Chapter 199 - Chapter 199: Financial Strain
A shockwave ran through Cavendish Construction.
Starting with the defects at the Remington Margrave's residence, all orders from nobles faced quality issues, causing payments to stop. Of course, there were still some payments coming in, so it wasn't zero.
Lilia and Arthur had offered to inspect for defects at other construction sites run by Cavendish Construction. Naturally, since delay damages would be paid, many nobles entrusted this task to Lilia and Arthur.
When this reached the stock market, shares of Cavendish Construction were sold off heavily. It was a great victory for Valier Trading Company.
The Marquess Cavendish flew into a rage at this situation.
"Call Anderson!"
However, the butler opened his mouth with an apologetic expression.
"Manager Anderson has already resigned..."
Yes, Manager Anderson had become unable to continue working due to stress and had quit.
"You useless wretch!"
The Marquess, filled with anger, grabbed a bottle of ink and threw it with all his might against the wall.
"I'm going out!"
"Where to?"
"To advance the payment for public works. That will somehow cover our operating funds for the time being!"
"Understood."
Thus, the Marquess left by carriage.
Once the Marquess was gone, the butler let out a sigh.
"If only he would give up on that woman..."
Confirming no one was around, the butler muttered those words.
The woman he spoke of was Helena Granville, Natalia's mother. In the past, the Marquess Cavendish had tried to make Helena his mistress. It was because he had seen Baroness Helena at a certain ball and fallen in love at first sight. Since the social status difference was too great for marriage, he could not make her his second wife.
There was no law regulating marriage based on rank, but the Marquess Cavendish household simply would not accept a daughter of a baron family as a wife.
However, Helena rejected the Marquess's offer and married Samuel instead. The Marquess had given up on that, but when Samuel's Granville Construction firm became a subcontractor for his own company, it was like adding fuel to a burning fire. Well, since the Marquess had lit the fire unilaterally, there might be room to debate whether this expression is correct.
Due to these circumstances, he was harassing Granville Construction with the intention of making Helena, and Natalia who looked exactly like her younger self, his mistresses in exchange for easing their financial pressure.
If Natalia had not consulted the Economic Revolution Club, this scheme would have succeeded.
However, in reality, they are suffering a severe counterattack.
They should have given up the moment House Archibalt became the backing for Granville Construction, but as love makes one blind, the Marquess lost to his desire and made a mistake in judgment.
Only because he had served the Cavendish family for many years did he know these circumstances, and he had been struggling unable to advise him.
Meanwhile, the Marquess himself was meeting with the Minister of Construction.
"Minister, could you advance the payment for the Bonde River bank reinforcement work?"
"My Lord, that is rather difficult. The work is not yet finished. If payment is made before completion, it will be pointed out during the Board of Audit's inspection unless there is a proper reason."
"That is why I came to see the Minister directly like this. Do you not think it would be somewhat convenient for the bride of your granddaughter?"
The Minister of Construction's granddaughter was scheduled to marry the Marquess Cavendish's grandson.
This was a political marriage orchestrated by the Marquess Cavendish, who controlled public works. As the Minister, he wanted to avoid causing problems during his term and intended to benefit from the privileges later, so he had agreed to this political marriage.
That was why the Marquess thought that if he knelt and begged like this, advancing the payment would be possible.
Originally, the Minister might have been able to do this with his authority, but there was a reason he refused this time. The Remington Margrave's household had hinted to the Minister of Construction that they would review past expenditures on public works. Nothing is entirely pure; it is common that dust can be found somewhere if you shake things. The Minister of Construction feared the investigative power of the Remington Margrave's household and yielded.
(If I show openings to be exploited in the future, I will be denounced...)
Even for the advance payment, there needed to be a reason sufficient to satisfy the King and the Chancellor. If those two were satisfied, he could also evade the Remington Margrave's pursuit, but there was no way such a convenient reason could be found right now.
After a while, the Marquess stood up angrily and left his seat.
"It seems I wasted my time! You don't seem to find your granddaughter cute!"
Although he threatened him like that, the Minister of Construction thought that if he could avoid marrying his cute granddaughter to a house being glared at by the Remington Margrave, that would be fine.