Chapter 16 —
“Oh wow, there’s an article about it again today?”
“Yeah, another article today.”
“But this article really exaggerates. 5 billion? That’s just too much.”
5 billion Larc. It was such a huge amount of money that Edward couldn’t even imagine it.
For Edward, the most he dreamed of earning all at once was around 10 million Larc.
His dream was to save that much and go back to his hometown. Land there was cheap, so he could build a house and live a peaceful life with the leftover money.
Edward was lost in that happy thought for a moment—until reality hit him like cold water.
It was because of one line in the newspaper.
“The Raze Messer submitted by Count Elpheus was sold to Marquis Blair for 5 billion Larc…”
“5 billion?”
Edward blinked, but the number in the newspaper didn’t change.
He even rubbed his eyes with his fists, but the number was still 5 billion.
“H-huh… 5… 5 billion! 5 billion!”
He took deep breaths to calm his racing heart, then looked up at Leonard.
As if waiting for that, Leonard smiled mischievously.
“What are you going to do now? Looks like you’ll have to work unpaid until you die.”
“Huh? …Huh? What?”
‘At least until the Elpheus family goes bankrupt, I’ll work without a salary!’
“Ahhh! This can’t be happening!”
“Don’t go around signing things too easily. Stuff like this can happen.”
While Leonard gave him this wise advice from experience, there was a knock on the door.
Leonard handed the newspaper to Edward and went to open the door himself.
Standing there was someone Edward had seen before: Damon, the head butler of Marquis Blair’s townhouse.
“It’s an honor to meet you again, Count Elpheus.”
“Did the Marquis send you?”
“Yes, he did.”
Damon pulled out an invitation and handed it to Leonard.
The fact that the head butler came personally meant Leonard was considered a very important guest by Marquis Blair.
Thinking back, Damon had also personally delivered formal clothes with the invitation before. Maybe even back then, they had already decided Leonard would become the Marquis’s groom.
Or maybe it was the moment Leonard spoke of repaying a favor.
“The Marquis would like you to visit his mansion as soon as possible. Any time is fine.”
“Then is right now okay?”
Damon smiled, as if he’d been waiting for that.
“Please follow me. I’ll escort you.”
With a respectful gesture, Damon guided the way, and Leonard followed. Then, he suddenly turned around.
“Pack our bags while I’m gone.”
“Huh?”
Edward, still too shocked to understand what was going on, finally snapped out of it.
“Why are we packing? Wait—am I being fired?”
“Why would I fire you? I can work you unpaid until you’re old and dead.”
Edward’s jaw dropped. Then his face turned red, and he shouted like a sad child:
“Count!”
Leonard chuckled and finally told the real reason.
“I got some money. Time to pay off the debt.”
“Oh, right! The due date’s coming up.”
Leonard nodded once.
“And when we come back to the capital, we’ll be moving to a new place. While I’m gone, try to find somewhere without bugs. And finish reading the newspaper.”
Leonard handed Edward a small piece of paper and left.
Only after he looked at the paper did Edward realize it was a check for 10 million Larc.
His legs gave out and he fell to the floor.
“Huhhh… Oh my god. The Count really became rich…”
Surely this money wasn’t all meant for finding a new house, right? This must be a bonus for all his hard work, right? Right…?
Edward kept counting the number of zeroes on the check over and over. Then he remembered something.
“But why did he tell me to finish reading the newspaper?”
Was there something more shocking than this?
His heart beat with curiosity and excitement. As he read through the rest of the paper, he quickly found out why Leonard had told him to keep reading.
“Is It Okay to Spread Anonymous Rumors Like This?”
Marquis Blair had made a strong statement against an irresponsible newspaper.
He said the article published on [XX date] by the L Newspaper was based on false rumors and defamed his fiancé (Leonard Elpheus) and his family. So he was suing the paper.
The Marquis also said he would never settle out of court and that he couldn’t trust any newspaper that spread anonymous rumors.
He even warned that he wouldn’t forgive anyone who spread or repeated those rumors.
“W-whoa…!”
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!
“This is crazy! Whoa, whoa!”
He said he would never forgive them. He was ready to fight the L newspaper until they shut down. Marquis Blair was making Edward’s dream of justice come true.
Edward got so excited he couldn’t stay still.
“Is Marquis Blair’s house hiring a new assistant?”
At that moment, even the 10 million Larc check didn’t seem so important. Edward forgot all about finding a new place to live and just sat there reading the article over and over again.
Meanwhile…
“What are you going to do about this mess?!”
Count Mathias threw a newspaper that hit Lloyd in the face and fell to the floor.
It didn’t hurt much—it was just paper. But Lloyd felt deeply humiliated and couldn’t lift his head.
“All the newspapers are criticizing us! You think that’s it? Our interviews are being canceled, sponsors are pulling out, and today’s issue wasn’t even printed!”
Count Mathias hadn’t realized how many times Marquis Blair’s name appeared in a 16-page paper until today.
“What do you think happens now? Everyone will ban us like Blair did. Our newspaper company is going down—because of you!”
“But Father…”
“You still have something to say? Fine. Let’s hear it.”
It was clear Count Mathias had lost all hope in his son.
Lloyd felt wronged and miserable. People make mistakes sometimes, don’t they?
But he didn’t even think he was wrong! Marquis Blair was just overreacting!
“I didn’t spread any false rumors. The article was true!”
“And can you prove that?”
Lloyd nodded strongly.
“I heard it from a servant who used to work at Count Elpheus’s house.”
When the Count went deep into debt, he had to fire many employees.
Lloyd called some of them over and collected dirt on Leonard. That’s how he came up with the affair rumor involving the former Countess.
“So what? Are you going to interview that servant and publish another article?”
“That way I can prove the first one was true…”
“You idiot!”
This time, Count Mathias threw a paperweight from his desk at Lloyd.
Lloyd barely dodged it and shouted:
“Father!”
“So what? Do you think Marquis Blair will just watch and let it go? Do you think he’ll cancel the lawsuit?”
“B-but maybe he didn’t know the truth! Maybe he’ll be grateful to me!”
“You really think so?! You think someone like Marquis Blair would get engaged without knowing everything about their fiancé?”
Lloyd flinched and stepped back, fearing something else might be thrown at him.
Count Mathias clutched his chest in frustration.
When Lloyd graduated top of his class from the military academy, he’d been a son to be proud of. But now? Look at him!
“Listen carefully. If Marquis Blair says it’s a lie, then it is a lie.”
And that’s how the boycott against Lotus Newspaper started.
“Do you have the power to change that?”
After a long pause, Lloyd replied:
“If I get help from the Second Prince…”
“The Second Prince? Not even the Crown Princess? What can he do?”
Count Mathias scoffed. The Second Prince’s group was made up of nobodies rejected by the Crown Princess’s faction.
If Lloyd had the Crown Princess’s support, Blair couldn’t be this bold.
What a shame. Why had Lloyd challenged the Marquis with no solid reason and lost so miserably?
“…Still, he’s royalty. I’m sure he’ll help me.”
“Fine. Go try meeting him. Not that he can actually help.”
The Crown Princess might be able to mediate with Blair. But the Second Prince? No way.
And what neither of them knew was this:
Lloyd wouldn’t even make it through the palace gates.
