“…Please calm yourself, my lady.”
Igard, who had been maintaining his composure alone, opened his mouth again.
“No matter what you say, nothing will change. The authority to approve the position of acting head now lies with the Elder Council. So, to finish what I was saying earlier…”
He continued, holding his head high as if he hadn’t noticed Calista’s fury.
“If the day ever comes when you earn 100,000 gold in profit not under the family’s name, not under House Müller’s name, but under your name alone… then I will have no objection to calling you the Young Duchess. And while His Grace is away, I will treat you as though you were him.”
“How arrogant a condition.”
“Arrogant, yes—but it can’t be helped. If you cannot meet it, we will not support your acting authority. You’ll find it quite difficult to proceed with business with Viscount Aseton without Baroness Adelin’s support.”
He chuckled softly as he looked at the furrow deepening in Calista’s brow.
It was an impossible condition. No amount of anger would change that.
Not because Calista lacked ability—most of the businesses run under the Müller name were actually her own ideas.
But Luperne was involved in countless businesses across the Empire, and no matter what path she chose, the elders could interfere and hinder her progress.
Moreover, it normally takes years for a business to become profitable.
The Duke would return in a few months anyway—by then, they could easily change their tune.
“Well, it will be difficult. So instead of opposing the Elder Council’s opinion, why not—”
Bang!
Just as Igard was about to drive in his final blow, the door to the meeting room burst open with a loud crash.
“Wh-what the—! Who dares interrupt this meeting?!”
He snapped his head toward the door, shouting irritably.
But there was nothing behind the opened door. It was as if a ghost had passed through.
“What kind of prank—”
“Ah, I’m sorry. The door was too heavy, so I accidentally slammed it…”
A small voice came from below, where his gaze hadn’t reached.
Only then did Igard realize that the one who opened the door was a person much smaller than average.
A child with curly blonde hair and sky-blue eyes.
“…The younger lady?”
He couldn’t hide his annoyance that his important speech had been interrupted.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a meeting.”
“Why have you come here so suddenly?”
“Oh, I had something to tell my sister… but I can come back later.”
The young girl who had suddenly entered—Harper Luperne—hesitated and turned as if to leave.
Igard let out a deep breath and shook his head.
The mood was already broken. No—things had started to unravel the moment Calista became angry.
The elders had been briefly overwhelmed by her intensity. Now was a good chance to reverse that.
In fact, tying Calista together with a child who couldn’t distinguish time and place might be the perfect way to humiliate her.
“Well, you’re both young, so it’s understandable. I’m sure it’s a very important matter—go ahead and share it.”
He stroked his beard, pretending to be generous.
What could an eight-year-old possibly say? Something about a fairy tale, or a scary monster maybe?
Some of the elders were actually favorable to Calista but kept quiet due to Igard’s presence.
But even they would find it hard to accept a 16-year-old girl chatting with a child in the middle of an important meeting as the acting head.
“…You’re here, Harper.”
To everyone’s surprise, Calista, who had looked ready to explode moments ago, didn’t scold her younger sister.
In fact, astonishingly, all her anger seemed to have vanished.
At this critical moment, Calista Luperne’s eyes sparkled with genuine delight at her sister’s appearance.
“What happened at the Rostian Count’s gathering?”
“Oh, that… I got this.”
Harper rummaged through the pocket of her dress and pulled out a rolled-up bundle of papers.
“The Rozette merchant group and Count Rostian wanted to develop a trade route to Carnai, so they had us sign the contract right away.”
“…Already?”
When Calista raised an eyebrow, Harper nodded.
Igard frowned—he couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
A trade route to Carnai? What nonsense is that?
A quick glance around showed that the other elders were similarly confused. They looked lost in the sudden warmth filling the room.
Calista, however, seemed not to notice them as she looked at Harper and nodded.
“…Very fast, Harper.”
“Yes! I even received the advance payment.”
“Advance payment?”
Harper hesitated for a moment, then began to unfold the papers.
Igard caught a glimpse of the writing on the document—and his face went pale.
Wait, did that just say…?
“It’s a promissory note. They paid half a year’s toll in advance.”
Harper, as if she were proudly reporting on a job well done, folded her hands politely. But her words were so extraordinary they felt almost surreal.
“Really?”
“Here. Eight hundred thousand gold.”
Eight hundred thousand… what?
As Igard stared in disbelief, Calista remained calm and gently nodded. Harper quickly spread the bundle of notes, seemingly to avoid disrupting the meeting any longer.
“So… here.”
With her small hands full of promissory notes, Harper handed them to Calista.
Igard’s eyes darted around in disbelief.
What did that little girl just say? How much gold?
His heart began to pound.
Judging by the scene, Harper was trying to hand a portion of the notes directly to Calista.
He had a bad feeling about this.
A cold bead of sweat trickled down Igard’s forehead.
And Harper, either unaware or uncaring, declared clearly enough for the entire room to hear:
“Since my sister owns one-eighth of the shares, her earnings are exactly 100,000 gold.”
✦✦✦
As soon as I finished speaking, a long silence fell over the meeting room.
The elders, including Igard, stared at me and Calista with jaws hanging open.
Why?
You told me to speak up, so I did. What’s the problem?
“One hundred thousand gold…”
Calista repeated quietly. A faint smile danced on her lips.
“Th-that’s absurd! Where would that kind of money come from?!”
“A trade route to Carnai? I’ve never even heard of it!”
“If such a venture existed, we would’ve known! We never approved any such contract.”
Several elders started shouting at once.
“It wasn’t under the family’s name. Who said you had to approve it? You’re overestimating your authority.”
“Th-this…!”
Calista’s cold reply left them exchanging glances—and one by one, they fell silent.
“…I knew you were clever, but I didn’t expect this level of cunning.”
A middle-aged woman seated nearby growled through clenched teeth.
Baroness Adelin, perhaps.
Did she always look so angry? Now that I looked closer, about half the elders seemed furious.
Why, though? We made money.
“It’s impressive that you predicted the chairman’s condition… but to fake this with a child?”
She curled her lip and spat her words.
“You really just want to spout nonsense to the end, don’t you?”
Calista didn’t even look in her direction.
“Nonsense? I bet that contract—”
Before anyone could stop her, Baroness Adelin snatched the contract.
“There must be something wrong with it—”
She muttered as she read, her complexion gradually paling.
“Have you finished? What does it say?”
Calista asked.
“If you grabbed it before I did, you’d better read it aloud.”
The baroness trembled and read in a barely audible voice:
“Use of the southern Aroid region’s trade route… 700,000 gold to Harper Luperne, 100,000 gold to Calista Luperne.”
As her voice faded, Igard tugged at his beard in frustration.
“I was about to be annoyed by your unreasonable condition, but this works out nicely.”
Calista retrieved the contract from the baroness’s hands.
“You won’t go back on your word now, right, Igard?”
“L-Lady…”
She stood, picked up the papers from the table with one hand, and grabbed my hand with the other.
“Lady? Really, Igard?”
Calista turned her head sharply.
“Does the chairman of the Elder Council not know the proper title?”
“…!”
Not only Igard, but all the elders were left speechless.
Calista stood still, staring straight at Igard—eyes clearly warning that no one could move until she got the answer she wanted.
“…Safe travels, Young Duchess.”
Kenneth, seated beside Igard, finally spoke.
“Y-yes. Safe travels, Young Duchess.”
The rest slowly lowered their heads in respect.
Even Baroness Adelin mumbled the same greeting under her breath, still visibly stunned.
Even Igard, who had been holding his head so high, was now forced to bow with the others.
“…Young Duchess.”
Without pausing for another second, Calista turned and left the room, holding my hand tightly.
Step. Step.
We walked down the corridor in silence.
Only when we reached her room did I speak up cautiously.
“…Young Duchess?”
Calista looked at me as if she’d been struck by a monster.
“…What did you call me?”
“Earlier… you said to call you that in the meeting room.”
It seemed she had indeed persuaded the Elder Council to accept the title of Young Duchess.
I had no idea how she did it so suddenly.
But she was smart enough that I didn’t feel the need to understand it all.
I looked up at her with wide eyes.
Some siblings drop titles and speak casually—but we weren’t like that.
What if I got it wrong and got scolded?
“Young Duchess—”
“Call me sister. Never change that again.”
She knelt on one knee on the carpeted floor to meet my eyes.
Her expression was so serious that I nodded without even knowing why.
