“Do you really intend to fight against the Hersher ducal family?”

“When one receives a favor, is it not human to repay it?”

He responded matter-of-factly to his subordinate’s question as he left the temple.

However, the expression of the subordinate who heard Bawyn’s words was not very good.

The opponent was the Hersher ducal family.

Even though imperial power had strengthened and the nobles’ influence had weakened, they were still the strongest family after the emperor and the grand duke.

It was on a completely different level from when he had recently brought down the Earldom of Andrew.

“Still, this doesn’t seem right. Wouldn’t it be better to betray Clea Odoi and side with the Hersher ducal family instead?”

The subordinate’s words were a good choice in terms of navigating the immediate situation.

After all, Clea’s side was currently the one with the worse reputation among people.

But Bawyn paid no attention to his subordinate’s words.

“You’re telling me to go under someone who once aimed for my back?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

When the Viscounty of Rockin where Bawyn resided was considerably shaken, he had thought there must be a traitor within.

He became certain of it when he realized that confidential family matters that should never have leaked were circulating outside.

However, he couldn’t easily figure out who exactly the traitor might be.

Time was pressing, and if he couldn’t identify them quickly, it was clear that the family would be ruined due to lost trust.

It was in this critical moment that Clea had spoken up.

Her words had both pulled Bawyn back from the cliff’s edge and pushed him towards it again.

‘She warned me to be careful of my fiancée, didn’t she?’

At the time, it was such an unexpected warning that he dismissed it as nonsense.

She was his fiancée since childhood.

He couldn’t imagine that she, who had grown up with him, laughing, crying, and rejoicing together, would betray the family.

But once sown, the seed of doubt continued to grow. Eventually, unable to shake his concerns, he followed his fiancée.

Even as he was following her, he thought it couldn’t be true, but the outcome was devastating.

“After that incident, I came to trust no one.”

“My lord.”

“I don’t even trust you who stand beside me now.”

His fiancée had been in collusion with the Earldom of Andrew, siphoning off vast wealth and secrets.

To such an extent that it might be said it was too late to rectify.

Bawyn was mentally shaken by the betrayal of the person he trusted most.

Though he could have completely sunk into the abyss like that, he did not give up.

Rather, turning crisis into opportunity, he eventually brought down the complacent Earldom of Andrew and regained everything.

Though he could have easily been promoted to an earldom, he deliberately avoided it.

Bawyn was certain. There must be those who had instigated the Earldom of Andrew.

It seemed forced that an earldom of no great prestige could drive them to the brink of crisis.

So he decided to lay low until he knew exactly who the instigator was.

Throughout the whole process, he developed a distrust of people.

Unable to trust anything, the smile completely disappeared from his lips.

“But there was one person I could trust.”

“Is that the person you just met?”

The person who saved him from crisis.

Faced with a life-or-death situation, Bawyn had almost lost everything.

In fact, towards the end, he too had half given up, but Clea’s single remark changed everything.

He went from loser to winner, and succeeded in protecting everything he needed to protect.

From not being able to help her when she was in trouble, he now intended to help Clea completely with this opportunity.

“And I had revenge to take against the Hersher family from the beginning.”

“It could be the last throes of a dying man, couldn’t it?”

“He said it with his own mouth, so it should be somewhat believable, shouldn’t it?”

He had faced Earl Andrew for the last time just before his death.

After having all his family’s wealth and everything else taken away, he had become very frail.

Bawyn thought he would have completely given up by then and begged for his life, but an unexpected name came from Earl Andrew’s lips.

He said that behind him was Duke Hersher.

Since then, the Viscounty of Rockin had been secretly focused on uncovering everything about Duke Hersher.

“The moment we’re discovered, it’s all over.”

“If our family had only been involved in money games, it would have been over already.”

Although Grit had disparaged the Viscounty of Rockin as a family that only played with money, they were secretly operating an enormous guild in the information sector.

“So what do you plan to do? No matter how hard you try, bringing down a ducal family is not an easy task.”

The subordinate still wished he would give up.

Fighting with a family of ducal rank could potentially cause great harm if things went wrong.

But Bawyn didn’t back down at all.

Instead, he revealed his own method to his subordinate.

“I’ll target the weakest and most incompetent part of the ducal family.”

“The weakest and most incompetent part?”

Bawyn smiled as he brushed back his hair.

It was better than when he had completely frozen due to his fiancée, but seeing that smile made the subordinate’s flesh crawl for some reason.

“You know. Even that clever duke becomes completely emotional when it comes to matters related to his daughter.”

“You don’t mean…”

He checked his appearance in a portable mirror.

“How is it? Do I still look presentable?”

“My lord, is what I’m thinking correct?”

He was satisfied with his appearance, which was still decent even though he had been a bit negligent in grooming.

The subordinate standing beside him swallowed hard at the sight of Bawyn with his blonde hair and sparkling purple eyes.

Bawyn said nothing more after that.

‘It will be an opportunity to see just how desperately she likes the crown prince.’

Bawyn was in a very good mood at the thought of ruining the ducal family through the duke’s daughter, who had grown up sheltered and ignorant of the ways of the world.

“Then what will you do about the Odoi family?”

“Is there any need to think about it?”

After boarding the carriage, Bawyn’s expression, which had been smiling until just now, sank coldly at the continued questioning.

He couldn’t forget the appearance of the man who had visited his mansion recently.

“They already seemed desperate, completely pushed to the edge of the cliff.”

“Indeed, according to what I’ve learned, they weren’t given funds from any of the places they visited.”

Bawyn snorted at his subordinate’s words.

“Who would give them any? There are rumors circulating that they recklessly expanded their business using all the money they had and didn’t have, only to be abandoned by the grand ducal family.”

Grit was relieved that it had happened within the Odoi mansion.

He thought that at least he could somehow prevent the news from leaking under his control.

In reality, the people inside the Odoi mansion quietly kept their mouths shut under the control of Grit and Steve.

They didn’t want to lose their workplace either.

But there was something Duke Odoi hadn’t anticipated at all.

It was that people planted by Bawyn were openly wandering around in his mansion.

“They’re the desperate ones now, so they’ll probably agree to whatever demands we make.”

He spoke with a calm expression.

“Approach them under a different family name and lend them money at this interest rate.”

“Even though there’s a high chance we won’t get it back?”

That was one of the most decisive reasons why Grit couldn’t borrow funds. But Bawyn showed a relaxed demeanor.

“That much is fine, we can write it off as lost money. And we can always gather more from elsewhere anyway.”

* * *

“His Highness the Crown Prince is quite late.”

“We’ll still proceed with the repentance as usual.”

“If that’s what the young lady wishes, then we shall do so.”

Clea sighed as she exchanged glances with Hayden.

In truth, she too was curious about Admund’s whereabouts.

However, with even Oberon not around, there was no way to find out his location.

Still, at least she wasn’t completely alone.

“I didn’t think well of him because only bad rumors were circulating, but he’s the worst. That grand duke’s son.”

With Admund absent, Rupia was by her side now.

She had been late in arriving due to some incident on the way, and after hearing the situation from Hayden, she had been frowning until now.

“He’s my former fiancé, but is it alright if I insult him?”

“I don’t mind.”

“He’s trash that can’t even be reused.”

Hayden, listening to Rupia’s words beside them, laughed out loud.

Who would have thought that the marchioness’s daughter of the Philip family would so openly insult the grand duke’s son in front of the bishop?

“I’ll soon have to find a marriage partner too, but if that person were to be matched with me, it would be truly dreadful.”

In an era where it was considered natural for families of similar rank to exchange marriage proposals, Rupia’s worry was somewhat understandable.

But Clea smiled at her and said,

“You don’t need to worry about that. Anyway, Lloyd will only have eyes for one person now.”

“That person doesn’t catch my eye either.”

“Of course. Compared to Lloyd, the young lady is far too precious.”

“I’m honored that the young lady would say such things.”

Clea wasn’t just saying empty words.

In her eyes, Rupia seemed far more precious compared to Lloyd.

It seemed too wasteful for her, who would become an excellent talent in the future, to have someone like Lloyd as a husband.

“Will you continue with the repentance as planned even though His Highness the Crown Prince isn’t here?”

Clea took a moment before answering Rupia’s question that changed the topic.

While Clea too would prefer if Admund were by her side, his absence wasn’t a reason to postpone the repentance.

“He’ll be back by then.”

Thinking that he would return soon, wherever he had gone, she decided to wait for Admund until it was time to start.

But Admund did not appear until the repentance began.