Gustav’s eyes bulged and he raised his voice.
“They’re demanding the inheritance my mother left me. They know exactly what would hurt me the most!”
Only then did Leonhardt show a reaction.
“……Inheritance?”
“Yes, the Hill of Stones. Why would they ask for something useless? They clearly intend to squeeze whatever they can to cause me pain.”
Gustav continued muttering complaints, but Leonhardt’s mind was elsewhere.
‘So it wasn’t a coincidence after all.’
He recalled the broker who had approached him when he was desperate for money. He sensed he was caught in some grand conspiracy.
A chill ran down his spine and spread throughout his body. Just then, Gustav shouted.
“Are you listening to me?!”
“It’s gone.”
“……What?”
“The Hill of Stones, Your Grace.”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“When I was entranced by the magic stone, a suspicious person approached me. I thought it was completely worthless, so I sold it.”
Gustav couldn’t believe his ears. He finally grabbed a nearby bottle of alcohol and threw it. Leonhardt casually turned his body slightly to avoid it.
“Please calm down, Your Grace. It’s already too late. What matters is that someone has been plotting against us for a long time.”
“You call that an explanation?! Werner specifically asked for that land, and you tell me you’ve already sold it? They’ll demand something even more outrageous now!”
“Perhaps Werner’s side bought it, anticipating this very situation.”
“What?”
“Get up now. We need to salvage what we can to minimize the damage.”
“Damage? How dare you! This is all because of you!”
Gustav threw another bottle. This time, it shattered at Leonhardt’s feet, and a fragment flew up, grazing his chin.
If the fragment had been larger and sharper, or hit just a bit lower, it could have struck a blood vessel in his neck. Despite this close call, Leonhardt didn’t even flinch.
He simply took out a handkerchief, wiped away the blood, and calmly said:
“I won’t ask you to trust me. I’ll do my best, so please don’t cast me out right now.”
Leonhardt looked more serious than ever. Despite this unusual demeanor, Gustav’s mood didn’t improve. In fact, he grew angrier at Leonhardt’s unperturbed attitude even after being hit and bleeding.
Knowing this full well, Leonhardt continued regardless of Gustav’s fuming.
“I’ll take my leave to fix the mistake I’ve made.”
Those words provoked Gustav again.
As he watched Leonhardt turn away, Gustav spoke through gritted teeth, delivering one final piece of news.
“The Emperor has ordered Daphne to marry the Grand Duke.”
Leonhardt stopped in his tracks. Gustav sneered.
“I wonder if you can fix this too?”
But Leonhardt didn’t answer, nor did he look back as he left the bedroom.
Gustav pulled at his own hair.
“I should have dealt with him long ago!”
Leonhardt’s very existence drove him mad.
That arrogant attitude. No, it wasn’t just that. His small habits, expressions, even his appearance.
He reminded him of the late Emperor.
Gustav was filled with shame at the mere thought of the late Emperor. He trembled with rage remembering how the Emperor had mocked him, asking if he enjoyed his unearned position as Duke.
Leonhardt resembled his father so closely.
He had known for a long time that Leonhardt wasn’t his son.
He had only pretended not to know out of fear of the Emperor. Even after the Emperor’s death, he kept quiet.
He feared people would discover he had raised a cuckoo’s child while cowering before the Emperor. Beyond that, he didn’t want to tarnish his title as Duke or the family’s reputation.
So he had kept his mouth shut all this time.
Yet he didn’t want to make Leonhardt his successor. Unable to reach a decision, he vacillated and ignored Barbara’s feigned illness.
And now things had escalated to this point. Gustav trembled with belated regret.
His raised voice must have carried outside, as the aides’ gazes toward Leonhardt were far from friendly. Their expressions resembled those they had worn when Barbara was thrown out of the office.
‘Useless young master.’
‘Immature fool who put the family in crisis.’
Leonhardt couldn’t have missed the emotions on their faces. Yet he didn’t care at all.
Not even about that ill-mannered child who called himself Emperor and had ordered marriage to Kartun.
“Even if something is taken away, I can always get it back……”
Recalling Daphne who had repeatedly turned away coldly, he muttered again.
“You want to run away? I’ll just catch you.”
As he entered the hallway, Hans, who had been waiting, followed behind.
Hans had suddenly risen from a mere guard to Leonhardt’s aide. More precisely, he was an assistant, but he followed Leonhardt everywhere like a shadow.
People congratulated Hans on his promotion while whispering behind his back about birds of a feather flocking together. Some said that even the great House Mücke was declining if its immature heir appointed an aide of dubious background and quality.
Leonhardt wasn’t ignorant of these whispers. Yet he paid them little mind. After being humiliated in front of Daphne because of Kartun, he no longer cared about petty reputation.
After suffering unimaginable disgrace, he had hardened. Now there was nothing he wouldn’t do to repay that humiliation.
He asked Hans:
“Did you bring them?”
Hans took out a bundle of keys from his br*ast pocket and presented them to Leonhardt.
“I had them copied in a hurry, so they might not fit perfectly. Please don’t force them and use them carefully.”
Hans added an explanation.
Leonhardt examined them closely. There were five keys in total. Three were similar in size—the keys to Barbara’s and his deceased grandparents’ chambers.
The other two were quite large and sturdy, keys to the storage rooms containing Barbara’s and his grandmother’s dowries.
Hans had secretly bribed those responsible for the keys or those with access to them. Sometimes he had stolen them himself, made copies one by one, and returned them.
With these, Leonhardt had secured substantial funds. Since the owners were either dead or imprisoned, they wouldn’t be caught anytime soon.
Leonhardt gave Hans a pleased expression.
“Good work.”
But Hans showed no particular reaction to Leonhardt’s praise. Without exchanging further words, the two headed first to the storage room containing Barbara’s dowry.
The guards protecting the place had apparently been bribed by Hans in advance, allowing them to pass through.
Leonhardt inserted the key into a lock the size of a child’s head. Contrary to Hans’s concerns, the key turned smoothly.
Once inside, Hans’s mouth fell open. For him, it was the first time seeing such treasures—jewels, paintings, and even land deeds for fertile farmland and vineyards.
An enormous fortune was neatly organized. Barbara’s father, who had no son to inherit his family, had transferred most of his wealth to his daughter.
And as soon as Gustav became Duke, he had locked everything away here, preventing Barbara from touching any of it.
When Leonhardt casually handed Hans a few jewels, the man who had shown no reaction to praise earlier immediately began grinning.
“Wait outside for a moment.”
“Yes, take your time, sir.”
Hans withdrew with a somewhat regretful expression.
He had been following orders like a tongue in one’s mouth, without specific instructions. Yet now he couldn’t hide his greed at the sight of these treasures.
Leonhardt shook his head in disbelief and closed the door.
‘He was never trustworthy to begin with, but to lose his composure like that… I must be careful.’
Leonhardt smiled with satisfaction as he checked each item on the list. A faint madness flickered in his eyes. It wasn’t mere excitement at seeing great wealth.
Wasn’t he in a position where he could be cast out at any moment? If that happened now, everything would be over.
‘How could I prove the late Emperor is my real father?’
This wasn’t something that could be resolved by physical resemblance. In short, one wrong move and he would be abandoned by both the imperial family and the ducal household.
‘But with this……’
Barbara’s dowry was more substantial than he had expected. Moreover, her chambers were filled with luxury items.
‘One by one, bit by bit, I’ll devour it all.’
He ground his teeth, thinking of the impudent Emperor who had issued that absurd marriage order. He felt he could do anything once he got his hands on Helmut’s magic stone.
Having been entranced by it himself, he was certain.
Leonhardt’s office, which had been covered in dust all this time, now seemed more vibrant than ever. When he appeared with Hans, an aide rushed over.
Translator
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bluemoon238
Not one person in this novel is truly trustworthy. For FL to be happy in the way she wants… Strong woman being nerfed and forced to forever rely on the man is a tiresome troupe