Chapter 184 - 184 Father's Resolve
Heimdall immediately returned to his territory and confessed everything to his father.
"Father, I have done something terrible."
"What is it?"
Ouz felt something was amiss in his son's demeanor. Then, after listening to everything, he fell silent for a while.
And he opened his mouth.
"It was all my doing. There are no other facts."
"That is..."
"I will go speak with Freya now. I must go to House Archibalt."
"Father, you?"
"Yes. Fortunately, I am no longer the lord. If it is my crime, my life might be taken, but I might be able to avoid responsibility for the territory. Don't worry, I am used to bowing my head."
Saying that, Ouz headed toward Freya.
One hour later. Heimdall was fretting, wondering what would happen, waiting for his father to arrive. But his father did not come; instead, Freya arrived. Her eyes were bright red, and it was clear she had been crying just moments before.
"Father is heading to House Archibalt now."
"Is it because of me?"
"No, it was all Ouz's unilateral decision."
"But---"
"Silence! It was all Ouz's unilateral decision. Did I not say there are no other facts!"
Overwhelmed by Freya's anger, Heimdall fell silent.
And, Ouz turned himself in voluntarily to Brian.
Steve and Arthur were also present at the scene.
"I have caused you trouble with my unilateral decision this time."
Ouz bowed deeply.
Arthur glanced at Steve next to him, but he had a face that suggested he had no memory of seeing his father this irritable.
Brian asked Ouz.
"Why did you do such a thing?"
"From the past harvest yields of Dalmatian Chrysanthemums and azuki beans, I found a relationship between good and bad harvests. I do not set market prices myself, but I wanted to win the buying side in this azuki bean market."
"And the result is this."
"I have no regrets. I, who had been losing all along, was able to win at the very last moment. I wish I could have bought futures. Also, it is a pity that I could not outdo my nephews."
Ouz stated a plausible reason.
"Hmm. It seems the son-in-law is indeed the culprit, but are you prepared?"
"Yes. With this, I have no regrets. Even if I am executed."
"Our family's damage is small. We will not take your life, but you will never be able to leave the prison again."
Saying that, Brian, Arthur interjected.
"Grandfather!"
But Steve stopped him.
"Arthur, do not interfere with the lord's decision."
"But..."
"Enough! It is the lord's decision. Obey!"
Scolded harshly by Steve, Arthur said nothing more.
Instead, Ouz bowed his head again and spoke.
"Because of what I did, Margrave Sowell has demanded a penalty fee from us. 50 billion Dora and late fees. Our family cannot possibly pay it. Please, could you lend it to my son? It pains me to seem like I am pushing my debt onto my son."
"I will take responsibility for that."
Said Steve, and Ouz let out a sigh of relief.
Now he bowed his head to Steve.
"Brother-in-law, I have caused you trouble."
"It is the request of my own brother-in-law."
Then, Brian asked Steve.
"Well, will Margrave Sowell permit us to judge this crime within our family?"
"I will make him agree no matter what."
As expected, Steve's words were filled with anger, and Arthur regretted that their way of doing things was wrong.
And, Ouz was bound with ropes and locked in a prison cell.
On his way back to his room, Arthur apologized to Steve.
"Father, I am terribly sorry this time."
"For what are you apologizing?"
"If I had handled Lord Parker's betrayal a little better..."
"No, that is my own responsibility for leaving it until it reached this point. It is not something Arthur should worry about."
Said Steve, and Arthur could say nothing more.
He did not know what words to say to his father who was consumed by self-blame.
Steve moved immediately after that. First, he teleported to Baronet Parker's territory and signed a contract to assume the debt.
Once that was done, he prepared the penalty fee and delivered it, along with documents, to the castle of Margrave Sowell. At that time, he also visited Aurora.
After Steve left, Aurora visited Loki.
"Lord Steve came just now, and he was quite angry. It has been a long time since I have seen him so angry."
"Mother, can you not stop Lord Steve's rash act?"
"Rash act? What happened?"
Aurora asked her son. There was exasperation included, but Loki did not notice.
"I took over the penalty fee for Baronet Parker and paid the money, but he says return the azuki beans. Moreover, only those from Baronet Parker's territory."
"That is natural. If the penalty fee is paid, the contract is void. Returning the goods is an obligation."
"But, it says that goods from other territories and other countries must not be mixed in."
"Because you are just returning what you received. What is the rash act? Trying to take the penalty fee with the azuki beans you tricked out of them is far more rash."
Even though Aurora said that, Loki did not think he was at fault. Therefore, getting either the beans or the money was natural, and he had no thought of giving up both.
Aurora became irritated, wondering why Loki could not understand that since neither the beans nor the penalty fee were obtained by legitimate means, there was no choice but to give up.
"The azuki beans are already mixed in the warehouse regardless of their origin. It is impossible to extract only those from Baronet Parker's territory from there."
"That is something you did. It cannot be helped."
"Also, he says to hand over the right to judge the former Baronet Parker who committed a crime within our territory. Because we were the ones who suffered damage."
"Well, I understand the feeling. Since we received the penalty fee, we have no damage."
"This is clearly an infringement on the lord's authority."
Loki thought his mother would agree with this. However, his expectations were betrayed.
"We almost went to war with the country for the sake of the Queen of the Kingdom of Merda. I would do it for my own kin. That is why he came to say goodbye to me just now. Depending on your judgment, it will be war."
"No way. Logic is on our side. Besides, we would be turning the western faction into enemies."
Aurora was exasperated by Loki's poor calculation.
Even the nation itself is afraid and unable to stop Steve, yet this foolish son has no such sense of crisis at all.
"Can you say the same thing even in the cage of a wild beast in a zoo? The western faction and logic might decide to take your head first. Besides, how much support does the western faction have for you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look at how Lord Parker was cut off. How many people will fight for you even after that? Do you think there are nobles foolish enough to follow someone who easily betrays and abandons their subordinates?"
"That was something Parker did on his own; I am also a victim."
Loki considered the faction nobles as if they were servants, thinking that abandoning one would have no impact on the others. He thought they should follow him.
Aurora could only hate her past self for raising him wrongly.
"Officially, that may be so, but do you think anyone believes that? Even if there were, such fools would be useless."
Aurora's tone gradually became stronger and stricter. Emotions showed on her face for this foolish son who could not judge the situation to this extent.
"Besides, it is not just nobles. Do you know the picture book of the Anpan Knight that Lord Steve published?"
"No."
"In that picture book, a knight of Anpan with a soul defeats an evil person who steals Anpan from the world and returns the Anpan to the people's hands. This is selling well, and in society, it is said that the model for the evil person is the Sowell family."
"Those who say such things must be punished."
"The people of the whole country? That is an act of turning the people into enemies too. What do you intend to do if both nobles and people refuse to obey?"
Said that, Loki fell silent. He knew such a thing was impossible.
"Then, at least ban the picture book. Since it is for the purpose of belittling our family."
"Getting worked up over a picture book is terminal. Have you studied history? Nations that perished in the past, when they reached their terminal stage, regulated customs. They feared that anything that could lead to criticism of the government would become a trigger for rebellion. Of course, if they regulated it, it would only increase resentment and hasten the end."
Said Aurora, and once again Loki fell silent.
Aurora sighed at such Loki.
"So, what do you intend to do? Even if you give up the position of leader of the western region, do you want to judge the former Lord Parker?"
"Mother, what should I do?"
"You ask that? If you cannot handle something like this with your own thoughts, I will remove you from the lord's seat and place another person there."
Said that, Loki felt murderous intent toward Aurora. This mother would ruthlessly cut off even her own son. He did not want to lose the seat of the head of the house that possessed more wealth than the king.
Therefore, he decided to kill her before being dragged down.
"By the way, are you thinking of killing me?"
"No, nothing like that."
He denied it in a panic, but Loki panicked, wondering if his mind had been read.
"Yes. Think carefully. I do not think you would kill me, but if you were to kill me by any chance, consider who will negotiate the settlement with Lord Steve. Well, if I die and war starts, think that your life will be gone within 5 minutes after the war begins. No, you might suffer forever without dying."
Loki was glad he heard these words.
Right now, only Aurora can negotiate with Steve at the Sowell family.
It is not just negotiation skills; building a personal relationship is significant.
If that is lost, a settlement will be difficult. And, Steve's doctrine is suppressing the opponent's top through teleportation.
No matter what one says about family background, it means nothing if House Archibalt is sanctioned after I die.
In the end, Loki could not come up with any good ideas on his own and decided to throw away the lord's seat and leave the negotiation to Aurora.
Finally, Aurora said.
"I am glad I did not let future historians write that I killed my child."
Loki realized he had almost been killed.
For a long time, the prosperity of the Sowell family continued, and Aurora had no need to show her ferocity, so he had forgotten, but this mother has no affection for parent and child. There is only the interest of the family.
And, he understood that if he tried to return to the position of head again by letting greed take over, he would surely be eliminated, so he never appeared on the stage again.