ISHM 14

Chapter 14

“This is a scam!”
A scam marriage, trying to extort money from me—Finn Schneider was yelling at the top of his lungs right in front of me, but none of that mattered.
I just couldn’t believe the situation I was in.
Seeing so many naval officers crammed into such a modest house only made it feel more surreal.
So, I suppose I should be considered a witness…
I sat beside Johannes Schultz, facing Finn Schneider and Fabid across from us.
It was an incredibly awkward situation.
To receive a witness investigation about the man who had just proposed to me—it was certainly not a romantic development.

“Even if you take the Duke’s money, it’ll just be stolen anyway! Hah, and to propose in that situation—truly astonishing!”
Finn Schneider kept shouting, even trying to intimidate Duke Schultz.
“I will report all of this during the official investigation.”
“Why do you think this is a scam marriage?”
“Well…!”
“You’re not so generous as to waste a huge sum of money on someone you don’t know.”
“It’s not a huge sum from the Schultz family’s perspective!”
The young Duke Schultz fixed his gaze on him with cold eyes.
Finally realizing the situation, Finn Schneider shut his mouth.

“The loan company Banux. They mainly operate in pairs targeting single women.”
Breaking the brief silence, Johannes Schultz spoke. Straightening up from his deeply reclined chair, the sheer presence of him almost made me feel crushed.
“They manipulate past contracts cleverly.”
Finn Schneider hung his head, silent. Instead, Sir Fret spoke up.
“Yes. Usually, they employ one charming man as bait, and a rough man like Fabid to intimidate.”
“Charming?”
Duke Schultz raised an eyebrow, glancing alternately at Finn Schneider and Fabid.
Where exactly was he referring to? His expression said it all.
“They intentionally lower the target’s guard. I didn’t expect the boss to pose as the manager, though.”
“I suppose he really wanted to save on salary,” Fret muttered.
“By the way, Miss Prim, your standards are quite low. No matter how I look at it, he’s not exactly charming.”
“Hmm,” Duke Schultz murmured in agreement. I flinched and waved my hands.
“That’s absolutely not it! He just seemed kind… and his attitude was polite…”
“Criminals are often charming types. Though, not the interest takers.”
Sir Fret chuckled mischievously, then began examining the worn-out promissory note carefully.

“The smell has mostly gone. We’ll have to see the details now…”
I swallowed hard.

“Manipulating a promissory note is simple. Special ink is used—extracted from lustrous coal in mines, a substance only obtainable in small quantities with chakrasan.”
Fret then pulled out a fountain pen and opened an ink bottle given by a naval officer. A peculiar smell tickled my nose.

“First, the letters are written with this special ink. When heat is applied, the color disappears, making it easy to manipulate.”
He dipped the pen into the ink and wrote. So far, it looked normal.
But when he applied heat with a lighter, the letters began to vanish. Several of the naval officers and I widened our eyes.

“Then, you fill in the numbers with ordinary ink…”
There was no trace of tampering—it looked as if it had been written that way from the start.

“Pretty convincing, right?”
Sir Fret looked at Duke Schultz proudly, like a dog seeking praise.

“Clearly a scam. And human trafficking on top of that. He’ll get quite the sentence.”
Duke Schultz said dryly. Perhaps thinking it was praise, Fret looked satisfied.

“W-Where’s the proof? Evidence that I used that ink!”
Finn Schneider’s furious voice rang out.
He was right. Even if he claimed to have used special ink, all the color had vanished—there was no way to prove it.

But Fret ignored him and continued.
“A 50% interest rate is absurd. Even with no legal limit, there are implicit rules in the market. It’s considered unethical to exceed 24%.”
He then pulled something else from his coat—a dropper bottle of clear liquid.
He dropped the liquid on the promissory note. Red letters appeared.

“You forgot something important.”
“…”
“Here’s the evidence of manipulation.”
A red line appeared at the end of the number 5, making 50 look like 60.
“This proves special ink was used. Usually, acidic water reveals it. The original rate was probably 10%.”
“So…?”
“Miss Prim’s father likely repaid both the principal and interest.”
Fret clicked his tongue sympathetically but his pale green eyes glimmered with satisfaction. Even his gaze was alluring.

Duke Schultz remained calm, though his tone became slightly harsher.
“Using such a filthy method to run a business…”
“That’s right…”
“You’re not going to try some absurd excuse that this is your first time?”
“Of course not!”

All eyes turned to the larger man—Fabid, who had been constantly watching Finn Schneider. Perhaps thinking only he should survive, he wiped cold sweat and began confessing: writing promissory notes with chakrasan ink, keeping completed notes separately, and defrauding women left alone.

“All evidence has been gathered, confessions obtained. Now it can be submitted to court.”
Banging the table, Fret smiled widely.
“How many women did you sell, you worthless piece of scum?”
“Ugh…”
As if being dragged into the pit was Fabid’s fault, Finn Schneider glared at him like he wanted to kill him. But fearing Duke Schultz’s gaze, he did nothing further.

“What shall we do?”
I looked to Duke Schultz at Fret’s straightforward question.
“P-Please… don’t let my father hear about this. I’ll cooperate in anything else!”
Finn Schneider was now shedding tears.
But I didn’t feel an ounce of pity. This was the man who tried to trick me, take my house, and sell me.

Duke Schultz spoke with a gracious expression, as if showing mercy.
“Well. He must pay a price commensurate with his crimes. Doing something worse than a dog’s act…”
He nodded to Fret and rose without hesitation.
“We should leave now.”
He extended his hand toward me, a very gentlemanly gesture.
I stared at the large hand in shock, then remembered I had accepted his proposal, and quickly took it.
For now, it seemed important to appear as a respectable couple to everyone present.

“The house…”
“Fret will clean it up properly.”
“Me?”
Fret tilted his head as if hearing it for the first time. But Duke Schultz wasn’t swayed.
“…Yes, of course.”
Then, in an annoyingly stern voice, Fret spoke to Finn Schneider as they moved away.
“The great Duke Schultz—or rather, Colonel—plans to hand you over to the capital police. Maybe you’ll even get a ‘Brave Citizen Award.’ Ah, I wonder if there’s a ‘Brave Colonel Award’? I’d like a distinguished assistant award.”
I could almost picture the expression on his face.

Outside the house, naval officers had formed a perimeter.
Crowds had gathered too. Just a moment ago, they had ignored us and fled.
I felt a slight bitterness.
Mrs. Pensler seemed to have woken from the commotion. Spotting me, she shouted:
“Edith! Edith!”
Her plump hand waved high above the crowd.
As I tried to move toward her, Duke Schultz stopped me. I looked at him curiously, and his tightly pressed lips opened slightly.
“Now is not the right time. Returning to the mansion seems best for now.”
He glanced around and added,
“It’s not exactly a pleasant situation.”
Indeed, all eyes were focused on Duke Schultz.
Occasionally, the click of cameras could be heard from the crowd.
“Ah.”
Johannes Schultz was officially missing at this point.
“Surely because of me…”
“No.”
He spoke in a dry tone and turned his blue eyes away from me.
“Hiding ends here. It’s earlier than expected, but not a bad situation.”
He muttered something I didn’t understand and guided me to a waiting carriage, emblazoned with the naval insignia.

Before boarding, I made an apologetic gesture to Mrs. Pensler. She still looked confused but nodded.
“Be careful.”
I held his hand as I stepped into the carriage.
Once seated opposite him, Duke Schultz tapped the carriage wall. People reluctantly cleared the way at the coachman’s shout.
There was silence between us.
The carriage departed slowly toward Evansstein Castle, carrying a strange trembling sensation.