DSMBL Chapter 65

Chapter 065

Count Mers’ hands trembled as he gripped the papers tightly, his face shaking. He could feel the other nobles around him staring at him in fear. As he skimmed the documents, he looked around. Even Baron Lumens, who had been friendly moments ago, had moved away. No one wanted to be involved in whatever was happening. He noticed the pale face of Baron Worst at a distance. Count Mers quickly turned his head.

“Your Excellency, the Duke!”
“Speak.”
Cassius replied calmly.
“This… this is all a misunderstanding! I, I’ve been wronged! I… I didn’t know anything!”
Count Mers stammered, his painful leg dragging him down from his chair as he dropped to the floor and slammed his head to the ground.

“My, my assistant did it! I really didn’t know!”
“Is that so?”
Cassius chuckled softly, mixed with a sigh.
“You seem to not even know what your subordinates are doing. I consider that a crime as well.”

Count Mers raised his head, stunned by Cassius’ words.
“I know everything you’re doing, and I understand why you’re upset.”
Cassius turned to look at the other guilty people in the room. With their eyes fixed forward, the nobles remained motionless. Only Cassius appeared relaxed in the midst of the intense tension.
“Your Excellency, the Duke!”
Count Mers crawled on the floor, gripping Cassius’ pants.
“Please, spare me! The Mers family has been loyal to the north! Please, spare my life!”
“I truly regret this, Count Mers. Until recently, you were a promising talent. But now…”
Cassius shrugged nonchalantly.

“I don’t know what you’re doing for the north anymore.”
“Your Excellency!”
“Since you ask for mercy, I’ll grant it.”
“…?”
Count Mers stared blankly at Cassius.
“I can spare your life.”
Cassius raised his hand, and a servant opened the door. As previously arranged, a knight entered and bowed.
“Go immediately to the Mers estate, seize all assets, land documents, and everything else.”

“Your Excellency, please, just forgive me once! Your Excellency!”
Count Mers began crying, but Cassius showed no mercy.
“There’s also likely hidden assets. Even if it takes days, search thoroughly and recover everything.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
The knight bowed and, with the strict assistant, Rozwood, left the room. The hall was filled with the sound of Count Mers sobbing.
Cassius rested his hand on the table and spoke softly.

“The reason I don’t punish others is not out of favor. It’s simply because they’re doing their jobs well.”
He sighed lightly. He was going to make sure this lesson stuck in their minds today.
“Repent for the crimes you’ve committed, and you’ll undergo an inspection with assistant Rozwood. If you pay the fines Rozwood decides, there will be no further issues.”

Cassius glanced at Count Mers, now an old, pitiful sight. He felt no sympathy. In fact, he thought of it as a fitting example. Count Mers’ dragging leg was an annoying sight. Cassius turned his gaze back to the nobles.
“The worst crime isn’t stealing from my treasury, it’s stealing from the people of your domain. Worse than that is becoming an incompetent administrator. Serve as a useful part of the north. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”

The nobles, who had initially shown a carefree freedom, answered in a sharp voice, Some of them were trembling, clutching their hands under the table. A suffocating silence passed before Cassius spoke.

“This meeting ends here for today.”

The nobles bowed respectfully to Cassius and left the meeting room. They made a conscious effort not to look at Count Mers. Cassius lowered his gaze and stared at Count Mers. The sound of footsteps faded, and servants entered, lifting Count Mers from the floor and seating him in a chair. The servants held him up as he kept collapsing.

“I have something to ask you.”

Count Mers looked up at Cassius with tear-filled eyes, a faint glimmer of hope visible.

“Your leg, is it?”

“Pardon?”

“You said your ligaments were stretched.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Even though you were once a loyal man, I can’t let you wander the streets with that leg of yours. So, I’ll call the Duke’s personal physician to have it examined.”

“Pardon?”

Count Mers’ eyes widened in surprise, his lips trembling.

“I’m sure your father would be sad to see you like this.”

Cassius’ words were soft, but his gaze was as cold as a northern wind.

Charlotte’s words echoed in his mind. He had to confirm the state of the leg.

“No, no, Your Grace! I couldn’t impose…”

Cassius sighed deeply.

“Don’t refuse my kindness.”

His words were chilling. The servants struggled to hold Count Mers still. Seeing him like this only made Cassius more suspicious. One of the servants rushed out of the room, and soon after, the Duke’s physician, Miller, entered.

“It’s been a while, Miller.”

“Greetings, Your Grace.”

“Welcome, Miller. This is Miller, the Duke’s personal physician. He’s the one who miraculously healed Theo. He’ll fix your leg in no time.”

“Your Grace!”

Count Mers twisted his body, but he couldn’t escape the servants’ grip. Four servants restrained him as they cut his trousers with scissors.

Cassius looked at his leg, bruised with purple marks, with a cold gaze.

Miller examined Count Mers’ leg calmly. After inspecting it, Miller spoke to Cassius.

“It’s definitely broken.”

Cassius lifted his gaze and locked eyes with Count Mers.

“It seems your physician is a quack. To mistake a broken leg for a stretched ligament.”

“P-please, Your Grace…”

“Any other injuries?”

“If you draw lines here and here, you’ll see finger marks. Someone deliberately broke this leg.”

“Ha.”

Cassius let out a cold laugh.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

Finally, the person he had been searching for appeared. Count Mers froze like a mouse in front of a cat. The pressure in the room was now on a different level.

“So, you’re the one who dared to harm my wife.”

“…No, that’s not it.”

Count Mers barely managed to speak, his voice small as if strangled. His mind was spinning.

The only one who could help him now was Janice. But he couldn’t drag her into this immediately. Count Mers swallowed hard.

“I-I was trying to save the Duchess!”

“You were trying to save my wife?”

“I saw the snow beasts kidnap the Duchess and I followed them. Naturally, I tried to defeat the Snow beasts and save the Duchess. But something strange happened!”

Once he made up his mind, the lies came easily. The desperate will to live seemed to move Count Mers’ lips.

“Strange?”

“The Snow beasts attacked me and killed my subordinates. I tried to protect the Duchess from a distance, and I saw her being held gently and taken back to the seaside villa!”

Count Mers gasped for breath.

“I’m sure the Duchess is somehow involved with the Snow beasts! This is clearly heretical behavior. The Duchess must be a witch…”

“Shut up!”