~Chapter 69~
After the Lady’s Reading Circle ended, I stopped Countess Crenbel as she was about to leave.
I hadn’t come just to take part in this childish fight. My goal was to break up the alliance between Countess Crenbel, Gwenndolyn, and the Dowager.
“Countess Crenbel.”
She froze. I could see her shoulders trembling even from behind.
She took a deep breath, then turned around, forcing a smile.
“You’re still here, Your Grace.”
“I wanted to talk, Countess.”
She looked around, realizing she was alone, and gave an awkward laugh.
“Well, I… I don’t have much time, actually.”
“You’ll have to make time,” I sighed. “Otherwise, I might have to go straight to the constabulary.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gambling.”
At that, her breath caught, and her face turned cold and pale.
She began to shake, but she had to have known what her husband was doing after losing all their money.
“Your Grace, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
I stepped closer and whispered quietly in her ear.
“I have proof that Count Crenbel has been gambling.”
Even though I said it softly, she definitely heard. Her breath became ragged as she grabbed my wrist.
“Let’s move somewhere else. Not here. I know a coffee house.”
“Alright, let’s do that.”
She nodded desperately.
The sound of her teacup hitting the saucer was sharp inside the private room. It seemed her hands weren’t steady at all.
She gave me a nervous, awkward smile.
I sighed. Did I have to be the villain here? Why did she make it come to this?
Some people never realize they’re in the wrong until something happens to them. Sadly, Countess Crenbel was one of them.
After a moment to compose herself, she asked quietly,
“You said you have evidence my husband gambled, but that’s impossible. He never does such things.”
She must’ve convinced herself. She probably thought any evidence was gone—she’d always handled his messes before, or so Ella had told me.
But—
I let out a long sigh.
“Do you know about the woman who used to visit gambling dens with Count Crenbel?”
“What…?”
“She was a maid in the Crenbel household. Her name is Emily.”
“…E–Emily quit last weekend…”
“Yes, she took a ship out of Estus. By now, she’s gone.”
“Wh…what…?”
She clearly hadn’t expected that.
In Estus, social rank was everything. After that, only money mattered.
Emily had accepted the sum Ella offered her—along with a generous severance pay. In return, she gave us the evidence.
She was a clever maid.
Knowing she’d be punished too, she quickly left the Empire after handing over the proof.
“Emily went to illegal gambling dens with your husband,” I explained. “They gambled, drank, and even slept together.”
When I laid out the truth, her face crumpled. She clenched her eyes shut.
“Emily was skilled at sleight of hand, so she was good at cheating.”
She stared, her mouth slightly open. Maybe she couldn’t even process what she was hearing.
I’d been just as shocked when Ella told me. It turned out, Emily had bragged about her exploits among the maids. Only the arrogant nobles were left in the dark.
“So, together, they made a lot of money.”
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” she whispered.
“I could hardly believe it either. It sounded like fiction.”
I took a sip of tea, letting the warm liquid settle my nerves. Countess Crenbel didn’t even touch hers.
“But then they were caught—by David Johnson.”
David Johnson. He dealt in dirty money. Even bankers knew him; nobles with no collateral often went to him for loans. She had to know his name, especially since her family owed him.
“They tried to cheat David, but you know a man like him wouldn’t stand for it.”
He was ruthless—he’d cross any line to get his money back.
“So Count Crenbel put his whole fortune on the line to survive. He handed everything over to David Johnson.”
This was how the Crenbel family collapsed.
“This is the evidence.”
I placed the contract on the table. Both Count Crenbel and Emily had signed it, handing over the family estate to David. The document made it clear they were paying back cheating debts from gambling.
David’s demanded sum was ten times the original debt.
“Emily gave this to us. Three copies were made. The other two are with Count Crenbel and David Johnson.”
“This…this can’t be used as proof in court…”
“Maybe not, but it will spark an investigation. Everyone named here will be looked into, especially now that gambling is forbidden by Imperial decree.”
I paused.
“It could even be considered treason.”
“No, please! My children—!”
I shrugged. In this closed-off society, being marked as a traitor’s child would ruin their lives.
Seeing her face, I guessed she was imagining the worst.
“It won’t come to that if you cooperate.”
She looked at me in fear.
“Who else knows?”
“Very few people. For now.”
She chewed her lip, then asked sadly,
“Why are you doing this to me…?”
Why, indeed.
“Then why did you do what you did to me?”
She stiffened. The air in the room seemed to freeze.
“Was my posture at tea really that disgraceful? Was my dancing truly so uncouth? Was my clothing so inappropriate?”
I sighed.
“I doubt it. I didn’t waste my time as a marchioness, you know.”
My grandfather taught me many things—how to survive as a noblewoman was one.
‘Think about it, Ana. If there are two empresses—one perfect but unfair, the other fair but clumsy—whose orders would you trust more?’
I wasn’t perfect, but I wasn’t lacking, either.
Still, they’d tried so hard to tear me down.
“If you think you’re being treated unfairly, you should look back and ask if you’ve ever been unfair to someone else.”
I saw her hands twisting together in her lap.
“Or if you’ve made any enemies.”
“Your Grace, I…”
“Or if this is someone’s revenge.”
I sipped my tea.
“…It’s gone cold.”
I set down the cup and finished.
“These things always come back around—like a boomerang. Just like it has for you.”
I tapped the contract with my finger. She should have chosen her enemies more carefully.
Did she think I clawed my way up from nothing for no reason?
They’d poked a sleeping lion.
I was taught by legends of Graham Bank how to rule, not just survive.
