Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Responsibility and Duty (4)
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To the people of the Weibin lands, if you asked, “What’s the most splendid thing in this territory?” every single one of them would give the same answer.
It was “the Weibin family mansion.”
The mansion, with its centuries of history, carried an air of dignity befitting its age, and it gleamed with a brilliance matching the value of its decorations.
It stood in direct contrast to the Portmans, who prized restraint and order as virtues.
Clack, clack—
The mansion’s master was hurrying along today.
Joseph Weibin, the current head of the Weibin barony and Tiria’s father.
“That bastard’s actually coming back.”
Joseph said as he straightened his necktie. It was a necktie made from fabric so expensive even the capital’s elite would pay a fortune for it, hand-stitched by a master craftsman.
“Of all the times, he shows up now. He’s a guy who’s unpleasant to the bitter end, isn’t he?”
“Exactly. He’s useless in every way in life. If he was going to disappear, he should’ve done it for good. It’s obvious he’s here sniffing after the inheritance, right? Do you know how much money that is!”
The response came from his wife, Anak Weibin.
She was adorned in an extravagant azure dress, layered with costly jewelry. A single pin in her upswept hair was worth enough to feed a farmer’s family in Weibin for a month.
She said with worry.
“What are we going to do? If that bastard claims rights to the inheritance…”
“Hmph! What right does the likes of him have to claim inheritance? That money is ours! It’s what we’re justly owed from those people who wasted ten years of our daughter’s life!”
“Y-yes, exactly!”
The two raised their voices as if trying to mask their anxiety.
It was because Hoben Portman’s inheritance had to fall into their hands.
Setting everything else aside, the Weibin family could no longer operate properly without that money.
They were people who held noble dignity in the highest regard.
They believed dignity stemmed from appearances that set them apart from commoners, and that it came from easily acquiring what those commoners could not.
Thus, their spending exceeded normal bounds.
That was why the Weibins were poor.
Even with fields overflowing with high-quality wheat, their consumption outstripped the profits.
Sending their daughter to the Portmans when the family was on the brink of ruin had been a decision they couldn’t avoid.
Didn’t their daughter bear the responsibility and duty to the family?
They hadn’t simply abandoned her.
Joseph had actually worked tirelessly on both material and immaterial fronts to elevate the Portmans to a noble house on par with the Weibins.
At least in his mind, the Portmans becoming a barony was thanks to the Weibins, and that settled their obligations.
‘Damn right. After making our daughter live without a husband for ten years, they owe us at least this much!’
The yearly support from the Portmans after the initial contract wasn’t enough anymore.
It had sufficed at first, but their spending had only grown.
They needed vast sums for things like hunting parties with neighboring nobles, funding the lady’s tea parties, maintaining the mansion, and upholding their own dignity. And now that they were finally expanding their influence, Hoben Portman’s massive inheritance was an indispensable element for grasping something greater.
“That bastard and the dead Portman must be coercing our daughter. How else do you explain Tiria never once replying to our letters?”
“Of course! What kind of daughter did we raise!”
Anak pretended to grieve, dabbing at her tear ducts with a handkerchief.
Tiria, now a Portman, hadn’t exchanged a single word with the family since going there. She only showed her face occasionally at formal gatherings.
And after Hoben Portman’s death, she had cut ties completely.
Letters went unanswered. Visits were refused.
They hadn’t considered forcing their way in.
If they were turned away at the gate like beggars, it would become gossip fodder for the neighboring nobles.
“We have to save our daughter!”
“Damn right!”
What kind of daughter had they raised? How many resources had they poured into her?
Her fair skin and golden hair were inherited directly from birth.
Her etiquette had been taught by etiquette masters summoned from the capital.
And her noble mindset? It had been instilled through scoldings that sacrificed their own dignity.
Tiria Weibin was, if anything, the masterpiece of House Weibin.
She had been meant for a count’s family or higher.
Yet they had sent such a girl away, only to keep her caged like a bird.
And without even paying her proper worth.
The more they thought about it, the hotter their anger burned, reddening their faces.
However, by the time they reached the drawing room, every trace of it had vanished.
A noble must not easily reveal their emotions, after all.
Creak—
The door opened.
Their hearts raced with tension at the thought of facing Hoben Portman’s inhuman son.
But the moment they laid eyes on him, the couple relaxed.
“I apologize for taking so long to come pay my respects. I’m Elric Portman.”
A limp, a commoner’s crude greeting devoid of refinement.
His gentle features were passable, but that was it.
To the two, Elric looked like an easy mark.
*
Excessive.
That was Elric’s first thought upon facing their ostentatious attire.
From the memories of the wedding ten years ago, it hadn’t been this over-the-top, but time was a fearsome thing.
Unbidden, the words of his friend Elbus Graham came to mind.
—Excess is worse than lack. No matter how expensive the trappings, they mustn’t show. It means the adornments have devoured their wearer.
From his perspective, these two looked like people crushed under the weight of their own finery.
It was an impolite thought, but what could be done? It was the truth.
In any case, the first impression was poor, and as the conversation continued, that feeling only deepened.
He couldn’t suppress it.
It stemmed from the attitude the two displayed after the formal greetings.
“Ten years, is it? It’s been hard to even see your face.”
“You must have had your circumstances. You wouldn’t have learned much about these sorts of obligations.”
“Well, since the Portmans were only recently elevated to nobility…”
Aggressive. Their words flowed without a change in expression, as if maintaining their own dignity, but the intent was too obvious.
“…Yeah, I suppose you wouldn’t know.”
In truth, he was the criminal here.
To them, he was the enemy who had abandoned their daughter for ten years and only now returned.
From that viewpoint, their attitude could be seen as justified.
He would have endured it willingly.
If their sincerity had been genuine.
“What brings you here?”
“I saw the letter you sent to the mansion. About that…”
“Oh, that matter.”
A snicker, almost a scoff, floated through the air.
What followed began to settle as no small discomfort in Elric.
For one simple reason.
“You’ve come to claim ownership of the inheritance, haven’t you.”
Their words, their aim, pointed in a direction Elric couldn’t ignore.
“No need to hide it. You don’t seem skilled in this sort of subtlety, so I’ll be direct. We intend to take what’s justly owed.”
“As payment for leaving our daughter like that.”
“Don’t you think it’s too shameless to claim inheritance rights now? Frankly, I doubt you’d even use your father’s legacy for anything meaningful. You seem so different from him.”
“Rather, for the territory’s benefit…”
“It’d be right for us to use it.”
Elric listened intently as the two volleyed their words.
He took in their blatant intentions without filter, dissecting the meaning behind them.
He observed their expressions.
In the end, he realized a fact he didn’t particularly want to acknowledge.
‘Nothing.’
Not a word about Tiria.
From the greetings until now, they hadn’t once asked after her well-being, nor mentioned her outside of the inheritance context.
Hadn’t she suffered for ten years?
Hadn’t it been a year since any contact?
Couldn’t they at least inquire after her health?
‘Why.’
Why not ask about her?
Elric let slip a hopeful probe.
“First off, I apologize for not bringing the lady with me. She’s busy with work…”
“Are you changing the subject?”
His hopes shattered against their angry retort.
It was deeply unpleasant.
The emotion it stirred was close to rage, akin to disgust.
He had thought he’d shed this kind of resentment after boyhood, but facing parents who neglected their child head-on was still quite difficult. Especially since he knew them.
Elric pictured Tiria’s face.
Somehow, he could see the process that had forged her indifference.
The eyes that spoke only of duty now looked different.
Amid the churning emotions like a storm-tossed sea, pity bloomed somewhere within.
Elric pitied her life, and reproached himself for becoming a sinner like them in it.
Even as Joseph Weibin poured out words.
Reproaches meant to overwhelm the opponent.
One phrase stuck particularly in Elric’s ears.
“Excessive greed ruins a man. Remember that.”
Excessive greed.
It was the spark.
“…And if I indulge that greed, what then?”
“…What did you say?”
“I asked what you could do if I decide to indulge my greed.”
Elric raised his head.
“What can you do to me?”
The provocative words left the Weibin baron and his wife stunned.
Joseph Weibin, face flushed red, was the first to react.
He shot to his feet and shouted.
“Y-you insolent…!”
“Exactly.”
Joseph froze.
Elric, still seated, smiled as he spoke to him.
“I am insolent. A bit. Or a lot.”
It was a reference to the ten years he had lived through.
Elric’s demeanor shifted.