OFR 14

14. The Social Circle’s Brown Fox

Come to think of it, weren’t all the Franz family’s tragedies caused by the Crown Prince’s secret gambling den?

Edna hated Tenison Franz as much as the Crown Prince. It had been Tenison who killed Roderick, once a friend in name. She could not forget the expressionless face that stood beside the Crown Prince and ordered Roderick’s death. Still, Edna could not deny his brilliant schemes.

“The brown fox of the social circle.”

That was the nickname society had given Tenison for how quickly he sized up a situation by atmosphere alone. Sometimes Edna wondered whether people simply became that cruel after enduring certain things. In some ways Tenison was even more ruthless than the Crown Prince.

Edna stared quietly at Tenison, who still seemed unable to collect his thoughts. Beneath his hat brown hair stuck out. His face, usually composed, looked stunned and even a little ashamed.

Edna handed the stolen ledger to Tenison.

“This is what the Duke of Lombardi prepared for you—the gambling house ledger. You don’t need to pay your debt anymore. You’re free.”

Tenison looked down at the ledger in silence. His face was full of thought. He slowly opened it and began to examine the contents.

As Edna had said, it was the truth he had feared to face and had delayed confronting. If he failed to repay the debt within this week, the principal plus interest would approach thirty thousand gold coins; by next week it would double.

He turned to the very first page. Familiar family names and titles appeared now and then—some of which no longer existed. Ordinary people who once enjoyed modest happiness had been thrown into the streets or driven to death because of this single ledger. They were not entirely blameless, but no matter how he thought about it, it was close to cruel plunder.

“Keep that ledger, sir.”

“Why?” Tenison frowned. Who in their right mind would tell him to hold such a dangerous thing, as if ordering him to commit murder?

“Because from now on it will be one of your weapons.”

The Duke of Lombardi, who had been quiet until then, spoke. Light drifting from somewhere chilledly highlighted his silver hair. He propped his chin on his long, well-formed fingers and smiled. Tenison now realized that those long white hands were rough and strong.

Beneath his white, worn shirt were considerable muscles, and if necessary he could climb walls and wield a sword himself. The vague impression Tenison had slowly shifted. In the darkness the duke’s golden eyes shone like a predator’s.

“That ledger might be your lifeline. At a glance I saw that some well-regarded nobles’ names are listed. Even if you can’t use the ledger directly, it can at least provide leads.”

“What are you saying?” Tenison asked.

A man of a duke’s rank had scaled the gambling house walls and set fire to it just to steal that ledger. It was all done for him. In a world where interest multiplied gold coins many times over, no one gives anything for free.

Still, for now Tenison decided to protest. He couldn’t simply go along meekly. The Duke of Lombardi gave a low chuckle. Cold sweat ran down Tenison’s back.

“We’re looking for an aide. Henry is around, but he’s overworked and lately noisy about it. He’s become such a fuss I can hardly bear it. I’d like you to help, if you’re willing. If not, so be it. I won’t boast about having saved you, so rest easy.”

“No, Your Grace—after all we did, you’d let me go? Even if you don’t care, I’d be driven out by my family if they found out. Besides, when did you get so generous? Show me some mercy.”

Henry grumbled at the side, but Ian didn’t pay him any heed and looked at Edna.

“Will this be all right?”

“Of course. Do as His Grace wishes.”

Edna subtly clarified that Ian was the one taking the lead in this matter. Meanwhile the carriage’s movement slowed; they had arrived.

“You may go in and rest. Consider my offer.”

Ian leaned leisurely against the carriage seat. Tenison’s eyes narrowed. He looked suspiciously around the group. Aside from Henry muttering under his breath, everyone else wore relaxed expressions. Tenison glanced at his father, still asleep from drink, and let out a light sigh.

“Please wait here a moment.”

He opened the carriage door and went inside alone. A little later he returned to the carriage, struggling with a large bag and a small document case.

Henry’s eyes widened. “What’s all that?”

“I lost the ledger, but some of those who worked there might remember how my father borrowed money to gamble. They know my face. If they come to the house to demand repayment, I’ll be helpless. So from today on I’ll live at the duke’s house.”

Henry hesitated for a moment. “But the duke’s house is undergoing major renovations. Won’t it be uncomfortable?”

Tenison’s gaze fell on Edna. He seemed to remember the rumors about following Roderick around to tease him.

“That’s all right. I hear the rumor said the young lady chased me madly, but it seems the other way around.”

“Nope. The rumor’s wrong. I was the one who followed you,” Ian said, straightening his face.

Henry scowled. “Then what does that make me for spreading the rumor? Even if the young lady says that—”

“I shamelessly visited the count’s house and proposed,” Ian said.

Henry glared at Ian in annoyance. Tenison rubbed his temple and scanned the company, clearly unsure how to behave. Edna had her fan half covering her face, as if restraining a smile. Roderick shrugged and said,

“Just so you know, this is your task. By day you’ll attend the academy; by night you’ll teach His Grace about statecraft and social graces. I hear you attended the academy and studied well.”

Edna folded her fan and took up Roderick’s words.

“But you’ve rarely had the chance to properly socialize. For several reasons.”

Before Edna finished, Ian laughed.

“No need to put it nicely. If this fellow is to teach me, he should know the situation.”

Ian looked Tenison in the eye. In the dim carriage light, Tenison’s eyes shone like a predator’s—reminding Ian of keen, well-honed instincts.

“All right. But I am the emperor’s illegitimate child. My maternal family are a fallen rural noble house, and my mother died not long after my birth. The empress and crown prince naturally resent me; the emperor himself ignores me. From birth until now it’s been the same. You’ve probably noticed—no, you certainly already know.”

A bitter smile flickered around Ian’s mouth.

“In society I am like a contagion to be avoided. No benefit comes from being near me; people would only make me an object of scorn. At the duke’s house, I’m practically penniless. I needed the empress’s approval even to spend a copper coin; without my nurse I would have hardly learned to read.”

Ian glanced out the window, knocked on the door twice, and signaled it was time to depart. The carriage slowly started again.

“Is this all your luggage? I can send servants at dawn to fetch whatever you need.”

“This is enough.”

Tenison said politely.

“Be warned though—if you hang around me, you’ll draw subtle pressure from all sides. It could even get harder at the academy.”

“If not for His Grace’s help, I might not have been able to attend the academy. And me coming to the duke’s house won’t make things worse. Students are unruly by nature, and my title is only a viscount’s—being ignored is nothing new.”

Tenison smiled.

“I won’t ask you to do what you can’t. Teach what you do well—political theory, statecraft, how to win a lady’s favor, how to dress well, how to appreciate art.”

Edna’s eyebrow rose at the last suggestion.

“Are you trying to tempt me into rebellion? ‘Statecraft’ is something reserved for scholarship types like me and His Highness the Crown Prince. And ‘how to win a lady’s favor’—you’re engaged to His Grace. Why would you need to learn to win other ladies’ favor?”

“You’re testing me,” Edna said, smiling.

“Roderick told me you used to tease me every day when you heard I was engaged to the duke’s house,” she added.

Tenison cleared his throat and avoided Edna’s gaze, though he didn’t fail to glare at Roderick in return.

“As you said, if we remain as we are, we’ll just be a laughingstock. One of us is nothing but the imperial treasury’s public purse, and the other is a duke house shunned by the entire nation. There’s no hope for us as things stand.”

Edna paused and looked at Ian.

“I have gold, and you have the succession to the throne and good looks. The Witteger family is excellent at leveraging what they have. From now on, that’s what we’ll do. I intend to put His Grace at the center of the social circle’s attention. I’ll make everyone try to get a word with him, so no one can look down on him.”

Edna added with a sly smile,

“Even if that means confronting the emperor himself.”

She turned her gaze to Tenison.

“We must turn Lombardi into a real dukedom. Not an imperial bastard’s shelter, but a proud, independent ducal house—an honor to the empire, not a disgrace. Only then can we survive. Sir Tenison.”

Tenison’s face hardened with tension.

“Consider this not a choice but a necessity. If you fail, neither you nor the Wittegers have a future.”