Chapter 178
Chapter 178
Master of the Trade Route (15)
After the Grand Duke of the North returned to Nord.
I no longer had to watch my step and finally drew my sword.
The Duke had already narrowed down the final contenders to two.
At this point, for Echina to win his trust, she had to demonstrate clear skill in ‘traffic control’.
And by ‘traffic control’, I meant skillfully absorbing the defeated Edward.
That’s why I didn’t step in during the negotiation between Edward and Echina.
I simply watched to see how our future Grand Duke would handle her brother.
“……”
Echina stood with her hands behind her back, gazing at the night view of the now-dark city of Angde.
Her newly acquired office had been beautifully designed by skilled artisans.
But, true to her knightly nature, the Grand Duke’s daughter had little interest in such things.
She was probably…
Wrestling with a storm of pressure and doubt over whether she could truly become the head of the house.
To the point that it felt like those thoughts might pierce through her cold eyes and pale skin.
“Are you nervous?”
I asked, chewing on some nuts from the guest sofa.
Walnuts from the Nord Mountains had long been a famous delicacy.
“No. What’s so difficult about dealing with someone like Edward?”
Echina dropped her arms and crossed them over her chest.
But I knew.
I knew she was doing that to hide her uneasy hands.
“You’re the one who set the whole stage. If I can’t even follow through on that… then I’m not fit for the role.”
When the Grand Duke’s daughter turned to look at me, her neatly combed black hair danced softly.
Then she stepped closer, speaking like a knight making a solemn vow.
“Don’t worry. I can carry my weight just fine.”
“I’m not worried. If I didn’t trust you from the start, I wouldn’t have helped you, Lady Echina.”
With a satisfied smile, I placed a walnut in my palm.
And gently handed it to her.
“……”
Echina looked down at my face as I handed her the walnut.
Then, as if some amusing thought crossed her mind, her red lips twitched before she pressed them shut.
“Do I have something on my face?”
“No, it’s just…”
The Grand Duke’s daughter casually popped the walnut into her mouth.
After savoring the rich sweetness, she let out a deep breath.
Soon, both of us perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps toward our office.
――――――
“Grand Duke’s daughter, Young Lord Edward has arrived.”
The voice of the Black Knight’s successor came from outside.
In response, Echina answered in a tone more solemn than usual.
“Let him in.”
The moment she finished speaking, a tall man stepped inside.
A man with golden eyes like hers—and normally, a well-groomed mustache.
But today, for once, that familiar mustache was gone.
Edward appeared, clean-shaven, looking uncannily like his father.
“……”
His eyes went to Echina first, but quickly shifted to me.
He must’ve thought I was the one orchestrating this negotiation too.
“Nice office, Roger. Let me guess—did you butter up the Emperor to get this too?”
Edward gave a cynical smirk as he pointed toward the fireplace.
Elaborate gold carvings adorned the mantel, gleaming with artisanal precision.
“Can’t do anything on your own, can you? Always relying on someone’s help.”
It was a transparent tactic.
He was flaunting false bravado, trying to cover up how cornered he really was.
To a stranger, it might’ve looked pathetic—but it was instinctive negotiation technique.
“Let’s cut the small talk, Edward.”
But that didn’t work on Echina at all.
She stepped up, directly facing her brother, demanding he speak with her.
I simply sat with my legs crossed, popping walnuts into my mouth, paying him no attention.
“What’s the point? You’re just Roger’s puppet, aren’t you? I’ve got nothing to say to someone like you.”
Edward snapped, his voice rising—no surprise, given he was on the verge of losing everything.
But Echina reminded him, without hesitation, exactly who she was.
“Sure, that’s how it must look to you. A ‘puppet’.”
The Grand Duke’s daughter calmly looked up at her older relative, who was a head taller.
Then she placed her slender hand on his broad shoulder and said,
“But look at the state you’re in. You came crawling to that puppet.”
A powerful grip surged into her hand, lightning-quick.
Before long, the fine suit Edward had dressed himself in began to crumple under the pressure.
“Mark my words, Edward. Right now, you’re in no position to complain even if we made you kneel.”
“Urgh… Echina. You’re… turning against your own family…!”
The second son seemed deeply betrayed to see his younger sister side with me over her own blood.
But he had no right to feel betrayed.
After all, those kinds of feelings only belong to those who’ve given others reason to trust them.
“Sit down. And behave yourself.”
“……”
With a twisted expression, Edward slumped onto the sofa across from me.
Then Echina, regal as an empress, wiped her hand and returned to the head seat.
“You must’ve had plenty of time to think on your way here. About the future of the Fern territory.”
Without hesitation, the Grand Duke’s daughter dove straight into the heart of the matter.
I quietly watched her performance, like a wild animal peeking from a cave to observe something extraordinary.
“Right now, construction is at a full stop. If this drags out for over three months, the sunk costs will pile up. And after six months? They’ll snowball.”
Drawing on her studies and calculations, Echina slowly tightened the noose around Edward’s neck.
“There are only two choices. You can try to hold out, using funds from the Luton arms dealer until the Imperial investigation—however long that may take—is over… or, you can walk away.”
Edward let out a scornful snort.
He glared intensely at the reflection of his sister’s impassive face on the surface of the teacup.
“You think I can’t last a few months? I guess you’re still a rookie—you’re underestimating the scale of the Luton Arms Dealer.”
The Grand Duke’s daughter instinctively sensed that he was staring her down.
But even so, she didn’t show the slightest hint of discomfort.
“Sure, you could endure. But—”
She knew perfectly well that she currently held the upper hand.
And more importantly, she knew exactly how to make the most of that position.
“Thanks to that, your position as CEO of the main office is about to take a serious hit.”
“That role was given to me directly by Father. It doesn’t matter. My position isn’t so flimsy that it can be shaken by mere money.”
I couldn’t help but scoff aloud at that.
At once, the already irritable Edward shot me a deadly glare—like a predator sizing up prey.
“Is that so, Edward?”
But I wasn’t someone who’d flinch at that.
Like a small creature well aware that a giant beast can’t fit into its burrow, I simply tilted my head.
“You’re right—your appointment by the Grand Duke gives you a solid claim to tradition. But didn’t Father also say this?”
Edward’s brows furrowed deeply.
To press the point, I gently pressed between my own eyebrows as if to smooth out his.
“If my child makes a poor decision, the board of directors has the right to hold them accountable.”
And by “accountable,” it was fully understood that it could include stripping him of power.
Edward knew that just as well as I did.
“You poured the main office’s funds into a massive project you launched without approval? Especially now, when the old founding contributors are already on edge over tax evasion issues—they won’t let that slide so easily.”
Backed by my support, Echina delivered a cold blow.
“You’re going to lose even your last bowl of rice, Edward.”
Perhaps it was that brutal assessment from a younger sister who had entered the family business much later than he did.
The second son finally seemed to grasp the full weight of his situation.
For a moment, he was at a loss for words—unable to say a thing.
He simply lowered his head and let out a deep breath.
To me, that sigh sounded like the bitter exhale of a disgraced predator, ousted from the hunt.
“I’m giving you a chance right now. A chance to repay the consequences of what you so carelessly set into motion.”
Echina was right.
The Fern territory, with construction halted, had become a cancerous mass—neither this nor that, just stuck.
To minimize the losses, it had to be dealt with, one way or another.
“Hand Fern over to me. I’ll pay you a fair price.”
“……”
Buying a sunk cost mess with halted construction?
Edward lifted his head and stared blankly at his sister.
“What’s your game? You want to buy Fern as it is now?”
Once again, the guy turned his gaze toward me.
“Roger, is this another one of your devious schemes?”
“A scheme? You’re acting like I’m causing trouble when I’m offering you a lifeline.”
I shrugged.
Then gestured toward Echina, as if to say, ‘Talk among your own family.’
“I’ll tell you how I plan to handle Fern if you agree to the offer. But that’s not the priority right now, is it?”
Echina walked over to the desk.
She handed Edward a neatly prepared sheet of cream-colored paper.
A transfer contract.
It stated plainly that she would acquire the Fern territory for the full amount he had already invested.
“You’re really offering the exact amount I spent.”
“If you submit an honest expenditure report, that is.”
Despite the fairness of the offer, the second son didn’t look pleased.
After all, if construction finished successfully, Fern would bring in ten times that amount in profit.
But that was only if it was completed.
In his current state, where the project was at a standstill, he had no real options.
“Damn it…”
Having said everything she needed to say, Echina glanced in my direction.
A look that silently asked whether he’d accept our proposal.
I responded by winking one eye, signaling her not to worry.
‘He’ll choose us in the end.’
I looked down at his shoes.
Polished to a mirror shine in Oxford style, not a speck of dust in sight.
Even though he had come from outside, they were so pristine—it meant he’d stopped somewhere.
That place was likely Eric’s office, where he’d gone to negotiate earlier.
The eldest son was so obsessive about appearance it bordered on compulsion.
Seeing Edward disheveled must have bothered him enough that he ordered someone to shine the man’s shoes.
It was a small detail, something only a former secretary like me would catch.
At any rate, Eric probably cornered him with harsh conditions.
‘Which means I need to win him over with mercy, all the more.’
Edward, clearly burning inside, raised the teacup reflecting his irritating sister’s face and downed it in one gulp.
Then, awkwardly wiped the corners of his mouth now that they were neat again.
“Echina, you’re not going to ask for anything more… right?”
“Of course not. I swear on my honor as a knight.”
This was where Echina’s strength shone.
She may have been a latecomer to the family business, but her background as a knight gave her credibility.
Her image of honesty offered even her enemies a strange sense of relief.
“Fine… Let’s do it.”
Edward pressed a hand to his forehead and used the other to sign the contract.
Then, Echina raised a finger and gave her relative one last order.
“There’s just one condition.”
The second son looked up at his sister with an icy stare, wearing a “I knew it” expression.
But he soon realized that her demand was no ordinary one—and his expression softened.
“Luca, the boy who gave you the mithril. Apologize to him first.”
That one final request from Echina only reinforced her knightly beliefs all the more in Edward’s eyes.
“Take responsibility for the treatment of the workers who trusted you and gave you that mithril.”
“……”
Perhaps he realized then that he was handing over the territory to someone truly trustworthy. Edward closed his eyes.
And then, in a voice far more sincere than his usual cynicism, he made a promise.
“I will. I’ll see to them first thing when I return.”
With that, following Freya, even Edward was finally brought under control.
Only then did I rise from my seat and walk toward the office wall.
“You may come out now.”
As I spoke those strange words toward the wall, the second son gave me a blank stare.
“……?”
Sharp knocks echoed through the office.
Not long after, sounds of movement came from the next room.
And then, the owner of those footsteps opened the door and entered.
“You—!!”
Edward’s lip twitched, as though he’d just come face to face with his worst enemy.
And in truth, he had.
Because the one who had been waiting next door for our negotiation to conclude was none other than the Imperial Inspection Team's chief investigator—the one who had brought about his downfall.
“Have you finished?”
“Yes. The management rights for Fern territory have been transferred to Lady Echina.”
A sharp-featured middle-aged woman.
She glanced at Edward, then walked past him without a care.
“We’ll proceed with construction according to proper procedures. Please pass on the word to His Majesty.”
Like a sly court official, I gave her a serpentine smile and shook her hand.
Then politely introduced Echina.
“If the faithful Black Knight is the one leading us, we feel all the more confident. I’ll report back promptly to ensure everything wraps up smoothly.”
The sight of the very inspector who’d once tightened a noose around his neck now being dealt with in a single stroke—
Edward stood there, jaw agape.
“Since you’re here, why not stay for a meal? A fine restaurant recently opened nearby.”
“Haha, thank you. That sounds lovely.”
The once-grim reaper-like investigator now smiled warmly, chatting pleasantly.
Watching this, Edward finally understood.
Unlike the princes he’d bowed to, Echina had forged an equal alliance.
Her standing had already long surpassed his own.
“Come on, join us, Brother.”
Echina, for once, called him Brother.
And with that, Edward, dazed for a moment, sprang up from the sofa.
“Y-yeah… sure.”
With the public matters settled, the look in his sister’s eyes had softened.
She had already become the future head of the family—someone who knew exactly how to draw a line between public and private.