Chapter 13
“Huh? W-Well, of course there were.”
“Didn’t you see it yourself earlier, my Baron?”
“Although this time it was a different group that showed up…”
“Baker.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Think carefully before you answer.”
“Were there really bandits in Grasico Forest?”
I asked the exact same question once again.
A moment ago, Baker had answered the instant I finished speaking.
This time, however, he hesitated.
“W-Why are you asking this…?”
“You’d better think very, very carefully before you answer.”
“You’ve already thrown away your first two chances.”
The first time was when he came asking for more militia subsidies.
The second time was when he came asking me to deal with the bandits who had supposedly attacked them.
He had been given opportunities to confess the truth and beg for forgiveness.
Instead, he had chosen to continue deceiving me.
So this was his last chance.
“Were there really bandits in Grasico Forest?”
“…”
His face turned deathly pale, and his lips trembled violently.
I said nothing and simply waited for his answer.
Unable to endure the silence any longer, Baker finally collapsed flat onto the floor and begged.
“I-I was wrong, my Baron!”
“P-Please spare my life!”
“Please… just spare my life!”
His entire body shook uncontrollably before a girl barely half his size.
By now, cold sweat was probably dripping onto the floor beneath him.
“If real bandits hadn’t actually appeared, how much longer were you planning to keep deceiving me?”
“I-I deserve death!”
“I was blinded by such petty money…!”
“Sob…”
“You embezzled taxes.”
“You embezzled militia subsidies.”
“That alone is outrageous enough.”
“Then you strutted around the territory as though you owned the place.”
“Did you think my father never knew?”
“M-My Baron…”
“What exactly do you people think you are?”
“Did the kingdom grant you some kind of immunity?”
Many people bought raw materials from them, processed them, and sold the finished goods in the market.
Because of that, the Merchants’ Association’s supply of raw materials was extremely important to Tessis.
The more that importance had been acknowledged, the more they began believing they were something special.
They even tried to become the new power within Tessis.
In some ways, they had become a greater menace to the people than the nobility itself.
‘Many people criticized the House of Tessis, but just as many cursed the Merchants’ Association.’
The merchant who always acted arrogantly whenever I went shopping for cosmetics had also been one of the association’s executives.
I couldn’t honestly say the irritation I felt back then had no influence on what I was doing now.
In any case, it was time to bring this grand performance to its finale.
Looking at Baker, who was desperately begging with both hands clasped together, I pronounced his sentence.
“First, the tax reduction and the extension of the tax deadline are both canceled.”
“On top of that, you’ll return every militia subsidy you received from me within one week.”
“O-Of course!”
“You’ll also repay every subsidy you extorted from my father.”
“You’ll pay it back over the course of three years.”
“With interest.”
“Y-Yes!”
“We’ll do exactly that!”
“Everything up to this point is only natural.”
“Your punishment begins now.”
He slowly raised his hollow eyes.
Knowing exactly what kind of fear lurked within them, I almost felt sorry for frightening him like this.
Just hold on a little longer.
We’re almost done.
“For defrauding a noble, you’ll pay six hundred million Gilden in damages.”
“The members of the Merchants’ Association can divide the payment among themselves.”
“And for the next ten years, every executive elected by the association must receive my approval.”
“Yes…”
“Oh.”
“And make sure the finest fruit imported from Erandor is always presented to the lord’s estate first.”
“U-Understood.”
Even after I finished speaking, Baker continued trembling with his hands tightly clasped together.
He apparently thought there was still more to come.
Six hundred million Gilden was certainly a large sum.
But divided among the twenty members of the Merchants’ Association, it wouldn’t be an unbearable burden.
Besides, I had already decided to show mercy as vast as the sea.
It wasn’t the right time to turn the people of my territory into enemies.
And if I executed them, the commercial district of Tessis might truly collapse.
Taking too much money out of circulation within the territory would ultimately hurt me in the long run as well.
“If you’ve understood everything, you may leave.”
“W-What?”
“Really?”
“Even you must think this punishment is too light.”
“But what do you think would happen to the atmosphere in the territory if I imposed severe punishments immediately after becoming the new lord?”
“The only reason I’m holding back is because of that.”
Leaning forward slightly, I continued,
“People aren’t blessed with this kind of luck twice in their lives.”
“So do better from now on.”
“Understood?”
“Thank you, my Baron!”
“Thank you so much!”
The other executives, who had been trembling beside him, were equally overwhelmed.
They all prostrated themselves on the floor in gratitude.
Yes.
That was how you punished people…
While making them thank you for it.
Once upon a time, I had also thanked someone who tormented me.
I thanked them because they could have treated me even worse, yet stopped at that much.
And now I was using that same principle in reverse…
I really wasn’t going to heaven.
☆☆☆
The Merchants’ Association repaid every coin in three days instead of one week.
Whether they had borrowed the money or simply possessed enough wealth that paying it all back barely affected them, I didn’t know.
Nor did I particularly care.
When Glen saw the treasury suddenly overflowing with money, his face brightened from the very morning.
I didn’t think I had ever seen this man smile so happily before.
“You’re truly remarkable, my Baron!”
“How did you come up with such a plan?”
Having conspired with me to strip the Merchants’ Association clean, Glen asked with heartfelt admiration.
Naturally, I couldn’t tell him how it had really happened.
So I decided to use the late baron as an excuse.
“Father told me many things while we were in the capital.”
“He was especially concerned about the Merchants’ Association.”
“The late master?”
“I don’t think he ever showed it in front of you.”
“Perhaps he pretended not to care because he didn’t want to appear like an incompetent lord.”
“Oh, my…”
“And I never realized…”
No.
You understood him correctly.
That man really wasn’t thinking about anything.
Still, there was no harm in glorifying the previous baron.
History always had a way of polishing the past.
And if Glen came to believe Adam Tessis had actually been a capable lord, that would only give him another reason to be loyal to me.
“In any case, Father had already planned everything.”
“I merely carried it out.”
“Carrying it out is the difficult part.”
“You’ve accomplished something extraordinary, Miss.”
“More than anything, I was amazed that someone as delicate as you managed to command forty rough-looking men as though they were your own servants.”
So that had been the part that surprised him the most.
Well, if I had truly been the real Rosalyn, it certainly wouldn’t have been easy.
But I understood mercenaries better than most.
I had come from the same kind of rough life they had.
Back then, I had often accepted jobs through labor agencies that were practically mercenary work themselves.
So I knew exactly what they obeyed.
I knew what they feared.
And I knew how to make them listen to me.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“You worked hard too, Glen.”
Instead of offering a detailed explanation, I simply smiled with the graceful composure expected of a noble lady.
Although we had managed to recover quite a bit of money, the crisis was far from over.
The bank interest was still growing larger every single day.
So I decided to start paying off our debts immediately.
Glen was delighted by that decision as well.
“Pay the remaining balance to the mercenaries.”
“Then take everything that’s left to the bank.”
“That’ll reduce the interest.”
“And once next month’s taxes come in, our financial situation will gradually improve.”
Perhaps afraid I might change my mind, he immediately left the estate to carry out my instructions.
Just as I thought I could finally catch my breath—
In place of the absent Glen, one of the guards arrived to announce a visitor.
“Miss… no, my Baron!”
“Someone has requested an audience with you.”
“No matter how I look at him, he doesn’t seem to be from Tessis.”
“Someone from outside came to see me?”
“What did he say his name was?”
“He said his name is Ash McCallen.”
“What?”
For a moment, I thought I had misheard.
But no matter how many times I questioned the guard, the name never changed.
Why was that man in Tessis?
Could it be someone with the same name?
Or did this man seriously have nothing better to do?
Why had he followed me all the way to Tessis?
I came up with several absurd possibilities before finally regaining my composure.
‘There’s no reason for me to avoid him.’
‘Don’t panic.’
No one in Tessis knew my true identity.
There was no way he had come because he knew who I really was.
…Right?
“Show him to the drawing room.”
“Is he someone important?”
“He’s the third son of Count McCallen.”
“And he’s a police officer.”
“Don’t say anything careless in front of him.”
“Escort him in quietly.”
“G-Got it!”
Watching the guard hurry off, I quickly moved to the drawing room myself.
After straightening my appearance, I waited for Ash.
‘It’s nothing.’
‘The first time I met him, his looks were so striking that I felt a little intimidated.’
‘But after seeing him a few times, I guess I’m finally getting used to that face.’
However, the moment he stepped into the drawing room, every one of those thoughts vanished.
From the very instant his foot touched the carpet spread across the drawing room floor.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
