Callian also knew that Riona had heavily invested in Teuchen.

Since Riona managed household affairs and expenses, he couldn’t know the exact scale, but this announcement of a stronghold would strain Klaus’s finances.

“…Mother, come to your senses. It’s Callian.”

Crouched in front of Riona, Callian spoke while looking at her face.

Callian’s brow was firmly furrowed.

Even for Callian, this was the first time he had seen Riona so shocked.

“I sent someone to the imperial palace to find out what happened. If there’s a mistake…”

“Mistake. Mistake… Yes, it’s a mistake.”

Riona finally met Callian’s gaze.

Red blood vessels were prominent in the whites of Riona’s eyes.

The corners of her lips were twitching as if having a spasm.

“It must be a mistake. Isn’t that right, Duke?”

Such a result was unacceptable.

Riona asked Callian as if seeking confirmation.

After a moment of silence while looking at Riona, Callian nodded.

“It must be, Mother. Now please get up. The floor is dirty.”

And he grabbed Riona’s hand to help her up.

Riona felt incredibly light, as if she had withered away from not eating for days.

Callian used to feel guilty every time he saw Riona’s thin body.

A mumbling voice continued to flow from Riona’s lips.

“The western stronghold must surely be Teuchen. No matter how I think about it, there’s no place more suitable than Teuchen.”

Hans had said that nobles were rushing to buy land in Teuchen.

Among the noble families he mentioned, quite a few had good investment performance.

As the duchess of the great Klaus family, it was natural to be at the forefront of the Teuchen investment boom.

Riona thought she had done nothing wrong.

Meanwhile, Callian’s chest ached at Riona’s words.

In fact, there was no possibility of a mistake.

It doesn’t make sense for the emperor’s official announcement about a military stronghold to be a mistake.

But unfortunately, mother seemed to have received a tremendous shock.

It seems she tried to raise the difficult finances of Klaus, but it didn’t go as planned.

How much would the investment be? Judging by mother’s reaction, it must be at least a million ling.

A million ling is the annual budget of the duchy and one and a half years’ income.

Adversity piled up in this situation where even Esika had completely changed and was running wild.

Do we have to borrow from Brigitte even if we have to beg her?

Callian’s fist clenched as he recalled Esika’s cold expression.

He didn’t want to throw away his pride.

“The western stronghold… should be Teuchen. I bet everything of the family on it…”

Suddenly Riona’s voice was heard.

Callian’s eyebrows twitched.

He was about to pass it by, but asked Riona just in case.

“…What do you mean by everything of the family, Mother?”

Riona still looked unfocused like someone out of her mind.

Those lips that used to be glossy were now parched, and she looked ten years older than usual.

Suddenly, a sense of unease rushed into Callian’s mind.

Surely not, Callian ignored the thoughts flooding in.

As far as he knew, the total assets of the Klaus family were over ten million ling.

He had heard that was the value including unproductive land and old treasures in the warehouses.

It wasn’t particularly large assets for a ducal family.

There were many provincial noble families who had more assets and tremendous cash flow than Klaus, earning huge sums through commerce.

For example, Brigitte.

“Teuchen… Teuchen as the western stronghold…”

“Mother. What do you mean by… Annie, Lusa.”

Callian looked at the maids with a stern gaze, his eyebrows furrowed.

The maids flinched and bowed.

“If you know anything, tell me everything.”

The maids’ gazes briefly turned to the sword at Callian’s waist.

That would be one of the few remaining valuable things in this household that Riona hadn’t pawned.

Lusa was the first to speak.

“I… I know that… she mortgaged… the family assets… to invest… Your Grace…”

Lusa’s voice was trembling at the end.

“Is that true?”

At Callian’s words, Annie bowed deeply.

“It’s true, Your Grace.”

Callian stood still for a long time, looking at Riona.

His head throbbed as if dizzy, and a chill ran down his spine.

The worry for Riona, who looked dazed, disappeared like the ebb tide.

Anger rose at the absurd situation.

“Where is Hans?”

“We can’t reach the butler.”

Annie and Lusa thought that if Hans had been here, he would have at least stopped the selling of dresses and jewelry.

Not knowing that everything might have been Hans’s plan.

“…Damn it…”

Callian held his forehead.

There was no way to figure out how much of the assets had been mortgaged, how much debt they had incurred.

Callian looked at Riona with hardened eyebrows.

Riona’s condition was too poor for any further conversation to be meaningful.

And then, a subordinate’s voice was heard.

“Your Grace. The Crown Prince is looking for you.”

It was a figure he didn’t want to meet in this already desperate situation.

The man’s intuition had been warning Callian for some time.

That the Crown Prince wanted Esika.

He gritted his teeth.

“Has he come to watch the fire despite being busy with state affairs?”

Also, the Crown Prince would know that the nobles of the Second Prince faction, including Klaus, had invested in Teuchen.

His intelligence was very excellent.

“It seems to be to recover the military supply loan.”

However, at the subordinate’s following words, Callian paused.

The end of his hardened eyebrow twitched.

It was a part he had forgotten.

With the rapid reclamation of lost territory, the need for military power had greatly decreased.

Along with the selection of the western stronghold, the imperial family had ordered the recovery of military supply loans from all noble families.

The military supply loan was a system where the imperial family lent in advance the costs for the private soldiers and weapons gathered by noble families, to prevent economic difficulties for nobles during wartime.

And at the words ‘military supply loan’, Riona’s shoulders flinched.

“Mother…”

“…”

Riona avoided Callian’s eyes.

Callian’s heart sank.

“Tell me it’s not true. It can’t be.”

Money is just money.

It’s not alive, it’s cold, and it’s expressed in numbers.

Since ancient times, people have killed and died for money.

As if money were everything in their lives.

If you think about it from a step back, money can never be everything in life. In the end, most conflicts over money are just the product of greed.

But even excluding the human characteristic of greed, there is one kind of money that is absolutely distinct from other money.

“Mother… Didn’t you hear the Crown Prince is coming soon?”

“…Du…ke…”

That is the special fund that came down from the imperial palace with the emperor’s order.

Any person in their right mind wouldn’t even glance at the emperor’s money. They know their head would fly off immediately if they touched it.

Treason isn’t just taking up arms in rebellion; daring to embezzle the emperor’s money is also a major act of treason.

Especially touching the military supply loan and being unable to return it was a serious rebellion deserving of complete ruin.

“…Mother!”

Callian grabbed Riona’s shoulders and yelled roughly, applying force.

Blood vessels stood out on Callian’s neck as he looked at Riona.

Riona’s face had already turned ashen like a dead person’s.

A dried-up voice came from between her lips.

The sound of dry branches trembling in the winter wind.

“…Du…ke…”

Riona’s pupils were shaking.

Callian’s pupils were the same.

She touched the military supply loan? It was hard to believe.

“…Have you gone mad?”

The question that came from Callian’s mouth was sharp as a blade.

Anyone could tell that this question, which he had never asked his mother even once since he was born, was not a real question but an accusation.

“Did you really touch the military supply loan to invest in Teuchen? Are you… Are you in your right mind, Mother?!”

Riona closed her trembling eyes as if she couldn’t hear Callian’s accusation.

As if closing her eyes would block her ears too.

“…It’s all a dream… This is all a dream…”

“It’s not a dream, it’s reality. Damn it. Mother… Mother…”

Callian’s voice cracked.

“You’ve ruined our family. The venerable Klaus… Klaus! Huh?! Our family is as good as completely ruined.”

Callian, gripping Riona’s shoulders, shook her.

But Riona just shed tears with her eyes closed.

“Sob… sob… It can’t be. I’m the noble duchess of Klaus… Riona Klaus, and the duke… my only son is someone everyone would envy…”

Still like someone trapped in a dream, or out of her mind.

“When Teuchen is selected as the western stronghold, no one will be able to even touch our shadow…”

Callian’s breathing quickened and his heart pounded as if it would jump out.