﹡ ⊹ ⊰ Chapter 211 ⊱ ⊹ ﹡
I thought I heard a whistling sound.
The direction of people's eyes, which was focused on me, all at once headed towards Chanton Sousseau.
"Hmmf!" Looking at Duigi Angenas puffed his reddening face like a tomato, I laughed.
"What do you mean by nonsense? No, it isn't, right Lord Sousseau?"
Sousseau was looking at me now with slightly widened eyes.
As he looked surprised, I smiled at him.
Anyhow, he must have been surprised. Because it was a secret matter that only he and Perez knew.
The secret that they are deliberately pretending to be in a bad relationship.
I turned my head and looked at Perez.
"......"
Perez's reaction was not much different from the Head of Sousseau.
Duigi took off his back from the chair and seemed to get up anytime soon.
"Lord Sousseau..."
Duigi called Chanton Sousseau in a trembling voice as if he had witnessed the scene of his lover having an affair.
"What are you talking about right now, Lord Sousseau?"
However, Chanton Sousseau did not even look at Head Angenas but still looked at me with precarious eyes.
"Please speak, Lord Sousseau."
"....the Deputy Head of Lombardy is right."
Chanton Sousseau's deep voice reverberated in the conference hall. And slowly, he got up from his seat.
It was only after Sousseau began to walk that I realized the sound of the unusually heavy footsteps coming from his shoes.
The shoes worn by Chanton Sousseau, who is wearing colorful and luxurious clothes on the outside, are rugged boots worn by the Imperial Knights.
After getting out of the seat, Sousseau stood in front of the Head of Braun standing on the podium.
And the continued actions of Chanton Sousseau make it seemed like his behavior before was an illusion.
"Lambrew Empire's 41st Imperial Knight Commander Chanton Sousseau meets the Head of Braun."
His existence itself was like a ferocious weapon yet he bowed his head politely. Then the hand with a clenched fist was brought to his chest.
It was a salute used by active-duty knights to express their utmost respect.
Chanton Sousseau, who thoroughly pretended like he'd forgotten all of his knighthood before, revealed his true self as the Head of Sousseau.
"As a person who was born in the Empire and been given a chance to hold a sword, it is an honor to be able to repay the grace received by the Braun family."
"Thank you..." Head Braun said in a trembling voice.
Once again, Chanton Sousseau, who greeted him briefly, took out some well-organized documents from inside his coat.
"Please take a look at this, Chairman Killian."
It was a meeting full of unexpected situations.
Chairman Killian, who had been absent-minded for a while, quickly came to his senses and asked. "What is this?"
"It's a document of rights to the lands owned by the House of Sousseau."
"Document... rights?" Chairman Killian's eyes were round.
"This...isn't this a land document?"
"Yes, the House of Sousseau will hereby hand over the rights of Bellier, Ripota, Romole, Kipore, and Leon to the Brauns."
The people's mouths were wide open.
It was a travesty to give away a territory. So it must have been a great shock to see a family that pulls out his territory from his possessions. Five of them to be exact.
Amidst their confusion, someone exclaimed, "Wait! If it's Bellier, Lipota, Romole, Kipore, and Leon..."
And someone followed by asking, "Isn't that the lands of Angenas?"
Indeed.
Although there were no large cities and no farms were built on it, they were ignorantly large lands and these currently belonged to the Angenas.
But at the same time, it was also the lands that Angenas took away from the Brauns.
At that moment, a fierce voice rang out through the hall.
"What are you doing right now, Sousseau?!"
It was Empress Ravini who got up from the audience seats.
"You have no right to surrender those lands!"
The Empress's beautiful face was distorted with anger.
"Pardon me, Chairman Killian?" I said, raising one hand.
"This is a nobles meeting. As far as I know, people who are not aristocrats do not have the right to speak, am I correct?"
Even if it is the Imperial family.
At my words, Empress Ravini glared at me like she was going to kill me.
You're really making me laugh.
"...The Deputy Head of Lombardy is right. Please refrain from speaking, Empress." Chairman Killian said unavoidably with a look of dread.
"Duigi!" With her trembling voice, Empress Ravini called out to the Head of Angenas in anger.
"Hey look here! Sousseau!"
Duigi Angenas took over the baton from Empress Ravini as he shouted. "Those lands are clearly owned by the Angenas!"
"But I have the land documents."
"What if you have the documents? Those properties have been taken care of by Angenas for the past 40 years—"
"Like how the Brauns had been taking care of them for hundreds of years before?"
"Well, that...!" Duigi, who was speechless, shouted one more time to see if he could think of something to say.
"Certainly, those lands are not supposed to be returned until Angenas paid it back! However, verbal promises are still promises, we have a contract!"
That's true.
But Chanton Sousseau replied with a rare relaxed smile.
"No, as I said, I had plans for those lands. So if you want it back, you'll have to hurry."
Then he looked back at the Empress and asked. "Isn't that right, Empress?"
"Chanton Sousseau...!"
The Empress was so furious.
"You...! You...!"
Perhaps she completely forgot that there are a lot of eyes watching, but she was even talking informally and pointing fingers at Sousseau.
But like it or not.
Head of Sousseau still continued to appeal to Chairman Killian. "Please look at the land documents and contracts I gave you and make sure that the documents are free from flaws, Chairman."
"Haa..." A heavy sigh flowed from Chairman Killian's mouth.
He didn't know why this was happening to him.
Only the sound of a bell was heard in the conference hall where hundreds of people gathered.
It was then.
"Think carefully, Chairman Killian." Empress Ravini said in a grave voice before continuing, "You will have to make the right decision. If you don't want to regret it."
It was clearly a threat.
'If you sided with Chanton Sousseau in this situation, be prepared.'
At that moment, I saw an inexplicable emotion in the eyes of Chairman Killian.
After carefully reading the last page, Chairman Killian said, "There's nothing wrong with the documents. As requested, their properties confirm that ownership has been transferred from Sousseau to Braun."
"Chairman Killian!" The Empress called out to the Chairman, screaming.
But Chairman Killian didn't care.
Then he handed the document to Braun and said, "Now that the territory's issue has been resolved, there is no reason why the Brauns can no longer regain their rights as a nobility. Additionally, the Lombardy family would pay the nobility taxes on their behalf."
Chairman Killian looked at me.
"I'll give you a lump sum in gold."
"For the family who favors the Brauns to exercise their noble rights again, say, 'I agree.'"
"I agree."
"I agree!"
It was a quick battle.
"Chairman Killian, you can't do this! This can't be!"
Duigi sprung out of his seat and rushed towards the Chairman.
"Why? You also want to say that I will regret it?" said Chairman Killian to Duigi as he frowned.
It was clear that what the Empress said touched the Chairman's pride.
Indeed, no matter how timid Chairman Killian is, why did you threaten him in such a public place? You should have not done that.
I clicked my tongue and raised my hand.
"What is it, Deputy Head of Lombardy?"
"I was just wondering..."
In the mayhem of chaos and dismay, the nobles looked at me as if they were saying, 'What is it this time?'
"Bellier, Lipota, Romole, Kipore, and Leon aren't they pretty big estates?"
"Yes..."
"Then who will be the representative family of the West? Is it the Angenas or Braun?"
Gasp!
The nobles gasped in shock and astonishment as they grasped the intentions of my question.
"If you think hard about it, the lands that Angenas and Braun have is almost even." I even added a kind explanation.
"Well, come to think of it...!"
"The representative family is determined by the size of their territories!"
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to say.
The Head of Sousseau is very smart, he only picked the large territories and held them as collateral.
"Now, wait a minute..." Chairman Killian said, holding his head.
"This is beyond my authority. It's not to be decided by the nobles meeting."
"Then what will happen, Chairman?"
To the question of a nobleman, Chairman Killian shook his head and replied. "I will hand over this matter to His Majesty. Yes, yes, His Majesty will decide."
Bang!
The door opened and closed with a loud sound.
When I turned around, the seat where the Empress was sitting was empty.
She left before the Chairman even declared the closing of the meeting just because she was angry.
"How rude." I muttered loudly, clicked my tongue so that everyone could hear me.
"This little....!"
Duigi Angenas glared at me as if he wanted to rip me apart and kill me.
Why? What? What are you going to do now?
"Come on, let's call it a day."
As the atmosphere became increasingly bloody, Chairman Killian quickly announced that the meeting was over.
"Uhm, Chairman."
"....What is it, Deputy Head of Lombardy?"
Chairman Killian looked at me with a pretty tired face.
I pointed my finger at the gavel and said, "You have to knock the gavel."
The meeting officially ended only by tapping the gavel twice.
Chairman Killian, who was staring down at the gavel for a moment, moved his hands mechanically.
Bam! Bam!
It was a cheerful sound at the end of the nobles meeting, in which Angenas had lost half of their estates and the Braun family had been reinstated.
Reviewed by Lnovels
on
December 02, 2021
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