The noble guests, intoxicated with alcohol and drugs, couldn’t exactly understand what was happening. A strange man announced that the party was over.
Beatrice, when the unknown man from the merchant group appeared, lifted her hazy eyes and smiled first. In her dazed state, buried among people, she thought: Ah, I should sleep with that man tonight. Her desire to release the tension she’d been holding back for the Emperor’s sake was bubbling up towards this strangely attractive man.
“Ah.”
Though her mood was slightly dampened, she could still invite the mood-killer to join the banquet. With a sly smile, she stood up and took a step forward. Her mind was still clear until now. She needed to keep her wits about her until the Emperor arrived.
If the Emperor saw Beatrice having a good time with a young man, he might feel an interesting emotion like jealousy or irritation. Then he might try harder to make the otherwise boring night more entertaining. Either way, it worked out well for Beatrice.
“Let’s have fun together.”
She approached the man, mumbling something to that effect. She knew best how attractive she looked in her slightly disheveled state.
However, before her outstretched hand could reach him, the man abruptly thrust a piece of paper at her, practically sticking it to her hand. Then he frowned at her.
“We’ll need to clean up first.”
The next thing she knew, they were outside. Like being swept away by an invisible river, people in disheveled clothing were pushed out through the wide-open doors, all the way to the outer gate.
Naturally, the journalists waiting outside discovered them. Everything was pushed out like during cleaning – the food, gambling tables, tables littered with alcohol and drugs, and even men and women collapsed on top of them.
While Beatrice’s party was entirely exposed to the public, all the doors of Hill House slammed shut.
“Huh? What?”
While a guest still holding a wine glass looked bewildered, journalists began eagerly sketching this incredible scene. At that moment, from a plain, undecorated carriage coming up the hill below, the Emperor asked:
“What’s that?”
“I’ll go check, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor, who had hoped to blend in incognito at Beatrice’s gathering, soon heard his servant’s report:
“All party attendees have suddenly been thrown outside. There are journalists in front.”
Being noticed would do no good. The Emperor shook his head.
“Let’s go back.”
And so the fun party came to an end.
****
The next day, every newspaper had similar headlines on their front pages:
[Lady Ravalley, Hill House Seized!]
Technically, it was seized because Duke Monde hadn’t paid his debts, but the journalists didn’t hesitate to use the party host’s name. Either way, Beatrice’s wish came true.
Everyone was talking about her party. The identities of the guests caught in compromising positions were exposed in detail, and various commentators came forward to criticize its obscene nature.
People enjoy displaying others’ misfortunes.
Beatrice, once revered as the queen of social circles, lost all face overnight. With the property seizure, she needed to pay her debts immediately, and she was even sued for hosting an obscene party.
“Just pay them off to end the lawsuits.”
Beatrice wasn’t screaming yet. More accurately, she wasn’t in a state to scream.
She couldn’t understand how things had ended up this way. How could this happen to her, who had always been at the center of a group where everyone wanted to get closer to her!
“And quickly contact Insenidraken or whatever it’s called.”
“We already have.”
The butler, with a troubled expression, handed Beatrice the reply letter he had already opened. She quickly snatched the envelope and read it.
“…What is this? In short, they’re saying they won’t see me until I pay my debts.”
Beatrice tightly closed her eyes, reflexively remembering her childhood when she had to strip Monde Castle of its materials to pay debts. She absolutely, absolutely didn’t want to go through that again. Since then, she had struggled so desperately to get to where she was!
It seemed the merchant group was taking a hard stance because she had refused their marriage proposal. But she couldn’t end her life with something like marriage.
Even if she could somehow cover the debts with a husband’s money immediately after marriage, she’d eventually have to sell off all her jewels, artworks, real estate, and breweries. That would mean becoming just another ordinary, conventional noble.
“What are they saying about Hill House?”
“That’s still unclear.”
“Tell them to put it up for auction. Send them this money plus more, and tell them to stop this nonsense.”
Beatrice pushed forward the box of money she’d received from the Emperor. She had no intention of reclaiming the property now tainted by scandal. She needed to somehow raise money and put out the urgent fires first.
Who had the most money right now? Her drunk mother would be of no help. Beatrice, who had worked her way up from the bottom, wouldn’t be defeated by something like this.
Everything that happened today would be forgotten once she reached the pinnacle of power. She clenched her trembling fists and thought hard.
“Still nothing new about that merchant group?”
Beatrice had mobilized all her connections to learn about the merchant group that had taken over all her debts. But neither her butler nor her friends had brought any useful information.
“It’s a completely unknown organization.”
“Right. That’s what everyone’s saying.”
Never seen them before, no information available, never heard of them, don’t know such a man, and so on. They were suddenly-appeared big spenders, and though they called themselves a merchant group, no one knew what they dealt in.
“Is there really no information?”
Beatrice finally asked irritably.
“Well, there are some minor details…”
“Then you should share even those!”
The butler, who had been trying to gather more information fearing she might yell at him for bringing such trivial facts, was forced to speak up at her outburst.
“They’re really insignificant details that didn’t seem worth reporting.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“First, the merchant group was established very recently. Their funding source is unclear. They mysteriously picked out all the creditors and took over just our duchy’s debts, but we don’t know where their money and information came from.”
Beatrice touched her forehead.
“Tell me what you don’t know, not what I already know.”
This was why he hadn’t reported earlier. The butler quickly shared another minor detail.
“Since we don’t know what they sell, we investigated some former creditors, and some of them can’t be contacted.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. That’s what I wanted to hear. Why be so frustrating when you’re this capable? Why can’t they be contacted?”
The butler cleared his throat and answered.
“The reason is too unclear to report yet. Some are on long-term travel, others are completely unreachable. We’re investigating. And the merchant group is registered in Avenro.”
“Avenro? Where’s that? Oh, there? There’s nothing special there.”
It was a small resort town she could barely remember. It was too far from Craine, close to the northwest, known for its hot springs. She only remembered it because she knew someone there.
“The Marquis Alemichi has a villa there.”
More precisely, it was where the current Empress had stayed for a long time before her marriage. She vaguely remembered this from hearing the Emperor talk about the Empress to the point of exhaustion.
“This is strange.”
What nonsense is this about buying up all of Monde Duchy’s 83 million liquette debt by selling hot spring water?
“Well done. Look into it more. I’ll investigate too. From now on, bring me everything you find out.”
“Yes, understood.”
No, she needed to move right away. Beatrice stood up abruptly.
****
While everyone was either buried in newspapers or busy discussing the articles, Kaela was maintaining her usual calm and ordinary life. Her daily routine was similar to that of other noble ladies, yet slightly different.
For one thing, it was different because she woke up in her husband’s tight embrace and had breakfast with him. While reading the newspaper after breakfast, Kaela suddenly looked up.
“Did you go out last night?”
Peon, who had been hoping she might speak informally today, made a deflated expression.
“Yes. Did I wake you?”
He had thought it was fortunate when she seemed to stir briefly before falling back asleep.
“No. I just had a feeling you did.”
Then Kaela returned to reading the newspaper. Her expression remained unchanged as she read the article reporting how Beatrice’s banquet had fallen apart.
“…Aren’t you angry?”
“Pardon?”
Kaela looked at Peon again. He was still waiting for her answer.
“Why would I be angry?”
“Well… never mind.”
There was no point in explaining when it would only hurt him in the process. His wife, who didn’t question her husband at all about going out briefly at night, looked at him with a “why is he acting like this” expression before turning away when he said never mind.
When he says never mind, she doesn’t ask further. She probably isn’t curious. Even if he met another woman outside, Kaela wouldn’t be curious at all.
She would quietly fulfill her duties while exhibiting the noble virtue of not concerning herself with her husband’s private life, and when the opportunity for death came, she would throw herself into it immediately.
Damn death, damn rival in love.
“I went to that banquet.”
“Ah.”
Kaela turned to look at him, made an expression of realization with an “ah,” and after a moment, nodded.
“I see.”
Then she turned away again.
“…Is that all?”
Kaela turned to look at him again, seemingly confused.
“The contents of the banquet are all there in the paper. You’re saying you went there.”
Even after he said that much, she just looked at him with clear eyes.
“Nothing to say?”
He hadn’t known a person could feel this miserable in the face of such complete indifference.
Then, how many times had Kaela felt this miserable during those four years? Thinking about that made Peon feel even worse. Back then, Kaela probably didn’t love him. Because he wasn’t someone who could be loved.
Then was the pain he felt now greater? He hoped so. Because these emotions would be too difficult for that delicate, small woman to handle.
Kaela just stared at him blankly.
“You don’t even despise me?”
Only when he went that far did she think for a moment and ask. No, she deigned to ask:
“Did you enjoy the banquet?”
It was a purely formal, polite question one would ask anyone who attended a banquet. Peon covered his eyes with his large hand.
“No, I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
How presumptuous of him to resort to begging, something even Kaela wouldn’t do. He didn’t even have the right to feel miserable about her lack of interest.
“I’m sorry.”
Kaela stared at him for a moment before lowering her gaze.
“…I went there to shut down the banquet.”
The couple continued their conversation without facing each other. Peon rubbed his face several times.
“I thought so.”
Kaela murmured, looking down at the newspaper. No matter how much she searched the newspaper, Peon’s name wasn’t mentioned.
But the article’s description of how all invited guests, along with waiters and security, poured out as if caught in rapids, clearly indicated a strange power.
It was Peon’s power that only Kaela would notice. That’s why, though it was bothersome, she hadn’t asked where he’d been all night.
“You did? Ah, I see…”
Peon felt slightly relieved, thinking she hadn’t asked because she already knew. Kaela was smart, so she must have figured it out as soon as she read the article. He completely ignored how this relief made him feel even more miserable.
“I just shut it down without doing anything else. I’m the one who seized the property.”
Finally, a look of curiosity appeared on her face. This made him feel more relieved. Ah. He had recaptured her attention in this moment. He had managed to spark at least some interest. He had succeeded in not boring her. One small misstep and she would find him bothersome again.
So he had to voluntarily confess everything she had sensed but ignored, like paying taxes in advance. He had to make her know everything, even if she didn’t want to. That was the only way to survive.
“But it says here a merchant group seized it…”
“That merchant group is mine. Under a different name.”
Merchant group? Kaela’s eyes widened further as she finally looked at him directly.
Peon thought this level of revelation was necessary just to get her to look at him. While she could face death without fear, he needed to move heaven and earth just to get her to glance his way.
“I named it ‘Insenidraken.’ The Monde duchy owes the merchant group 83 million liquettes. That’s why I seized it yesterday.”
Peon savored the moment Kaela looked at him.
“You should know. My wife should know about my financial situation.”
“…The unpaid debt is 83 million liquettes?”
“Ah.”
His purple eyes suddenly sparkled.
“Are you going to scold me?”
The husband who should have been apprehensive was smiling.
