Chapter 27
27화
“I only kept silent because I didn’t have definitive proof, Viego.”
“You must have had reasons to harbor suspicion,” Viego countered calmly.
“Juan Rolland is a talent that the Vice Family Head himself recruited for the Moonlight Flower business. And yet, you’re saying he is the mastermind behind the market crash?”
“It’s not certain. It’s just a thought of mine.”
“Then why have you kept that thought to yourself until now?”
Oh no!
Listening from outside the door, Alice couldn’t bear it and turned away. She didn’t want to hear her father being interrogated any longer.
Alice ran toward the garden, sobbing uncontrollably.
“What do I do? What should I do…?”
Father was in trouble.
She hadn’t intended for things to turn out this way.
She just… she just wanted to punish a villain. She only wanted the wicked to pay for what they’d done.
That was truly all she wanted!
After crying for a long while, Alice prayed.
‘Oh God, why are You putting me through such a trial?’
So please, please, just this once, grant my request.
Juan Rolland. That man…
‘Please call him to Your side.’
Make him Your angel so that he never wakes up again.
So that no one ever finds out I was the one who brought him into the mansion.
‘Please. Please. Please!’
Unfortunately, God did not answer Alice’s prayer.
At dawn the next day, Juan Rolland finally opened his eyes.
“What?”
Amidst the searing pain in his arm, Juan knit his brows.
What did he just hear?
“What did you just say, Duke?”
“There are reports that you are the mastermind behind the Moonlight Flower crash.”
Viego looked down at him, bound to the bed, with an indifferent gaze.
“Is it true?”
Juan was flabbergasted.
He was already enraged that things had come to this!
‘Who framed me with such a lie!’
Juan coughed a dry, hacking sound and shouted.
“No! I didn’t go that far!”
“I heard you tried to feed Danae Winzer a love potion.”
Juan flinched. How did he know that?
“Not only that, you attempted to kill Danae.”
“I—I wasn’t trying to kill her. I just…”
“And you even suggested an elopement.”
“….”
Informal speech? Did he just drop his honorifics?
No, was he just asking a question?
Juan broke into a cold sweat and managed a strained smile. He was a man holding his life in his hands; Juan needed to stay on his good side.
“It is true that I loved Danae. But Duke, is there only one or two men like that? It’s only because of the Crown Prince that people don’t show it, but I’m not the only one pining for her in secret.”
“So you threatened her with a gun?”
“….”
It was informal speech.
There was no longer any room for doubt.
Juan realized that the man before him would not show him any mercy.
“Look, I told you, that’s not it!”
In that case, there was no reason for him to act submissively anymore.
Besides, this man was a lunatic who had put two bullets into his arm! And in the exact same spot, no less!
“I don’t know about the rest, but I did not mastermind the Moonlight Flower crash! Where on earth did you hear such nonsense!”
“Alice told me.”
“….”
Why was he using formal speech again? Juan was confused by the Duke’s unpredictable attitude.
No, more importantly.
“Alice? That brat said that?”
“She did.”
“Ha!”
A dry, jagged laugh leaked out. Juan burst into a fit of laughter, finding it utterly absurd.
“Ahahaha!”
That brat is trying to frame me!
Just because I’ve fallen this far, she’s trying to pin all the blame on me!
Do you think I’ll just take it quietly, Alice!
“Don’t believe a word that girl says. That Alice, she’s a far more devious creature than she looks.”
He could see the Duke was listening intently. Staring straight into those eyes, Juan shouted.
“The one who sneaked me into this house was Alice!”
His voice boomed, echoing through the entire room.
“Do you think that’s all? She even sold Moonlight Flowers secretly to my close friends!”
No, it echoed beyond the room, into the hallway, and out to the garden.
“If that isn’t black-market trading, then what is!”
His shout struck the Winzer mansion like a thunderclap.
“If that is true, we cannot let this slide.”
At the vassals’ meeting held that day, the retainers were gripped by shock.
“How could the person in charge of business operations engage in black-market trading?”
“Moonlight Flowers can only be traded through the Winzer family’s official exchange. How could she do such a thing!”
Then, Eric, the manager of the Moonlight Flower business, stepped forward to add his piece.
“In fact, Lady Alice Winzer once asked me about it. She asked if she could sell them personally to her friends.”
“Is—is that true?”
“Yes. I clearly told her then that it was not allowed… It seems she went ahead and sold them in secret.”
At his testimony, the vassals’ eyes practically rolled back in fury.
“Where on earth is Lady Alice Winzer?”
“Why is she not attending the meeting?”
The arrows of blame were aimed at her father and the Vice Family Head, Karl Winzer.
The moment had come. After clearing his throat a couple of times, Karl answered cautiously.
“Alice could not attend because of a severe headache.”
Karl felt embarrassed even as he said it.
Who would believe that? To anyone watching, it was obvious she had fled because she had no way to take responsibility.
Inwardly, Karl was disappointed in his daughter.
No matter how much she feared the criticism, to not show up at all…
“And I have asked Alice about it myself… but Alice says she did no such thing.”
She was still his daughter.
Karl intended to cover for Alice’s faults no matter what. His daughter’s mistake would lead directly to his own.
“Alice did not sell Moonlight Flowers privately to her friends.”
He spoke more firmly than ever before.
“Are you really going to believe the words of a man like Juan Rolland? He is merely attacking me out of a malicious grudge.”
“But—!”
“Alice didn’t do it. Do not say such things without evidence.”
Karl rested his palm gently on the desk.
“You all should be prepared to take responsibility for the words you speak.”
The meeting room fell silent.
The vassals who had been pouring out their resentment shut their mouths.
Every one of them knew.
They knew the history of Karl Winzer’s hand—that hand that looked so refined and composed right now.
They were living witnesses who had watched Karl Winzer during his days as a soldier. Though he sat there now in a neat suit, speaking politely at a desk, he had once been a terrifying figure whom people hesitated to even lock eyes with.
Therefore, Karl’s words carried authority. Even if they were nonsense.
It was then.
“May I speak?”
A graceful voice drifted from a corner of the table. Everyone turned their heads toward the source.
There, Dana was tentatively raising her hand.
“I am attending today’s meeting as a member of the direct line. If you would allow me to speak, I would like to offer an opinion.”
At that, Viego, who had been watching silently until now, gave a slight nod. It was a sign for her to proceed.
“Everyone, the important thing right now is that the price of Moonlight Flowers has plummeted.”
Dana stood up and began her speech.
“If we continue like this, Winzer’s credit will fall to a point beyond recovery.”
She continued, letting out a light sigh as if in regret.
“There are various reasons why the Moonlight Flower was auctioned for such huge sums, but the underlying factor was trust in the Winzer family.”
“Even so, Winzer does not need to take responsibility for the choices made by the buyers.”
Dana agreed with the vassal’s statement.
‘Of course not. That’s correct.’
But those words were also useless to her right now.
“The price of Moonlight Flowers skyrocketed over the past month. Therefore, I believe we should provide appropriate compensation, limited to those who purchased them during that month.”
At that proposal, Eric, the manager of the business, asked.
“Compensation? In what form do you mean?”
“Monetary, of course.”
Immediately, a violent reaction erupted.
“If we do that, Winzer’s losses will be astronomical.”
“It’s not just one or two people who won the auctions; how are we supposed to compensate them all?”
“The Lady may not know, but the world is not that simple!”
Of course, Dana more or less agreed with their words, but…
“Monetarily, it may be an immediate loss for Winzer, but it will be better than losing our credit.”
This was the line she needed right now.
“Trust takes a long time to build, but it can be lost in an instant. Furthermore, rebuilding trust once it has collapsed requires a vast amount of time and painstaking effort.”
Dana looked at Viego.
“This incident will be recorded in history.”
And it truly would be.
This was the world’s first bubble crisis, and it would become a textbook example of a market collapse for future economics students.
Every time it was mentioned, the Winzer family would be named.
Viego Winzer could surely predict that much.
Would he really let things turn out that way?
“The reputation of the Winzer family will depend on how we handle this matter. Think of the distant future, not just the immediate loss.”
“That is a truly idealistic alternative, but we need to think realistically.”
Eric countered suggestively.
“It is difficult for you to speak so easily when it isn’t your own money you’re paying, My Lady. The compensation would be an astronomical amount.”
She had been waiting for those words.
Dana spread her hands and smiled.
“I shall bear the cost.”
