“Angmond Yeongsik! Be quiet!”
But the clueless Angmond Yeongsik kept babbling on.
“Even though he may be traveling for a while, it’s clear that the tower master’s skills are the best!”
“…Um, ah, Angmond Yeongsik!”
“What? Oh, His Grace the Duke has arrived!”
Looking at the clueless Angmond Yeongsik, Duke Hesman’s expression turned icy.
“You’re being loud.”
His words made the atmosphere turn cold as if doused with cold water.
He stood in front of the giant magic crystal in the center and raised his voice.
“I’d like to make a brief announcement.”
In a gathering of the nobility, Duke Hesman elegantly explained a new business plan.
It was about a business targeting children. He discussed the amount of investment, demonstrated a high-quality prototype, and talked about the location where the product would be unveiled for the first time.
The presentation ended quickly. And all the nobles present applauded.
“As expected, the name of the Hesman family will spread across the empire once again!”
“I am truly amazed by the formidable financial power of the Hesman family.”
“A collaboration with the Babeloa family, this is unprecedented.”
Listening to the business plan that was bound to succeed, people began to flatter.
In the midst of this, the other main character of this gardening party, Duke Babeloa, approached Duke Hesman.
“Ah, Duke Hesman. Speaking of which, I have something to tell you.”
“…What is it, Your Grace?”
I didn’t often talk about business with the Duke of Babeloa.
Sheria Hildegard was clever, but the Duke of Babeloa was a dull fellow.
Duke Hesman began speaking with a blunt face.
“I have to go down to my territory for a bit, so I’m short on time.”
“Ah, that’s the thing. I felt I needed to talk about this. After all, Meldenik is your fiancée.”
“…Are you talking about Miss Meldenik Babeloa?”
“Ha-ha-ha, yes.”
Duke Hesman frowned at the Duke of Babeloa, who burst into a hearty laugh.
“Let’s meet in a private room for a moment.”
Suddenly, I had a bad feeling.
Shortly after, in a small private room at the gardening party venue.
In a space where a magician had blocked out the sound, Duke Hesman and the Duke of Babeloa met.
“Ah, you know that Meldenik has left the family, right?”
“Yes.”
“We took measures in our family to tame the cheeky girl.”
“What measures?”
“We submitted a letter of excommunication to His Imperial Majesty.”
The Duke of Babeloa could not help but frown at the words slipping through his teeth.
“Without consulting me, you excommunicated my fiancée?”
“Ha, you. Who said we excommunicated her? And since when did you care so much about Meldenik…”
Lennox’s lips twisted as if he was looking at a man who would regret his actions.
“…Well, that’s that. So… what’s this about a letter of expulsion? You need to be clear.”
“I submitted the letter of expulsion to the imperial palace in a fit of anger, but I never really intended to expel her. I will naturally cancel it.”
“Once a letter of expulsion is submitted to the imperial palace, it cannot be canceled without mutual consent, I understand.”
It was a sharp criticism, but a smile never left the lips of Duke Babeloa.
“Ah, do you really think Meldenik will quietly accept expulsion? Oh dear, do you still not understand her? How hard she tried to stay attached to Babeloa!”
His words were true.
Meldenik tirelessly strived for recognition within the family.
On a day she ruined a business deal, Duke Babeloa cast her out, yet she endured three days of fasting and kneeling in supplication.
Despite no one reaching out to help her, she persevered in tough resilience, didn’t she?
Meldenik of Babeloa wouldn’t possibly give up on her family.
Duke Babeloa asserted firmly.
“Surely she will come back, shedding tears, saying she is sorry and that she was wrong.”
Renox’s reason told him that Duke Babeloa’s words were probably right.
But why then? His mouth went dry and he became anxious.
Could it be because of the determination Meldenik had shown before?
“If she’s indeed a high noble, then wouldn’t it require His Majesty’s decision after all.”
“…Ah, I suppose you’re right.”
Of course, expelling a direct descendant of a high noble family wouldn’t be so simple.
If it does come to an expulsion trial, all they need to do is mentally pressure the puppet emperor.
“But why do I feel uncomfortable?”
“Don’t worry, Duke Hesman.”
Duke Babeloa patted Lennox on the shoulder.
“And what, if that child is excommunicated, can’t you just marry Sheria?”
“……”
“That way, even without Meldenik, the bond between our two families will be eternal.”
Duke Hesman, who intended to assert that such a thing would never happen, smiled softly.
‘After all, I planned to marry Sheria after getting a child from Meldenik and then casting her aside.’
He couldn’t abandon Meldenik, who would become his splendid tool, but he also couldn’t give up on his beloved lover, Sheria.
Hiding his feelings, he replied with a gentle smile.
“First of all, I feel sorry for Miss Meldenik. So, I take it the excommunication will be canceled.”
His eyes twisted viciously.
Duke Babeloa laughed heartily and patted his shoulder lightly.
“Go ahead, try talking to her. If you say it, she’ll be utterly charmed, won’t she?”
“……”
“Just a few kind words from Duke Hesman, and she’d come running barefoot.”
He was right.
Until just recently, she was a woman who would smile brightly just for being handed a piece of trash.
“……It’s just that, it seems she has changed.”
The look in Meldenik’s eyes, telling him off, calling him disgusting, naturally came to mind.
Seeing Lennox furrow his brows, Duke Babeloa laughed and said.
“Haha, even if it changes, my love for you will be eternal. What are you worrying about so much?”
That was Meldenik.
A foolish woman who didn’t know what to do with herself in gratitude when he approached her.
The only thing she has is the title of Babylon’s castle behind her.
‘I should go and tempt her soon.’
For his future, Meldenik must never be excommunicated.
Lennox briefly left a salute to the Duke of Babeloa and turned away.
***
As Lennox walked away, the Duke of Babeloa watched his retreating figure and clicked his tongue inwardly.
“That Duke Hesman, he’s such an enigma.”
He had seemed to dislike Meldenik, but then he was displeased about the excommunication order.
He was planning to annul the prenatal engagement with Meldenik and arrange one with Sheria instead.
“Well, it’ll work out somehow.”
Either way, it wouldn’t be a loss for him.
The Duke of Babeloa entered the garden party area, but a retainer standing next to him kept coughing significantly.
“What’s making you cough so much?”
“Oh, Your Grace.”
The gleaming-eyed retainer cautiously spoke up.
“Have you heard the rumors?”
“What rumors are you talking about?”
He had been suffering from bedsores recently and hadn’t been able to attend official events.
He enjoyed hearing about manageable gossip and was very much looking forward to new rumors.
“It’s about Lady Meldenik.”
‘I’ve taken drastic measures like the excommunication order secretly, and she still hasn’t come to her senses!’
There had never been a good rumor about Meldenik before. The Duke muttered while rubbing the back of his neck.
“So, she’s ruined it again?”
“Pardon?”
The Duke’s green eyes darkened with displeasure.
“I knew it. She doesn’t have a single redeeming quality, always bringing me shame, isn’t she?”
The flustered aide shook his head and cautiously opened his mouth.
“No, it seemed like you were running a business in front of the academy.”
“……Was it successful?”
“I’m not exactly sure……”
He looked at the aide with a suspicious glance.
“My son found the idea of a ‘stationery store’ fascinating and kept boasting about it, so I got curious and had it looked into. And guess what, Lady Meldenik was there.”
There were many children of the Babeloa family’s retainers attending the academy as well.
The child of the aide who was speaking to the Duke of Babeloa was one of them.
“Ha! You mean to say she’s running a small shop, the kind that commoners do?”
“……But unlike before, you have been kind to the kids, your grace.”
This retainer was one of the few who were favorable towards Meldenik.
Hearing this, Duke Babeloa was puzzled.
‘Could it be, she really changed?’
She had been rumored to be a villainess.
But the information he got upon entering the gardening party was different from the child he had known up to now.
He had never thought well of his daughter.
He married Meldenik’s mother to absorb the territories of the Marquis of Kinnoa, and Meldenik was the cursed offspring of a loveless marriage.
On top of that, she brought shame to the family by failing in business continuously, which made her worse than worthless to him.
“Forget it. You may go.”
The retainer, who had been worried that he might have gone against Duke Babeloa’s wishes, suddenly brightened up.
“Yes, your grace.”
