I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

10 – Clean Up

“First… Bring the Bishop here.”

“Yes!!”

You can’t stay immersed in sadness. Because the living must keep moving forward.

The first order I gave after becoming a duke was to prepare a funeral, and the second order was to immediately arrest the bishop who was managing the church. The first command was natural, and the second command was also understandable by all the vassals nodding their heads.

Of course. Because the church was poorly maintained and the chandelier fell and this catastrophe happened.

Wow!

“Sorry, sorry! Uh, how… This happened…!”

“…”

As the vassals had already driven all the people related to the church into one place to keep them from escaping, it took less than 5 minutes to bring only the bishop to me.

Up until this morning, the bishop did not even look at me properly as dirty and looked down at me with contemptuous eyes, but that is not the case now.

That arrogant bishop, those who claim to be servants of God, are begging for mercy with their heads down on me, a secular lord.

…Still not looking at me properly.

“Raise your head.”

“Please… Save me…”

“Okay, raise your head!”

“Hey…”

The chandelier accident happened in the morning, and now it’s almost dusk.

For half a day the bishop must have been trembling with fear for fear of punishment;

The Bishop’s terrified eyes were on me, but he still wasn’t looking at me.

They were trembling not at me, that is to say Claude, but at the sight of my title, the Duke of Burgon.

…Unexpectedly, you have a backbone.

“Execute them. Even those who worked in that church must be found innocent.”

“Yes.”

“Please, please… Please…”

But I don’t have to be thrilled just because I have a backbone.

I have to kill this guy anyway. My vassals and vassals can all turn their backs on me if I show them mercy.

Bishops are very powerful, but that doesn’t mean they are outside the law of the country.

Strictly speaking, mismanagement is hard to go to the death penalty, but the people who died due to the mismanagement were none other than the duke and duke’s family. Killing them isn’t too much of a problem.

This guy who was so arrogant knows that, so he must be trembling like this.

However, the religious world seems to be a bit dissatisfied… But they will either understand it in their own way or stay quiet on the outside. If you twist it, will you save your father?

“Contact the Seonghwangcheong, explain the circumstances of the incident, and ask them to dispatch the next bishop. And the church decree, which lost its owner due to the bishop’s death…”

Ecclesiastical decrees.

The church, in other words, is the territory mandated by the clergy. It is the source of the outflow of national wealth, as the clergy who have only words of mandate pay taxes in the name of donations to the Seonghwangcheong, in addition to guiding taxes if they are given a few points.

The reason why the church territories came into existence is that in the past, the lack of administrative power could not properly govern a large territory, and the nobles, who feared that regional warlords would arise if they divided the division, began mandating the church in a low-risk church. .

The church, which knew all the identities of the believers around it, showed excellent administrative ability, and the nobles who were satisfied with the church that proved its ability created more church territories.

And the results were devastating.

The religious community, which had a strong influence over the number of churches, pressured the lord to get a tax cut, and the goods not paid due to the tax cut were not invested in the region, but sent to the Seonghwangcheong, the center of Canaanism, and the national wealth was leaked.

You can take the risk of pretending to be with the church and confiscate the church’s territory… But after that is the problem.

Churches have a list of believers around them, so they are helpful in administration, but there is no way for the churches to cooperate with the nobles who stole the land, and the Holy Office expresses anger, causing all sorts of diplomatic pressure and, in the worst case, excommunication.

In a word, you have to give up all administration and take the risk of diplomacy and excommunication in order to retrieve the church territories. So, most of the nobles, including my father, couldn’t touch the Church Territory hastily.

“…I will rule by proxy in the Duchy of Burgon.”

So we have no choice but to choose proxy rule instead of confiscation.

As an illegitimate child, I have to pay attention to everything, but if I don’t even get a coronation ceremony because I’m getting along with the church, it’s literally the end.

As far as governing the church territory by proxy until a new bishop comes, it’s what other countries are doing, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

The longer the proxy reign is, the longer I can get the missing taxes, so I hope the next bishop comes as late as possible… But it’s a bit of a problem that the bishop has to proceed with my coronation.

Sorry… If it hadn’t been for the coronation issue, I would have just disguised the assassin as a bandit and killed him on the way.

“And issue a convocation order to the vassals, to come and swear an oath of allegiance to me, who has become the rightful ruler of the duchy of Burgon.”

“Yes!”

After that, I made every effort to deal with the aftermath of my father’s death and normal succession work. He had no time to mourn his father’s death.

It must have been the same for the servants who became my vassals. Even just a moment ago, the tears in everyone’s eyes had turned into dark circles.

I was able to leave the office only after the moon was at its highest that day.

…………

Kikiiikㅡ

“Ahhhhh…”

I’m too sleepy even though I’m sleepy. After such a hard time in the morning, it seems that the recoil made me even more tired.

It’s a bit difficult to use the duke’s room, which has not been properly organized yet, so I went back to the room I had been using.

“Jaya right away—”

“Welcome, young master.”

“Ahhh!?”

Apparently no one was there!?

I hurriedly turned around, and next to the door was Chloe, neatly dressed in a maid’s uniform, standing by and looking at me with a smile.

The soft starlight and moonlight coming through the window are bathing Chloe very weakly.

“Cl, Chloe… Don’t scare people…”

“hehehe… I’m satisfied to see you surprised.”

“I can’t be satisfied…”

It’s hard to see because it’s blurry because there’s too little light source, but Chloe smiles cutely and mischievously.

“Young master, no, duke.”

“Huh…?”

To think that Chloe, who always called me a young master, would call me a duke. It’s very different.

“Now, the duke is the highest in this castle, in Burgon, right?”

“Huh? Uh… Isn’t it?”

“Then… No one can give orders to the duke, right?”

“Is…Isn’t it?”

…What is it?

Chloe’s voice has not changed.

It’s a kind and cute voice as usual…But it’s a little bit—-

“If that’s the case… Then Laurel’s engagement to the woman will be cancelled…”

“Laurel? Ah, ah… That’s right!”

Because I was so busy, I completely forgot about my engagement to Ines, the granddaughter of the Duke of Laurel.

To make such a mistake… I’ll have to send a letter to the Duchy of Laurel as soon as I wake up tomorrow.

“…Duke?”

Perhaps she was a little dissatisfied with my involuntary interruption, Chloe called me back in a calm voice.

“Ah, ah… I’m sorry, did you say you were canceling your engagement to the Duchy of Laurel?”

“Yes…!”

Chloe replied in a voice that was somehow excited and full of energy. It’s a voice you won’t see in the middle of the night like this.

“Hmm… Can’t it be canceled?”

“Yes…?”

“That’s right, since I’m a duke now. Wouldn’t I be more obsessed with that?”

When I was just an illegitimate child, I managed to get engaged because my father literally put in all the effort, but now I think I’m rather clinging to that one.

The Duchy of Burgon is a duchy, and thanks to his grandfather’s hard work in the war of conquest, he far surpassed the average duchy in terms of weight. It can be affirmed that there is no nobleman who would refuse to marry the ruler of the duchy of Burgon and a family member.

“The Duke… The Duke…?”

“Huh?”

“What do you think the duke… The engagement?”

Me? I am…

“Isn’t that bad?”

It’s an engagement that was decided strategically, but the other party, Ines, is kind and beautiful, and he’s a little familiar from the previous banquet.

Even at a young age, Ines seemed certain to grow into a beauty, and even her personality was shy and kind, unlike common noble ladies. If she was going to marry, she would prefer Ines, who is familiar, has a good personality, and is pretty, rather than other aristocrats who are strangers.

As for age… If you add up your previous lives, there is a difference of more than tens of years, but now that I’m 19, it’s only a 4-year age difference. Kww.

“…Me?”

“What?”

“I… What do you think… Of me?”

…?

What are you talking about?

Why is Chloe’s story suddenly appearing while talking about Ines?

“Uh… Pretty… Cute… Trustworthy… Little sister, right?”

“…Sigh.”

“Chloe!?”

Chloe lowered her head as soon as I finished her words and let out a short, strong moan.

Chloe’s hands, which were somewhat gathered together, grabbed the master’s chest, and I, who could tell that Chloe’s condition was strange even with a small light source, hurriedly ran to Chloe.

“Gong, Duke… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I…”

“No, what’s there to be sorry about, Chloe!? From the morning… All the way…”

I was trying to stop Chloe, but I couldn’t say anything when I saw Chloe’s tears shining in the moonlight.

“Sorry…I’m sorry…”

“…”

Chloe shook off my hand, opened the door and went outside, and I could only stare blankly at Chloe’s back.

I could have followed Chloe, but I stopped because the hallways at midnight were very dark and I felt like I shouldn’t be chasing her.

Of course, I couldn’t sleep well that night.