Chapter 344
“M-My apologies for the discourtesy.”
The aristocratic faction members retreated and disappeared like defeated dogs.
Nina snorted as she looked at their retreating figures.
If Marquis Crewe and House Nord’s influence were taking a hit, the aristocratic faction would also be affected.
So she had expected from the beginning that the members of the aristocratic faction would show signs of subtly trying to shift responsibility onto the Duchess of Bayern, but.
It was simply laughable that they retreated this easily.
“By the way, I really do wonder if House Nord will collapse at this rate.”
At Catherine’s small murmur, Nina said,
“As long as the Minister of Finance endures, even if things won’t be the same as before, they’ll probably be able to return someday. But…”
It was rare for threatening the poor to become a problem.
This was a society of status, where it became a grave crime for a commoner to harm a noble, but it was not a problem for a noble to harm a commoner.
Duchess Nord probably knew that too, so she must have ordered her escort knights to draw their swords without much concern.
But that day, she should not have done so.
“…I wonder whether the Minister of Finance can really continue keeping that position?”
Duchess Nord’s actions had been seen as an act of raising a banner of rebellion against the Imperial Family.
If it was revealed that Duchess Bayern had spread the ‘rumor’, then Duchess Nord would be able to escape the suspicion of harboring disloyal thoughts toward the Imperial Family, but…
With this one incident, the Emperor’s trust in the Minister of Finance had cracked greatly.
If he slipped even slightly more here, the Minister of Finance’s downfall would be unavoidable.
As Nina waited for the banquet to begin, she looked around the hall.
As if everyone had guessed the same conclusion as Nina, the gazes directed at Marquis Crewe were filled with thinly-veiled curiosity and delight.
In the past, they had been desperate to build a connection with him no matter what, but now, one could say they were joyfully watching the misfortune that had befallen him.
To begin with, there were many people who disliked Marquis Crewe’s arrogant nature, so who would look at him with pity?
Catherine whispered quietly.
“In any case, it is unprecedented for a noblewoman to be ordered confined by His Majesty. Even if Duchess Nord returns to high society, she probably won’t be able to exercise as much influence as before.”
“That’s true.”
Nina nodded.
The dark history she had committed in the past was nothing.
‘As for me, well, all I did was smear mud on my own face, but Rebecca…’
She had handed the Emperor a ‘justification’ to revile House Nord.
For an Emperor called a wise ruler, a ‘justification’ was more important than anything.
“By the way, you said her name was Lara, right? Have you looked into which orphanage you’ll send that child to? If you haven’t yet, I could look into it for you…”
Catherine’s sphere of activity was the capital, wasn’t it?
For her, looking into an orphanage was nothing.
However, Nina shook her head.
“No, I’ve already looked into where I’ll send her.”
Nina recalled her conversation with Hozi.
“Madam, since you took charge of the funeral for Lara’s grandmother, you must have secured a place in the public cemetery. So I thought about it, but are you planning to entrust Lara to an orphanage in the capital?”
“That’s right, but how do you…?”
“This is classified, but… I’m from an orphanage in the capital, you see.”
“…Didn’t you take a leave last time because of your younger sister’s wedding?”
“Yes, a sister I grew up with in the same orphanage.”
She truly had not expected it.
To think Baron Hozi B. Sommerden was actually from an orphanage.
House Sommerden was a small family that had barely continued its lineage without even a territory, and Hozi was the only heir who had succeeded to the title after the previous Baron’s death.
But saying he was from an orphanage meant that he had originally been a commoner, not a noble.
This was an issue that could become a great weakness for him.
Fortunately, he said that although the truth differed from what was known publicly, there was no legal problem, but…
Hozi had revealed that fact to her and said he wanted to entrust Lara to the orphanage where he had grown up.
‘I allowed it because there wasn’t any particular reason to refuse, but why so suddenly…’
At that moment, as she was lost in deep thought, someone in the hall began to speak.
