Chapter 49: CH 49

It was the day after she spoke to the principal that she realized something was wrong.

In the Marren’s duchy, there was an unspoken rule that the whole family will have breakfast together. Today was no different from any other morning.

“……”

Except for the heavy silence, that is.

The sound of utensils clattering and dishes being passed around the table quietly resonated.

“It’s starting to get chilly. Maybe winter is coming.”

Riett couldn’t bear the silence and spoke first.

“Oh, is that so?”

Duke Marren replied as he ladled soup into his bowl. However, there was no life in his eyes. Mechanically responding, he resembled a lifeless wax doll.

‘Should I be grateful for the response?’

Riett thought.

Her father, and even her mother, looked pale. Her mother’s eyes were swollen as if she had been crying. She forced herself to hold back the tears and passed the soup several times. She doesn’t know if She’s chewing sand or chewing debris.

Unable to bear it any longer, Riett asked.

“What’s happening at home?”

“……”

“……”

Silence. Her parents remained silent as if they had made a firm promise.

“The principal gave me a recommendation letter for the noble council.”

Duke Marren widened his eyes and looked at Riett. Finally, a human reaction.

“……Congratulations.”

However, Duke Marren, after a moment of surprise, quickly offered his congratulations like a dying person.

Riett put down the spoon she was holding.

“The reason I mentioned the recommendation letter here is to let you know that I’m also an adult now. You don’t have to hide your chores from me like I’m still a child.”

“……”

As Riett firmly spoke, Duke Marren seemed to hesitate to say something, but he brushed it off as if he couldn’t come up with anything. His silence continued.

‘Father, what on earth…?’

At that moment, the Duchess, who had been keeping her mouth shut like a clam, spoke up.

“Riett, don’t worry because there’s nothing wrong.”

But it seems completely wrong, doesn’t it?

Riett’s red pupils sharply scanned the faces of the two individuals.

The Duchess looked at Duke Marren and forced an awkward smile.

“Isn’t that right, dear?”

“……Well. Riett, there’s just a small problem with my work. But it will be resolved soon, so don’t worry.”

Duke Marren still wore the face of a corpse as he replied.

‘…Hmmm.’

Riett couldn’t believe the awkward lies of the two, but for now, she had no choice but to let it go.

* * *

After a tense breakfast, Riett’s footsteps led her to Duke Kreutz’s mansion.

“Welcome, Riett.”

The Duke greeted her with a smile.

“Hello, mister.”

Riett greeted him back with a smile.

The Duke brushed off the fallen leaves scattered in Riett’s hair. She had walked without brushing off the fallen leaves on her way there.

“Time flies so fast. You’re graduating soon.”

“Yes, it feels like I just started school.”

The Duke pulled out a chair for Riett, and she sat down eagerly, leaning forward to be closer to the Duke across from her.

“Mister, do you know why I came here today?”

The Duke smiled kindly and tilted his head. Naturally, he wouldn’t know. Riett had come without explaining the reason as soon as she heard that he would be staying at the mansion today.

“If you’re wondering why I came, well…”

Riett chuckled as she took out a piece of paper she had brought.

“I wanted to show this to you, mister!”

With a flourish, Riett handed the paper to the Duke. It was the nobleman’s recommendation letter.

“When I graduate as the top student this time, I’ll also receive a nobleman’s recommendation letter from the principal!”

The Duke couldn’t close his mouth in surprise and accepted the paper. Then he exclaimed loudly,

“Congratulations, Riett!”

“Thank you. It’s thanks to your guidance.”

But her joy from the praise was short-lived as her parents’ expressions, which had been dark in her mind, resurfaced. Riett’s raised smile drooped weakly.

“What’s wrong, Riett?”

As the child’s expression, which had been bright until just now, darkened, the Duke asked with a concerned voice.

‘I wonder if he knows why.’

He and his father were dear friends and had been in politics together for many years. Riett hesitated, then slowly spoke.

“M……. Mister.”

The Duke’s worried eyes waited for Riett to speak.

“Do you know what happened to my father recently?”

The Duke’s brows twitched, but soon he wore his usual amused smile.

“To your father? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Riett sensed an awkward atmosphere in his response.

“…Please don’t hide it from me, mister.”

Riett spoke in a gloomy voice, and the Duke’s smile faded.

Sighing deeply, the Duke finally opened up. It seemed that he knew something. Riett cautiously opened her ears to the Duke’s voice.

“Yes… it’s something I can’t keep hidden.”

So, something did happen. Riett listened attentively to the Duke’s voice, tense.

“Your father is trapped in a trap.”

“…A trap?”

Riett’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Once you become a nobleman, you’ll understand, but the imperial politics in the Empire are currently divided into factions.”

“I know. They’re divided into the progressive faction and the conservative faction.”

She already knew that because she was interested.

Recently, the Truto Empire’s imperial power had weakened, and the power of the noble members had risen rapidly.

And as the Duke had said, the noble members were divided into the progressive faction, which sought drastic reforms, and the conservative faction, which didn’t want overall reforms.

“Marren and I belong to the progressive faction, and within the faction, we each have our roles.”

“I see.”

“For example, I plan from behind while Duke Marren takes action from the front.”

She has always been interested in politics, but this is the first time she’d heard such detailed factional stories. In other words, if she were to compare it to a movie, it would be like the mister is the director, and her father is the actor.

“It was the same this time. I was planning to expose the corruption of Marquis Callian, the representative of the conservative faction, and Duke Marren was preparing to take action when the time came.”

“What about it…?”

Duke Kreutz briefly closed his mouth and furrowed his brows. Even without fully hearing the explanation, Riett could sense that something had gone wrong.

“Duke Marren was in a state of great excitement. Marquis Callian had been a long-standing enemy of the progressive faction. But because the preparations were not yet perfect, we needed to wait a little longer for Duke Marren to make a move.”

Thump, thump. Riett’s heart raced with anxiety. Even without hearing the rest, she could anticipate the situation.

“But in the end… Duke Marren rashly provoked Marquis Callian and fell into his trap.”

As expected.

Before sighing, Riett needed to understand her family’s situation more accurately.

“That trap… What exactly was it?”

“We discovered evidence that Marquis Callian was smuggling illegal goods, and Duke Marren raided the scene of the illicit trade…”

“That scene itself was a trap…”

Duke Kreutz couldn’t hide his dark expression as he nodded his head.

“As Riett anticipated, it wasn’t just an ordinary smuggling case but a significant transaction with a foreign country. Duke Marren messed up that deal.”

“Marquis Callian must have suffered significant losses.”

“…Although Duke Marren is also hiding the exact situation from me, there’s no way Marquis Callian would let go of this opportunity. He probably demanded a substantial amount of compensation.”

Riett understood the entire sequence of events. To summarize, Marquis Callian was an old enemy of her father in politics, and he had been pursuing his corruption for a long time. Finally, evidence was caught and her father was advised to wait a little longer to make sure things were done right.

However, her father couldn’t wait for even a short time and acted unilaterally, ultimately falling into Marquis Callian’s trap.

‘As a result, he will have to pay a significant amount of compensation from our wealth.’

She couldn’t know the exact amount, but judging from her parents’ dark expressions that she had never seen before, it must be a substantial sum.

‘Could it be… bankruptcy?’

Riett’s worries deepened.

Duke Marren was one of the few dukes in the Empire, but he wasn’t particularly wealthy. The title of duke was inherited from his ancestors, who were war heroes from long ago. Fortunately, the glory gained at that time had been sustained until now, and the vast estate granted back then was still in their possession.

However, she had heard that the land of the estate had been suffering from a long drought, and their situation was not favorable.

‘To add insult to injury…’

“What kind of person is this Marquis Callian?”

She couldn’t just stand by and watch her family’s downfall. She needed to know about the enemy.

“He’s like a snake. In the political world, he not only boasts an overwhelming presence but also…”

“In what aspect?”

Was he really that remarkable of a person? Riett waited nervously for the Duke’s response.

“Do you know why the former emperor was exiled, Riett?”

She couldn’t possibly not know. It was a story that had caused a stir throughout the entire Empire.

The current emperor, Leopold II, ascended to the throne after his father, Leopold I, was exiled due to his reckless lifestyle and failure to fulfill his imperial duties. The revelation of these facts resulted in the loss of imperial power and an increase in the influence of noble members of the assembly.

“The person who exposed the wrongdoings of the former emperor was none other than Marquis Callian.”

“…What?”

That remarkable feat was accomplished by Marquis Callian?

Riett couldn’t help but be astonished by the impressive achievement of her counterpart.

“Although it may seem like he did the right thing on the surface, the reality is different. He manipulated information to exaggerate the faults of the former emperor far beyond the truth.”

“Did the former emperor know about it and just stay quiet?”

“He was always drunk, so he didn’t even realize he had fallen into a trap.”

Riett clicked her tongue at the staggering truth. To think that someone would dare manipulate even the emperor.

“The problem is that his influence continues to this day. Even our current emperor, Emperor Leopold, is wary of him.”

That was understandable. As the son of the former emperor, the current emperor must have witnessed his father being exiled due to Marquis Callian’s machinations.

‘He must be afraid of Marquis Callian.’

“I’m sorry, Riett. I should have stopped Duke Duke Marren a little more.”

Duke Kreutz spoke with an apologetic expression. However, Riett forced a smile.

“Why are you saying such things, mister? This is our family’s problem.”

“Don’t say that. Although Duke Marren has kept his mouth shut, I can help him with financial matters.”

Riett lowered her head.

After all, it was an issue caused by her father’s wrongdoing. It must have affected Duke Kreutz as well. He couldn’t ask him for any help, because he’d be the one with no face.

‘What can I do?’

Caught up in a conspiracy, a huge compensation, and a formidable opponent, Riett’s head throbbed, but…

“I’ll do something.”

Now she had become an adult.

“I can’t just stand by and watch our family go bankrupt.”

Might as well have a proper ceremony while she was at it.