My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 153

§ 153 – Giving a Fish to a Cat (3)

Knock knock.

-Come in.

Almost as soon as the knocking stopped, a voice came from inside.

At first, it was an unfamiliar voice, but now it was quite familiar.

Sian slowly opened the door.

With a click, Durak’s office came into view.

And a middle-aged man standing in the center of the office.

“I greet the head of the family,” Sian said, bowing to Durak.

The same pattern repeated every time he faced Durak.

But.

“······”

This time, the pattern was quite different.

Durak stared at Sian without a word.

An awkward silence settled in the office.

In the silence, Sian slightly raised his eyes and looked at Durak.

Durak showed no particular emotion. As always, his face was unreadable.

‘What’s wrong with him?’ Sian wondered, hiding his puzzled feelings.

How much time had passed?

“Sit down,” Durak said, breaking the long silence.

Only then did Sian sit down in a suitable place.

And then silence again.

But this time, the silence didn’t last long.

“Isabel didn’t say anything in particular.” It was still a nonchalant tone, but the underlying meaning was clear.

After Sian was appointed as Deputy Administrator, he used the pretext of being Durak’s “parachute” [someone appointed due to connections rather than merit] to exercise authority beyond that of the Chief Administrator.

In fact, Sian’s authority could be said to belong to Isabel. As the mistress of Ellandur, Isabel was in charge of everything related to internal affairs.

If Python was the Chief Administrator, Isabel was the supervisor of Ellandur.

In other words, Sian could be seen as being under Isabel’s jurisdiction.

Therefore, Sian should have reported to Isabel whenever he implemented a policy.

However, Sian handled and executed things independently.

In a way, it was an infringement of Isabel’s authority.

Naturally, Isabel could have said something about it.

However, Isabel didn’t say anything in particular.

Well, Durak’s intervention was the biggest reason. Even though Isabel was the mistress of Ellandur, Durak’s orders were absolute.

Sian’s position was directly appointed by Durak.

Isabel couldn’t easily interfere with the exercise of such authority.

And one more thing: Sian had visited Isabel in the past and warned her, which also played a part.

Anyway, Sian was receiving Durak’s attention.

Isabel had secretly tried to assassinate Sian.

In other words, Isabel had no choice but to be mindful of Sian.

It would have been different if Sian was outside the family, but it was ambiguous to touch Sian, who was active within the family.

In addition, Sian’s relief policy had clear results. The damage from the famine that was rampant throughout the Marquisate was quickly subsiding.

Isabel couldn’t say anything to Sian even more.

That’s why Durak just said, ‘Isabel didn’t say anything in particular.’ It was about creating a situation where Isabel couldn’t interfere, and acknowledging that he had done a great job as Deputy Administrator.

All of these things were included in that statement.

In other words, it was no different from saying, ‘You’re doing well.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Sian thought, sighing inwardly. ‘You could have just said I was doing well. Why are you beating around the bush like this?’

It wasn’t even beating around the bush. At this point, it was just spouting meanings that only he knew. Was he praising me or testing me?

And now that I think about it…

‘Why is he so impersonal, calling her Isabel? Isabel.’

Sian’s relationship with Isabel wasn’t very good, but to Durak, Isabel was still his wife.

He didn’t even expect a pet name, but couldn’t he add the word ‘wife’ at least?

‘Anyway···.’

There was not even a speck of family affection in this family.

“Thank you,” Sian said, slightly bowing his head.

Then Durak nodded lightly. At the same time, a satisfied look appeared on Durak’s face.

Sian shook his head inwardly.

“I want to know why you called me,” he said, immediately asking Durak.

There was no way Durak would have called him just to praise him.

“A letter arrived from the Imperial Family just now.” As expected, Durak opened his mouth right away, and Sian nodded inwardly.

It seemed that he had finally received a reply from the Crown Prince, Conrad.

That’s how he had a reason to leave the Ellandur mansion, and the reason was simple.

“I heard that they will be holding a ceremony soon to commend the merits of the Northern Incident.”

The Northern Incident that turned the entire empire upside down. A formal event to commend the merits of the incident.

The Northern Incident could be said to have been successfully completed. However, strictly speaking, it was not completely finished.

It was none other than compensation for merit. That procedure was still left.

Of course, Sian had received a hefty reward for his merits – a whopping 32 million gold, an astronomical amount of money.

Well, it’s all gone now.

‘······ Damn it,’ he thought, feeling a pang for no reason.

Well, anyway, Sian received compensation, but others did not.

Even though Sian had almost solved the case alone, it wasn’t like he didn’t have the help of others.

Not to mention the numerous families who had provided supplies without knowing it. There was also help from Rothschild, that is, Panat.

Compensation for these people has been completely absent to date.

Also, Ellandur, to which Sian belonged even in name only, had no related stories at all.

Above all, Sian’s compensation was only done tacitly. Officially, no compensation was given.

Well, it could have been glossed over, but that wouldn’t save the Imperial Family’s face.

That’s why it was a problem to address once. Conrad had asked Sian about the matter.

Sian wanted to use that as an excuse. Even though Sian had received compensation in advance, does the person with the highest merit leave the ceremony to commend the merits?

This didn’t make sense.

Besides, this was an event hosted by the Imperial Family. No matter how much Durak was, no matter how much Ellandur was, he could not disobey the call of the Imperial Family.

In other words, according to the call of the Imperial Family, Sian had to leave the mansion and head to the Imperial Palace.

And after the event was over, Sian was not going to return to this place ever again.

Anyway, the letter from the Imperial Family that Durak received – all of that was planned and arranged by Sian.

However.

“His Majesty has invited you, Sian, to the ceremony.”

“······ Yes?” Sian involuntarily questioned Durak’s words.

That’s because of Durak’s words just now. So, the Emperor, not the Crown Prince, invited Sian.

“His Majesty···?” This was a bit unexpected.

Sian had discussed and executed this plan with the Crown Prince, Conrad. In the process, he didn’t even mention the Emperor.

There was no need to bring in the Emperor. That would only make things bigger.

In the first place, the Emperor didn’t even know that Sian was trying to abandon the name of Ellandur.

So Sian just explained the current situation to Conrad. He asked him to take care of the rest and just call him.

So Durak should have said, ‘The Crown Prince invited you, Sian.’ He shouldn’t have said, ‘His Majesty invited you, Sian,’ like he just did.

But what Durak said was not the Crown Prince but His Majesty.

Did he just borrow the Emperor’s name? There was no need to do that?

‘What the hell happened?’ Sian had no idea what was going on.

“The event starts in two weeks.”

The moment Durak’s words were heard again, Sian shook off the doubts that were coming in.

He didn’t know what happened, but the essence of the plan remained unchanged.

And Ellandur Marquisate and the Imperial capital, Darkhan – considering the distance, two weeks meant about three days of travel time.

‘It’s going to be tight to embezzle···,’ Sian quickly calculated in his head.

“I will prepare,” Sian said, soon getting up from his seat.

Durak, as always, did not impose any sanctions on Sian’s departure. He couldn’t disobey the Emperor’s orders.

However.

“After you leave, I will send Kai to Ruben with the White Wolf Knights.”

Durak suddenly brought up the story of Ruben.

Sian stopped walking as he was about to leave the office, slowly turning his gaze.

There, Durak was looking at Sian with an expressionless face.

Sian faced Durak’s gaze and repeated the words he had just heard.

Kai Ellandur, the eldest son of the Ellandur family and Sian’s eldest brother, and the genius among geniuses called the star of the empire.

As known to the world, Kai’s level was early Master, but recently, Sian had met him in person and learned that the rumors were wrong.

Mid-level Master. Kai had broken through the mid-level wall.

At the age of less than 30, Kai broke through the mid-level wall. This was Durak, who was called the number one sword in the continent in front of him.

It was a much faster growth than Durak. In short, Kai was more talented than Durak.

Kai was a genius who could reach the highest level of Master, Grand Master.

Durak was saying that he would send Kai to Ruben. And in fact, originally, it wasn’t Kai.

Aron, the leader of the White Wolf Knights. Originally, Durak had said that he would send Aron to Ruben.

But Durak was now changing his words and trying to send Kai to Ruben.

The reason was probably…

“Do you have any regrets left?” It was to erase the regrets from Sian, by completely eliminating the place where Sian could return.

Sian did not answer Durak’s question.

Kai and the White Wolf Knights could be said to be Ellandur’s elite force. It could be thought of as using an ogre-catching sword to catch goblins [using excessive force for a small task].

Nevertheless, Durak did not hesitate. There was no hesitation in taking out the ogre-catching sword.

Durak’s will to deal with Ruben for sure. It seemed that Durak was sure of the ability Sian showed as Deputy Administrator.

Watching that ability, it seemed that he was convinced that Sian had the ability to revive the Ellandur family.

It seemed that he had seen the ability to revive it into the number one family in the empire, beyond Rothschild.

So he seemed to be showing this determination and will. So he seemed to want to get rid of Ruben for sure.

By eliminating the place where Sian could return, he wanted to keep Sian firmly in the family.

And in this decision, in the appearance he was showing now, there was no affection of a father towards his son.

Only the attitude of treating a talented chess piece was visible.

Sian stared at Durak silently.

Has Durak ever thought of himself as his son even once? No, does Durak have the concept of family?

Durak’s appearance of calling Isabel Isabel earlier…

“Excuse me, but there is one thing I would like to ask the head of the family,” Sian slowly opened his mouth.

Durak did not answer. He just gestured for him to speak.

Sian faced Durak’s eyes and opened his mouth. “What do you think of my mother now?”

There were two beings that Sian could call his mother. It was a fact that everyone in Ellandur knew.

So Durak knew which of the two Sian was talking about.

“She was a wise person, so much so that I think of her sometimes.” Unexpectedly, Durak’s answer came quickly.

And if you look at the content alone, it was a part where Durak’s aspect, which was quite different from usual, stood out.

Durak would never say such a thing normally. That’s why Sian couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

Sian stared at Durak silently and opened his mouth again. “Before going to the Imperial Palace, there is one thing I would like to ask. Can I visit my mother, Rachel’s, grave?”

Durak calmly nodded his head. “Do so.”

Durak showed a gesture that he could allow that much. He granted Sian’s request without much hesitation.

And at Durak’s appearance, Sian couldn’t even laugh.

Durak shouldn’t have allowed it. If what he said earlier, that he sometimes thought of Sian’s mother, was really sincere, he shouldn’t have allowed Sian’s request.

He should never have allowed Sian to visit the grave. At least he should have shown some hesitation, because the name itself was wrong.

Sian’s mother was not Rachel. Cecile, a name containing the meaning of pure love.

Rachel was a name he didn’t even know. Nevertheless, Durak didn’t feel any sense of incongruity.

He probably didn’t even remember the name Cecile.

Also, in the first place, Cecile’s grave did not exist. If it did, Sian would have visited it first every time he came to the mansion.

However, Cecile’s grave does not exist. Long ago, when Cecile died, no one cared.

They were just trying to cover up the matter quietly. Only Hans collected Cecile’s body and scattered it in the river with young Sian.

Honestly, I think I expected it a little. I wanted to deny that Durak was Sian’s father.

Durak was currently the only one Sian could call his real family. This was an undeniable fact.

So maybe a little, but still a little, I might have expected the affection of a father.

Or maybe, just maybe, I might have wanted to be recognized by Durak. I might have wanted to be recognized in the family that had been neglected all along.

Only then did Sian chuckle. At the same time, Sian could feel something faintly remaining in his heart disappearing – something that had been in place for a long time.

“You asked me if I had any regrets left,” Sian said.

The name of regret.

“I didn’t have any regrets from the beginning,” he said, to you and to this place, Ellandur.

So.

“Do as you wish with Ruben.” If you can, Sian swallowed the last words and bowed his head slightly.

“Get out,” Durak said, turning his back on Sian.

Sian also turned his back on Durak. With their backs facing each other, Sian and Durak slowly moved away.

On the other hand, the all-out war between Ruben and Ellandur was getting closer and closer.

Sian, who came out of Durak’s office, prepared to leave for the Imperial Palace.

Three days of time. It was quite a leisurely time, but not for Sian.

“If I put in the grain rental fee, treatment supplies, and··· various labor costs, would it work?” That’s because it was a tight time to prepare for embezzlement.

“Oh, right. I have to approve the travel expenses.” Sian wrote an additional budget item as he suddenly remembered the fact.

“Hmm, it takes more than a week to get from the Marquisate to the capital···.” If I eat and sleep here and there…

“3 million gold should be enough, right?” Sian nodded his head in satisfaction.

And of course, 3 million gold was not spent on a week’s expenses.

In general common sense, a week’s travel expenses are about 10 gold. If you save and save, you can solve it for around 5 gold.

Veteran mercenaries who are used to sleeping outside didn’t cost even 1 gold.

Of course, it was a little different for nobles. They didn’t need to save money.

But no matter how extravagant they were, they never exceeded 10,000 gold!

No, what 10,000 gold. Even with 1,000 gold, they could spend extravagantly and still have money left over!

With 3 million gold, they could buy land in the capital and go on a trip.

But.

“Who cares.” It’s not my money anyway.