“I have committed a mortal sin…”

Wendy’s father, Henry, bowed his head to the ground.

“I, I didn’t realize you were my daughter’s master…”

I looked down coldly at Henry, who was trembling and begging for forgiveness.

“Speak freely. Didn’t you say you’d say everything and live?”

“Ah, no! I, I want to live a long life…! Please, spare my life…”

“Sorry, so sorry…! Sorry! Count…!”

Wendy also bowed her head.

She must have felt responsible for her father’s slip of the tongue.

And beside her, the youngest, Ruri, cutely bowed her head to me.

“Jalmo-taesseo?”

Hmm… She probably doesn’t even know what she’s doing.

I looked around the house.

I didn’t expect much from a shack, but the interior was quite shabby.

Dirt-covered furniture and clothes that were more like rags were scattered around.

Four people were living in this impoverished house.

I sighed inwardly and opened my mouth.

“…You can stop begging for forgiveness.”

“B-but…”

“I won’t say it twice. Stay lying down like a patient should.”

“Y-yes…!”

Henry hesitantly raised his head.

If I was going to forgive him anyway, it was better to do it quickly.

This situation, with a sick patient begging for forgiveness, was uncomfortable.

“Thank you. Cough, cough…!”

“Ah, Dad! Are you okay?”

Wendy helped Henry lie down on the straw.

I wondered why there was straw inside the house, but it turned out to be the bed.

Wendy tearfully asked if things had been this bad when she was around.

“Dad… Why are you living in a place like this? What about our house?”

“We were evicted because we couldn’t pay the rent. Cough, cough… After I got sick, the taxes piled up, and it’s a miracle we weren’t kicked out of the village…”

“What about the money I sent you?”

“Money? Cough, cough… What are you talking about? It’s been a while since I last received a letter from you.”

“Huh??”

Henry looked puzzled.

“I was worried something had happened to you since I didn’t receive any letters. If I were healthy, I would have gone to see you…”

Listening to this, I roughly understood the situation.

I needed to investigate, but it was clear that someone had intercepted the money Wendy sent.

‘Rather than squeezing a flea’s liver…’

Thinking that some scumbag had taken the money Wendy had worked so hard for made my stomach churn.

But it wasn’t the time to be angry yet. I had to save this anger until I knew exactly who the target was.

“Um… Count…”

“…?”

“I’m really sorry for bringing you to such a humble place…”

Henry spoke, perhaps misunderstanding my dark expression.

“Cough, cough… There’s no proper place to sit… I’ll explain the situation and get a chair from the next house-.”

“Don’t worry about it. I came in uninvited.”

I waved my hand dismissively, but something felt off.

Looking down, I saw Ruri staring at me intently.

“……”

When our eyes met, she spread her arms wide.

As if asking for a hug.

“Don’t act spoiled.”

“I’m not acting spoiled! Hug me!”

“…That’s what acting spoiled is.”

“Ung…!”

Ruri puffed her cheeks and threw a tantrum, not scared of me at all.

Ordinary kids would cry just seeing Tristan’s face.

“R-Ruri! Don’t be rude to the Count!”

Wendy tried to stop her, but Ruri ignored her and kept her arms spread.

“Hug me!”

“Such a cheeky kid…”

Finally, I clicked my tongue and picked Ruri up.

At that moment, I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

The five-year-old girl I just picked up was too light.

Looking closely, Ruri’s limbs were as thin as those of famine victims I’d seen on TV.

She must be suffering from malnutrition.

“Geng-baeng-jin geo-shi!”

But Ruri showed me a bright smile, unlike a child suffering from hunger.

That smile looked so fragile that I handed Ruri over to Helga beside me.

“You hold her.”

“Huh? Ah, yes…”

Helga also seemed to have the same thought as me when she took Ruri, her expression turning pitiful. Sick children are always heartbreaking to see.

Then, Henry muttered blankly.

“…The Count seems quite different from the rumors I’ve heard.”

“Rumors?”

“Yes… When would we serfs ever have the chance to see the Count? All we have are rumors…”

“I’d like to hear them.”

“Huh?”

“Those rumors. What do they say about me?”

“W-well…”

Henry hesitated, trying to avoid the topic.

Considering what he had said earlier, the content was obvious.

“That you treat the lower class like bugs beneath your feet, a fat tyrant… O-of course, it’s just a rumor…! I never thought that…”

“Enough. No need to defend me.”

From what I heard, it matched Tristan’s appearance before I possessed him.

Probably because the countryside hadn’t received the latest news about me.

But it was just as well.

“Wendy.”

“Yes?”

“Take care of your family here. I’ll go somewhere with Helga for a while.”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“Where are you going?”

Wendy and Ruri tilted their heads simultaneously, which was quite cute.

This must be what it feels like to have two daughters.

But regardless, I answered with a stern face.

“Kids don’t need to know.”

*

*

*

Rihart’s pub, ‘Golden Ear.’

It was a place too fancy to be a pub in a backwater like Rihart.

Charlie glanced around.

It was a quaintly decorated pub.

The chandelier on the ceiling bathed the second floor in a crimson light.

Below, young and pretty servers in revealing clothes moved about.

Unlike the first floor, which operated as a regular pub, the second floor where Charlie sat wasn’t open to just anyone.

It was a place frequented by rural nobles with too much money to spend, so-called nouveaux riches.

“I’m done for.”

Charlie shook his head and threw down his cards.

“Kuhuhu…”

The bald noble across from him laughed and swept the pot off the table.

It was the moment all the money Charlie had bet disappeared.

Unable to bear it, Charlie stood up.

“Hey, Charlie. Where are you going in the middle of the game?”

“Ah, I’m done.”

“It’s just getting fun. Why are you leaving? Huh? That’s disappointing.”

Damn. Of course, it’s fun when you’re winning money.

But Charlie, a mere serf overseer, couldn’t say that to a noble.

“Ah, come on. It’s the weekend. Don’t I deserve to have some fun with a woman?”

“You. What kind of woman are you trying to pick up that you’re leaving the game already?”

“Yes. I’m looking for a stunning woman. This guy’s been acting up all day.”

Charlie pointed to the bulge between his legs and laughed crudely.

The bald noble, understanding the meaning, also chuckled.

“Kuhahaha! Alright! I’ll let you off this time. Bring that woman next time. Don’t bring some ugly one, okay?”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Charlie bowed his head and turned around.

Considering his position as the overseer of the village serfs, this place didn’t suit him.

He could come here because he had been doing well recently.

But…

“Sigh…”

Sitting at a nearby bar table, Charlie ordered a drink.

Although he had made an excuse to leave the gambling table, it was partly true.

Charlie scanned the women around him.

Seeing the servers’ outfits with their buttocks exposed, his suppressed desires began to boil.

He hadn’t had time to enjoy women recently due to the busy harvest season.

Charlie checked the money left in his pocket.

He estimated it was around 5 million Kael. That should be enough to buy a bunch of decent prostitutes and have fun until morning.

Charlie sipped his drink and rolled his eyes.

The servers here were also women carefully selected from the region.

But none of them satisfied Charlie.

‘…Huh?’

While looking for a woman he liked, Charlie noticed something strange.

All the women’s gazes were directed at one place, one person.

His first impression of him was that he was disgustingly handsome.

A neatly dressed, composed black nobleman sat there.

Upon closer inspection, his cold demeanor was chilling. It felt like there was an unapproachable aura around him.

‘A face I haven’t seen before…?’

Charlie tilted his head.

He looked like a man who had just come of age.

‘Golden Ear’ was a pub and gambling den where wealthy nobles came for entertainment.

Seeing such a man here was quite out of place.

“…Huh?!”

Charlie’s eyes widened as he noticed the woman beside him.

She wore something resembling a uniform, and her face showed a mix of a girl’s innocence and a woman’s maturity.

Even under the dim lighting, she stood out. Her cat-like, graceful gestures and expressions caught his eye.

And above all, she was the most beautiful woman Charlie had ever seen in his life.

If he could spend a night with a woman like that…

That’s when it happened.

“Mr. Charlie?”

A server approached Charlie, who couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“What is it?”

“Um… The nobleman over there is looking for you…”

“Me…?”

Coincidentally, it was the man he had been watching.

The man was now looking at Charlie with cold eyes.

Damn. Did he catch me eyeing his woman?

Charlie scratched his head and approached the man’s table.

“…What is it?”

“Are you the one who manages the village?”

“Huh?”

“I heard you’re the one who manages the village. Is that correct?”

“Huh? Uh… I manage the serfs, not the village…”

“I see.”

The man gestured for Charlie to sit.

Though he didn’t understand, he decided to sit.

The man looked like a noble, after all.

“I heard you know this area well.”

“Yes, I do. Do you have something to ask me?”

“Yes… I have quite a few questions.”

If Charlie hadn’t been distracted, he might have sensed the dangerous aura from the man.

But even then, Charlie couldn’t take his eyes off the woman beside him.

The more he looked, the more beautiful she seemed. Her mysterious heterochromatic eyes were looking at him.

Her coquettish smile and seductively crossed legs caught his eye. Her short skirt revealed her smooth thighs reflecting the light.

The erotic sight made Charlie unconsciously lick his lips.

Judging by her outfit, she was probably a high-class prostitute brought by this young noble.

Given that he was here, he was likely a low-ranking noble or a rogue.

‘But I can’t hold back anymore…’

He wanted to take her to an inn and do all sorts of vulgar things to her.

Perhaps it was because his suppressed desires were boiling over.

Suddenly, a good idea came to his mind.

“Sir. You said you had something to ask me?”

“Yes.”

“It seems to me that you’re not from around here. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can’t just speak freely. I hold an important position managing the serfs in this area. I can’t just give information to outsiders, can I?”

As he spoke, Charlie subtly made a circle with his fingers.

“…That makes sense.”

The man nodded easily to the bribe request.

“Then will this do?”

“…?!”

Charlie couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

What the man pulled out wasn’t a wad of cash but a gem.

It wasn’t large, but it was clearly…

“A diamond.”

“A d-diamond…?!”

An exclamation escaped Charlie’s lips.

He thought he was dealing with an ordinary nouveau riche, but this man was on a different level.

That money was incomparable to the petty cash he had skimmed from the village serfs.

Charlie swallowed his saliva unconsciously but then paused.

‘No, something’s off.’

Where would a noble who casually offered such a valuable item to a mere serf overseer come from?

He had seen many nouveau riches with too much money, but none like this man.

‘That means…’

Either the gem was fake…

Or the man was a spy from another country.

This Rihart land was an important granary for the great noble Ruelberta family.

Especially, this place supplied provisions for the powerful private soldiers of the Ruelberta family, Aslan.

The possibility of him being a spy disguised as a young rogue noble couldn’t be ruled out.

In the end, neither option was good news for Charlie.

He wanted to refuse and leave, but the prostitute the man had brought was too tempting.

A woman like that wouldn’t appear in such a countryside again.

‘Fine. Whether he’s a rogue or a spy hiding his identity, I’ll use him thoroughly.’

Charlie smiled cunningly inside.

“Ahem… I don’t mean to distrust you, sir… But someone like me, uneducated, wouldn’t know if that’s a real gem or a fake. Honestly, it’s difficult to accept something like that in this countryside…”

“I understand. Then what else do you want?”

“Rather than the gem you just showed me…”

Charlie licked his lips and looked at the woman beside him.

“I’d rather have the beautiful gem you brought with you…”