The Third Prince and the Imperial Audit Team Arrive at the Grand Duchess's Castle
The Third Prince Enoch and the Imperial Audit Team had arrived at the Grand Duchess’s Castle. The overwhelming pressure radiating from dozens of elite imperial knights was immense. At the head of the formation stood a man dressed in a pristine white uniform without a single speck of dust from head to toe. The Third Prince, Enoch, skipped even the courtesy of a greeting and barged straight into Giselle’s office.
“You’ve come a long way,” Giselle said from her seat at the head of the room, preparing to offer a formal welcome. Enoch raised a hand to stop her.
“Unnecessary formalities can be omitted, Grand Duchess. Since I am here on imperial orders, let us proceed directly to the main issue.”
Enoch continued. “Regarding the summary execution of Baron Baron. You beheaded an imperial noble appointed by the empire without a proper trial. This is a clear overreach of authority and a violation of the law. We have come to hear the Grand Duchess’s position on this matter.”
He was already grabbing her by the throat. Yet Giselle replied calmly, completely unfazed.
“Imperial Law Chapter 7 Wartime Special Law. ‘In emergency wartime situations where the survival of the territory is at stake, such as a Magic Beast Wave, a lord may immediately execute anyone plotting internal rebellion.’ Baron Baron was a clear traitor who attempted to seize the armory during that exact crisis. There is no legal issue here, is there?”
Enoch let out a short, dry laugh at her rebuttal.
“You know the law well. However, Grand Duchess, I understand the one who suppressed the rebellion and took Baron’s head was none other than your husband, the Eighth Prince.”
Enoch interlaced his fingers on the table and leaned forward. “Discussing this matter in the absence of the person directly involved seems pointless. What is your opinion, Grand Duchess?”
“Why would it be pointless? The circumstances and witnesses are perfectly clear.”
“Are you not husband and wife?” Enoch’s eyes sharpened. “It is well known even in the capital that the relationship between the two of you is not good. But what if the Eighth Prince secretly colluded with you, Grand Duchess, to lure Baron Baron into a trap and assassinate him? Would that not make perfect sense?”
“…….”
It was an absurd stretch. But Enoch’s point was not entirely unreasonable. As the leader of the Imperial Audit Team, it was a suspicion he could legitimately raise. Giselle let out a small sigh.
It seemed she would have to call that man after all.
“Godwin. Go to the annex and bring the Eighth Prince here.”
A short while later.
“Yaaawn~ Man, I’m so tired.”
Cael shuffled into the office, yawning widely. “They told me not to take one step out of the annex. I was sleeping like a baby and suddenly they drag me out here.”
Grumbling as he entered, Cael’s eyes landed on a familiar face. A blond man in a white uniform. It was the Third Prince Enoch. Cael’s face lit up and he spread his arms wide.
“Oh! Brother! Long time no see? What brings you all the way to this cold, filthy backwater?”
When Cael tried to approach him like they were close, Enoch frowned as if looking at a disgusting insect and placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
“You. Take one more step toward me and I will cut you down where you stand.”
“Whoa, how scary.”
Cael shrugged and stopped walking. “Come on, brother, don’t be so cold to your own sibling. I was just happy to see you after so long. Anyway, why’d you call me?”
Enoch clicked his tongue, clearly fed up with Cael’s flippant attitude, and immediately got to the point.
“I summoned you to ask about the circumstances in which you secretly colluded with the Grand Duchess to assassinate Baron Baron.”
“……Pfft!”
Cael couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. Soon he was clutching his stomach, howling.
“Bwahaha!! Ah, seriously. Brother, I had no idea you had such outstanding comedic talent!”
“What’s so funny?”
Cael wiped the laughter from his face and jerked his chin toward Giselle with an expression of pure disbelief.
“No, brother. Me teaming up with this ice-cold bitch? That’s going way too far even for you. This woman treats me worse than a damn cockroach. Even back at the imperial palace they didn’t treat me this badly.”
Finishing his sentence, Cael yanked open the buttons of his shirt.
Rip!
Beneath the half-discarded shirt, the long scar along Cael’s side was fully exposed.
“And you don’t see this?!”
“……!”
Enoch’s eyes widened. Giselle and her vassals flinched in shock as well. The wound had only just begun to heal. Cael pointed at the scar like a trophy and shouted.
“When a knife is going into my side, who the hell has time to worry about some fucking law?!”
Panting, Cael got right up in Enoch’s face and snarled.
“If it were you, brother, and you got shanked in a back alley, would you go ‘Ugh! I got stabbed, but according to Imperial Law Section 7, Article 4, I should endure it this time!’ or some bullshit like that?! Huh?!”
Enoch’s face twisted. He turned his head away in disgust at the sight of Cael shoving his scarred side forward and screaming.
“……Get away from me. You’re revolting.”
Enoch sighed. In truth, he hadn’t intended to press this particular issue. He was simply following the emperor’s orders.
“Satisfied? Damn it, I was sleeping so well and now my mood is ruined.”
Cael roughly pulled his shirt back on and waved his hand.
“I’m leaving. Oh, and brother, since it’s been a while, let’s have a drink together tonight~”
“……Stop right there.”
Just as Cael turned to leave, Enoch’s cold voice caught him by the ankle.
“I will overlook the Baron matter as self-defense. However, the audit is only beginning.”
Enoch’s gaze returned to Giselle.
“Grand Duchess. Upon reviewing the castle’s ledgers, I discovered that a massive sum of 100,000 gold was spent all at once.”
Enoch began to pressure her. “Did you not secretly use this money, hidden from the empire’s eyes, to raise an army or support rebels?”
Giselle pressed her throbbing temple and pointed at Cael.
“It was given to that man under the name of a Dignity Maintenance Fee.”
“……A dignity maintenance fee?”
Enoch looked back and forth between Giselle and Cael, utterly dumbfounded. “Grand Duchess, do you honestly expect me to believe that? You handed over such an enormous sum purely for his personal entertainment?”
Cael shrugged and cut in.
“What’s so unbelievable about it? I am a prince, after all. I should be able to spend at least that much.”
But Enoch scoffed.
“Don’t lie. No matter how much of a wastrel you are, there is no way you could have blown that kind of money into thin air in just a few days.”
Enoch slammed the table and stood up. This was clearly a situation where the two of them, as husband and wife, had abused their relationship to launder the Grand Duchess’s secret funds.
“If you truly spent that 100,000 gold, prove right now where it went. If you cannot prove it, I will arrest both of you on charges of plotting rebellion.”
“Ah, seriously. There you go again, brother. I told you I spent it all.”
“Where?”
“I bought some luxury goods. Top-class wine, silk carpets, stuff like that?”
“Then where are all those luxury goods? Bring them before my eyes immediately.”
Enoch shouted, brimming with confidence.
“Ugh, damn it. I really didn’t want to do this.”
Cael scratched the back of his head in annoyance. Then he snapped his fingers at the servant waiting outside the door.
“Hey. Tell the guys I mentioned to come this way.”
A short while later.
“Y-Your Highness!!”
From the courtyard outside the window came the loud rattle of cart wheels mixed with theatrical wailing. Giselle, Enoch, and the vassals all turned toward the window with puzzled expressions. When they looked down at the scene in the courtyard, every single one of them froze in shock, mouths agape.
“Hah……!”
“W-what in the world is all that?!”
In the courtyard stood Baron Killian and three other nobles. Behind them were several massive carts radiating a dazzling golden light. Gold bars, rare jewels, and priceless antiques were piled mountain-high on the wagons.
“We have arrived, Your Highness!!”
The four men fell to their knees, tears and snot streaming down their faces as they cried out.
“The 100,000 gold is the money His Highness the Eighth Prince invested in our businesses!! Thanks to His Highness’s great insight and wisdom, we have earned unimaginable profits. We have brought the dividends like this!!”
Of course, every word was a lie.
Cael clapped a hand on the shoulder of the stunned, rigid Enoch and puffed out his chest.
“Did you hear that, brother? I did buy a ton of luxury goods from the south, but after leaving them here for a few days in this humid northern dump, they started growing mold. So I just handed them off to these four and told them to roll the money however they wanted. Looks like they hit the jackpot, huh?”
“……W-what is this.”
“Even if I’m not smart, I’ve got a nose for money. You’ve spent your whole life sitting at a desk studying law books, brother, so of course you wouldn’t understand real-world economics. Right?”
Enoch’s jaw dropped.
He had tried to tie the Eighth Prince down with embezzlement charges to deliver a fatal blow to the Grand Duchess. Yet here the nobles had “voluntarily” shown up with dividends exceeding 100,000 gold and filled the castle’s treasury. The investment had simply succeeded spectacularly. Legally, no loss or damage had occurred to the Grand Duchess’s finances whatsoever. Therefore, the embezzlement charge could not stand, nor could any accusation of hiding rebel funds.
Meanwhile, Giselle stared at the scene outside the window and bit her lip with a strange expression.
……So that’s what it was.
The scattered puzzle pieces in her head finally clicked together into a single picture. The way Cael had squeezed 100,000 gold out of her. The way he had summoned Baron Baron’s remnants to the annex. And the reason those opportunistic nobles had suddenly rushed to the front lines claiming they wanted to be buried here.
It all made sense now.
This man didn’t squander the 100,000 gold.
Giselle was overcome with both admiration and astonishment.
He used that money as bait to pressure the nobles, seized their dirty secrets, blackmailed them, and multiplied the fortune. In doing so, he built himself an enormous personal slush fund.
He was still undeniably a horrible parasite sucking the North’s blood. But Giselle now realized, bone-deep, that he was by no means an empty-headed, incompetent piece of trash.
“……Ugh.”
Enoch clenched his fist tightly. He no longer had any justification to cling to, nor any legal grounds to push.
“……I will withdraw for today.”
Enoch turned around, swallowing his pride. Giselle gave a slightly dumbfounded nod.
“……Very well. Godwin, prepare accommodations for the audit team.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
As Enoch stormed out, Cael waved at his back.
“Brother! I’ll pop open some expensive wine later! Leave the door unlocked~!”