It was crystal clear that Gulliver doesn’t care about Prudencia at all. All he wanted from this was money.
Once he becos Duke and Odette dies, Gulliver would still be a duke even if he returns to his fief.
He could just pretend to lant what happened to Prudencia and lay low for a few years while secretly enjoying his life.
And in a few years, he could pretend to rise anew and build his forr marquessate as his new dukedom and make it powerful with the money he got from Prudencia.
’Truly despicable! He has to be stopped before his plans co to fruition.’
"Shall we speak with Count Rowell too once the collectors leave? Wouldn’t he be a valuable witness?" Arabella suggested since she wanted to hear the Count’s thoughts.
Alwin and Raymond were unsure whether they should allow her to be exposed to more of the people but she already spoke with Marie so they would be scolded by Ferdinand anyway.
Adding one more person to the people she t wouldn’t make a difference. They would still be scolded and likely punished.
’I’ll just do my best to convince Ferdinand not to give them a heavy punishnt later.’
Thus, once the collectors left and headed back to the capital, Alwin teleported them to the Count’s residence.
"Who’s there?!" Count Rowell and his butler both drew their swords.
"Why did you teleport us right into the Count’s study? Don’t you have any manners?!" Raymond glared at Alwin and sighed.
"Lunch is close by. His Majesty would be even more furious if it’s our fault Her Majesty doesn’t eat on ti," Alwin retorted.
’Huh? He even reports such matters to Ferdinand? Wait, this isn’t the ti for this," she removed her hood and both Count Rowell and his butler gasped and their ears slightly reddened.
[She truly looks like a goddess.]
[I have never seen soone so divine. Did I die without knowing?]
’You won’t think that once you see Alwin’s face.’
But Alwin clearly had no intention of showing his face and kept his cloak and hood on.
"Our apologies for the intrusion. We ca to speak with you, Count Rowell," she smiled at the Count and he instantly fell to his knees.
His butler was confused at first but quickly followed the example of his master when he recognized her.
[What is Her Imperial Majesty and His Excellency doing in my study?!! Is it my ti to die? I don’t think I did anything good or evil worthy of making the Empress and the Pri Minister of Valeria to visit my humble abode. Or am I seeing things after all the stress I went through?]
The Count was so shocked and he thought he was going to be sentenced to death when he saw them.
"G-greetings to Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress, and His Excellency, the Pri Minister," Count Rowell and his butler were both deathly pale.
"Please be at ease. We are just here to talk," she assured them and Count Rowell and his butler rose shakily.
"My abode is rather lacking, Your Majesty, but please be seated," the count ushered.
Rendell and Alwin checked the seat and the table before she sat down. Rendell guarded the door as usual, while Raymond and Alwin sat on either side of her.
"Go prepare the finest tea we have," Count Rowell whispered to his butler and the latter instantly excused himself.
Rendell warned the butler to not tell anyone else of their presence.
"To what may I owe this honor, Your Majesty?"
"I was in the mood for a sudden excursion and thought of visiting Prudencia since one of my new assistants was from here. And yet, I witnessed quite the suspicious events."
"Suspicious events?"
[Did Her Majesty notice the issues here in Prudencia?!]
"Yes. We witnessed people collecting ’tribute’ from the people."
[Did she witness Marquess Gulliver’s n?! Is this my chance to reveal the truth?!]
Just from those thoughts, she was able to confirm who the culprit was. They were right all along.
[But would my children be alright? No... That’s not right. I cannot possibly lie to the Empress and the Pri Minister. If I lie, not only and my sons, even our relatives might be punished with death.]
"Fear not, Count Rowell. We are on your side. We already have our suspicions and so pieces of evidence. We only need to confirm the truth with you. Speak honestly if you want your people and Prudencia out of this situation. We cannot help if there was no valid reason to help. Nothing you say will be used against you unless you are part of the cri," she went straight to the point since Alwin was worried about this conversation dragging on too long.
[She’s good at this. Had Her Majesty tried interrogating soone in Lobelius?]
’In my past life, Raymond. Not in Lobelius.’
"I never did anything against the rules of the Empire, Your Majesty," Count Rowell bowed.
"Then will you answer so questions for us?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will tell you everything I know."
They recounted what they saw in various parts of Prudencia and what they witnessed in his county and Count Rowell agreed to be one of the witnesses in exchange for the safety of his children.
"Tell where they are and show their portraits. I will bring them to safety before we do anything which may alert the master behind these events," Alwin said and Count Rowell instantly had his butler retrieve portraits on his desk.
Raymond and Alwin questioned Count Rowell while Arabella just focused on listening to his thoughts.
She discovered that he was indeed just a kindhearted person.
Count Rowell was trying his best to help his people during this ti of crisis. He had also requested help from other nobles he knew regarding the food supply problem.
But all of Prudencia had the sa problem.
However, there were still those who were able to help and sold so of their food to Count Rowell since his County was in a much worse situation after the floods.
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