I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

45 – Var (1)

“You passed out yesterday, but if you’re already back at work…?”

Worrying about me, Leclerc enters the office and his eyes turn round.

Leclerc, who blinked momentarily, hurriedly looked around him to see if there were other attendants.

“…I understand, Leclerc.”

It seems that Leclerc, who has always been well-mannered, is quite surprised to see something that could be considered frivolous.

Of course I fully understand.

“…Duke, did anyone else see this scene?”

“I’ve seen a lot…”

“…”

The sweat that started on Leclerc’s forehead dripped down to his chin and dripped onto the floor.

The vocal cords hanging from the neck twitch and tremble, and the lips tremble. There are so many things to say, but it seems like you don’t know what to start with.

“Duke, is this your will?”

“…No, no.”

“…As expected. The dukes I’ve seen aren’t like this.”

Something with a lot of bones.

If an ordinary person had said that, he would have taken it as it was, but it was Leclerc, not an ordinary person, who said it.

From a good point of view, it means that I lead a celibate life.

…It’s sad that you can’t deny it.

“First of all… I’ll have to go crack down on it.”

“It’s okay, Leclerc. I’m done already.”

Ines catches Leclerc as he sighs slightly and hurriedly leaves the office.

“…”

Leclerc flinched as soon as he heard Ines’ words, and then turned to where Ines was.

In the direction of the desk in Claude’s office, not the sofa where Ines always sat.

“…Yes, Duchess.”

Leclerc looks at Ines and politely bows his head, but Ines is not acting politely towards Leclerc.

From the expression on his face, it was very clear that he was hostile to Leclerc.

Of course. For Ines, who had been brought up according to the etiquette of an aristocrat from a young age, there was no way that Leclerc would not have noticed the meaning of what he had just said to Claude.

“From now on, I will take care of the servants in the castle. What do you think? Lord Leclerc.”

“…This is the natural right of Ines, the Duchess.”

Although Leclerc has been managing the servants and attendants in the castle so far, this is a job nominally a duchess has to do.

Of course, it was only nominal, and this was only the authority and power of Leclerc, the butler.

In other words, Ines is now telling Leclerc [Give me the power you have], But Leclerc doesn’t resist and just keeps lowering his stance.

‘…I made a mistake.’

Because Leclerc is aware that he has made a mistake.

It was such an outrageous thing that I didn’t think it through enough and just blurted out the words. A mistake I would never have made if it were me.

It is a statement that can be raised as a problem if it is raised as a problem. You have to be as low as possible here.

It was an authority that would be retrieved someday anyway, so there was no need to hold back.

“That… Ines.”

“Seobang, this is what I have to do.”

Of course, Leclerc’s reaction is an extenuating reason. Didn’t Claude admit it and say nothing?

When Ines suddenly takes away Leclerc’s authority without consulting him, Claude panics and tries to dissuade Ines, but he is unable to say anything in response to his firm will.

‘…I’m sorry, Leclerc.’

Claude, who decided to respect Ines’ opinion, apologized to Leclerc with a look in his eyes.

Honestly… Even if I were Leclerc, I wouldn’t have been able to stop the random words.

Casting Casting—-

Because Chloe and Ines are attached to me literally.

Ines, who has brought a new chair to my side, is holding my forearm and rubbing it, and Chloe is coming from behind me and rubbing my shoulders and head.

I was at first confused and asked what they were doing to the two who had suddenly changed, but I couldn’t refute the two’s reply, “”You said you shouldn’t hide your feelings.” In the end it turned out like this.

Except for the sound of my body being rubbed, there is no sound in the office.

‘hahahaha…’

No matter how often infidelity happens, in a world where abstinence is considered a virtue, it is very shameless to openly engage in affection in front of others.

Of course, a married couple with a good relationship would understand it, but the problem is Chloe.

Because Chloe was obviously toying with me with the expression and behavior of looking at the person she loves.

Moreover, since Ines didn’t take issue with this at all, people would literally be dumbfounded, to the point of questioning the morals and ethics of the three of us.

It’s not for nothing that Leclerc immediately asked if there were any other witnesses. Following the face of the House of Burgon, the prestige and honor are in danger of being thrown to the ground.

“Then… Count Leclerc. Is the reason you came here to check on my health?”

“…Yes, Your Highness. I was going to encourage you to rest if your health doesn’t look good… But you don’t need to because you look very well.”

In order to break this uneasy and awkward silence, I said anything, and fortunately, Leclerc also took my awkward questions out of the blue if he didn’t like this awkward silence.

“Of course, there are other things as well. Bar’s public sentiment is unusual.”

“Barga?”

What is this again?

Looking at the designation of public opinion rather than the nobles of Bar, it seems that something is wrong with the people.

Well, Bar’s nobles won’t cause a needless rebellion. It was because they signed a feudal contract with the Carolingian kingdom on exactly the same terms and conditions, so as not to say anything unnecessary.

“Yes, the nobles of Bar reported that the peasants were refusing to pay taxes and kicking the officials out of the village. So they asked for more support to settle the public sentiment.”

“…Maybe the aftermath of what the traitor did?”

“Maybe.”

Write…

My uncle’s rebels plundered the Bar region and advanced on Dijon. In the process, Varni took a lot of damage.

Even though they gave back all the loot and supported post-war restoration after the rebellion ended, humaneness doesn’t come back that easily.

“I can’t help it, I can fully understand it. Even if the situation turns violent, tell me not to kill him prematurely.”

“…You should take a look at this before that.”

“Huh?”

“It is an intelligence report that the return of looted goods and restoration funds were not properly returned to farmers.”

…What?

I didn’t hear…That’s wrong.

Leclerc, with an impossibly serious expression on his face, handed me a document, which stated that close to 95% of the subsidy I gave was embezzled by nobles.

“…Leclerc, is this information clear?”

“Yes, because the duke gave orders to make sure that the loot and recovery funds are going to the farmers properly. The bureaucrats dispatched as spies all sent the same information.”

I asked about the authenticity of the information just in case, but Leclerc nodded slightly, saying that it was reliable information.

These bastards dare to embezzle—wait a minute.

“…Didn’t they ask for more support so that they can control public sentiment?”

“Yes.”

Besides, you’re not satisfied and you’re greedy there?

…hahahaha, these bastards.

Chloe and Ines also look very angry. The hands that were squeezing my body stopped suddenly.

Their hands had been exuding warm warmth just a moment ago, but now they exude cold air.

…………

“Wow…! The Baron is really smart!”

“Ah, it’s all about remembering anyway.”

The baron, who is flattered by his vassal, trembles with humility, but his expression can’t be hidden.

“To be honest, it would be more correct to see this as a gift from the Duke of Burgon to the nobles of Bar. Who in the world cares about those people?”

My guess is perfectly reasonable.

In general, donations from nobles are often indirectly donated through the church rather than directly donated to the common people, and above all, the amount of wealth going to farmers was too large.

Why should we give so much wealth to farmers who only need to feed them so they don’t die?

‘So the Duke of Burgon bribed us in order to further stabilize the newly annexed territory.’

Everyone sees it this way. Not only me, but other nobles nearby would think this way too.

In order to stabilize a newly annexed territory, bribing the nobles of the territory is very common.

If you openly give a bribe, the duke would lose face, so he must have given it roughly as a farmer’s subsidy.

“Quack cu cu…”

It is true that I was a little anxious about the change of master. Isn’t it the notorious Duchy of Burgon that kills all the nobles captured?

However, Burgon kept the feudal contract the same as in Carolingian times, and even paid a huge amount of bribes. There was no deprivation of title or redistribution of territory.

In short, they must be afraid that they will not comply with our Varga rule.

It must have lost a lot of national power due to frequent wars, right?

Of course, if you rebel openly, you will be crushed by the military, so if you scratch gently and ask for what you want, you will get more.