, no second thoughts and without care..
Finally, Carl looked at Rachel. Their sharp eyes met.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Jane will be furious when she finds out that Theodore and Carl are accomplices, and she’ll say that her father is the only one getting punished when they’re both guilty.”
“You’re saying you’re going to split them up?”
“Exactly, because I want to see them fight and tear each other apart.”
Rachel spoke, looking at Carl who lowered his head in resignation.
“Obediently give me what I need. Your daughter will suffer anyway, but you never know, maybe I’ll take pity on her and be lenient.”
Your daughter will suffer anyway.
Only then did Carl realize that Rachel had been preparing for this for a long time, pretending to know nothing.
He should have been more careful.
He should have sorted it out quickly.
He kept putting everything off for just one more day, just a little more, and it got to this point.
He wanted Jane to be happy with the person she loved. He was foolish. Although he thought that he might be punished one day, he was afraid when the time actually came.
With a whimper, Carl fell to the ground at Rachel’s feet. His weak voice barely heard.
“Can you…… forgive me?”
“Forgiveness?”
Rachel smirked, one corner of her mouth twitching upward.
“Is that what you want? That’s not even funny.”
“I’ll… do whatever you want, My Lady, anything, but I have a favor to ask of you-no, a suggestion.”
* * *
“Count Theodore Elrosa is hiding in a town house near the imperial palace. It looks like he was using the rented space when preparing for the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet.”
Cian nodded at his aide, Nick’s, report. It was as he expected.
“Jane, his mistress, is staying at the house where she originally lived. She had her father, the butler of Elrosa Manor, staying with her until the day before yesterday, but she has been alone since he left.”
“Has the butler returned to Elrosa?”
“That’s correct.”
So yesterday must have been the butler’s last day.
“Yesterday, Countess Eloisa accused the butler of stealing from the family fortune and evading taxes. The butler appeared before the tax collector today, and he confessed that he had been secretly siphoning off money for his daughter Jane.”
Cian’s eyes narrowed.
It was Theodore who had been siphoning off the Elrosa family’s money. First with expensive gifts, then outright cash for his mistress.
Although Carl, the butler, helped, it was Theodore who directly ordered it. But the butler appeared in person and confessed?
Why?
It was obviously Rachel’s doing, but it was hard to guess her intentions.
Rachel’s image appeared vividly in my mind. Pink hair, light blue eyes, looking like a delicate flower that could be snapped at a moment’s notice, but with a look of strength in her eyes.
‘Rachel Elrosa, why did you put the blame for your husband’s sins on someone else? You’re an intelligent person, you must know that it would lessen Theodore’s crimes.’
He asked the question silently, but the imaginary Rachel didn’t respond. She just smiled lightly.
This time, he recalled the look on her face when she witnessed the affair. She looked shocked.
She was a wise and careful woman who completely suppressed and hid her true nature, but the moment she witnessed her husband’s affair, she couldn’t hide her emotions.
‘… Does she really have no resentment toward her husband? Is she going to even protect that bastard now? Does she want to avoid a situation where her husband is severely punished?’
He felt irritated.
He hated the fact that Rachel was shaken by her bastard husband. He wanted to go to her right away and tell her to come to her senses and ask her what on earth she was thinking.
Even though he knew it wasn’t like him to get emotional, he felt the urge to act foolishly.
“Do you think you can escape me?”
Nick’s eyes widened.
“What are you talking about?”
“I was talking to myself. First of all, postpone the noble council meeting. I need to check on Rachel Elrosa’s intentions before putting Carl in jail.”
“All right! In addition, His Majesty the Crown Prince sent a message asking when you would be arriving.”
“Tell them I’ll be there later.”
He knew that Crown Prince Atreille was waiting for Cian.
Atreille was one of the few people who knew that Cian freely traveled outside the imperial palace and acted as an informant for the guild. The crown prince, who lived a confined life, longed for the freedom of the Archduke.
“I heard that he’s very upset because his birthday banquet was ruined. If the Archduke comforts him, maybe he’ll feel better.”
“No. I don’t think he’s upset at all, and that’s the problem.”
“He’s not upset?”
“That’s right.”
He may be pretending to be upset because he’s worried about the royal family and the council of elders, but in reality, he’ll probably want to talk excitedly about the funny events that happened at the boring birthday banquet. Atreille was the kind of person who would do that.
If possible, it would be beneficial not to make known Atreille’s real feelings until Theodore’s punishment was determined.
Knowing that the crown prince was not very angry, it was obvious that the royal family and the council of elders would not severely punish Theodore and Jane. The emperor might even reward him for making his son happy.
That wasn’t what Rachel wanted.
“First of all, tell him that I’m busy due to an order issued by the council of elders. Also tell His Majesty that I will visit him soon.”
“All right.”
Nick disappeared faster than light and Cian sat alone in the empty office, quietly lost in thought.
* * *
[Notice
Carl, who served as a butler for the House of Elrosa, has been accused by the Tax Administration of siphoning off your family’s property and evading taxes.
The involved parties have confessed to all charges and submitted evidence. Relevant departments of the Empire are reviewing the confession and evidence for validity.
Carl will be held in a temporary prison and, depending on the outcome of the review,…
… We will send you a notification regarding the processing results.
Tax Administration]
“Good.”
As soon as Rachel received the letter from the tax administration, she wrote a reply. It was a request to send a notice of the results to another location.
She felt very good because things were going smoothly.
Just as she was about to write her reply and send it to the post office, Graham came into the reception room yawning.
“Haaa, mom, good morning.”
“Welcome, Graham. It looks like you overslept today?”
“Yes. I had a very pleasant dream last night. I didn’t want to wake up, so I slept longer.”
“Well? What did you dream about?”
“I dream of leaving the mansion holding hands with mom.”
Rachel’s face darkened.
“…Huh? Graham, do you want to go outside?”
It wasn’t only Theodore and Jane who had a hard time going out because of the affair, but also Rachel.
This was expected, so Rachel didn’t feel bothered, but Graham did. Fortunately, she was relieved that he didn’t seem as frustrated as she’d feared, but appears that wasn’t the case.
She felt saddened that she’d made such a big deal out of the affair and had given her son a bad memory.
Rachel looked at Graham, who was smiling brightly, and wondered if there was a good way to sneak out with the child.
