Chapter 95 - Master and Slave

Tilda Pascal is a wicked woman.

According to the testimonies of Stephan and Muchit, who lived under the same roof, she had no mercy.

They said she was a woman who would destroy anything that offended her eyes.

Such a personality is always bound to attract resentment.

Having bought more resentment than anyone else, Ferda knew this well.

That was why he thought there would be an obvious mastermind behind this incident as well.

The most likely suspect was the poisoned Rico Dandolo.

Next would be Stephan or Muchit, or his wife.

He even suspected her father, Herman.

Yet, there was exactly one person Ferda could not suspect.

That was the dull-looking middle-aged man standing over there.

It was Henri.

"Are you the one who ordered the investigation into Tilda?"

Unable to believe it at all, Ferda asked directly.

"That is correct."

"You made the request hoping for her downfall?"

"That is correct."

"Are you saying you did such a thing even knowing it would lead to this outcome?"

"Of course. I had kept this in mind as well."

Henri gently smiled.

At first glance, it was the smile of someone who seemed entirely too good-natured.

Like someone so good-natured that they were dull and incapable of hiding their inner thoughts.

"Why?"

"Because I truly love Tilda. I can do anything for her."

"Is this mess what you call 'anything'?"

Luri, who had been listening, interjected and asked.

Disgust was evident on her face.

"Of course."

He replied with a smile, as if her reaction did not matter at all.

Upon hearing that answer, the reactions of those around them also turned out similar to Luri's.

"I do not care if you criticize me. There were countless women who whispered sweet nothings to me while only looking at my money and fame. Is it not alright for me alone to love someone purely for their shell?"

"I have no intention of criticizing your actions. However, I have a question."

"Please speak."

"Is this woman worth handing over your company to me?"

Tilda was pretty, but she was still not an unparalleled beauty.

She was not on the level of Olivia, who had a man willing to sell everything in his territory and offer a million roses.

Henri answered that question as if it were no big deal.

"The company was something my father cherished; it does not hold such great value to me. In fact, I wanted to shake it off. That is why I used the woman I love."

"You used Tilda?"

"She is a truly beautiful, yet wicked woman. Who in the world would poison their father-in-law and go around scheming to kill their own family?"

Henri had only been hoping for Rico to die.

He had watched everything, and controlled everything.

In a way, the person who had Tilda dancing in the palm of his hand was Henri.

Only then could Ferda understand one of the questions he had pushed to the back of his mind.

"I was told that upon destroying the medium, the master of the house, Rico Dandolo, suddenly lost his life."

"That is correct. My father has passed away."

"That was not Tilda's doing."

Ferda's eyes stared at Henri as if to pierce right through him.

"But it is something that would seem like it."

Henri answered vaguely.

"My father always wanted me to become a strategist. And I became the son who upheld his will."

"..."

Ferda could not say anything.

As silence fell, Henri spoke to conclude this conversation.

"As promised, I will hand over the Dandolo trading company. By granting ownership to Regent Ferda and delegating the management rights to my brother-in-law, everything will be resolved without a hitch."

"Understood."

"My entire company will fall into the Regent's hands. Therefore, would you grant this humble man one plea?"

"What is it?"

"I would like you to return the item that was taken from my wife."

Ferda's gaze turned toward Luri.

She furrowed her brow as if subtly offended.

"I have not touched anything."

Which meant someone had secretly pilfered it.

Ferda could immediately point out the next target.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Penelope.

"Because you are the only one left."

"It is embarrassing when you say such flirty things— Gah!"

"Stop spouting bullshit and tell me where you put it?! Spill it!"

"Urgh! Ack! O-On my tail! I hung it on my tail!"

"As expected of a demon bitch, do your insides twist up if you don't cause trouble for even a single day? Sigh!"

"Sob, my diamond...!"

"What do you mean your diamond, you crazy bitch."

As Zed searched her body thoroughly, just as she said, there was a ring hanging on her tail.

A ring made of a Blood Diamond, something that could not be bought with money.

Zed handed that ring over to Ferda.

"It is a Blood Diamond. Is it an engagement ring?"

"That is correct. It is the only thing my wife loves."

As soon as Henri received the ring, he immediately approached Tilda.

"Ooo..."

She was making a mournful sound like a vengeful spirit wandering the living world.

"Tilda, my love. Look here. It's the diamond ring you like."

The eyes of Tilda, who was drooling and looking as though her soul had left her body, turned toward the ring.

Her aimlessly wandering eyes clearly stared at that diamond.

"Hehe..."

At her smile that looked as if she had the whole world, Henri also gave a smile.

* * *

Henri promised to disappear just like that alongside Tilda.

His claim of having predicted this outcome was not a lie.

He had already secured a house in the West in advance, and he had even prepared enough money for them to live on, however modestly.

He decided to leave the Dandolo mansion taking only enough to quietly live out the rest of his days.

"He's truly a ruthless bastard."

Luri said.

Her tightly clenched hands were filled with the desire to snap Henri's neck.

"Are you just going to let someone like that go?"

Ferda nodded his head as if it were obvious.

"Since he kept his promise, shouldn't I keep mine as well?"

"Could that disgusting thing not ruin our plans? Seeing how he played right on top of the witch's head, it is entirely possible."

Ferda looked down at Luri and spoke.

"Wanting to kill him is merely your personal desire."

"It is disgusting. I mean how he could kill his family and ruin the person he loves like that."

Luri, who did not interfere in human affairs, said so.

He used his wife to kill his father, and made even his wife his own.

To the dragon spawns, whose familial love was deeper than anyone else's, that was an unforgivable act.

"Tilda Pascal did the exact same thing. Although it ended as an attempt, she is a wicked woman who drove a wedge between siblings, tried to poison her sister-in-law, and turned her father-in-law into a vegetable. Doesn't it suit her that the end for such a wicked woman is to live captive to that man?"

"When you put it like that... it does seem so, but..."

Even the furious Luri's voice gradually grew softer.

His actions were disgusting, but on the other hand, she came to think that she received her rightful punishment.

In the end, Luri decided to fold away her thoughts about them.

Regardless, they would never cross paths with these people again.

Ferda quietly looked down at the spot where Henri had passed.

'It's a pity.'

He was a truly clever man.

Since even Ferda could not grasp his inner thoughts, if he had possessed greed for commerce, he would have undoubtedly surpassed even the Pascal trading company and created the golden age of the Dandolo trading company.

However, Henri acted as if even such abilities were unnecessary to him.

The last expression he saw on Henri's face was that of a man who had given up a massive fortune, yet looked happier than anyone else.

That face remained in Ferda's mind like a lingering echo.

Whether it was out of a feeling of discomfort, or out of envy.

There was no way to know for now.

* * *

The Pascal trading company headquarters.

"Is that so? Your business regarding my sister has finished."

He seemed surprised by the fact that the work had been conducted in secret, but he did not mind it much.

In any case, the matter that had been troubling his mind was settled, so he was satisfied with that.

"Understood. I will tell my older brother, and I will explain the whole story to my father to wrap things up."

Ending the transmission, Stephan felt a lingering sensation.

It was awe directed toward Ferda.

'To think he would end up possessing the Dandolo trading company.'

It was an unexpected harvest.

Stephan had thought of destroying that trading company in the end if this matter escalated.

He had never even imagined that it could be acquired completely.

'The Regent is a truly amazing person.'

He felt how pathetic his own judgment had been, having been ready to give up everything just a few days ago.

'Now I need to clean up the aftermath.'

A sigh naturally escaped Stephan's lips.

Since it was a plot hatched with Muchit, it would be over once they called it over, but Herman was different.

Herman, not knowing the full story, had genuinely tried to keep Stephan in check, and Stephan had to respond in earnest as well.

"General Manager. The Chairman..."

The secretary who could not finish his sentence.

It was easy to guess just how angry Herman was.

He wanted to run away.

His instincts screamed out like that, but his head nodded calmly.

A moment later, four bodyguards large enough to tightly fill the doorway and one diminutive old man entered inside.

The large men who came in with him were threatening enough, but those sharp eyes shining between his deep wrinkles stimulated something deep within Stephan.

"Why are you still here?"

A question asking why he was here instead of resigning.

"Everything is over."

"What do you mean it's over?"

Stephan explained everything.

That Tilda had used her husband's company to try and tear Stephan and Muchit apart.

And even how she conspired to kill Herman in the process.

He intentionally minimized parts that might be seen as slight exaggerations to add weight to his persuasiveness.

Even so, his true intentions could not be read.

Like a sword forged in a dwarven smithy deep beneath a mountain, his expression could not be broken.

"So such a thing happened."

"That is correct."

"But you did not answer my question."

"What question..."

"I asked why you are still here."

It was a conversation that did not seem to come from someone who had just heard the story.

Stephan answered.

"Because I am the General Manager of the Pascal trading company."

"I am the Chairman. Stripping you of your position is nothing to me. I had hoped you would step down on your own, but you do not."

"Are you still claiming that my judgment was a mistake?"

"Of course. Who would be a fool to bend their claim when they are certain of it?"

The Grand Duchy's territory will be ruined.

Out of rebelliousness, Stephan said to him.

"Grand Duchess Valdrova's territory will prosper."

"It cannot prosper."

Herman flatly cut him off.

"You seem curious as to the reason. Very well, I shall personally answer you."

Herman spoke, glaring with eyes like a tiger.

"I have heard rumors that this fellow named Ferda might be using dark magic."

"I have ears as well, so I am aware. However, he saved many people in Halim."

"Being treated as a hero is only a fleeting moment. Saving them is not the issue. The mere fact that he is using dark magic is a weakness. What will you do if it is said that the Pascal trading company is assisting someone intoxicated with dark magic?"

"That is..."

"If you continue to help Regent Ferda and then try to pull out later, it will already be too late. Are you planning to drive the countless members of the trading company out onto the streets?"

Stephan could not answer.

"And you must be investing in this technology called magical engineering; what will you do if that fellow named Burnel ends up dead?"

Herman continued to press him relentlessly.

"Then this investment will become a bubble, and we won't be able to gain anything either. And is there any guarantee that this man named Burnel will not harbor ulterior motives? What about his master, Ferda?"

"There is no way they would abandon me."

Although he had initially spoken as if he did not need Stephan, he had helped him both materially and emotionally when times were tough.

Therefore, he could argue strongly.

However, to Herman, even such words were untrustworthy.

"Do you know why cities are not built in the far east?"

"Because the territory is constantly shrinking."

"Yes. Because there is no hope. It could not be stopped by the power of humans, nor could it be stopped by the power of immortals. Will you only come to your senses after being eroded by demonic energy in a place so close to it?"

"..."

"Alright. Let us be optimistic and say it does prosper; in what form do you think that prosperity will return to us? Money? Honor? Connections? No. The Empire will comb through every speck of dust to keep them in check. Why, you ask? We are a trading company from the Empire's capital. It means it will look like the capital's power is flowing out there."

"..."

"Even if that greenhorn Regent has trust and ambition, all politics is conducted by old men. Do you know what kind of beings old men are?"

Herman's voice grew forceful.

"They are beings that shiver and tremble, lacking the strength to stand, yet somehow retaining just enough strength to cling to their own rice bowls. It is easy to enjoy luxury after being frugal, but it is hard to become frugal after enjoying luxury. Power is the same. The old ones push the youth onto the battlefield, making them fight and exploiting them to secure their own possessions. Do you think mayflies like us can stand against that and endure?"

Stephan could not form any answer.

There was wisdom built over the years in Herman's words, and that wisdom was logical.

Looking at the bigger picture, nothing Herman said was wrong.

There were far too many risks that Stephan had to shoulder.

"Give up on the far east. If not, then give up on this company. That is my will."

Herman stood up from his seat.

The moment he tried to leave, Stephan opened his mouth.

"You are exactly the same as those old men, Father."

"What... did you say?"

Herman asked again, his eyes widening.

Words that seemed to have been blurted out in a fit of anger.

But what filled Stephan's eyes was venom.

"Are you not also incapable of accepting new things, Father, while only stubbornly clinging to your own will?"

"Are you saying I am being pigheaded?"

"Yes."

Stephan agreed shortly and clearly.

Herman flew into a rage.

"You ungrateful wretch. What right do you have to spout such nonsense?"

"I do have the right."

He poured out his words as if unblocking the clogged blood vessels in his throat.

It was emotion and self-assertion that had piled up for a very long time.

"I have been operating and leading your company, Father, for the past three years. That steady growth and stabilization was something I cultivated. If you were the one who planted the seeds for this company, Father, I am the one who nurtured it. Just as one cannot be called a farmer solely for planting seeds, this cannot be considered your achievement, Father. Therefore, I have the right to raise my voice."

"You have the right? You?"

"Yes!"

As his emotions intensified, his voice grew louder and louder.

"While you stood back like an old man in a solitary cell, clicking your tongue and handing blades to us siblings just to watch, I devoted everything to this company without ever looking away!"

Herman looked up at Stephan without saying a word.

Riding the momentum, Stephan spat out more of the words he had kept bottled up.

"Did I not tell you before? When you asked what kind of person Regent Ferda was, I answered like this: A person I could give everything to."

"..."

"That was not a slip of the tongue. It was sincere. Do you know why? It was because I believed that even if I handed the company over to that man, I could gain far more than what you have built, Father."

"No matter how you appeal to me, from my perspective, it only sounds like you have been consumed by your emotions."

"It does not matter. When I was struggling, he declared it an act of sabotage against the Grand Duchy's territory and retaliated. He spoke of the Grand Duchy's territory, not the Pascal trading company. He accepted me as a part of the Grand Duchy's territory and helped me."

Even though he had cruelly tried to cast him aside once, he was just as merciful as he was cruel.

At that time, Stephan made a vow.

That all of this depended on how he made up his mind.

"So I will make it clear."

He threw out the final, irreversible ultimatum.

"I will not step back from this position. I am the one running this company, and I will take responsibility for the choices made. So, if you are going to interfere with my decisions!"

SLAM!

"You will have to fight me with the resolve to cut our ties!"