“...Ha.”
Duchess Elkein scoffed at his commanding tone.
“I don’t feel like it. Why should I do as you say?”
“Because I got here first.”
“There’s no such thing as order when paying off a debt. Whoever pays first wins!”
“I’m pretty sure I have more money than you.”
“You, you...!”
Duchess Elkein genuinely tried to keep things calm today, but in the end, she lost her temper again.
“Are you looking down on the Eastern Region right now?! I have a lot of money too! Just because you have a few more mines than us, you think you can show off your wealth like that?! We have plenty of mines too! We do!”
Of course, their mines couldn’t compare to the rich deposits scattered throughout the Western Region, but that didn’t mean she deserved to hear such remarks.
“Sigh, if you two are going to argue over this, then I suppose I’ll have to take care of it.”
“......”
“.......”
The two who had been arguing turned their attention toward Duke Nora, who was smiling quietly. The moment they saw him, neither of them could say another word.
Duke Nora, the head of the Southern Region, was the owner of the Golden Granary. But that wasn’t all. He also possessed several highly profitable mines and countless successful businesses that had been passed down through his family for generations.
“Should I just handle it myself?”
“What are you saying?! I told you I’d do it.”
“Both of you step aside. I was here first.”
Click.
The drawing room door opened, cutting off the argument that had started up again. Two people entered. They were Kainel, the Grand Duke of Persia, and his aide, Del.
Without a word, Kainel walked over and took his seat. When he felt the three dukes’ intense gazes fixed on him, he had to suppress the slight curve forming at the corner of his lips.
They were just like this at the previous meeting. The suspicion and hostility in their eyes were impossible to miss.
“What brings you here...?”
Kainel almost spoke casually out of habit, but he stopped himself and let the sentence fade.
“Friends of my late parents.”
Recalling what Ceres had told him, he clicked his tongue softly. He also remembered the warning look she had given him, telling him not to treat them carelessly.
“We heard that Your Excellency is holding Ceres’s debt documents.”
There was only one reason the three dukes had come to see Kainel today. After seeing Ceres standing beside Kainel at the Imperial Council Hall, they investigated their relationship and discovered the matter of her debt.
They already knew that the Drow family had fallen into considerable debt because of that woman, Agne. That was why they intended to settle it.
However, they just learned that the Grand Duke of Persia already paid off all of her debts himself.
“We heard that you even signed a contract.”
They discovered that Ceres had appeared at the Imperial Council Hall not because she was the owner of the Tamer Relic, but because of the connection she had formed with the Grand Duke of Persia through those debt documents. Once they learned the truth, they immediately came to find him.
“Why are you so interested in that?”
“I believe I’ll have to tear up that contract.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m Ceres’s guardian.”
Duke Nora smiled, his eyes curving softly.
“Wait, wait! Don’t try to sneak in. Give that contract to me.”
“I told you both to stay out of this. Hand over the debt document. I’ll settle it right away.”
Following Duke Nora, Duchess Elkein and Duke Schweiss also spoke without hesitation, each trying to take care of the matter first.
“......”
Kainel quietly watched the three of them. Then, the corner of his lips slowly lifted.
“Now, after all this time?”
“......”
“......”
“......”
His casual remark silenced all three of them. It was because he had struck directly at the place they were most ashamed of.
“It may be late, but I intend to resolve it now.”
Duke Schweiss was the one who broke the silence. With his usual emotionless expression, he faced Kainel.
“There’s no reason for Your Excellency to be holding the debt documents of the Drow family. Please hand them over.”
At Duke Schweiss’s firm demand, Duchess Elkein was quick to show her support. For the first time, she nodded enthusiastically at him with a look that said, Good. Keep going.
“Hmm...”
Del, who had been silently observing him from the side, sighed inwardly.
He doesn’t like this.
Though he couldn’t read Kainel’s expressions as well as Ceres could, Del had served him for many years and had learned to understand him to a certain extent.
“What if I refuse?”
As if proving Del’s guess right, Kainel’s voice became even more relaxed. He was like a predator calmly savoring the moment before tearing into its prey.
Watching the smile on Kainel’s lips, Del shook his head.
“Are you saying you’re refusing?”
The problem was that they weren’t opponents who would simply let themselves become prey. Black eyes met Kainel’s cold silver gaze, burning with fierce determination.
“That’s right. I refuse.”
“Understood.”
Duke Schweiss immediately rose from his seat.
“What? You’re just giving up?”
“Bei, are you really leaving like this?”
Duchess Elkein and Duke Nora were the ones caught off guard. Wasn’t he giving up far too easily?
“Then I’ll settle this directly with Ceres.”
He had wanted to resolve things quietly without placing any burden on the child. But if the Grand Duke of Persia was going to respond like this, there was no other option. He would have to meet Ceres himself and settle the matter directly.
As he was about to leave the drawing room, Duke Schweiss turned back to look at Kainel one last time.
“I hope this will be the last time we meet in private. My apologies.”
His words were polite, but his firm attempt to keep his distance only made Kainel’s smile deepen.
“Who knows? I have a feeling we’ll meet again.”
“......”
A powerful gust of wind suddenly swept through the drawing room. But just as quickly, it vanished like it had never happened. Duke Schweiss walked away without another word.
“We should leave as well. If you happen to change your mind later, please contact us. We’ll come right away.”
“That man isn’t really going straight to Ceres, is he? We need to hurry too!”
Duke Nora and Duchess Elkein also gave up on persuading Kainel and left the room.
“Is it really all right to let them leave like this?”
After the three dukes had gone, Del carefully asked while clearing away the teacup left on the table.
He already investigated everything about Ceres and her relationship with the three dukes. Naturally, he had reported it all to Kainel as well.
He also knew that they had secretly been supporting Ceres and her siblings all this time, unaware that Agne was deceiving them while taking an enormous amount of money from them.
Even so, none of the three dukes made an excuse when Kainel questioned why they were only stepping forward now. Del couldn’t help but admire them.
“I don’t like it.”
“What?”
“Everything.”
The way the three of them acted like Ceres was truly their own child. The way they seemed to believe they were closer to her than he was.
“...Because Ceres smiled.”
Watching their interaction, Kainel understood. It had only been a brief moment, but that one expression told him everything.
Ceres already opened her heart to them.
She wasn’t someone who easily let others in. But once she decided someone was important to her, she was also the type of person who would never let go.
“When did they get this close?”
Remembering the way they had looked at him with disapproval, almost like parents interfering in their daughter’s relationships, Kainel chuckled dryly.
“Still, I don’t think it’s right to send the three of them away like this.”
“What?”
“If Miss Ceres finds out about this... Didn’t she tell you not to treat them carelessly?”
“......”
The irritation on Kainel’s face disappeared, replaced by a stiff expression. Before he realized it, his crossed legs had returned to a proper sitting position.
“...I didn’t fight with them.”
“You did start an argument, though.”
“...I did my best.”
“Sure, sure.”
Del shook his head and walked out with the teacup in hand. Watching him leave, Kainel frowned deeply.
“I really did my best.”
.
.
.
Chapter 40: A Comforting Gift
Slurp.
“...Are you seriously eating more?”
“Of course.”
“Haa......”
A long sigh escaped from Lot, the Vice-Guild Master of the Black Guild. He stared at Guild Master Skal, who was sitting across from him and happily eating stew, his eyes filled with exhaustion.
“Do you really have to show up looking like that?”
“You said we’d eat stew if I came back alive.”
“That doesn’t mean I wanted you to come here wrapped in bandages from head to toe.”
“But I didn’t put a bandage over my mouth.”
“...I’d really like to put one there myself.”
Fortunately, the Black Guild, the first to enter the S-Class Black Forest, returned without losing a single member. But that didn’t mean they escaped unscathed. Many members had suffered serious injuries.
The person who suffered the most was Guild Master Skal. He had returned in such a battered state that it was hard to find a single uninjured spot on him. Looking at him, one might have thought his subordinates had really abandoned him and fled when things got dangerous.
Two days ago, when he finally regained consciousness, [N O V E L I G H T] the first thing he said was—
“That place... Haa... When are we going?”
...He was asking when they were going to the stew shop.
Lot was so furious that he nearly hit Skal over the head and knocked him unconscious again.
After worrying himself sick while Skal lay unconscious, seeing him wake up only to say something like that was so frustrating.
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