CH 159

After leaving the court, I still can’t get over my frustration. If it’s possible, I want to go to Helene right now and punch her so hard that her face deforms and can never be turned back to normal. Even so, the pain, suffering, and terror that Christa endured would be far from being paid for. Moreover… I can’t settle my feelings until I make her experience something that makes her regret being born.

“Floto… I’m glad you’re angry for my sake. But can you forgive what Lady Helene did to me?”

“Christa…” I said.

This girl… is too good a girl! She’s a Saint!

I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive my opponent if I had to face something like this. Despite this, Christa is trying to forgive Helene.

“Lady Helene has already been punished enough for this incident,” Christa said. “And even with this, we’ve grown up together since childhood… so please forgive her already.”

“If you say so, Christa…”

If the person herself has already forgiven, I, an outsider, can’t say anything about it. This seemed to be what Christa repeatedly told herself to sleep at night, so I guess Helene was doing whatever she wanted without knowing bothering to understand Christa’s heart. If it’s true, I think it’s better to make sure that Christa’s feelings are conveyed to Helene more properly.

But that’s another story. There is no point in informing Helene of Christa’s kindness now.

Perhaps Helene thought that until now, Christa had been silent no matter what she did to her, because she was afraid of the power of House Bayen, or that she was a subordinate who silently followed whatever she was ordered to do. But it wasn’t the case. Christa was just forgiving her childhood friend’s selfishness with her inherent kindness. Helene, who didn’t understand that, will never be able to understand Christa’s kindness moving forward.

“Sir Floto, Lady Christiane, thank you for all your hard work.”

“Helmut…” I said.

“Mr. Helmut…!” Christa cried.

When we left the royal castle, Helmut was waiting in front of our carriage. As soon as she saw him, Christa’s face turned red and she let out a happy voice.

Yes……. Even I can understand this… I see… Christa is like this with Helmut, huh?

To tell the truth, we were acquitted of House Bayen’s accusations this time, so it’s not the end of the story. If it was a piece of fiction, it might have ended there, but in reality, it does not. From here on out, not only House Bayen but all of Bayen’s Faction will be in big trouble. Even though House Reingen was a victim, there are no exceptions.

Christa was the victim in this case. That’s true, but what happens next will put House Reingen under intense scrutiny. I don’t know what will happen to them once this is all over.

Helmut is not heir to Viscount Royce. He had almost no chance of inheriting the title from the start, and there was too much difference in family status between the daughter of a marquis and the second onward son of a viscount. And the future of Marquis Reingen cannot be foreseen. There is a possibility that the House will be demolished, and in the worst case, you could say that it’s possible they might be imprisoned or executed. The road ahead for both will be quite difficult.

Even so……, now, I hope that these two young people can enjoy their youth as they please. At the very least, I hope that the two of them will settle down in an ending that they can be satisfied with…

“Helmut, take the carriage and send Christa home,” I said.

“Huh? Are you not going home with us, Floto?” Christa asked, dumbfounded.

Well, if you think about it normally, it would be the flow of everyone getting on the carriage and going home together. But unfortunately, I can’t go home yet.

“I still have something to do. Helmut, please take Christa home first.’

“Sir Floto! If that’s the case, I’ll stay here too…” Helmut started.

I don’t let him finish and interrupt his interruption.

“Helmut! You were hiding something so serious from me, weren’t you? You know what will happen later, right? First of all, send Christa home then get back to me.”

“Uuu…” Helmut choked. “I… understand…”

He reluctantly agreed and looked at me like an abandoned puppy, but it was useless to offer mercy.

I hadn’t heard that Christa would stand as a witness this time. Besides, I just learned the fact that Christa was assaulted.

Helmut should have known that information when I asked Katharina to order him to visit Christa personally. But he didn’t report anything to me.

Certainly, thanks to Christa’s testimony this time, it would have definitely helped us win. But even if we didn’t force Christa to go through such a hard time, our victory would have been decided. Even so, he stayed silent about Christa being assaulted, silent about calling her as a witness, and I can’t let him get away with all of this without punishment.

“Floto! Please Forgive Mr. Helmut! These were my wishes! So please!” Christa said.

“Uu…” I choke now.

Christa puts her hands together in front of her chest and looks up at me with tearful eyes from under the hood of her cloak… this destructive power, why do I feel like I’m the bad guy here?

Could it be… isn’t Christa really a little devil? Does she know what she’s doing? If all this is calculated, Christa may be a considerable performer.

“I know that it was your idea, you two,” I said. “Besides, I can’t deny that thanks to the two of you, I was able to win more reliably. …… Anyway, first of all, Helmut, please deliver Christa home properly and safely!”

“Yes!” Helmut said, straightening up.

“Thank you, Floto,” Christa said, smiling at me.

Then, they boarded the carriage and departed. If Helmut is worthy, he might be invited to take a rest first and accept it, but Helmut wouldn’t be able to take the offer…

Well, if those two are going to get together, I won’t object. If possible, even if Helmut and Christa become a couple, I would like Helmut to continue serving me, but that would be difficult. Marrying Christa would make him a relative of House Reingen, so it would be a problem for someone like that to serve me.

If I want to clear those problems, it’s easiest for him be promoted to a higher rank. It wouldn’t be strange for a relative of Marquis Reingen to serve me… well, let’s not think too much about it. Getting caught up in that would wear a hole in my stomach from anxiety. Besides, they haven’t even decided if these two are getting married.

There is actually a relatively large number of girls who admire Helmut. Helmut is excellent and very helpful, but from my point of view, I don’t think Helmut is very good when viewed as a man and a romantic partner. But it seems he’s very popular with women in the world. Christa is just one of those people, and I don’t know if Helmut wants to marry Christa.

Well, I guess it’s just that she’s one of those teenage girls who yearn for a gentle and reasonably handsome older man. It’s up to Christa whether the two of them make progress or not. Of course, I won’t get in the way, and if Christa wants it, I’ll at least support her, but I don’t know what will happen. Let’s just watch over them warmly for now.

“The two young people are gone, so from now on, it’s time for the old men to take over from here,” I said.

“If Sir Floto is already old, does that make me dried up?” Bianca asked, annoyed.

Meanwhile, Hugo laughs.

“Bianca, please go back to work,” I said. “Katharina, please take Bianca to the crepe cafe.”

“Understood,” Katharina said.

I had Bianca sent to another waiting carriage. I and Hugo still have a job to do.

“Huh? Umm? Am I the only one going back?” Bianca asked.

She might be worried about leaving both her boss and the company owner alone. But there’s nothing Bianca can do from here.

“Yes, there is no work for you here moving forward,” I said. “Wouldn’t it be more meaningful for you to head back to the store and get back to your job?”

“Yes… understood……” Bianca muttered.

Maybe I said it a little wrong. But from now on, I don’t want young people with dreams and hopes like Bianca to be involved. From here on out, it’s a muddy, ugly world. Someday, the time will come when Bianca will have to come into such a world and stand before the younger generation to protect them. But it’s not now. Now it’s time for me and Hugo to do the dirty work.

Katharina leaves with Bianca. Only Hugo and I were left. From here on it’s the messy world of adults.

“Now then, it’s our job from here. Shall we go make them pay for all this clean-up?” I asked.

“Yes,” Hugo said.

I take Hugo with me back to the royal castle.

It’s true that the person involved has forgiven all the crimes committed against her, and I, who have nothing to do with any of the cases, can’t do anything. Actually, my heart is boiling over, but Christa asks me to forgive her perpetrators, so let’s respect that. But that’s not what we’re up to.

Caanza Trading Firm suffered a lot from this incident. The false charges filed by House Bayen were acquitted, but only in relation in a trial held by House Bayen. From now on, we will sue House Bayen.

The actual damages would be at most Christa’s dress being shredded. Caanza has no right to claim damages from Helene because it was actually something I intended to give to Christa as a gift. But at the trial, Christa said it was borrowed from Caanza. I think she intended that phrasing.

There is no rental contract or receipt for the dress. Therefore, as long as the person herself testified that it was a rental, it is interpreted that it was included in the contract regarding the evening party catering. Then there’s no problem with us claiming damages.

We have suffered a lot of damage from this turmoil. There have been reports of vandalism of goods and the stores themselves, and operations have been disrupted. Also, without an interrogation, I was suddenly tried as a criminal. If it can be proven that these things were done behind the scenes by House Bayen and the judges and prosecutors helping them, it’s going to be a fight.

Of course, it’s not just us, it’s a criminal act, so the Kingdom of Ploiss will probably sue them, too, for subverting the justice system. Their sins must be atoned for. This time, we can file a considerable number of lawsuits against House Bayen. Furthermore, the criminal penalties for violating the laws of the Kingdom of Ploiss would be considerable.

Not only that, but with this incident as the starting point, Wilhelm said that he would also look into the crimes of Bayen’s Faction, like the investment fraud scheme. It is no coincidence that Dietrich and Wilhelm came out in this trial. That’s what I had planned from the beginning.

When Christa personally signed a contract with Caanza, I thought about the possibility of such a situation and took countermeasures. Our patent registration of pudding was part of that and was the first thing we did.

I was considering the possibility of House Bayen claiming the right to pudding or the tableware we used to serve it in. I really didn’t think they were stupid enough to claim we stole them, but I should say I’m glad I prepared. In any case, everything had been taken care of, so there was no problem this time.

In addition to that, I worked closely with Wilhelm and Dietrich to prepare for this event. Thanks to that, everything went smoothly, but those two told me that they were going to deal with the fraud case after they had finished collecting evidence and interrogating Marquis Valtek, not just his wife.

I don’t really have much to do with the fraud case, so if King and Prime Minister decide to do something, I’d say do whatever you want, but if Bayen’s Faction is crushed by the fraud case, we won’t be able to claim damages. If we’re going to do it, we have to do it together now.

Above all, they made Christa suffer like that. The person herself says she will forgive, but when it comes to her reasoning, I can’t help but feel sorry for her. It’s going to be like kicking a corpse, but let’s kick it as far as we can.

“Sir Floto… you’re making a terrible expression,” Hugo said.

“Oh, dear? Aren’t you doing the same, Hugo?” I asked.

As he walks beside me, he also has an unnerving expression. It is reassuring to have an experienced partner at times like this.

“I can’t show my face yet, so I’m leaving it to you,” I said.

“Yes. Please, count on me,” Hugo said.

If I advertise my face as the Owner of Caanza Trading Firm, it will become difficult for me in the future. I’m going to participate too, but it’s difficult to speak out. I’m listening next to Hugo, and if something bad happens, I’ll stop things, but it’s okay to leave it to Hugo.

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling when I thought about what kind of faces Alto von Bayen and Helen would make when they realize that Caanza is counter-suing.

T/N: This ends Helene’s Evening Party arc. Those of you who wanted to read through Christa’s downfall and rise again in one go, please go ahead.