𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐: 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
When Stephan returned from the royal capital, he was confronted not by his beloved mistress – or rather, his newly wedded wife Owenna, but by his sister Cassie, who was standing defiantly with her face flushed red.
He remembered receiving a letter from Chloe stating that they had divorced. Had she come here after reading Chloe’s letter?
“Hey Nee-san. What the.”
“Never mind that. Come to the office right away.”
He was taken aback by the sight of his sister stomping into the room.
“Good grief, even though I’m the master of this house now, how long is she going to act so high and mighty. . .”
Sighing, Stephan headed to the office with heavy steps.
“Even though I’m saying I’m tired, she. . .”
The truth is.
Since driving Chloe out, Stephan had been surprisingly busy.
Until now, he had left all the housekeeping to his mother, and after her death, to Chloe, who was his wife.
He had thought that the housekeeping done by the mistress of the house was not a big deal, but there were more small tasks to do than he had imagined.
From charity to the villagers, responding to requests, dealing with sudden visits from nobles, accommodating pilgrims, regular inspections of the mansion, organizing documents, letters, ordering gifts, personnel affairs of the servants, dealing with troubles, managing the vigilante group, and so on – there were countless tasks that Chloe had been involved in.
He had thought that even Owenna, who had no education or culture, could manage the housekeeping as long as there were servants to keep the house, but his foresight was short.
So, the troubled Stephan had just solved most of Chloe’s work by leaving it to the servant she had left behind――Simon.
He was a man who had originally served as the house steward of the Count Maclouge family, and since he had been watching Chloe’s work from the sidelines, he took over Chloe’s work without hesitation.
It was a pleasant miscalculation for Stephan that he, who had come to Chloe from the Count Maclouge family, stayed in the Strelitzi family even after he broke off relations with Chloe.
Why did he stay?
Probably because there was no benefit in following a woman who had been disowned with nothing but the clothes on her back.
Stephan had only thought about the reason why Simon stayed in the Strelitzi family to that extent.
Unaware that it was calling hell.
・・・
『”𝕬𝖜𝖊𝖇𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘.𝖈𝖔𝖒” – 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖆 𝖈𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊, 𝖕𝖆𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖆𝖉𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊, 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓𝖉𝖚𝖑𝖌𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖆 𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖘𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 “𝖉𝖆𝖎𝖑𝖞 𝖚𝖕𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘” 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖊𝖝𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖆𝖈𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖙𝖔 “𝖆𝖉𝖛𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘”.』
・・・
ーーAbout an hour later.
In the office were Cassie, her face red, and Stephan, his face pale.
“We absolutely won’t help! You have to do something about it!”
Cassie, her face red with anger, yelled and threw documents at her brother Stephan.
Stephan tried to retort to his sister’s violence, but he just clenched his jaw and closed his mouth. His hands on the office desk were clenched so hard that they changed color, and his sweaty palms were dampening the desk.
Beside the siblings were the steward, who couldn’t lift his face from the carpet, and the young servant.
Stephan directed his irritation at the document.
“I can’t believe Simon would go this far. . .”
“It’s not that you were tricked, it’s because you didn’t read the contract properly. . . Because you just casually signed it!”
Remembering the expressionless old butler with his monocle, Stephan gritted his teeth.
Chloe, who owned neither land nor property, agreed to the divorce and left the house with nothing but herself.
It was a trap.
With the death of the previous Count Maclouge, the land of Maclouge, which had become unmanageable by Chloe’s brother, the current Count Cerrado, had become the territory of the Strelitzi family.
It seemed natural that the Strelitzi family, where Chloe, who was of Maclouge blood, had married, and whose territory was adjacent, would inherit it.
On the land of the Maclouge family, there was a magic stone mine.
The magic stone mine is, in principle, state property, except for the special case of the Margrave related to national defense.
The lord who manages it is entrusted with the management of the mine by the country, and all magic stones exceeding the amount allowed as management fees must be paid to the country.
In other words, managing a magic stone mine is a hassle, and it doesn’t directly bring profit to the territory. That’s why Stephan had been dismissive of it.
However.
Among the property management documents, Stephan had overlooked a small sentence. It was written in a document based on the national magic stone mine management law.
[The management of the magic stone mine is delegated to (a) a nationally recognized magic power holder or (b) a nobleman or his male spouse listed in the royal family’s magic stone mine miner list. If a person who does not fall under either (a) or (b) becomes the manager of the magic stone mine, they shall pay a quality guarantee fee based on the calculation in Table 12.]
Looking at the amount of the compensation in Table 12, Stephan broke out in a cold sweat. It was an amount that even the annual income of the Count Strelitzi family could not cover. Moreover, only payment within the deadline was accepted.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, there’s no way such a ridiculous law exists.”
In modern society, unlike hundreds of years ago, magic power is a rare special ability. Most families with magic power holders rarely produce people with abilities. In such a modern age, magic stones are an important resource.
It was a bolt from the blue for Stephan, who had lived forgetting the importance of magic power holders.
There are no nationally recognized magic power holders among the relatives close to the Count Strelitzi family.
The closest one, or rather, the one who was closest, was Chloe’s brother.
“I’ve never heard of Chloe being a magic power holder. . . And yet, just because someone of that bloodline is the manager, there was no need for a quality guarantee fee. . .”
“What are you going to do? You’re the one who signed the property division and divorce papers. At this rate, the Count Strelitzi family will have no choice but to go bankrupt.”
“Hey, help me out.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m already married. You have to do something about it.”
In his panic, Stephan remembered something crucial.
“Wait. Where’s Simon?!”
The pale servants looked at each other and then tilted their heads.
“Come to think of it. . . I thought he was here this morning. . .”
“Find him!!! Find that damn old man!!!!”
Stephan shouted.
“Find that old man and make him spit out a solution. Then get Chloe back. At any rate, even if she’s just for show, I want her to come back to this house.”
Stephan, his sister Cassie, and the servants were all in a panic.
They had completely overlooked the fact that Owenna, who had taken the position of the main wife, had not shown herself since morning.
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