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Chapter 53
The brown-haired woman was immediately noticeable for her beauty, but her face had a naïve expression, as if she had never truly experienced hardship.
Eglun assessed the situation the moment he saw her.
She was just a wealthy, vain commoner lady who was trying to mimic a successful business she saw. She probably thought she could make easy money while playing with finances.
This world wasn’t a place where just anyone could succeed.
“Lend me some money.”
Eglun didn’t need to waste words. He had no reason to beg such a woman.
“How much do you want?”
“Fifty thousand litas.”
“Fifty thousand litas?”
The woman’s eyes widened at the unexpectedly large amount.
“That’s quite a lot… it might be difficult…”
Her eyes swept over Eglun from top to bottom, and her thoughts were transparent in her gaze. She clearly assumed he didn’t have the money.
Who dares look at whom like that?
Eglun felt irritation rising as he looked at a woman who sent such a look without knowing who he was.
“Do I look like someone who can’t repay? Is that how I seem to you?”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that…”
Flustered, the woman tried to defuse the situation with a cautious tone.
“Sir, do you have any collateral?”
“No.”
“Ah… that would be a little problematic. We can only lend up to 5,000 litas without collateral. If there’s no property, we require a person as collateral. Anything over 5,000 litas per person is difficult.”
“Ha… I can just submit the identities of those vouching for me, right?”
Eglun knew this industry inside and out.
“Ah, that works then. You seem to know a lot about loans.”
“I don’t need to. Wait here a moment.”
Eglun quickly headed to his office. The distance was short, and he soon returned with a document in hand for her.
It was an identity verification document obtained from the employees he worked with.
In the empire, identity verification was extremely important. This document confirmed one’s identity and had to be attached whenever signing a contract. According to imperial law, a contract accompanied by this document was recognized as a contract personally signed by the individual.
Eglun felt uneasy using the document without the employees’ knowledge, but the matter would be over by tomorrow anyway. Any interest received could be partially given to the employees, and they would understand.
“Ah, this is more than enough.”
The woman happily took the document Eglun handed over and retrieved a piece of paper from the drawer.
“Just sign here.”
Eglun didn’t even need to read it. At a glance, it was identical to the contract they had used when opening their office.
“Here.”
Eglun roughly signed and handed the paper back. The woman checked the signature, carefully put the contract back in the drawer, and opened the safe.
“Should I put the money in a bag for you?”
“How am I supposed to carry this with my bare hands?”
“Oh, right. I’ll put it in for you.”
The seemingly naive woman put the money into a bag that looked like it had been prepared for a customer.
“If I repay within 24 hours, there’s no interest, right?”
“Yes.”
“Just wait. I’ll return it within 24 hours.”
Eglun laughed to himself as he left the office, thinking that the woman would gain nothing from this.
But he didn’t know: the employees following the borrowers today had all gathered in one building. And by the next day, no one had left that building.
“Today, we recovered all the forgeries deceiving people with Melchaski’s paintings from the Monzas Marquis family. As for the works already auctioned, the Duchess of Ameron has agreed to send them to the knights by tomorrow.”
“The Marquis of Monzas?”
“He is currently in the knightly prison. We’ve separated him from his younger brother, Orson Monzas, until the investigation is complete.”
“And the missing woman?”
“Ah, according to the butler, the woman imprisoned by the Marquis is a descendant of Melchaski. She seems to have disappeared out of fear, but we’ll look into it.”
“The imprisonment of that woman probably can’t be proven as the Marquis’ crime. First, find the people from the Marquis’ estate who crossed the border—they are essentially accomplices as well.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Any other news?”
“No, sir. I’ll report more after the investigation.”
“If we had ignored this, the nobility would have suffered greatly. The Duchess of Ameron was right after all.”
“Ah.”
Haren let out a small laugh at the mention of the Duchess of Ameron. Travis looked at him strangely, and Haren explained the reason for his amusement.
“Actually, it was all Espin’s idea…”
“Lady Espin?”
Travis had a question mark over his head at her name. How was she connected to the Monzas Marquis forgery case?
“This is only for the commander. My mother didn’t realize they were forgeries. But Espin, who recently visited our home, apparently recognized that the paintings were fake.”
“Really? It would have been difficult to tell at a glance.”
“That’s why it’s strange. Espin isn’t particularly interested in paintings… I think it was just a hunch.”
“So?”
“So, Espin went to the auction to find evidence and coincidentally discovered that the forgeries were signed. She then informed the Marquis and got the money back, including the amounts my mother and Lady Skant had spent.”
“Why didn’t she report it immediately?”
Travis couldn’t understand. If she knew they were forgeries, reporting them would have solved everything. Yet Espin chose to retrieve the money from the Marquis instead.
“She probably wanted to credit my mother. Thanks to Espin, my mother gained recognition, and now she is praising Espin highly.”
The Duchess of Ameron gained a surprisingly large benefit from this. Once seen as a foolish woman oblivious to her husband’s illegitimate child, she was now viewed as a wise lady protecting the nobility from scammers. This changed her reputation and silenced all the backbiting about her.
“Also, if she had reported immediately, the Marquis might have escaped. Espin deliberately let him be careless so he could be caught.”
Travis had no choice but to nod. In the empire, nobles held considerable power, and arresting them without clear evidence was difficult.
Because Espin made the Marquis complacent, he opened another auction, allowing the royal knights to raid the scene and capture him. In retrospect, it was the perfect scenario for arrest.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. It must have been hard to think of all this.”
“Yes. Plus, with my mother involved, the incident could escalate as needed.”
Who exactly was she?
Travis couldn’t stop thinking about Espin. What went on in her mind behind that innocent face? Some days, she seemed like a naïve lady in love; other days, she seemed to wear a mask hiding everything.
“It might be best to summon Lady Espin as a witness as well.”
Travis wanted to hear her thoughts: how she came up with such ideas and recognized the forgeries. There were many questions he wanted to ask her.
