Edmund immediately kneeled in front of Lysander and pleaded, “My lord, I wasn’t insinuating that you lied. It was all my fault. I mistakenly thought that the debt was five gold coins instead of just three.”

“How the hell did that happen?” Elysian scoffed, raising a brow. “Mistaking five gold for three, really? The numbers aren’t even next to each other, and they sound so different.”

The merchant just stared in the air, searching for an answer he couldn’t find.

“Why are you quiet, father-in-law?” he asked teasingly.

“You!” Edmund exclaimed, shooting daggers at him in frustration, finally realizing what the boy was doing.

‘Oh, did you just bare your fangs against me? B*stard! I must teach you some lessons.’

“Did you just glare at me?” Elysian asked, hiding his smirk. “Uncle, he’s glaring at me!” he exclaimed in panic. “He might harm me!”

“Did you just glare at my nephew?!” Lysander asked, towering over the merchant with an intimidating presence. “You should know your place!”

Gritting his teeth, Edmund forced a smile and said, “I would never do that to the young master, my lord.”

“Did you…”

“I apologize if my actions were misunderstood, young master,” the merchant swiftly stated, cutting off the young noble. “I was just concerned that those vermin might have misled you. I hope you don’t listen to them,” he added with a bow. “I hope that you place your trust in me. As your future father-in-law, I only want the best for you.”

‘This cheeky b*stard. It seems he won’t go down without a fight.’

“He’s right, nephew. Why are you siding with those vermin? If you think about it, this all started when you took on their debt,” Lysander said, eyeing him with suspicion. “Didn’t you just mention he owed you ten gold coins? Based on what both of you shared, I’m struggling to understand how he owes you money.”

“You’re right, my lord,” Edmund nodded, grinning at the young noble. “Could you explain to us how you arrived at that number?”

‘It appears my actions and words have boomeranged back at me. This is getting quite interesting.’

“I will try to explain it as clearly as I can. I’m not that good with numbers, uncle. I’m just a kid,” Elysian said softly, feigning submissiveness under the scrutiny. “The original debt was twenty silver. Osric and his family paid a total of two gold and twenty-one silver,” he said, looking at the air as if he were calculating something. “Then there is the unpaid amount of three gold. If you add it up, it will be five gold and twenty-one silver coins. This is their total debt—principal and interest combined—which is now mine since I assumed their debt.”

Both his uncle and the merchant turned their gazes toward him; they were trying to understand his point.

“Okay,” Edmund nodded, confused about the direction this was going.

“Since I am now the owner of the debt, would it not make sense that you return the five gold to me while you pocket the twenty silver, which is the principal, and the one silver, which is the interest?” Elysian asked, grinning widely. His shamelessness knew no bounds as he continued, “Isn’t this a win-win for both of us, father-in-law? You get your money back plus interest while I take on the risk of shouldering the debt.”

“Risk? Where is the risk?” Edmund asked, genuinely puzzled and aghast at what he just heard. “Also, young master, even though you are dear to me,” he said, attempting to smile affectionately but failing miserably. “I know that you are going to be my son-in-law in the future. My money will be my daughter's money. After you get married, it will be yours as well. However, I’m also a merchant. In business, it is more sensible to separate my private life from my businesses. I’m sorry, but I must insist that you pay what was agreed upon. I hope for your understanding, son-in-law,” he said, bowing at him.

“You don’t need to bow to me in apology, father-in-law. I understand your situation,” Elysian said, smiling. “I actually prefer that we separate our private lives from our responsibilities. Isn’t that right, uncle?”

“You’re absolutely right, nephew,” Lysander said, nodding.

“That’s why, father-in-law, isn’t it outrageous that you impose excessive interest and penalties on my debt?” Elysian asked, raising an eyebrow. “I am the son of the ruler of this place. Why am I being treated like the vermin that you hate?”

“I would never…”

“Let me finish!” Elysian snapped, shooting the merchant a cold glare. “Not only did you go beyond the agreed-upon interest, but you also slapped an arbitrary penalty on my debt. Hey, you greedy merchant, you’ve already got your money back plus the interest. You better stop! Do you think I am a pushover?” he asked, turning to the older noble. “Uncle, this lowly merchant thinks that he can just push us around in our own land. Tsk. The audacity of this b*stard knows no bounds.”

“My lord, I would never dare to bully or take advantage of the young master. Why would I? He will be part of my family in the future,” Edmund said, humbly pleading to the older noble, who looked at him with a displeased expression. “Son-in-law, it wounds my heart that you’re accusing me of something this serious.”

‘Now, when you’re backed in a corner, you’re using the son-in-law card. Shameless, b*stard! ’

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“Sir, as you said earlier, let’s separate our private lives and your business,” Elysian said, smirking. “Now, I am not your son-in-law but the son of the Baron. As the son of the ruler of this place, it is my responsibility to administer the law. You not only breached the contract by imposing excessive interest, but you also had the audacity to add an arbitrary penalty to the debt that made it balloon into something so outrageous,” he sighed, staring down at the kneeling merchant. “I’m only asking you to follow the law and give me what is rightfully mine. Now, tell me if I’m being unfair?”

“Edmund, my nephew seems to have a point,” Lysander nodded, turning to the merchant, who signed in resignation. “Nephew, that’s just five gold. You said he owed you ten gold coins. Where is the missing half?”

“That’s right, son-in-law. Care to enlighten us about the other five gold?” Edmund asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Losing his money didn’t amuse him.

“Penalty, uncle.”

“Penalty?”

“Yes,” Elysian answered, nodding. “Didn’t he just slap a penalty on those vermin? Aren’t we the law in this land? He didn’t have the power to do that, but we do. Well, you can also call it ‘tax,’” he said, emphasizing the word ‘tax’ as if dropping a hint. Grinning, he added, “You know, the money people pay to the authorities for them to use as they please for the betterment of the barony.”

‘This will be a good showdown! Greed versus greed. I’m just going to chill and enjoy the show.’

“You’re absolutely right, nephew,” Lysander said, turning to the merchant and grinning.

Seeing the greed in the older noble’s eyes, Edmund swallowed hard and said, “My lord, why would I pay a penalty when I didn’t do anything wrong?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong?” Lysander scoffed. “First, my nephew already explained how you exploited that poor soldier and his family. Do you even know how much the Baron values his troops?”

The merchant’s mouth just dropped, totally speechless.

‘You called them vermin earlier, and now you feel sorry for them? Shameless b*stard!’

“You’re absolutely right, uncle,” Elysian agreed, nodding vigorously.

“Second, you tried to extort money from my poor nephew by lying that he owed you five gold instead of three. Do you think I forgot about that?”

Edmund sighed in frustration.

“Lastly, I must set an example so that others wouldn’t follow you. I know you are a dear friend of mine, but as you said earlier, our private lives must be separate from our responsibilities. As the custodian, it is my duty to uphold the law on behalf of the Baron. No one is above the law, no matter who they are,” Lysander said, smiling greedily at the merchant. “Don’t take it too hard, my friend. Just think of it as a lesson that you must learn.”

“Wait. Hold on,” Edmund interjected, his eyes suddenly widening as he realized something. “I believe there’s an error here. The calculation of the young master is wrong. I only received two gold and twenty-one silver coins,” he explained, smiling at the thought of minimizing his losses. “Minus the twenty-one silver, that means, I needed to return the two gold plus the penalty, which is double the amount. This means that I only needed to give four gold coins.”

‘It seems this greedy b*stard hasn’t realized it yet. Idiot!’

Lysander sighed, shaking his head, before saying, “It seems that you still haven't learned your lesson, Edmund. Do you want to get arrested?”

“No,” the merchant said, swallowing hard.

“Good,” Lysander said, nodding and smiling as he continued, “Stop complaining about the amount. Just accept it. It’s for your own good. Besides, this is nothing to you. You’ll earn it back in no time. Consider what would happen if the Baron himself caught you exploiting his soldiers. Ten gold would be a cheap price for your head. Don’t you agree?”

“You’re right, my lord,” Edmund agreed, sagging to the floor, realizing that he was utterly defeated.

‘Ah, what a beautiful scene, indeed.’

“Don’t worry,” Lysander said with a satisfied smile. “Just think of it as an investment for your son-in-law. Since you only have your daughter, once they’re married, your money will be his anyway.”

“Excuse me, uncle.”

“Yes, nephew?” Lysander said, turning to the boy, smiling.

“I’m sorry, uncle, but I need to break my engagement with Lyra,” Elysian said, feigning misery, his face showing a heartbroken expression.

Both Lysander and Edmund turned to him, staring, their mouths hanging open in shock. They remained frozen like that for a while.

“Nephew, is there a problem?” Lysander finally asked. “If this is about the debt, you already saw that it was resolved.”

“Yes, son-in-law,” Edmund quickly added, shaking his head in agreement. “As your uncle just mentioned, the matter concerning the debt has been resolved. It’s really not a big deal. As a merchant, I need to maximize my profit as much as possible while lowering my costs. If you are perturbed by what happened, don’t be. This is really not a big issue.”

“It’s true that I’m a little disappointed with you, father-in-law, regarding what happened,” Elysian sighed, pretending to be dejected. “However, that is not the reason…Well, let me rephrase it. It’s not the sole reason why I’m breaking off the engagement.”

“What are the other reasons, nephew?”

“Did you know that Edmund threatened to skin me alive?” Elysian asked, turning to Lysander as if on the verge of tears. “And not only that, he also wanted to sell me into slavery.”

“What?!” Lysander yelled, glaring angrily at the merchant. “Did you just threaten my nephew?”

“My lord, I would never do that!” Edmund exclaimed, quickly turning to the boy, his eyes watering, completely bewildered by what was happening. “Son-in-law, when did I ever threaten you? Please don’t accuse me of something that serious.”

“Yesterday, the thugs said that they would skin me alive and sell me into slavery,” Elysian said, pretending to be scared. “Since you hired them, it’s the same as you threatening me.”

Both Lysander and the merchant sighed in frustration.

“Boy, how is that the same as me threatening you?!” Edmund exclaimed, his voice becoming a little louder as his patience was repeatedly being tested.

“I’m sorry, Edmund; sometimes he is insanely smart, as you can see, but at the end of the day, he is just a kid,” Lysander said. Turning to Elysian, he continued, “Nephew, it is wrong to accuse your future father-in-law like that. Listen, those hired men threatening you aren’t the same as Edmund threatening you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, uncle,” Elysian replied, looking down at the floor.

“Edmund, could you punish those men who threatened my nephew?”

“Yes, my lord,” the merchant nodded, smiling in relief. “Don’t worry; I will severely punish them.”

“Good,” Lysander said, nodding before turning back to Elysian, “So nephew, with that resolve, will you still break off your engagement to Lyra?”

“Yes, uncle,” the young noble said with a straight face.

“What is it this time?!” the merchant bellowed angrily. He finally had enough.