> Chapter 2: The Meeting That Changed My Life…

The atmosphere in the room grew from very tense just a few seconds ago turned into completely sour and unavoidably tense, especially after hearing what Cecile said and demanded. Her parents tried to calm Cecile, who had been throwing tantrums without caring about the location, shouting that she wanted to decorate her dream room quickly. Meanwhile, I looked at Count Marion who covered his face with the palms of his hands as if he was tormented by staying here, even though he was, he was tormented by the useless drama in the affairs of aristocratic families.

"MOTHER, I WANT MY ROOM...RIGHT. NOW…" Cecile shouted while banging the table, tears running down her cheeks. Despite the tantrum, the room kept silent since no one didn’t want to upset the tension anymore and more precisely Count Marion, who now drained his water and asked for more because of the burning sensation in his head due to hearing the screams of a small child having a tantrum for something unimaginable, his face hardened as he looked the unrequired drama being unfolded. It doesn't mean he hates children but he just hates their dramas and unnecessary incidents that sometimes happen in an important meeting for example like this one. I also believe that an 8-year-old child who at least has self-awareness of not making a fuss in this kind of meeting or should I say not be included but instead acting like a child and making a fuss in the meeting.

"Yes, yes darling, of course, you can calm down now, mother will give you…the…," it seems the mistress's coaxing seemed to not work since she can’t make the wrong move, "But...mother..." with tears in her eyes still flowing down through her reddened cheeks, she screaming with a higher voice for everyone who can hear her voice to let her had her wish.

“MOTHER……I WANT MY ROOM….” Cecile still screaming as you can hear, tried to persuade or rather force her mother to immediately give her the most beautiful room in this manor as she wanted. Seeing that her mother had not broken down for the first time, she was shouting at her father still with tears streaming down her face and a sad expression, Cecile again tried to persuade her father to grant her wish.

"Father..." meanwhile the father who seemed unable to refuse Cecile's request of his beloved daughter said with a caring tone, "Of course darling, please wait a bit, this father will give the little princess, the best room in the castle, now, I want you, your mother and your brother to wait in the waiting room."

Sigh, what an empty promise that never became reality even when he became my father, he never promised to me anything in my previous life. Count Marion and I give our best sharp look at my father, and as for Count Marion, his hand tightens its grip on the glass.

"Of course father,” said Cecile while smiling brightly, immediately her tantrum went quiet and she started to giggle and talk to her brother and mother, “...come on Mother, Brother Rufus, let's go to another room and wait for father finish the talk, I want to decorate my room just like in the book that I read," said Cecile as she leaves her chair and know that her father never to fail her, she grabbed the hands of her brother and mother who were exchanging uneasy glances towards Cecile and Duke Bailey, meanwhile Cecile continues to pull the hands of her mother and brother to quickly follow her. The mistress, who realized the error of there or it should be her daughter’s behavior, immediately nodded her head to my father who also nodded his head in agreement.

“Then pardoned us,” said the mistress as the three of them left the room, leaving now only three people sitting at the table, everything was quiet before Count Marion, after calming his headache opened his mouth by saying, "I didn't expect that the child you proud of for having said that she was smart and has been taught manners and etiquettes at an early age, could shout random things such as giving her a bedroom in agreements that have not yet been mutually agreed upon, if she was smart why she can throw a tantrum on a meeting? especially on this important meeting? it would be truly unfortunate if she was noisy in front of the emperor!"

I turned my directions to Count Marion before turning to father who felt he was offended by that word, "Watch your word, count!" threatened him, well, having the title duke makes you think you are closer to the emperor right?

Count Marion just chuckled or rather it was a scoffed at Duke Winfield's threat, after which he continued reading his verdict, "Based on the Code of Law on Nobility in the Heirs section..." again Duke Winfield cut Count Marion's words which made him annoyed again.

“Hold…hold on, I still disagree with that, the authority of the Duchy of Solunoct, it should be handed over to me, not to my son who's still a child, I have more right to lead until he grows up!" his argument to Count Marion who just shook his head when he heard it.

Count Marion felt irritated hearing what he thought was a baseless argument, however, unfortunately, he couldn't reject the duke's words because he would be the one who got hurt for allowing a small child who had just mourned his mother's death, to lead a territory; even though his father tries to influence him, and there’s a lot of evidences, but he still Noah's father and the only person who can lead the duchy without making a fuss since if they choose towards the expelled Albright family, it will cause more uproar than before.

"Alright then, if the heir, Noah Albright, as the heir of the House of Albright and Duchy of Solunoct has strong evidence for wanting to lead this region himself, is there any proof that shows that you are worthy to lead your region?" asked Count Marion while adjusting his glasses.

I feel it is time to release the letter I received, "I have proof, something that could make this meeting end quicker!" I took out a letter that I received previously, and both Count Marion and father looked at me in confusion; I handed it over to Count Marion as he took the paper and immediately Count Marion's eyes widened after just seconds reading it.

He looked at me, just as Duke Bailey was confused to see Count Marion's reaction, "Are you sure, young master? Is this true?" asked Count Marion.

With a nod, I answered with a small thin grin that no one would notice, “Do you believe that a twelve-year-old child can make such important and legitimate letters, especially the First Contractual Agreement Letter while he was confined to his own bedroom for a week? You already searched everything in that room, right?" at the end I give a little smirk to him.

Count Marion looked at me and examined my expression before he returned to the letter and came to the conclusion, "Yes, it seems impossible for you, who is just a twelve years old child, to create such an authentic and realistic letter like this!” as Count Marion scanned the letter towards the windows where the sun was shining the room, yes under the paper there's a special mark show it's legality, the mark which was the department's logo.

Meanwhile, father looked somehow uneasy with Count Marion's words.

The contents of the letter are proof that firstly, the Albright family lineage is completely in my hands and no family has direct blood relations with my family again since the last time when my mother was born, the Albright family facing succession problems to continue grandfather in the future, it's because grandmother gives birth a woman. Several old-fashioned and hard traditionalist family members wanted their offspring to be appointed as successors since the mother was a woman, but grandfather did not budge and continued to appoint my mother as successor despite that it would trigger a souring family relationship which until grandfather decided to sever family relations with all his siblings and asked the emperor to purge Albright's descendants, leaving only one line from my mother to me. Second, the letter also contains proof that Duke Bailey Winfield is not my biological father. My mother married Duke Winfield or his real name was Hadrian Gustalfo, a baron who went bankrupt because of mounting debts. My mother, who was sad because her husband (my biological father) died in the conquest of the far east, immediately fell in love with a bastard who just happened to look like my biological father.

Oh, mother.

Hadrian immediately made good use of my mother's love to rise through the ranks of the noble caste, of course by changing its identity. But, my grandfather knew about it, but because he was afraid that his child would become depressed again, especially after giving birth to her child, namely me. Grandpa decided to cover up all his son-in-law's depravities.

Even when this bastard openly proposed to the daughter of the duchy next door, my mother didn't know it, even though she was married, the effects of giving birth made her body weak, so it could be said that this duchy was indirectly isolated. All she knew was that the man who resembled my dead biological father was working to build Albright's business outside the duchy. Even before he married my mother, when they were dating, this bastard had made his mistress pregnant. Due to the declining influence of the Albright family after the purged incident, they could not refuse the previous Duke Winfield's wishes.

But everything changes when the grandfathers of both families die and the couple is forced to manage their territory. One spree even brazenly became a parasite on my mother who worked hard to build the duchy until she died due to fatigue.

Previously I said there was a list of family close to me, right? Let me tell you, the entire family name list comes from this bastard's family. Their hobby like this, is trapping a woman who is an only child or vice versa, then marrying them, and having children, if their wealth runs out then they will be left to run away. If the target has a child, then send it to the military academy. And how about my extended expelled family? It seems they weren't included due to their grandfather's wishes to the emperor.

Well the information about them was in Winfield's route on the game, but it makes sense for me since this bastard sent me to the military academy.

"Ekhem, so, Duke Winfield" with a happy smile, Count Marion felt confident that this meeting could take place without having to go to the capital and he should testify again for some drama in the courtroom.

Duke Winfield looked confused about Count Marion's intentions, "What?" his face turned pale but he tried to hide it.

While clearing his throat Count Marion said, "...according to the letter sealed by the Duke of Albright Duchy, William de Albright, the chief of Department of Aristocratic Affairs, Marquess Roberto el Harrison, His Majesty Emperor Charles Izora Lockridge, and you, Baron Hadrian Gustalfo," at the end, he pointed at Duke Winfield.

"...you have no right to claim any titles, wealth, or anything related to the Albright family in full." that was the end of this meeting.

The bastard angrily banged the table and in a passionate, angry tone, he expressed his thoughts of course while pounding the table which this time made his drink cup spill onto the table, the waiter didn't dare to clean the table because Duke Winfield was still angry, "With all due respect Count Marion, I have the right to be the temporary ruler of Solunoct Duchy until this child," he pointed at me who was just silent, "...until he's fully grown!"

Count Marion then stood up while saying in a tone as if challenging Duke Winfield, "And with respect too, Duke Winfield, you are not related to the Albright family by blood, and your name is listed in the treaty that you, the department, the emperor and the predecessor duke agreed to. So, according to the imperial law, you have no right to anything in this family! Am I clear?" Count Marion showed my father about the letter, his face immediately went pale.

"Then...then....how...about my life? I spent 12 years of my life starting to live in secret with my beloved woman from a crazy woman who thought of me as her dead husband?" he defended.

"Huh, if you feel like your youth was stolen, why would you sign that agreement?" asked Count Marion.

"You..." he couldn't answer or it would reveal one of his darkest secrets. Well, notably, I didn't know if Duke Bailey was either dumb or idiot but could you be so stupid as to let a Personal Name Change Letter leave in this house?

The servants who were watching could only surrender to see the increasing tension, meanwhile, the imperial officers were a little confused because if the two of them got into a fight, it could lead to them being punished, banished, banned, or sentenced to death for hurting a high ranking noble.

Seeing the two who seemed like they were going to fight and could ruin my plans, I decided to speak, "How much money do you need to compensate for the 12 years you lost because of being my father?"

With the corners of his mouth raised and showing a self-satisfied smile because it turns out I'm sensitive about money, he with his chin raised replied, "I want 120 thousand gold coins!"

BANG....

The sound of a table crashing echoed in the room, along with a piercing gaze from Count Marion and a dismissive glance from Duke Winfield.

"Do you have any shame, Duke Winfield?" Count Marion was angered.

Duke Winfield responded lightly to Count Marion's words while raising his chin and forming a smile, "What? Why would I be ashamed for? My life is more expensive than the life of you who are just a count, remember that, I am a duke and I have sacrificed a lot, especially 12 years of my life which I should have used to live in peace with my beloved family, I have to pretend to be his father!" he pointed his left index finger to me.

"Hah, a duke in title alone, and let me remind you, your grace, Duke Bailey de Winfield, it was an offense to point a finger at a noble, especially a duke-level family!” scoffed Count Marion.

"Yes indeed, but you may also know that he is still not a duke..." Duke Winfield, who was burning with anger again, immediately gripped Count Marion's clothes tightly.

I immediately intervened, even though it was funny and I wanted to see the sequel but I didn't have much time to get to the capital just to see the boring trial that would happen in the future, "Alright, alright, please settle down, Count Marion and Duke... Winfield," both of them exchange glared then sit-down.

"Oliver, how much money do we have in the treasury?” I asked Oliver who was standing behind me, from this point it seemed vague because when I fell asleep after agreeing to hand over everything to this bastard, the next morning I was treated like I didn't exist, and all of the people I know in the mansion are gone.

Oliver stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry young master, currently the duchy's treasury only has 317 thousand gold coins, but if you used all the current money to Duke Winfield then I'm afraid we can't pay the cost of..." I raised my hand to stop him.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"It's alright, according to the Book of Holy Sacrifice, Article 12, Paragraph 3, there is a saying, pay off your debts or your life will not be peaceful, don't worry, God will find a way to help us!" I said while making a prayer.

"Hah, look, he was so easily fooled by the temple's nonsense, whatever, I don't care, now quickly give me the compensation you promised, oh right, I want more, I want 160 thousand gold coins!" cynical Duke Winfield, now he has shown his true form.

Count Marion could only hold his anger despite maybe wanting to punch the person in front of him but the results of this meeting itself are still in the grey area.

"Young master..." Oliver looked hesitant to hand over the duchy treasury transfer paper to me, but I winked as if giving him a code that made him believe it despite feeling reluctant and handed over the duchy treasury transfer paper to me so I write down the amount of money that shameless bastard wanted.

“Only 160 thousand gold coins?” asked me while writing down on the paper.

Duke Winfield looked confused for a moment at my words which seemed to be mocking him, but he didn't take any actions about my remarks, maybe he was already satisfied with having 160 thousand gold coins for this day.

As I finished writing in the paper, "Before that, I want you to sign another First Contractual Agreement Letter to cancel the previous cooperation letter between the Albright Family and you," both Count Marion, Duke Winfield, and Oliver were surprised by what I said, "...the duchy apologizes because you had to sacrifice '12 years' of your life by living a life full of stress and hardship to become my father and you must leave your beloved family," I emphasized every word.

"Huh, even without having to sign it, I don't want to go back to this cursed family!" he grumbled as he signed and stamped the paper that contained the number of amounts I wrote earlier. Duke Winfield's eyebrows furrowed slightly when he saw the amount written on the paper which read, 172 thousand gold coins, not 160 thousand gold coins. As for Count Marion, he saw through the papers that I handed over to him and found the cancelation letter of cooperation between the Albright family and Baron Gustalfo or Duke Winfield.

“I added 12 thousand gold coins to make up for every year you lost due to being my father!” for a person who was blinded easily by money it was full retirement money, but for him, since he was a duke, it could take years to live just for 12 thousand gold coins. Just information, a duke-level noble spent between 500 to 10 thousand gold coins to live for a year to the maximum you have no other sense to spend every coin of it.

Immediately his face changed to a grin then said, "It's good if you still think of me as a father, it's the best gift a son can give to his father," he took the paper and folded it neatly before putting it in his pocket. Meanwhile, Oliver was surprised to see my careless actions trying to say something, the same thing to Count Marion but I gave them a code to be quiet.

"Well, is this the meeting over, Count Marion? I still have very important things to do right now!" Duke Winfield asked in a haughty tone.

"Hold up, it seems Count Marion's body disrupts your eyesight, Duke Winfield, is that correct?" asked me to Duke Winfield who looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a displeased tone. Meanwhile, Count Marion's quick brain immediately processes the sentence and realizes before he also smirks, "Of course, young master, it seems Duke Winfield's eyes getting old quickly and due to other problems that need to be solved we forget how should we decided the fate of these maids..." as Count Marion stood up and leave his chair it reveals the two maids that are still being tied ever since they were brought here.

"I'm not accept being accused of something that I didn't commit!" argued Duke Winfield.

Count Marion only rolled his eyes as his face hardened, "Enough with your act of innocence, Your Grace," it was the first time Count Marion addressed Duke Winfield with formalities.

"...despite what you may say whatever your prolixities that flow from your head to below, you can't silence me about anything that happened, Your Grace," said Count Marion, emphasizing every word.

Then Count Marion looked at the maids before looking back to Duke Winfield, "...while I concede that you might possess the intellect, manner, and audacity to either silence me or obliterate any evidence linking you to this affair, but still, I remain perplexed by your complete reliance on your connection with His Majesty the Emperor in this matter to solve any situation that have you intertwined with, Your Grace!" said Count Marion while looking at Duke Winfield who looked confused by Count Marion's choice of words.

"What are you talking about? I'm innocent, I take no part in whatever scheme or the accusations you accused me of, count!" angered Duke Winfield while clenched his fist.

"Really?, then let's see what these two maids said," Count Marion turned his attention to the two maids whose mouths were tied with cloth and looked at them in fear.

As the cloth was being taken off from their mouth, Count Marion asked, "Now, speak; only tell the truth and I may ask the emperor to be lenient on his judgment!"

One of the maids who looked younger, if I am correct her name was Marlissa, and the other one who looked older was Arline, the main servant of the late duchess and both of them were senior maids; while the last one was Elara, one of the senior maids and respected in the house, she already served from my grandfather now to me. Yet, I still can't believe that they were siding with that bastard gold digger money. In my past life, they still treated me like usual, and when I revealed it to them they started to ignore me.

Both of them, with trembling bodies and fears, are shown clearly both in their faces and eyes, trying to put together words, but Count Marion's sharp and cynical gaze makes it impossible for them to think clearly. Meanwhile, Duke Winfield began to feel uncomfortable because of the silence of the two servants, he wanted to send a code or try to force them both but, seeing the situation was very unsupportive for him to act as usual.

Honestly, I just smiled thinly seeing this slightly ambiguous situation, "Miss Marlissa and Miss Arline, I'm sure you both have the mouths to tell in front of the imperial officers about who and what your motives are for slipping these letters?” he showed them the letters that they secretly at night put under my bed, “...especially with the name 'father' in it which I believe it was for Young Master Noah?” Count Marion said firmly and looked at them sharply.

“For…forgive me…my lord…we…we just follow the orders…” said Arline while shaking.

"You don't need to apologize," said Count Marion while bowing slightly towards the two of them with a piercing cold tone and gaze and a dominant aura coming from his body, this was Count Marion's mode when he was serious about a violation, "... what I want to hear now is the name of the person who ordered or asked you to do this, I'm sure you two are quite aware, right? the punishment that awaits if you violate imperial law, especially concerning the dukes?" he stood up again and said in a firm and slightly loud tone that echoed in this dining room, "I'm sure everyone here is a witness, especially Duke Winfield and young master Noah, that they can all be dragged if they violate the law of the empire. Under the mandate in the imperial decree issued by His Majesty Emperor Charles Izora Lockridge, everything that happens and results in influencing the decision of the successor will receive punishment in the form of title revoked, lowered status, and possibly the death penalty."

Count Marion looked at Duke Winfield who was still speechless, then he returned to the two maidservants, "Now tell me who ordered you, or I will order the guards to drag you back to the interrogation room!"

"Listen, Count Marion, I know you want to extend my time here to make me admit something I didn't do but..."

"Quiet..." hissed Count Marion in a cold tone and piercing gaze without turning his head, enough to make Duke Winfield fall silent again. I chose to watch this event in silence, despite it would be good to have cakes on the table, but even the tea spill had not been cleaned up yet.

Count Marion's sharp gaze turned back towards the maids, "So... tell me, who ordered you?"

I thought this would end quickly but unexpectedly the answers from the two maids would be different.

"We were ordered by Duke Winfield," said Marlissa.

"We were ordered by Duchess Winfield," said Arline.

Those answers seemed to start to make Count Marion's blood boil. I can see his face hardened.

A moment of silence hung in the luxurious room that was the venue for this meeting. Several servants and guards, even Oliver who had been a servant in this residence for quite some time, also held his breath in surprise at the answers from the two female servants, like they were playing with him, despite they also looking at each other in shock. Just before they can say anything, Count Marion swings his hands and two guards come front then tie both maids' mouths with cloth again to keep their mouths shut.

"Aronz, Berniz!" Count Marion called, the voice echoed in the room of people who acted like a statue.

"Yes, sir!" answered two young men, one an imperial civil servant and the other an imperial guard.

"You still have their confessions and you still dare to swear under St. Hurios's name that you heard what they confessed in the interrogation room?" he asked in a rather tired tone.

“Yes, sir, we still remember their confessions freshly inside our mind and we also dared to swear in the name of St. Hurios for what happened in the interrogation room!” said both of them convincingly.

"Good, it looks like this is going to be a long one and we can't afford to delay any longer regarding the current situation and fate of the Duchy of Solunoct and the House of Albright," said Count Marion with a nod as he returned to his seats and exchange glance between me and Duke Winfield.

“It has already been a week and unfortunately the law dictates that right after seven days of confinement, the heir must decide and finish this meeting regardless of what happened,” he put his hands together on the table and the books and letters that I had given him earlier.

"Alright, now, due to a sudden turn of events and since there’s lacked of evidence to bring this up, I must say that this will become two different cases to be settled, one case was the successor dispute between young master Noah and his stepfather, Duke Winfield. While the other case is about the intervention that happened in this case,”

I just realized that someone was writing everything in the corner of the room. “...but I assured you, young master Noah and Duke Winfield; that I will personally investigate this case, it become the first time in the history of the empire under his majesty's reign that such a unique case occurred in this meeting,” Count Marion then looked at me like trying to convince me, “...and I also believe this is also the first time that the relationship of noble can become so complicated,”

Duke Winfield looked annoyed by Count Marion's words, just before he protested Count Marion immediately interrupted, “Duke Winfield,” somehow Count Marion looked smirked a little, “ Are you satisfied with the compensation you receive?" asked Count Marion.

"Yes, I believe there should be nothing more to discuss, and again, I want to say my belief that..., that there’s no such thing as the connection between me and these lowly commoners! They just wanted to frame me for their own crime since I believe, my position here is quite weak” said Duke Winfield arrogantly with a smug face that I didn’t want to admit was indeed giving off the aura of a jerk casanova person.

Forgetting the words that were said with pride in every word spoken by Duke Winfield, Count Marion turned to me and asked the same question as Duke Winfield, "Is young master Noah also satisfied to give compensation to your ex-stepfather?"

I nodded my head, “Yes, sir count, I believe that it was enough for me,”

With a sigh, Count Marion began to adjust his body position and cleared his throat, then he took the paper and looked towards the figure sitting in the corner to prepare to hear his verdict,

"Today is January 12, 1861, at..." he turned to the majestic clock on the other side of the room, showing 2:40 p.m. "At 2:40 p.m., following the mandate given by His Majesty Emperor Charles Izoria Lockridge, the 75th Emperor of our beloved and glorious Terones Empire, to me, Count Dasile Marion, with the authority given to me as the mediator in this case, with full consideration and various aspects that occurred during the week of the confinement process and the ongoing procession, and seeing the various things that have happened in the development of this case, hereby, I, Count Dasile Marion, as the mediator of this case decides. One, based on the evidence that has been collected and the existence of real, valid, and irrefutable evidence that Duke Bailey de Winfield is not, I underline, not the biological father of Noah Albright, the successor of the House of Albright and the Duchy of Solunoct. Therefore, Duke Bailey de Winfield, or his previous name was Baron Hadrian Gustalfo, has no right to claim any property, title, or anything related to the House of Albright anymore.”

I looked at Duke Winfield who could only look away from the decision and gritted his teeth under his hands that covered his mouth.

“Two, considering the previous decision of the previous duke, who decided to sever the family ties between the core family of the House of Albright and its extended family; seeing that this case can end without involving the extended family, hereby I, Count Dasile Marion, the mediator appointed by the emperor as the decision maker in this case decide not to involve, underline, will not involve the former extended family of the House of Albright either in this meeting or procession; this decision is strengthened because it is in accordance with the mandate of the emperor stated in Imperial Decree No. 301, on January 12, 1832, which was legalized, sealed, and stamped by the Department of Aristocratic Affairs, the official imperial seal, the personal seal of the previous emperor, His Imperial Majesty George Izora Lockridge, the seal of the House of Albright, the personal seal of Duke William de Albright, and the seal of Marquis Roberto el Harrison as the Head of the Department at that time.” the second verdict give a relief since I didn't need to handle this kind mediation anymore.

Count Marion takes his glass and then drinks the water a little before continuing after clearing his throat, “Third, the empire hereby acknowledges the intentions and efforts of Noah Albright to continue the title passed down to him by his family, in light of the request by the previous duke requesting to the removal of the extended Albright family from everything related to the House of Albright and the duchy, therefore the empire will not include them just like the second verdict and with this indirectly, the empire recognizes Noah Albright as the head of the House of Albright and the Duke of the Duchy of Solunoct henceforth, this decision will be ratified and recognized as soon as the emperor issues and announces his recognition of the young master as the head of the house and duke in the imperial gazette. Until that happens, the young master will be the acting lord of the Duchy of Solunoct starting from the issuance of this verdict.”

For a moment he stop talking and he looked at Duke Winfield who just stared back at him, “...four, due to the various things that happened in the mediation process between the successor and his 'father's family',” Count Marion said it with a little smirk and Duke Winfield want to object, but he keep silent, “...with a lot of scattered and abundant evidence are found in the residence of Albright family that waiting to investigate, but due to the lack of time, opportunity, authority, and available equipment here, hereby, I, Count Dasile Marion decide to file a motion for investigation against two of three maids of the Albright residence, namely Arline, the previous duchess's personal maid and the head of the maids at the Albright residence; then Marlissa, the senior maid, the former head of the Albright residence's maids, the former duke's personal maid; as for the last maid Elara, as she already escaped from the residence just earlier before the meeting started, I hereby order a search and arrests warrant for Elara on charges of tampering with the Albright family's mediation process which could damage the stability of the nobility in our beloved great empire. Elara, one of the senior maids, in charge of medicine, is the personal maid for young master Noah, and also the personal maid for the previous duchess and duke. These two maidservants will be brought by us to the capital for further investigations, of course, we will not stop or need permission from the young master, since it happens directly involved with him and it also become the empire's job especially me to investigate this matter, seriously!” explain Count Marion still giving an icy looked at Duke Winfield who seem ready to shoots it's sentence.

“Are you threatening me, Count Marion?” asked Duke Winfield coldly as he stared at him who just stared back, “Please don't interrupt my verdict, your grace,” replied Count Marion flat and coldly as he threw away Duke Winfield's accusations.

“...five, with evidence of a letter of cooperation between Duke William de Albright and Duke Bailey de Winfield previously known as Baron Hadrian Gustalfo, in the letter of agreement made on May 16, 1851, or one year and eleven months after the birth of young master Noah, where Baron Hadrian Gustalfo must act as a good and proper father in educating, looking after, and caring for Noah as his own child until he is 17 years old or mature enough to take over his family title. However, on January 12, 1861, the first contract agreement letter ended before the end of the agreement,"

Duke Winfield's eyes seemed to widen hearing Count Marion's words who smiled faintly, "....with the termination of the cooperation using the letter of termination of cooperation that Duke Winfield had previously signed together with the letter of transfer of Solunoct's treasury finances to Duke Winfield, then after reading in detail the previous letter stated that, 'If the cooperation ends before its time, then both the House of Albright and the Duchy of Solunoct can separately or jointly claim or rather demand damages and compensation from Baron Hadrian Gustalfo or now Duke Bailey de Winfield.'

"WHAT!!!" this time an emotional scream echoed in the room from Duke Winfield.

Oh my God, their hobby is screaming, it makes my head a little dizzy hearing it, and I believe Count Marion also didn’t like it. Thank god I will sever relations with them, just need to wait for a moment.

To be continued...

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