Chapter 1.4

With a flick of his hand, the expensive quill he had been holding rolled across the desk. Ink from the pen’s tip stained the desk, but Ian didn’t spare it a glance. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and asked again.  

“Rude, you say? Are you talking about me, Jane?”  

“Yes. Why else would you invite someone in just to leave them standing there? Or were you trying to start some kind of power struggle?”  

Well, this was unexpected. 

Ian clicked his tongue inwardly. Annoyed that Jane had seen through his intentions, he replied curtly.  

“I believe I told you to sit. Or have you already forgotten?”  

“That’s the same thing. Whether I’m sitting or standing, you’re still planning to finish that mountain of paperwork while leaving me to wait, aren’t you?”  

Jane gestured at the stack of documents with her finger as she spoke. Ian didn’t respond.  

He couldn’t. He was stunned. More precisely, he was stunned by the fact that she had managed to catch him off guard.  

Her confidence was baffling.  

‘What on earth gives her that kind of nerve?’  

Ian furrowed his brows as he tried to assess her audacity.  

What could she possibly be relying on to act so boldly? 

For a moment, Ian wondered if Jane had some hidden card up her sleeve. But that couldn’t be it. The balance of power was clear. Jane was firmly in the weaker position. She was the debtor, and he was the creditor. What more was there to say?  

And yet, she refused to bow her head. Instead, she stood tall, chin raised, her eyes gleaming as she launched verbal attacks at him—as if there was no reason she shouldn’t.  

That intrigued Ian.  

And it also irritated him.  

It reminded him that all this trouble was because of this one woman.  

“Hah.”  

Ian tilted his head back and let out a sigh. When he looked back down, Jane could tell from his irritated expression that this was his true face. His cold, unfeeling eyes made it clear that he no longer saw any reason to feign politeness.  

Twisting his lips, Ian asked.  

“Do you not think there’s nothing to gain from getting on my nerves?”  

Even with his tone growing sharper, Jane didn’t back down. If she were the type to yield so easily, she wouldn’t have started this in the first place.  

“Oh, I’ve thought about it. But what can I do? If you wanted me to be polite, you shouldn’t have sent me a document with an outrageous 80% interest rate.”  

Rather than cowering, Jane raised her chin even higher as she retorted. Ian let out a hollow laugh.  

When someone was too stunned, their mind went cold. That was exactly how Ian felt. After his emotions flared briefly, they quickly settled.  

Ian’s eyes narrowed as he took in the details he hadn’t noticed before. Her hair, which she had clearly tried to tidy but hadn’t quite succeeded. Her muslin dress, so wrinkled it was doubtful it could ever return to its original state.  

In other words, all the signs of poverty that made up her being. Ian quietly observed them.  

And he mulled over her words.  

“Rude, huh.”  

Thinking it over, there was no benefit to clashing with her here. Ian regained his composure. He had a goal, after all. For that, he needed to coax Jane into signing. It was surprising that he had let his emotions show so plainly.  

‘Honestly.’  

Having made up his mind, Ian smiled again, as if he had painted it on. In a voice as smooth and polite as could be, he said.  

“Very well. Then let me show some courtesy, Lady Jane.”  

To Jane, the sudden shift in his demeanor was highly suspicious.  

She instinctively tensed her shoulders at the change in Ian’s tone.  

“What’s with the sudden shift?”  

“Sudden? I merely realized my mistake. I admit I was lacking in hospitality. I hope the tea and refreshments we serve here at Calrod will soothe your anger, my lady.”  

“…Are you going to keep this up?”  

“Oh dear. Have I said something else to offend you? If I’ve spoken out of turn, I apologize, Jane.”  

Jane almost shouted for him to stop but held back, shaking her head. From the way he was deliberately acting, it was clear that nothing she said would get through to him.  

Jane frowned. It was always harder to deal with someone overly polite than someone who was outright rude. And right now, Ian was the perfect example of that.  

Suddenly switching attitudes like flipping a coin, he left Jane feeling flustered. She scrutinized him carefully, thinking he must be up to something, though she couldn’t figure out what.  

Meanwhile, Ian continued smiling pleasantly as he spoke.  

“Now, would you mind telling me why you’ve come all this way, Lady Jane? It’ll take some time for the tea to be prepared.”  

“…Why I’m here?”  

“Yes. I need to know the reason so I can resolve the issue, don’t I?”  

Still maintaining his picture-perfect smile, Ian added. 

Surely, you wouldn’t say you came all this way for no reason, would you?  

The way he asked with such polite expressions felt so infuriating that it was almost impressive. Thinking this, Jane stared blankly at him.  

A man who seemed to have all the traits one might associate with a villain. When Jane first saw Ian through the crack of an open door, she had unconsciously thought as much. She wondered if loan sharks, as a rule, looked like villains.  

But in the very next moment, Jane realized something else—Ian was far too handsome to be a villain. It might sound discriminatory to say so, but that’s what Jane thought. If it were up to her, she would never cast someone with that face as a villain. With a face like that, wouldn’t most bad deeds be forgivable?  

And now.  

‘I feel like I’ve poked the wrong beehive.’  

Jane thought again. 

Perhaps I’ve stirred up trouble unnecessarily.  

Should I retreat now? 

Jane pondered. Her instincts were warning her that the man in front of her was dangerous. At that moment, if not for the sound of parchment crinkling in her arms, she might have turned and left.  

However, the parchment crinkled, and Jane recalled the absurd interest rate. It was only after this realization that she understood she would inevitably have to return here if she didn’t resolve this matter now.  

A fleeting determination flashed in her eyes, which resembled the color of a forest.  

“Fine.”  

Jane spoke, gesturing toward Ian with her chin.  

“There’s only one thing I’m curious about. I won’t ask why my debt was transferred to you. I don’t have the time to listen to your illogical justifications. But at the very least, I need to know how this absurd interest rate was calculated.”  

As she watched Ian’s crimson eyes narrow slightly, Jane lifted her chin. There was a saying, wasn’t there? Be confident and shameless. To the point where your opponent feels intimidated. So, she straightened her shoulders as confidently as she could.  

“That’s the reason I came all the way here, Master Calrod.”  

Of course, to Ian, she looked like nothing more than a naive, poor, and innocent country girl just showing off.

***

“Legally, when changes occur to a debt, the debtor has the right to express their opinion, and the creditor is obligated to notify them of the relevant rights three times. We’ve sent out all three notifications, and since Lady Jane—meaning you—did not appear at the arbitration meeting, we were able to set the repayment terms unilaterally. Do you understand?”  

Jane thought to herself. 

Scammers must really be smart. Or maybe it’s because they’re scammers that they’re smart? Either way, one thing was certain. I’ve been scammed. 

And scammed big time. But fortunately, the other party didn’t seem all that intelligent. Otherwise, why would a loan shark even bother citing the law?  

Without so much as touching the tea Vivianne had brought out, Jane retorted.  

“But I never received any notifications.”  

“No, you must have received them.”  

Ian smiled as if he had expected her to say that. Without the slightest hint of fluster, he opened the third drawer and pulled out three letters. The seals on the envelopes bore such a distinctive design that Jane recognized them at a glance. Interlocking diamonds layered threefold, with an arrow crossing through them.  

Seeing Jane’s shocked expression, Ian laid the letters out on the desk with a look that said he knew this would happen.  

A blue envelope, a yellow envelope, and a white envelope.  

“This is…”  

“Do you remember now?”  

“No, how could this be considered a notification!”  

Jane had received the envelopes. Three colorful envelopes, each bearing that distinct seal, delivered over the course of a week.  

The reason she had tossed them all straight into the fireplace was simple.  

“I couldn’t even read them!”  

The strange symbols scrawled across them were utterly indecipherable.