The servants hurriedly dispersed without even being able to make excuses.
"Wilhelm!"
Edward growled irritably.
"Fire them all as of today"
"Master. If they are fired without a grace period, the servants will have no livelihood..."
"Also! If you don't want to, then serve for free!"
They were already short on cash, and there was no way to pay these swindlers.
"Cut them off right now!"
Wilhelm kept his mouth shut. If he fired the servants, he knew where they would go. They would report to all the newspapers and try to get some cash. In the past, he would have tried to dissuade them, thinking of the honor of the Lopez family. However, Wilhelm just nodded with a hardened face.
"Yes, I understand."
Wilhelm, with a hardened face, handed over what he had brought.
"This is a demand letter that arrived today from the Imperial Bank."
"Damn it!"
Edward grimaced as if he had seen the devil.
If he defaults on the Imperial Bank debt, his credit will be destroyed in an instant. However, he didn't have the money to pay the refund. The ten million cadinas that had poured in like a dream as the tickets sold out the day before melted away like snow on a midsummer day.
'I didn't spend much... damn it!'
To save face, he got a new suit and threw a few jewels at Elena because she kept nagging him too much. Oh, he invested a considerable amount of money In a promising-looking company because he would lose money if he just held onto cash. He even tried to increase his principal by playing card games.
Edward really did his best to pay the refund.
'Should I withdraw the money I invested in the trading company?'
But that's like a goose that lays golden eggs...
If he withdrew the investment, he would be able to put out some of the urgent fire. However, he couldn't pay off all his debts, and it seemed foolish to make an investment that would definitely bring profit.
'I really need the Marquis' help at a time like this...'
If Lucas had been in good health, he would have paid back this 10 million cardinas in no time. In aristocratic society, connections are money. Lucas was a high-ranking nobleman, so Edward considered him an inexhaustible source of income. However, Elena had burned that source of income. Very hotly, without a trace.
"The Marquis has been stripped of his title. Damn it, what a horrible nightmare this is!"
Edward clenched his fists, still unable to believe it. The news that Lucas had been accused of treason and stripped of his title was a disaster for Edward. The time when he had been filled with joy at marrying the Marquis of Pedegreen seemed like a lie. Edward ground his teeth and searched for the culprit of this incident.
"Elena! Where's that girl?"
"She stayed out last night."
"Damn it! She seems to have decided to leave now! I guess a rag-like image is popular these days?!"
Edward had heard that Elena had recently become intimate with one of her fans, Adolf. Adolf was not a bad match since he had a lot of money. He was also a kind of comrade who invested in the same trading company. However, he could not tolerate Elena playing around with another man while she was not married.
"Bring her to me as soon as she gets home. Got it?"
'If Adolf is really crazy about Elena, I have to make her borrow some money.'
Edward tapped on his calculator, thinking about the Schmidt family's fortune.
"...I understand, Master."
"Damn it..."
Edward, who had downed a whole bottle of alcohol, slumped limply on the sofa. This afternoon, he also visited the nursing home where his father, the former Count Lopez, was hospitalized.
Just in case there were any slush funds in the family.
"Of course, there's no way there would be anything like that."
After his maternal grandfather died and he inherited the family, his father, who had been obsessed with alcohol and women, could not have left such a thing behind. Of course, even if it existed, there was nothing he could get from the previous Count who was still in a coma.
'Why is this happening to me?'
One of his sisters had cruelly betrayed him, another had foolishly cut off the rope, and he had even lost at cards.
Edward could not understand why such misfortune was befalling him alone.
"Damn it. Damn it..."
Edward drank the entire bottle of alcohol continuously. The spicy liquor burned his esophagus as he gulped it down. However, Edward did not even feel pain. Even if he had paid off the debt with Adolf's help, that was not the real problem.
The real problem was that the failure of the last performance had completely destroyed the little remaining reputation of the 'music powerhouse'.
Suddenly, Edward ground his teeth. He wanted to revive his family's old reputation as a 'musical powerhouse'. Then he could be admired as an orphan artist like his maternal grandfather, who was famous as a musical master.
The foundation day, the founding of the country, was right in front of him...
The founding of the country. If he had succeeded there, a dream stage for artists, the Lopez House would have been reborn as the best opera house in the country. However, there was no way that someone who was in debt to the Imperial Bank could be qualified to perform on the founding of the country stage.
"I will recover more in the future, so be prepared."
Suddenly, Ariana's voice came to Edward's mind and he had no choice but to grind his teeth. What more could he possibly take from here?
She was truly a cruel woman. The most shocking thing was that he had not yet recognized such an evil and creepy nature, even though they lived under the same roof.
"Master. Someone has come to see you."
Edward clenched his teeth at Wilhelm's voice. He must be a debtor. He didn't want to look at him.
"Tell him there's no one."
"I, Master... I didn't think he came from the bank."
"What?"
"He told me that he wanted to invest."
"... What?"
Edward's eyes widened. A while later, a long-awaited guest came into the living room of Count Lopez's residence. The man, neatly dressed in a blue suit, smiled brightly as soon as he saw Edward.
"Hello, Count Lopez."
"...Who are you?"
The neat clothes, handsome face, and smooth smile. Everything about him was so believable that it actually felt strangely out of place. However, the doubts that had been blooming in his mind disappeared as if washed away a moment later.
"I have always admired your talent, Count, so it is truly an honor to meet you like this. In fact, I have been keeping an eye on you since you were a student at the Royal Academy of Ende."
"Since the days at the Academy?"
Edward opened his eyes wide. Edward was not a student who stood out during his time at the Academy. In fact, he was almost the opposite.
"He is the grandson of that 'music master."
The gazes that had been filled with curiosity and anticipation would disappear like a mirage whenever they saw Edward playing.
"What? It's trivial and monotonous. Is it just a copy of a textbook?"
"Hey, that's a compliment. Even the chords he learned a while ago were applied incorrectly, you know."
Edward asked, chasing away old memories.
"Is that true?"
"Of course. I thought you had a talent that would blossom brilliantly in the future, but... I recently heard some unfortunate news."
The man's eyes were worried.
"I came here because I thought it would be a shame to let you fall like this. What do you think, Count? How about receiving the help I can offer?"
"If it's help..."
"I'll pay off all of your debt to the Imperial Bank."
"..."
The man smiled broadly as he looked into Edward's wide eyes.
"Of course, since I'm lending you a large sum of money right away, the interest is a bit high."
"How much..."
"In return, I'll guarantee you a good opportunity to repay it safely."
The man lowered his voice as if telling a secret.
'That's not the answer to my question, is it?'
Edward asked about the interest, but the man was saying something completely different. However, in the next moment, Edward forgot everything and immersed himself in the man's story.
"I'll do my best to make sure that the Count can go on stage at the upcoming National Foundation Day."
"National Foundation Day... you mean?"
"Yes. Isn't that a dream stage for artists? If you can stand out there, your artistic career will only go smoothly from then on."
"Of course."
The man smiled.
"With your talents, the Count would certainly shine there."
Thump.
At that moment, Edward heard a welcome hallucination. It was the sound of the spark of hope being rekindled.
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