Side Story - Chapter 13

That night, Viscount Leunet’s household was in an uproar.

“It’s outrageous that you made such a fuss in the middle of the square!”

Ben’s voice was becoming even more sharper and angrier.

“I thought you’d just keep it quiet until I got there.”

Ralph’s voice was as low as Ben’s angry tone. His mood was also low. Ralph’s body was covered in scratches. However, they could be easily medicated. Ben didn’t seem to be interested in his wounds.

“”If you’d only touched a commoner, things wouldn’t have gotten so bad! Why the Marquis of Weiand?”

Ben was rendered speechless by the Marquis’s high status. No matter how much Ralph couldn’t tell the difference between heaven and earth, he should know that much.

By the way, how does it make sense that he dared to touch the Young Lady and make noise about it? Ben thought it was absurd.

“The order was rescinded.”

“There was no one nearby. It didn’t matter.”

He couldn’t beat Ver, but he was sure that there certainly wasn’t anyone around. The reason why Ralph wanted to take Prillance away from there was also because he didn’t see anyone around.

“I already knew before you told me. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve decided your fate.”

Ralph knew it, too. He knew that he was wrong, but his self-esteem would not allow him to admit it.

He was just about to settle down after a long life at the bottom, eating nothing but darkness. He began to turn the room upside down with a frustrated look on his face. The cracking and rattling could be heard outside, but his servants pretended not hearing anything. The sound scattered through the air, but his anger still lingered in the corners of his mind.

“I’ll have her.”

He vowed to get Prillance. He would back off for now, but Ralph was a man who never knew when to give up. Taking revenge on Ver Grant, who had been thoroughly playing him, was the most outstanding way to bring about what he valued most. Especially more so if that valuable thing was the thing he wanted the most.

****

“Ralph is Baron Jennet? It’s certainly the first time I’ve heard of him.”

Ver was telling Jack what he’d found out so far. He didn’t tell him about the Prillance because Jack must be worried if he knew.

“It hasn’t been long since he became a noble. But why did he do that?”

Jack’s voice was terrifying.

“He was on standby to be issued a Minipi administrator. Now it’s currently on hold.”

“If it’s Minipi, it’s something that the imperial family would put a lot of effort for.”

“That’s right.”

It was after they had both received the invitations sent by Crown Prince Lucio regarding his birthday event. One of them already showed his expectations for the area. It was strange, indeed. It was the territory of the Grant family, and while it was noted as a recreational area, it was also a very lucrative place to harvest. It didn’t make sense to put just anyone to be in charge of such a place.

That was what Ver thought. If it hadn’t been for this intertwined information, he might have passed it off with the understanding that the Marquis was chosen  because he wasn’t biased between the imperial and parliamentary factions. However, just looking at what had happened so far, there was something odd about the Marquis that made him more than just a lowly nobleman. And so were the other things he hadn’t told Jack. The Marquis’s relationship with Viscount Ben Royne. Because Ben was from a family that was granted exclusive trading rights.

In the past, it would have simply been a matter of superior commercial prowess. But now, the question of whether it was really about commercial prowess came up first. A chilling atmosphere enveloped Ver.

“Oh, Prillance said she wanted to go on a trip,” Jack told Ver, who was lost in thought.

“Unfortunately, the area is Minipi.”

It was a sudden request from Prillance. However, Jack didn’t think it was too strange, since Minipi was also in the limelight as a resort area. In fact, under the circumstances, he was even happier that her request gave him an excuse to investigate the matter further.

“You mean Young Lady Weiand?”

It was a fact that Ver was completely unaware of. His surprise was short-lived, however, and his pensive answer came quickly.

“I’ll go with you.”

Ver bottomed out, but couldn’t find a connection between the Baron Jennet and Marquis Weiand.

‘But why did he attack Marquis Weiand?’

Ver shook his head. It was not worth talking about. There was an obvious reason. Minipi was an important link between Baron Jennet and the Viscount Royne. This trip was going to be an opportunity, Ver thought.

There were things he wanted to know there, and more importantly, he didn’t want Prillance to go to such a place alone.

“I’d appreciate it if you do.”

The reason he told Ver about the trip, because Jack wanted Ver to go and check it out. He, too, after listening to Ver’s story and suspected a connection between Minipi and Baron Jennet.

‘How Minipi had been managed after it was transferred from the estate of the Grant family to the imperial family?’

Jack’s eyes turned to Ver, who was lost in thought. His gut was telling him it was not unrelated to House Grant.

“I will try to exert a little more effort in the system.”

The things that they needed to do passed quickly in their think-alike minds.