How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 77

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 77】

Alicia was genuinely amazed.

How much must she have been struck for her true feelings to unconsciously slip out of her mouth.

‘How can a man who looks like this exist?’

Alicia gazed at Carlisle’s face without even realizing what she had said, completely absorbed in admiring his beauty.

Light blonde hair close to silver, a sharp and prominent nose, red lips as if they held blood, ivory-white skin, and mysterious violet eyes filled with mystique.

Alicia was instantly captivated by Carlisle’s appearance.

Of course, it was purely admiration for his looks and nothing more.

And then Alicia realized.

The young man who had been wearing his hood pulled down low was that famous Northern Scoundrel…

“So you’re him?”

“Yeah, I’m him.”

“You really are as handsome as they say.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“…”

When Carlisle turned his gaze toward the window, Alicia raised her voice.

“Are you ignoring me right now?”

“When did I ever.”

“I’m talking to you, so why are you turning your head away?”

“Because I don’t particularly have anything to say.”

“Nothing to say?”

“Strangers don’t necessarily have to have conversations. A simple introduction should be enough.”

“That’s… true.”

Alicia frowned.

Carlisle looked out the window as if he had no interest in her whatsoever.

In reality, Carlisle truly had not even the slightest interest in Alicia.

‘Just how many casualties are there?’

Carlisle observed the Black Officers in military uniforms and the soldiers accompanying them scattered throughout, gauging the Decaron Army’s losses.

Black Officers.

It was the term for officers who delivered news of deaths to the families of fallen soldiers.

The fact that they were moving about the streets so openly meant the number of casualties was beyond imagination.

Normally, Black Officers were supposed to move as inconspicuously as possible, avoiding the eyes of Territory Residents.

Their very existence meant someone’s death, a fallen warrior…

“Maranello.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“What’s the reason for the recent surge in casualties?”

“It’s a tragic matter, but what would this old man know?”

“You really don’t know?”

“I’ve kept my eyes and ears closed to military affairs for over ten years now.”

“Hmm.”

“If you’re truly curious, why don’t you ask His Grace the Grand Duke directly?”

“…”

As Maranello said, asking Grand Duke Guntram would indeed be the most reliable method.

‘I guess I’ll have to ask Grand Duke Guntram after all.’

He generally didn’t want to have long conversations with Grand Duke Guntram, but this time it seemed unavoidable.

“I’m getting hungry, so please prepare food as soon as we arrive.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“What about Evangeline?”

“She’s probably studying.”

“Is she working hard?”

“She’s studying harder than anyone.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Alicia, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“I’m being treated like some invisible person here.”

“…?”

“Even if I’m the daughter of a hostile family, isn’t this too much for someone who came as part of a diplomatic mission?”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“What…?”

“Diplomatic missions and such are for the family to handle, not my concern.”

“Aren’t you a Sigmund?”

“I might be, or I might not be.”

“You call that an answer?”

Alicia spoke as if she couldn’t believe it.

To think someone who inherited Sigmund blood would talk about his own family as if it were someone else’s business.

“If you know about me, you should know I’m a disowned child.”

“Well, that’s true too.”

“So have reasonable expectations. Don’t expect diplomatic treatment from a scoundrel like me.”

“Then what about person to person?”

“Person to person?”

“I heard you’re a womanizer. That you drool with bloodshot eyes whenever you see a pretty woman.”

“I quit that.”

“…”

At the absurd response, Alicia was once again left speechless and closed her mouth.

As if that was something you could just quit…

After the conversation ended, no more words were exchanged between the two.

Carlisle didn’t initiate conversation since he had no interest in Alicia to begin with, and Alicia, with her pride somewhat wounded, also refrained from speaking to Carlisle further.

“It wasn’t too long a journey, but you must have had a hard time coming here.”

“Not at all.”

At least Maranello, as the head butler of House Sigmund, made various attempts at conversation with Alicia.

* * *

The carriage stopped.

“I’m going to see my father for a bit, so please prepare the meal.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

As soon as they arrived at the castle, Carlisle got out of the carriage and went to meet Grand Duke Guntram.

“What the hell, seriously. How annoying.”

Alicia glared at Carlisle’s retreating figure and growled with displeasure.

Even if he was a disowned child, where did he learn such rudeness to leave without a word of greeting as soon as they reached their destination…

“Please understand, miss.”

Maranello smiled awkwardly and tried to placate Alicia.

“Now I can see why he’s called a scoundrel.”

“Hehe…”

“Is he always so rude… I mean, lacking in manners?”

“He tends to be indifferent to his surroundings. In case you might misunderstand, I don’t think he intentionally ignored you, miss.”

“Hmm.”

“Please don’t take it too much to heart.”

Despite Maranello’s consolation, Alicia felt terrible.

‘So what if he’s handsome? What gives him the right to ignore people?’

Alicia had never once in her life been treated coldly by the opposite sex.

Partly due to her noble bloodline, but she was also a great beauty.

Everyone tried to win her favor, and even without romantic interest, they treated her kindly.

And Alicia was accustomed to such treatment.

But to think that Northern Scoundrel would completely ignore her.

‘Could he possibly think I’m ugly?’

Alicia suddenly doubted her own appearance and glanced at her reflection in the carriage window, even unconsciously running her fingers through her hair.

This thought arose because Carlisle was famous for his womanizing ways.

It didn’t make sense that someone no different from a dog in heat would completely ignore a pretty woman right in front of him.

‘No. He must be keeping his distance because of what happened before. Even a scoundrel would have some caution. His neck nearly got cut, after all.’

Alicia recalled the incident where the Loren Family’s spies had framed Carlisle.

Of course, the Loren Family would never officially acknowledge being behind the incident.

However, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that everyone knew it was the Loren Family’s doing.

It had gotten so bad that the Royal Family sent a letter telling them to tone it down a bit…

‘Then I can understand why he’s ignoring me. Otherwise, someone crazy about women wouldn’t ignore me.’

Alicia felt somewhat relieved after reaching her own conclusion.

“I’ll escort you this way.”

“Thank you, Sir Maranello.”

“Right now I’m just a butler. Hehe.”

Maranello burst into hearty laughter.

* * *

As soon as Carlisle got off the carriage, he immediately headed to Grand Duke Guntram’s office.

Grand Duke Guntram usually handled administrative work in his office unless there was something special, so he wasn’t particularly difficult to meet.

As the lord of a large territory like Decaron, he would inevitably have a lot of administrative work.

“Your Grace, Young Master Carlisle requests an audience.”

“Let him in.”

As Carlisle expected, Grand Duke Guntram was devoted to paperwork in his office.

There was so much work piled up that stacks of parchment documents were heaped high on his desk, making it look like Grand Duke Guntram was buried in them.

“So you’ve finally decided to show your face.”

Grand Duke Guntram didn’t even glance at Carlisle, whom he was seeing for the first time in months, and just kept writing something with his quill pen.

“Yes, well. That’s how it turned out.”

“Have you been well?”

“No.”

Carlisle frowned as if that was out of the question.

“I haven’t been well at all.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“…?”

“On the battlefield, not being well would be normal.”

Carlisle almost lost his temper for a moment.

Hearing such words from the very person who had sent him to the battlefield made his blood boil.

“So, what wind brought you to see this father?”

“I heard from Maranello. You’ve decided to make deals with me from now on.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Good.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s better to gain something than to do it by force.”

“…”

“Of course, if I really hate it, I won’t agree to the deal itself, but at least some negotiation should be possible.”

“Yes, let’s try that.”

Grand Duke Guntram nodded readily while not putting down his quill pen.

“I have something to ask.”

“What is it.”

“Recently, casualties on the front lines have increased exponentially, is that correct?”

“Correct.”

“What’s the reason?”

Carlisle asked Grand Duke Guntram.

“It feels like there are more casualties than when full-scale war broke out.”

“The reason.”

Grand Duke Guntram’s quill pen stopped.

“What do you think it might be.”

“I’m asking because I don’t know.”

“Most of the recently increased casualties are those who were serving in the Blood-Soaked Land.”

“So in the end… it’s because of magic stones?”

“Yes.”

“There doesn’t seem to be any particular disruption in magic stone mining operations.”

“Magic stone production is not lacking at all.”

“Did the Royal Family raise the tax rate?”

Nod, Grand Duke Guntram looked at Carlisle for the first time and nodded.

“What do you think the reason is?”

“Nominally, they say it’s because demand for magic stones has surged, but who knows the real circumstances.”

“Hmm.”

“Thanks to that, magic stone prices have risen considerably, so our Decaron can manage to hold on. Other territories seem to be in quite difficult situations.”

“I see.”

Carlisle nodded as if it made sense when he heard that magic stone prices had risen.

‘Well, if the Royal Family increases magic stone requirements, magic stone prices will definitely soar.’

The Royal Family’s symbol was undoubtedly their prophetic ability.

Once such a Royal Family started stockpiling magic stones, it was perfectly natural for magic stone prices to skyrocket.

From the perspective of the other Twelve Families, they would try to increase their magic stone reserves somehow, and prices skyrocketing in that process would be natural.

But Carlisle knew all too well that this was the Royal Family’s market manipulation.

The Royal Family would sometimes artificially manipulate magic stone prices like this to reap enormous profits.

“Don’t you think it might be retaliation?”

“You seem to think it’s because of Evangeline.”

“Yes, well. Something like that.”

“With the Barbarians’ large-scale offensive imminent, the Royal Family isn’t foolish enough to pressure us Sigmunds. I can understand why you think that way, but surely they wouldn’t raise tax rates just because of one Evangeline.”

“They’re exactly the type who would do that and more.”

“…”

Grand Duke Guntram fell silent.

Because he knew all too well that the Royal Family was more petty and narrow-minded than imaginable…

“Nothing has been confirmed yet. So hasty judgments are forbidden.”

“I understand for now.”

Carlisle stood up from his seat.

“You’re not leaving already, are you?”

“My business is finished, so I should go. You look busy.”

“…”

“I’m leaving.”

Carlisle turned around.

“Ah, may I ask you one more thing?”

Carlisle asked as something suddenly came to mind.

“Ask away.”

“Aren’t you angry?”

“Angry?”

“Thanks to the Royal Family raising the tax rate, soldiers are dying left and right. I was wondering if you weren’t furious about it.”

“Anger…”

Grand Duke Guntram stamped his seal on the documents he had been writing until just moments ago, placed them in a black envelope, and spoke.

“What do you think I was doing just now?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“I was writing death notification letters. To send to the families of the fallen soldiers.”

“…”

“Do you think it would only be anger?”

Various emotions were mixed in Grand Duke Guntram’s eyes as he said those words.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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