Chapter 11
Uncle Preston.
Otherwise known as the early source of frustration in Vacuum Flower.
He was a foolish man who tried to shake the Duke by using his position as an uncle and the excuse that he’d been managing the empty Grand Duchy all this time.
And despite his age, he couldn’t even act like an adult. He constantly antagonized and tormented Veloa—terribly, terribly so.
“Turns out, he was doing all that just so he could make his own grandson the Duke’s adopted son later on.”
Because if his grandson became the Duke’s child, all of Duke Leandro’s title and property would eventually return to him.
He pulled strings from other families too.
Veloa suffered so much.
“But the real main villain was always Preston.”
A fully grown adult, targeting a mere three-year-old!
He was disgustingly petty and mean.
“He even stole her chocolate.”
There’s a certain unforgettable episode that every Vacuum Flower reader knows.
The infamous “Chocolate Incident.”
It all started when Duke Leandro bought some chocolate.
A tender but still awkward Duke, unable to express his feelings.
And Veloa, who had only recently left the Tekins Count’s house, unsure if she even deserved to be here. For her, the Duke had carefully chosen chocolate…
Veloa, eating her very first piece of chocolate in her room, smiling with innocent happiness…
“That’s when Preston showed up!”
Afraid it would shrink if she ate too much, afraid it would melt if she held it too tight.
Unable to even take a bite, she was just timidly licking it… and then he snatched it away.
“To think you’re eating luxury goods when it’s still uncertain whether you’re the real Duke’s daughter. Know your place, you stupid girl.”
The verbal abuse from Preston had left Veloa with deep scars.
The little bit of brightness she had started to show disappeared again. The Duke, his household, and even the readers were left swallowing their tears.
And when Preston realized he couldn’t make his grandson the Duke’s adopted son, he even teamed up with other relatives to pull off a massive scam, using the Grand Duchy’s name.
If he couldn’t have it, he’d destroy it.
Was that it?
“If I could, I’d just crack Preston’s skull right open!”
Wait a second.
I glanced down at my clenched fist and blinked.
I can actually do that now, right?
Back then, I was outside the book, so I couldn’t. But now… now I could break it!
Crack his head open…!
“Lady Tekins.”
While swinging my imaginary punches at Preston in my head, I was brought back to reality by Duke Leandro’s voice.
Right. We were still in the middle of dealing with Preston.
“What are you doing?”
“Ahem, ahem! Nothing important.”
I quickly lowered my hand and coughed awkwardly, embarrassed.
My face wasn’t too red, was it? Right?
“Anyway, we need to catch Preston right now.”
We had to act fast when we saw an opening.
If we didn’t, both the Duke and Veloa would suffer even more later.
He wasn’t called the king of early story frustration for no reason.
“If we don’t deal with this now, it’ll become a real headache later.”
My eyes sparkled with determination.
“Let’s just catch him now!”
Let’s drag him out, make him kneel, and clean this up neatly!
Let’s nip this in the bud!
For Veloa’s precious chocolate!
“First, calm down.”
Unlike my burning rage, the Duke seemed utterly unbothered. Actually… was he looking at me like I was pathetic?
“We lack solid evidence to charge Uncle Preston.”
Duke Leandro glanced between the unconscious Milton and the notebook in his hand.
“Sure, it’s true that Uncle Preston recommended this man, but that alone isn’t enough.”
“Let’s search his room!”
I looked at the Duke with bright, eager eyes.
“There’s definitely evidence showing he’s been receiving embezzled funds from Milton!”
“Uncle and this guy… they’re not amateurs.”
Leandro lightly nudged the unconscious Milton with the tip of his shoe.
“They wouldn’t have gotten away with this for so long if they were sloppy.”
“You’re right. That makes sense.”
Preston was the king of dragging things out. Whether it was skill or sheer luck, he had something on his side.
But so what?
Who cares?
“Still, let’s give it a try. Who knows?”
I grinned confidently.
“We might just stumble upon evidence right away.”
With me here, what’s there to worry about?
Leandro’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if questioning my overconfidence.
“Your Grace.”
Regardless of that,
I reached out to him.
“Let’s check the notebook together first.”
He stared at me for a moment, then handed it over without much resistance.
I quickly flipped through the pages.
And as expected…
“I have no idea what any of this means!”
Honestly, I didn’t understand a thing.
The only reason I recognized it as embezzlement evidence was because I already knew.
Otherwise, I’d have just thought it was a notebook full of complicated numbers.
“But I know the story.”
I knew exactly how Preston had laundered money in the original novel.
It wouldn’t be exactly the same method here.
But it had to be something similar.
And the answer was…
“This is it, Your Grace.”
As I pointed to a word with my finger, Duke Leandro read it out loud.
“Herbs?”
“Yes!”
I held the notebook a little closer for him to see better.
“As far as I know, this ‘Floss’ herb can either be dirt cheap or ridiculously expensive, right?”
“Yes.”
Leandro replied shortly.
“It’s widely used for its excellent pain-relieving properties. However, its price varies greatly depending on where it was grown and who handled it.”
According to him, it was the kind of herb you could buy with a single coin… or after hauling in a mountain of gold bars.
Bingo.
I struggled to suppress the grin tugging at my lips.
Honestly, how would someone like me—who’d barely been here a few months and had hardly left the Tekins estate—even know about this herb?
I had simply skimmed through the ledger, flagged repeating items…
“And picked the one most likely to have wildly fluctuating value.”
I’d seen this ‘Floss’ herb being used by servants at the estate and even found it among garbage herbs.
“The last transaction was just a few days ago. Which means… the herbs should be in Milton’s room.”
“They shouldn’t…”
Leandro’s voice abruptly stopped.
Right, now you’re getting it!
“Your Grace.”
I grabbed his hand tightly and smiled brightly.
“Let’s go check.”
Let’s see if that herb was worth the outrageous price listed.
“Trash.”
The woman with light green twin braids and round glasses spat out her assessment with unfiltered sharpness.
“Calling it low-grade would be too kind. This looks like leftover scraps from processing Floss herbs.”
“How much would this be worth?”
“Hmm.”
After clearing her throat, Anette—the Grand Duke’s personal physician—replied.
“At most, a few coins for a whole sack.”
“Hah.”
The Duke scoffed bitterly.
Exactly.
This was the trick Preston had used in the original.
“Pick an item with wildly varying market prices, then sell it at an absurd markup.”
Preston’s man would deliberately supply junk herbs at outrageous prices.
Milton would buy them.
That was the first round of money laundering.
“And then they’d repeat the process several times.”
Round two, round three, round four…
After laundering the money multiple times, it would finally land in Preston’s hands.
“In the original, it was alcohol.”
Milton had long since been handled by Duke Leandro’s own hand.
A new guy had taken over and started embezzling again.
And then our strong, cute, lovely, and lively Veloa stumbled upon the scheme by accident.
Not just the new guy, but even Preston himself was brought down in one sweep.
“Veloa really was the best.”
Praising her silently, I nodded to myself.
Taking after her, I’d make sure to wrap this up even faster.
