True Colors Revealed
"I'm so sorry~ He drank far too much yesterday, so I imagine he still hasn't quite come to his senses?"
"It's quite all right. If anything, I should apologize for not being able to share a drink with the Count that evening."
"My, Viscount Bjorn is so very kind."
Facing one another, Viscount Bjorn and Freya began to ease into light conversation.
"This brooch is something I purchased at quite a price at the recent auction~ It was quite the ordeal, you know?"
"My word. What an elegant brooch, set with jewels of such luminous color—it suits the Countess's refined grace perfectly."
"Oh my~ Hearing you say that makes all the trouble worthwhile~ Ohoho~"
"Haha. It suits you wonderfully."
Hmph. That Curmon fellow completely missed the mark. As if a scatterbrained woman with nothing but flowers in her head could possibly be capable of that.
As Viscount Bjorn played along with the woman proudly showing off the brooch pinned to her chest, he realized that Curmon's previous report had been entirely wrong.
"...Well. The Count is still asleep, but I believe it's time we moved on to the main business."
"The main business? Whatever do you mean?"
"The reason I came to see the Count today is, in fact, to collect the money I lent him."
"You've come to collect money that was borrowed?"
Having finished his lengthy, empty preamble, Viscount Bjorn moved on to the real matter and began methodically producing the forged promissory notes he had prepared in advance.
"W-wait, oh my…oh my…Gordon? Is this true?"
"Ahem…yes. Given that the family seal is stamped upon them…it would appear to be an undeniable fact."
Looking at the documents, Freya seemed to grasp only that money had been borrowed and nothing beyond that, so she passed the papers to Gordon. Gordon, too, adjusted his monocle and answered with apparent bewilderment, carefully choosing his words.
"Oh dear, how…th-this won't do! First, give Viscount Bjorn the money!"
"My lady…with our family's current finances…we are barely short even of the interest due this time."
"W-what did you say? The vault is empty?! What was the treasurer doing all this time?!"
"The treasurer had been a man named Curmon…but he recently quit and returned to his hometown."
"And so…as things stand, we have no way to repay this money immediately…"
Just as I thought. Everything is proceeding exactly according to plan.
"...Ahem. I, too, scraped together every coin I had—money I had and money I didn't—because the Count earnestly swore he would repay me…so if you take this stance, I find myself in rather a difficult position."
Just as Viscount Bjorn had anticipated, the vault was completely empty with no means of repayment. Watching Freya repeat "Oh my" and "What shall we do" in apparent distress, he secretly smirked and gave a light cough to press the situation further.
"Th-that is…Viscount! I'm truly so sorry! Wh-what should we do…"
"You and he are such close friends, aren't you? Perhaps…could you give us just a little more time…?"
"A-ahem…!"
With even that pointed hint, Freya rose from her seat as if growing desperate, went to Viscount Bjorn's side, and took his hand, looking up at him with pleading eyes. Her ample bosom swayed, and the Viscount's gaze was drawn helplessly into the deep cleavage of her low-cut dress.
"Viscount…"
"W-well…it's not as though there's no solution."
"Really?"
Looking at him so pitifully, Freya brightened as if she'd seized a lifeline and asked again.
"Before that. What about that beastkin…?"
"—Ah! You mean our adorable little puppy?"
Looking at Freya, Viscount Bjorn abruptly shifted his gaze to Fenril, who had been standing quietly behind the sofa where Freya had just been sitting.
"I happened to have the chance to hire one! A beastkin—they're quite rare, you know? Isn't that right, puppy?"
"Y-yes…thank yo—"
"You're supposed to say 'woof'! Has your training been lacking?"
"W-woof…woof…!"
Freya claimed she'd casually purchased a beastkin, and Fenril, who had started to speak under their gazes, immediately bowed her head and imitated an animal.
"Hooh…is that so."
"In that case, I have an opportunity that would not only let you repay the debt but earn far more money besides…would you care to hear it?"
"What?! There's something like that?"
"Of course. I'm certain both the Count and my lady will find it most agreeable. Heh heh…"
"By all means! Please tell me quickly!"
Perfect! She's completely taken the bait!
Seeing Freya eagerly swallow the bait he'd cast at this crucial moment, Viscount Bjorn barely suppressed the laugh rising in his throat and continued conversing with her.
"Bwahaha! Excellent! Everything is going splendidly!"
After finishing his conversation with Freya and refusing her request that he wait until the Count woke, Viscount Bjorn boarded his carriage and left the territory—and throughout the entire journey, his laughter never ceased.
"Thanks to that drunkard of a fool and that empty-headed woman with nothing but flowers for brains, this was far too easy!"
The "business" he had discussed with Freya.
It was a business in name only—in reality, it was nothing more than the process of taking the entire Evergarden Territory into his own hands.
"At this rate, that person will be most pleased. And if I can catch their eye…! I won't be stuck in this backwater territory forever—I can climb much higher…!"
Among those involved in this plan, Bjorn had secured a line to the most powerful backer of all, and he had no intention of letting slip this chance to elevate himself beyond the rank of mere Viscount.
"Still, that woman…her face and those tits of hers are something else…"
In the midst of this, Viscount Bjorn recalled Freya clutching his hand in helpless desperation, gazing up at him so earnestly.
She was a spoiled child—stupid and capable of nothing but spending money—but her face and figure were extraordinarily beautiful.
Skin like white jade, long eyelashes, a high-bridged nose, and cherry-red lips.
And on top of that, breasts so enormous that even both hands couldn't fully contain them.
"Heh heh. Once the plan works out, I'll take that drunken bastard's head and have her serve me in bed. Perfect!"
In the dead of night.
His imagination continued—Freya lying naked on his bed, face flushed with embarrassment as he covered her body—and both the corners of Bjorn's mouth and the front of his trousers rose at the same time.
Thus, Viscount Bjorn continued his happy fantasies as he left Evergarden Territory and journeyed on toward his own lands.
Meanwhile, at the Evergarden mansion.
"........"
"...Hey, old man."
"What is it, pup."
"That…it's fine, right…?"
Unlike Gordon, who remained calmly at his post, Fenril had been fidgeting restlessly and finally whispered to him.
".....Honestly, even I don't really—"
"Gordon?"
"Yes, my lady."
"A glass of whiskey on the rocks…no, never mind. Just a strongly brewed milk tea, please. My stomach is unsettled—"
"At once, my lady."
The moment Freya, who had been sitting in silence all this time, opened her mouth, Gordon left the drawing room at the speed of light.
"Haa…"
I can't believe it. At my age…after becoming a woman…I was flirting with some nobody? Me?
Freya continued to sigh heavily, pouring out countless laments inwardly.
Acting as a nobleman's wife was something she could manage well enough.
Handling people, and ruling over them—those were things she had learned to the point of exhaustion as an heir, and had done countless times.
And right now, the safety of her family would swing wildly depending on how she conducted herself in the events to come. She knew better than anyone that this was no time to throw a tantrum over having become a woman.
But still.
I never even did that with my wife when I was a man…and now I'm acting like some cheap seductress…!
Even for her, the fact that she had played the part of a naive, empty-headed woman for Viscount Bjorn and subtly used her chest as a honey trap left a deep scratch on the pride of the man she had once been.
She could practically hear her former male pride being scraped away, and she desperately wanted a stiff drink—but this rational mind of hers, which insisted on rolling only in efficient and practical directions, refused to permit even a single glass of alcohol and instead decided she should drink milk tea. That only made her more agitated.
"Ah…uh…"
"...Even if it was an act, I think I went a bit too far with my words. I'm sorry."
"Ah, not at all, my lord. Living in the underworld, you hear things like that until your ears grow calluses."
Even so, Freya apologized for the demeaning words she had used toward Fenril during her performance, and Fenril shook her head, saying it was fine.
"No. You're one of my people now. Don't treat that as natural and put yourself down. You're worth more than that."
"My lord…!"
But when Freya went a step further and called Fenril one of her own, Fenril's tail began wagging with transparent excitement.
"My lady, here you are."
"Ah, thank you. The only reason I can endure this at all is thanks to the two of you. I'm always grateful."
"Please don't say such things. I am the loyal hound of the Evergarden family. What I do is simply what is expected of me."
"Heh…you're always so reliable."
Gordon reappeared with a steaming cup of milk tea, and Freya managed a smile as she tasted it.
"......By the way. Viscount Bjorn is plotting something rather cute, isn't he."
Taking a light sip of her milk tea, Freya mulled over the proposal Viscount Bjorn had made.
"'Magical beast' trafficking. And a plan to make our territory the distribution hub for it."
Magical beasts.
A term for beasts that were a kind of mutant, having absorbed large quantities of demonic energy.
From goblins—the kind most easily encountered by mercenaries and adventurers—to countless other threatening monsters, they were all essentially magical beasts called by different names.
The mana stones extracted from a magical beast's heart were more valuable than those mined from nature, so there were even mercenary companies that specialized exclusively in hunting them.
However, the denser and larger the mana concentration of a mana stone, the more dangerous the magical beast that carried it—and so general trade in them was prohibited.
Only under highly restricted conditions could they be distributed: for lessons or research at the Magic Tower or the Academy, or as opponents for gladiators in officially registered colosseums.
But those who knew that magical beasts meant money were quietly making fortunes by illegally trafficking young magical beasts through underground channels.
Various nobles drawn to the wild allure of such beasts bought them as pets, or they were used in illegal underground colosseums—and even now, magical beast trafficking was generating enormous sums through countless routes.
However, the crime was particularly severe. Getting caught wouldn't end with a simple fine; it was heavy enough that, under the right circumstances, it could even be twisted into a charge of treason on the grounds that it could throw the nation into chaos—and the risk was enormous.
"From the looks of it, he clearly intends to use our territory as a scapegoat."
"Yes. He probably plans to use us as figureheads—a front."
And here, Evergarden Territory was to become the cover for that illegality.
"They'll run the magical beast trafficking through our territory, and if they get caught, dump all the blame on us and pretend they knew nothing. The plan is practically written on their faces."
So this is how the charge of treason—the reason for the Evergarden family's destruction that my daughter told me about—connects. Indeed…the puzzle pieces are falling perfectly into place.
Freya recalled the reason for the Evergarden family's destruction that Felix had brought up not long after she had possessed this body—treason—and when she connected it with Viscount Bjorn's proposal today, she was nearly certain.
This was precisely why the Evergarden family had fallen.
But Freya was not the type to simply sit still and take it.
"They planned this quite meticulously from the start. From the promissory notes all the way to this…"
"What will you do, my lady?"
"First, we've bought time under the pretext of discussing it with him. The key is how usefully we can use that time."
"Sir Fenril?"
"Yes. I'll select subordinates skilled in infiltration and intelligence gathering and form an investigation team."
"The most critical things we need to uncover are the acquisition route for the magical beasts and how many people are involved in this. Only once we know that can we respond."
"Understood, my lord."
Fenril, who grasped Freya's intent the moment she was lightly called upon, immediately declared she would dispatch an investigation team.
"Well then. Let's take this one step at a time."
If you bare your fangs at my family, I'll chew those fangs to pieces.
Sipping her milk tea, which had cooled to just the right temperature, Freya smiled.
...And especially that Viscount Bjorn.
—Her grip on the teacup tightened unconsciously, but that was a fact known only to Freya herself.