Shaking Down the Grand Duchess
The central conference room of the Grand Duke’s castle. Serious voices were leaking through the door.
“Your Highness, the wheat harvest from the central territories is less than half of last year’s yield. At this rate, people in the slums will begin starving to death before the first snow falls.”
“Damn it all! When exactly do those southern merchants plan to release their grain?! I sent a letter promising to pay double, yet we’ve received no reply!”
The vassals’ despairing reports continued one after another. At the head of the table, Giselle sat in silence, fingers pressed to her brow.
“……How much remains in the family vault?”
“Your Highness! You must not! You have already pledged the mining rights to the family’s mana stone mines as collateral. If you surrender anything more, the Grand Ducal line will——!”
“What use is the family’s lineage if the people are dying of hunger?”
At Giselle’s sharp rebuke the entire room fell deathly quiet. Outside the door, eavesdropping, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
She’s so kind it’s almost stupid.
No wonder she ends up betrayed and rotting from the inside out. She insists on carrying everything alone.
I didn’t wait any longer. I kicked the conference room door with a thunderous bang. It flew open.
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Who goes there!”
Everyone inside turned to stare at me at once. I strode in without a trace of embarrassment, clapping loudly in exaggerated applause.
“My, my~ What a touching meeting between a benevolent lord and her loyal vassals. Why the long faces, everyone? You look like you’re attending a funeral.”
“K-Kael… Your Highness…?”
The elderly vassal who appeared to be the finance minister gaped at me in horror. I marched straight up, dragged an empty chair over, and dropped into it directly across from Giselle. Then I propped both booted feet insolently onto the table.
“You bastard!! How dare you show such disrespect inside the sacred conference hall of the Grand Duke’s castle!”
The one-eyed old knight—clearly the Knight Commander—roared as though he might draw his sword at any second. I dug a finger into my ear and gave him a lazy glare.
“Disrespect? You’re lecturing me, the Eighth Prince of the Empire, about disrespect? Knight, perhaps plucking out that single remaining eye of yours for the crime of insulting the imperial family would help you learn some manners.”
“This… this filthy piece of trash——!”
The knight commander’s face flushed crimson as his hand flew toward his hilt.
“Sheathe your blade, Hexion.”
Giselle’s cold voice rang from the head of the table. Her crimson eyes locked onto me, swirling with murderous intent and utter contempt she didn’t even try to hide.
“Bursting into the conference room without my permission. Is trampling on etiquette simply a hereditary trait of the imperial family?”
Ah, I wasn’t originally like this. Yet being cursed by Giselle felt strangely satisfying. On the outside, however, I gave an obnoxious smirk and shrugged.
“I believe I made myself clear. We were supposed to settle the matter of my dignity maintenance fee. Since I received no word even after morning had passed, I decided to come in person.”
“Haa…… Are you truly so impatient? Deciding on the funds to maintain your pathetic dignity can wait until after this meeting.”
I clicked my tongue at her reply.
“Is that so? What a shame. I wanted to spend it immediately. After all, the prince personally dispatched by His Majesty the Emperor finds himself unable to do anything he wishes in the North and is on the verge of starving. I suppose I’ll have to send a letter to the capital at once.”
I rested my chin on my hand and giggled.
“‘Beloved Father, the Grand Duchess of the North dares to insult the imperial family and is starving me. It appears the North is preparing to raise the flag of rebellion, therefore I humbly request that you dispatch the imperial army posthaste——’”
“You son of a bitch!!!”
One vassal finally snapped, slamming the table as he shot to his feet.
“While we in the North bleed to hold back the demonic beasts, you were busy chasing skirts in the capital! And now you dare wag that filthy tongue at us?!”
“Oh dear, how frightening. Are all northerners this barbaric?” I sneered, turning to Giselle. “So, what will it be? Shall we watch your vassals’ heads roll for the crime of treason, or will you quietly hand over my money?”
Giselle ground her teeth so hard I could hear it. She knew exactly what I was doing—using the authority of the imperial family as a shield to make absurd demands. But the imperial family had orchestrated this very situation. If the North refused me, they would gain the perfect justification to brand it as lèse-majesté and rebellion, then send in the subjugation force.
Politically isolated as the North was, they had no choice but to yield to such blatant blackmail.
“……How much do you want?”
After a long silence, Giselle finally spoke through clenched teeth.
“Your Highness! You must not! We have no money to give this wretch!”
The vassals cried out in protest, but Giselle raised a hand to silence them. I flashed a triumphant smile and named a sum so ridiculous it was embarrassing to utter aloud.
“One hundred thousand gold.”
A silence like ice water poured over the room fell instantly.
“……Pardon?” Even Giselle lost her composure, eyes widening.
“Are your ears blocked? One hundred thousand gold. Have it ready by tonight.”
“Have you lost your mind?! That is one-third of the North’s entire annual budget! You demand such a sum for mere entertainment expenses?!”
The finance minister looked ready to faint, foaming at the mouth. I examined my nails with deliberate indifference.
“The highest-grade southern silk rug for my chamber, the finest wine I drank at the imperial palace, and a mana stone heater to warm the room properly—that much is the bare minimum. Oh, and I’ll need perfume and jewels as well.”
I deliberately listed only the most decadent, trashy luxuries imaginable. Blood vessels bulged in the vassals’ eyes. The conference room thickened with killing intent so thick it felt like they might tear me apart at any moment.
Inside, cold sweat trickled down my spine.
I’m sorry, Giselle. I’m sorry, old vassals. But I need this money to smuggle out a massive amount of relief grain for the citizens.
Only by spreading rumors that I was blowing it all on luxuries could I evade the imperial family’s surveillance.
“If you cannot provide it, then I suppose I have no choice. I’ll simply write that letter to Father as I said.”
I rose from my seat with a shrug.
At that moment——
“Godwin.”
Giselle spoke quietly.
“Finance Minister Godwin. Immediately issue a promissory note for one hundred thousand gold to this man.”
“Y-Your Highness!! Please, no! Cut off my head instead! That sum could purchase enough food to see us through the winter——!”
“This is the order of the family head.”
Giselle continued, voice steady.
“I will cover the amount by selling my personal assets. Give him the one hundred thousand gold at once and send him away.”
“Your Highness……!!”
The finance minister collapsed to his knees before her, tears streaming down his face. The other vassals pounded the floor with fists clenched in helpless rage. I swallowed a sigh.
Once again she was sacrificing herself to resolve the crisis. A sharp pain lanced through my chest.
But I could not show any sympathy here.
I snatched the promissory note the trembling Godwin had written.
“Heh, as expected of the Grand Duchess. You really are generous.”
I made a show of kissing the note and sneered.
“I’ll put this money to very good use decorating my room beautifully. Enjoy the rest of your pathetic little meeting.”
I left the conference room without looking back. I could feel their gazes stabbing into me like curses.
Bang. The door slammed shut. Only once I had walked down the corridor did I finally drop the act. The hundred-thousand-gold note in my hand suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
This was the blood and flesh of the North—carved from Giselle’s own bones.
“……Now I need to figure out how to spend this in the most ‘trashy’ way possible.”
That very night.
—Night had fallen.
When the howling wind outside the window finally died down, I quietly slipped out of the annex. Inside my pocket rested the neatly folded promissory note I had extorted that afternoon.
Where was I supposed to go to meet that guy again?
I searched my memories. Since I had read the chapter recently, the details were still fresh. It should be somewhere in the back alleys on the outskirts of the territory.
While I walked down the dark corridor lost in thought, a figure holding a candle appeared ahead.
“……”
“……”
I came face-to-face with Giselle, who was carrying an armful of documents. Even at this late hour she still wore her uniform. The exhaustion etched on her face suggested she had been working in her office ever since the afternoon meeting.
I quickly schooled my expression, shoved a hand into my pocket, and leaned insolently against the wall. Then I began to whistle.
Giselle stopped. She looked me up and down, then frowned deeply.
“Where are you going at this hour?”
Her voice was thick with suspicion. I answered with a sleazy grin.
“Where? Now that I’ve come into quite a bit of money, I thought I’d visit a brothel. I should sample the local northern girls and see what they’re like.”
Giselle’s frown deepened further.
“I distinctly ordered you not to leave the annex.”
Her hand moved to the hilt of the sword at her waist. She looked ready to draw it.
I deliberately nodded even more brazenly.
“Is there a problem? The less we see each other’s faces, the better for both of us, no? Or perhaps……”
I took a step closer, raking my gaze over her body, and smiled.
“Would our esteemed Grand Duchess like to entertain me personally? Well, if we turn the lights off, I suppose it wouldn’t be——”
Shing!
Before I could finish, her blade was half-drawn. Her eyes looked ready to sever my neck on the spot.
I swear I didn’t say those things because I wanted to. I was doing my absolute best to play the role of “total garbage Kael,” but this damned brain only seemed capable of producing the worst possible lines.
Inside I was screaming Please forgive me, I’m so sorry while mentally prostrating myself, yet on the outside I simply shrugged with that same obnoxious smile.
Giselle suppressed her fury and slowly sheathed her sword once more.
“……Haa.”
She let out a long sigh, turning her gaze away as though simply dealing with me was exhausting.
“If you cause any trouble, I will truly cut off your head. Go quietly and avoid being seen by the citizens.”
“As you command.”
I shrugged and brushed past her. The oppressive pressure on my back made cold sweat run down my spine.
Only after I stepped outside did I manage to steady my trembling legs with a deep breath.
“Wow, I really almost died back there. I thought she was going to slice me open with her eyes alone.”
But I quickly hardened my expression. I pulled the drab robe I had prepared over my head and quickened my pace.
It was time to begin the real work.