Chapter 146: The Eldest Daughter Hunt (3)
The Grand Duke of the North summoned .
Since leaving the Grand Duke's house, I hadn’t had any particular dealings with him.
Still, there could only be one reason he called .
Because I had put Freya in danger.
She was the daughter he cherished most, so talented that he had her compete with Eric for the position of successor.
And yet, she had been so thoroughly taken in by a cunning outsider man...
He was probably seething with rage.
――――――
It had been a while since I’d co to the Grand Duke’s mansion.
Though it had been several months since I quit my position as a secretary candidate, the place didn’t feel unfamiliar.
I pushed open the heavy wooden doors.
Before unfolded the vast office of the Grand Duke of the North.
There sat Duke Luton at his desk, with Debier standing at his side.
"You’ve co."
The Grand Duke didn’t even glance at .
Wearing silver spectacles, he kept his eyes fixed solely on the national docunts before him.
‘Must be about the trade route improvents.’
"Yes, Your Grace. This is Julius Roger."
I greeted him politely, placing my fist over my left chest.
At that, the Grand Duke raised one hand, signaling to wait a mont.
"……."
Just as he instructed, I stood silently.
I waited in the middle of the office for about ten minutes.
A long silence hung between the three of us.
But not a single one of them showed any sign of discomfort.
Then finally, when the Grand Duke of the North took off his glasses—
He looked at with the fierce gaze of an old lion.
"Take a seat."
"Thank you for your courtesy."
I quietly sat on the leather sofa placed in front of the office.
As if he had been waiting, the chief secretary handed a cup of tea.
It seed I was now being treated not as a secretary, but as a guest.
"You certainly landed a solid blow on Freya."
The Grand Duke rose from his desk.
The large man, draped with a cardigan over his shoulders, slowly took his seat at the head of the table.
"It wasn’t intentional, but the situation ended up that way."
"No need to beat around the bush. Even an old man like knows it was your sche."
Duke Luton’s response was unexpectedly calm.
"There’s sothing I’ve always told my children."
He looked toward the Luton family’s organizational chart hanging on the wall of the office.
The web of children and executives branching out beneath him.
"If you want to do sothing, you must first study it for ten years."
Eric, Freya, Edward.
All three of his children had rigorously learned the family business from age ten to twenty.
"Then endure five years in the field."
From the age of twenty, they each served as directors within the family company for five years.
During that ti, they personally worked in the field as well.
"Then spend one year being tested by ."
Afterward, they rose to vice-president positions and proved their performance under the watchful eyes of the Grand Duke.
To use one's na as the head of an affiliate, one had to pass all of that.
"Well, those executives trailing behind them probably gave them the answers to that test in advance."
The Grand Duke knew everything there was to know about his children.
"But the re fact that executives stuck by their side ant they were already worthy of being called heads of a group."
He wasn’t wrong.
In fact, when Freya embezzled fifty billion in public funds and lost it all—
The chief secretary and director didn’t bla or express disappointnt toward her...
Instead, they supported her and offered advice.
That kind of response from close aides only happens when the leader is upright.
"This whole incident made it clear how loyal the executives following Freya truly are."
The Grand Duke held out his glass to Debier.
The chief secretary quietly filled it with golden liquor.
"Do you understand what I’m saying?"
He gazed steadily at the swirling whiskey in his glass.
But in truth, he was examining the reflection of my expression in the glass.
“If I push your daughter down from her position as major shareholder over the embezzlent case, you’re warning not to dismiss her as CEO.”
I responded evenly, eting the Grand Duke’s piercing eyes through the liquor.
At that, the Grand Duke looked at approvingly, clearly pleased I understood his words so quickly.
"Yes, you grasped it instantly."
“I don’t hold any particular grudge against your daughter. If anything, I’d like to get along better with her.”
This ti, the chief secretary poured whiskey into my glass.
Life was truly strange.
Who would've thought a day would co when I’d share a drink with the Grand Duke of the North?
“For soone you want to get along with, your greeting was quite harsh.”
“Well, isn’t it usually when soone seems easygoing that we reach out first? I just tried to et her at eye level.”
I closed my characteristically long eyes into crescent moons.
The Grand Duke chuckled and sipped his whiskey.
As if using my reply as a chaser.
"Hard to believe soone like you ever held it in back when you were a secretary candidate..."
“I actually learned quite a bit back then.”
And it was true.
Everything about who I was now—was shaped by the things I learned from you in my past life.
"Drink up. I didn’t call you here today to interrogate you, so you may relax and enjoy."
“Then, I’ll gladly accept your kindness.”
I offered a courteous nod and took a sip.
A sweet liquor spread across my tongue, followed by a fragrant scent of honey and caral.
Even the signature burn of the alcohol felt more like a refreshing coolness, almost like mint.
“This is a fine drink.”
"Isn’t it? I cherish it."
“And you’re letting soone like share it?”
"I don’t drink it often myself. I just happened to have a reason to open it after a long ti."
So the reason he was drinking for the first ti in a while... was ?
It felt strangely sentintal.
"Indeed, it is good. Back in my younger days, I used to have a drink every single night."
"You still look well now, Your Grace."
Duke Luton waved a hand dismissively, as if shooing away a flattering fox.
Still, he didn’t seem entirely displeased with the complint.
"If I drank like that at this age, who knows when I'd drop dead."
He tapped the back of his neck lightly with two fingers.
Well, it was true—Luton had once collapsed from a fit of rage, and with old age compounding it, he never got back up.
……
The continent’s second-in-command, now approaching seventy.
He silently stared into the drink, at his own aged reflection in the glass.
At first, I thought he was lanting the deep lines on his face.
But what truly weighed on the Grand Duke’s mind was not his aging appearance.
"I hear you’ve remained close with Echina even after leaving the mansion."
What concerned him was his second daughter.
Echina Luton.
"Roger."
"Yes, Your Grace."
The Grand Duke gazed into my eyes in silence.
Golden irises gleaming with brilliance. Eyes as dark and dull as mine.
We had lived lives at opposite ends of the spectrum.
And yet, he looked at with a strange softness, as though sensing an unexplainable sense of kinship.
"Is Echina part of your plan?"
"……."
I couldn’t imdiately grasp the full aning behind that question.
"I'm not sure what you believe my plan to be. But what I can say for certain is..."
There was at least one thing I could say with conviction.
"I truly hope Lady Echina thrives."
I gave a discreet glance toward Debier, asking with my eyes if I could borrow the bottle.
The seasoned secretary of thirty years caught my signal instantly and gave a subtle nod.
"Because the second daughter is a good person."
I received the bottle from him and held it with both hands, respectfully.
The Grand Duke, apparently unbothered by my pouring, even held out his glass himself.
"If it were up to to choose the next successor, I would choose her."
"And why is that?"
Just as the golden liquor filled his glass halfway—
"There are three main reasons, Your Grace."
I carefully set the bottle down and began.
"First, leadership."
The Grand Duke took another sip, gesturing for to continue.
Despite drinking two full glasses of that strong liquor, not a trace of flush appeared on his face.
"Lady Echina commands imnse respect within the knight order. Every one of her actions becos a trend, which speaks to her strong potential as a future leader."
The influence she wielded in popularizing the Luton Sword.
Even Dalton, once a rival family, acknowledged her unwavering conviction and relentless effort.
It's a rare and remarkable ability, hard to believe for soone just twenty-one years old.
"Second, integrity."
Unlike other noblewon, had the Grand Duke’s daughter ever shown interest in extravagance?
She was always the model knight, going so far as to wear her uncomfortable uniform perfectly tidy at all tis.
"She doesn't adorn herself, nor has she ever wasted money. That alone proves she can safeguard the family vault."
Duke Luton gave a nod, seemingly in agreent.
By then, his glass had been filled with a third round of liquor.
"Lastly, it’s her decisiveness."
I spoke with utmost seriousness, as if reaching the peak of my argunt.
"This is sothing even Your Grace must have felt recently."
After all, the most valuable takeaway from this incident was now right before his eyes.
"I'm talking about the opposing investnt results between the eldest daughter and Lady Echina regarding Lloyd Shipping."
Etching into mory that Echina was in no way inferior to Freya—
This was the most important card I had prepared before coming here today.
"Echina wasn’t shaken in the slightest by the astronomical figure that could have multiplied twentyfold. She invested only as much as I advised and calmly sold at the appropriate ti."
What matters most in the leader of any group?
It’s the ability to make rational decisions over the fate of countless people under one’s care.
And from what I know, Echina had remarkable talent in that field.
People often call knights’ ideals and principles rigid—
But when sharp intelligence and economic insight are added to that, they evolve into shrewd investors.
"It ans she knows precisely when to be greedy and when to show restraint."
"……."
The Grand Duke quietly watched praise his daughter with a steady expression, not betraying the slightest change.
"If soone heard all this, they'd think Echina's father is you, not ."
"My apologies. Seems the liquor’s loosened my tongue a bit."
Duke Luton slowly shook his head, saying it was fine.
"It’s fine. What parent would dislike hearing praise about their child?"
Yet even so, his face did not brighten with joy.
Instead, the laughter faded from his face, and he stared at seriously—my words having been nothing but complints.
"But when praise is too generous, suspicion naturally follows."
The Grand Duke set his glass down and crossed his arms.
Then, one by one, he began to counter the points I had made in praise of Echina.
"Echina certainly has leadership. But it’s limited to the knight order."
The cold precision with which he pointed out his daughter’s shortcomings—
This, too, was a testant to why he was called the Grand Duke of the North.
"Judging that she can lead the family based on that alone is premature."
Duke Luton extended two fingers to form the number two.
"And being clean-handed isn’t always a good thing. Only those who’ve spent money know how to use it wisely."
Finally, he extended his ring finger to form the number three.
He looked down at with an unsettling gaze, like one might give to a sycophantic courtier.
"And finally, that decisiveness you speak of... she only followed your advice, didn’t she?"
Even after returning from the past, the Grand Duke’s murderous aura still sent a jolt through every nerve in my body.
I cald my trembling form with quiet control.
"If that child sat in the family head's seat alone, could she still make wise choices?"
The Grand Duke pointed directly at my face with his large hand.
"Unless you're by her side, there's no way of knowing."
"You're right, Your Grace. Julius Roger is no longer the second daughter’s secretary."
Debier, standing nearby, added his voice.
The two titans now stared at with an intensity that felt like they were boring straight through my soul.
"Tell the real reason you're helping Echina."
"……."
What more could I say to convince the Grand Duke to support her?
I searched for the answer this old Black Lion standing before wanted to hear.
What made Luton’s heart beat?
And then, I reached a single conclusion.
"Because she is the only one who can protect what you’ve built."
The most precious thing to Baylis Luton—
Was the city he had cultivated over his seventy years of life.
The city itself—Nord.
"I love Nord. It’s my hotown. I grew up here, and I’ve lived a happy life in the city as it prospered."
I slowly turned my head to gaze out the window.
At the night view of the beautiful city beyond the rye fields.
"That’s why, every night, watching the nightscape of our Nord is one of life’s great joys for ."
The Grand Duke didn’t say anything for a while, as if he understood exactly what I ant.
He, too, used to enjoy looking out the window at the city he built, night after night.
"Then, one night, as I was returning to the mansion, I saw Lady Echina sitting in a café. It was already late, yet she remained there, staring at Old Luton."
A mory ca to mind.
Of her sitting alone at a café in New Luton for a long ti, silently looking out at her mother’s hotel.
"There was a cold cup of coffee in front of her. She hadn’t even touched it—just stared at that outdated part of the city."
I rose from the sofa.
Then looked down at the Grand Duke and spoke earnestly.
"When everyone else was blinded by gold, Lady Echina was always looking only at the city you built."
The reason I had once believed Echina was the only true family mber in the Grand Duke’s household—
"That night, I thought to myself—if it's her, even as the head of the family, she would lead it well."
Choosing to see the whole rather than chasing imdiate gain.
That, I believed, was the mark of a true leader—one who watches over even those left out of the larger group.
"……."
The Grand Duke of the North turned his gaze toward the radiant lights of Nord, following where my eyes had gone.
Debier, too, looked out in the sa direction.
"There's truth in what you say."
"Well, Lady Echina always looked into the eyes of the giver before the gift itself."
They no longer saw as so lucky rookie who happened to stumble into business.
"Maybe it's because I haven’t drunk in a while."
Perhaps seeing now as soone standing on equal footing, the Grand Duke raised his glass toward for a toast.
"Feels like the drink tastes better today."
"I feel the sa, Your Grace."
The Grand Duke never said directly that he would begin backing Echina more.
But still...
"Let’s share a drink from ti to ti, Roger."
That felt like more than enough of an answer.
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