TMLO 24

Chapter: 24

“Is that so wrong? You’re the same—running wild on the strength of your family name, aren’t you?”

Treon looked down at Tickle with a face full of disgust.

“No title, no ability. Just a parasite living off your family like a bug. The only reason I can act freely now is because my lady succeeded in business with her own strength. And I repay that by giving her my loyalty. You’re nothing like that—born clutching nothing but your bloodline.”

Treon put his full weight into his fist and smashed it into Tickle’s cheek.

The shock of being struck by someone he’d had beneath his feet just moments ago nearly drove Tickle insane.

“If you want to complain, go ahead. I’ll just say you interfered with my investigation and I was trying to stop you. I don’t even know if your father would take your side in front of Duke Summerhild.”

Treon picked up the sword lying on the floor.

It was the very sword Tickle had been holding yesterday.

Treon slammed the sword into Tickle’s stomach.

“Ugh…!”

“Right now, you’re in a position where—”

Treon kicked Tickle hard in the shin.

He beat him as if venting all his pent-up resentment.

“—I can hit you like this, and you can’t say a single word. Do you understand?!”

“Ghk… ugh… you bastard…!”

Tickle glared at Treon with murderous eyes, but he was held down by the knights and couldn’t move.

The only resistance he could manage was twitching his fingers.

Like an insect caught in a spider’s web.

A few hours later, Treon returned with a thick stack of documents.

Count Matek denied everything to the end, but once papers bearing his seal were produced, there was no escape.

“Count. Will you die paying for deceiving me, or will you buy your life with money?”

At Duke Summerhild’s words, the count burst into tears and handed over an enormous sum.

The duke gave me a portion of it as payment for the information.

A few days later, the trading partners who heard the news flocked to Count Matek’s castle.

Of course, that information was spread at my request through Duke Summerhild.

“Count Matek! Is it true you falsified the materials for the weapons?!”

“Then the goods you sold our family were fake too?! Give me my money back right now!”

“You swindler! Get out here this instant!”

Amid the chaos, the duke and I sat together and drank tea.

The weather was nice, the count was beyond recovery, and the tea we’d extorted from him had a wonderful aroma.

Peaceful.

“It’s fortunate we were able to secure our share first, thanks to you, Duchess,” the duke said, watching the enraged nobles.

No matter how wealthy Count Matek was, compensating all of them was impossible.

He would be picked clean, one by one, in order of arrival.

“Why is that thanks to me? I only asked an information broker to connect me with nobles.”

“And that’s precisely why it’s thanks to you.”

“Rather, I should be thanking you, Duke. Without you, it wouldn’t have been so easy.”

Because it was the Summerhild ducal house, they could strip Matek’s family like bandits. If it were any other noble, things would have been much harder.

This time, the duke didn’t deny it and smiled in agreement.

Then, out of nowhere, Duke Summerhild said,

“I don’t have a daughter, but I do have a son. He’s fifteen—same age as you.”

“Yes?”

Of course I knew his son.

He was one of the original novel’s sub male leads.

Red hair like the duke, free-spirited and wild in a way unlike typical nobles.

But… why suddenly bring up his son?

“It may sound like boasting, but he’s handsome and strong, just like me. Too strong, if anything—haha.”

So it was just a proud parent moment.

I responded politely.

“If he takes after you, he must be very handsome.”

“Of course. I’m not just saying that because he’s my son—he’s very popular. He already has girls following him around.”

Naturally.

A man with a sub male lead title in a romance novel being unpopular would be stranger.

Though, given his personality, they’d probably all run away eventually.

“So, would you consider becoming my daughter-in-law?”

“P—pardon?! Cough, cough!”

Startled, I spat out my tea while coughing.

“Oh dear. Did I surprise you?” the duke said, handing me a handkerchief.

“Th-thank you.”

I wiped my mouth and cautiously watched his expression.

“I’m not joking. No matter how hard my wife and I try, I doubt we could ever have a daughter as lovely and smart as you. And frankly, I’ve taken quite a liking to you.”

That scared me.

“Um… I appreciate the offer, but I’m already married…”

“The duke isn’t an adult yet, and you haven’t even had the proper ceremony.”

The empire’s laws were really strange.

You were considered an adult if you were married, but you couldn’t hold a formal wedding until both were twenty.

“And the empire has a wonderful institution called divorce.”

Right. That’s why I planned to get alimony and divorce cleanly later.

I straightened and spoke politely.

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me, but I have no intention of leaving Valfruga.”

“Even if it means becoming the future Duchess of Summerhild?”

Honestly, the position was tempting.

Unlike the ruined Valfruga ducal house, Summerhild was still a dominant power on the continent.

As the Duchess of Summerhild, I wouldn’t need to struggle to revive a fallen family.

I could live comfortably as a rich idle noble, and judging from the novel, he’d probably pay generous alimony in a divorce.

Looking at my future, choosing Summerhild made sense…

‘Sister. Do you really have to go back?’

The moment I remembered Luce holding my finger until I boarded the carriage, I was already refusing.

“…I’m sorry.”

Despite being rejected, Duke Summerhild didn’t look displeased.

If anything, he looked pleased.

“Hahaha. If you were going to reject me, you should have accepted instead.”

“…What?”

“That way I could say you were capable but lacking in fidelity and look down on you. But now you have both ability and loyalty—doesn’t that make you even more desirable?”

The duke’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

Why does it feel like he’s more fired up after being rejected…?

“But I am curious. Is it because of Duke Valfruga?”

“Yes.”

“It will be about ten years before Duke Valfruga comes of age. Who knows how your relationship will change in that time?”

“Haha…”

“So if you ever change your mind, tell me. The doors of House Summerhild will always be open to you.”

If you’ll accept me in ten years, I’d be grateful.

By then, I’d probably be divorced from Luce.

I swallowed those words and just smiled.

I didn’t want to say anything that might ignite him further.

“Then I should be going. I’d like to talk more, but I came in a hurry and work has piled up.”

As he stood, the duke added,

“Don’t worry about what I said earlier. If you ever need help, just say the word. That’s simply because I like you.”

And Duke Summerhild left.

I leaned against the railing and looked down at Count Matek being grabbed by the hair and beard.

“Ow—ah…! Evidence…! Aaaah!”

“What? Evidence? You’re still denying it?!”

“Aaaaah!”

Someone yanked out a fistful of his beard.

With half his beard gone, the count touched his face in disbelief.

“My… my beard… my beard…!”

While the count was suffering, Tickle Matek was nowhere to be seen.

In the end, he was only that much of a person.

Watching the chaos, I found myself missing the quiet, warm Valfruga Castle.

Seeing the duke leave, Butcher and Treon approached.

“Shall we go home now?”

Treon dropped to one knee solemnly.

Looking up at me with eyes full of true loyalty and trust, he said,

“Yes, my lady.”

Before returning to the ducal estate, we headed to the tavern where the information broker worked.

The broker, busy preparing to open, recognized me immediately.

“Oh? What brings you here this time? Got some expensive information to sell again?”

Even knowing my status, his attitude was unchanged.

Thinking about how he spoke casually even to the male lead in the original novel, it was probably just his character concept.

“No, this time I’m here to buy information.”

“Good. Let’s talk inside.”

He gestured toward the back, where employees were cleaning.

“Are the people working here just regular staff?”

“Pretty much. In this business, secrecy is everything. Knowing too much is never a good thing.”

I nodded in agreement.

“By the way, I’ll be moving to Valfruga. So take good care of me there too.”

“What?”

“Our master seems very interested in you, miss.”

He was referring to Duke Summerhild, but I pretended not to know and smiled.

In any case, having an information broker in our territory was welcome.

Sure, more of our information would leak out, but gathering intelligence would also become much easier.

Our family’s secret organization was just getting started, so it couldn’t compete with Summerhild’s extensive network yet.

Someday, we’d build a continental intelligence network of our own—but until then, we needed to use Summerhild’s.

The broker sat down in the same room as before and asked,

“So? What information do you want this time?”