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"Aaaah! Let go of me, ugh...!"
Feidan was practically dragged to Duke Zahir's mansion by Deon's men.
The men roughly shoved Feidan into the drawing room and closed the door.
Left alone, Feidan bit his lip and racked his brain.
'This time, he'll definitely demand the interest... What should I do?'
Lost in thought, he suddenly felt a strong floral scent.
It was coming through the open window.
'Wait, this is the second floor, isn't it? If I jump from here...'
Feidan hurriedly went to the window and looked around.
But the walls were high and the guards were strict, so even if he managed to jump safely to the first floor, escape would be impossible.
Giving up on running away, he was trying to think of an excuse to postpone the interest payment when:
"It's hard to get a glimpse of your face, Duke."
The drawing room door opened, and Deon appeared. He was wearing a nightgown, as if he had been in the mansion all along.
"Y-Your Highness."
"Why are you lingering by the window? Why don't you sit down and wait comfortably?"
Afraid that his intention to escape might be discovered, Feidan hurriedly turned around and sat down.
Then, cautiously watching Deon's expression, he carefully began to speak.
"I thought you were resting, and I'm not sure if I'm disturbing you."
"Indeed. If you had paid the interest on the promised date, I wouldn't have had to call you here now."
Feidan had expected the topic of money to come up, but he was startled that Deon went straight to the point.
"I-I'm sorry. I was so preoccupied that I forgot..."
"Then the interest is prepared, I presume?"
"That is... I don't have any cash available right now..."
"So, you don't have the ability to pay the interest?"
"I-I put everything I had into this business, all my liquid assets. So..."
"And you failed. So miserably that you can't even pay the interest, let alone the principal."
"..."
"It's unfortunate that things didn't work out, but what can I do? I'm not exactly printing money myself."
Feidan hung his head low.
He had never had his pride trampled on so openly by another person in his entire life.
His whole body trembled with humiliation, but the most painful thing was...
That he couldn't argue with those words.
Swallowing the boiling emotions, Feidan pried open his lips, which refused to move, and pleaded with Deon.
"Please give me a little more time. As you know, it takes time to sell assets. If you give me about four days, I will definitely repay you..."
"Duke. Do you think you're the only one who has said that to me?"
The monotonous voice landed chillingly on Feidan's head.
"The endings of those who said that were all boringly similar."
"..."
"In the end, they couldn't handle the debt, ran away, got caught, had their assets seized, and lived lives worse than death, wandering the streets."
Feidan instinctively felt it.
He wanted to refute those words, he wanted to deny them.
But if things continued like this, his ending would not be much different from the people in Deon's story.
"I... I will be different. Just give me a little more time!"
"You have to be different. You should be. It would be unfair for you, who has worked so hard, to meet such an end. Especially since the woman who betrayed you is doing so well."
At Deon's words, Feidan naturally thought of Leticia.
The culprit who had driven him to such a miserable downfall.
Seeing Feidan's distorted face, Deon sighed as if he felt sorry for him.
"So... I was thinking of making you an offer."
An offer?
Feidan looked at Deon with questioning eyes.
"Meet Lady Chloe at the upcoming hunting festival and persuade her."
He was bewildered by the name that suddenly came out.
"Leticia...?"
"The two of you, I haven't heard that you've officially gotten divorced yet. So wouldn't it be possible for a wife to pay off her husband's debt?"
At that moment, he recalled Leticia's reaction when they met at the cafe earlier.
"In the end, the reason you ended up like this is your own fault."
There was no way that Leticia would willingly pay off his debt.
Just as he was about to answer that it was impossible to persuade Leticia, Deon added:
"Ah, of course, if you can't persuade her with words, you'll have to use some force."
Feidan paused at the word "force."
'To persuade her with force... Could it be...'
Was it the meaning he thought it was?
"Force, as in...?"
Deon clicked his tongue as if he was pathetic.
"Do I really have to tell you even that? Or is it that you're feeling guilty because it's not gentlemanly?"
Only then did Feidan realize the meaning of "force" that he was talking about, and his eyes wavered aimlessly.
"Think carefully. That woman is a villain who has betrayed you, who has been considerate of her even at this moment, and has given you all kinds of insults."
"..."
"If you're the only one who's keeping your faith, it just means you're being a pushover."
Feidan's eyes, which had been quietly listening to Deon's story, gradually settled.
As he said, he would only be pitied if he continued like this.
Leticia, who had abandoned him, would be successful.
As soon as that thought occurred to him, anger surged up and his teeth gnashed.
Deon, who had been watching the scene, smiled with satisfaction and threw the last bait.
"So, will you accept my offer?"
Deon watched Feidan's carriage depart and left the drawing room.
A satisfied smile hung on his lips as he headed to the bedroom.
"It turned out as she said."
Deon arrived at the bedroom and entered, and 'she' greeted him.
"Welcome back, Your Highness?"
It was Elise.
As if she had been waiting, she strode up to Deon and asked, hugging him.
"Did Feidan understand Your Highness's offer?"
"Yes. It's all as you said. At first, he was hesitating stupidly, so I poked at him a little, and he quickly made up his mind."
Deon had planned to deal with Ludian at this hunting festival.
But after the Founding Day incident, Idris was keeping a close eye on his actions.
As it was, there was a high probability that the plan would fail.
Then, he thought of a way to divert Idris's attention.
What if he put his lover, Leticia, in danger?
If such a situation arose, Idris would naturally be distracted by Leticia, and there would inevitably be a loophole in Ludian's protection.
Just as he was planning to bring down Leticia.
The tea party incident broke out.
The enemy of my enemy can be my friend.
Deon did not miss the opportunity and brought Elise, who was harboring resentment against Leticia, and.
Elise did her part.
"Use Feidan Farnese, Your Highness."
"...Duke Farnese?"
"That guy is full of inferiority towards that woman, Leticia Chloe."
"Aha."
"If you corner him and tell him that Leticia Chloe is the cause of all his problems, he'll come around quickly."
The plan went exactly as she said.
He was able to put Leticia in danger without using his own hands.
"By the way, wouldn't it be nice to say hello to your former lover, even if it's just a quick one?"
Then Elise's eyes turned cold.
"Oh, come on. How many times have I told you? I'm ashamed of my past self for believing in that guy."
Elise snuggled into Deon's arms and whispered.
"I only have Your Highness now, my Emperor."
Deon leisurely embraced the woman who was clinging to him.
Since it had gone according to her plan, he could afford to be kind for a moment.
The day of the hunting festival dawned.
Idris and I put on matching riding outfits that Amon had made especially for today and got into the carriage.
The increasingly humid weather was stifling.
I opened the window and drew back the curtains, and a cool breeze filled the carriage.
And the scenery of the forest, which was lush and green as if showing off summer.
As I was quietly looking around, a gentle voice, like a summer breeze, came from nearby.
"The weather is nice. It's good weather for my disciple to show off her skills."
"Disciple?"
"I'm talking about my disciple, whom I've been teaching horseback riding diligently for a while."
Idris's gaze was directed at me as he said that.
Only then did I realize the meaning, and I chuckled and replied.
"I will try my best to live up to my teacher's expectations."
While exchanging silly jokes with Idris as usual, the carriage arrived at the Imperial hunting grounds.
As I got out of the carriage with Idris's escort, the gazes of the nobles who had arrived earlier were all directed towards us.
And, mixed among them, was Feidan's gaze.
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