Chapter: 91
Since the matter had come up anyway, the two of them headed straight to the Great Temple.
And Larit once again realized just how formidable the Claudius ducal family’s reputation was.
“How about quietly cooperating with us at this point?”
Dietrich had barged straight into the main building and calmly made the proposal without even twitching an eyebrow.
“For the sake of a long-term and amicable relationship between the Claudius family and the Great Temple, as well.”
It was practically a threat.
The deputy chief priest, who had been summoned without warning due to the sudden intrusion of the Duke of Claudius, could not hide his bewilderment.
“No, but why on earth would the ducal family…”
“Because Lady Ancy is my younger sister’s most precious friend.”
Dietrich answered matter-of-factly, as though he were stating the most obvious fact in the world.
“If Lady Ancy is dragged into such a ridiculous marriage, Eva will be terribly upset. And furthermore…”
For a moment, Dietrich’s voice sank low.
“I will be quite displeased as well.”
“……”
An intense pressure that seemed to constrict his throat.
The deputy chief priest unconsciously swallowed hard.
Above all, the fact that Dietrich himself had gone so far as to say that he would be “displeased” meant…
‘Does the Duke of Claudius really consider Lady Ancy that important?’
He had thought of her as nothing more than an insignificant lady who had happened to secure the position of the young lady’s friend.
Cold sweat trickled down the deputy chief priest’s back.
Dietrich casually shrugged his shoulders, as if deliberately showing off his confidence.
“I simply don’t like seeing someone connected to our family go through hardships.”
“……”
Meanwhile, Larit felt strangely moved.
Someone connected to our family.
Those words themselves meant that the Claudius siblings regarded Larit as someone that close to them.
But…
‘This isn’t the time to get sentimental.’
Larit quickly composed herself and spoke coldly.
“I’d like to see the marriage registration document right now. Would that be possible?”
Afterward.
Larit filed a lawsuit against the Gusto family for forging an official document.
Naturally, the marriage registration submitted to the Great Temple was missing the seal of the chairman of the Council of Nobles.
The Claudius ducal family personally hired a renowned team of lawyers to assist Larit with her lawsuit.
The Emperor was furious.
“How dare they forge an official document that serves as proof of their trust with the state!”
Official documents. Taxes.
These were matters over which the state institutions held direct authority.
Forging such an official document was essentially an open act of defiance against the country and, furthermore, the Imperial Family itself.
With the Imperial Family’s fury and the assistance of the capable lawyers provided by the Claudius family, Larit was able to extract an enormous amount in damages.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit also completely settled all of the Gusto family’s marriage arrangements.
“You! You!”
The young Count Gusto screamed furiously at his younger brother, veins bulging in his neck.
“You’ve ruined our entire family!”
The Count Lionel family had sent a letter of annulment, declaring that they could not possibly become entangled through marriage with such an immoral family.
Meanwhile, the Marquis de Beausejour family could not escape punishment either.
At first, they had insisted,
“I knew nothing about it. Count Gusto secretly accessed the seal and used it.”
“If I had cooperated, wouldn’t I have stamped both copies of the marriage registration from the beginning?”
But then Count Gusto, blinded by rage, dropped a bombshell.
“Who was it that paid off Sir Raul’s gambling debts?!”
Thus, the two families became embroiled in a muddy battle, each dragging the other down by exposing their secrets.
And together, they walked down the path to ruin.
The Marquis de Beausejour clung to Dietrich as though grasping at a final straw.
“You said you would take mitigating circumstances into consideration!”
“Well, I did take them into consideration. That is precisely why I did not personally file a complaint against the Marquis de Beausejour family…”
Dietrich silenced the Marquis with a smooth smile.
“Surely you aren’t suggesting that I should have silenced Count Gusto as well?”
And that was not the end of it.
In the midst of everything, the Gusto family suffered the greatest blow of all.
“This is a vote for or against the permanent expulsion of the Gusto family from the Council of Nobles.”
Dietrich, who had succeeded to the vacant position of chairman, decided to completely expel the Gusto family from the Council of Nobles.
And the person who had proposed the motion for their expulsion was none other than Dietrich himself.
“This will be a secret ballot, and there will be no pressure of any kind.”
Dietrich looked around at the nobles with a stern gaze.
“So please vote according to your own convictions.”
The result was 95 votes in favor and 1 against.
Naturally, the single opposing vote came from the Gusto family.
For a noble family, being permanently expelled from the Council of Nobles was an enormous disgrace.
The Council of Nobles was where matters large and small concerning the Empire were discussed, and simply being allowed to attend its meetings was recognition that one belonged to a legitimate noble family.
Being expelled from such a place was practically an official declaration that, ‘This family can no longer be trusted.’
“Th-this is…”
After seeing the results of the vote, Count Gusto rolled his eyes and raged, but there was nothing he could do to overturn the decision.
And so, the Gusto family lost all of its influence in an instant.
The family that had once strutted about with such authority was nowhere to be seen.
It was, in every sense, a pitiful end.
“Ah, that feels so good.”
After hearing the entire series of events, Evangeline giggled with an expression of immense satisfaction.
“Why did they even mess with Lari in the first place? Honestly, I should’ve smacked their heads in.”
“‘Their heads’? Watch your language.”
Dietrich reprimanded her, but Evangeline stared back at him with wide, innocent eyes.
“What else am I supposed to call their heads?”
“Eva.”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? They’re such disgusting people that calling it a ‘head,’ which is such an elegant expression, feels far too generous.”
She continued spewing harsh words for quite some time.
Then Evangeline glanced sideways at Dietrich.
“More importantly, what’s gotten into you? You actually took the position of chairman.”
“Why? Is it strange?”
“Not strange, exactly. It’s just that you used to say you shouldn’t take positions like chairman. What was it again…?”
Evangeline rolled her eyes thoughtfully.
“You said it wouldn’t look good for the ducal family to have too much power. Right?”
Dietrich readily nodded.
“Well, that was how I thought back then.”
“Is there a reason you changed your mind?”
Curiosity spread across Evangeline’s face.
At that moment.
Dietrich suddenly remembered the sight of Larit that he had witnessed at the Great Temple.
At the Great Temple, just after they had received the marriage registration document without the chairman’s seal.
Plop.
A large tear fell onto the marriage registration document.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do this…”
Larit herself seemed even more flustered than Dietrich.
She hurriedly wiped her wet eyes and pressed her lips tightly together, desperately trying to hold back her tears.
But once the dam inside her heart had burst, there was no way to stop it.
She looked so terribly lonely.
As though she had been left all alone in this world…
‘Lady Ancy.’
Without realizing it, Dietrich reached out toward her.
His hesitant fingertips touched Larit’s shoulder.
Larit flinched for a moment before slowly looking up at Dietrich.
“It’s all right.”
Dietrich gently patted Larit’s shoulder.
“It’s all right…”
At the same time, tears streamed down her pale cheeks.
Covering her face with both hands, Larit began sobbing so desperately that she could barely catch her breath.
The sensation of her delicate shoulders trembling intermittently still seemed to linger in his palm.
“……”
Dietrich stared down at his palm for a moment before slowly clenching his hand into a fist.
“I think… maybe I was wrong all this time.”
Through what had happened to Larit, he had realized something.
To protect the people precious to him, he could not afford to hold back or distinguish between what was right and wrong.
And so, from now on, Dietrich intended to greedily grasp everything within his reach.
The more things he held in his hands,
the easier it would be to protect Larit.
