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Chapter 56
At that moment, Fleur sharply pointed out.
Iona agreed with her opinion but continued to give canned responses outwardly.
"Nils is an heir to the Modrov family. It's only natural that he inherits the family line."
"Then why are you getting involved in this troublesome matter?"
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
"The nobles' way of speaking is surely amusing. Even just looking at the task you assigned me, the intention is obvious."
"Nevertheless, everyone obediently follows orders with discretion. That's wiser."
In response to Iona's polite warning, Fleur eventually gave up on the newspaper and corrected her crooked posture.
It was because Iona had a premonition that Iona would never speak out of her resentment toward her father.
In any case, it was objectively a very wise decision.
From the beginning, they had only temporarily shared the same carriage like now and would soon part ways on their own paths.
Fleur swallowed a long yawn at the thought that the journey would be more boring than he thought. Thinking that it would be better to keep quiet for a while after work was over.
***
"To entrust gratitude to the adopted daughter who will be leaving soon, the count has completely given up on the estate."
Baron Franz burst through the door of the office, gritted his teeth, and giggled.
Fin, who was writing documents inside, hesitated for a moment when he heard that, but quickly began to move his hands again, as if nothing had happened.
From early morning to late night, he had been sitting in the same spot and doing the same work over and over again in the same position. He appeared so mechanical that one could suspect he was a machine, even with a little exaggeration.
Baron Franz asked, throwing a wooden stick above Fin's face.
“Hey, are all the paperwork ready?”
"Yes, once I finish this quarter, it will be all done."
“When will that happen? The count's daughter has already departed from the capital. Will you be able to complete it before she arrives? If it doesn’t work, you will die, I will die, and everyone else will die.”
Baron Franz, leaning his arm on Fin's shoulder, said in a threatening voice.
He was habitually angry, even though he knew that the other person would complete it in a timely manner. It was because he had been annoyed recently by Count Modrov's sudden notice of gratitude visit.
The head of Baron Franz's family, Robert Franz, was a man who had inherited the title from his father 10 years ago and had held the position of deputy lord continuously.
Of course, his personal friendship with the count played a bigger role in that unconditional trust than his outstanding skills.
'Well, it's more like a mutually beneficial relationship than friendship.'
If Robert had been personally close to the Count, he would not have dared to think of stealing his property.
Unfortunately, though, Robert was rather ruthless than intelligent. It means that he was a villain who used people for the purpose of money.
At first, Robert stole only small sums that would not show up on paper.
However, as his history of stealing money gradually increased, he decided to increase the size of the business.
Originally, most of the people living in the Modrov estate were peasants who rented land from the lord to farm.
Robert first turned them into serfs by mixing legitimate collections with illegal extortion.
The serfs could not escape because they were the manpower bound to the estate and had to pay more rent than the free people.
People work more hours and earn less money than ever before.
The difference went straight into Robert's pocket.
Even so, Robert was recognized as a competent manager by always maintaining a similar level of revenue sent to Hayden.
The papers that Robert sent to the Count were always neat and tidy.
'That was half thanks to this guy.'
Thinking so, Robert looked into Fin's expressionless face. Then, he reached out his hand and scratched the other person's cheek as if petting a pet animal.
"our calculation is just mind-blowing."
“… … .”
“You can finish this by tomorrow morning, right?”
“… … I will.”
"Oh, make sure it's ready for me to see as soon as I wake up."
"Yes."
Fin answered meekly. It was a voice that lacked the slightest hint of humanity.
When Fin was first captured, he used to rebel and try to escape, but over the past few years, he had become incredibly dull.
Robert, who had turned away as if losing interest, suddenly stopped and stood still.
He closed the distance back to Fin, then slammed his fist into the opponent's face.
Caught off guard by the unexpected assault, Fin couldn't even defend himself and stumbled back.
As Robert stood up from his seat, he kicked Fin with his boot and spoke.
"But why are you so quiet? Do you really want to see your father end up like that? Is that why you're acting like a coward?"
If the words were long, they would have been criticized as such.
"no… …”
"Look at this, I'm making you talk more again."
As he said that, Robert sat down on Fin's back.
As always, as if the violence toward the Fin was nothing more than a way to vent his anger, he murmured annoyedly as he tousled my bangs.
"Ugh, why do I have to suffer like this because of that woman..."
The gratitude visit, which happened once a year, was the most nerve-wracking time for Robert. It was because if Count Modrov suspected anything about his management of the estate, it would be troublesome.
He had to inspect the servants, prepare fake ledgers to present to the count, and even tidy up the lord's quarters in the meantime. It couldn't be anything but a nuisance.
But this time, it wasn't even the count himself, but his adopted daughters. And at that news, Robert was dumbfounded.
"If he's busy, he should just skip it to some extent. Why does he have to send his daughter again..."
Robert, who had been staring into air, suddenly turned his gaze down to Fin beneath him.
"Pin, what should I do? Should I make a good impression on that woman? Adapt to her tastes?"
Fin felt puzzled.
Even though she is an adopted daughter, wasn't she a young lady who had been officially registered in the count's family?
Moreover, since she was about to marry the duke, it would be better not to create something that would get caught in the first place.
Fin opened his mouth in silence, thinking that it was a question with a predetermined answer.
“Yes, because she has a position that cannot be ignored in the capital.”
"Ah… … That's right, she is even about to marry the duke. huh?"
Robert's eyes narrowed. He seemed to have some great regret about that fact.
Robert let out a dry chuckle and muttered incoherent words without order.
"But, you know, that doesn't make sense. Yeah, it doesn't make sense. If it were Yvonne, I could understand, but..."
Not knowing why Robert was doing this, Fin just kept silent.
Seeing the other person's excited rambling, Fin wondered if Robert had taken some kind of drug before coming here.
In any case, the important thing was not to provoke such a Robert.
If Fin could safely get through this period, it didn't matter if she was the eldest daughter or the youngest daughter of the Modrov family, the woman who would marry the duke.
"Oh, is this the first time you've seen her?"
Robert asked as if he had just remembered.
Fin only nodded in response. His senses were gradually fading away beneath the weight of Robert.
"That's right. So the story is like this. When that girl was young, she was heavily oppressed by the count. She was practically a slave. So, from that age, she went into the palace and behaved like a dog."
Robert muttered inaudibly, resting his chin on his hands.
Nervously biting his nails, he immediately got up.
Until then, Fin lay still on the floor, holding his breath.
It was an uninteresting reaction, but observing the defeated figure with his head bowed gave Robert a somewhat satisfying feeling.
Robert spoke with a slightly kinder tone.
"When you're done with that, hide the original ledgers as usual, in a safe place."
Then he forcefully stomped on Fin's hand with the sole of his shoe.
Finally feeling somewhat relieved, Robert hummed a tune and left the room.
After confirming that Robert had disappeared, Fin touched the ground and stood up.
His leg was numb, which had not been bleeding for a while, but first, he collected the papers that had fallen nearby.
To meet Robert's deadline, he had to resume work immediately.
Sitting in front of the desk again, Fin thought as he adjusted his glasses.
'She grew up being abused, but she's an adopted daughter who later became great.'
For Fin, she was the type of person whose tendencies could be somewhat anticipated.
To succeed amidst persecution, one had to either be wicked or devoid of pride.
Whether this adopted daughter was an ambitious young lady or a flatterer, there was little chance the count would take a proper interest in the management of an insignificant territory.
'Nothing will change.'
She could either settle for the current situation or worsen it.
Either way, the fact remained that the future was bleak.
Fin closed his tired eyes.
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