Chapter 48

Baron Bihor.

Among the nobility, he was known as a man with a fairly good reputation. However, that was only among those he flattered. Bihor wanted to build many connections for his business, so he carefully chose people who would bring him greater profit. Recently, he had approached the Christine Marquisate and, through that, had encountered Diana.

On paper, his business seemed perfectly legitimate, but that was not the whole truth.

There was a darker side that Diana also knew well from experience.

As a business owner and landlord, his reputation was rock bottom. He certainly did not treat those under him with humanity.

He seemed willing to do any dirty work to pile up money and expand his business. That was why he secretly bribed officials behind the scenes.

Forged documents were just one of his tricks.

No matter how much one complained with forged documents in hand, officials who had been bought off would never listen. That was how Bihor had taken other people’s property for himself.

With Sophia’s information, retrieving the building wouldn’t be a problem….

Even with all these documents in front of her, Diana held her forehead, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Neil approached her desk.

“Senior Aide, these are the ones that need your seal today… Are you feeling okay? Are you sick?”

Neil was startled by Diana’s troubled expression, his gaze drifting to the scattered documents around her.

“Is it because of this? You’ve been investigating something since yesterday—did His Majesty ask you to do it?”

“No, this is just something I looked into myself. It’s just… there’s something bothering me.”

As the leader of the anti-Emperor faction or as the boss of the mask workshop, Diana could easily get the building back. But that would mean she herself was protecting the anti-Emperor faction’s hideout.

But just letting it go was infuriating.

Bihor’s smug face, waving those forged documents, was vivid in Diana’s mind.

And more than that…

Now, the sad faces of her subordinates kept spinning in her head. She gripped her hair as well as her forehead.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but cheer up, Senior Aide.”

“…….”

“No matter what anyone says, you’re the aide who serves His Majesty, the highest in the Empire. I always admire the way you work, and I hope you don’t retire but keep working with me…”

“Right, I am an aide.”

“Pardon?”

As Neil gave his compliment and slipped in his hope, Diana’s head snapped up.

“I’m His Majesty’s aide, and that means I should prevent national taxes from leaking out to strange places, right? And I can’t tolerate innocent citizens of the Empire being harmed.”

“…Pardon? Yes?”

“That’s why I work. Just as the Emperor’s aide, simply doing my job.”

She was absolutely not working to preserve the anti-Emperor faction’s hideout or anything like that. Diana stood up abruptly.

“Come with me, Neil. We have somewhere to go.”

“Now? Where?”

“We’re going on a business trip.”

“What?”

With a flustered Neil in tow, Diana’s eyes burned with determination.

*   *   *

“Good, good.”

Seated at his desk, Bihor hummed a tune, gazing at the documents before him. The papers represented properties about to fall into his hands, and just the sight of them made him smile.

Of course, his greed didn’t end there. He wanted even more. He wished to possess such vast wealth that every noble in society would look up to him.

For that, he desperately needed the help of the Christine Marquisate.

In fact, the place Bihor admired most was the Christine Marquisate. In society, their influence was unmatched, and in the Empire, hardly any goods circulated without passing through their merchant group. Nobles who did any business, and even foreigners, wanted to ally with the Marquis family.

That’s why he had wanted to talk properly at the last banquet—but, unfortunately, Philip had left early. He had at least greeted Philip’s daughter Sophia, but it still felt like a missed opportunity.

Still, it wasn’t all bad, since he’d made connections with the Emperor’s aide.

He had considered expanding his business to the northern region through Kahil, but after seeing Kahil’s true nature, he gave up completely. Instead, Bihor resolved to strengthen his ties with the Marquis and the Imperial family. Rumors of an engagement between the Emperor and Lady Christine were circulating, and his connection with the aide wasn’t bad in such a situation.

He would have to seize an opportunity to visit the Imperial Palace soon.

Bihor was eager to expand his business. The feeling of looking down at nobles who had once looked down on him was truly exhilarating. He wanted to climb even higher, no matter how dirty the means.

“Big trouble, big trouble, Master!”

At that moment, a servant burst in, breathless from running so hard. Bihor frowned.

“What’s with the commotion in my office?”

“It’s… it’s…! Imperial Knights are outside right now.”

“…What?”

“You should hurry outside. I saw it myself and rushed here. I don’t know what’s going on, but it looks serious.”

Bihor’s face went pale at the mention of Imperial Knights. Imperial Knights, and in such a bad mood, made him even more anxious.

He had always been careful to prevent any bad rumors from reaching the Imperial side, so what could have happened that he didn’t know about? A bad feeling swept through Bihor.

“You don’t know exactly why they came?”

“No. But it can’t be for nothing if knights are involved. What should we do? I don’t think we should let them in…”

“I told you not to panic in situations like this. If you let your feelings show on your face, it’s no good.”

He told the servant to calm down, but Bihor himself couldn’t hide his nerves. He gritted his teeth. D*mn officials. After all the money he’d given them, how could they fail to manage this?

Bihor stood up.

“I’ll go out and see. I don’t know what’s happened, but I’ll buy us some time. Meanwhile, you all—”

“What do you mean, buy time, Baron?”

Bihor’s words were cut off by Diana. She entered, with a crowd of Imperial Knights waiting behind her. Bihor was startled but forced himself to smile.

“…If you’d waited a bit longer, I would have come out to greet you, Aide.”

“Is that so? You were so intent on keeping us out, I thought you weren’t here. Or maybe you were up to something suspicious.”

“Of course not. If I’d known you were here, I would have come out immediately. I was just a bit flustered. I knew the Imperial Knights were here, but I never imagined you’d come with them.”

Even as he spoke, Bihor tried to get Diana to leave his office.

“I don’t know why you barged in with knights, but let’s go to the drawing room and talk. It’s too busy here to receive guests…”

“That’s not necessary. My business is here in your office, Baron.”

Diana handed Bihor a document stamped with the Imperial seal.

“Baron Bihor. By Imperial order, this place will now be searched.”