IFLDMHF | Chapter 67

Episode 67

Yesterday, Amy was shocked when she heard from Evgenia that a branch of the Basilian Merchant Guild would be established in the North.

She had assumed the Basilian family would settle for repaying a portion of their debts and sending her off with a generous dowry, never imagining such an event could unfold.

In the 500 years since the Empire was established and the Ducal House of Rudion settled in the North, not once had a merchant guild from the capital entered the region.

‘But why now of all times!’

Even though Amy wasn’t particularly quick at calculating matters, she was certain something significant had happened to the Biers County family.

And she was right.

– What did you say? The Basilian Merchant Guild is entering the North?

The count Of Biers, who had just heard the news from Amy, stood up abruptly, his face pale.

It felt as though he’d been struck from behind.

He hadn’t received a single hint about this from the Duke of Rudion.

Not that the duke had any obligation or reason to report to him, of course…

Still, the Count had emotionally assumed a position of superiority, given the long-standing financial support his family had received from the ducal house.

He had been displeased from the start about the alliance with the Basilian noblewoman, but now this absurd development was happening.

Suppressing his agitation, the Count shook his head.

It couldn’t be true. There was no way the Ducal House of Rudion would defy their ancestors’ legacy by allowing a new merchant guild—especially one from the capital—into the North.

But then again, the current Duke was the one who had placed the Basilian noblewoman in the duchess’s position, which had traditionally been reserved for Northerners.

Moreover, wasn’t the Duke himself guilty of breaking the ancestors’ legacy?

The reason the Biers family had been the only household in the North permitted to operate a merchant guild among many noble families wasn’t a coincidence.

It was thanks to a pact made between the first heads of the Rudion ducal house and the Biers earldom.

However, the Count had considered this pact unfair since his days as the heir.

Sure, the ducal house had helped the wandering Biers family settle in the North, but that didn’t mean they were a vassal family.

To make matters worse, they were tasked with supplying essential goods for the North while being forbidden from exploiting the region for excessive profits.

As a merchant, it felt unreasonable and frustrating to endure such hardships while obvious opportunities to make money went untapped.

Perhaps sensing these sentiments, the Count’s father refused to pass down the title until he was too old to manage affairs himself.

On his deathbed, he left a final instruction to honor the pact, then passed away.

It wasn’t until fifteen years ago that the Count finally inherited the title. At first, he cautiously raised the prices of goods, just enough to make it seem like a natural increase in the cost of living.

Over time, his greed grew, and by the fifth year, he began to impose outrageous profit margins.

The Rudion ducal house tried to invoke the old pact, but they couldn’t stop him.

After all, the ducal house wasn’t going to report the Count to the imperial family. Feeling emboldened, the Count ignored the warnings of his ancestors and completely indulged in his ambitions.

It was during this time, while the Count reveled in his newfound wealth, that the people of the North grew increasingly resentful. Their anger escalated to the point where they threw filth at the Earl’s carriage and gates, and even the possibility of an uprising began to loom.

Then, the former heir of the Rudion house, Euclid’s older brother, visited the Biers family to negotiate. Coincidentally, the Count had just succeeded in capturing a thief who had been stealing from the guild’s wealth and distributing it among the people.

To the Euclid’s surprise, the thief was a woman who seemed to share a deep connection with the young Rudion heir.

A mere commoner, she had dared to deceive the young heir by hiding her true identity.

The Count couldn’t contain his sense of betrayal, but when the young heir pleaded for the woman not to be punished, the Count saw his opportunity.

– “Lower the prices of your goods appropriately,” the Count offered, “but it would be beneficial if the ducal house could also cover some distribution costs.”

– What nonsense are you spouting…?

– “The real nonsense is what I’m about to propose,” the Earl said with a sly grin. “You’ve asked for the thief’s pardon. I’ll grant it, but not just that—I’ll make her my daughter by adoption, the Young Lady of Biers. That way, the young duke can marry her without any obstacles.”

The Count produced forged documents, claiming the thief was a cousin recovering in the Biers territory and now officially adopted into his family. The young heir couldn’t refuse.

The Count was now confident he had the heir’s weakness in his grasp.

He envisioned a future where the Biers family, as the in-laws and grandparents of successive dukes, would gain influence over the Rudion ducal house and perhaps even dominate the North entirely.

His dream seemed to be unfolding without issue.

That is, until five years ago, when Duke Rudion and his heir suddenly passed away.

The situation was entirely different from when the heir’s wife had died during childbirth with their second child.

At that time, he believed that having two children would suffice, as they could become vulnerabilities to exploit in place of the mother.

But to think the very people holding those weaknesses would die.

Count Biers had no choice but to watch as the second son he had barely regarded, Euclid, ascended to the dukedom.

The disappointment was immeasurable. If Euclid were to have children, they would likely struggle to become heirs of the ducal family, even on paper, and would never elevate him to the position of the great elder of the Rudion family.

Adding insult to injury, his only daughter, Amy, declared her desire to become the Duchess, further aggravating him.

To the Count, the Rudion Dukedom was nothing more than a gilded shell.

What good was the title of Duke? The family was mired in debt, and he could not let his hard-earned fortune flow into such a house through marriage.

Yet now, he feared that decision might have been a grave mistake.

He wanted to believe otherwise, but the words from the mouth of the Basillian princess herself made it hard to dismiss. What if the Basillian Merchant Guild truly established a branch within the Rudion territory?

What would become of the Biers Merchant Guild then?

More importantly, what about the money they extracted from the ducal family every month under the guise of distribution fees?

If another merchant guild emerged, it would be unreasonable to demand such fees exclusively from his guild.

Worse still, if the Basilian princess brought attention to this absurd practice, it could spell disaster.

The distribution fees themselves were a problem, but the real issue lay in the fact that he had gradually increased the rates, to the point where the amount now far exceeded the original fees.

While it pained him to think about losing the money that had significantly contributed to building the Biers family’s wealth, he was more terrified that it could become the spark for an even greater problem.

Thus, he chose not to visit the Rudion Dukedom immediately, vowing instead to first confirm the situation.

Amy, observing the Count’s behavior, was gripped by unease.

This was not the father she knew, who always approached dealings with the Rudion Dukedom with unwavering confidence.

She had expected him to reassure her not to worry.

But his reaction, starkly different from what she had anticipated, made her realize how serious the situation truly was. Seeing her father more shocked than herself made it abundantly clear.

Amy’s anxiety soon escalated into anger, which she misdirected at Marianne and Dior.

In truth, Amy had despised the heir’s wife—who had become her sister-in-law on paper—ever since she was a child and had learned the full story of the Rudion family’s entanglements.

It irked her to no end that a woman of such lowly origins, who had been on the brink of execution as a thief, had not only dared to become her sister-in-law but had also ascended to the status of the Rudion family’s second mistress.

But above all, what she found most intolerable was…!