Chapter 67
“Sierra, you got a perfect score again, huh? How do you do it? How do you get a perfect score on that test?”
Sierra was always outstanding.
She understood even the difficult classes by Ezekiel Ross with ease and stood out even among the students at our school.
“Just got lucky. The questions came from what I studied, so I could answer them.”
“Come on, that’s a lie. It wasn’t just that you got questions you studied on. You went way beyond just memorizing; do you expect me to believe that?”
“I’m serious.”
Sierra always said she was just lucky.
I used to believe that.
Just memorize it.
That’s what I thought.
If I memorized all the sentences in the test material completely, to the point where I could write them down without looking, I thought I could get a perfect score too.
But as I realized how arrogant that thought was, no matter how hard I tried, I never got a perfect score on a test.
It felt like that score was only allowed for Sierra; it was always out of reach for me.
“Are you not telling me on purpose because you don’t want to lose to me? Is that it?”
“Not at all. Why would I care about losing to you?”
“Then why won’t you share your secret to getting a perfect score?”
“Because there’s no secret.”
At that time, I didn’t believe Sierra’s words.
You really solved a problem that I couldn’t? I thought Sierra must be getting extra lessons.
I even thought she was intentionally not telling me to beat me.
So, I tried hard to hire a better tutor to outdo her.
I didn’t hesitate to study years ahead of the material and learned more than Sierra.
I felt joy knowing things that Sierra didn’t, thinking that’s how I could beat her.
“That looks wrong.”
But it didn’t take long to realize that my judgment was off.
“What do you mean wrong? You ,don’t even know how to solve this!”
“Looking at the formula written here, I don’t think that’s how you solve it.”
Sierra glanced over the formula once and perfectly solved the problem I had been working on just moments before.
As she said, my answer was indeed wrong.
“Isn’t this it?”
Everyone called me a genius, but the real genius was Sierra.
That’s when I finally understood why Sierra could always get perfect scores.
What was difficult for others was easy for Sierra.
This world was far too easy for her.
In her eyes, problems were simple, people were easy to understand, and all it took was to grasp phenomena.
“Impressive, Sierra.”
So, I wanted to tell her.
That your world, which has taken everything from me, is definitely not as easy as you think.
* * *
From the moment you beat me, Sierra, your world began to unravel.
“Lady Bellieta? Your Highness?”
Bellieta, who had been dozing off, slowly opened her eyes.
The unfamiliar past faded away, replaced by a sense of familiarity.
Bellieta glanced at the maid who called her, then got up from her seat.
The maid flinched slightly as Bellieta moved and hesitated.
“Y-your Highness, a guest has arrived.”
“I thought there were no scheduled appointments today.”
At Bellieta’s dry and bored tone, the maid swallowed hard.
Considering her long experience as a maid, Bellieta was in a state that was like a ticking time bomb—someone you shouldn’t mess with.
If she made even a minor mistake, she might not see tomorrow.
Knowing this, the maid repeated the words she needed to say several times in her head, speaking slowly and carefully.
“Count Dwenley has come to visit. He asked me to tell you that he’d be allowed to see you even without an appointment if I mentioned his name.”
“…Dwenley?”
The maid successfully finished her report without stuttering or mispronouncing the name, nodding vigorously.
Still somewhat dazed, Bellieta mumbled the name a few times before nodding in understanding.
“Looks like it’s over.”
Bellieta murmured quietly as she turned to the maid.
The maid, who had been smiling brightly, froze at the sight of Bellieta’s cold blue eyes.
“Show him in.”
“It’s been a while, Your Highness. I wonder if you remember me…”
“I remember you, Baron Dwenley. Did you think I wouldn’t?”
Bellieta smiled brightly as she pushed her teacup away with her fingertips.
Dwenley’s eyes sparkled at the realization that Bellieta remembered him.
It wouldn’t hurt to make a good impression on Bozebourne.
Dwenley licked his dry lips and slowly lifted the corners of his mouth.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried you might forget…”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
Continuing her sentence, Bellieta nodded her fingers.
The knights who had been staying in the room stepped out at her gesture.
As the door closed, Bellieta crossed her arms and crossed her legs.
Her elegant and arrogant posture was far from the kind and gentle lady everyone admired, but Dwenley didn’t care.
He understood Bellieta’s gesture to have a seat and his eyes brightened.
“Please, go ahead.”
“I wanted to ask if the deal we discussed earlier is still valid.”
“Of course. Have you made the necessary arrangements?”
Dwenley repeatedly wetted his shiny lips as he nodded.
Even while speaking, his mouth felt dry, so he tilted the teacup like a wine glass, pouring the hot liquid into his mouth.
Watching him with a dry expression, Bellieta let out a faint smile.
“As you mentioned, I’ve taken care of the arrangements. I proceeded little by little as you instructed. However…”
Dwenley trailed off, rolling his eyes slightly, causing Bellieta to tilt her head in curiosity.
At Bellieta’s gesture to hurry up and report, Dwenley narrowed his eyes.
He rubbed his palms together, trying to gauge Bellieta’s reaction.
Bellieta, watching him quietly with a frown, slowly shifted her gaze to Dwenley’s hands, her lips twisting.
“Are you saying you’re short on money and need more funds?”
“Of course not, I would never say something like that. It’s just that I ended up spending more of my own money than the funds you gave me, and it was a bit tough… I just thought I’d mention that…”
With a goofy grin showing his buck teeth, Dwyenley smiled, and Bellieta leaned back.
Turning away from Dwyenley’s clueless grin, she slowly spoke up.
“I’ll handle the charges against you.”
“Of course.”
Dwyenley nodded eagerly, his eyes sparkling, then changed his posture immediately.
“As you said before, it was difficult to manipulate the accounts of the various companies in Brilloxen, but I eventually succeeded. I thought I would fail because it was so tight, but unexpectedly, there were loopholes in the oddest places.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I can’t share too much since it’s a business secret… but I can definitely say that Brilloxen is going to take a big hit soon. To resolve this, it’ll likely take more than half a year.”
His gestures and tone were far from the dignity expected of a noble.
Dwyenley seemed unconcerned about how Bellieta perceived him, maintaining his demeanor.
“However, I’m puzzled about Ripleton. I don’t quite understand why there’s a push to pin the blame on them while leaving evidence behind. Brilroxen is a fortress when it comes to business and money; I was able to crack it, but no one else would dare to try. Yet, Ripleton, who only knows how to fight with brute force, managed to do that? I doubt anyone would believe it.”
“I don’t care. I’m not interested in whether they believe it or not.”
“Then why Ripple…”
Dwyenley, who was casually asking a trivial question, suddenly shut his mouth at the cold gaze directed at him.
“Ha… Haha… Well, why does that matter? As long as the blame is shifted, it’s fine, right? Isn’t that correct?”
Fidgeting nervously and scratching his head, Dwyenley looked at Bellieta, who calmly opened her lips.
“As I mentioned before, everything about this conversation from our meeting is strictly confidential.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll let Fiorette know about the money, so please take it and hide out somewhere—either abroad or in a rural area—for the time being.”
“Understood.”
Bellieta lowered her cup as if to dismiss him.
At the sound of it clinking, Dwyenley jumped up, hurriedly bowing, and exited the room.
As he awkwardly scurried away, the opposite door opened, and Fiorette entered.
Bellieta pointed to the teacup Dwyenley had just touched.
“Take that away.”
Though that little teacup was worth more than a small gem, Fiorette picked it up without any question.
Bellieta handed over the cup she was holding to Fiorette and stood up.
“And also, get rid of that man. With how light-headed and frivolous he is, he’ll surely get drunk and start blabbering in a few days.”
“Understood.”
Looking down at Fiorette, Bellieta noticed the scars still visible on her neck.
Bellieta’s brow furrowed.
As Fiorette was clearing the cups, she flinched under Bellieta’s gaze and quickly covered her neck.
“Milady, this is…”
“Make sure to apply medicine so that it doesn’t leave a scar. It would be a shame to have a mark on such a lovely neck. Don’t you agree?”
Bellieta approached with a smile, covering Fiorette’s neck with her palm.
In contrast to Bellieta’s gentle voice, her fingertips felt icy cold against Fiorette’s skin.
Gently caressing Fiorette’s trembling neck, Bellieta tilted her head down to meet her gaze and smiled sweetly.
“Got it?”
“Y-yes.”
Fiorette struggled to swallow, her face showing the effort to respond.
Satisfied, Bellieta turned away with a bright smile.
After Bellieta left, Fiorette was alone in the room and raised her hand to touch the back of her neck.
Feeling the scars beneath her fingertips brought back memories of that day, and Fiorette slowly lowered her hand.
* * *
Upon being told there was something to report, Butler Daytum entered the office without breakfast.
As he sat down in the chair, wearing thicker clothes for early autumn, someone knocked at the door.
After inviting them in, Butler Daytum, looking sharp, entered the room.
He placed a rather thick report on the desk.
When I questioned with my eyes what it was, Daytum swallowed hard and spoke quietly.
“It’s the result of the tax audit on the thirty-two companies Brilloxen has operated for the past ten years.”
“Did it just come out now? That took a long time.”
It seemed the audit was ordered early this year, but now it was almost a year later before the results came out.
Considering that the usual timeframe was under six months, this was quite delayed.
As I opened the cover of the report, Daytum’s voice dropped.
“It seems a bit serious.”
I raised my head slightly to look at Daytum.
As I tilted my head, Daytum sighed heavily and began to speak slowly with a serious expression.
“It appears there’s been significant internal embezzlement.”
“…Embezzlement?”