Chapter 86
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I possessed the body of a villainess locked away in a desolate tower. Chapter 86 Stefan Marquis and his wife were a typical aristocratic couple—neither particularly affectionate in public nor in private. Yet with several children between them, they had cultivated enough mutual trust and cooperation to function as partners.
"Ahem, ahem. You're here?"
Stefan Marquis let out a hollow cough upon seeing his wife's stern expression. Nothing good ever happened when she wore that particular look of displeasure.
"You seem to be in good spirits?"
"Well, with everything progressing so smoothly, why would I be frowning?"
And as expected. Stefan Marquis's ominous premonition proved accurate.
"Everything progressing smoothly, you say?"
The carefully maintained furrow between her brows crumpled without mercy.
"Is there a problem? Has the Empress noticed something...?"
"That's not it."
"Then... High Society?"
"No! Darling, you haven't seen this month's issue of the Goedam Duchy Safety Guidelines?"
"Why wouldn't I have seen it!"
As his voice rose, Stefan Marquis matched her tone with equal indignation. He had even spent money to carefully read through that wretched comic multiple times to verify the plot overlaps. Yet he couldn't fathom why his wife was acting this way.
"Then at least check the last page! That's what's causing all this chaos right now!"
Feeling his soaring spirits plummet into murky depths, the Marquis reached for the magazine lying on the nearby table and opened it again. The content was naturally identical to what he had reviewed multiple times before. But on the final page after the comic section, there was a notice he had somehow overlooked.
"W-what...?"
A strange sound escaped Stefan Marquis's lips as he read through the text carefully. He had already leased warehouse space in Rollax County for the fake business venture....
"T-this is genuine merchandise!?"
Thud. The magazine slipped from his hands. Audrey Stefan sighed as she watched her husband's face contort in real time.
"Sigh...."
She, who had been striving to stay close to the Empress recently, knew that her husband had had an audience with the Crown Prince not long ago. Because of this, she had little difficulty discerning the source of their recently increased wealth with her keen eye. Which made her all the more anxious. The aristocratic society she knew was an ecosystem where survival of the fittest and natural selection applied. Offend those of high station and you could fall from their favor in an instant—and that meant being cast out beyond the boundaries they had set for you at any time. Stefan Marquis's Wife knew this well, having once existed outside the Empress's protective circle in the distant past.
"Darling, think about it. Everything we've built up until now. If it all crumbles like this, it will be truly difficult to recover."
Audrey Stefan recalled the events of the past. Until she had married into the family, the Stefan Marquis House had not enjoyed the renown it possessed now. Everyone praised the Stefan Marquis House as an ancient and wealthy family, but that reputation had not come without effort. When the previous Stefan Marquis and his wife died young in a landslide, and her husband had only just inherited his title, others treated them as mere merchants. Worse—they were treated as merchants who begged money from fellow nobles with flattery dripping from their lips! The humiliation of those days still made her hands tremble with shame when she recalled them. They called it dealing in rare treasures among the nobility, but in truth, it was little different from being an authorized door-to-door peddler. Before Stefan Marquis's Wife secured her place at the Empress's side, everyone had subtly laughed at her and kept their distance, deeming her beneath their station. Especially when she had been the close friend of the deceased Concubine. And when she could bear it no longer, a sweet proposal came from the Empress—one she could not refuse.
"You were the Concubine's friend, were you not? Surely you know some shameful secret she would not wish revealed."
"How could I possibly do such a thing...."
"When you look upon those foolish creatures, do you not understand that grasping my hand matters more than friendship?"
And just as the Empress said, Audrey could never refuse her proposal. She could not bear to see the Stefan Marquis House treated as it had been, nor could she endure watching her children grow up under similar contempt. So she chose. She would publicly betray the friend who had confided everything in her and become the Empress's right hand. After that, no matter who whispered behind her back or what they said, she and her husband steadily elevated the Stefan Marquis House. She had willingly trampled others without hesitation, shedding no tears for their suffering, and thus had she climbed to this position. Now, her only desire was to preserve what she had gained. Having tasted the intoxicating flavor of power, she had no wish to return to the past.
"Darling. You haven't forgotten where you've tied your fortunes, have you?"
Stefan Marquis's Wife had no desire whatsoever to displease the Imperial House. Yet her husband, who had recently bungled business after business, now stood on the brink of losing the Crown Prince's money! This was undoubtedly a crisis.
"What do we do now?"
At her sharp rebuke, Stefan Marquis's expression hardened as well. Apart from his wife's resourcefulness, he too had made efforts toward advancement, so naturally worry seized him first.
"First... I must halt the distribution of counterfeit thermos bottles as quickly as possible. A long tail invites being stepped on."
"And after that?"
"What can we do? If we can only make it clear that the Stefan Marquis House did not manufacture the goods, then they will have few options..."
"No, we need to devise something certain."
In other words.... He shook his head, understanding what Stefan Marquis's Wife was about to suggest.
"We cannot attack the Magic Tower."
To make the Magic Tower an enemy at this juncture would be like kindling unnecessary flames. But Stefan Marquis's Wife had no intention of backing down.
"Then at least we could drive a wedge between the Magic Tower and the Blaire Grand Duke House, could we not? I have never understood why the Magic Tower goes to such lengths for the Blaire Grand Duke House in the first place."
"Hmm...."
Though it sounded somewhat aggressive on the surface, there was no flaw in the Marquise's reasoning. And in that moment, a thought struck Stefan Marquis. 'The Mages of the Magic Tower are known for their pride and haughty temperament.' The Blaire Grand Duke House likely offered a substantial sum to cover up this matter, but severing the shallow bonds built on money proved easier than expected.
"Spreading rumors would be ideal."
"...Rumors, sir?"
"That the Mages abandoned their pride and dignity for money, working for the Blaire Grand Duke House."
Stefan Marquis, leaning comfortably against the sofa's backrest, pulled his lips into a smile.
"That would prick the pride of those haughty scholars, and they'd abandon any favor toward the Grand Duke or dealings with him. They'd want to preserve their dignity."
Stefan Marquis, who had frequently communicated with the Mages for luxury and precious goods trading, understood this well. Their trading style, their psychology—all of it. I would break their arrogance this time. The fools of the Blaire Grand Duchy, currently scrambling to clean up their mess, didn't know yet... Stefan Marquis still had one more move up his sleeve.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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