Author: Byuon

Cesare calls in Joseph with the MP3 player in his hand. Cesare’s eyes were burning red.

“Duke, did you call me?”

Joseph bowed his shaggy head.

His face, too, was tense and worried, with no trace of its former calm.

“… Why do you have such a face?”

Joseph’s and Cesare’s eyes met.

“Because not only Madame but Shannet are also detained in the Crown Prince’s mansion.”

Joseph answered in a weeping voice.

Transparent tears that filled his eyes seemed to be pouring out at any moment.

Cesare frowned.

“… Right. Shannet was there too.”

Cesare covered his eyelids with his palms. The wave of emotions that had hit Cesare until now was about to overwhelm him again.

Cesare swallowed his saliva.

A strong sympathy was formed between the two of them.

“Are you going to stay still, sir?”

Joseph sniffed.

Cesare also bit his lip. The butler, who was caught in the middle, opened the door with a shy face and walked out.

Cesare took a deep breath and lowered his hand.

There was something Daphne needed to hear.

“No. The name of Burstoad is not worth it to stand still, and we must give back what we have received.”

Cesare stood up slowly from his seat.

“From now on, you will conduct a thorough investigation into the current Empress’s family.”

“The current Empress family?”

“You have to go over the number of rats living in her family.”

Cesare ran his finger across the desk.

“There is no nobleman who does not come out of dust by wiping it. Do you remember the rumors circulating in the past?”

“If it’s a rumor…?”

“The rumor that the Marquis of Gallard took out the maid with the Emperor’s child. Surely, it was a bit noisy because of the disappearance of the maid, whom the Emperor had been a night watcher for since the days of his predecessors.”

Cesare’s eyes lit up. It was the eyes of a strategizing general.

It seems that Cesare, who was finally suffering, is about to start a counterattack.

Joseph nodded and took a step closer to Cesare.

With a properly drawn sword, Cesare had never lost a battle like this.

“Look closely at the rumor. Perhaps that maid is the prince’s mother. I’m sure I have the documents in my library.”

Since the Emperor allowed the maid to be thrown out, this alone would not be enough to dethrone the Empress.

Then I need more weave… Once you have touched an evil deed, you are bound to commit an evil deed again.

I thought it would be good to dig up everything that might have been related to the Marquis Gallard.

“Yes, sir!”

“And the Marquis de Gallart was involved in the distribution of bariol. It was also circulated on the Burstoad, so the data will remain.”

Bariol, one of the tranquilizers, was initially a legal drug, but was banned immediately after it was confirmed to be addictive.

The Marquis Gallard withdrew immediately.

At the time, the son of the Empress, a former Marquis of Gallard, was above the Crown Prince, so no one wanted to dig deeper into the case.

To do so would have been to fall prey to a conspiracy.

“You mean Bariol? I know it has already been disposed of.”

“There are rumors that it is being circulated secretly. It’s worth digging for once. Whether Gallard is involved or something else is involved, we might find something. If it turns out that he was involved in the distribution of banned drugs, the Empress will not be safe.”

Simply revealing that Gallard was entwined could put their lives on the line.

Cesare made a bold statement.

“I have to take the Empress out of her place.”

Joseph’s eyes widened at Cesare’s assertion.

“You don’t mean to threaten the Empress to put pressure on the Crown Prince, do you?

“It’s foolish to hold the Empress’s hand. Prince Gabriel has no choice but to become Emperor someday. It is better to hold the hand of another powerful person than to attack him. Do you know who holds the most power in this empire?”

Cesare grinned.

“Emperor. He alone can rule this empire. The reason Gabriel was able to hold on to that position, and that I suffered all the hardships in prison, was all because the Emperor tolerated it.”

“Then….”

“We are going to take the information we created and make a deal with the Emperor. I’ll have to give him a reason to let me raise my hand. I’m asking for the return of Daphne and Shannet in exchange for the promise that Burstoad will help the Crown Prince to purge his enemies.”

“… As an Emperor with a prince who has a weak support base, this is a proposal that he has no choice but to accept.”

Cesare nodded.

In order to get Daphne back, the Emperor’s power was needed. And to move the Emperor, he needed something.

The death of the crown prince’s biological mother and the distribution of a banned drug.

Those two things could be a weapon to bring down the Empress.

And somehow he had a hunch that there was more to the investigation.

Bariol was a drug that spread within the Empire within a short period of time.

It is said that it is so addictive, when the Imperial family found out about the existence of bariol, it was already too late.

Bariol, It soaked in like rugs in a drizzle and had already poisoned over a thousand people.

Since then, it has also been known as the Grim Reaper’s scythe.

Bariol will wield the scythe once more in a different sense.

It will go towards Gallard.

“We will prepare it as soon as possible. May I move all my informants on the Burstoad?”

“Of course, I will allow it.”

“Thank you, Duke.”

Besides that, I had work to do.

It looked like we had to clean up the inside of Burstoad before Daphne returned. It’s not enough just to deal with Robert.

When Cesare’s in the most dangerous moment, the elder nobles of Burstoad turned their backs on him and betrayed him.

There was no reason to feed them with the wealth of the Burstoad.

“Dismiss all the elder nobles of Burstoad.”

To put it simply, I was planning to dig it up from the family register.

So that they no longer enjoy anything from the Burstoad.

It was the prerogative of the house.

As a result, the power of the Burstoad would be slightly reduced, but that didn’t matter. As long as I could get my people back together.

There is nothing more unsettling than having to worry about the back of your neck in a time of crisis.

“Take back all the rights and property they enjoyed from Burstoad. Withdraw the budget that had been applied to them, and reclaim the land and mansion that remained in the family.”

“Yes, sir!”

After a long time, Joseph nodded with a lively expression on his face.

Joseph also did not forget the memory of being bullied when he visited the elder nobles to save Cesare.

A grudge pays back with a grudge!

“If we cut the budget for that, we’ll have a lot of money left over, right?”

“With that money, we will reorganize the Burstoad estate…”

Cesare pondered for a moment.

We need to increase our strength so that this never happens again. No matter how powerful the imperial family.

This Empire will inevitably belong to Gabriel one day.

Even when Gabriel becomes emperor, he shouldn’t be able to touch Cesare and Daphne.

How can Burstoad have power?

We need to find a way to effectively utilize the revenue generated by huge breweries.

“I’m thinking of taking the economy of this country into my own hands…”

Nothing drives nobles like money. If so, shouldn’t it be okay to grab the money line?

“What do you think?”

“Become an investor. I want you to compile a list of all the things the nobles are doing. From there, we can pick out the ones we can invest in and either fund them or buy their notes.”

“Yes, sir!”

Cesare nodded. It seemed that this would be enough for today.

More than that, I wanted to do something that caught my eye first.

“And…”

Cesare looked down at the MP3 in his hand.

“Looks like I’m going somewhere tonight. Select the most agile of our men and send them to me at midnight tonight.”

“Yes, Duke.”

“Kaing-”

At the sound of a small cry, Cesare bowed his head.

There was a noise coming from under the desk.

Cherry had gone missing, and he’d ordered his servants to look for it.

It seems that he was frightened by the commotion in the mansion and hid.

Cherry had been gone for a few days… I thought how sad Daphne would be if she knew that.

Wasn’t this the puppy she’d even named after Cesare?

Cherry’s black bean-like eyes met Cesare and Cherry crouched under the desk.

“Cherry…!”

“Woof….”

Cherry staggered out and turned the windmill with its tail.

Seeing Cherry warmly greet Cesare asking where he had been and where he came from, he felt like he was about to cry again.

Cesare reached out and cherished Cherry.

“Cherry, here you are.”

Cesare’s voice fell low.

Luckily, Cherry had been eating her food and was in good shape.

I heard that the bag containing Cherry food was broken…

“Woof!”

“Do you want to see Daphne too?”

Cesare placed his forehead on Cherry’s little forehead.

So do I. I want to see your master too.

Cesare swallowed the truth.

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Comments (2)

  1. Thank God Cherry’s okay, I was wondering what had happened to the doggo