Duke, Please Stop Because it Hurts

However, without any physical evidence, he couldn’t be completely definitive about that. The Count then wore a shameless mask before laughing out rather loudly.

“Oh, Duke of Linerio! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you at the palace.”

The Duke’s mouth immediately hardened when he became aware of the Count.

“…I see.”

“Haha, how are you? I’ve been wondering about my safety since I haven’t heard from you at all.”

How have you been?

As soon as Raven had seen the Count, his murderous intentions were gradually increasing, which made it hard for him to maintain his own expressions. It had become even more unbearable when Molitia’s crying face was overlapping with the Count’s shameless, smiling face.

He managed to hold his hand against the sword at his waist. This is the Imperial Palace. To wield a sword inappropriately could definitely be charged with treason.

“That’s great. I’ve been rather curious as well.”

“Oh, the Duke is?”

“Yes, I’d like to ask Count Clemence in regard to some of your information.”

There was no need to show his true feelings to those dirty and ugly people. Raven pulled a smile around his lips as he gave off a rather generous atmosphere.

“Haha, as much as you want, of course. If I can be of any help to the Duke of Linerio, I will answer them with all my heart.”

“Is that so?”

Raven then drew an even thicker line around the corners of his mouth.

A few days ago, some pieces of information in regard to Count Clemence had arrived in front of him. Raven extended one of them through his mouth.

“…then, the amount of gold that had been paid to the Empire by Clemence’s merchant group was too small. What are your thoughts on this?”

“…what?”

Suddenly, Count Clemence had forgotten to laugh heartily.

‘How could he do that?’

Count Clemence’s eyes trembled stridently in response. That had been something which he did in all secrecy. It hadn’t been just for a few years. The separation of the merchant group that he had been devoting his life to was benefitting him tremendously.

It was also true that he had been seizing the initiative as well. But then, the Duke was already aware of that. The Count’s face eventually turned blue.

“Well—what do you mean, Duke? That’s rather misleading. If anyone were to hear that, they might assume that the Clemence merchant group doesn’t charge properly.”

“That is what I’m saying.”

Unlike the Count who was whispering quite hushedly, Raven still continued in his calm tone.

“Do you know that we’ve been imposing strong sanctions on illegal merchant groups recently? A guy who was investigating the case had told me a rather interesting story.”

Raven took a glance over the old man who was right in front of him. His heavy appearance was shaking furiously against his own dignity.

The more he remembered how his wife had been treated back then, the more he wanted to break apart those fingers that belonged to the Count—one by one.

“It appears that Count Clemence has put forward a blank merchant group, whereas the merchant group which he runs for himself is separate on its own.”

“Well, that’s… I’m afraid that you’ve misread something there.”

“Is that so? Well, that’s a relief.”

“What?”

“As the person who’s in charge of the security, I will still have to look into the case—whether I like it or not.”

“What… do you mean that you’re going to investigate me—Count Clemence?”

Raven snorted.

If you were innocent, you could humbly accept anything that was given. The behavior of those who couldn’t have actually done that was immensely hideous that even their eyes were truly frowned upon.

“Of course not. It’s just that if—by chance—the investigation were to find any connections to the Count, we just can’t help it.”

Raven lowered his head before whispering softly in the ear of Count Clemence, who had his mouth open—appearing dishevelled.

“Count Clemence, please behave well so that I won’t have to disturb you—Count.”

“Duke! Duke of Linerio!”

The Count, who had regained his senses, albeit belatedly, immediately called out to him. But Raven, on the other hand, had quickly disappeared.