Chapter 226: 226

"Reevaluation?" Jovanes said, tilting his head.

Then the Emperor's aide, who handed the papers over, frowned and rebuked Duigi Angenas.

"If you are concerned that we made a mistake in the calculation now—."

"The calculation is not the problem!" The Head of Angenas shouted in frustration.

What is it then?

"Please reassess the lands to make sure the size of each estate is properly measured!"

"That makes no sense..."

"Even if you're desperate, there's a limit to how you can make demands!"

Most nobles shook their heads and clicked their tongues.

However, Duigi Angenas kept his shameless face straight and looked only at Emperor Jovanes.

Probably by this point, he seemed to have no doubts, believing that the Emperor would side with him.

After I watched the Emperor taking a glance at Perez at his side, I turned to look at Duigi and opened my mouth.

"Head Angenas." I slowly clasped my fingers and called him.

"What is it, Deputy Head Lombardy?"

Head Angenas replied with displeasure when I called him.

"Are you saying that the difference is so small that you can't accept it?"

"That's right."

I nodded a couple of times and this time I asked Emperor Jovanes.

"What do you think, Your Majesty?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you reluctant to make a judgment only because of the slight difference in size?"

"Well, that's right."

"So, does the rule still applies in which the size of the estate should be the only standard for selecting a representative family?"

"It is."

"Then I'll help you decide, Your Majesty." I said so and slowly got up from my seat.

I don't need to be hasty since I already made a move on the board the way I planned it.

As I walked, countless eyes moved together with my steps. My whole body was thrilled by their passionate gazes.

When I reached the Emperor, I presented the documents I prepared from the mansion.

That's what I cherished in my safe.

Rattle.

Empress Ravini was surprised and raised her body halfway which made the chair rattle.

"What's this?" Emperor Jovanes asked me as he received the documents.

I looked back at Empress Ravini and replied.

"That is the contract that the Angenas family signed when they borrowed money from the Pellet Company."

You have a hard time finding this, don't you?

"Henforek's estate is held as collateral."

The day I attended the nobles' meeting, the nature of the bundle of papers Clerivan brought was the contract he underwrote with the Angenas.

I moved it to the Lombardy's mansion in advance because I anticipated that the Empress would definitely aim for it and she did when she was dead set on finding Clerivan.

Being a member of the Imperial Family, if the Empress' weakness was hiding in the Lombardy mansion, she will lose her power.

I lifted one corner of my mouth so that only Empress Ravini could see.

"No, Your Majesty!"

As expected. As soon as I finished, the Empress took the stack of documents.

You should've done that before. I was bored with only dealing with Duigi.

"What do you mean by no? You didn't borrow the money, Empress?"

"It's not that..."

The Empress outright glared at me and said.

"I meant that the Deputy Head of Lombardy was making a very big misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?"

"Yes, the contract is between the Angenas family and the Pellet Company. Lombardy is not in a position where they could intervene."

Then she added in a cold voice.

"Also, would it even be possible to act as a representative of the criminal just because it was hidden in Lombardy?"

A criminal?

"What do you mean by that, Empress?"

I'm not going to let it slide this time either.

"Aren't you saying too much? Aren't you falsely accusing someone without providing evidence?"

I added one more thing, giving it a boost.

"There is no evidence or witnesses to prove that Clerivan Pellet was involved in the attempted murder of His Majesty, so why are you making such a claim? Are you just rousing suspicions or did you need an excuse to topple over the Pellet Company and find this contract?"

"What?!" The Empress screamed looking like she was going to kill me right this instant.

Everyone in the conference hall heard me. Then they began to nod their heads in agreement.

"If she made a contract with her estate as collateral, then..."

"Is that why the Pellet Company...?"

"If that's the case, then it made sense."

The eyes of the Empress and the Head of Angenas have changed completely from before.

As the chatter continued, it was not long before those who initially thought, 'Is that really so?' suddenly changed to 'So that's what happened!'.

In the meantime, Emperor Jovanes was reading the documents I gave him one after another.

"It clearly stated here that the involved parties to the contract are only the owner of Pellet Company and Angenas. The Empress is right."

Jovanes, you fool.

Perez may have given him a hint in advance, but he was still on the side of Angenas, albeit vaguely.

Such a man is the current Emperor of the Empire. I thought, holding back a sigh.

"If so, I will have to check it with the Empress." Emperor Jovanes raised his head briefly as if telling me that he would do so.

"The Angenas Family did not pay the last and previous interest. Also, the interest for this month has not yet been paid. Is that correct?"

She looked down at me with chilly blue eyes.

"In fact, after borrowing money, the Angenas family never paid interest."

Angenas do not pay interest even when they borrow money.

It sounds ridiculous, but it was customary.

Most of the people who have lent money to them who are in great power are trying to line up at Angenas.

Even the fact that the contract contains the conditions on payment interest, if the Angenas do not pay the interest, the lenders will have to tolerate it because their opponent is the Empress' family.

Therefore, Empress Ravini didn't pay the interest, because she thought that Clerivan was trying to impress her.

I asked again.

"Is this true, Empress?"

Empress Ravini's close fists were trembling as she shut her mouth tightly.

You have nothing more to say, it seems.

"Your Majesty, if you look at the last page of the contract, there is a condition for the exercise of collateral rights."

At my words, Jovanes glanced at the Empress before opening the last page of the contract.

"It says that if Angenas is unable to repay the interest and principal, the owner of the Pellet Company becomes the owner of the Henforek estate, which is the collateral."

"And it also states exactly what will happen if they can't pay the interest and the principal back."

I held my hand up and raised three fingers.

"Three times. If you can't pay the interest three times, you'll be met with a condition where the lien gives the lender the right to take your property if you fail to pay back the whole interest and principal."

When writing the contract with Clerivan, the Empress must have known this because she had checked it herself.

It's a condition written under the contract where the owner can exercise its rights to use the collateral as security to pay back a lien's loan.

That's why she used the last card which is the Imperial Knights to chase after Clerivan and search high and low.

"Ha!" The Empress suddenly burst into laughter.

"Even so, it's only a matter between the Angenas and Clerivan Pellet, the owner of the Pellet Company. You do not have the right to use the collateral even as a representative, Deputy Head." 

She continued with a crooked smile.

"Are you going to bring Clerivan Pellet here?"

If Clerivan probably stepped out of the Lombardy mansion right now, he will be killed right away.

Because Empress Ravini will do anything to protect their position as the representative of the West.

"Your Majesty, please call Clerivan Pellet here."

Now she even tries to persuade Emperor Jovanes.

I can't take this anymore.

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"You don't have to, Your Majesty."

You're done now, Empress.

"The owner of the Pellet Company is here."

The crowd who had been holding their breath quickly stirred up.

"Clerivan Pellet is here?"

"Did he sneak in?"

I forgot that the nobles were in the meeting and looked around.

"What do you mean, Deputy Head Lombardy? Explain." Emperor Jovanes also leaned towards me and asked, urging me to answer.

"Just like I said, the Pellet Company's owner is here." I said and smiled at Empress Ravini.

"The owner of the Pellet Company is me, Firentia Lombardy."

The surroundings become quiet in an instant. I couldn't even hear the sound of breathing at the conference hall.

Only a dull silence flowed as if someone had covered my ears tightly with both hands.

Then a cry came from the Empress.

"What...?"

At the same time, once again, a noisy wave swept through the hall.

"Am I hearing it right?"

"The owner of Pellet is the Deputy Head?"

"Does anyone know how old the Deputy Head of Lombardy is this year?"

It's a mess.

The huge conference hall, which can accommodate hundreds of people, has become as noisy as a street market.

Coming out of that noisy field, Empress Ravini and I were facing each other.

At first, the blue eyes, which seemed to have hardened and unmoving, gradually began to shake.

You must want to believe that I'm lying, but I'm sure you're feeling it instinctively.

That I meant what I said.

I smiled and watched her with sincere eyes.

Empress Ravini is falling apart.

"How will you prove...Do you have?"

Emperor Jovanes asked me in a rather strangled voice, quite surprised.

"May I call the Commander of the Knights of Lombardy inside for a moment, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, you may."

At the behest of the Emperor, the servant ran outside, and shortly after Sir Lambert Lombardy entered the conference hall.

"Sir Lombardy, will you give me the envelope I left in the carriage?"

Suddenly called over to the scene of chaos and confusion, Sir Lombardy nodded with a what-the-hell-is-going-on? kind of face.

After he came back, he handed me an envelope that had been in his thick armor.

I took a piece of paper out of it and showed it to the Emperor.

"It's an employment contract written by me and Clerivan Pellet when the Pellet Company was first created."

"Employment...contract?" The Emperor accepted it with a puzzled face.

The content of the contract was simple.

[I, Firentia Lombardy, the owner of the Pellet Company, employ Clerivan Pellet as its merchant guild leader.

As my representative, Clerivan Pellet will be entrusted with full authority over the merchant guild, and this employment contract remains in effect indefinitely unless Clerivan Pellet requests termination of the Contract.]

And beneath it was the date of the year I turned eleven and the signatures of me and Clerivan can be seen side by side.

I felt like I would laugh seeing my crooked handwriting as a child. I used to write each word in every letter.

"As you can see, I am the owner of the Pellet Company and Clerivan Pellet is the one I employed as the merchant guild leader."

Instead of the ineffable Emperor and Empress, I looked at Perez.

He was smiling.

Red lips drew a perfect curve and eyes full of warm affection were looking at me.

The moment when my secret, which I have kept for a very long time, is revealed to the world, he is the one who's closest to me.

I smiled at Perez and then took the employment contract halfway from the Emperor's hand.

Ah! I got a fingerprint!

How important this is!

I thought, holding Clerivan's lifelong employment contract, folded it, and tucked it into the envelope.

"As the owner of the Pellet Company, I will exercise my rights to secure the estate of Henforek."

Just one statement will do.

The land is mine now and I can do with it as I please.

"Can I have it back, Your Majesty?" I said, pointing to the contract between the Angenas and Pellet.

"Yes, here you go."

Emperor Jovanes handed over the contract he had in his other hand.

Look at this, there's a fingerprint here too. But this time, I didn't care much. It's not even mine.

I quickly handed over the contract to the Head of Braun.

"I will transfer the Henforek estate to the Braun Family."

This is the end of the game.

Although the Henforek estate is said to be a land a size of a nail, it is only a nail on the map of the Empire, but in reality, it is a land where the vast and empty fields are very spectacular.

"Oh, thank you, Deputy Head Lombardy." Braun said as he received the bundle of contracts with both hands.

"Don't mention it."

I walked slowly again and returned to my seat and sat down.

Now everyone in the conference hall was looking at Jovanes.

"Then..."

It was when Jovanes had just opened his mouth that he was being pushed back by the unspoken pressure.

"You're Majesty, please."

Empress Ravini grabbed Jovanes by the arm.

"You can't do this, you can't."

Empress Ravini's voice was shaking.

She used all her cards to defend herself but eventually lost. All she could do now was to plead with the Emperor.

The usual high-profile and imposing appearance of the Empress is nowhere to be found.

Her big eyes filled with tears that seemed to flow at any moment.

You might be swayed for a moment by that miserable look. But Emperor Jovanes shook his head coldly and pulled out his arm from her grip.

And declared.

"The Braun Family has become the new representative of the West."

Thump! Thump!

I felt like I was hearing such a cheerful sound from somewhere. It feels empty because there isn't.

***

Jovanes threw off his coat roughly on the couch.

Even though he didn't drink a sip, his face was red and his head hurts.

After the meeting, he went on hawk hunting as scheduled, but he had to come back soon.

It was because he wasn't feeling well.

"Call the doctor." Jovanes cried out loud as he sat on the bed.

"Now that the West is cleared up, it will be a little quieter."

For the Emperor, the meeting held during the morning meant that it was annoying and troublesome work.

Perhaps that is the reason why he was not in a good shape right now.

Thinking about the confrontation between Lombardy and Angenas that had been going on, his head seemed to throb more.

Jovanes stood up looking at a bottle of liquor by his bedside.

"I can't believe the little one had such a secret. Ah, she's pretty good."

Unstable shaking hands made it difficult to pour alcohol into the glass. So Jovanes put his mouth directly on the bottle instead and gulped it down.

Once, twice.

It was at that moment.

"Ah!"

Emperor Jovanes squeezed his chest and fell on the floor.

Thud!

A loud sound rang in the Emperor's bedroom.

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