Meanwhile, Claudio, Samon, and Count Raju, left Jason's office and headed to the center of District B.
A splendid two-story house greeted them. It was the mansion they had purchased during their stay in El Amuz.
How could they afford such luxury when they were driven out of Valdina and had all their property confiscated? And how could they have financed Jason?
It was in their secret business.
During the days of Duke Claudio, who even dropped birds, Samon entered the smuggling business by imitating the money laundering process and routes used to embezzle money from the Valdina royal family.
At that time, Claudio was penniless as all his property had been confiscated, but Raju provided him with initial funds.
Raju was in charge of the secret funds of the late Emperor Katzen during his reign.
Then, when the former Emperor died and the new Emperor came, the sources of the slush funds were concealed by manipulating the ledgers.
He used the money he had embezzled at this time to help Claudio get married.
Although overshadowed by the brilliance of Valdina's siblings, Simon Claudio also had a brilliant mind and keen senses.
The smuggling business started with Raju's help and quickly grew in size.
It was a shady business that could neither restore one's identity nor show off one's wealth, but at least it was better than being left penniless.
If he had money, he would be able to get back his stolen name and his position.
As soon as Claudio entered, Catherine, who had been waiting, came running towards him.
Despite her husband's age, Catherine was still beautiful. Her skin was still radiant, and her dresses were the latest fashion.
However, he couldn't help but notice that her facial expressions were easily distorted, perhaps due to stress.
"Honey, what happened?"
Catherine couldn't hide her pale face. She waited anxiously for news until the man arrived.
"I'm tired, so later."
"What happened? Did it succeed or fail? What do you mean the statue of the goddess is bleeding?"
Catherine asked.
"Is that what everyone is talking about on the street?"
Joaquin snapped, not wanting to reveal that he had achieved nothing by causing such an ugly ruckus at the banquet hall.
"Oh, I said I'd tell you later! Don't you see how tired we are right now? Do you really need to hear an answer just for your own good?"
"No, why are you suddenly angry?"
"I can't help but take care of someone who has been working outside, but tsk. Count Raju, let's go upstairs. We need to discuss countermeasures!"
Joaquin, who had bowed down to everyone he had ever met, raised his voice to his wife.
"..."
Without realizing that a ray of anger was blooming in Raju's eyes.
"Samon, you tell me too. Did Peleus accept us? He said we can go back to Baldina? Yes?"
"Me too, later, Mother."
Even Samon pushed Catherine aside and walked away with a limp.
"I can't figure out what the hell is going on, huh. On the streets, there's even talk that the goddess is suddenly disappointed in this Saintess... And what about the first Prince of Kazen."
Catherine sat down, her forehead against her hand as if collapsing.
"The high priest criticized Medea, and she was upset. Haa, we might get in trouble for it."
Catherine had never even been inside the banquet hall, so she could only guess at the situation from what people said.
"What are you so curious about, Mom? What's wrong with going against Medea's wishes? Is she going to be an Emperor or something?"
At that moment, Birna, with her arms crossed, glared at her mother as if she was feeling sorry for her.
"You were tricked by Medea and suffered like that, and now we're trying to go back to that woman? Don't you have any pride?"
"Yes, do you see that this mother's heart is still there? Doesn't she not know that we were treated like that by the Empress Dowager?"
The mother of the 4th Princess Angelique, the Empress Dowager, was the mother-in-law of Simon Claudio.
She absolutely loathed the Claudio family.
"My precious daughter is rotting away in exile for the crime of crossing the island of Shadernya, while those ignorant worms who survived thanks to Angelique are just eating and playing. Do you think I can just let it be like that?"
Angelique could not stand being cast out from her father's sight.
Having been loved since birth, she had no way to regain favor, nor the tenacity to escape her predicament that was falling so sharply.
Eventually, she was semi-forcibly forced to leave the palace.
"Your Majesty, I feel so lonely after Angelique left. I wish I could keep the mother and daughter by my side and think of them as my own daughters. After all, we are a family that is connected as one."
"Of course. Do as you wish."
As long as the Emperor spared the Claudio family, the Empress Dowager could not go against him.
But it was possible to vent one's anger, of course, without the consent of the parties involved.
Birna and her mother entered the palace as companions of the Empress Dowager. There, they were subjected to all kinds of harassment.
It was common for the Empress to make her do harder chores than the maids, and whenever the Empress met guests, she would play nasty 'pranks' on the mother and daughter.
Through her long history of imperial infighting, Empress Dowager knew how to physically and mentally drain people of their blood.
Catherine and Birna were both nobles who grew up without ever getting their hands dirty.
But no one tried to protect the mother and daughter against the Emperor's most beloved Empress.
Even Count Raju had no choice but to look at the mother and daughter in tears every night with pitiful eyes.
In the meantime, Valdina declared an empire.
So, they barely managed to escape from the evil Empress Dowager under the pretext of giving Claudio a task that Perdiccas II had given him...
"You have to beg and beg to get to Valdina! So we're going to live like this?!"
Catherine pounded her chest as if she was frustrated.
Birna hesitated for a moment but soon insisted.
"...But I still don't like it. She made me like this! What would she laugh at if she saw me like this?"
Birna shouted, rubbing her rough hands from chores.
The burrs around her fingernails had turned white as if to show her anger from the frequent contact with substances.
"You..."
"Mom, if I see Medea, I might kill her. I want to stab that girl to death with a knife or whatever I can get my hands on."
As soon as Birna opened her eyes, she felt a burning hatred towards Medea.
Coexistence under the sky was impossible.
While Birna was bowing down to the Empress Dowager like a slave, Medea became a Princess of an Empire, not just a Princess.
While Valdina was on a roll, Claudio was falling down an endless cliff.
In this abyss where there was nowhere else to fall, Birna was consumed by jealousy and hatred.
She wanted to tear Medea to pieces for dropping her here.
"This idiot... Haa, that's enough. That's enough."
Catherine sighed at the clear hatred in Birna's eyes.
Birna was a daughter whom Catherine would not mind putting in her eyes. Catherine wanted her daughter to live with her head held high, and proud wherever she went.
But the daughter's lovely arrogance was no longer lovely or pitiful after Duke Claudio's family fell to rock bottom.
She now regrets raising her daughter to be a half-ass who only cares about her pride and ignores the situation she is in.
Why and when did it become like this?
Catherine felt bleak and depressed as if a dark curtain had fallen over their future.
Meanwhile, Claudio, Samon, and Count Raju, went upstairs, leaving the mother and daughter behind.
"Father, you may go and rest. I have something to discuss with Uncle Raju."
The moment he was about to enter the study, Samon stopped Joaquin.
"What are you talking about? If we're going to come up with a plan, I should be there too. Claudio is the main character-"
"...Father, please rest."
Samon looked at his father with annoyance. Joaquin's pride was hurt by the clear concubine spirit.
But now it was the son who led the family.
Since the smuggling business and politics with the royal family were all in the hands of his son, he could not go against his wishes.
Joaquin laughed out loud for no reason and patted his son on the shoulder.
"... I see. Haha, as expected, my son is the only one who thinks of me. Your father... Well then, I'll be going now."
It was pitiful to see him take out his frustrations on his wife but bow down in front of his son who held the real power.
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