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Chapter : 14
“Obviously, Karl, you’re fired.”
“You cannot dismiss me so easily. Unlike the other servants, I was hired by the master, not by you, my lady.”
“Mm, under normal circumstances that would be true, but not right now. Both Theodore and Berengela are absent, aren’t they? Don’t you know that when the head of a noble family suddenly disappears, the next in line temporarily exercises authority?”
At Rachel’s words, Karl’s pale face darkened.
“Right now, both Berengela and Theodore are considered ‘missing.’ Until Theodore’s whereabouts are confirmed, I am ‘temporarily’ exercising the authority of the head of the household.”
“Lady Berengela and Count Theodore are not missing.”
“Really? Then do you know where they are, Karl? If so, hurry and take me to them. Once the Noble Elders Council learns Theodore isn’t missing, they’ll revoke my authority.”
That was impossible.
The moment Theodore revealed himself, he would have to pay the price for ruining the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet.
Karl himself did not want Theodore to return either. If he came back, the affair scandal would only grow larger, and Jane would be hurt even more.
In the end, Karl had no way to stop Rachel’s temporary authority.
Quietly, he answered.
“…Understood. I will pack my things and leave the estate by today.”
“You must be happy. Now you can stay by your daughter’s side all day without worrying about the estate.”
“To be honest, I am.”
“Ahaha. You really are honest.”
Rachel laughed brightly, then whispered toward Karl’s back as he turned to leave the drawing room.
“Where do you think you’re going? We’re not finished yet. You deceived me for so long and helped with the affair. If it ends with just being fired, I’d be terribly disappointed.”
“Are you planning to kill me here?”
“As if.”
Rachel leaned leisurely against the armrest of her chair.
“You know Theodore embezzled the Elosa family’s wealth and sent it to Jane, right? He also committed tax evasion while he was at it. Berengela caused quite a commotion over it recently.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I think someone must have helped him. That idiot Theodore could never have carefully adjusted the amounts, hidden the assets, and reduced the taxes all by himself. And there’s no way he could have avoided getting caught for so many years through sheer luck.”
“……”
Both Rachel and Karl knew Theodore was not meticulous enough for that. He was not the kind of man capable of evading tax inspectors.
“Someone intelligent must have helped him. Someone who wouldn’t suffer any losses even if the Elosa family’s wealth leaked away, and someone who would never expose Theodore for embezzlement.”
Rachel leaned forward and stared directly into Karl’s brown eyes.
“I think that person fits you perfectly, Karl. What do you think?”
The money that disappeared from the Elosa family ultimately went into his daughter Jane’s pockets. And if the missing money was discovered, Jane would be blamed.
Karl was the only person who had neither reason to stop Theodore from stealing the money nor reason to expose him.
Karl avoided Rachel’s gaze.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe Theodore ordered you to do it, but that can’t be helped. The charges of concealing the Elosa family’s assets and tax evasion—Karl, you’ll have to take the blame for them.”
“…The master ordered me to do it. It was never something I wanted to do.”
“Do you have proof?”
At last, Karl bit his lip.
There was no way Theodore would have left evidence that he ordered Karl to conceal assets.
Lazy Theodore had probably only said something like, ‘I want to give Jane money, so help me.’ He clearly didn’t care about the family’s finances at all. He would have dumped the work on Karl and then ignored everything afterward.
Only then did Karl finally look at Rachel. Their shining eyes met.
“Why are you going this far?”
“Jane knows Theodore and you are accomplices. She’ll be furious. She’ll say that if both of you committed the crime together, why should only her father be punished?”
“So you intend to drive a wedge between us?”
“Correct. I want to watch the two of you fight and tear each other apart.”
Looking at Karl, whose head hung low in resignation, Rachel spoke again.
“Just quietly take the blame. Your daughter will suffer anyway, but who knows? If I pity her enough, maybe I’ll go a little easier on her.”
Your daughter will suffer anyway.
Only then did Karl realize Rachel had been preparing all this for a long time while pretending to know nothing.
He should have been more careful.
He should have cleaned things up sooner.
But he kept delaying it, telling himself, just one more day, just a little longer, until things reached this point.
He had wanted Jane to be happy with the person she loved. Foolish. Even though he had always known punishment might come someday, when the moment finally arrived, he was terrified.
Thud.
Karl dropped to his knees. His powerless voice crawled across the floor to Rachel’s feet.
“Could you… forgive me?”
“Forgive you?”
Rachel crooked one corner of her lips into a slanted smile.
“You’re actually hoping for that? Ridiculous.”
“…I will do it. As you wish, my lady. I’ll do anything you want, so please grant me one request—no, one proposal.”
“Theodore Elosa is hiding in a townhouse near the Imperial Palace.”
At the report from his aide Nick, Cyan nodded. Just as expected.
“It seems to be the same place he rented while preparing the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet.”
“And the mistress, Jane?”
“She is staying in her original residence. Until the day before yesterday, the Elosa estate’s butler—her father—was staying with her, but since yesterday she has been alone.”
“The butler returned to the Elosa estate?”
“Yes.”
Then yesterday must have been the butler’s last day there.
“Yesterday, Countess Elosa reported the butler for embezzling family assets and tax evasion. The butler appeared before the Tax Administration Bureau today. Apparently, he confessed that he secretly siphoned off money over the years for his daughter Jane.”
Cyan narrowed his eyes.
The one who embezzled the Elosa family’s money was Theodore. At first he bought expensive gifts, and later he simply handed over cash so his mistress could spend it more conveniently.
Karl the butler had helped, but the one who ordered and intended it all was clearly Theodore. Yet the butler personally appeared and confessed?
Why?
Rachel had obviously orchestrated this, but her intentions were difficult to grasp.
Rachel’s image vividly surfaced in his mind. Pink hair. Pale sky-blue eyes. A woman who looked like a fragile flower that could snap at any moment, yet whose eyes alone overflowed with strength.
Rachel Elosa. Why did you force another person to take the blame for your husband’s crimes? You’re intelligent enough to know that doing so only lightens Theodore’s punishment.
He asked the question silently in his mind, but the Rachel of his imagination gave no answer. She merely smiled faintly.
Then another memory surfaced—the expression Rachel had worn when she discovered the affair. She had looked genuinely shocked.
She was wise and calculating enough to completely suppress and conceal her true nature. Yet in the moment she witnessed her husband’s infidelity, she had failed to hide anything.
…Could it be that you still have feelings for your husband? Are you protecting that worthless bastard simply because he’s your husband? Is that why you want to avoid him receiving severe punishment?
Irritation surged within him.
He hated the fact that Rachel was wavering because of a scoundrel like Theodore. He wanted to go to her immediately and demand she come to her senses, ask her what in the world she was thinking.
Even knowing it was unlike him to let emotions interfere with work, he still wanted to meddle.
“Do I already think of her as one of my people?”
Nick’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean?”
“I was talking to myself. Delay the Noble Elders Council meeting for now. Before throwing Karl into prison, I need to confirm Rachel Elosa’s intentions first.”
“Understood! Also, His Highness the Crown Prince sent word asking when you would come.”
“Tell him I’ll visit later.”
Cyan knew Crown Prince Atreille was waiting for him.
Atreille was one of the few people who knew Cyan freely moved outside the Imperial Palace while acting as an informant for the guild. The Crown Prince, who spent his life confined, envied the Grand Duke’s freedom.
“I heard His Highness is deeply upset that the birthday banquet was ruined. He would surely be encouraged if Your Grace comforted him.”
“No. His Highness isn’t upset at all. That’s the problem.”
“He isn’t upset?”
“That’s right.”
Though he would pretend to be upset because of the Imperial Family and the Elders Council watching him, in truth he was probably thrilled that something amusing had happened during the boring birthday banquet. Atreille was exactly that kind of person.
If possible, Cyan needed to avoid the Crown Prince until Theodore’s punishment was decided.
If the Imperial Family and the Elders Council realized the Crown Prince wasn’t truly angry, they would obviously avoid giving Theodore and Jane severe punishment. The Emperor might even reward them for entertaining his son.
That was not what Rachel wanted.
“For now, tell them I’m busy carrying out the Elders Council’s orders. Also inform His Majesty the Emperor that I’ll visit him soon.”
“Understood.”
Nick disappeared as quickly as light itself, leaving Cyan alone in the empty office, quietly lost in thought.
[Notice
Karl, formerly employed as the butler of the Elosa Count family, has been reported to the Tax Administration Bureau for secretly embezzling family assets and committing tax evasion.
The accused has confessed to all charges and submitted evidence. Various departments of the Empire are currently reviewing the validity of the confession and evidence.
Karl will be placed in a temporary prison facility, and depending on the results of the investigation…
…A follow-up notice regarding the final disposition will be sent later.
Tax Administration Bureau]
“Perfect.”
The moment Rachel received the letter from the Tax Administration Bureau, she immediately wrote a reply as though she had been waiting for it all along. She requested that the final results notice be sent to a different location.
Everything was proceeding smoothly, putting her in an excellent mood.
Just as she finished sending off the reply through a postal worker, Graham entered the drawing room with a yawn.
“Yaaawn… Good morning, Mother.”
“Come here, Graham. Looks like you overslept today?”
“Yeees. I had a really nice dream last night. I didn’t want to wake up, so I went back to sleep.”
“Really? What kind of dream was it?”
“A dream where you and I held hands and went outside the estate together.”
Rachel’s expression darkened.
“…I see. Our Graham wants to go out?”
Because of the affair scandal, it wasn’t only difficult for Theodore and Jane to go outside—Rachel herself was in the same situation.
Rachel had expected this, so it didn’t trouble her much. But Graham was the problem. She had been relieved because he seemed less frustrated than she feared, but apparently that wasn’t true.
Her heart felt heavy, thinking that by exposing the affair so publicly and dramatically, she had ended up leaving painful memories for her son.
Watching Graham smile brightly, Rachel wondered if there was some good way to sneak out with him in secret.
