128 – Scene 128# Careless
*
The next day, Sunday.
I returned to the Ruelberta Mansion.
“Sir, excuse me… .”
“You don’t have to kneel.”
“But… .”
“I said I didn’t need it.”
“Yes, yes… .”
The woman who hesitated to kneel was Wendy’s mother, Ellie.
She was very nervous because she was suddenly called in front of me. Besides, since Henry, the husband who came with her, is nowhere to be seen, it must be all the more so.
If Wendy’s hair is inherited from her father, her eyes are inherited from her mother.
The amber eyes looking at me trembled with anxiety.
“Yeah… . The Count’s reason for calling lowly people like us… ?”
The reason I brought Wendy’s family from Richart is to protect them.
In the future, when the player’s invasion begins, war will rage across the empire.
If so, the capital of the empire that resisted to the end would be at least safe.
Ellie, who had no way of knowing what I was thinking, pleaded.
“Ho, if it’s for taxes, I will definitely pay it no matter what. So please send my family home-“
“How much is your house tax owed?”
“Yes? that is… . Great, about 2 million kaels… .”
“Two million Kael… .”
Considering their situation, it is an amount that is unimaginable.
The amount that Wendy would have been able to pay if the money she had sent was entirely in their hands.
However, the amount was absurdly large for a tax imposed on a single serf family.
“… How long have you not paid your taxes?”
“Hey, about three months ago. Since then, taxes have risen… .”
Make sure to read from noble mtl com
Did your taxes go up?
It’s something I’ve never heard of.
The taxes collected in the Richart area must have remained the same.
‘Looks like some kind of worm is taking advantage.’
It couldn’t have been more unpleasant.
The large estate of the Ruelberta family was divided and ruled by Tristan’s relatives.
Of course, the imposition of such an exorbitant tax must have been the work of a relative who ruled the Richart region.
“Hmm… .”
I sat down in a chair and stroked my chin.
If you think about it, it might be obvious.
Tristan is one of the greatest villains in this world.
Of course, the villains also exist in the Ruelberta family he leads.
Tristan didn’t care what they did as long as they didn’t rebel.
In fact, taxes and special products from the Richart area are steadily coming in.
If I leave it like this, they won’t even try to disturb me.
I looked at Ellie.
She was a skinny, unattractive woman. Dark circles around her eyes were thick because she worked even for her sick husband.
Behind her, a boy who seemed to be about 10 was holding Ruri and looking at me.
That kid is probably Wendy’s younger brother, Tom.
After Peter leaves home, a spirited child who fulfills the role of the eldest son.
A simple family who are poor but depend on each other.
But I know their miserable future.
Those who failed to pay taxes in the empire were turned into slaves.
The same goes for Wendy’s family.
They are soon sold as slaves to a distant foreign country and scattered. And he can’t reunite with Peter or Wendy forever.
At that thought, I murmured involuntarily as if sighing.
“Are all slaves… .”
“Oh no… !”
Ellie, hearing my words, bowed her head.
“Me, my kids can’t… ! I’d rather be a slave! Please, as much as the children… !”
Ellie trembled and begged for mercy.
Sitting in front of her is Tristan, a notorious aristocrat even in the Empire.
No wonder she looked so desperate.
“I will do anything the Count asks, so please send the children back to their hometowns… !”
But I shook my head.
“no. You can’t go back to your hometown anymore.”
“… !”
Tears welled up in Ellie’s eyes.
Its appearance resembled that of her daughter, Wendy.
“anything… . I will do anything.”
“… What the hell can you do with such a skinny body?”
“please… . I beg you like this. It’s okay to enslave you for the rest of your life. No, it’s okay to degenerate into the Count’s plaything. Anything to save the children… .”
Suddenly, my impression was frowned upon.
What the hell have you heard about Tristan… .
I spoke to Ellie in a calm voice.
“The reason I am not sending you to Richard is that you are useless as serfs.”
“That, it is not… ! If I work harder in the field… .”
“It is useless. It’s not something you can handle alone.”
I got up from my chair and approached Ellie.
Then the boy behind her cut me off.
“Uh, don’t bother Mama!”
“Sat, Tom?!”
It was nice to be brave, but when I got in front of me, Tom started to tremble.
Startled, Ellie quickly turned her back on me and wrapped herself around Tom and Lurie.
“Oh no! I can’t let these children live as slaves… . Whoa… !”
“Uh, Mom… .”
It was a tearful family child, but only young Ruri was looking at me.
When our eyes meet, we even smile. Is he pure or is he ignorant… .
I sighed and asked Ellie.
“Do you know that your daughter is working for me?”
“Yes… ?”
At those words, Ellie’s face turned pale.
“Ho, did our Wendy do something wrong?”
“That’s not it. He is my exclusive maid.”
“Full speed… Are you a maid?”
“yes. It is an important position to assist me. And if the family of my exclusive maid is reduced to slavery, the rank of the county will fall.”
I notified her.
“So from now on, your family will live as my vassals, not serfs.”
“yes? for a moment… . go, go? If you are a vassal… .”
Ellie’s mouth tried to say something, but I ignored it and picked up the bell on the table and shook it lightly.
daughter and daughter.
A clear sound echoed through the living room. And as if she had waited, the door burst open and a girl in a maid outfit entered.
Ellie’s eyes widened when she recognized the girl.
“Wow, Wendy… ?!”
“Mom… .”
“Are you really my daughter, Wendy? really??”
“Yes, yes! It’s me!”
In the original work, a mother and daughter who could not meet again met.
Wendy is covered in tears as if she was eavesdropping on our conversation.
“Ba, I just got my dad in the hospital and I’m on my way. With the words of the therapist, you will get well soon!”
“Bye, to the hospital?! no. The money for us is-”
“it’s okay! I’m making a lot of money now! I, it’s all thanks to the Count’s help!”
Wendy was looking at me with tears of emotion as if she had welcomed a god.
Next to him, Ellie and Tom were looking at me and Wendy alternately with dumbfounded faces.
When that happened, I felt very uncomfortable in this place.
I don’t know if it’s because of my personality or if it’s because I’m immersed in the character Tristan.
However, it is a feeling that the body instinctively rejects such an emotional situation.
“Wendy.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Isn’t there an abandoned villa in the mansion’s premises?”
“Villa… ? Oh yes! That’s right! I have one.”
“It was difficult to manage, but it turned out well.”
I looked down at Ellie and said.
“You must have said you would do anything earlier, right?”
Ellie startled as my face came closer.
I said to her face full of fear and bewilderment.
“Then from now on your job is cleaning. Live in the villa cleaning for the rest of your life.”
“Yes… . Yeah? clean… Yo?”
“I will give you 3 million kaels per month as a salary.”
“Is that 3.3 million kaels?!?!”
After hearing her salary, Ellie opened her mouth wide as if she was out of breath.
“Oh, no… . Even though… .”
“Can’t you? If you like slaves, not my vassals, I will make you a slave.”
“Ugh!? no… ! I’ll do it! I will become the count’s vassal… !”
At the same time, Ellie’s legs gave out and she sat down.
It must feel like going back and forth between hell and heaven.
she said, bowing her head to me.
“go… thank you… . How can I receive such a great favor that I can’t even repay? . How should I repay the count… .”
ugh… . I feel sick to my stomach to be thanked so strongly.
I need to get out of here quickly.
“… I am a very busy body. I don’t have time to receive each of those things. Wendy.”
“Yes, yes!”
“I will give you a week off from today. I’ll let you take a break from school, so you teach them yourself.”
Before leaving the drawing room, I ordered her with my usual arrogant Tristan face.
“If you are a vassal who serves me, how should you live?”
“… … Yes!”
And the moment I closed the door, Wendy bowed deeply to me.
It was a thank you.
An expression of deep gratitude toward me.
widely.
When the door closed, I hurriedly touched my face.
“… I was careless.”
The corners of my mouth were raised.