Chapter 104

“Crazy people.”

Charles cleared his throat in response to Demus’ frank muttering.

“They said they didn’t think the letter had gotten through, so they would check on it themselves.”

“If they couldn’t read the letters in my reply, all of the people in that family must have trouble with their eyesight, right?”

Demus was sure he had sent the same reply three or four times, and Charles was just as puzzled as Demus was annoyed.

“They said Lady Luzia Malte will be visiting in person and asked us to prepare for it.”

“Right, so I said no, but it seems they didn’t get it at all.”

Twisting his lips, Demus glared at the newspaper in annoyance.

The news of the cardinal’s visit included the names of some of the most prominent nobles that served him. Luzia Malte, the precious and only child of the Malte Duchy, was among them.

“What would they do if she gets shot while walking around fearlessly?”

“The visit of the Cardinal this time is under the name of a peace pilgrimage. Even if it’s not for the Malte’s name, anyone who harms the pilgrims will face a backlash from the Order’s members around the world.”

“Aha, that must be why they’re so stubborn.”

Demus sneered and leaned back. Leaning himself deeper into the chair, he pressed his temple.

“Do they think I’m going to open the door for them because I’m afraid of the Order?”

“There is a possibility that this is the case.”

For the record, Luzia Malte was not a stupid woman. As the daughter of a high-ranking noble family, she was highly educated and took great pride in her blood. She was the classic aristocrat who knew how to use people to her advantage and wield power.

Besides, she was a member of the great Malte family, one of Torsten’s most powerful nobles. Nothing had ever gone against her will in her life.

It was very different from Demus’ arbitrary demeanor. Unlike him, Luzia had a natural arrogance that stemmed from her birth. Her choice to come in person this time was also based on that arrogance.

This meant that the limits of her thinking were clear, but she was likely unaware of them.

“I don’t know why this one is so foolish when both of them grew up without difficulty.”

“… Pardon, sir?”

Charles thought about Demus’ remark with a puzzled look on his face, and then, a little later, he understood it fully.

“Well, since you mention it, I’ll report to you that I’ve concluded my further investigation of Miss Rhodes.”

The report Charles had put aside to break the urgent news was belatedly placed on Demus’ desk.

“Her parents were artisans, whose main clients were aristocrats. She has only one sibling, a younger sister, and no other relatives with whom she is in contact. Her childhood was relatively ordinary, and her reputation as a student at Clemence Boarding School was equivocal. She lost her parents after graduation and started tutoring through connections she made at school. Apparently, she moved around a lot for her job. She didn’t have a great reputation at her former workplaces.”

Demus raised an eyebrow as he skimmed the report and listened to Charles’ voice.

“That’s unexpected.”

He didn’t see Liv Rhodes as a woman with a bad reputation.

“Why was her reputation at school equivocal?”

“She might have suffered a bit from gossip. Considering that Clemence boarding school is co-educational and has a high percentage of aristocrats, I suspect her life there wasn’t always easy.”

Demus recalled her face, which had a certain something that evoked a sadistic ego from others. He didn’t think he was the only one who felt this way.

Even if it wasn’t for that, she, objectively speaking, wasn’t a bad-looking person, and she probably did a pretty good job in school, so someone would have taken a liking to her.

“How about at her previous workplaces?”

“She had a good reputation when she was a short-term tutor. However, she had a bad rating at the two places she worked as a live-in tutor.”

Clearing his throat, Charles continued his report in a calm tone.

“In Karyn Viscounty, she was kicked out for trying to seduce the viscount’s eldest son, and in Lucette County, she was fired for her lack of teaching skills. At Lucette county, they refused to pay her three months’ salary for her poor performance, and instead charged her for living expenses, which led to further conflict.”

Three months of salary. He didn’t know much about it, but he could guess that it was a lot of money for Liv. Demus looked at the report in disbelief. Apparently, the living expenses had been taken care of, but she hadn’t been paid.

“It seems she’s been struggling to make ends meet for a long time. We can’t rule out the possibility that she’s trying to grab a share by becoming a mistress of a nobleman.”