Translator: Nox

Ch#65

Chapter 65

"Welcome, Prince Riandro. What brings you here at this hour?"

The man he greeted as Prince Riandro appeared to be in his late twenties. He had black hair and brown eyes, with a face that somewhat resembled the late emperor.

The man spoke with a sullen, dissatisfied expression.

"The marquis is never at home, so I had no choice but to visit at this time."

"Hahaha! My apologies. When I'm plotting with my comrades, the day just flies by."

"What exactly are you preparing? When will I finally become emperor?"

Isaac smiled faintly in response.

"What we're plotting right now is precisely that. The great undertaking of restoring Your Highness to your rightful place. It won't be long now."

"I've been hearing 'it won't be long' for years now. I've been staying here for fifteen years already. I want to become emperor before I turn thirty."

"Of course. It shall be as you wish."

His straightforward answer gradually softened Riandro's dissatisfied expression.

Isaac asked Riandro's attendant who had followed behind.

"How has His Highness been lately?"

"He's been diligently studying as usual. He's consistently scoring high in his classes on imperial studies and diplomacy."

Isaac nodded vigorously with a satisfied face.

"You are the future emperor. Your Highness will become a wise and intelligent ruler, utterly unlike Dimarcus Tuberin, who only roamed battlefields without proper learning."

"Naturally. And don't worry. I won't forget the marquis's grace for finding and raising me after I lost my parents."

"All I desire is for Your Highness to become an excellent emperor."

"How humble. But I never forget grudges or favors."

"I am deeply honored, Your Highness."

.

Isaac bowed to Riandro. Watching the scene with a proud face, Riandro apologized for taking his time and returned to his room with his attendant.

Isaac, who had kept bowing until he left, lifted his head with a sinister smile once the door closed.

His trusted aide, who had bowed beside him, whispered while staring at the closed door.

"He didn't used to be like this as a child, but as he's grown, he's starting to resemble the late emperor more and more."

"That's exactly how it should be. Otherwise, who would believe he's the late emperor's son?"

Isaac sat in the comfortable chair by the window and lit a cigar.

As he puffed to light it and soon exhaled white smoke, the room took on a strangely ominous atmosphere.

"Duke Lancaster really did something foolish. If he didn't like the emperor, he could just replace him—why bother with the hassle of independence?"

His trusted aide, who had lit it for him, replied.

"He didn't have a suitable replacement to push as the new emperor."

"True, that's the most crucial issue."

Isaac chuckled.

Duke Lancaster had aimed to become king himself, but Isaac had no intention of undertaking such a tiresome endeavor.

Rather, manipulating the emperor and becoming the de facto power behind the vast empire was a far easier and quicker path to fattening his purse—and he held a card to put forward as Dimarcus's alternative.

And even House Belington, the duke family that could be called blood allies of House Winblair, and House Tollein, the marquis family, were unaware of that fact.

'The final victor must be House Winblair, not the three great families.'

A vile smile crossed Isaac's lips.

Starting from the day after Barbara returned from meeting Edel, the servants of House Criserus were busier than ever.

They had to remove the decorations and paintings filling the mansion and move them to the annex, then thoroughly clean the now-empty mansion.

It was exhausting to clean the entire estate in the sweltering heat of July, but thanks to Edel's careful attention to the servants' stamina and condition, no one harbored major complaints.

- 3 -

"Phew, good work everyone. Starting tomorrow, you'll have a bit more leeway for a week. Get plenty of rest today."

"Woo! Thank you for your hard work!"

"Good job!"

The sweat-soaked servants headed off to wash up or eat. But Edel couldn't do the same.

Laslo and Linia had already handed over full authority for the mansion's refurbishment to Edel, and she was pouring her all into it.

"Sister—no, Steward. You should rest too."

Daisy, who seemed to be heading to the kitchen with the other maids, approached Edel with a glass of cool water.

"Thank you, Daisy. My throat was parched."

Edel smiled brightly and gulped down the refreshing cold water.

Daisy gazed at her with a smile, then looked around the house now free of Marsha's traces.

"I never realized this place was such a spacious and magnificent mansion."

Edel simply smiled.

House Criserus's estate was the largest on Patrice Street. Built twenty years ago, it had been home to the late emperor's sister until her death.

After standing empty for a while, the current emperor had it fully renovated before bestowing it upon Laslo.

It wasn't easy to ruin such a stately and elegant mansion like this.

The hall, which would have been fine left as is, had been crammed with cheap paintings, interspersed with artificial flowers.

Artificial flowers—Edel had been utterly shocked when she first saw them.

On top of that, questionable statues from who-knows-where, unnecessary furniture and chairs, clocks, frames, vases, candelabras, even an out-of-tune piano...

'Moving all that filled up the annex.'

Once the main building was sorted, she'd have to sort through the annex items too—keep the decent ones, sell or discard the rest.

.

"House Criserus will change."

"With Edel here, it surely will. I'm looking forward to it too."

Linia chimed in, unnoticed when she arrived.

Daisy, who still felt awkward around Linia, took the empty glass from Edel and scurried to the kitchen.

Linia glanced at Daisy with a smile and surveyed the hall just as she had.

"Leaving it like this wouldn't be bad either."

"I don't plan on making big changes here. Just keeping a few decent statues here and there."

"Hmm... so the original ones weren't decent, then?"

It was awkward to answer. Linia had been the one to approve buying those decorations in the first place.

But Linia wasn't one to get upset over something like this. In fact, she was the most excited about the mansion's transformation under Edel's guidance.

"To make excuses, I was just sixteen or seventeen back then. A commoner kid who knew nothing about how nobles lived."

"I know. You had no choice but to follow Marsha's lead."

"Marsha acted like she knew everything. She had a relative who was a palace maid and claimed to have served in several noble houses, so she told me to leave it all to her."

Looking back now, how had she fallen for such bluster? But as a girl thrust into nobility overnight, she had nowhere else to turn.

"I didn't like many of the things Marsha insisted on buying either. But she kept pushing that we had to..."

"She probably wanted to buy as much as possible. That way, she could skim more from the middle."

Linia snickered.

"She really had some guts. How dare she even think of embezzling from my brother?"

Edel couldn't say it was possible only because Marsha had ignored Laslo and Linia.

"She probably started small at first. Not getting caught made her bolder over time, and eventually, it became habit."

"Hmph! What an idiot. What's the point of saving up to buy a house? The ownership ended up with my brother anyway."

"The count actually took a loss. When buying that house, he had to pay off the bank loan Marsha had taken out first. Of course, he billed Marsha for it, but who knows when she'll ever repay it..."

Even funnier, when they seized the deed, Marsha had wailed hysterically.

As if the house—bought with embezzled money—had been unjustly taken by tyrannical power.

"Anyway, you must have suffered a lot because of Marsha too. I got tricked by her words and bullied you, so I don't have much to say."

Linia mumbled embarrassedly, and Edel just smiled softly.

She'd never truly been hurt by Linia to begin with, but lately, Linia's expressions of remorse had warmed Edel's heart even more.

'I'll be able to help Linia even more from now on. I'll make her a noble lady no one can look down on.'

Edel quietly resolved to herself.

And the next day, Edel visited a renowned art gallery with Linia. They received a warm welcome from the haughty gallery thanks to a letter of introduction personally written by Barbara.

*They'd probably welcome them even without Barbara's letter from now on.

Edel smiled, thinking of the hefty checkbook weighing down her pocket.

Today, she and Linia were touring galleries to buy paintings for the house.

.