Chapter 198
Chapter 198: The Master of the Trade Route (35)
「Gold Morning exclusive: Unauthorized export of the drug Anes uncovered on site.」
The front page of the newspaper featured an image of the dense forest near the southern border.
There, the Holy Knights were boldly shown arresting Count Anton and Chairman Lud.
「Count Anton testifies: Archduke Eric Luton was the true mastermind behind it all.」
Eric Luton's handsome face appeared right after.
Now, the entire nation knew his face.
「Imperial Security Force to summon Eric Luton for questioning today.」
Until now, no eldest son of the Grand Duke of the North had ever been summoned by the Imperial authority for an investigation.
He had achieved that dubious first.
“You sons of bitches…!!”
The hands holding the newspaper trembled.
Until now, he had never lost his sly smile, no matter the situation.
But finally snapping, he crumpled up the paper filled with his own face and threw it away.
“What the hell were those bastards doing?!”
Eric kicked the nearby shelf with violent force.
Trophies placed on top shook wildly and toppled over.
They were awards he had received over the years—ones his father had never even congratulated him for.
“……”
A bizarre ringing filled his ears.
A grating sound, like waves crashing in.
Eric knew what that wave was.
Investors in the new city built along the northern trade route would come flooding in to apply pressure.
Major shareholders at the Luton Construction general assembly would explode in fury.
And lastly, his father's face—looking down on him like he was an insect.
The tide of ruin, mouth wide open, was about to swallow him whole.
“I can’t go down like this…”
He clutched his forehead as if tearing it apart.
Through the gaps of his fingers, his golden eyes quivered.
“80 billion… If I can just come up with 80 billion gold…”
If he stepped down from his position as head of Luton Construction and liquidated everything he had accumulated so far, he could roughly gather that amount.
Besides, his father had already made it clear—the final heir would be chosen based solely on the success of the trade route’s new city.
‘I just have to get through this crisis…’
He hastily pulled out a crystal orb.
He was about to contact his connections stationed at the Imperial Palace to request a delay in the Security Force's summons—
When a knock sounded from beyond his office door, making him freeze.
――――――.
“Who is it?”
“This is Tobang, Your Grace.”
It was the newly appointed secretary, who had personally come.
Even though Eric had told him never to come unless summoned.
“What is it?”
“Well… His Grace the Grand Duke is here.”
As if the situation weren’t chaotic enough—now his father had come to see him.
Eric turned to the mirror in an effort to maintain his composure.
He tried his best to straighten his completely distorted face.
“I’ll be right out.”
「No need for that.」
The office door flung open.
Tobang, now visibly cowed, stepped back—
And in came Debier and the Grand Duke of the North, Duke Luton.
“…Father.”
Wearing a black coat over his classic suit—he was the Empire’s Black Lion.
With piercing golden eyes, he entered the office.
「You’ve really made a magnificent mess.」
“……”
Eric offered no response.
No matter what he said, Eric knew full well—there was no way to satisfy or persuade the Grand Duke of the North.
That man judged others solely by results.
「It was a good idea. Filling the shortfall in the new city with investments in the new drug—that's a refined method.」
Surprisingly, his father remained composed.
The Empire’s second-in-command, rather than condemning his son, was offering praise.
「Yes. If you're going to suppress Echina now, you’ll need to handle a project of that scale. You had the right eye for it. However...」
The Grand Duke fell silent for a moment.
He was neither knight nor mage, yet the air around him seemed to chill.
A suffocating silence, so heavy it was hard to breathe.
From within that stillness, Duke Luton stabbed straight into Eric’s chest.
「You have no sense of your place.」
No sense of place.
Did that mean he was beneath Echina, who had only just started in the family business?
He already knew his father didn’t think much of him, but to say something like that?
Eric’s pride, utterly crushed, made him bite down on his lower lip.
「Do you know what the difference is between you and Echina?」
“What is it?”
Eric asked, barely holding on to his rationality.
「She understands her place. She knows her own shortcomings and found someone trustworthy. And because of that, she succeeded.」
Roger came to Eric’s mind for a brief moment.
He, too, had made a separate alliance with that man, so he received his father's words with quiet composure.
「But you— You don’t trust anyone. And it’s not like you’re brilliant on your own, either.」
The Grand Duke continued his assessment of his eldest son—something he had quietly observed until now.
In the calm, businesslike tone of an executive, he laid bare Eric’s shameful flaws.
「Yet you’re still greedy. A leader with no competence, no discernment in people, and only an excess of ambition.」
“I’ll take responsibility for Royal Luton, no matter what.”
The eldest son didn’t back down easily.
He had invested the past 15 years into his education and business career; he couldn’t retreat now—he faced his father head-on.
But—
「And how exactly?」
The consequences of his greed were already far beyond his control.
「How do you plan to handle that debt-ridden city you inflated with your ambition?」
“……”
Eric had no answer to give at that moment.
Then, Duke Luton let out a deep sigh and murmured,
「That child would’ve found the answer immediately.」
“That child…? Echina only did well because she had a competent secretary. In the first place, the only reason she could even get this far was…”
As the eldest son argued his point, the Grand Duke looked at him with pity.
Then he spoke a name.
「You’re right. It was all thanks to Roger.」
Roger Julius.
From secretary trainee to the greatest businessman in Nord.
Then, he backed the Grand Duke’s daughter and turned her into the strongest competitor.
And, as if to put the final nail in the coffin...
「The child I mentioned earlier was Roger, too.」
Now, he was even reaching for the position of Grand Duke himself.
“You’re not saying… you trust Roger more than your own sons… are you?”
“The child he mentioned at the beginning wasn’t Echina.”
From the very beginning, the child the Grand Duke referred to had not been Echina.
Duke Luton had never been thinking of two people—he had been thinking of one.
「…….」
The Duke slowly closed his eyes.
Even while standing before his own flesh and blood, he was thinking of someone else.
「I devoted my entire life to our family business. I spent more time with it than with my own family.」
He took a pocket watch from the inner pocket of his jacket.
As if recalling the days when their family had collapsed, leaving behind nothing but the title of duke—
And how he had rebuilt the household alone.
「The family business gave me much. A beloved wife, and children who are the reward for all those years of effort.」
Luton looked gently at his firstborn.
With a solemn gaze stripped of any smile.
「Yes— you, Freya, Edward, Echina, and Ed.」
The Grand Duke had fully turned away from his eldest son.
「I do not want to watch this legacy collapse.」
Then, handing the pocket watch to Debier, he spoke.
「Therefore, the family will not go to you. Eric Luton.」
The Grand Duke exited the office first.
Only Debier remained, glancing back at Eric.
“His Grace has instructed that you attend the interrogation sincerely.”
But he, too, had nothing else to say.
All he did was warn Eric to take responsibility for everything he had caused.
The secretary who had protected the family for over 30 years simply walked away.
“…….”
Left alone, Eric stared blankly at the office door.
Only Tobang, the new secretary, remained there.
“Tobang.”
“Yes, Your Grace…”
The blond man stepped inside.
Then the silver-haired eldest son spoke, expressionless, stripped of emotion.
“Where is Roger Julius now?”
“He should be at the southern border. I believe he is being interrogated alongside Sir Lud…”
Eric’s eyes drifted toward the toppled trophies on the shelf.
There hung the shooting competition gold medal he’d won as a child.
It had been a nationwide event—many had congratulated him.
Everyone except his father.
“It’s his doing.”
The golden eyes beneath his silver hair gleamed chillingly.
After his father’s visit, he muttered with absolute certainty.
One man was trying to take everything from him.
“Only a handful of locals knew that smuggling line. Yet Holy Knights with no ties to the region appeared there.”
Eric slowly sat down in his office chair.
Resting his chin on the back of his hand, he spoke.
“Unless someone went down beforehand and mapped out the terrain, it would’ve been impossible.”
“…….”
Eric bit his lip irritably—because he had no such person at his side.
Then he stared directly at the obedient new secretary.
“Tobang, I give you an order.”
“…Please speak, Your Grace.”
A faint smile touched Eric’s lips.
“What are the chances an accident might occur on the path back for that man?”
“…Sir?”
Tobang reflexively asked back.
The eldest son’s expression twisted as he answered.
“Make sure something serious happens to him on his way back.”
After all—Tobang, too, had once bullied Roger in the past.
As he grew older and gradually matured, he had even come to quietly admire Roger, who had pulled ahead of him.
“But if you touch him now, people will suspect that you were behind it, Your Grace.”
“I’ve already lost Father’s trust. At this point, dragging down the one who rose above me is my best move.”
Tobang let out a deep sigh.
Knowing Eric’s ruthless nature all too well, he gave a reluctant nod for now.
“…Understood.”
“Make sure it’s finished cleanly.”
The new secretary quietly withdrew.
Once alone in the corridor, he finally placed a hand over his pounding heart.
‘Do I really have to go through with this…? But what if it all goes wrong and I’m the one left to take the fall…?’
The blond man leaned toward the window, hoping for some fresh air.
Outside, the Grand Duke’s carriage was just leaving the estate.
「Haa…」
Sitting in the backseat, Duke Luton tugged at his tie, as if something weighed heavily on his chest.
He then turned to Debier, seated across from him.
「What’s our next appointment?」
“There’s a joint banquet with Duke Harriet of the West and Archbishop Thomas.”
It was a celebratory banquet for the opening of the trade route.
The best route stretching from the North to the West and the capital.
It was essentially a victory feast for those who would reap the most from this opportunity.
「Now that I think of it, I believe Helena, the next Grand Duchess, and Echina don’t get along very well.」
Though he often pretended not to notice things, the Grand Duke of the North was well-informed.
With arms crossed, he gave his chief secretary an order.
「Tell Harriet to suggest both girls attend the party. It's time they learned to get along.」
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Your Grace.”
Even Debier had things he couldn’t do.
The Grand Duke tilted his head at the rare response.
“Lady Echina is currently in the South.”
「The South? What’s she doing there? Isn’t this the perfect time for her to be celebrating her achievement as a Swordmaster?」
The Duke asked in surprise, and Debier cleared his throat.
“I’m not entirely sure myself… but I heard she has someone she needs to meet.”
There was nothing about the family that Debier didn’t know.
The Grand Duke narrowed his eyes—realizing Echina was hiding something.
「Don’t tell me she’s gone to see Roger?」
“…As expected, there’s nothing Your Grace doesn’t know.”
「Good grief… that child really is a hopeless romantic.」
The Duke gave a faint chuckle and shook his head.
He, too, already knew that it had been Roger who uncovered Eric’s smuggling scheme.
「In that case, we’ll have to delay the party. Make sure the two of them attend together.」
“Understood. I’ll inform the Archbishop and the Duke of the West.”
Debier responded immediately.
Though postponing an event on the day of might seem discourteous, he figured they would understand—since it was just a celebratory banquet.
But that concern proved needless.
“Well now… this is troubling. The party is right around the corner, and where on earth has Helena gone?”
“Exactly. We were planning to invite Saint Istina, the new bishop, too…!!”
Both power figures had their own complications to deal with.
Because the women they were searching for—
Were all just now returning from the South.