IPBPBD 35

Chapter 35

So, to sum it up:

Father had borrowed a total of 3,000 gold from six noble acquaintances. He steadily repaid it and finished clearing all debts five years ago.

Or so he thought. But one of those nobles, after incurring his own debt, transferred part of the bond under McTrun’s name to another noble.

The principal was around 400 gold.

Since Father hadn’t been informed of this, he of course knew nothing about it.

And he only learned of the matter two years ago—when a demand notice arrived.

That was right around the time Emilina discovered cacao.

But then things got ridiculous.

The noble who had acquired the bond parceled out the inflated interest and used it as collateral, transferring it to multiple places.

Heather Trading Company was one of them.

And this all happened just days before the demand notice was sent.

In an instant, the debt had multiplied, and suddenly Father was facing multiple creditors.

It was a dirty trick no less vile than a predatory loan shark.

Someone had clearly set it up deliberately.

A curse trembled at the tip of Emilina’s tongue.

“Have you investigated? If the transaction was illegal, then you shouldn’t be obliged to repay, right?”

“……”

It was a pointless question.

McTrun answered only with silence.

Which meant he had already looked into it—and found no way out.

Emilina pressed a hand to her forehead.

Right. If this was a carefully orchestrated scheme, they would have made sure the paperwork was flawless.

Even if it was unfair, since there was still outstanding debt, it was legally binding.

Damn it. Emilina swallowed down the bitterness and spoke gently to McTrun.

“Thank you, Father. It must not have been easy to tell me this. From now on, let’s find a way together.”

At her words, McTrun’s face twisted with self-reproach.

How was he supposed to explain all this to Katie? The thought alone made everything go dark before his eyes.

He forced his lips to move.

“Now that I’ve told you, I regret it. I don’t know if this was the right thing to do. Maybe I should’ve kept it to myself…”

“Don’t say that. Like I said before, the harder things get, the more family has to stick together. If we tackle this step by step, we’ll find a way.”

Emilina leaned forward and placed her hand over his.

“I have some savings. Do you remember? I told you before that I was making a little pocket money.”

She thought of the money she had saved from selling chocolates.

Each time she received profits, she had wanted to give a portion to her parents, but since they always refused, the amount had grown quite large.

McTrun, realizing her intention, spoke firmly.

“I’ll tell you now—that money cannot be used. You worked hard for it. Save it for yourself.”

It was the answer she expected.

No matter how soft McTrun was toward her, this was one point on which he would never compromise.

Katie, if she had been here, would likely have said the same thing.

But Emilina had no intention of obeying.

She hadn’t started earning money to avoid burdening her parents only to watch them struggle now.

It was only right to use it for its intended purpose.

“What if I say this is for myself? Would you accept it then?”

“How much difference can a little pocket change make? Save it.”

McTrun teased lightly.

And true enough—compared to twenty thousand gold, it really was nothing more than pocket change.

But there was something McTrun didn’t know.

He had no idea how much Emilina was earning. Or how much more she could earn going forward.

He thought of it as no more than a child’s meager earnings, but now it was time to tell the truth.

“It’s a little over 3,000 gold.”

McTrun blinked, uncomprehending.

“That’s how much I’ve earned in about two years. Over 3,000 gold.”

“What are you talking about?”

He looked at her, bewildered.

That wasn’t a sum one could make just by selling simple snacks.

‘Come to think of it… Millie never told us exactly what she was making and selling.’

She had only ever said she sold little treats she’d made.

Since she had always dabbled in unusual cooking as a hobby, he hadn’t thought much of it.

She had said she wanted to contribute to the household with her earnings, so he had only thought it commendable.

Though he hadn’t liked how she shut herself in the kitchen so often, since she seemed reluctant to share more, he had respected her privacy.

But perhaps he should have checked at least once.

McTrun began to wonder how Emilina had managed to amass such a fortune.

Noticing his unease, Emilina spoke slowly.

“I wasn’t selling anything strange. You’ve probably heard of it before, Father. A dessert called chocolate.”

“Wait… are you saying you’re the one who made that?”

His voice was tinged with both shock and disbelief.

“Yes. I never imagined it would sell this well, though.”

“I see… so that’s why you said what you did…”

McTrun muttered blankly.

Of course he had heard of it.

Recently, nobles had become obsessed with this dessert.

It was so rare to find that he had only heard about it by word of mouth.

Sometimes people with wealth or power would even approach him.

They wanted to know who the seller was.

Some had even made him secret offers—saying they’d reward him greatly if he introduced them.

Each time, McTrun had only been bewildered.

Why were they asking him of all people? He had no clue.

But now it made sense—Emilina had been selling chocolate.

Finally, their behavior was clear.

It was still hard to believe, but if it was his daughter… yes, he could imagine her capable of creating something like that.

What hurt was that she had managed to keep it hidden from both him and Katie all this time.

Still, he felt relieved that at least it wasn’t money earned through anything shady.

Then Emilina said:

“Anyway, since things have turned out like this, I’ll be honest. I want to deal with Heather Trading Company first.”

Katie had forced her to attend the gathering despite being on poor terms with Viscount Heather.

The reason was obvious.

She wanted Emilina to build a smooth relationship with Lady Heather if possible.

Besides, since the host was the Heather family’s child, it would have been awkward to decline.

They didn’t want to provoke a powerful family unnecessarily.

But Emilina, unaware of these behind-the-scenes concerns, found Lady Heather’s behavior intolerable.

By now she must be seething with anger, and revenge was likely.

As Emilina had said, even if Lady Heather couldn’t directly control the company, she could still appeal to her father, the viscount, and wield influence.

Better to be cautious in advance.

“Father, you hate having to see Viscount Heather over this debt too, don’t you? Isn’t that so? I’m so upset and furious about it.”

“Of course I can’t be indifferent. He’s the one I can never forgive.”

“Then let’s do as I say. How much of the debt does the trading company hold?”

If possible, she hoped to resolve it right away.

“When I checked last month, it was 1,900 gold.”

So at most 2,000 gold.

She didn’t know the exact interest, but it was enough that she could cut ties with Heather Trading Company.

‘And if I want to clear the rest quickly, I can’t keep selling at this pace.’

She felt bad about breaking her word to Merlin, but there was a limit to selling through a proxy.

She would have to expand her business directly.

She needed large sums, so she’d have to produce more volume, and to avoid people growing bored, she’d need to introduce other desserts too.

She couldn’t possibly do all of this alone. She’d have to hire people.

That was the part that worried her the most.

Emilina sank into thought about how to develop her chocolate business from here on.

Then, finding her words again, she said:

“Fortunately, it’s not an amount we can’t pay. Let’s go settle it right away.”

“Won’t you reconsider? I don’t feel right about you using that money. Your mother will certainly oppose it too.”

“But Father, you told me yourself—use it for myself. This is my money, and I’ll spend it where I want.”

McTrun rubbed his tired eyes.

It wasn’t easy to dissuade her once she set her mind on something.

He opened his mouth to try again, but Emilina spoke first.

“You know the value of chocolate, Father. Compared to the money I’ll earn in the future, this is nothing.”

Though of course, how she was going to manage all that… well, that was a heavy worry for another time.

‘Let’s put that aside for now.’

Before he could say more, Emilina quickly stood up.

At that moment, it seemed Katie had returned home—there were sounds outside the door.

Before leaving the room, Emilina made sure to press her point firmly, to push McTrun toward a decision.

“Father. Let me say this again—this is for me. I refuse to bow my head to Lady Heather just because we have debts.”

Her childish but earnest protest made McTrun’s face harden.

“So please, speak well with Mother for me.”

In the end, Father would agree.

And Mother—Emilina would persuade her too.