MBSGBC 07

Chapter 07

“The royal family is going after pocket change like this?”

“To be precise, the second son of that house, who was entrusted with this business, set up the game. He needs some emergency funds.”

“…You’re talking about our Second Prince, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. The second one who’s been butting heads with the Crown Prince lately. And by the way, this is a secret, so don’t go around telling anyone.”

A scream escaped me involuntarily.

“Don’t tell me secrets!”

“We’re about to become husband and wife, aren’t we?”

“You haven’t even sent a proposal letter yet!”

“I already gave you a child.”

I wanted to slap my own cheeks! Why, despite knowing that the more I talked, the more I lost, was I even bothering to exchange words with this man?

Lion Voltain, watching me half-paralyzed and tearing at my hair as if I were some curious creature, casually tossed out a remark.

“What are you going to do?”

“…That seems like a very broad question.”

“You made some money today.”

Money.

Right. Money!

I staggered and raised my upper body, pulling out the check from my pocket. It was to confirm the amount I hadn’t properly seen earlier.

My heart trembled violently.

There were enough zeros. To wealthy families like Ochner, Vestin, or Voltain, it would be nothing, but in my case, it was more than enough money to change my life.

“Surely you’re not going to say you’ll pay off your family’s debts with that?”

“Do you think I’m crazy? If I did that, Schule would just be thrilled and rack up even more debt. I’d rather feed this check to pigs than do something that stupid.”

I had already thought about how to use this money. And if I could get Lion Voltain’s help with it, even better.

“Ah, to be honest, yes.”

The moneylender standing before me nodded calmly.

“The Otrena family’s debts are essentially uncollectible bad loans, yes.”

Lion Voltain, sitting on the sofa with his chin raised in an arrogant posture, jabbed with a remark.

“You should have investigated whether they had the ability to repay before lending.”

The lavish sofa made his already striking appearance even more dazzling. Me? I was just a well-behaved squid sitting beside him.

Even though this was supposed to be the lowest-grade reception room for low-status guests, the Voltain Duke’s reception room had a splendor that crushed one’s spirit.

The moneylender, who looked several times more nervous than me, cleared his throat and continued.

“Ahem, back then, Lady Otrena’s husband—pardon me, her second husband—the commoner merchant, was still alive and well.”

“So you thought if they couldn’t pay, you could just collect from Lady Otrena’s husband?”

“Well, isn’t it common? A mother paying off her son’s debts.”

Of course, that had actually happened. Schule kept incurring debts, and Mother kept paying them off. Thanks to that, the family finances had taken a spectacular nosedive.

“So, how much do you think you can recover?”

“Ahem, I’ll be frank with you. The higher-ups think about 80% is possible.”

“80%? That’s quite confident.”

“Well, the Otrena family does have a daughter of marriageable age. There’s hope in many ways, you see.”

“Ah-ha.”

Every last one of them saw me as money.

I had covered my hair and face with a black lace veil to hide my identity.

Thanks to my past life experience, I was able to maintain a rather elegant posture even amid this irritating conversation.

“Still, 80% seems overly optimistic.”

I interjected in a voice that sounded relaxed.

“The Otrena family’s debts aren’t held only by you. Among them, there are plenty of creditors backed by noble financiers. If a few of them decide to make a move, well, you might be lucky to get a sip of the leftover broth.”

“Even so, we have our ways of collecting.”

“Debt collection costs money, labor, and above all, precious time. The Otrena family’s bonds won’t yield enough profit to justify that level of investment.”

At my clear words, the moneylender raised one eyebrow slightly and turned to Lion.

“And this person is…?”

“Watch your tone.”

Lion leaned his head against my shoulder in a showy gesture. With that otherworldly beautiful face, he smiled softly and finished his words very slowly.

“Are you saying my guarantee isn’t enough?”

“No, not at all!”

What a performance. Absolutely perfect!

Since he was playing the role of the whip, it was my turn to gently steer the direction.

“I’m not asking you to sell at a loss. Principal plus interest—60% of the remaining amount. That should count as a pretty successful investment, wouldn’t you say?”

“That amount is a bit…”

“Hmm. Then how about this? If you don’t accept these terms, I’ll immediately collect the Otrena family bonds I hold. Then how much money will you be able to get?”

I deliberately let out a chuckle.

“Well, even if they sold off Baron Otrena, I doubt they’d get even 30%.”

—

* * *

—

Over the past few days, I had gone around with Lion buying up the Otrena family’s debts. I provided the money, and Lion provided the prestige.

Most creditors happily sold their debts for nearly half the price. They were junk bonds anyway. If they could leave a good impression on Duke Voltain in the process, it was a win for them.

After much consideration and Lion’s strong urging, the owner of the bonds became “Lady Voltain”—a fictional person, of course.

Lion called it “a gift for my future wife,” and the visitors naturally assumed I was that person. They probably imagined I harbored a vicious hatred for the Otrena family. Well, that wasn’t too far from the truth.

I looked over the bond certificates, now mine, with a mix of frustration and relief.

‘He really borrowed an obscene amount.’

Regardless, they were all mine now.

This wasn’t a debt meant to be repaid.

It was a weapon to seize control of my brother’s finances.

It would be difficult to actually collect money from my family with these bonds, but at least this debt wouldn’t bear down on my back under the name of the “Otrena family.”

“How many of these bonds are connected to the Ochner family?”

Looking back, it seemed some of our family’s debts were created by Pascal’s machinations. Probably to speed up the marriage arrangements.

Well, even if he pulled strings, in the end it was stupid Schule Otrena who decided to borrow the money.

“Hard to say. There’s probably some.”

“Ugh, I wanted to hide that. They’ll figure out soon enough that someone’s been buying up the bonds.”

“He’s a clever fox. He’s probably dug multiple burrows, so it’s hard to prepare for all of them in such a short time.”

Lion added, as if yawning,

“Actually, there’s no need to prepare anyway.”

Those words lingered in my ears for an oddly long time.

Lion immediately stretched. His attitude suggested he considered this matter settled.

“What are you going to do now?”

“What else? I’ll have to collect in a different form.”

“How, when even the debt collectors couldn’t?”

“First, I plan to kick Schule out of the capital mansion. He’s been staying in the capital for so long, leaving the territory empty, all because of his investment schemes.”

I let out a small sigh and added,

“My poor sister-in-law, managing the territory and taking care of the children all alone.”

Yeah. To be honest, if it weren’t for my sister-in-law and nephews, I would have escaped this household long ago and never looked back.

But I knew. No matter how much I hated Mother and Schule, the Otrena family’s reputation was my reputation. That was the law of the social circle I had to live in. That’s how the world saw me.

So there was only one way. Treat Schule and Mother as if they didn’t exist, and see hope in my nephews. The fact that the Otrena family’s bloodline had managed to survive in my past life, even as it crumbled, was all thanks to my sister-in-law’s resourcefulness. So in this life, my sister-in-law had to hold the real power of the family.

I gathered the bond certificates, put them in an envelope, and handed them to Lion.

“I’ll leave these in your care.”

“You trust me that much?”

“What choice do I have? You even lent me your name. After receiving this much help, I’d have to at least pretend to die if you told me to.”

“I don’t need you to pretend to die. Unless it’s something else.”

“Something else… like what?”

“Well…”

Lion raised the corners of his lips with that pretty face of his.

Just as the atmosphere was turning strange, my stomach growled. My face, which had been on the verge of turning red anyway, flushed instantly.

A growl.

A growl!

I hastily looked out the window. I had come early in the morning, but after meeting so many people and negotiating, I’d lost track of time—the sun was already setting.

As I tried to get up, Lion’s soft voice tickled the back of my head.

“Eat before you go.”

“It’s already late…”

“Ru was determined to have dinner with you.”

“Ugh.”

Thinking of that round-eyed, adorable child, I simply couldn’t find it in me to refuse.

I don’t really know about maternal or paternal instincts. But if you can casually brush off the gaze of such a cute child, you’re not human.