Translator: Nox

Chapter 68

Benjamin Dawson, who had personally brought over two glasses of dark beer, pulled a thick bundle of documents from his bag. The stack of papers piled up endlessly atop the table, which was encrusted with the remains of some unidentifiable old food.

With a stiff expression, Vanessa looked back and forth between Mr. Dawson and the documents. She could tell at a glance that they were her father’s wills. They were bound in the same format as the one submitted to the court.

“To get straight to the point, as you suspected, the will was indeed a forgery. From beginning to end—all of it.”

Vanessa hurriedly reached for the top document and flipped through several pages. Immediately after, she picked up the next bundle underneath and examined it the same way, then the next….

Incredibly, they were all the original copies of previous wills that had been voided. From the look of it, her father seemed to have updated his will every year since he inherited the Earldom of Somerset.

“How on earth did these…?”

“Mr. Wiltshire here says he has been keeping all of them.”

“What I brought today is only for the last few years. The Earl consistently drafted his will for nearly fifteen years,” Mr. Wiltshire interjected into the conversation with an anxious face.

“Every time he updated it with a new will, the previous ones were sent to me. I have kept them in the company safe according to the Earl’s wishes during his lifetime.”

“Of course, since these are wills that have already been voided, it will be difficult for them to be recognized as having legal force. Every page is stamped as ‘discarded.’ However…”

“We can verify what was omitted or arbitrarily altered in the current will.”

Vanessa lightly touched her lips. The words she spoke lingered at the tip of her tongue like cold metal. Suddenly, an eerie premonition surged within her. A feeling that once she confirmed the contents of these wills, there would be no going back to how things were before.

“Yes. I have summarized the parts you absolutely must check.”

Vanessa adjusted her posture with determination and took the will. Before she had even turned a few pages, a page beginning with a sentence she had never seen before appeared.

She quickly pulled a pair of thick-rimmed glasses from her bag and put them on. They had no corrective function, but wearing these glasses—a keepsake from her father—always helped calm her mind. At a time like this, she knew she had to suppress her agitation and judge things coolly.

She took a breath and checked the very top line.

R, V, ll, lX, CLXXXXll

Was this some kind of code? Or just a simple string of numbers? Seeing as it was repeated at the start of every page, it seemed to hold some meaning… but she lacked both the time and the clues to deduce it now. For now, she moved her gaze to the next sentence.

For a while, only the sound of turning pages echoed in the silence. Aside from the ticking of the clock on the wall or the occasional whisper as Vanessa read a sentence aloud, there was a dreadfully still silence.

“…must not exceed…”

The fingertips resting on the last sentence trembled. Benjamin Dawson quickly pushed the glass of water on the table toward her. Vanessa took a grateful sip and looked straight at Mr. Wiltshire.

“So, if what is written here is truly the truth, then this is…”

Mr. Wiltshire, who had been glancing suspiciously at a man dozing off at the bar, leaned one arm on the table and lowered his voice to answer.

“To put it simply, it means you are slated to inherit a private limited company, My Lady.”

“Is that legally possible?”

“It’s close to a loophole. It’s extremely rare, but not without precedent.”

Benjamin Dawson, taking a sip of his dark beer, tapped the table with his finger as he continued the explanation.

“As you know, a noble title is attached to the fief granted to each house by the King. Inheriting a title is synonymous with inheriting the fief. The laws of Ingram strictly prohibit only women from inheriting this land.”

She already knew this much. The <Ingram Parliamentary Code> was based on old Imperial law. And that archaic Imperial law, which had once been discarded, was reinstated about 150 years ago by Malua of Derobeus.

During the War of Succession, for the purpose of striking down his sister’s legitimacy.

“However, there are no particular restrictions on the succession of a private limited company. It’s a relatively modern concept.”

“Ever since you were born, the late Earl sought out new possibilities early on. Considering it was a time when the majority of the nobility’s wealth was tied up in land, he was truly… a remarkable man.”

“This Moretz Investment Company, which you are to inherit, was created with that foresight. He invested a certain amount of capital when five companies—including Grint Shipping, May Textiles, and Dirk Coal—were established, and it operates by receiving a share of the profits.”

“…Why didn’t I know about this until now?”

“Because the person currently in control of Moretz Investment Company’s management is a Mr. Townes.”

“Mr. Townes…?”

Mr. Wiltshire pressed his index finger firmly against his lips. As if afraid someone might secretly overhear the name and spread their words.

“He is the owner of the largest gang in the south. He even has connections to members of the House of Commons.”

“Do you recognize this?”

A yellow slip of paper, which she felt she had seen somewhere before, was placed on the table. With a stiff face, Vanessa looked at Benjamin Dawson, then at the paper.

It was a type of waiver of inheritance. And the person who had signed at the bottom was….

“Vanessa Siren Somerset. It’s your signature. You likely signed it when you were very young.”

Her heart dropped at the sight of the paper filled with all sorts of legal jargon. She didn’t even need to search her memory. There was a moment she could guess. After her parents’ funeral, the lawyer who had come to take her to her uncle.

She had a faint memory of signing it while suffering from a high fever, without knowing the contents. The sweet talk about how it was all for her uncle, for her family, whenever she hesitated. Because back then, she believed her uncle would take kind care of her now that she was an orphan.

“The original is in the court, and this is the one submitted to the company.”

“The contents are twisted in a way that even I find hard to understand at a glance… but to summarize, it’s a document stating that if you do not follow the proper procedures within one year after reaching adulthood, the inheritance rights pass to your uncle, Wyatt.”

“My God….”

Vanessa covered her face with trembling hands. It was a trap laid out very cleverly from the start. Secretly and layer upon layer like a spiderweb, from a time so long ago she couldn’t even have guessed. And now she finally understood. Her uncle’s behavior—how he could live in gambling dens for more than half the year while grumbling about the family’s debts.

Even his morbid obsession with her, his desperate efforts to keep her in the dark and completely isolated from the world.

“Since you signed it as a minor, it can be overturned. It’s possible even if you had signed it just a week before becoming a legal adult, let alone seven years ago. But first, we must prove that the current will is not genuine.”

“You must find the original will. He likely hasn’t destroyed it. Whether changing the owner or waiving the inheritance, you must first inherit it as the primary beneficiary… following the company bylaws established through procedures to ensure legal validity. The late Earl even made arrangements for that.”

Father. As she reached into her fading memories to recall him, a single tear that had been welling in her eyes fell onto her pale cheek. Watching her with a heavy heart, Mr. Wiltshire spoke cautiously.

“They say writing a will is a lifelong task, but in a normal situation, he likely wouldn’t have done it this… obsessively. To the point of leaving behind all the records of revisions as copies.”

“……”

“I think he knew. That an early death would one day come for him.”

---

The sky, thick with dark clouds, was so gloomy it looked ready to pour rain again at any moment. The end of her aimless walking had brought her to the entrance of a familiar garden. Vanessa raised her blurred eyes to look at the Rose Garden.

She didn’t even know how she had gotten here. She could hardly keep her wits about her. She staggered a few more steps before slumping onto the ground in a daze. A wave of nausea surged up her weak throat.

The thought suddenly occurred to her that she mustn’t let anyone in the mansion see her so agitated… but she couldn’t move an inch.

Her mind was a blank as she retraced the conversation from moments ago. Like Gloucester Castle shrouded in a thick fog.

“Actually, there was someone who contacted me before I heard from you. A man named Norman…. Is that a name you know?”

“No. It’s my first time hearing it.”

“I showed him the will first. Afterward, he gave me a large sum of money. He told me not to speak a word of this to anyone. At first, I thought it was a strange condition, but I began to suspect that perhaps he was trying to prevent you from finding out the truth, My Lady.”

“……”

“In truth, the profits the company is currently earning aren’t that large. Although I advised you to find the will… it is not a wise choice to get into a power struggle with Mr. Townes, My Lady.”

A trembling breath escaped her along with her tears. She was consumed by the weight of the terrible deception. What kind of monster had she been calling ‘Uncle’ all this time?

Failing to recognize the enemy who killed her parents, foolishly craving affection, holding her breath even under unfair treatment so as not to offend him…. Looking back at the years she had been thoroughly trampled upon, it was horrific. Now, it felt as if the whole world was deceiving her. Because unless it was intentional, this couldn’t be happening to her.

Just then, a sudden downpour began to pelt her thin shoulders. She slowly tilted her head back toward the sky. Raindrops gathered on her rounded forehead and fragile, trembling eyelashes before falling rapidly. It was cold. She was achingly lonely.

She craved warmth. She didn’t care who it was. Whether it was her friends who hadn’t contacted her for days, or even a complete stranger she met on the street.

As long as it was someone who could stand with her in this rain that was pouring down so hard it was difficult to endure. As long as that person didn’t trample on her or deceive her. Whoever it was, please….

“Vanessa.”

As if in answer to her desperate prayer, a man who had come running through the rain caught her by the arm and pulled her up.