Chapter 4

“What?”

Ran looked up and asked.

Ross stared at her and answered.

“The captain.”

“Where?”

“To the door.”

“Did you hear that just now?”

After saying so, Ran lifted the cup and blew it. It’s not a sight of an elegant aristocrat Lady, but it’s better than putting your tongue in hot tea.

Ross asked again, as he sipped the hot tea little by little.

“Didn’t you send the captain to the door to get rid of him?”

Near the door is the place where the most dangerous creatures come out.

“Why would I?”

Only then did Ran relax her nerves from the tea and concentrate on Ross.

“To destroy the power of the Yustaf. That’s what will happen.”

Ran smiled unknowingly at him speaking in a gloomy tone. Ross frowned at her laughter.

“What is it?”

“Isn’t it weird to ask so straightforwardly? It’s like you’re asking ‘Are you trying to kill your brother!’.”

“Yes.”

Ran laughed cheerfully and placed her chin on her hand. Her eyes were strangely clear.

“That’s not true. I trust him.”

“Hey.”

“I also trust you. Yus trusts you, so I trust you. Can’t you do the same?”

Ross’ face became suspicious. He continued.

“And how can you do that?”

“Do what? What do you mean?”

“You haven’t been educated as a Duke. Of course, I think you’ve been taking lessons from a tutor lately.”

Even so, a 19-year-old girl suddenly holds a position as the head of a household, and she’s so good at this job?

“I think you had it ready. It seems like you were waiting for this to happen.”

“It’s not like that.”

Ran said and looked at the red tea.

‘In fact, I wanted to avoid this kind of situation the most. I hoped to prevent the death of my family.’

But the family died, and Ran came up with a theory.

‘I think, no matter how much I change the story, the main part won’t change. The future is still the same’

“I’m just doing the best that I can. I think my head is going to explode.” Ran said.

“Don’t tell Yustaf about this and make him worry about me.”

“If he’s worried about you.”

When Ross said that, Ran laughed.

“I think you are right.”

“You’re not angry?”

At Ross’s question, Ran touched the teacup with her fingertip.

The teacup is wide, so the tea water cools down quickly.

Ran asked, holding up a moderately cold tea cup.

“Why should I be angry?”

“Because of him.”

In rare cases, Ross could not continue to talk behind her back. Ran sipped her tea and said,

“I want to be a real family with Yustaf. It may be too much for us to get along as brother and sister, but I want us to be.”

Ran looked at Ross.

“But I don’t want to force it. I’m just doing my best. You know, he was bullied by my mother.”

She spoke awkwardly.

“I’m not denying that I used to bother him in the past. But now, I want to do things differently.”

Click, click.

Ran placed the empty glass down and poured a second one.

The sweet smell of the tea swirled up and filled the room.

“So I’m not angry. It’s all up to Yustaf.”

Ross looked like a man who saw something really strange.

Ran slipped the papers out of the pile of papers and put them on the desk.

She knew the financial situation was the worst. So what about all the work that’s been pushed back ’till now??

In fact, Elizabeth, the administrator, held her own despite all the work pushed on her.

‘I can’t believe she didn’t show it. She’s a great administrator.’

Moreover, most of the businesses that have been raised need funds.The bell tower has been requesting repairs for several years now…

‘Isn’t it better to repair the bridge than this? No, the road covered by a landslide three years ago has not been restored yet, has it?’

First of all, the goal is to go through the pile of documents.

‘Let’s cheer up.’

Ran took a deep breath and began to flip through the papers quickly. Speed reading was one of the strong points she had.

With this mountain of documents, it would be good to finish this quickly.

In addition.

‘The format is a mess.’

There was no basic form of documentation. At this point, it’s nowhere near a document, it’s just a copy of the book.

It was even close to a letter.

‘I’ll have to fix this first.”

I need to specify a basic format.

That alone will greatly reduce the time it took to read the documents.

flap ~ flap~ flap~

With that rapid flipping of the papers, Ross wondered if she was really reading the whole article carefully.

By the time he was getting tired of her speed, there was suddenly a loud knocking on the door.

Ross looked up in surprise.

Ross put his hand on his sword and the door burst open.

“Ran!”

It was her uncle, Baron Lindbergh, who came in screaming.

“Uncle.”

Ran got up from her seat.

“What brings you here?”

“I couldn’t see you at all. I was worried about what happened to you.”

Baron Lindbergh murmured. Ross stood before the baron to block him.

“You cannot see the Lord without permission.”

“I’m her uncle! Besides, I’m more worried about a tough guy like you being here!”

“Uncle, he is a loyal retainer.”

When Ran covered him, Ross was inwardly surprised. Lindberg snorted.

“He has no loyalty towards you.”

Ran said to Ross,

“Please let me sit”

Ross stepped aside without a word, and Lindbergh sat down, even though he was not asked to come in and sit down.

It was a rude act and it was not subtle enough to be ignored.

But Ran sat down and asked, without a word.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m going to give you another escort.”

“Another escort?”

“Yes! Not that unfaithful fellow, but an escort that I recommend.”

Lindbergh said something that seemed obvious.

“No, Sir Ross is good enough. I don’t need to increase my escorts.”

Lindberg frowned and spoke in a low voice.

“Ran.”

“Yes.”

“Your mother owes me a debt. Did you know that?”

Baron Lindbergh spoke suspiciously and took the papers out of his arms.

“There was a time when she wanted to buy a necklace. So I lent her money on a short notice. It was extremely difficult for me too.”

He gave the papers to Ran.

Ran opened the document with a blank face.

It was a debt acknowledgment letter .

It said that her mother borrowed 10,000 verats from him and the interest is 10% per month.

It means that a thousand verats is added every month. It was a huge rate.

With 3,000 verats, it is possible to replace all of the knights’ equipment with new ones.

“I’m glad she only borrowed 10,000 verats”

Well, Baron Lindbergh paid cash.

It would be difficult to come up with more than 10,000 verats.

The money from a Baron is about 15,000 Verat a year.

First of all, the money unit verat is rarely used unless it’s a noble.

‘A 10,000-verat necklace.’

Ran recalled her mother’s colorful jewelry.

I remember Marie Antoinette’s diamond necklace that she never wore on her neck. It is a necklace engulfed in a huge scandal.

“According to this loan, the payment date is at the end of this year.”

“Yes, but didn’t my mother just die?”

The baron made a grim face.

“It’s a lot of money for me, too. That’s why I’m letting you know, just in case you don’t know.”

He coughed lightly and clicked his tongue.

“But you’re my niece. So, I’m thinking about writing off this debt.”

“Write off?”

Ran looked at him with wonder. Baron Lindberg fiddled his well-mended mustache and said,

“I want to be a real family with you.”

“We’re already related by blood.”

She didn’t want to say family, so Ran chose a different word.

But the baron, who didn’t notice the indifference, smiled and said,

“I mean, I want you to marry my son.”

Oh my god.

Ran swallowed a laugh coming out of her mouth.

“If it’s your son, you mean my cousin Robbie?”

I knew about him because I’ve seen him several times.

That guy is a scumbag who likes to flash his manhood and indulge in alcohol and women.

In other words, by Ran’s standards, he was a man close to trash.

‘He’s probably gambling right now’

“Yes, you know, the age difference is only four or five. It’s the perfect time.”

‘What the hell’

But Ran didn’t express such a reaction.

It is not yet time to make a blatant enemy. Only after the Duchy’s finances and affairs become stronger.

Although she was acknowledged by the Blue Flame, there will still be some people who are dissatisfied with the fact that she has become a temporary owner.

Baron Lindbergh has spent a lot of money here and there, so there have to be spies inside.

‘Well, it’s not just Baron.’

The only thing I’m lucky about is that I’m the original author.

‘I know for sure who is loyal to the family and can be trusted’

‘Thank God.’

Ran smiled embarrassedly and said,

“I really appreciate what you say, uncle. But, marriage… It’s so sudden. Besides, um…”

Ran scratched her cheek.

“It’s kind of weird to get married like that because of debt.”

It may sound girly but for Baron Lindbergh, it’s annoying.

“But it`s 10,000 verats. Do you know how much money this is? Besides, the duchy has other debts. It’s not a problem you can handle alone.”

Lindbergh leaned his upper body down.

“You’ll need the advice of a wiser person.”

“The guidance of a person such as yourself, uncle”

Finally satisfied, Baron Lindbergh nodded.

Ran looked at the pile of papers.

‘I still have a lot of work to do.’

She smiled and looked up.

“That’s what I wanted to hear .“

“Are you awake?”

Ran responded vaguely, “Yes.”

Ross realized that she wasn’t listening to him at all, so he approached her closely and put his hands on the papers.

Only then did Ran look at him.

“Lord Ross?”

“It’s already dawn.”

“Just a little bit more.”

“How about you look at these tomorrow morning?”

“Should I?”

Ran rubbed her tensed eyes.

Although the candle was lit up,her eyes were still tired.

Ross looked at Ran.

‘When Baron Lindbergh came and talked, I really wanted to cut him. When they had a private meeting, I thought they were planning something.’

‘But.’

She told Ross all the stories she shared with Baron Lindbergh.

‘Of course I don’t believe it all.’

There are plenty of times when people build trust only to be betrayed in the end.

‘That’s what I thought until you told me about the secret hole.’

“When I have a private meeting with my uncle, come over here and listen.”

She showed him to the other room connected to the inner room and pointed to the chimney.

“You can hear us well when I open that.”

“What if you write or exchange notes?”

When Ross said that, Ran blinked and stretched her shoulders.

“Well, I won’t do it”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Well, is the effect somewhat opposite? That’s because I want to build trust.”

“Trust.”

“Yes, it’s worth it.”

Ran shrugged her shoulders and continued.

“Well, when Yustaf graduates it’ll be easier, then.”

This is the last semester.

After winter, he will graduate and come back to the mansion in spring.

“By then, will we have built some trust?”

At Ran’s words, Ross had no answer.

The Lord’s thoughts belong to the Lord. One shouldn’t try to understand it.

Ran got up from her seat with a sheet of paper.

“Then let’s take your advice and go to bed.”

Ross lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Ran returned to her room and changed her clothes with the help of a maid.

Originally, she would have had to move to the Duke’s room, but she kept saying that she would continue to use her room. She’s only a temporary Lord anyway.

As soon as she lay on the familiar bed, she fell asleep.