I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 182
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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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#182
Baron Britina had been lucky enough to enter the capital, but aside from that, his family was nothing special.
The family had neither great power nor abundant wealth.
Nor was Baron Britina exceptionally intelligent or skilled with a sword.
He had only been able to secure the position of captain of the capital’s guard through pure luck and bribes.
When the national treasury was depleted after six years of long war, the Former Emperor sold all kinds of government positions to raise money.
Baron Britina didn’t miss this opportunity and scraped together money to buy the position of captain of the capital’s guard.
Though the position of captain of the capital’s guard seemed insignificant, it was actually quite lucrative.
“I need to bring this item into the capital…”
“This is a modest gift.”
Merchants and even nobles brought all sorts of bribes to avoid inspections.
With the money he collected this way, Baron Britina lived lavishly, no less than any high-ranking noble.
However, when the Former Emperor passed away and Kalian ascended to the throne, his luxurious lifestyle faced a crisis.
The nobles who had come to offer bribes almost daily suddenly stopped visiting, wary of Kalian’s watchful eye.
The same was true for the merchants.
Of course, if he had given up his luxurious lifestyle and lived modestly, the bribes and salary he had received would have been sufficient.
But Baron Britina had no intention of doing so. He didn’t want to give up any of it – jewels, gambling, women, and so on.
‘I need to make money.’
He needed a lot of money to enjoy luxury as he had before.
Baron Britina sought ways to make a lot of money, but with increased regulations, it wasn’t easy.
Meanwhile, Baron Britina continued to spend money like water, and his fortune quickly hit rock bottom.
When his pockets became empty, the people who had been flattering and clinging to him fell away.
Baron Britina could no longer attend social gatherings as he used to.
“Money, I need money!”
Just as he was determined to sell his soul to the devil if it meant making a lot of money, That Woman appeared before him.
“Shall I help you?”
Though her appearance was somewhat disheveled, she was so incredibly beautiful that this fact didn’t register.
Her looks seemed like they would be insufficient even if all the beautiful words in the world were used to describe them.
“I’ll help you make a lot of money.”
Moreover, she said she would help him make a lot of money, so the tempted Baron Britina took the woman’s outstretched hand.
The method That Woman proposed was selling Molentze fruit.
She was telling him to sell Molentze fruit, a drug banned continent-wide.
Though he hesitated at first, he eventually fell for That Woman’s sweet temptation.
By selling Molentze fruit, the baron got his hands on an enormous sum of money incomparable to when he received bribes.
Not only that, he even gained a mistress so beautiful that everyone would envy her.
Baron Britina was very satisfied with this fact, but at the same time, he was anxious.
He was nervous about possibly being caught, and whenever that happened, his beautiful mistress would comfort him.
“Don’t worry. If you do as I tell you, you’ll never be caught.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Even if you are caught, we can just pin it on someone else. You won’t suffer any harm.”
Baron Britina, enchanted by his beautiful mistress, believed her words completely.
“…”
But why had things turned out this way?
Where did it all go wrong?
Baron Britina, who had been dragged to the underground prison in the depths of the Imperial Palace, anxiously looked around.
The damp stone walls, moldy enough to be covered in moss, gave him chills.
Every time insects crawled by, Baron Britina moved his heavy body nimbly to dodge them.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Baron Britina muttered while gnawing on his fingernails.
“It’s all That Woman’s fault. I just did what she told me to do.”
So this was unfair. That Woman was the one who planned everything, so why was he the one who got caught? She should be the one here.
He deeply regretted listening to That Woman, but it was too late for regrets.
For now, he needed to focus on surviving.
Only then could he get revenge on That Woman who had put him in this situation.
‘First, I’ll try to sweet-talk the guard when they come.’
If a guard he knew came, things would be easier.
If that didn’t work, he planned to mention Count Aclai, who was an administrator at the Marshal’s Office.
Count Aclai ran a huge trading company and had countless times offered bribes to Baron Britina to avoid inspections.
If he leveraged that, Count Aclai would have no choice but to get him out.
So there was no need to worry. He thought he could get out if he just endured a little.
“…”
But why had the Emperor come in person?
Under the piercing stare, Baron Britina lowered his gaze and bit his lips tightly.
With the Emperor here, none of the cards he had prepared could be used.
Asking Count Aclai for help was also impossible.
Then what should he do?
How could he escape…
“Angdral Baron Britina.”
At the sound of his three-syllable name ringing out as cold as frost, Baron Britina trembled and prostrated himself flat.
At his worm-like appearance, Kalian chuckled softly and sat in the wooden chair the guard had prepared.
“Do you have something to say?”
Of course he had plenty to say. He just couldn’t easily open his mouth because he didn’t know what to say or how to say it.
“If you have nothing to say, I suppose I can handle this as I see fit.”
“Your, Your Majesty!”
At the following words, Baron Britina sprang up like a spring.
Still unable to look directly into Kalian’s eyes, he trembled and opened his quivering lips.
“Th, there seems to be a misunderstanding.”
Kalian leaned back crookedly against the backrest and crossed his arms.
“What misunderstanding.”
“Ac, actually…”
Baron Britina quickly racked his brain for several seconds before carefully speaking.
“Ac, actually, I am both a witness and an informant.”
He desperately wanted to say that everything was done at That Woman’s behest.
But knowing that if he did so, not only That Woman but he too would die, Baron Britina lied.
“I’m the one who saw the Molentze in Baron Aster’s garden.”
A sharp gaze that seemed to see through everything swept over his body.
Baron Britina, who had inadvertently raised his eyes and met that gaze head-on, flinched and hurriedly bowed his head.
“Then why did you write down the name Andant Tebesa?”
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead and trickled down the baron’s thick chin.
“Be, because… I thought Baron Aster would accept it that way…”
Baron Britina wiped the cold sweat from his chin and continued.
“If, if I said I saw it, the ba, baron would insist it was slander and resist, so I ha, had no choice but to borrow the name of the closest family member.”
“You could have just presented evidence instead.”
“Of, of course, but as Your Majesty knows, Baron Aster didn’t hesitate to set fire to the garden to destroy evidence.”
His mouth was parched dry. It was a moment when he desperately craved cool water.
“That’s why I lied. Hoping that Baron Aster would readily admit to her crimes!”
“Hmm.”
Kalian made a subtle expression and stroked his chin.
He seemed to be considering whether to believe Baron Britina’s words.
“I, I really saw it.”
I can’t let this opportunity slip away.
Britina Baroness waved both hands frantically in the air as she spoke urgently.
“I checked it several times, I tell you!”
“Several times?”
“Yes, yes!”
Britina Baroness nodded her head vigorously.
“At first when I saw it, I thought I might have seen it wrong so I just passed by, but that wasn’t the case. I checked several times and there it was, in Baron Aster’s garden there was Molentze!”
Of course, he hadn’t actually seen it himself. It was ‘That Woman’ who had told him this fact.
Though she sometimes did reckless things, none of That Woman’s words had been wrong so far.
“I saw with my own two eyes that it had even borne fruit!”
So Britina Baroness shouted confidently.
Kalian, who had been listening to his story with an unreadable expression, gestured with his hand.
Then the guards who had been waiting entered.
Kalian kept his gaze fixed on Britina Baroness as he spoke.
“I’m adding the charge of trespassing to Britina Baroness.”
“Your, Your Majesty!”
Britina Baroness jumped up from her seat in shock.
“Trespassing? What do you mean by that!”
Kalian responded coldly.
“What do you think I mean. I’m about to punish you for what you did.”
Facing him made her spine tingle with dread, but she couldn’t be punished for something she hadn’t done.
“I swear I have never committed such an act!”
“Then how did you see the Molentze in Baron Aster’s garden?”
“That was when I was passing by in front of Baron Aster’s mansion!”
“Several times, you said?”
“Yes, yes! I saw it all by chance while passing by!”
“I see.”
Kalian nodded as if he finally understood.
Thank goodness the misunderstanding is cleared up.
Just as Britina Baroness was relieved and about to pat her chest, a sharp dagger grazed her cheek and embedded itself in the wall.
A burning pain shot through her cheek as hot blood trickled down.
“Huh, huek.”
Britina Baroness, whose legs gave out, collapsed to the floor.
“Do you remember what Baron Aster’s mansion wall was like?”
It was an unexpected question.
She couldn’t understand why he would suddenly ask such a thing, but since the Emperor was asking, she couldn’t remain silent and answered for now.
“Of, of course I remember.”
“How was it?”
“Well…!”
Britina Baroness’s eyes widened like lanterns as she belatedly realized her mistake.
“It seems you’ve finally remembered.”
Kalian received a sword from the guard.
“As you know, Baron Aster’s mansion wall is extremely high. You can barely see inside from the outside.”
Kalian’s lips curved up elegantly.
“I’ll ask one last time, Britina Baroness.”
Kalian stood up and pointed his sword at Britina Baroness’s neck as he asked.
“How did you see the Molentze in Baron Aster’s garden?”
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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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