Chapter 14
The Great Hall of the Fleur Estate was built from precious white stone brought from the north.
It was beautiful and magnificent, a place that amazed everyone who visited.
But today…
“What are you going to do about my investment?!”
“Come out! All of you, come out!”
“That woman is dead, isn’t she? Stop lying!”
“What’s the difference between someone who’s dying and someone who’s already dead? Bring out the person in charge!”
“Give us our money back!”
The Great Hall was in complete chaos.
Standing on the balcony overlooking the hall, Anais stared down at the scene with a pale face.
She turned to a maid and demanded an explanation.
The maid answered hesitantly.
“Well… everyone heard the rumor that you were struck by lightning three days ago, Miss…”
This was what had happened.
Three days ago, Anais had been struck by lightning while giving a presentation for her pyramid scheme at Harbor No. 4.
Of course, it had actually been No. 33, not Anais.
Still, she had collapsed on the spot, and everyone had seen her being carried away.
Naturally, the rumor spread in an instant.
Normally, people died after being struck by lightning.
And those who had invested their money into Anais’s business all thought the same thing.
If Anais Fleur dies… what happens to my money?
Because she was known as the Princess of Belfast, people had willingly invested large amounts of money in her.
Some had already lost a great deal.
And all of them reached the same conclusion.
We’re ruined!
One after another, they rushed to the Fleur Estate.
The first question they asked was,
“Is Anais Fleur dead?”
The servants replied,
“Miss is currently recovering.”
The crowd tried to stay calm and asked,
“Then where are the head of the Fleur family and his wife?”
Even if Anais Fleur had died, they believed they could simply get their money back from the Fleur family.
But the servants answered nervously,
“Master and Madam are away taking care of the Elder!”
The creditors were horrified.
Anyone would reach the same conclusion after hearing that.
They’ve run away!
And so, the Great Hall of the Fleur Estate was filled with angry shouting.
“Damn it! I invested the most! Move aside! I need to see that woman!”
“She’s dead!”
Some insisted on seeing Anais.
Some said that if she was already dead, they should take everything valuable from the estate.
Others wanted to demand compensation from the Belfast royal family.
It was complete chaos.
But there was one thing everyone agreed on.
“Give us our money back!”
The frightened maid spoke.
“When we told them that you were too badly injured to meet anyone… they only became even angrier…”
That was only natural.
If she was too sick to even meet them,
then, to the creditors, it sounded like there was no hope of getting their money back.
Anais quickly reached a decision.
She had to go herself.
She hated the idea of showing her injured appearance to everyone,
but she had no choice.
She started walking.
Anne hurried after her and grabbed her arm.
“Miss! You’re really going out like this?”
She couldn’t blame Anne.
Anais had burns all over her body and was only wearing soft indoor clothes.
No noble young lady could appear before strangers dressed like that.
On top of that,
her face was covered with thick bandages.
But Anais shook her head.
This was exactly why she had become angry with Atlas.
Anais had read every note that No. 33 had scribbled inside her diary.
And she had learned one thing.
No. 33 had borrowed an unbelievable amount of money using Anais’s name.
She had to repay those debts somehow.
That was far more urgent than rushing to the Dragon to prove she wasn’t a Possessor.
Naturally.
Because Anais still didn’t know exactly what kind of money it was.
Atlas had said she couldn’t have slept because of her burns.
He was wrong.
Anais had stayed awake all night trying to understand everything No. 33 had done.
As far as she could tell,
No. 33 hadn’t only scammed nobles and wealthy people.
She had tricked all kinds of people.
Anyway,
Elliot had said the Dragon would decide whether Anais was truly a Possessor and whether she should live or die.
Because of that,
Anais was certain.
She would survive.
She was going there to prove her innocence anyway.
There was no need to rush.
The urgent matter…
was paying back the debts.
That came before riding a horse nonstop for thirty days.
“Anais is here!”
Ignoring Anne’s desperate attempts to stop her,
Anais walked down the stairs into the Great Hall and stood in the center.
The crowd, who had been shouting over each other, suddenly fell silent and turned toward her.
Some frowned the moment they saw her.
“My goodness… Look at all those bandages.”
“Her hands are badly burned.”
Anais’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.
Still,
she raised her voice.
“Anais is here. Anais isn’t seriously ill. I’ll recover soon, so I came to tell everyone not to worry.”
“Don’t lie!”
Someone shouted.
One of the investors pointed straight at her.
“You said you invested in a mine across the continent and made a huge profit! You even said you had ships bringing back precious gems!”
“…Yes… I probably did.”
She couldn’t remember.
But No. 33 must have said it.
So Anais admitted it.
The investor shouted even louder.
“How shameless! There isn’t a single ship registered under your name in Belfast!”
Anais’s eyes widened.
The crowd began murmuring.
The man continued.
“My father works at Harbor No. 10! He said the Fleur family’s ships haven’t entered the harbor for a long time!”
“…What?”
“Is that true?”
“It is! Even the ships carrying flowers haven’t arrived in Belfast for months! My father told me himself yesterday while blaming me!”
Everyone looked back at Anais.
Their eyes were filled with anger…
Hatred…
Suspicion…
Even fear.
Anais felt frightened,
but she tried not to show it.
Even the flower ships had stopped coming.
She had never expected that.
The Fleur family’s flowers were famous as the most beautiful and longest-lasting flowers nearby.
The only reason they could transport fresh flowers by ship was because their flower business earned enough money to hire expensive magicians.
But those ships had stopped?
Did that mean No. 33 hadn’t only touched Anais’s personal money?
Still,
Anais quickly calmed herself.
That wasn’t the important issue right now.
She could investigate the family’s business later.
The immediate problem was calming these investors.
She cleared her throat.
“You don’t need to worry. Anais will return everyone’s money.”
“You liar! You said you’d invest it and make us a profit!”
“B-But Anais was struck by lightning! I’m injured, so I can’t manage the business properly right now.”
She briefly considered telling everyone about the Possessor.
But she didn’t think she could explain it properly.
Besides,
people would only become even more suspicious.
Just like the many noble families connected to Possessors before them,
the Fleur family would also fall into ruin.
So she decided not to reveal it.
After all,
No. 33 had definitely taken everyone’s money.
And she was equally certain that the money hadn’t been spent yet.
Then another investor shouted,
“Liar! You don’t even have any money!”
“What? That’s not true!”
No money?
How ridiculous!
Anais became angry.
What did they think the Fleur family was?
No matter what,
she was the great-niece of the Queen of Belfast.
How dare they ask if Anais has no money?
Even if she had burns all over her body…
Having no money was impossible.
She would rather they called her ugly!
No… that’s not right either.
Anais isn’t ugly.
She’s only injured.
Even while thinking that,
she clenched her fists tightly.
Then the investor spoke again.
“I’m a banker! I work at the Royal Bank of Belfast! I knew how much wealth the Fleur family had deposited there, so I wasn’t even planning to come here!”
Anais quickly argued back.
“But you came anyway!”
“Of course I did!”
The bearded investor shouted angrily.
“Because I heard that a few days ago Miss Fleur withdrew every last deposit under the family’s name and exchanged it all for jewels!”
“…I did?”
“Then whose seal is this?!”
The bearded investor spread several documents across the table.
The bank documents clearly carried Anais’s official seal.
“There’s only one reason to exchange money for jewels!”
“You were planning to run away!”
It was true that No. 33 had intended to escape.
But No. 33 was gone now.
Anais was about to answer,
but the other investors reacted first.
“How shameless!”
“She was trying to calm us down before running away!”
“That’s why she sent her family away too!”
In an instant,
her family’s trip to care for an elderly relative had turned into proof that they had fled together.
Anais desperately protested.
“No! Anais is the Queen’s own niece! How could Anais possibly run away? Anais will take responsibility for everything and make it right. So please…”
Of course,
it didn’t help at all.
“Then give us our money!”
Someone shoved Anais.
“Ah!”
She cried out as she fell to the floor.
Crash!
Something shattered.
“Then hand over the jewels you bought with our money!”
