“Yes. We are preparing smoothly. It is expected to be ready for about twenty carriages.”

The Marquis said happily, raising his sleeves and holding a pen.

“Great. Then I need to write a reply to send to Archduke Hervor. What about Matilda? Is she preparing a reply to Empress’s message?”

“Yes. Lady is also working on her reply.”

The satisfied Marquis swung his arm, held up the pen, and happily wrote down the final sentence for the response to the Emperor.

The wording for the reply had already been prepared and reviewed several times.

【 ―Glory to the Empire. 】

Even the repeated victories were, when looked at closely, thanks to the wise decisions of the honorable Emperor.

The fact that I could witness this brilliant history was a joy in itself.

Having received excessive honor, I can only hope not to disgrace it…

Grateful for the invitation…

Please allow me to contribute a brushstroke and a petal to the splendid investiture ceremony…

The Marquis dipped the pen in ink once again and elegantly added the final sentence.
【I will soon meet with Arthur and Christina.】
【Your faithful, Antonio Julius】

He sealed the reply with wax and stamped the family crest, smiling. “Now, it’s time to meet Arthur soon…”

Everything went smoothly.

Now was the time to elevate the relationship with Arthur.

“Tristan Kyung.”

Tristan turned his head at the voice calling him.

As if the butler knew he was waiting, he politely bowed first, then handed over a document folder.

“Can you deliver this to Arthur Kyung?”

Tristan looked at the document once and, without accepting it, turned back to the butler.

“What is it?”

The butler answered politely.

“This is a document from the Marquis for Arthur Kyung. Marquis would like you to examine it, and if possible, engage in a conversation about it.”

The butler’s attitude was polite and cautious.

Perhaps it was because Lionel and Kay had already received similar piles of invitation letters and documents, leading to harsh rejections:

“I’m not so free as to look at this.”

“Excuse me, is this how Marquis behaves?”

It seemed to be the reason for the butler’s meticulousness.

Even so, it was quite a blow to Marquis’s pride to have a butler who closely assisted him in important matters come personally. If he were to refuse after sending the butler away, it would be a significant blow to Marquis’s pride.

Of course, there was no intention of being lenient.

“May I look at it here?”

“Yes.”

Tristan received the document folder and stood in place, browsing through it.

And he judged whether it was worth delivering to Arthur and whether it was necessary.

“…”

Fortunately, it was surprisingly remarkable content worth delivering.

Tristan answered with a professional smile.

“All right. I’ll deliver it to His Excellency.”

The butler bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

… Even a rolling stone has its tricks.

“To be honest, it’s surprising. How did he manage to get all this money in such a short time…”

What Marquis sent was a letter stating that he would fully accept Arthur’s demands regarding the rewards for the veterans and the scope of recognition for the veteran status, as requested. It wasn’t just words; there were dozens of signed documents and a plan for fundraising.

… No wonder things were falling into place without any countermeasures.

It was because there was a corner in Marquis’s heart that believed in Arthur’s every demand.

The corner Marquis believed in was precisely that Marquis would fulfill all of Arthur’s requests.

Even Arthur’s closest knights didn’t expect Marquis to go this far.

“Surely the Marquis’s financial capacity wasn’t at its lowest with the past rewards? Can you really believe this?”

With a strange smile, Kay handed over a few documents, shaking his head.
“Surprisingly, yes. Take a look at these documents. It seems like he’s managed to straighten things out. He plans to put all the profits from the businesses into the veterans’ pension foundation.”

In conclusion, what happened was as follows.

Marquis, utilizing the opportunity presented by ‘Arthur Special’ and the chance in Julius Territory, was astutely accumulating wealth with tremendous momentum.

As a result, Marquis achieved remarkable success:

He swiftly overcame Julius’s financial crisis, which was deemed difficult to recover from within a few years, by providing excessive rewards to the veterans and allocating funds to the veterans’ pensions.

Furthermore, demonstrating formidable business acumen in various fields, he secured substantial investments for various businesses in the territory. He also effectively handled Arthur’s demands for the expansion of the ‘Recognition Range for Widows and Veterans’ and the ‘Compensation for Poorly Supplied Items’ without compromise.

Although Arthur’s demands were not easy for even Julius to handle, Marquis succeeded.

The atmosphere among Arthur’s closest knights as they reviewed the documents sent by Marquis became peculiar.

“Marquis did this…?”

It wasn’t a bad atmosphere.

“Marquis surprisingly has a big heart. I thought he would negotiate while shouting, but I didn’t expect him to accept everything at once and suggest a meeting…”

Honestly, it was a chance to see Marquis Julius’s skill again.

Kay looked at Arthur with a smile, holding the documents. “Showing so much sincerity. Shall we stop dodging and meet him now?”

Arthur replied calmly with a smile. “Sure. Set a date.”

Then, with a nonchalant smile, he added, “Now that you seem ready to listen, let’s start talking about the compensation for the veterans.”

The knights widened their eyes.

Even Kay momentarily hesitated.

“Compensation for the veterans… right away?”

They had just… almost emptied Marquis’s entire fortune, hadn’t they?

Of course, they thought it might be a part worth asking for at some point, but Kay, who had mostly grasped Marquis’s financial situation based on the documents that had just arrived, was momentarily stunned.

Is it okay to squeeze this much…?

Marquis, who sent the documents with some pride, seemed to become a bit pitiful all of a sudden.

Knock, knock.

“Miss.”

The door was already open.

The knock was just to refresh her attention that was absorbed elsewhere.

“Taylor!”

Raising her head, Reyna greeted him with a bright smile.

“What are you coming in for? Don’t know?”

Reyna laughed, covering the notebook she was working on.

Taylor stepped over the threshold.

“A new scrapbook?”

Reyna squinted her eyes and covered Taylor’s mouth.

Shh!

Reyna’s face turned red in an instant.

“…”

It was a scrapbook collecting the knights of Sir Arthur, so maybe she didn’t want the mere existence of it to be revealed.

Taylor tactfully pretended not to know Reyna’s notebook.

Instead, he lightly touched Reyna’s forehead with his hand and then withdrew it.