The Emperor was considering the possibility that Werner might hurry back to the Empire and then rejoin his trading company.

‘Unusual pirate movements…’

He assessed the combat capabilities of the warships guarding the front and rear of the trading vessels, as well as the practical experience of their captains. From his perspective, the captains were mere children.

If an actual battle with pirates broke out, Werner could step forward.

But what if pirates appeared when Werner had returned alone, leaving only Ludwig behind, as the letter warned?

Ludwig had never fought in a naval battle.

Moreover, from the pirates’ perspective, the larger the prey, the more likely they would unite to attack. The outcome was predictable.

He would lose the trade and be branded a traitor for disobeying imperial orders.

Werner, finally looking up from the letter, summoned the captain and navigator.

“We’re going back.”

“What?”

The captain tilted his head in confusion.

“We must persuade the Emperor somehow. We can’t give up here.”

Immediately, a thunderous shout followed.

“Are you suggesting we disobey imperial orders?”

“But as you know, Her Majesty is quite young, so her judgment…”

“Turn the ship around now! I’m giving you two weeks to return.”

The captain was too shocked to speak.

He had been with Werner since his naval days. His superior had been a great commander and the terror of pirates, but even in battle, he never showed anger or emotion.

Yet now, his expressions changed constantly while reading his daughter’s letter, and those hands carefully smoothing out the crumpled paper—what was that about?

Suddenly, he remembered when Werner had fallen for Christine and jumped into another country’s war.

‘Could it be that he’s developed a late paternal affection? No, that’s impossible.’

No matter how much he denied it, the situation wasn’t much different from back then.

With one last hope, he responded with apparent difficulty:

“If we’re returning, we need to unload the cargo at the places we loaded it. Even at top speed, two weeks is impossible.”

“Then we’ll go without unloading.”

The captain’s jaw dropped.

When Werner decided something, he followed through. He had even wiped out pirates in a foreign country just to win a woman. The captain gave up and slumped his shoulders.

The navigator, however, had only joined a few years ago. He still thought persuading him was possible.

“You’re leaving without trading but not returning the goods? The owners won’t stand for this.”

“Who.”

When Werner lowered his voice, the navigator couldn’t respond.

Killing intent.

Despite being retired for years, his muscular limbs were thicker than most young men’s. His brown hair remained full without a single gray strand. His brown eyes, seemingly able to penetrate one’s soul, were clear without a trace of cloudiness.

The navigator’s knees weakened as he understood why pirates called Werner the Leviathan, especially with that palpable k*lling intent.

“I’d like to see any owner who dares complain to me.”

Of course, there were none.

The navigator couldn’t argue further. Werner added one more thing:

“Throw away all food and water except for ten days’ worth. A lighter ship will return much faster.”

The captain, who had completely abandoned hope for the trade, asked:

“Why ten days?”

“It’s the last day of the founding festival. All the owners of these goods will be gathered there, so I’ll only need to explain once.”

“Haha, how efficient…”

The captain laughed as if he’d lost his mind, but quickly shut his mouth when Werner glared at him.

Meanwhile, Ludwig was supervising the loading of goods at the port.

The navigator rushed to him personally, rather than sending a crew member, to deliver the return order. With the same expression as the navigator, Ludwig ran to Werner.

“Father, what’s happening?”

Werner silently handed him the Emperor’s letter. Ludwig’s expression after reading it matched Werner’s initial reaction.

“Are you really following this?”

“It’s an imperial order.”

“I heard Daphne sent a letter too.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

Ludwig was taken aback by Werner’s sharp reaction to the mention of Daphne’s letter.

“Father, I heard you were hesitating after reading the Emperor’s letter but made your decision after receiving Daphne’s! So of course it’s relevant!”

Hearing this, Werner glared at the navigator. The navigator, who had tattled hoping Ludwig might stop him, lowered his head and avoided eye contact.

“Tsk, tsk. If you don’t protect those who give you valuable information, how will you get information next time?”

Even in this situation, Werner didn’t forget to instruct Ludwig.

“Father!”

Ludwig raised his voice, his face flushed.

Werner’s face immediately hardened, but Ludwig couldn’t calm his excitement.

“If this trade fails, what use is information?”

“When nails are hammered into a coffin, everything becomes useless. Until then, information equals opportunity. Never disregard it.”

But Ludwig wasn’t listening.

After being utterly indifferent to family matters, he was abandoning a trade over one letter? Unbelievable.

“I heard Daphne sent a letter. Show it to me too. Then I might understand this situation.”

At that moment, Werner again emanated k*lling intent.

“You dare ask to read a letter addressed to me?”

Ludwig was dumbfounded.

He couldn’t understand why Werner, who had always treated him like an extension of himself, sharing everything, was acting this way.

Of course, there could be secrets too classified even for his son. But this behavior…

It looked like a doting father suddenly flaring up in anger.

Ludwig was so furious that he turned and walked away.

Eventually, the anchors were raised, and the large merchant ships all headed back to the Empire.

⁕⁕⁕

Unlike the ship buzzing with chatter, the sea was utterly calm.

Ludwig sat at the stern, gazing at the black sea sparkling under moonlight.

He had the same brown eyes and hair as Werner, but his appearance more closely resembled his deceased birth mother. His face was full of intelligence, and his high nose bridge and thin lips revealed a sensitive personality.

From childhood, he had been quick with numbers and decisive. He knew how to command people and maintained strictly calculated relationships.

He wasn’t a good person, but he was the ideal heir candidate for a family focused on commerce.

However, Werner, who valued character over ability, still hadn’t acknowledged him as successor. Waiting for him to develop the right temperament?

Ludwig filled a glass with rum and downed it in one gulp.

For someone who valued success and money above all, this decision was impossible to accept. Returning just because of two letters.

He drank rum straight from the bottle.

“Daphne, you’ve really done it now.”

Ludwig threw the empty bottle into the sea.

“You lowborn with Gael blood!”

Since learning the secret of her birth, Ludwig had done everything possible to prevent her from becoming family.

His methods were diverse.

During every family event, he would insistently advise her: you’re still young and immature, so you might embarrass the family—don’t come out.

When someone asked why she wasn’t present, he would answer on her behalf that Daphne was very shy.

He never missed the opportunity to create a good impression as a caring older brother who stood in for his sister.

Even when the whole family went to their summer villa, he would pressure her to make excuses about being sick. Of course, he spoke very gently.

“Mother is already exhausted taking care of the youngest. Should we add to her burden? Let’s stay here together, Daphne. That way Mother can rest properly.”

The fool would nod vigorously.

“But this is just between us. The adults will try to take you along, saying it’s fine. You should say you don’t want to go first. I’ll make up appropriate excuses for the rest.”

In this way, he cunningly made her drift further from the family.

How brightly she would smile when praised for being a good child. If that child with the wonderful smile had been his real sister… A fleeting regret passed through him.

Soon after, memories of when he had cared for and liked her, believing she was his real sister, surfaced, reigniting his hatred.

Ludwig didn’t want to give Daphne anything that belonged to the Armin family.

When she married Leonhardt, she would become a “Mücke,” so he tolerated her using the Armin name. On the other hand, he felt truly sorry for Barbara, who had been such a benefactor to him.

It saddened him that such a fine person would have to accept someone like Daphne as a daughter-in-law. But the engagement had been arranged even before Leonhardt’s birth, so there was nothing he could do.

However, he absolutely refused to let her have the family fortune. That’s why he completely blocked the father-daughter relationship.

Your father is too busy, don’t disturb him, he’s tired, don’t even speak to him, don’t even appear before him—he never spared such advice.

One of his tactics was intercepting the letters Daphne wrote to Werner.