Chapter 41
“What… what did you say?”
Julius, Lucilla, and Bartol blinked in shock.
Thud—
“Ack!”
At my signal, Morve kicked Julius in the leg, and he screamed, collapsing to his knees.
Thud—
Seeing this, Lucilla and Bartol turned pale and also knelt down voluntarily.
“A, Iris.”
Thud—
At Julius’ words, Aken kicked him in the butt while he was sitting.
“Don’t address the head of the family casually.”
“But…!”
He trembled and looked up at me.
“Iri… Head of the family.”
Eventually, he lowered his head, and it seemed like he was finally grasping the changed situation.
“It’s uncomfortable for me as well, to suddenly change titles. I can’t punish you every time you make a mistake, so for convenience, I’ll overlook it a few times,” I said as I sat on the chair that Mari and Ray brought, looking down at them.
Morve clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction but didn’t add anything.
“No matter what you call me, my position won’t be shaken anymore.”
“No, no, I’m not denying the title of head of the family,” Julius said urgently.
“I understand, I’ll return it. You want us to leave, right? We’ll do so.”
“…”
“But it’ll take some time. We’ve lived in this house for five years, after all. If you wait until I secure a house at the Imperial Palace…”
“Didn’t I just say I’m condemning you? Aren’t you curious about the charges?”
“Charges…?”
I smiled faintly and propped my chin up with one hand. Then, I slowly listed them one by one.
“The crime of impersonating the Duke of Aphellemion under the pretense of acting as the head of the family, the crime of unlawfully imprisoning and abusing me, the rightful heir.”
“Wait a second…!”
“The crime of coercing marriage and title transfer to seize the family, embezzlement, and betrayal… Is there anything wrong with what I’ve said?”
“Iris, isn’t that a bit too harsh?” Julius asked as he trembled.
“Right. Even the Imperial Family only stripped the title, but they didn’t order punishment,” Lucilla joined in, pleading.
“What do you think that means? Are you under the illusion that the Imperial Family gave you a pardon?” I sneered, and the two of them flinched and looked at each other in surprise.
I could almost hear their thoughts: “So it’s not a pardon?”
“Originally, the Fenton family was a vassal of the Aphellemion family. Since their proxy status has been revoked, the authority to punish the Fenton family lies with me as the head of the family. If you wanted forgiveness, the Imperial Family would have specifically requested it from me.”
“…”
“The Queen no longer cares if the Fenton family collapses or if every member dies. The dogs who were abandoned and didn’t even realize it are useless to her,” I added.
Julius and Bartol opened their eyes wide and shuddered, while Lucilla clenched her fists on the carpet, squeezing them tightly.
“I see you feel betrayed, Aunt. I suppose you gave a lot of bribes, didn’t you?” I continued.
“Th, that’s…” Lucilla stuttered.
“You must have used the wealth of Aphellemion. I will collect all amounts. Including the 13.21 million gold embezzled by the Fenton family.”
“What, what did you say?”
Julius and Lucilla involuntarily lifted their heads and shouted.
“Where did that kind of money come from?”
“It’ll come from the Fenton family’s private land, estate, and other private properties.”
“If you deduct that much money, we’re left with nothing!”
Lucilla said with tears welling in her eyes.
“Even if you’re not a proxy, you’re still a baron! What use is a title without any land?”
Julius argued. I smiled faintly.
“Yes, a noble without land has an ambiguous status. So, I’ll sort it out for you now.”
I explained with a smile.
“The title of baron in the Fenton family was passed down from a vassal who was a relative of the Aphellemion family, so by the head of the family’s orders, I’ll reclaim it.”
“What, what did you say?”
“From this moment on, the Fenton family is no longer a family of barons. Hand over the seal. I’ll also reclaim the land, gold, and seal that were given along with the title.”
“Iris! Do you have to go this far? If you take the land and title, we’ll be beggars!”
“I, I was wrong!”
Lucilla threw herself to the ground, crying, but Julius seemed to grasp the situation a bit faster.
Realizing the situation had completely flipped, he quickly grabbed Lucilla’s and Bartol’s necks with one hand, forcing them to the ground.
“I was wrong! I committed a grave sin against the head of the family!”
He buried his head to the floor, pleading.
“Please, please leave me a way to survive…”
“That’s wrong, you should beg for your life.”
Unable to bear it, Aken chimed in.
“The crime you committed is so severe that even if your head is taken, it’s still not enough.”
Cold sweat ran down their faces and necks.
“Please spare me.”
Among them, Bartol’s face was pale to the point it looked bluish.
“I… I was just following my father and mother’s orders…”
“You scoundrel!”
Julius slapped Bartol’s neck with the same hand that had been holding him.
“You’re speaking the truth! Who would fear a father like you, with no teeth left?”
Bartol screamed and elbowed Julius in the chest.
Julius and Lucilla, like dominoes, collapsed.
“Oh my, oh my!”
She cried, tears and snot pouring out.
“I told you! I said just take the money and leave quickly! If you hadn’t been so greedy for the position of proxy…!”
“Shut up, you foolish woman!”
“You two can solve your problems on your own! I’m going to change my name to Demeyra and live elsewhere!”
Having heard enough, I gestured to Sir Deus, who had been watching the scene.
“Lock up the Fenton family in the warehouse. Give the key to Mari.”
“Yes! Let’s go!”
The servants, under Sir Deus’ command, dragged the three of them off to a room at the end of the hallway.
As they left, they struggled and wrestled, grabbing each other’s hair.
“Ha…”
Once they were gone, I sighed deeply.
“…Uncles.”
“Yes, Head of the Family! Command us.”
I turned to call for Morve, Aken, and Jurik, and they responded loudly.
“If it’s the head of the family’s command, even our lives…”
“Forget the lives, do you like lemon cake?”
“…Yes?”
They looked at me with confused expressions, and I added one more thing.
“People can’t work when they’re out of energy.”
In other words, I had a lot of work to do.
First, I needed to reorganize the family’s finances, which had been left in the hands of idiots for five years.
“Ugh!”
“Ahh!”
“Ao!”
Julius, Lucilla, and Bartol screamed as they fell on top of each other.
“Stop whining. Just stay here quietly for now.”
“Wait, Deus! Are you really going to throw me out like this? How dare you throw me away?”
“You haven’t been punished enough. ‘Master,’ huh?”
Julius angrily shouted, but Deus just shook his head. He quickly left the room and handed the key to Mari, who followed behind him.
“Please take care of the aftermath.”
“Ah, alright. Mari! Mari! Wait, look at me!”
Bartol, struggling to untangle his arms from Julius, shouted loudly.
“Why are you…?”
“Mari! We grew up together as friends!”
“…Yes?”
“I treated you like another sister!”
“I’m older by a year, you know.”
“That’s because I’m the master… That’s not the point! Mari, this is a warehouse, right? Can’t you send us to another room? Huh? You and I are close enough to…”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Mari’s answer extinguished the last remaining hope in Bartol’s eyes.
“We’re not just betrayers to each other, young master.”
“Mari…”
“But my betrayal was successful. Thanks to Lady Iris, no, Duke Aphellemion.”
