YED Chapter 109

Kaela had originally planned to read the newspaper, then open today’s mail, give instructions on requests from Lusenford, and handle the accumulated duties of the Grand Duchess.

The Grand Duchess’s duties always included monitoring financial conditions and managing the territory’s affairs meticulously. In that sense, she couldn’t just overlook the enormous sum of 83 million liquette that was supposedly lent out of nowhere.

“When exactly did you lend that much?”

Kaela folded the newspaper sharply and put it down with a thud.

“Was it right after becoming the Grand Duke of Lusenford? But did Lusenford even have that much money? I don’t think they did. Besides, Monde has quite a few creditors.”

The interrogation began instantly. Peon seemed greatly amused.

“The merchant guild was established not long ago. Lusenford doesn’t have that kind of money either.”

“Then?”

Kaela’s attention was entirely focused on the unpaid debt, her eyes wide with inquiry.

Instead of answering, Peon pulled out a box from thin air. No longer surprised by such things, Kaela merely glanced at him as he placed the rather large box on the dining table.

“Open it.”

Though a lady wouldn’t touch anything without the owner’s permission, once permitted, she had the spirit to immediately pounce and fling open the box. She picked up one of the neatly organized file folders inside.

They were all promissory notes written to the Monde Duchy by various people, along with documents transferring these debts to a merchant guild called “Insenidraken.”

“You collected all of these?”

Faced with the stack of documents proving he had contacted numerous creditors and bought their debts, Kaela was speechless.

“With what money?”

“Turns out I inherited quite a fortune. This much is just pocket change.”

83 million liquette as pocket change? This was such an enormous sum that even wealthy Ostein would suffer aftereffects from five years of austerity measures. Yet the man’s face remained impassive as he called this amount pocket change.

“Why did you do this?”

“What do you think?”

Peon was now staring directly at Kaela, his expression blank. His gaze, while seemingly casual, somehow seemed to warn ‘Don’t give me a wrong answer when you know better.’

“Come to think of it, that seems like Your Highness’s private matter. You don’t need to answer.”

Kaela decided to avoid his intense gaze.

“I’m curious why you came to that conclusion.”

But Peon was incredibly persistent. No matter how much Kaela tried to maintain distance by consistently using honorifics, he was too relentless to shake off.

“This doesn’t make sense, Kaela. I share all my financial status with you, so why is this suddenly a private matter?”

Kaela sighed.

“I’d rather not get involved between Your Highness and Lady Ravalley.”

Peon’s expression turned serious.

“The mere suggestion of that is insulting – we have the worst possible relationship.”

“Whatever your relationship is, I don’t care. I’m just sick of it and don’t want to know.”

After her sharp retort, silence fell over the dining room.

“If Your Highness has carefully gathered Monde’s scattered debts to this extent, normally one would think it was to repay them.”

Peon, who had been deeply dreading exactly this answer, rubbed his face.

“But it’s too inefficient. If you wanted to repay them, you could just gather all the creditors and pay them off at once. Why bother creating a fake merchant guild and choose to become a creditor by collecting all the debts instead of repaying them?”

She tapped the newspaper.

“Seeing how you deliberately burst into the banquet to ruin it and made a show of the seizure, you must have other intentions, which means it’s Your Highness’s private matter.”

Her tone suggested there was no need to ask further. Even now, Kaela didn’t ask whether he had merely interrupted the banquet or what he had said when facing Beatrice.

If it were Peon, he would have obsessively questioned every detail like a madman. He would have anxiously asked what was said, how long she stayed, asking again and again.

“…I’m sorry for making you sick of it.”

He reached into the box and pulled out the file folder from the very back.

“This is Monde’s current assets. I plan to make it all disappear into thin air.”

Kaela quickly looked up from the documents. Peon quietly rose from his seat.

“That’s a human way of revenge, isn’t it?”

Having properly reported the cash flow and future tasks to his wife as a husband should, he excused himself and left.

“Just a moment.”

He moved roughly at first but then quickly left the dining room, careful not to startle Kaela. He shuddered at the memory of past days when he had creaked like a manipulated music box with a lost sense of self, only speaking words Beatrice put in his mouth.

With his whole body bound, eyes covered, and ears blocked, only his jaw joint creaking as it moved. He had been forced to maintain an unwanted intimate relationship. As soon as he left the dining room, he bent over and vomited in a cave near Lusenford, not in the corridor.

[Peon. I only have you.]

Beatrice’s disgustingly hateful voice crawled over his body like insects. He steadied himself against the cave wall. The solid rock wall caved in where his hand touched it.

Some things don’t disappear even with regression. The relationship Beatrice unilaterally created will forever remain in history, following the narrative about the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Lusenford. No noble had ever faced such humiliation.

If Peon hadn’t been bound by the spell, he would have naturally grown distant from Beatrice.

As they grew older, he and Beatrice had fewer commonalities and became increasingly incompatible. But Peon was robbed of the freedom to naturally drift apart and remained bound to the relationship that Kaela found so tiresome.

Peon could never show this side of himself to Kaela. After all, he was the one who did it. Even if it was brainwashing, even if it wasn’t his will, he was the one who hurt Kaela.

It’s nauseating.

Was it the spell’s defense mechanism or his own will that made him angry at Kaela, who shook him despite not knowing about the spell that bound him?

Retching again, Peon already knew the answer. That’s why he dared not show it or speak of it. It was something he had to swallow alone for life.

“Your Highness?”

Kaela’s thin voice was heard.

“Your Highness, where are you?”

Peon caught his breath. Though Kaela shouldn’t be able to find him, hearing such a clear voice meant it must be an auditory hallucination. He felt nauseous again.

“Your Highness!”

While vomiting, he sensed Kaela again. She seemed to be looking for him at the Craine townhouse.

“Um…”

A voice suddenly cut off echoed in the cave. He could hear faint breathing and feel a weak, warm body temperature.

Peon wiped his mouth and turned around. Kaela was standing there, holding the green box full of promissory notes, looking slightly surprised. Here, in the cave.

“Ah.”

She must have followed him through the door he left open. Kaela dislikes dark places. Peon quickly rinsed his mouth and straightened up. Magic is quite convenient at times like this. He initially meant to return, but unexpectedly, she spoke first.

“This box contains important documents, so I couldn’t just leave it…”

“It’s fine. You could have left it. Did you come looking for me because of that?”

The darkness retreated behind Peon’s back, hiding his unsightly appearance. Kaela looked at him carefully, then lowered her confused eyes while clutching the box. She hadn’t wanted to see something like this.

“A letter… came. I wanted to look at it together…, but suddenly ended up here.”

“I must have left all the doors open to you. You must have been surprised, I’m sorry.”

The surroundings changed instantly. The cave completely disappeared, and they were suddenly standing alone in the corridor outside the dining room.

“No. It’s alright.”

Kaela quickly shook her head.

“Shall we… go look at the letters? There seem to be many important ones.”

Peon forced a faint smile as he watched her point toward the dining room.

“Sure. But, just a moment.”

“There are many letters.”

Kaela blurted out as Peon was about to go somewhere.

“Really… truly many…, and this box too…”

He quickly took the box from Kaela’s arms. It must be heavy.

“I’m not going anywhere. I was just going to change clothes.”

“But you’re clean? Didn’t you use magic to clean up like this?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Come here. There are so many letters.”

Though it was a weak excuse, Peon couldn’t refuse Kaela. The massive man, nearly tall enough to touch the mansion’s doorway, followed the tiny woman’s lead.

“What kind of letters are they?”

“Here, this is a telegram from Father, and these are invitations…”

Kaela quickly piled the stack of invitations from the silver tray into Peon’s hands.

“Among these, only father-in-law’s is important, Kaela.”

She pursed her lips.

“Is there somewhere you want to go? I’m not familiar with Craine’s social circle.”

He smiled and handed her the telegram, gesturing for her to open it. She quickly opened and read her father’s telegram.

“He says he arrived in Craine this morning.”

“That’s good. Shall we visit in the afternoon?”

With the Duke of Ostein’s arrival in Craine, the Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony was drawing closer. As nobles began arriving in the capital, the newspapers were buzzing about the humiliation of the queen of society.

“…Let’s go together.”

Peon nodded at his queen’s command.

“Alright.”

“And tell me what you’re going to do with this 83 million liquette.”

“Are you curious?”

That was unexpected. Hadn’t she said she was sick of it? Does she have something she wants to do?

“Is there something you want to do? Something you want? Would you like a castle or a villa?”

His voice grew more excited as the questions became more detailed. Kaela glanced up at her husband, who had gone alone into that pitch-black cave, while clutching the telegram.

“Is it okay for me to get involved?”

“There’s nothing you can’t do. Even if you told me to give it all up, I’d follow.”

“That won’t do! It’s 83 million liquette – we have to collect it!”

Kaela flared up, asking what nonsense he was talking about.

“Ah…sorry. We probably won’t be able to collect it all. Did you see that asset list earlier?”

Even if Beatrice sold all her jewels, it wouldn’t be enough to repay the debt. Kaela looked at him with a lost expression before finally speaking.

“Just how much money do you have?”

Just by using 83 million liquette to buy up all of Monde Duchy’s debts, that box of promissory notes alone more than proved his enormous financial power.

It was already incredible that the Monde Duchy had accumulated such debt, but what kind of wealth must Peon have to treat that amount as pocket change?

Even Kaela, who grew up wealthy and had seen many rich people, was starting to feel dizzy and astounded. She knew he was wealthy, but she hadn’t expected the concrete numbers to be so astronomical.

“Well, I haven’t counted.”

Moreover, collecting debts of this scale would require tremendous financial power and extensive manpower.

If someone had started collecting Monde Duke’s debts, rumors would have surely spread. The fact that no one knew until it was revealed showed exceptional handling and confidentiality abilities.

“But I can show you.”

“You’ve shown more than enough…”

This is giving me a headache. Kaela sighed while looking at the green box full of promissory notes.

“Oh, is this enough?”

“What else were you planning to show?”

Her curiosity was piqued.

“Whatever you want. Is there something you’d like? I can buy anything except what money can’t buy.”

Peon said this with an utterly casual expression. At least from what Kaela knew of him, he wasn’t one to boast falsely.

“Ah, that’s not what I was thinking of…”

“No?”

Oops, her thoughts had slipped out. Kaela quickly tried to recover.

“Of course, buying companies or castles would be nice too.”

“Besides that, what? What kind? Tell me.”

He quietly waited for her answer, like when they were young, no, like before they were married. With an expression full of trust, as if he would grant any wish.

“What do you want to do?”

He asked gently, as if speaking to a younger sister.

“No, since I’m a dragon…, it must be mountains full of gold coins, or something like that…”

Isn’t that what you meant? Kaela muttered while glancing at him, and when Peon started laughing, her ears turned red.

“You want to see something like that? If you want to see it, you should.”

He smiled freshly and extended his hand, which had dried completely and grown slightly cold.