The reason the nobles had changed their tune, and why he suddenly had to move to secure a marriage, was entirely due to the Regent, Empress Dowager Ilina.
"What can we do? The Empress Dowager has threatened to completely annihilate any noble family that joins hands with you, Mikhail."
Igor sighed and shook his head.
It was not as if the Empress Dowager had been at odds with Mikhail from the beginning. On the contrary, the two were closer to business partners. Mikhail wanted to sweep away the nobles who obstructed him at every turn, and the Empress Dowager, too, wanted to clear out the existing nobility to seize true, substantive power.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They hadn't exchanged spies or signed formal agreements, but Mikhail dealt with the nobles who hindered him using the forces the Empress Dowager supported from the shadows, while she used the power she had regained to handle those who stood in her way.
Thanks to this, the two were unstoppable. Now, as Regent, the Empress Dowager was effectively the Emperor of the Novgod Empire. Mikhail, having cleared away all the nobles who had coveted his wealth and obstructed him, expanded his business without restraint. Up to this point, it had been fine.
"They say you boil the hunting dog once the hunt is over, but she is quite impatient. To think she would forget who brought the gun into her hands."
Having finished off the nobles, the Empress Dowager began to harbor grand ambitions. The ambition to build a stronger Imperial family and Empire. Achieving such dreams required passion and money. However, the Imperial treasury was not particularly flush. Eventually, the Empress Dowager began to desire money from outside the Imperial family. Specifically, Mikhail’s money.
True to her ambitious nature, once she set a goal, she moved energetically. In an instant, several of Mikhail’s businesses were hamstrung. Under various trumped-up charges, they were seized by the Imperial family.
Perhaps it was because she had tasted the sweetness of wealth. The Empress Dowager began to covet Mikhail’s businesses even more. Naturally, Mikhail had no intention of sitting idly by and handing them over. And so, he made up his mind. He would bite the master who did not know the grace of the dog.
He could not afford a misstep. Mikhail knew it was time for him to step forward personally, lead the nobles, and decisively sever the Empress Dowager’s reach.
But there was a problem. No matter how much money he had, his status was still merely that of a commoner. This created limitations when it came to mingling directly among the nobility. From the issue of not even being able to enter the Senate where nobles gathered, to the requirement of having to kneel when a high-ranking noble was present.
That was why Mikhail decided he had to obtain a title.
There were only two ways for him to obtain a title. Either revive and inherit the defunct Count Vorontsov title, or marry the daughter of a family that no longer had a male heir and inherit the title through her.
Naturally, the former was impossible. The Empress Dowager would never allow that title to be revived. Therefore, the only remaining method was for him to marry the daughter of a noble house.
Predictably, the Empress Dowager stepped in to interfere. She dangled both carrots and sticks before every family that considered marrying their daughter to Mikhail to help him inherit a title.
She told them not to accept Mikhail’s proposal, promising to share many of the Imperial family's assets if they complied. But if they joined hands with Mikhail, she would use all her power to make an example of them and leave them ruined.
In the end, the nobles decided to wait and see how the situation unfolded. Because of that, the marriage proposals from noble houses that had been coming to Mikhail stopped completely. Mikhail did not give up and began searching for a family that could hand over the title he desired.
That was when he received contact from the Count Lauderdale family.
*Knock, knock.*
At the sound of the knock, Igor approached the door, asked who it was, and opened it. The person who entered was the subordinate Mikhail had sent to the Count Lauderdale estate.
"It has been a while, Mikhail."
"You’ve worked hard, Yuri."
"Hard work? It was such an easy task that it felt like a vacation."
"An easy task? Examining the finances of a Count’s estate?"
To Mikhail’s probing remark, Yuri shook his head with a smile.
"How impressive could the finances of a Count’s estate on the verge of bankruptcy possibly be?"
Yuri was the man who helped Mikhail with his accounting. To someone like Yuri, the finances of a Count’s estate that possessed nothing but its land were not just easy—they were tedious.
"Right. Having seen it for yourself, how is the Count Lauderdale family?"
"It’s a mess. It seems the Countess managed it herself after the Count died and the heir was conscripted, but... the Countess, having never properly learned management, just did whatever the accountants and lawyers told her to do. She handed over all the important assets to the Empress Dowager, and the person she trusted to manage the household gambled away even the remaining real estate. So now, the only things of value are the Edenhurst estate and the mansion. But even those are held as collateral for bank loans, so there is effectively nothing left. Just before I arrived, they were struggling to afford not only meals for the servants but even firewood for the winter."
Yuri continued to list the things he had done since arriving at the estate. Mikhail, who had been listening for a while, asked Yuri a question while eating the simple meal Igor had brought.
"Fine, let’s leave the state of the estate’s finances at that. What kind of people are the members of the Count’s family?"
"First, Countess Ariana Lauderdale is... well, she is the very definition of a noble."
That was not a compliment. Yuri let out a long, weary sigh.
"You know how it is. That obsession nobles have with etiquette. Even on the day I visited, she looked at me and found every possible fault. She elegantly turned her words to imply that if she weren't in such a difficult situation, she would never have let a man like me into the mansion’s drawing room, even if it killed her."
At Yuri’s description, Mikhail gave a bitter smile.
"To think a woman like that is trying to sell her daughters to a man like me. Just how deep must her resentment toward the Empress Dowager be?"
"Don't even ask. As soon as I cautiously brought up the subject of her dead son, she started crying and went on and on about what an angelic appearance he had, what a wonderful character he possessed, and what outstanding talent he had, before speaking of her resentment toward the Empress Dowager without even trying to hide it. Well, it certainly seems the Empress Dowager targeted the Edenhurst estate and got rid of the heir. The Countess looks like she would stab the Empress Dowager right now if you just handed her a knife..."
"Yuri."
Igor, who had been listening, called his name as if to tell him to lower his voice, and Yuri waved his hand to show he understood. There was a need to be careful, as someone sent by the Empress Dowager might be nearby.
"Fine. Let’s leave the Countess at that. What about the daughters?"
"The eldest, Lady Elizabeth, is quite a beauty. I heard that when she debuted in the social circles of the Imperial Palace, she had quite a few suitors. But she didn't like any of them and turned them all down. And the second, Lady Catherine, is known for being lively and warm-hearted. They say that since she was young, she often visited the village to donate to the orphanage or help those in need. Of course, it seems she stopped after the family’s fortunes declined."
"..."
At Yuri’s words, Mikhail glanced briefly at the shoe he had left on the floor. Donating to the poor, he thought. Then, did she give that shoe to someone else a long time ago?
"And the third..."
"Wait, the third? There is a third daughter in that house?"
Mikhail asked, puzzled. In the initial documents he received, he had been reported that there were only two daughters in that house. But a third? Was there an error in the documents he had been given?
"Ah, she is not the Countess’s biological daughter. About ten years ago, the former Count brought back a young girl from somewhere and adopted her. Her name is Anastasia Lauderdale."
"Anastasia."
An adopted daughter brought back by the former Count who uses the Novgod name. It was obvious without looking what kind of treatment that woman must be receiving.
"Yes. Lady Anastasia is..."
"That’s enough about her."
Mikhail cut Yuri off. An adopted daughter was not a Lauderdale daughter he needed to concern himself with. He would have to choose between Elizabeth or Catherine anyway. It would be better to hear one more piece of information about the Countess’s daughters than to listen to stories about a useless woman.
Mikhail thought as he listened to the rest of Yuri’s report. He pondered which of the Lauderdale daughters would be more advantageous to him.
*** The next morning, Anastasia quietly scraped the bottom of her bowl with a spoon. Even though the soup was long gone, she continued to pretend she was eating. It was because of the conversation drifting over from the servants nearby.
"That new master they were talking about yesterday? They say he’s incredibly wealthy."
"He must be. How else would he be able to acquire Edenhurst?"
The rumors about the new master she had heard yesterday were growing, gaining more specific details with each telling.
"Then does that mean the Countess and the young ladies are moving elsewhere?"
"No, that’s not it. They say the new master is going to marry one of the young ladies and inherit the title of Count Lauderdale."
At someone’s words, the servants nodded as if they understood. Even though they were not members of the Lauderdale family themselves, they looked genuinely pleased.
Most servants in noble households took their master’s honor as their own. It was only natural, as their own treatment depended on which family they served. The servants had ears, too; they knew that those with the right to inherit the Lauderdale name had refused the succession because they could not handle the family’s debts. They also knew that if the two Lauderdale daughters married into other families and took their husbands' names, the House of Lauderdale would effectively cease to exist.
That would be a problem for them. If the family they served vanished, it meant their own employment history would vanish along with it. But if the new master was willing to take on all that debt and continue the Count’s line, then they would be able to continue their peaceful lives just as before.
After chatting for a while, the servants cleared their bowls one by one and headed upstairs. A moment later, Anastasia was the only one left in the kitchen.
Anastasia picked up her bowl and approached the sink.
"Ah..."
A sharp, throbbing pain in her sole forced a groan from her lips. It seemed the wound on her foot from yesterday had reopened. Anastasia lifted her skirt slightly to examine it.
She saw her right foot, which was wearing her left shoe. As luck would have it, the foot that had lost its shoe yesterday was the one that was injured. Even with the slightest movement, the wound would tear open and bleed. She had tried binding it with cloth, but as she walked, the blood would quickly seep through and stain it. Thus, Anastasia had been left with no choice but to wear her left shoe on her right foot.
Even in this situation, Anastasia was more worried about the shoe getting stained with blood than she was about her own foot. She had to hurry to the forest and take the shoe off.
Just as she finished washing her bowl and prepared to head upstairs, she heard footsteps, and the head maid, Sophie, entered the kitchen. Seeing Anastasia, she spoke in a blunt tone.
"The Countess is looking for you."
The bowl in Anastasia’s hand slipped, clattering into the sink.
0 Comments