If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 34

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

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If the Villain’s Secretary Suits Me
Chapter 34
4. The Gold of the Foolish
On the carriage ride back to the Noel Viscount’s Estate.
Randolph bit his lip and pressed the communication device.
“What in blazes is going on? Why is Iliana Grecia even there, and what exactly is this business about her being the secretary of the La Mare Merchant Guild…!”
But the communication device of Jack, who should have answered, was turned off.
Jack, who belonged to Fang, was the type who did dirty work for nobles in addition to debt collection.
Ever since Noel Marquis had backstabbed Vargas, the head of Fang who laundered money so he could appear clean, by reporting him to the authorities, things had felt a bit awkward.
‘But that’s a matter for the higher-ups.’
In any case, Randolph had entrusted Jack with work for quite some time.
Aside from occasionally mentioning his younger brother and nephew, his work was not poorly done.
“The surveillance from Fang has been getting stricter, so this job was really difficult. But there’s nothing extra you’re going to give me?”
“And are you going to keep changing your tune like this? When you took the job, you said it would be easy as pie, but now that it’s done, you’re making a fuss about how hard it was?”
“Tsk, you really have no gratitude. I suppose that’s the kind of personality you need to ignore a poor nephew suffering because of debt.”
“Why should I pretend to know about that?”
“Listen here. You don’t think I know that you manipulated your naive younger brother into investing, then pocketed all that money? Even Fang is full of talk about it—I’ve seen shameless younger brothers, but never a shameless older one.”
Jack wasn’t particularly concerned about them either. He was just needling Randolph for the sake of it.
But the need for that ‘poor nephew’ had arisen not long ago.
Victor Noel. That damned bastard couldn’t shake his habit of living like a wastrel and had begun increasingly ignoring his orders.
Moreover, the Viscountess, whom he’d thought would only weep, had dug through every customary law imaginable and even found a clause stating that those with grounds for marriage disqualification could not inherit a title.
With four failed marriages, what else could be grounds for marriage disqualification?
What was amusing was that the family elders agreed with her. It was a headache for Randolph.
“A woman who can tolerate Victor Noel while subtly manipulating him to move as we wish. Even better if she matches Victor Noel’s tastes! Randolph, do you know anyone like that?”
“My dear, would such a person even exist?! Unless they had some major weakness…! Ah.”
There was indeed someone perfectly suited.
Someone who seemed willing to do anything if you dangled the bait of two hundred million gold.
He’d thought of his niece, Iliana Grecia. It didn’t seem like a bad arrangement for her either.
Of course, he had no intention of paying back the two hundred million gold immediately, and it was something to consider later if she performed well as a ‘wife.’
So he’d given Jack the job. He said there was urgent business to ‘discuss,’ so bring her to the Noel Marquis Territory.
But…
-I found her. She was in the Capital City.
Jack, who had clearly said that,
“Why are you taking so long? I told you to bring her right away once you found her!”
-Something… came up… I’m a bit late…
Days had passed since that brief communication hours later, and contact had been cut off.
In fact, the communication had been so garbled that he wasn’t even sure it was Jack who’d said that.
No matter how many times he pressed the communication device, there was no answer. It was when Randolph, unable to contain his frustration, hurled the communication device away.
“Randolph! Why are you so late… why does your expression look like that?”
His wife, Tessa Maurel, rushed out but stopped short.
Randolph swallowed hard as he explained the situation, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
“What? That girl? …No, no. Perhaps it’s actually worked out well, Randolph.”
“What do you mean, dear?”
“She won’t know it was our doing anyway, will she? Right? Just to be safe, we gave her the marriage agreement completely blank except for the title!”
Was that so?
Now that I thought about it, that was true. Jack was quite meticulous about his work, and he wasn’t the type to gossip about his clients.
“Perhaps he’s been waiting for an opportunity and simply hasn’t attempted the kidnapping yet. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to panic like this! It’s not a failure—it hasn’t even happened yet, so what’s the problem?”
“Y-you’re right?”
“Exactly! If Jack had met her or if she knew we were behind this, she would have trembled or tried to run. But she didn’t, did she? She’s just frightening herself.”
Tessa Maurel was the granddaughter of a non-hereditary noble—in other words, technically a commoner with no rank.
Strictly speaking, she held no position whatsoever.
Yet to Randolph, who had married into the Maurel family and secured his position as the Marquis’s advisor through her connections, Tessa was both his lifeline and an object of reverence.
As Randolph heard the confidence in Tessa’s voice, his tense shoulders finally relaxed.
“Y-you’re right. You truly are a wise woman, dear.”
“Since we’re already here, call her in later and have a proper conversation with her. How much could a merchant guild secretary possibly earn in a month? If you dangle two hundred million in front of someone like that, her eyes will pop right out of her head.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea. But why did you rush out so suddenly?”
“Oh my, where’s my head! The Viscountess’s negotiation is about to end. Victor Noel needs to go in and negotiate with the merchant guild master, but he hasn’t shown up, so I came looking for him! Hurry inside!”
Randolph, now alert, kissed the back of Tessa’s hand and rushed into the reception room.
Upon opening the door, Victor was lounging lazily, plucking grapes and eating them, and he waved his hand.
“You’re here?”
The moment Randolph saw his face, a sigh nearly escaped him, but he held it back.
“Please button your shirt. And straighten your posture.”
“Why bother? He’s not even a noble, just some merchant guild master. And isn’t he the one who needs something from us?”
He wasn’t wrong.
It was La Mar who was desperate over that meager piece of land.
“However, if you conduct yourself with noble bearing, we’ll be able to extract more from him.”
“Did you just say ‘we’?”
“…What I meant is, you’ll be able to extract more, Victor.”
‘Damn it.’
Watching this bastard already carry himself like he was a Marquis made Randolph’s insides churn, but there was nothing he could do about it.
In exchange for making Victor a Marquis, he had been promised the rank of Baron.
A fisherman’s son becoming a noble!
For the sake of that glorious dream, this current humiliation was nothing.
“So what do I need to do?”
“Simple. I’ll turn a blind eye to whatever you do to the owner of that problematic land. In exchange, order the Viscountess to tie her own hands so that you can become a Marquis.”
“Tie her hands? I can do that myself. Why involve someone else?”
With that, Victor made a gesture of tying rope with his hands.
Watching him fail to understand even basic metaphor, Randolph felt his blood pressure rise, but he barely managed to contain it.
“…It’s a metaphor. I mean, use her weaknesses to blackmail her on our behalf, so the Viscountess won’t interfere with your ascension.”
“But what if La Mar or whoever exposes everything and sides with the Viscountess?”
“The Viscountess sought assistance from Crimson—the rival merchant guild to La Mar. Spread that information around. Surely no one would harbor favorable feelings toward someone colluding with a competing guild, would they?”
“Crimson? The guild where Father lost all their slush funds because Fang or whatever backstabbed them? And the Viscountess asked them for help? I thought she was supposed to be intelligent.”
“That’s supposed to be a secret, so you can’t go around talking about it…! And it’s not Fang—it’s ‘Fang’! Anyway, Crimson still doesn’t know that the late Marquis was the one who reported them. That’s why we’ve maintained good relations with them all this time.”
“Then why can’t we get involved with Crimson too? Since we’re on good terms with them.”
“Because the Viscountess already asked them for help!”
This idiot!
While I was dying of frustration, Victor simply grinned.
“Fine, fine. So I just let the harbor and all that nonsense handle itself, and I become the Marquis and line my own pockets. That’s it, right? You’re making simple things complicated.”
Randolph was on the verge of losing his mind.
The door behind us creaked open.
“Pleased to meet you.”
A voice so unnervingly low it seemed to settle directly against my eardrums—and Victor, who had been half-reclined, straightened up without thinking.
Randolph’s head creaked backward as he turned.
“I am Aden, representative of La Mar.”
“Ah, um… pleased, no, pleased. Pleased to meet you.”
As Victor’s stammering voice faded behind me, Randolph found himself staring into eyes.
Purple eyes. So profoundly deep they felt unsettling, gazing down at me before closing slowly.
The movement felt so weighty that Randolph nearly bowed involuntarily, but catching himself, he extended his hand.
After all, I am a nobleman’s aide. I rank above this common businessman, he thought.
“Randolph Maurel, aide to Victor Noel.”
It was a moment.
The handsome man’s lips twisted faintly as he glanced down at the extended hand.
“Randolph Maurel.”
Aden repeated the name deliberately as he grasped Randolph’s hand in return.
“So it was you.”
“Ugh…!”
“Yes. I’m pleased to meet you as well.”
The grip was crushingly strong.
Barely suppressing a cry, Randolph suddenly realized he had been holding his breath ever since Aden appeared.

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

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