Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 59

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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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Chapter 59
The Servant seemed to think it better to appeal to Lucian rather than me, so he clung to him desperately and began protesting his innocence.
“Y-Young Master, no! This is a misunderstanding. I could never have embezzled your money. My only crime is my loyalty to you. P-Please believe me!”
“…Then why are you apologizing? You said you did nothing wrong.”
“I didn’t know that concealing the Young Master’s secret would be a crime. Embezzling money is absolutely unthinkable!”
At the Servant’s desperate excuses, Lucian’s pupils wavered, unable to find purchase.
“Brother, think about this carefully.”
I poured out the right words to prevent him from being swept away by emotion and making a wrong judgment.
“Any person with their wits about them would report this to Duchess Papiope, not conceal it, once they learned you were being blackmailed by your biological father like this.”
“But….”
“Yes, you were grateful to the Servant for keeping your secret from Duchess Papiope. But he exploited that psychology to pretend he was on your side.”
“A-Acting? I did my very best for the Young Master!”
The Servant interjected, but I continued without regard.
“Figure out who can actually help you. Hiding your secret like this for the rest of your life won’t improve your life at all.”
Were you going to live forever under your biological father’s shadow?
Lucian, mulling over my words, shook his head with rough, heavy breaths.
“No, I want to break free. I despise that man terribly….”
Lucian moved with firm, determined strides. He stood before the kneeling Servant.
“If it’s true that you’ve been embezzling money, I will punish you severely. I will show no mercy whatsoever.”
“Y-Young Master….”
“What is everyone doing? Quickly, restrain this Servant so he cannot escape!”
Aiden and Lucian’s Guard Knight bound the Servant securely.
I gazed at the Servant, trussed up and immobilized, and smiled sweetly.
“You know, I wonder what Duchess Papiope will do when she learns of this.”
The Duchess, who had always been infinitely kind to me, was in fact stricter and colder than anyone when it came to rewards and punishments.
You could tell just from the fact that she personally cut the throats of every cadet branch and elder when she ascended to the dukedom.
The Servant, sensing his future, turned ashen. The way his lips and jaw trembled was rather amusing.
“I’ll speak to Duchess Papiope as favorably as I can. In exchange, there’s one thing you need to do for me. How about it?”
“I-I’ll do anything. Please, just spare my life…!”
“It’s not difficult. You just need to keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
My turn was over.
Now it was time for Lucian’s true protector to act.

✦ ✦ ✦
Late into the night.
In a Quiet Alley where few people ventured, two men emerged from the darkness.
Lucian’s Biological Father grinned wickedly at the large sack the Servant carried.
“Krhaha! So that bastard finally scraped together some money?”
The Servant winced slightly at the sharp reek of alcohol but answered with practiced familiarity.
“Yes. The new maid who just arrived has the ability of ‘foresight.’ She made quite a haul at the Horse Racing Track.”
“Good heavens, foresight, you say?”
Undisguised greed glimmered in his eyes.
“Then we’ve found ourselves an endless source of funds!”
“…Well, they say she burns through her lifespan with each use of foresight, so it won’t be as reliable as you’re imagining.”
“What does that matter? Keep pressuring her, and Lucian will eventually cave and make her do it anyway, just like now.”
“Remember—a long tail gets caught.”
“Don’t worry. He takes after his mother and has a coward’s heart. He wouldn’t dare defy me. I know that wretch well.”
The Servant handed over the sack of gold coins without any change in expression.
“Here’s your share.”
“Hehehehe, if that cursed brat Lucian hadn’t found the money this time, I was thinking of selling him off and fleeing this country…”
He immediately opened the sack right there, and his lips curled at the sight of gold coins overflowing inside.
“Looking at all this gold, I can’t leave now. I think I can squeeze plenty more out of this arrangement.”
“I’m curious about something.”
His tone had grown serious, but Lucian’s Biological Father was too entranced by the glittering coins to respond with anything but indifference.
“Yes, yes, do tell.”
“Didn’t you take a considerable sum every month? Why did you suddenly need such a large amount?”
“Ah. I recently incurred a massive gambling debt. So I wrote to my only son, hoping to benefit from his success, but…”
His hands, which had been fondling the coins, stopped abruptly. He spoke with genuine displeasure.
“The wretch claimed he had no money. But surely he must have something stashed away.”
“He was telling the truth. He brought only the bare minimum needed to maintain his dignity.”
“Yet when you squeeze hard enough, the money appears, doesn’t it? There were plenty of other ways, but all he did was lie… Ptui! What rotten luck.”
“You seem quite drunk tonight.”
The Servant tried to calm the agitated man, but Lucian’s Biological Father only raised his voice further.
“He enjoys every luxury while his father starves! He’s utterly despicable, that one.”
It was then.
A refined woman’s voice cut through the quiet alley where only the two men had been speaking.
“For someone starving, you certainly seem well-fed.”
“Who are you!”
Lucian’s Biological Father snapped at the woman who had insulted him, oblivious to the fate about to unfold.
Click, click.
As the woman emerged from the shadows, her figure gradually became clear.
Viviana Papiope Dilum.
Lucian’s Biological Father’s lips slowly parted as he recognized the voice’s owner.
It felt like the alcohol-induced haze suddenly cleared from my mind.
“Humans are truly fascinating creatures, aren’t they?”
“Y-Your Grace….”
“Some fail to control their desires and father children, then treat them as possessions. Others take in such abandoned children and raise them with care.”
Lucian’s Biological Father glanced at the Servant, signaling him with his eyes as if asking what to do.
The Servant ignored his gaze, snatched the pouch of gold coins from his hands, and moved behind the Duchess.
“M-My gold coins! What are you doing?!”
“Get a grip on the situation. Do you still believe those coins belong to you?”
The Servant twisted his face and spoke with resignation.
“We’re both finished now.”
“Th-This can’t be happening!”
Lucian’s Biological Father let out a desperate cry as if unable to comprehend the situation, stumbling backward.
Thud.
His back struck the dead-end wall, and he shook his head while staring at the approaching Duchess with terrified eyes.
Those cold, azure eyes gazed down upon him with noble indifference.
She was a woman of breathtaking beauty, yet he had long heard the rumors surrounding her.
He felt as though he stood before an executioner.
Gulp.
His Adam’s apple bobbed violently up and down.
“Your Grace, there seems to be a misunderstanding. Please calm your anger, and I shall explain everything….”
“Lucian is not your child. He is mine.”
“Y-Yes, of course! That’s right! After I surrendered parental rights, I never once thought of Lucian as my son.”
“Then how could someone who claims not to think of him as a son treat my child so cruelly?”
With each excuse Lucian’s Biological Father offered, the Duchess’s gaze grew colder.
“C-Cruelly? That’s a misunderstanding. I merely accepted the money that Lucian—no, that young master Lucian gave me out of old affection…!”
“I heard every word that came from your own mouth, from beginning to end. You dare spin such pathetic lies?”

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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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