“Perhaps Damion has a bad reputation among the servants……”

“What? There’s no way! It’s quite the opposite. He treats them so well.”

“Then why did no one come with him?”

“Well, I suppose since he moved out right after returning to the capital from the border, he might have just hired new servants?”

It was a reasonable assumption. If they hadn’t lived together for about 5 years, it might be more comfortable with new people.

“I see. Thank you for delivering the invitation.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Simon left the room. Ansi stared quietly at the invitation, then hid it in a drawer.

Count Rozel entered a quiet cafe in an alley in the capital and walked into an inner room. Damion, who was sitting on a red velvet sofa, stood up and bowed slightly.

“It’s nice to see you, Count.”

“It’s been a while.”

Rozel sat down on the opposite sofa, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He didn’t seem pleased to be there. Duke Bellow, who entered after him, shrugged with a smile.

“I kept my promise, didn’t I?”

Damion had achieved the number he had promised. So Duke Bellow had brought Count Rozel as promised.

He hadn’t promised to bring a count with a positive attitude, so he had fulfilled his duty. Now, how to deal with Rozel was Damion’s role.

“I stopped by on my way to the capital for other business. I can’t spare much time.”

After a cafe employee placed three cups of coffee and left, Rozel lowered his voice.

Bellow raised one eyebrow and looked at Damion.

Rozel had come cautiously, just for secretly meeting the second son of Duke Orphe. Seeing him so displeased even in this room with only them, it seemed better not to mention the purpose.

If it somehow reached Duke Orphe’s ears, it could be dangerous…

“Then let me get straight to the point. Please support me, not Kardian, as the next duke.”

However, Damion brought up the main point firmly, or rather nonchalantly.

Bellow, who was watching, widened his eyes.

Rozel leaned forward in surprise and asked.

“What, do you know what that means?”

“I wouldn’t have invited you without knowing, Count.”

“You’re the second son.”

“Whether first or second son, isn’t it right for the capable person to succeed?”

“Are you saying the young duke is incompetent? That you’re more outstanding? I know you’re a capable soldier and businessman. But doesn’t the family have an order passed down from ancient times?”

Rozel spoke heatedly as if lecturing his counterpart. However, Damion listened quietly to Rozel’s words without getting upset or interrupting. Only after he finished speaking did Damion calmly open his mouth.

“We’re in an era where the value of status and money are becoming synonymous. A merchant who owns a large factory is considered a better marriage prospect than a nobleman with an old name.”

“But the authority of the nobility hasn’t disappeared yet!”

“Of course not.”

His red lips curled up into a smirk. He tilted his head slightly to the side and asked.

“Then what if that merchant had the surname Orphe?”

Damion was consistently relaxed. Rather than hiding his status, money, and ability with humility, he used them as weapons. If it were someone else, it might have seemed brazen.

However, Rozel felt a great weight from him.

The new master of Orphe, suitable for the new era.

Damion de Orphe seemed to be the person most suited for that position.

“W-well, that’s true, but……”

“Besides, while I’m grateful that you think highly of my abilities, I have no intention of praising myself by belittling my elder brother.”

“Then what do you mean by a capable person?”

“I meant someone more suitable from the perspective of being helpful to the elders of Orphe.”

“……”

Rozel pressed his lips together and stared at Damion.

Certainly, Kardian had everything. That’s why… he would walk the smooth path that had been set for him since birth.

Just as he had become the young duke without anyone’s interference, he would naturally take the position of Duke Orphe when the current duke dies.

There’s no role for the elders in that process.

And they have no rights.

Rozel rolled his tongue in his mouth for a while, then finally asked as if he had made up his mind.

“Tell me clearly what I need to do for your goal.”

Damion let out a chuckle. He leaned forward and rested one cheek on the table. Then he said in a subtle voice.

“I’m a person who calculates precisely. I’ll return more than what you give me. How far are you willing to go, Count?”

Rozel swallowed at the question that sounded like a devil’s whisper. He answered with a serious face.

“No matter how much of an elder I am, I can’t rebel by pulling the young duke down from his position. If that’s what you want, I’ll withdraw from this.”

Damion straightened his back and nodded readily.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of alarming the duke with such a performance as taking the young duke’s position from Kardian.”

“Then?”

“Actually, what I want from the elders is nothing much. I just want a fair competition.”

A fair competition?

Rozel stared intently at Damion, waiting for an explanation.

“As you said, Kardian has the position of young duke. As the eldest son, he also has the duke’s support. On the other hand, I haven’t been given an opportunity.”

“So you want to compete based on the support of the elders.”

“Yes. I want to use the voices of the major elders as my backing. So, Count, all you need to do is sign a statement supporting me as the next duke.”

“…Then, what do I gain?”

“Well, first of all, Duke Bellow has already achieved a thousand percent return on his investment.”

Rozel swallowed.

A statement of support. As it doesn’t require active movement, there’s no major impact unless it’s made public. Among the ways to support him, it’s the least risky while being cost-effective.

Damion said he would use him as his backing, but once he becomes duke, the situation reverses. Damion de Orphe becomes the backing for the elders who supported him.

He recently married, but his partner is from the insignificant Rubelsai family… so there’s no worry about power being dispersed to the in-laws.

Rozel inhaled through his nose and exhaled. He looked at Damion and said resolutely.

“I’ll do as you say.”

“Thank you, Count.”

Damion held out his hand with a slight smile. Rozel grasped it.

Bellow, who had been calmly drinking coffee on the side pretending not to notice, finally spoke up.

“I believe in your abilities, but there might be some hesitant elders. Show them once more that you can take Kardian’s place.”

“It seems you have a specific method in mind, is that right?”

“You’re quick on the uptake. There’s a textile company run by Kardian in the Orphe duchy, isn’t there? I heard… you also started a textile company.”

“Would it be enough to take away its influence?”

Bellow raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly.

“I understand.”

Damion nodded. He seemed to be saying it wasn’t a difficult task.

Rozel, who had been watching him, cleared his throat and sipped his coffee.

“The aroma is good.”

He liked the coffee that had cooled to the right temperature. Rozel felt more relaxed than when he had first entered this place. Although he still didn’t want this meeting to be known outside, he wasn’t as anxious as before.

Rozel, who had said he couldn’t spare much time, only stood up after slowly finishing all his coffee.

“Then I’ll take my leave first as I have business to attend to.”

“I look forward to working with you, Count.”

After Rozel left, Bellow, who had put the chocolate dessert in his mouth, crossed his arms and looked at Damion with dissatisfaction.

“What’s the matter?”

“What were you planning to do if Rozel didn’t cooperate? You could have put me in danger too, since I brought him.”

Damion smiled slightly and lowered his eyes. He answered leisurely.

“That wouldn’t have happened.”

“You’re full of confidence. Weren’t you worried he might go to the duke after seeing how nervous he was when he came in?”

“Do you think a man who’s that nervous would have the guts to tell the duke about such a big matter?”

“Hmm……”

“He’s a cautious person in everything. He avoids standing at the center of things, and tries to avoid taking big risks even if the returns are great. You can see it from how he feared being noticed by the duke on his way here, and how he showed resistance to any support greater than just a signature.”

“Well… he’s not a man of great ambition.”

Count Rozel was a timid person compared to the weight of his position in the council of elders. It was evident from how he had managed his county and conducted business so far.

“Such a person wouldn’t go out of his way to reveal everything to the duke. Even if he doesn’t support you.”

Damion nodded. Sitting comfortably on the velvet sofa and drinking coffee, he exuded an air of composure.

Duke Bellow looked at Damion with interest filling his eyes.

The weak little boy who used to be so preoccupied with reading the room had grown up to know how to manipulate the elders.

Feeling somewhat pleased, Bellow laughed heartily.

The Orphe ducal residence was located in the center of the capital, about a 30-minute carriage ride from Northwedden Street where Damion’s mansion was.

Ansi entered the Orphe garden.

Marianne’s tea party was held in the garden full of blooming flowers. At the beginning of summer, the well-tended flowers were showing off their freshness even more vibrantly.

At the center of that splendid garden, about twenty nobles were gathered, laughing merrily. It seemed the party had been going on for quite some time.

But Ansi hesitated when she saw them.

Something was off.