Chapter 148

Chapter 148: The Eldest Daughter’s Hunt (5)

“Are you telling me to hand over my company to you…?”

The Grand Duke’s daughter, whose silver hair was always immaculately and gracefully brushed.

Just for today, she looked haggard, almost too human.

“You want me to hand over a company I built with my own hands… to someone I don’t even know, someone who doesn’t share a single drop of my blood?”

I glanced sideways at her words.

Then, narrowing my long eyes even further, I spoke coldly and firmly.

“To be precise, you didn’t build it yourself.”

With my hands still behind my back, I walked toward Freya.

My dark shadow fell across her face.

“You merely inherited what your father built.”

A faint twitch appeared beneath the eldest daughter’s eye.

She, a woman of noble lineage who always carried herself with characteristic poise…

Now trembled, as if someone had struck her most sensitive nerve.

“What would you know? Do you even understand how hard it is just to maintain the legacy my father left behind?”

Of course I knew.

Given the personality of the Grand Duke of the North, he wouldn’t have been satisfied with mediocre results.

Even so, it was Freya who had achieved the ideal growth of the company.

If Echina hadn’t risen so suddenly and begun to threaten the textile industry…

She probably wouldn’t have fallen into the stock trap I’d set.

“Even if you take the position of majority shareholder from me, do you think the company will run however you please?”

Freya folded her arms tightly.

She even crossed her legs, showing firm resistance.

She knew when to stay strong, even when cornered.

Clearly, she’d learned well from her father.

“……”

At her reaction, I gave a faint smile.

Freya scowled at the sight, seemingly disturbed.

“What’s with that expression?”

“I’m just very satisfied, that’s all.”

She’d snapped back at me, but instead I seemed pleased.

Maybe that unsettled her, because Freya began to look at me with an increasingly wary gaze.

But that expression of hers soon shifted to one of puzzlement.

Because what I said next completely unraveled all the calculations she had been running in her mind since the start of our standoff.

“I have no intention of meddling in your company’s affairs.”

I sat down gently in the seat across from her.

Then, taking the teacup Yuria handed me, I spoke leisurely.

“Manage the company and the finances however you like.”

“…?”

Not involving myself in management or finances?

Freya, perhaps dumbfounded, gulped down the tea in front of her.

“What? Then why are you demanding the majority shareholder position?”

“Well, think of it as… holding the leash, maybe?”

I tapped my pale neck lightly as I spoke.

“What I need right now is a friend. Someone who’ll come running when things get urgent, someone who won’t betray me—a truly close companion.”

“Do you really think a relationship like that could exist? In this world, of all places?”

Freya raised a finger as if to say she was right.

Then she pointed to her golden eyes—an eye color unique to the Grand Duke’s bloodline.

“Yes, you’re right. Especially in the Grand Duchy of the North, where even blood relatives tear each other apart like rabid dogs.”

Even though her own family had just been insulted, the eldest daughter couldn’t bring herself to retaliate immediately.

That’s how utterly absurd my answers must have seemed.

“If you can’t even trust your own family, how can you possibly trust someone outside it?”

I shrugged.

Then I looked back and forth between the Grand Duke’s daughter and her chief secretary as I added,

“Which is why I needed a safety measure—something to put me at ease.”

“So you're telling me you stole the position of majority shareholder… just because you wanted to be friends with me?”

Freya kept sipping her tea.

At some point, her cup had emptied, and Yuria quietly refilled it.

“Yes, exactly. I’d appreciate it if you could help me a little.”

“Ha…”

The Grand Duke’s daughter rubbed her forehead, as if she couldn’t believe the headache I was giving her.

She kept her palm over her eyes as she asked me,

“So what exactly do you want my help with?”

At last, we were getting to the heart of the matter.

I clasped my hands together and laced my fingers, my expression turning serious.

“……”

For a moment, a heavy silence settled over the eighth-floor office.

Only the gentle sound of rain from outside filled the vast space.

Then, within that quiet, I finally spoke.

“Help Echina become the Grand Duke of the North.”

It was a short sentence—but an incredibly powerful one.

“Push aside Eric and Edward.”

Hearing the gravity of my words, Freya parted her lips slightly.

But she couldn’t form a response right away.

To ask her to make her younger sister—who had just entered the family business—defeat the very opponents she herself had not yet overcome?

“I can’t believe I got beaten by an idiot like you…”

She bit down hard on her red lips, seemingly disgusted with herself.

“It’s probably hard to understand right now—why I would want to make Echina the head of the family.”

I gazed at her with the relaxed air of someone watching a younger sibling.

“But aren’t you curious? About why I, the person who brought you down, didn’t choose anyone else—but Echina?”

Perhaps she agreed, because she uncrossed her legs.

If I’d wanted control over the Grand Duchy of the North, I could’ve simply sided with her—or with Eric.

So why had I joined forces with the one person who had always been the least noticeable?

“The reason is simple.”

I lifted my index finger, as if answering her unspoken doubt.

And then I pointed toward the massive city outside the window—

To Nord, the Empire’s second-largest metropolis.

“Because from the start, not one of the Grand Duke’s children is a genius worthy of the North.”

A remark that was cruel and outrageously rude.

But also undeniably true.

Who else could possibly build a power great enough to stand against the Emperor—starting from nothing but trade?

Who else could become the second most powerful person on this vast continent?

“If continuing his legacy is already out of reach, then it’s only right that the role goes to someone honest and upright.”

As if stating the obvious, I slowly stirred my tea with a teaspoon.

Then, without a second thought, I skimmed the tea leaves floating on the surface and tapped them off onto the floor.

“At the very least, someone like that would follow our father’s manual to the letter, so they wouldn't ruin the family.”

“Enough with the rude remarks. Luton Maiden, the company I built, has achieved record results every quarter.”

Freya scowled, accusing me of being rude.

But then, like a lioness who had lost her roar, she was suddenly at a loss for words.

“And yet you embezzled company funds from that so-called thriving business—then blew all of it.”

I pointed the tip of my teaspoon straight at the bridge of her high, elegant nose.

“Fools who think they’re smart always believe they’re capable of anything—they keep trying things they shouldn’t.”

I continued flatly, speaking as someone who had been quietly watching all of their misdeeds from the sidelines.

My eyes held a cold truth: that no matter how hard they tried, they would never even come close to our father’s level.

“As if what little they know is all there is to know in the world.”

I let out a deep sigh.

Then my gaze turned toward the Luton Sword leaning against one side of the office wall.

“At least knights never act that way.”

Somehow, I had ended up speaking informally to a woman more than five years older than me.

But given that I was now technically over thirty, it wasn’t all that strange.

“In war, enemies don’t care what means they use—as long as it kills you.”

The Grand Duke’s daughter listened to me in a daze.

The chief secretary standing beside her was no different.

This was the reason I had chosen Freya over Edward.

At the very least, the eldest daughter I knew was someone who knew how to listen.

That was probably why she had earned the loyalty of so many subordinates.

“They never let their guard down. Never get arrogant.”

My gaze fell on Freya’s now-cold teacup.

Our reflections shimmered faintly in the rippling surface.

“They always give their all to the situation right in front of them.”

“That means…”

The eldest daughter placed her hand thoughtfully against her sharp jawline.

“So Father didn’t put Echina in the knights just to protect her from the succession war…?”

“You may not have known this, but Echina has been studying stocks and economic theory for some time now.”

She had even predicted in advance that the shipping sector would boom.

There was a reason I said from the beginning that she would’ve been a formidable competitor if she had inherited the family business.

“She just took a different path—but she’s fully qualified to become the head of the family.”

I stood up from the sofa across from her.

Then I looked toward the portrait hanging on one wall of my office—of her holding the Luton Sword.

“In a way, the Grand Duke of the North was simply trying to teach management through a different approach.”

Of course, in her past life, Echina had devoted herself entirely to knighthood and eventually chose the path of becoming the commander of the knight order.

Which was why she had given up on the title of Grand Duke then.

But in this life, the very fact that she had been openly entered into the family head competition showed that the Grand Duke had left the door open to that possibility.

“Do you understand now? Why I’m giving you this chance?”

Freya quietly gazed at the portrait of her younger sister.

At those bright, intelligent eyes that shone so clearly—so unlike her own.

She had always thought Echina was nothing but a fool swinging a sword around.

But in truth...

Every time Echina brought her sword down, she was quietly reaffirming a wish she longed to achieve.

“If I accept your proposal, what do you expect to happen next?”

At last, the eldest daughter showed interest.

Seeing her set her pride aside, I lifted the corners of my mouth into a wide smile.

“Just continue as you are. Remain the president of Luton Maiden.”

I showed her proper respect for making the right choice.

In business, it’s a rule to treat those who understand their position and responsibilities with courtesy.

“Maybe not for the entire family, but when it comes to leading this company—there’s only you.”

“……”

The chief secretary, who had supported her all his life, quietly nodded.

As if to say he recognized Freya’s competence and leadership.

“There’s only one thing I ask of you.”

I quietly knelt on one knee.

And held out my hand politely to the silver-haired woman before me.

“Please stand with Lady Echina.”

With the same expression I had when, back in my secretary days, I died peacefully in the arms of a female knight.

“That’s all I need.”

Freya stared blankly at my hand for a moment.

Then she looked up and met my gaze with a steady stare as she asked a question.

“Why go this far for our family? You already left the Grand Duke’s house…”

At her question, I gave a gentle smile.

And then, I told her.

The reason I had come this far.

“Because I love this land the Grand Duke of the North built.”

I was born in Nord and lived here all my life.

Even if I had spent most of it as the family’s shadow, I had made beautiful memories during that time.

And I wanted to live off those memories.

“I just hope the Luton family will continue to protect my hometown, always and unwaveringly.”

“……”

I love this land.

Upon hearing those words, Freya slowly and carefully rose to her feet.

Then she turned to gaze out at the city of Nord—painstakingly built by her father over the course of a lifetime.

From the lofty eighth floor of the hotel.

“Hometown, huh.”

A sliver of light slipped through the dark, ashen clouds.

And that light gradually grew brighter until, before long...

It began to illuminate the once-dim city of Nord in dazzling brilliance.

Beautiful buildings, once cloaked in shadow, reemerged into view.

The streets that had been filled with dull, black umbrellas—one by one—began to close.

And then, people lifted their heads toward the warm sunlight.

“Of all the excuses I’ve ever heard, that’s the grandest.”

Freya gently rested her hand on the glass wall.

She looked out at the distant silhouette of her company—Luton Maiden.

“But… that doesn’t sound like the kind of excuse someone like Eric would come up with.”

“At the very least, that one sentence is sincere. You can trust that.”

With a sly, fox-like tone, I stepped up to stand beside her.

At the sound of my presence, Freya slowly looked up at me.

“Give me some time. I won’t take long.”

“Of course. I’ll be here, waiting.”

The woman who most resembled the Grand Duke of the North shook her head at my overly theatrical posture.

“I think I finally get why Echina leans on you so much.”

This time, I looked down at her with a puzzled expression.

Freya, in turn, lifted her chin proudly—as if it were her turn to land a blow.

“It’s just that—you have this odd knack for making even the most serious problems sound like they’ll be easily solved.”

Leaving behind that cryptic remark, the eldest daughter clasped her hands behind her back.

Then, with her usual elegance, she was the first to head out through the front door.

“Let’s go down. Since we’re here, we might as well grab a meal.”

“There’s a sunny spot just now opening up.”

I walked alongside her, keeping pace.

Watching us from behind, the chief secretary and Yuria smiled warmly.

“You’ve got a good boss.”

To that gentle comment from the middle-aged man, the red-haired manager nodded in agreement.

“You too, Chief.”

Each of them followed after their respective liege.

And then, each took hold of one side of the office doors—

Closing them slowly and quietly.

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