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Chapter: 11
Marquis Reholas
I didn’t know what he had been like in the past, but now, he was far wealthier and from a stronger family than Valpruga.
In terms of power, he ranked among the top five in the empire!
Unlike the small fry like the Prugna or Fox Merchant Guild I had dealt with before, he was a man worthy of being called a giant.
“Haa… haa… haa…”
I took a deep breath after a long while.
Facing such a giant after dealing with small-time merchants like Prugna made it impossible to calm myself.
“Milady, this tea has a calming effect.”
Bella, quick on the uptake, brought over a cup of warm tea.
“Mm.”
I reached out and picked up the teacup.
It shook as if it had met a typhoon.
“Sis, are you okay?”
Ruth held my hand.
Seeing her red, worried eyes, the trembling stopped, and my resolve hardened.
I have to do this.
Right now, I’m the only one who can protect Ruth.
Ruth has put on some weight on her cheeks lately, and her ribs aren’t as prominent as they used to be.
She’s started reading and writing in the continent’s common language and can run ten laps around the training grounds easily.
If I collapse here, Ruth will fall too.
I have to protect her.
“Ruth. Come here. Let your sister hold you.”
As I stretched out my arms, Ruth nestled into my embrace.
She’s grown a little taller, but she still fits perfectly in my arms.
Feeling her warm body, I hugged her tightly.
I could feel her heartbeat thumping.
“If it’s hard for you, sis, you can just let it go. Something like this… I’m okay, sis.”
“What do you mean ‘okay’!”
If Ruth had acted up because the marquis ignored the duke, I could have ignored it too.
Do you know how many hairs I’ve lost worrying about that debt?!
If I let this slide, in ten years, before going to bed, I’d be thinking, “I should have taken that money!”
“Ruth. Don’t say that, cheer for your sister to do her best. Or do you think I’ll lose?”
“Mm… No!”
“Then you think your sister will win everything?”
“Yes! Sis is the strongest in the world!”
“Good! With your support, I feel stronger! I’ll handle everything!”
“Yes!”
With Ruth’s encouragement, I headed to the office.
If I couldn’t ignore it, the only answer was to face it.
I sat in the office chair and pressed the button on the communication device.
The device was a magical tool that allowed communication over long distances.
But it could only be used in certain places, and installing it cost an enormous amount of money.
Even using a one-million-mark magic stone, it only stayed connected for ten minutes—a true money-eating ghost.
Fortunately, the dukes had installed it back when the family was prosperous, and it still worked.
A bit old-fashioned, but as long as it worked, that was enough.
Thanks to a prior letter, the face of Marquis Reholas appeared soon after.
He was an old man with white hair, exuding a sense of weight and authority.
“Nice to meet you, Marquis. I am Pelia Valpruga.”
“I am Talin Reholas.”
I bowed first, and he responded with a bow.
“I had heard that the new Duke of Valpruga had married, but I didn’t expect to meet you like this.”
He smiled kindly.
He seemed to have guessed why I had contacted him, sly as a fox.
“The duke is not yet of age, so we haven’t held a wedding.”
“I see. Please invite me to the wedding when it happens. Ha ha ha.”
We smiled at each other.
What a pleasant atmosphere…
“So, what is it that brought you to contact House Reholas?”
“Marquis, I know you are busy, so let’s get straight to the point. You may have heard, but recently we caught a merchant guild trying to defraud Valpruga.”
“Hmm? But why contact us? Isn’t that a matter for Valpruga and the merchants?”
He was truly good at pretending ignorance.
If someone else saw this, they might think I had wrongfully accused him.
“I contacted you to resolve this. The merchants claim they were used and say that the mastermind behind this is none other than Marquis Reholas. Thus, Valpruga demands 2 billion marks in compensation from your house, in accordance with imperial law.”
Stay calm.
Don’t panic.
Momentum is everything in a fight!
Ignoring my pounding heart, I put on a relaxed smile.
“The merchants say that? That I ordered the fraud? So Valpruga believes that?”
“Yes. There is evidence and witnesses. Why wouldn’t they believe it?”
“Evidence?”
“Surely Valpruga wouldn’t bring this up without evidence.”
“Given the situation of Valpruga, it’s entirely possible.”
No, that old man…
He’s mocking us because our family is poor.
Inside, I was burning with anger, but I still smiled.
My experience in customer service in my past life, smiling at unreasonable clients and saying “we love our customers,” came in handy now.
“If Reholas refuses to compensate, we will proceed according to imperial law. I trust you know the consequences for fraud.”
Despite my provocation, Marquis Reholas smiled leisurely.
I expected a proud noble to be angry.
Does he find a child’s provocation amusing?
Truly a veteran of decades in politics.
“Can Valpruga handle this?”
A subtle warning not to do anything rash.
“Valpruga simply follows the law set by His Majesty. Everything is His Majesty’s decision, not Valpruga’s.”
Yes, we don’t care, we’ll file a complaint and follow the law.
I raised the complaint document stamped with my family seal for the marquis to see.
Flipping past the first page revealed testimonies written by the Fox Merchant Guild themselves.
They detailed how cruel Marquis Reholas was, how he plotted to trap Valpruga, and how they were forced to comply under his threats.
Luwan and his subordinate refused to testify, but the remaining eight of the Fox Merchant Guild collaborated to survive, producing a detailed account.
By now, Reholas must be calculating furiously in his head.
Indeed, Valpruga cannot handle this alone.
But the emperor?
Too powerful a noble inevitably draws the emperor’s check.
Recently, there had been minor disputes between the emperor and Marquis Reholas. If I mentioned this, the emperor would be delighted to pressure Reholas.
“His Majesty won’t protect Valpruga, though.”
That’s true.
This incident won’t topple Reholas.
Unable to vent his anger on the emperor, Reholas will take it out on us.
At that moment, I couldn’t be sure the emperor would protect our family.
“Which is why I’m speaking to you directly.”
I tapped my lips with my finger.
“The information is worth more to you than to His Majesty.”
If he paid an appropriate compensation, we would remain silent.
Pay up and end it—or let the emperor hold the cards.
Marquis Reholas was clever.
He laughed heartily.
“Ha ha. Fine. If it can be resolved with money, then money is best. How much do you want?”
“Three billion marks!”
I answered with a broad smile.
“By law, the compensation should be two billion marks.”
“One billion is for confidentiality. We could have earned the 2 billion through the complaint anyway, so you must pay more.”
For the first time, the marquis’s poker face cracked.
I smiled and asked again,
“And, Marquis, what will you do?”
After ending the communication, a cold light appeared in Marquis Reholas’s eyes.
“A clever girl. She got the better of me.”
“Forgive me, Marquis.”
His subordinate knelt and apologized, but the expression on his face remained unchanged.
“Where did she come from again?”
“I heard she was brought from an orphanage by Treon, a butler working for the duke’s family.”
“She knows her place, cleverly uses her cards even in a disadvantageous situation, and got everything she could. Smart for a child. If she were mine, I would have used her greatly.”
For the marquis, this was high praise.
Though the plan had failed, he seemed somewhat pleased.
His subordinate carefully spoke.
“It’s a ruined duke’s house anyway. You could ignore it. Should I send an assassin now if you’re worried?”
“No, it’s fine. No need to create small problems now. It’s better to pay 3 billion marks than to deal with the emperor’s annoyance. That sly one might use this as an excuse to investigate the family’s wealth.”
The marquis thought of the sly emperor.
“But if that duke’s house comes back to life…”
“If 3 billion marks could have revived that house, it would have happened already. It’s just a stroke of luck. The Valpruga dukedom isn’t strong enough to survive otherwise.”
The marquis said firmly.
“Moreover…”
His cold gaze turned to his subordinate.
The subordinate swallowed and bowed.
His punishment for failure was not over.
The fraud plan using the Fox Merchant Guild was his responsibility.
“You’ll take responsibility for that money.”
“Yes!”
Luckily, his life was spared.
Sweat drenched his back.
“How is the economic department matter going?”
“Proceeding smoothly. If nothing happens, the Grand Duke should take control.”
“Hmm.”
The marquis gestured for him to leave, and the subordinate retreated.
“Don’t forget to deal with the person who handled this matter. You won’t disappoint me, will you?”
The marquis’s eyes were like blades.
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it cleanly without any trouble.”
The Fox Merchant Guild would disappear from the world, but it didn’t matter.
Such trivial people were like stars compared to the Reholas family.
“Did House Reholas really send 3 billion marks to Valpruga?”
Treon Ivaropa couldn’t believe what he heard and asked a servant.
He was the man who had brought Pelia and Ruth together from the orphanage.
As soon as Pelia stamped the marriage registration, he had gone to the capital to report to the emperor, and Pelia was sent to the Valpruga dukedom.
The news that Ruth was officially recognized as Duke of Valpruga was astonishing.
“Has Marquis Reholas finally lost his mind? What on earth happened?”
Treon asked the servant again, and the servant hesitated.
“Well… they say some compensation was received… I don’t know the details either.”
“Compensation? Who handled it? Prugna? Or Duke Lucius?”
“No. I heard it was the duke’s lady…”
“What?”
That puppet woman?
Something felt off.
He planned to stay a few more days and observe the capital’s situation but realized he had to go.
Treon looked north toward the Valpruga dukedom and ordered,
“Return to the castle as soon as possible.”
