Chapter 22
“Why are you crying? What’s wrong with you?”
Sereret’s heart pounded at the sight of Jeremy crying like a child.
Had something happened at home? Was Father ill? Sereret looked at Jeremy with a worried face.
But Jeremy didn’t answer her question—instead, he collapsed to the ground, sobbing bitterly and mumbling words she couldn’t make out.
“What did you say? Jeremy, calm down and tell me.”
Growing desperate, Sereret bent her knees and crouched down in front of him.
What on earth has happened? Her worried gaze met Jeremy’s tear-streaked face.
“Sereret, what do I do? Because of me, our family is going to be ruined.”
Jeremy sobbed, his shoulders shaking.
“What? What did you say?”
Sereret’s eyes widened at his words. Ruined? Our family? What was he talking about all of a sudden?
Jeremy burst out wailing like a child. Sereret grabbed his shoulders tightly and shook him.
“Stop crying and explain properly. Why would our family be ruined?”
“…I was swindled. I got scammed.”
Jeremy grabbed her arm and spoke, his eyes full of guilt and shame as he looked at her.
Did I hear that right? Sereret blinked at him, dumbfounded. She couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.
“Swindled? What kind of scam? Hm?”
“The textile factory… the title and the estate….”
Jeremy mumbled, avoiding her eyes.
“Jeremy, look at me and say it clearly.”
Sereret’s voice was firm. Jeremy let out a deep sigh, wiped his tears with the back of his hand, and finally began to explain slowly.
“They said there was a textile factory in Serpie being sold cheaply, so I borrowed money with Father’s title and our estate as collateral….”
His voice trailed off as he hung his head low.
“What? And? You borrowed it, so what happened? Keep talking.”
Sereret’s heart thudded wildly.
“That conman ran off with my money. The textile factory never existed in the first place. What do we do now? What do I do, Sereret?”
Jeremy looked at her with a trembling face. Though he was her elder brother, right now he seemed like a frightened little boy.
“Oh no.”
Hanna, who had been standing nearby, gasped at Jeremy’s words.
Sereret put a hand to her forehead in exasperation. Of all the mistakes to make, how could he make one this catastrophic?
“Does Father know? Did he approve of this? Did he agree to you buying a textile factory?”
“…No.”
Jeremy shook his head.
Of course. Father would never use his noble title as collateral for a factory.
He valued honor far more than money—there was no way he’d have allowed this. Which meant Jeremy had acted on his own.
Sereret’s eyes hardened. She punched his shoulder with her fist and shouted.
“Are you insane? You’ve completely lost your mind!”
“You’re right. I must have gone crazy. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“You mean you stole the title deed and house deed behind Father’s back?”
“Yes… last time I went home.”
Jeremy nodded, watching her cautiously.
“How could you do that without even consulting Father once? You know his character!”
“Sereret, it’s a new era now. Money is more important than noble titles. You can’t live on titles alone anymore.”
“Jeremy…”
Sereret sighed as she said his name.
“The Duke of Frektuster has multiple businesses under his name. If we don’t at least own one business ourselves, we won’t survive.”
Jeremy had always felt small knowing their family, vassals to the Duke of Frektuster, wasn’t wealthy.
Every time Sereret grew nervous about the Duke, it hurt him as an older brother. It pained him that Father couldn’t even speak comfortably with the man who would be his son-in-law.
He thought that if Sereret married off, she should be able to live proudly, not with her head bowed. To make that possible, he believed the Inohaeter family needed a decent business of their own.
But blinded by that thought, he had acted rashly—and gambled away their household. He wanted to cut off the very hand that had delivered their fortune to a swindler.
Jeremy wiped the tears from his face and stood. Sereret rose with him, frowning as she watched him brush dirt off his clothes.
“Fine, Jeremy. I understand why you did it—and just how big a disaster you caused. But then why are you here?”
If he had lost their estate and title to a scam, he should have run home to Father. What was he doing wandering around here?
“Well, that’s…”
Jeremy’s eyes darted around, avoiding hers.
“No way, Jeremy…”
A thought flashed across Sereret’s mind.
Did he come here to ask Yuan Frektuster for help? Because he thought that since Yuan was engaged to his sister, he would lend a hand? Foolish, foolish brother.
Jeremy probably assumed the Duke could easily pay off the debt or hunt down the swindler.
“My God, Jeremy!”
Sereret shouted at him.
“I just thought I’d come see His Grace since he’s family…”
Jeremy mumbled weakly.
“Family? What family! I’m breaking off the engagement.”
“Breaking it off? You’re breaking the engagement? Why? Why would you do that?”
Jeremy stared at her in confusion.
If she broke it off, then there’d be no way to fix this mess. The Duke was his only solution, and Jeremy had come here swallowing his pride. His face drained of color.
“You really did come here to beg the Duke to fix this, didn’t you? And I just happened to catch you. Isn’t that right?”
“Sereret, why are you breaking it off? Did His Grace wrong you somehow? If not, you can’t—don’t break it off!”
Jeremy grabbed her arm, shaking his head desperately.
His face was so pitiful that Sereret let out a bitter laugh. And suddenly a thought occurred to her. Had this also happened in her past life?
“Don’t tell me… you went to the Duke back then too? Did you?”
“No! This is the first time. I swear it.”
Jeremy waved his hands in denial.
“No, what I meant was…”
Sereret bit back her words. There was no point pressing him—he didn’t remember the past life anyway.
But she was almost certain Jeremy had gone to Yuan back then too. The way he acted toward Yuan had been suspicious—overly servile, almost worshipful.
Though Father never once set foot in the Duke’s residence after her marriage, Jeremy often visited the ducal estate or the capital residence.
And each time, his attitude toward Yuan had been oddly deferential.
Looking back now, it made sense—because in her past life, Jeremy had indeed managed to borrow money from Yuan.
“And that’s why Father…”
Back then, Father had never once visited her at the Duke’s estate, not even for the annual hunting tournaments. He always sent Jeremy instead.
His excuse had always been that guilt kept him from facing Yuan. Which meant he had known both of Jeremy’s crime and Yuan’s intervention.
“I was the only one who didn’t know. I was the only fool kept in the dark.”
Neither Yuan nor Jeremy had ever said a word to her.
Sereret sighed and pressed her forehead. Jeremy, watching her nervously, spoke again.
“Sereret… can’t you delay the break-off for now, and ask His Grace for help…”
“Say something that makes sense!”
She snapped at him.
“He’s the only one who can fix this right now. What else can we do? Do you have any other solution?”
Jeremy’s voice was gloomy.
His words weren’t entirely wrong, and that made Sereret despair even more. Yuan really was the only person who could easily resolve this.
“How much did you borrow?”
She asked with a sigh.
“One hundred seventy thousand lupings.”
Jeremy’s voice shrank to a whisper.
It was an outrageous sum. Enough to buy a luxury house in the capital, or three estates with farmland in Moshely.
Sereret swayed, dizzy. It was exactly the sort of sum that only Yuan could cover.
“My lady…”
Startled, Hanna quickly caught hold of her.
“Hanna, I don’t even have the face to look at you.”
Jeremy muttered, turning to Hanna with a miserable expression.
Hanna cursed him inwardly as a foolish young master but could only force a polite smile outwardly.
“First, get Father’s title back.”
Sereret unclasped the necklace around her throat, then stripped off her rings and bracelets, pressing them into Jeremy’s hand.
She didn’t stop there—she opened her luggage, stuffed with dresses and jewelry, and piled them into his arms as well.
They were all gifts from Yuan. She had intended to leave them behind, but had ended up bringing them all out of spite.
“Pawn these and retrieve Father’s title deed first. I’ll find a way to get the money together.”
“Really? You’d do that? Thank you, Sereret. Thank you so much.”
Jeremy looked relieved, as though she had promised to ask Yuan for help.
She warned him not to breathe a word to Father and sent him away.
“My lady, let’s go home now. If the Viscount learns of this, he’ll collapse on the spot…”
Hanna’s worried voice followed her. Sereret let out a long sigh.
“No, Hanna. Let’s go back to the Duke’s estate. Now isn’t the time to return home.”
She turned away. To resolve this mess, she needed to stay in the capital.
On the way back, she racked her mind for ways to raise the money. When she arrived and entered her room, she heaved a heavy sigh.
“Hanna, unpack the luggage again.”
Her voice was weary as she collapsed onto the sofa.
She felt as though all the blood had drained from her body. She had no clever solution—but she knew for certain now was not the time to run away.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
“Come in.”
From his study, Yuan looked up from the documents he was flipping through when a knock sounded.
His aide entered with a bow.
“What is it?”
“There’s something to report.”
“Speak.”
Yuan leaned back in his chair, tilting his chin slightly.
“The Viscount Inohaeter’s title and estate have been put up as collateral.”
“What?”
Yuan frowned at the words.
The Inohaeter title and estate? That made no sense. With his character, the Viscount would never put them up as collateral. Something must have happened in that house.
Suspicion flickered across Yuan’s face.
“The one who borrowed the money was Jeremy Inohaeter, the viscount’s eldest son. What shall we do?”
The aide asked.
Yuan hadn’t expected this. Considering the Viscount’s personality, it was likely Jeremy had acted on his own.
In that case…
“Secure them. Quietly.”
Yuan’s lips curved upward as he recalled Sereret’s face when she had demanded to break off the engagement.
