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Chapter 39
While Madam Odilon and the Emperor took care of the remaining matters, I returned to the estate as well and handled what was left.
To clean up all the mess Xavier had made and restore the collapsed finances, we had to move as quickly as possible.
‘At least all the debt has been transferred.’
All of the family’s debt had now been passed on to Xavier. In other words, the twenty billion was no longer something I had to repay—it was his problem. There would be no more debt notices, no more going to the bank to beg. The investors who used to come by the estate had mostly disappeared as well.
‘Now I can just focus on my own work.’
First, we had prevented the family itself from falling.
And with the debt resolved, next was—
“Adjusting personnel?”
Sophia’s eyes widened when she heard me. I nodded while picking up the quill I had prepared in advance.
“I think it’s time we weed people out.”
At present, the estate housed not only those loyal to me and the family, but also people who followed Xavier or other nobles, all mixed together. Following other nobles was one thing, but those who followed Xavier definitely needed to be singled out. There was a high chance they had been involved in illegal activities. Who was to say they wouldn’t make off with our family’s assets together with other accomplices?
‘Things like this need to be handled early.’
Now that the biggest sprouts had been removed, it was time to extinguish the remaining embers.
“Go to the employment office and post new notices. We’ll be recruiting all new aides as well.”
With my uncle Xavier dragged away, the only one left to inherit the family was me, the direct line.
‘I’ll fill it with people on my side.’
Since we were starting over anyway, it seemed better to overhaul everything from the beginning. Realizing my intention, Sophia smiled brightly and nodded. She hurriedly retreated and left the room.
Left alone again, I picked up the list I had selected in advance.
‘I’ll have to personally see and choose them.’
Rebuilding a family wasn’t as easy as it sounded. On top of that, we didn’t currently have any truly capable talent. Ordinary people wouldn’t be nearly enough to revive even the merchant guild. Quill in hand, I immediately checked off several names on the list.
‘Let’s try recruiting them like this for now.’
The people I set my sights on right away numbered three.
I could probably recruit two of them without much trouble, but the problem was the last remaining one. The other two weren’t affiliated with anyone yet, so that was fine.
But the last one—
‘No.’
There was no need to think deeply about it.
‘I have to bring them in.’
Before another family snatched them up. I had to pull this outstanding talent firmly over to our side.
“Aaaah! Argh!”
Damn it…! Curse it all!
‘Aria—because of that wretched girl!’
What kind of humiliation was this supposed to be?!
Xavier, who had been bound tightly for a long time now, twisted his upper body with all his strength.
Aria Renesty. Just thinking that it was because of that woman that he had been reduced to such a pitiful state made his insides boil over.
What was he supposed to do with this resentment and injustice? Never once reflecting on his own wrongdoing, Xavier continued to place all the blame on others, grumbling incessantly.
Wasn’t it obvious, the more he thought about it? If only Aria hadn’t interfered. If she hadn’t been there that day.
Then everything would have been smoothly resolved by now, and he would have become the head of the Renesty family.
His future would have fully blossomed!
‘Damn it… damn it!’
The more he thought about it, the angrier and more resentful he became. The feeling of having everything within reach, only for it to shatter into pieces, was impossible to put into words.
‘Just wait until I get out.’
That person was backing him, so being held like this would surely be only temporary.
And once he got out, he would immediately seize that wretch and make her pay dearly for what she had done to him.
‘Soon. It’ll be soon.’
Before long, that person would come and take care of everything.
And once he was free, he would immediately devise a plan and return everything he had suffered, in full.
I had been worked hard at Company X, so something like high-intensity work—
I thought I could endure it easily.
‘Th-there’s just too much to do!’
The difference between the work of an ordinary office worker and that of an owner was on an entirely different level. It might have been different if I had started a business from the beginning, but pulling up something that had already completely collapsed was far more difficult.
‘Still, the debt is finally dealt with.’
Now that the biggest problem was resolved, it was time to draw investors back in.
‘First, I need to restore trust.’
There was probably no one who didn’t know that Renesty had been faltering. Even though all the debt had been transferred to Xavier and the risk of the family’s collapse had been eliminated, that alone wasn’t enough to restore our image.
Since I couldn’t immediately secure operating capital, attracting investors as quickly as possible was the priority. But I had never run a business before. I had never even thought up a business item compelling enough to attract investors.
‘Should I try something completely new?’
In other possession stories, they often borrowed things from the modern world and made them work. And honestly, that did seem like the option with the highest chance of success.
It was something I knew well, so the likelihood of failure would be lower too.
‘I’ll think about this a bit more.’
If I rushed into too many things and couldn’t clean up the mess, that would be a problem in its own way.
For now, it was better to narrow things down to just a few ideas I could properly flesh out. Putting that off for later, I handled only the most urgent matters and finally rose from my seat when evening had nearly come.
Knock, knock—
With a knock, the door opened. Since I was facing away from it, I naturally assumed Sophia had entered and spoke up.
“Did you have a good trip? Did you find anyone who looks usable— ugh?!”
Before I could finish, my body tilted to one side. In the blink of an eye, my waist was grabbed, and my chin was tipped up. A man tightly embracing me from behind came into view. Seeing his red pupils sunk in a somber gloom, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.
“M-Mathias? Why?”
“…It seemed like you were done.”
So he came to check. Murmuring softly, Mathias pulled me even closer. The moment his stone-hard chest pressed against the back of my head, my senses snapped alert.
“W-wait a second. Mathias.”
Th-this is too close.
He had hugged me a few times before, but never like this—holding me tightly from behind. It wasn’t unpleasant. More than that, the strange sensation made me hurriedly tap his arm.
“I missed you.”
“…Didn’t we see each other this morning?”
I clearly remembered sharing what we’d be doing today over breakfast. But despite my words, he shook his head.
“We didn’t after that.”
“We were going to see each other soon anyway.”
I had skipped lunch because I was too busy, but we were planning to have dinner together. I didn’t really like eating alone either. With Xavier—and even his remaining lackeys—completely driven out, there was no one left to watch their mood. Now that I could move about more freely, I had even resolved to adjust, study together, and always share meals.
“Even so.”
Mathias pressed closer and murmured quietly.
“I don’t like being apart for this long.”
