Chapter 268 The Secret Talk of a Couple
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After finishing his meeting with Neil, Marquis Rubal returned to the room he had reserved in advance.
As he sat on the bed, the woman accompanying him took out a magic tool resembling an incense burner from her bag and placed it on the side table. Shortly after, the tool swelled, and light overflowed, covering the entire room. Once she confirmed the effect, she turned to Marquis Rubal.
”You can start talking now.”
”Hah… While it’s necessary to satisfy my own desires, hiding my identity is quite constricting.”
”There’s no helping it. If word got out that you left your territory, those with ill intentions would start swarming.”
Saying this, the woman sat beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder with familiarity. Until now, she had behaved like a servant, and Diana had never realized her true identity since she had never seen her face. But this woman was actually Marquis Rubal’s wife.
At first, Marquis Rubal would go out incognito alone, but his wife, well-known for her love of food, couldn’t tolerate her husband sneaking out by himself. In the end, they began going out together, both in disguise. Of course, guards were stationed out of sight, and though he had yet to formally hand over the family headship, he had been gradually passing down responsibilities to his son over the years. Taking a few days off was no issue.
”By the way, is that the heir of the Count Atmiras family?”
”He was just as I heard. When I first listened to the story, I thought it was just the nonsense of that baby-faced old man.”
”Viscount Hedmar isn’t the type to tell meaningless lies, is he?”
”Yeah, he only tells lies with meaning. I know that all too well.”
Marquis Rubal furrowed his brow as he replied.
It was Viscount Hedmar who had spoken to him about Neil. Their connection went back twelve years, to when Marquis Rubal had just inherited his family estate. At that time, Viscount Hedmar had approached him with a proposal to start a business together.
Though he called it “together,” it was nothing more than a shady deal where all the troublesome parts were handled by Viscount Hedmar, while Marquis Rubal only had to provide funds and his name. Naturally, Marquis Rubal was wary—his partner was an imperial noble, after all. However, back then, he had been young and arrogant, convinced that his rank placed him above Hedmar.
Surely, a mere viscount wouldn’t dare deceive a marquis.
He assumed Hedmar was just trying to curry favor, hoping to be remembered favorably.
But in the end, Marquis Rubal had been thoroughly deceived. He found himself completely shut out of the business they were supposedly co-managing, which was now monopolized by Viscount Hedmar. When he confronted him about it, Hedmar had bluntly responded—without the slightest hint of remorse—that all he had asked for was “to start a business together.” He never said anything about “co-managing it.”
It had been a bitter lesson right after taking over the family estate. Yet, in an ironic way, being deceived was both unfortunate and fortunate.
Viscount Hedmar prioritized survival in noble society. While he aimed for profit, he never pursued it excessively. He had taken what he could but hadn’t bled Marquis Rubal dry. If he had been a greedier noble, he might have siphoned off one or two interests along the way. Instead, he had even returned a token amount of compensation later.
In that sense, it was fortunate that the one who deceived him had been Viscount Hedmar.
Marquis Rubal had learned a valuable lesson from the experience. And though he was grateful for it, it didn’t change the fact that he had been deceived. To him, Viscount Hedmar was both a mentor who had taught him what imperial nobles were truly like and a sworn enemy. A complicated relationship indeed.
While they maintained a cordial front, Marquis Rubal never forgot his grudge. One day, he would settle things.
This time, during his secret visit to Viscount Hedmar’s mansion, he had heard about Neil.
”I wonder how someone like that came to be. I, too, underestimated imperial nobles in my youth, but that guy is even softer. I wonder why Dirac never tried to correct his son.”
”Is that really his true nature? I can hardly believe it.”
”I know how you feel. As an imperial noble, he’s unusual—or rather, regardless of status, he’s unlike anyone else.”
Marquis Rubal had looked into Neil even before hearing about him from Viscount Hedmar. But it wasn’t just him.
Anyone would be curious about someone who had developed item boxes and alchemical fertilizers, someone even called a favorite of His Majesty the Emperor. Especially if that person was another imperial noble.
Yet, no matter how much Marquis Rubal searched, he found nothing suspicious.
”I’ve seen so many lies from imperial nobles, so I know. That one is real. And even if it’s a lie, if he can fake it that perfectly, we won’t be able to expose it no matter how hard we try. There’s no point in doubting something we can’t even see through—it’s more rational to assume it’s the truth.”
”That may be so, but even then…”
”To be so honest, even when faced with suspicion—it seems utterly foolish, doesn’t it? That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
”…But I still don’t understand. Why do you and Viscount Hedmar so readily accept his answer?”
”Readily, you say?” Marquis Rubal let out a dry laugh. “I felt like I’d been hit on the head with a club three or four times when I finally understood. How did Dirac even come up with such a thing?”
”So, what is the real intention behind his words? I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday, but I couldn’t come up with an answer that would satisfy you.”
”There is no hidden intention behind them. He’s simply voicing his hope that ‘it would be like that.’ He doesn’t understand his own future path.”
”His own future path?”
”To understand that, you first need to accurately grasp his current situation. Let me explain it step by step.”
For his wife, who didn’t yet comprehend Neil’s circumstances, Marquis Rubal began his explanation.
”First, consider the fact that, even when facing an imperial noble, he acts so honestly—a suicidal action, if you will. And yet, the results aren’t as disastrous as everyone imagines.”
”Why? If you keep showing weakness before an imperial noble, wouldn’t they take everything from you?”
”If he were truly an imperial noble, that would be the case. But he’s only an adult—he hasn’t inherited the headship. He acts like a lord, but he has no real authority. His situation is similar to our son’s, though with some differences.”
”Because he’s only given a little authority, he’s unconfined. But because of that, even if he’s deceived, it won’t be fatal.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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