At that, Mr. Schleicher’s face instantly turned pale. After seeming to quickly think things through, he soon deployed a clumsy strategy.

“I’m not quite sure what you mean……”

“I’m asking because I already know everything, so don’t try to evade. Testing my patience won’t do you any good. I believe you understand that fact well.”

“Duke……”

“I’ll ask once more.”

As Jürgen took a step closer, he revealed an expression like that of an animal trapped in a cage.

“I asked why you made your daughter drink alcohol.”

“T-that……”

He could clearly see that the middle-aged man before him was extremely tense and conscious of the door. Realizing that a servant was blocking the doorway, Mr. Schleicher finally gave up preemptively.

“My daughter said she wanted to receive your love, Duke…… As you know, she knows nothing about men. So after much deliberation, I let her have a drink……”

Watching Jürgen’s reaction, Mr. Schleicher hastily continued.

“I didn’t force her to drink. Really! I only suggested it.”

“Your daughter remained withdrawn the entire time she stayed at the Duke’s mansion.”

“……”

“She’s a woman who spent all day watching my mood and being careful with herself. A woman who devoted all her attention to safely getting through each day suddenly told me she wanted to fall into my arms. A woman who had been so afraid of me until just the day before.”

Even without saying it directly, it was obvious. Her father was the one who made her tell such a lie.

“Now tell me. Why did you make Diez tell such a lie?”

“D-Diez said…… she heard that you were planning to send her away from the mansion.”

Mr. Schleicher’s voice was now trembling pitifully.

“I, we wanted Diez to remain by your side……”

“Surely you must have also heard that I would pay off all your debts.”

“I thought that if my daughter could please you, perhaps we could restore our family……”

It was the head of the family’s role to revive the family, not Diez’s. Meeting Jürgen’s cold gaze, Mr. Schleicher began to confess everything as if making a full disclosure.

“I had no choice. She was our only hope. I simply couldn’t revive the family on my own. The business had already failed once, and the debt remained tied up. I couldn’t even start a new business! Not only did we lack funds, but the late Duke had blocked any path to starting new ventures……”

This was the first time Jürgen had heard that his father had employed such tactics.

“Please explain in detail.”

“We are in a position where we cannot guarantee credit anywhere. Of course, it’s true that the late Duke said he would pay off our debts. But he needed to stamp the final documents to completely settle the debt. However, he passed away before finishing that task…… I thought you knew everything.”

As he listened to his story, Jürgen’s expression gradually hardened. As far as he knew, the Schleicher family’s debt had been completely paid off. Hadn’t he personally confirmed this when he inherited the title of Duke?

But Mr. Schleicher was claiming that they had not yet escaped from their debt.

Was he fabricating lies in front of him? No, a man who struggled to utter even a single word wouldn’t have the composure for that.

“We couldn’t conduct any business at the bank. We couldn’t even get credit certificates issued. Fortunately, the late Duke had been providing monthly financial support, so we could maintain our livelihood, but…… since you ascended to the position of head of the family, even that was cut off…… We had no choice but to place all our hopes on Diez. We thought if she could receive your love, perhaps something could be resolved……”

“So you tried to lock your only daughter in the Duke’s mansion again?”

“She was the only valuable asset we had. We believed Diez would play an important role for the family. That’s really all there is to it.”

To him, Diez seemed to be nothing more than a useful asset, with no meaning beyond that. The composure he had been carefully maintaining throughout the conversation began to waver.

Diez was willing to throw away even her body to protect their lives. The image of her crying, saying she didn’t want to make her parents unhappy, was still vivid in his mind.

But to the man who was her father, Diez was merely a means, not a daughter. A means to revive the family and bring them great benefits.

Numerous words circled in his mouth, but Jürgen ultimately swallowed them.

He didn’t want to waste even one more second on this man.

“……The alcohol was drugged. Did you do that yourself as well?”

Mr. Schleicher hesitated and couldn’t answer promptly.

“Don’t think of hiding it. Answer me straight.”

“A-actually.”

This wasn’t something Wilhelm Schleicher had done on his own initiative. The moment the name of someone who wanted to be involved least of all flowed out, Jürgen simply closed his eyes.

After sending away the man who looked like he might faint, instead of immediately seeking out Leopold, Jürgen gave another instruction to his secretary.

It was an order to gather all legal documents related to the Schleicher family. As he sat alone in his room waiting, Jürgen’s nerves were more on edge than ever before.

Why hadn’t his father told Wilhelm Schleicher the truth?

Even though the debt had been completely paid off, were there still remaining issues? He thought he had examined everything thoroughly, but he had missed something. It didn’t make sense.

Had he reviewed things so carelessly despite Diez’s involvement?

How much time had passed? The secretary knocked on the door and entered the room. Soon, a file emerged from a black document bag.

“I’ve gathered everything as you requested, without missing anything.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, and there’s something else I should mention…… There was one document that recently became available for viewing.”

Jürgen raised his eyes at the mention of a document that had not yet been made public.

“What document are you talking about?”

“Well, it’s the will left by the late Duke. Of course, it also belongs to the category of legally binding documents, but I’m told he had sealed it so that it could only be viewed three months after his death.”

“……I’ll check it. Please step outside for a moment.”

“Yes, Duke.”

After sending the secretary out of the room, Jürgen opened the file. As he had just been informed, what appeared to be a will envelope was inserted at the very front.

A bright red seal was attached, protecting the contents inside. Jürgen broke the seal and, with a hardened face, took out the will his father had left.

It was a handwritten will. Jürgen read through the last message left by the late Duke.

To my son, Jürgen.

I plan to take measures to ensure that only you can read the will I am about to leave. As your father, I had much I wanted to say to you, but it seems death will take me before that.

This is my last testament, left to you personally.

By now, you must have looked through the records I left behind. I will continue this will under the assumption that you have read them all. You would have read them. You would have read every single word without missing anything.

I knew that there was a lady you had feelings for.

But you never even thought of speaking a word to that lady. Of course, I know the reason for that as well. It must stem from your futile effort to deny your bloodline.

I know very well that you hate how you increasingly resemble me as time passes. But let me tell you, the day will come when you will acknowledge it. Your efforts surely won’t last long either.

So I decided to prepare a gift for you.

Jürgen’s hand holding the will tightened. The once-neat paper crumpled instantly.

Though trembling with anger, he continued reading the rest of the content.

My job was to interfere with their business and make them dependent on my salvation.

Let me clarify that although I say I interfered, I merely hastened their failure a bit. Their business had already crossed a dangerous line.

I demanded they give up their daughter in exchange for me paying off their debt from the business failure. The very child you used to secretly glance at.

She was beautiful enough to shake you, who never showed even a hint of interest in women. I made up my mind the moment I met her.

There was no one more suitable than Diez as a gift for you.

I would have liked to give her to you in her original state, but I was certain you wouldn’t know how to tame her at all.

Some minimal taming was necessary and inevitable.

But I promise you. I never touched her virginity. Since she’s a gift for you, her first time should be yours, shouldn’t it?

Finally, that family will never be able to rise again. At least not without your permission.

If you don’t like the gift, you may discard it. But make sure to confirm that they have completely sunk.

Of course, I don’t think you won’t like it.

When will you realize? I am your father.

I’ve seen right through your mind from the beginning.

I hope it proves to be a satisfactory gift.

Though there was no more content left, Jürgen couldn’t take his eyes off the will. An indescribable emotion dominated and surged through his entire body.