False Hope
The Western Prosecution Office of the Imperial Capital.
This was the workplace of Senior Prosecutor Gregory Hyde.
By all accounts, Gregory had enjoyed a relatively successful legal career. Having set his sights on the law early in life, he had earned his robes at a young age. His meticulous, cautious approach to prosecuting crimes had also spared him the usual mountain of enemies that plagued the profession. Having no enemies inherently meant possessing a rather faint presence, but in Gregory's eyes, that was hardly a flaw. He was, above all else, a civil servant who pursued absolute safety.
Yet lately, he had found himself drawing far more attention than he ever desired.
"What about the kickback case involving the Royal Guard's 6th Regiment?"
"I believe we can wrap it up by indicting the two officers whose charges are undeniable," the junior prosecutor replied. "Truthfully, it's clear the regimental commander was in on it, but..."
"He's far too dangerous for us to touch. High Command mentioned they'll handle it internally by transferring him as a disciplinary measure, so let's leave it at that."
"Understood, sir. Ah, by the way, Senior Prosecutor?" The junior colleague, who had been speaking in earnest about the case, suddenly glanced around the room before leaning in close to Gregory's face.
Here we go again.
Gregory desperately wanted to ignore him, but unfortunately, the young man happened to be the nephew-in-law of the Minister of Justice. Coming from a humble noble lineage himself, Gregory could hardly afford to brush him off. He had no choice but to indulge him with a polite front.
"When is your daughter's wedding?" the junior prosecutor asked, eyes glittering with curiosity. "From what I understand, they've been engaged for quite a while now. Isn't it about time to set a date?"
"...Haha. Well, I'll take care of that in due time, so you needn't worry yourself—"
"Ah, of course, I imagine you must be reluctant to hand your only daughter over to a commoner who was kicked out of the Imperial Guard," the junior interjected breezily. "Still, if you look at it from a positive angle, having no backing just means he's entirely at your mercy, doesn't it? In the end, you can bring him completely under your wing, Senior."
"……."
"And above all else, we're talking about a fortune of forty billion liras! Forty billion! I hear the clerks at both the Imperial Bank and the Merchant Union's credit vault were struck dumb with shock. Where else in this world could you ever find a commoner depositing that kind of astronomical wealth?"
The junior prosecutor gazed at Gregory with unmistakable yearning, whispering, "I truly envy you, sir."
"Haha. Is that so...?" Gregory managed a dry, strained chuckle.
There wasn't a trace of sarcasm in the young man's admiring gaze or eager tone. He was simply radiating pure, undiluted jealousy over the fact that his senior possessed a prospective son-in-law worth forty billion liras. Gregory couldn't very well lash out at that.
In any case, Eric was currently the hottest topic in the entire Imperial Capital.
Regardless of class, gender, or age, everyone was buzzing about Eric's overnight fortune. Naturally, the blonde beauty destined to marry this newly minted titan of wealth, along with her father, the Senior Prosecutor, became the center of public fascination as well.
"To think we all looked down on him for walking out of the Hero's party on his own, only for something like this to happen."
"Aren't they engaged? Why haven't they held the ceremony after six whole months? I heard he doesn't even bring her out to high-society banquets."
"He probably wants to keep her hidden from prying eyes. Commoners always get extraordinarily paranoid whenever they manage to bag a noblewoman."
"I heard she's quite the looker, too. Either way, that bastard struck pure gold."
Every time such murmurs reached his ears, Gregory Hyde felt his stomach churn and rot from within.
Damn it all. It isn't as if I can tell anyone the truth.
It had been barely ten days since Gregory Hyde drove a dagger into the back of his daughter's fiancé.
Granted, he had only done it because of Amber's relentless begging and emotional outbursts. He had even done his utmost to modulate the severity of the blow. To ensure Eric wouldn't be backed into a corner, he had merely dug up a trivial infraction and recommended a minor verbal reprimand, hoping only to instill a modest sense of vigilance in the young man.
Of course, whether it was a verbal warning or something worse, the mere act of investigating one's own future son-in-law was bizarre in itself. That was precisely why almost no one suspected him. Even legal professionals believed Eric's dismissal was the byproduct of an overzealous junior prosecutor's blind ambition. His closer colleagues who had pieced together the truth kept quiet out of courtesy.
I tried so desperately to clean up the mess, too.
Indeed, Gregory Hyde had spent the past several days scurrying about in a frenzy to conceal his involvement. First, he had arranged for the junior prosecutor whose name he had borrowed to be transferred to another regional post. It hadn't been an expulsion under the guise of accountability; rather, he had used every scrap of connection built over his twenty-year career to secure the junior a far more prestigious and lucrative assignment.
Nor had he stopped there. Belatedly realizing the fallout, he had bent over backward trying to reverse the disciplinary recommendation. Only a few days ago, he had personally sought out the administrative director of the Imperial Guard, pleading on his knees that establishing a precedent of disproportionate punishment would bring shame upon the entire order.
In truth, the administrative director possessed no real authority. His job was merely to look after the knights' bureaucratic errands. But because Gregory had no means of approaching the exalted Captain or Vice-Captain directly, he had clung to that bureaucrat like a drowning man grasping at straws.
Yet all of Gregory's efforts had come to nothing. No matter how much a prosecutor begged, the decision of the Imperial Guard Knights was not something a petty civil servant could overturn.
That boy Eric... they said he didn't even bother to plead his case.
Although the rumors said Eric had departed with surprising calm for someone being unfairly expelled, there was no denying that he had been sacked on an absurd pretext. And the one who had planted the seed of that ruin was none other than Gregory himself.
"...What on earth am I supposed to do?"
Gregory slumped back in his chair, staring blankly into empty space.
The relationship between his daughter and Eric had already collapsed beyond repair; reconciliation seemed an impossible fantasy. Truth be told, it was a miracle that the engagement had even lasted this long. It wouldn't be odd in the slightest if Eric declared it void this very second.
Could he still harbor lingering feelings for Amber? ...No, there's no way.
How long had he sat there in that heavy silence, clutching his head and tugging at his hair?
Another soul appeared to disturb Gregory Hyde's misery. This time, it wasn't even a fellow prosecutor. It was a petty criminal who had been brought in for interrogation.
"Senior Prosecutor, sir. Have you heard? About your son-in-law, I mean."
"...We haven't set a wedding date yet."
Now even a lowlife criminal was poking at his wounds. Gregory felt an urge so potent he wanted to shatter his office window and dive straight out.
The suspect, however, shook his head vigorously. "No, no, that's not what I'm talking about! Haven't you heard that he's moving to the 3rd District soon? They say he had a friend put down a provisional deposit on a property already."
"……!"
The 3rd District of the Imperial Capital.
It was an affluent residential sector favored by high-ranking bureaucrats, military officers, and Academy professors—particularly those hailing from lower noble houses. Birds of a feather naturally flocked together, after all. Above all, it was the very neighborhood where Gregory himself had resided for the past ten years, even if his modest estate fell on the humbler end of the spectrum.
"I heard the place he's buying was listed as an urgent sale for three hundred million liras. Whew! Well, considering how filthy rich your son-in-law is, that kind of chump change is nothing to him, eh?"
"Is that... true?"
"Yes, sir! Of course it is! The gentleman selling that house used to be a practicing attorney, and I share quite a special history with him, you see. You could practically say I paid for the doorposts of that mansion with all the legal fees I fed him."
"……."
The criminal snickered under his breath, but Gregory didn't have the luxury to care about a petty crook's insolence.
What mattered was Eric. His daughter's fiancé, whom he had assumed was lost forever, was moving into his very neighborhood.
If Eric genuinely despised the sight of Amber, would he intentionally choose to live in the exact same district? Absolutely not. Walking the streets would mean constantly risking an encounter with Amber or her family. The fact that he was moving to the 3rd District despite knowing that was proof that his resentment might not be as absolute as they feared.
What was more, the owner of the house Eric was purchasing happened to be Gregory's own Academy classmate, an old friend with whom he maintained a cordial relationship.
"Ah, come to think of it, don't you live in that district too, Prosecutor? That house with the red roof—"
"Shut your mouth."
"Gah, apologies, sir!"
The moment his shift ended, Gregory rushed straight home to share this miraculous news with his daughter. He explained that though it wouldn't be easy, a faint ember of reconciliation still flickered, and that there might yet be a chance to make amends for the mistake she had committed in a momentary lapse of judgment. The sickly, pale complexion that had plagued Amber for days visibly began to brighten.
"Father, is that... is that really true?"
"Yes, my dear."
Gregory looked upon Amber's noticeably gaunt face with profound sorrow. He reached out gently, brushing away a few loose strands of blonde hair that clung to her damp cheek.
She might be overly materialistic, and she might lack a proper sense of her own standing, but to Gregory, she was still the precious, beloved daughter he would give his life for. Falling for that female knight Celine's instigation had been a catastrophic blunder, but it had merely been a young girl's naive mistake. She was so breathtakingly beautiful; if she sincerely reflected on her actions and offered genuine atonement, wouldn't Eric grant her one last chance?
He had no logical basis for the assumption, yet he desperately wanted to believe it.
"In a sense, you're a victim as well," Gregory comforted her softly. "If you cast aside your arrogant pride, you can win back Eric's love."
"Yes, Father."
Amber forced a sweet, determined smile through her tears.
Father and daughter exchanged solemn glances, steeling their resolve for the days ahead. Yet in their shared delusion, there was a single, vital truth that Gregory had failed to realize: from the very beginning, there had never been any love to win back.
"Now this is a prime piece of land."
Inspecting the estate in the 3rd District ahead of the final purchase, I couldn't hold back a series of quiet whistles. It was a handsome, south-facing residence complete with an expansive garden. The sturdy stone walls encircling the perimeter provided excellent privacy, and the spacious basement offered endless utility. The price tag was steep, but considering this was going to be my personal home, it was an expense well worth stomaching.
Another element that satisfied me was the property's owner.
He was a genial, stout attorney who was planning to retire shortly and return to his rural hometown. Having found myself in urgent need of a sharp legal mind, the timing couldn't have been more immaculate. Since I intended to pay the staggering three-hundred-million-lira price in cold, hard cash, asking for a bit of legal advice in return was hardly an unreasonable request.
I had heard through the grapevine that he was an Academy classmate of Amber's father, but that didn't bother me in the slightest. When faced with bags of cash, human beings proved remarkably fragile creatures.
"Sir Eric. ...Ah, my apologies. Slip of the tongue."
"No need to apologize. I was an active knight until a few days ago, after all," I replied smoothly. "More importantly, do you mind if I ask for some counsel? You were a practicing attorney, correct?"
"Haha! Indeed I was. To tell the truth, your future father-in-law and I—"
"I'd like your advice on annulment procedures."
"……."
"Of course, I'm well aware that an engagement between commoners is treated like mere child's play under imperial law," I continued, keeping my tone crisp and detached. "However, the other party belongs to an ambiguous noble household, and my own current standing happens to be somewhat peculiar. I want this cleanly settled as quickly as possible. Do you have a strategy in mind?"
"...Ah. An annulment, you say."
Faced with my abrupt request, the retired lawyer's eyes darted left and right in visible agitation. But his hesitation was fleeting.
"Well, I could certainly share a few pointers. Provided, of course..."
"Yes, I understand completely."
I promised him on the spot that if his legal counsel proved effective, I would expedite the signing of the sales contract and wire the full payment immediately.
Only then did the genial attorney break into a radiant, unobstructed smile. Without a shred of loyalty to his old friend, he began unspooling the decades of legal knowledge accumulated throughout his long career. He laid out every loophole and procedural trick so that I could walk away as a completely free man without suffering the slightest stain on my name. He clearly knew whose daughter I was severing ties with, yet he couldn't have cared less.