In response to Ines’s awkward reaction, Marcus chuckled slightly, but she didn’t notice.
“I requested to see you to report progress on the task you ordered me to investigate.”
Ines persistently dug into the background of the lady-in-waiting in the Imperial Crown Princess’s residence.
Although it wasn’t Marcus’s role to step forward, he had direct relevance to the incident, making it easy for Ines to approach him. Moreover, Ines wanted to discreetly look into this matter, not wanting to cause unnecessary disturbance with inaccurate information.
“As Your Majesty mentioned, not only was the scale significant, but the flow of money involved in a lady-in-waiting working alone was too complicated.”
“Is there no name narrowing it down?”
“So far, a name that clearly stands out enough to catch the culprit hasn’t emerged.”
“I see.”
In fact, there weren’t many figures within the system who could launder this amount of money multiple times. Naturally, Ines suspected the Duke of Mantua and related individuals.
However, she didn’t think he would be the one to embezzle imperial funds with such an obvious method. Still, she somehow felt there might be a bigger mastermind and conspiracy behind this.
So far, the former empress had not been caught. Even though there was no established relationship that could be caught, Ines’s instincts kept leaning towards that direction.
“What do you mean by progress?”
Certainly, money had been embezzled, and the amount exceeded what she had imagined. Although the accounting books were fictitious due to the lack of someone properly managing the court’s internal affairs, it was the imperial household.
There were records of the imported goods, those who brought them in, and the documents used by those who used them, all of which were incomplete, and there were estimates that could be guessed for several years.
Even if there were differences between what the lady-in-waiting stated and the actual items, the disappearance of the empress and the sudden audacity in the method made Ines’s nerves prickle.
“While reviewing the case, one very unfamiliar name came up.”
Ines’s eyes sparkled. Marcus, who was obviously a knight, correctly grasped the situation.
“An unfamiliar name?”
“Yes, a person named Martin Blake.”
Somewhere in the familiar name, both Ines and Casey tilted their heads at the same time. Then, their eyes met.
“Your Majesty, that name…?”
Ines immediately nodded her head, remembering his name, and also gestured towards Casey.
“Do you know this name?”
For now, Ines shook her head. She couldn’t be sure if it was the same person yet. To objectively face the situation, it would be better to hear more of Marcus’s story and decide after.
“No, continue with your story.”
“At first, I investigated the noble side, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find a name like that.”
“…”
“Then I found out that the surname Blake was a non-noble family with a broken lineage that would soon disappear.”
The lineage was broken… and a non-noble family with no successors, meaning they wouldn’t have appeared in high society.
“What does that mean…?”
“He was the court musician of the Empress’s Palace.”
Ines was quite surprised, but soon calmed her emotions. A secretary maid could have collaborated with the court musician of the Empress’s Palace. So, just with that information, she couldn’t be sure of the existence of a greater power.
“What does being the court musician at the Empress’s Palace have to do with the broken lineage of the family?”
The court musicians or maids of the imperial court could get married. Although it was relatively difficult to freely come and go, they could periodically visit their homes.
“That’s because he was already dead.”
“Dead?”
“Yes, I couldn’t determine the exact date, but it happened at least three years ago. That’s why it was even more challenging to find traces of his existence.”
Using the name of a deceased person for illegal activities?
Who? Why? For what reason?
Using the name of a deceased person is more complicated than creating a non-existent person. Ines, who created a phantom identity and set up a bank, was well aware of this difference.
“The reason why his name continued to be used without being easily exposed is because he was the court musician responsible for the empress’s drinks when he was alive.”
“Drinks?”
In that instant, Ines recalled the red wine Carson had mentioned. The barbaric grape wine that the empress always enjoyed was famous enough for even the nobles to know. It was remembered as one of her luxurious items, among others.
“After he died, there were no records of the court musician dealing with drinks, but recently, alcohol started entering the palace under his name again.”
Ines narrowed her eyes due to the elusive but elusive entity.
“I checked the place where the deals were made, and apparently, they handed over the alcohol without any suspicion because it was the same name as three years ago.”
“Where is the alcohol now?”
“I tried to find out where the alcohol is now, but…”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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