One Day, My Fiancé Brought His First Love Along - Chapter 75

A still, heavy silence filled the office. The Marquess of Hessiden sat at his desk, reviewing the towering stacks of documents before him.

Aside from the Emperor’s tiresome interference—fueled by Duke Revart’s backing—most of the reports were satisfactory.

The orphanage construction project was proceeding smoothly, with nothing that could be criticized. And the secretly run perfume business was generating profits far beyond expectations.

The perfume venture had originally been launched for one reason alone: to create chaos within the Diert Empire. By rallying support from Duke Revart and his loyal nobles, Edith was working to strengthen the crown’s authority. The Marquess had intended to suppress her efforts by stirring public discontent.

Another purpose was to divert the Emperor’s attention—however slightly—away from the northern tribes, hoping to weaken the surveillance on that front.

And the results had exceeded expectations.

The Emperor had deployed Carlisle, one of his finest men, to investigate the damage spreading through the capital. In the meantime, the unexpected popularity of the perfume had multiplied the profits severalfold.

Besides, the perfume business had been intended as a short-term decoy from the start. He could shut it down at any time without regret.

Even with impressive revenue, to the wealthiest man in the Empire, it meant little.

“Father.”

Just as a content smile curled his lips, his beloved daughter, Judith—whom he adored more than anything—entered the room with tears welling in her eyes, clearly upset.

The Marquess immediately set aside the papers and stood to greet her.

“Judy. What’s wrong?”

He sat down across from her, his expression quickly turning stern.

A tear slipped down from Judith’s wide, trembling eyes. In a voice full of sorrow, she began to explain.

“A few days ago… I ran into Lady Revart. And she…”

He didn’t need to hear the rest. It could only mean one thing—Aileen had once again hurt his sweet daughter.

“She insulted me, Father. Said I had no manners, and asked if I hadn’t been properly educated.”

To the Marquess, that was not only an insult to Judith, but to the entire House of Hessiden. His face grew colder.

“It was at the Primère perfume boutique. I just offered to help her find a fragrance she liked, and she flatly rejected my kindness like it meant nothing…”

A flash of cold light flickered in the Marquess’s eyes.

“Did she say who the perfume was for?”

“She said it was a gift.”

It would’ve been ideal if she were buying it for herself—but even as a gift, it didn’t matter. Sooner or later, someone close to her would suffer because of it, and she would be left in agony.

He’d already heard the investigation had just begun. Although he’d learned of it much earlier, it had made little progress, so they had now assigned Aileen and Carlisle to the case.

There was no way the two of them could have already discovered the perfume was the source of the damage within just a few days. And even if they did—so long as they didn’t know who was behind it—it meant nothing.

There was no chance they’d uncover that he was the mastermind. He had met with the merchant guild in secret, leaving not a single trace linking it to House Hessiden. The northern tribes were trash in every other way, but their shamanic magic had proven highly useful.

Suppressing a vicious smile, the Marquess spoke to his daughter in a gentle voice.

“What would you like me to do about Lady Revart? I’ll make it happen.”

“Please make sure she doesn’t appear in front of me—or Carlisle—again, Father.”

“Very well. Just wait a little longer.”

All that remained was to finalize arrangements with the northern tribes. If everything went as planned, then in the battle soon to come, the Diert Empire would be forced to fight with one arm already lost to a devastating ambush.

The raid on the perfume workshop was a complete success. Thankfully, no information had leaked beforehand. Of course, Carlisle and Aileen’s swift handling of the operation also played a key role.

They captured three perfumers who were still working late into the night and seized every ingredient and scrap of material scattered around the place.

During that process, they managed to fulfill one of the Emperor’s main objectives.

“So you’re saying a poisonous herb from the North was mixed into the formula?”

“Yes.”

Edith crossed her legs, the deep furrow in her brow showing her discomfort.

“There might even be a curse involved.”

“We currently have no way of confirming that.”

“Right. Curses are exclusively the domain of the northern tribes.”

It wasn’t unexpected. In fact, once it became clear that the Marquess of Hessiden was involved, this outcome had already been on the horizon.

“There probably wasn’t any curse involved. No one would waste such power on a few bottles of perfume—especially not when they don’t even know who will use them. They’d much rather use it to eliminate one of our imperial knights. It’s likely just the side effects of unrefined northern herbs.”

At the Emperor’s blunt words, Aileen’s brow furrowed slightly.

“The real issue is that the northern tribes are reaching farther, faster than we expected…”

The new perfume they had developed would never make it to market now, but one thing was certain:

They were aggressively trying to dig deeper into the Empire’s core.

Edys slowly brushed a hand along his clean-cut jawline. Without access to shamanic power, their side was at a clear disadvantage. All the more reason to focus on strengthening their forces.

“Well, now that we’ve identified the cause, dealing with it should be easier. And thanks to the sales list you two provided, we’ve already mapped out the estimated range of exposure. No need to worry.”

Edys smiled, waving a thin notebook in his hand. It contained the sales records recovered from the Primère perfume handler.

According to her, the Hamilton merchant guild master might ask for the ledger at any time, so she had kept meticulous notes just in case. That foresight had played in Aileen’s favor. Hamilton himself likely didn’t even know those records existed.

“But, um…”

As the tension in the room began to ease and warmth crept into the air, Aileen cautiously spoke, glancing at the others.

“Isn’t it a bit presumptive to assume the Marquess of Hessiden is definitely behind all of this?”

They still hadn’t found any conclusive evidence…

Her question was a mix of unease and cautious self-doubt.

After sending Aileen away first, Carlisle had interrogated the Hamilton merchant—who had acted under the Marquess’s orders—and turned the entire room upside down in his search. But no core evidence was uncovered, and the merchant died with his lips sealed.

When Aileen heard this from Carlisle, she faced Edys with less confidence than usual. Carlisle, however, had remained as composed as ever.

Edys scrunched his brow in an exaggerated show of disapproval, like an adult gently scolding a child.

“You’re still worried about that, Dame Aileen? There’s no need. Corruption like this is nearly impossible to trace cleanly. And the Marquess of Hessiden? He’s a master at this sort of thing.”

“…”

“Thanks to the two of you, all that’s left is wrapping things up. No distractions now—just focus on the upcoming campaign against the northern tribes.”

“Ah… the subjugation…”

Aileen’s thoughts shifted toward the northern expedition. The two men quietly exchanged glances.

There was a reason they were so firm in suspecting the Marquess of Hessiden—a reason they hadn’t shared with her.

Carlisle recalled the time Judith had come to him, drunk and pleading.

She had confessed she was pregnant and begged him to marry her. When he tried to walk away coldly, Judith, intoxicated and incoherent, made a critical mistake.

—It’s okay. The baby will be fine. Don’t worry. My father can take care of it.

—What?

—You’re worried, right? That the baby’s eyes and hair might not look like yours. That’s why you’re hesitating, isn’t it? But it’s fine. It can be fixed. We can change it.

—…Change it?

—Yeah. My father said he could do it. So please… marry me. Even if it’s just a contract. Just… be the father of my child.

Changing a child’s eye and hair color was impossible—unless northern magic was involved.

Judith had carelessly revealed, right in front of Carlisle, that her father, the Marquess, could “handle it.” And the moment Carlisle heard that, he understood.

The Marquess of Hessiden had always been alarmingly quick to respond to movements from the northern tribes. He’d been widely praised for his insight as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Then, seemingly overnight, he’d amassed extraordinary wealth and emerged as one of the most powerful figures in the Empire. If northern magic lay behind that rise, many pieces began to fit.

One of the businesses he had tight control over was iron ore. Most of the profits from his vast mining operations came from the production of wartime supplies.

The longer and more frequent the battles against monsters and the northern tribes, the more the Marquess profited—without taking a single loss. For him, a war with the northern tribes was nothing but beneficial.

On top of that, he had constantly kept Edys—who was practically like family—in check. Perhaps because Edys wasn’t a blood relative, the Marquess had watched him even more carefully. The more Edys focused on the threat from the north, the freer the Marquess became to move.

For the Marquess, colluding with the northern tribes was a profitable deal in every way.

Still, neither man intended to share any of this with Aileen. They had no intention of telling her the true reason they suspected the Marquess.

“You’ve both done well. Let’s consider the special mission complete.”

Keeping the sensitive details to themselves, Edys smiled lightly and dismissed them.

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