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Chapter 20
“Surely you have something to report to His Majesty.”
“Ah, I will report everything without fail.”
Margo looked up at Temus, who was saying something completely unrelated to her question about what he had to report.
But soon, the stiff expression on her face softened.
“Right, you should.”
“It’s none other than the head of the Essier family, so we can’t take this lightly.”
“You must be quite busy.”
“……”
“Especially since you’re also trying to handle the bank revision attempt along with it.”
Temus smiled even more broadly at Margo’s pointed remark.
However, he couldn’t find a reply to her words.
Since he couldn’t lie, he must have chosen silence.
‘His head must be all jumbled up now.’
After all, Temus was the one practically leading this bank revision effort, which was determined to clean Essier out completely.
He probably has no idea how much we know, and it must be hard to gauge how prepared we are.
Not to mention, their own preparations are insufficient for it to start as soon as tomorrow.
‘And they can’t ignore public opinion either.’
Because it would look like an attack on the head of the Essier Ducal family, who had just been forced to resign from his position and announce his retirement by the Imperial family.
As Bennett, who was standing against the wall, pushed his glasses up, Margo let out a hearty laugh and looked up at Temus.
“Eiero must be pleased. To have such a loyal subject by his side.”
“……”
For a moment, at Margo’s words, who casually uttered the Emperor’s childhood name, Temus’s expression finally hardened. To the point where his oddly smiling mouth began to tremble slightly.
“Ah, this old man, having cast off a heavy burden, has made the mistake of calling an old friend by his childhood name.”
In Tepharoa, childhood names were only shared with parents or loved ones.
But for a Duke to casually call the Emperor by his childhood name…
Temus narrowed his eyes and glared at Margo.
“You… should be careful.”
“Yes, indeed I should.”
But seemingly unaffected by the glare, Margo smiled, leaned on the cane Philip handed her, and rose from her seat.
“If my business here is concluded, may I take my leave? It’s almost time for my walk.”
“……”
“That granddaughter of mine is so insistent. She looked it up in a book and said something about how in Ictus, it’s good to take a walk every day. She made such a fuss, crying and begging, telling me not to work and to rest. It’s unbearable.”
Letitia might have felt a little wronged at the “crying and begging” part, but since the rest was true, Philip pursed his lips tightly.
Paul was in the same state.
Only Margo had a cheerfully happy expression.
“So.”
“I need to take a walk.”
“……”
“Therefore, get out of my house.”
* * *
“Are they gone?”
“Yes.”
“Must have been quite a sight.”
“……”
At Margo’s snort, Bennett pushed his glasses up.
“I wonder if it was wise to provoke him.”
“What else could we do?”
Margo raised her head.
“Temus coming here means he intended to find a pretext to reverse the retirement decision. But there was no pretext to be found, wasn’t there?”
“……”
“By now, that old man Eiero’s head must be utterly confused.”
If he lets Essier go like this, the Netua Ducal family will take that position.
The Empress’s family, Netua, taking control of both inside and outside the Imperial family—that was what the Emperor truly feared. And that event was now right before his eyes.
‘His guts must be twisting in knots.’
He probably never expected I would use such a move.
Just imagining it made her feel as if all her long-held indigestion was clearing up.
“And what about the issues with Andrea and Windrun?”
“They are almost resolved. The accounts are frozen, and they have agreed to either pre-report anything that could be problematic or dispose of it.”
“Did they comply willingly?”
“……”
“Of course not.”
Margo, who knew her son’s temperament better than anyone, spat out a dissatisfied sigh at Bennett’s silence and took a step forward.
“Chariet…?”
Margo opened her mouth as if letting out a long sigh and stopped in her tracks the moment-
“A perfect place for the daughter of a bastard to live.”
“Oh, right. I heard from my mom, her mom was from Diabria.”
“So was she a prostitute?”
“Eww. Disgusting.”
“That figures.”
The voices of children, saying things I could hardly believe I was hearing, came from a distance.
Two small heads were saying those things to the one standing in front of them.
‘Little brats.’
Whoever made those words come out of their mouths—if I found out, I wouldn’t let it slide. As Margo’s pupils darkened-
“You stupid, shitty, good-for-nothing, cowardly bastards! Do you really want to die?”
Letitia’s voice, filled with so much anger that she shouted and even kicked Chandler’s shin, caused the corner of Margo’s mouth to lift slightly.
“Family Head.”
“Wait. It’s a fight between children. Don’t intervene.”
She raised a hand to stop Bennett’s words.
Of course, even from his perspective, little Letitia was at a disadvantage. But it was Margo’s principle that adults don’t interfere in children’s fights.
It was meant to teach them how to fight, reconcile, and compromise through the process, but this time was a little different.
She was curious how the child, who had always been busy currying favor with her older brothers, would act after this.
The child who would just laugh even when her own father was insulted, who would chime in with her older brothers’ words, and even go so far as to insult her own father herself.
‘Why has she suddenly changed?’
What on earth changed that child? She was very interested. Moreover, the small fists tightly clenched as if she wouldn’t lose, the tightly pressed lips, and the stubbornness so similar to her father, Chariet.
‘Chariet wasn’t that cute even at that age.’
When she saw Chariet’s stubborn eyes, her first thought was that she had to break that spirit.
But the stubborn eyes in Letitia’s round face before her were cute.
‘Is this what a granddaughter is like?’
It wasn’t as if Letitia had suddenly fallen from the sky, but in an instant, she felt like a very close presence. Margo smiled faintly and clasped her hands behind her back.
“You-!”
But as if shattering that fond gaze, Chandler’s hand rose towards the child, and in that instant,
“What the hell are you brats doing!”
Without even realizing it, Margo broke her own principle and roared.
* * *
Margo, who had been staring intently at the three children kneeling neatly before her, slowly turned her gaze.
Then, she saw her daughters-in-law, standing off to the side, shifting their feet impatiently.
Bella, Chandler’s mother.
Helen, Jason’s mother.
At the appearance of those two, the grandchildren began to sob, and while the daughters-in-law, desperate to pick them up but not knowing what to do, were in a fluster, Letitia’s figure—kneeling without crying—stood out even more clearly.
The sight of them, only caring for their own children, singling out young Letitia alone…
Margo’s gaze as she watched them was not kind.
But as if completely unaware of that gaze, Bella, who had been wringing her poor handkerchief and shifting her feet all along, turned as if she could no longer bear the silence.
“Father, our good Chaddy wouldn’t have done that without a reason…….”
“I’m sure. So, Chandler, what was your reason?”
And as if waiting for those words to fall, Margo’s icy gaze turned towards Chandler.
It was a gaze that made one’s knees go weak even when she wasn’t angry.
But now, under his grandfather’s piercing stare, Chandler, who had been trembling all over, barely raised his rigid face.
“I, I-I was just passing by with Jason and saw Lesha and was h-happy to see her…”
“……”
“Then Lesha sud-suddenly.”
As Chandler mumbled, his voice stumbling, Margo slammed her hand on the armrest.
“Can’t you speak properly?!”
“Waaah, Momma!”
At the sudden roar, Chandler hiccupped and trembled, then looked for Bella, sniffling.
“Father!”
Bella, who had been chewing her lips, stepped forward as if shielding Chandler and stood defiantly before Margo. At that sight, Margo’s eyebrow arched slightly.
But that was only visible to a few in the room; Bella seemed not to see it.
“As Chandler said, this is Letitia’s fault for attacking Chandler who was just quietly passing by. It seems excessive for the other children to be punished too, Father. What did our Chaddy do wrong?”
“……”
“Making a growing child kneel like this, how bad is that for…….”
As Bella trailed off while defending Chandler, she met Margo’s cold gaze and belatedly forced a smile, changing her expression.
“And it’s just a little scuffle between children.”
Bella, drawing out her words, took a deep breath as she looked over her shoulder at Letitia.
“As you know, Father, Letitia, having grown up without parents, has been wild and self-centered for quite some time now…….”
“Lesha has a dad.”
But at that moment, Letitia’s small voice overlapped with Bella’s sharp tone.
It was small, but spoken very clearly.
To the point that the gazes of everyone in the room turned to Letitia at once.
