The Pursuit (1)
“…Who?
Me and Stan?”
Hades’ face was expressionless as he stared at me in silence.
I sat still, trying to figure out the reason behind Hades’ sudden change in mood.
He seemed quite displeased.
That expression, that line.
It seemed that he wasn’t very happy to hear about my close relationship with Stanley.
Which may be uncomfortable for Hades, even though what the relationship between the two of us is a business arrangement of sorts for the sake of each other’s benefits.
While we weren’t lovers, we were going to be wed soon, after all.
Nevertheless, it was hard not to laugh at Hades’ suspicion, because… I couldn’t imagine Stanley Anning and me side by side at all.
Because he and I were so close that he was like family, you ask?
Or perhaps he and I had zero chance of seeing each other as potential dates?
The truth of the matter was that….
‘If Stan and I were in a relationship… that would mean I’m dating myself!’
To confess the truth, Stanley Anning was Aisha Heathcliff, and Aisha Heathcliff was Stanley Anning.
Many obstacles stood in the way of an 18-year-old noblewoman from the countryside trying to grow her assets without a fuss.
And so, the first thing I did before jumping into the world of business was creating an adequate alias.
‘Stanley Anning’ is a pretty strange name to give a character, even for this novel’s author with zero naming sense.
Stanley Anning, aka ‘Sta-nning’.
That’s right, it was a wordplay on the word ‘stanning.’
That was my secret identity, one that would allow me to face the bigshots of various fields in the empire, not as the young daughter of a noble.
This Stanley Anning existed only on paper.
He wasn’t a real person.
Most contracts were made through letters, and I would generally hire someone to act as my substitute if I couldn’t avoid a formal meeting.
That was something most businessmen in the empire did, so it didn’t raise any suspicion.
Obviously, if they knew that the person they were dealing with was some young daughter of a noble, all kinds of con artists wanting to backstab me and tamper with contracts would gather at my wake like pests.
Although it wasn’t illegal to do business as Aisha Heathcliff, the lady from a barony, that was the reason I decided not to risk doing something with an obvious result.
And so, I couldn’t help but find Hades’ suspicion quite cute, and burst out laughing.
“Oh, it’s funny huh…?”
“Ah, no….
I can see how there could be a misunderstanding.
But I can assure you that my relationship with Stanley Anning is merely that he is sponsoring our family and there is nothing else involved.”
“Then pray tell, what ordinary sponsor would readily part with 8 billion nort at the drop of a hat?
That’s completely beyond the realm of sponsorship,” Hades kept asking as if interrogating a suspect, “And from your behavior, it seems as though you’re positively certain that this sponsor will just hand over this ridiculous sum at your beck and call.”
His keen observation sent shivers down my spine.
Of course I was positive, I mean, what was there to refuse?
It was my own money.
I wondered for a moment if I should tell Hades the truth but soon dismissed the idea.
That didn’t seem right.
I could get in trouble for trading with a false identity because that went a tiny bit against the laws of this empire.
So the truth had to be kept buried till the end.
I even took quite a care to avoid suspicion even when donating a decent sum of money to the Heathcliff barony every once in a while.
‘Hmm….’
I had to pay for the dowry, but to do so, I had to bring Stanley into the picture.
However, I was in a fix because Hades was oddly fixated on a weird point.
Well, the best thing to do in this case would be to reassert my position and run away before he could object again.
“Your Grace, do you doubt me?
If you have already resolved to doubt me, what more can I say to convince you otherwise?” I said, dropping my shoulders, feigning hurt.
Hades’ face quickly colored in panic.
I added immediately without giving him a chance to refute, “Indeed.
We haven’t spent much time together to fully build our trust, but it disheartens me that you doubt me despite my reassurances.”
I felt my conscience being slightly damaged about deceiving Hades, who, I came to find out, could be a bit softhearted at times.
“Hah….” But I shoved the guilt aside and made a perfect finish with a sigh.
As expected, Hades corrected himself in a hurry.
How can you be so sure that he has no ulterior motives?”
“Oh, you need not worry about that.
I’m not such a fool that I’d be unaware of any other intention he may have towards me.
In any case, let’s end the talk of dowry right here.
8 billion nort is an amount I can prepare without breaking a sweat, so don’t worry about it.”
“No, it’s fine.
There’s no need for you to contact him and ask for a favor.
I’ll prepare the dowry….”
“Your Grace,” I interrupted him in the middle of his sentence.
8 billion nort was a huge sum of money.
There may be some difference give or take, but it would be roughly equivalent to more than 6 million US dollars in my previous world.
It was also about the same as the price of three to four decent fiefs within the empire.
Even for the Louvremont duchy, preparing 8 billion nort all at once would be a challenging feat.
It was highly likely that Hades was thinking of selling the diamond mine located in the Felloche region, the same mine he put aside under a different alias for Abel’s inheritance once he was of age.
That mine was worth around 10 billion nort right now.
But selling that now would cause a huge problem later on.
I won’t go into too much detail here, but to put it shortly, that diamond mine was vital for Abel and Deborah’s first encounter.
I could easily afford this dowry.
There was no reason to sell the mine and throw a huge wrench into Abel’s future romance.
I didn’t want to cause even the tiniest trouble for Abel’s future.
“A marriage is something that occurs between two individuals.
It’s natural for the preparations to be made by both parties.
I appreciate that you’re trying to handle everything for me, but if I continue to receive without giving anything in return, I will be overwhelmed by the burden.
So I’ll prepare the dowry.
Okay?” I hurriedly got up in order to prevent this conversation from continuing any further.
“Aisha!” Hades called out to me from behind, but I ignored him.
I hurriedly recalled the few dozen properties I owned in the North: a bunch of real estate, various merchant guilds, as well as some trading rights.
I had to decide what to sell and what to keep.
I needed to hurry.
There was much to do If I wanted to prepare 8 billion.
* * *
After Aisha left in a hurry, Hades sank into a rather unpleasant imagination instead of chasing after her.
“I can request that amount from Stan.”
Stan.
Aisha called her sponsor by his nickname with a relaxed look on her face, as though she was talking about someone she was awfully close to.
And for some reason, Hades couldn’t help but feel angry.
He’d never paid much attention to Heathcliff’s patron, nor did he ever think he’d get so caught up in thinking about him.
Viscount Stanley Anning.
This wasn’t the first time Hades had heard that name.
However, before now, nothing about the man really stood out to him.
It was pretty common for fallen nobles with no fiefs to sell their titles to wealthy commoners for money.
Stanley Anning obtained the title of viscount through this practice three years ago.
There were many reasons why wealthy nobles would sponsor a particular family or a specific individual.
Quite often, the reason was that they wanted the right to throw their weight around by paying couple coins, in other words, to treat their beneficiaries with ill intent.
‘Why doesn’t she understand that there’s nobody in this world that would simply do things for you without expecting something in return?’
Aisha said that Viscount Stanley Anning wasn’t that kind of man, but Hades was skeptical.
No sane person would provide such large sums of money for three years out of pure goodwill.
He was confident the viscount had impure intentions toward Aisha.
He could be dreaming of becoming Aisha’s lover, or worse, her husband through marriage.
Wham-!
Hades slammed his fist down on his desk in the heat of the moment.
‘He’s a man capable of preparing a dowry of 8 billion nort at a moment’s notice?’
Even he, Duke Louvremont, couldn’t investigate the detailed financial status of individuals.
Hades thought that Stanley Anning was just one of many commoners who made a few bucks here and there and bought a peerage.
‘But he’s actually that rich?’
Hades was the one Aisha loved. Get faster updates on g.com.
They were practically engaged at this point.
If this viscount had any decency, he should keep his distance from Aisha.
Still, for some reason, Hades couldn’t stand the thought of him.
No, actually… the reason was pretty clear, was it not?
He had every right in the world to be angry.
After all, his soon-to-be wife was trying to pay her dowry with another man’s money.
“But if I continue to receive without giving anything in return, I will be overwhelmed by the burden.”
Since Aisha was so adamant, he let her go for now, but this was no good after all.
He had to be the one to pay that 8 billion nort no matter what.
Hades quickly got up with eyes burning with determination.
Now that he figured himself out, he had to see Aisha right away.
If she continued to turn down his good will out of feeling sorry for receiving so much?
He could just make an excuse to force it on her.
This was a matter of her becoming Duchess Louvremont, the mistress to the most powerful noble house in the whole empire.
Naturally, his wedding gift should also exceed everyone’s expectations.
‘Take it!
It’s a diamond mine!’
Hades was more fired up now than he was on the battlefield.
He headed toward Aisha’s room, almost running.
He was halfway between his room and Aisha’s room when he suddenly ran into Abel.
He seemed to be on his way to meet Hades.
“Ah, father!
Where are you going?
I was actually looking for you….”
“Oh, dad’s busy right now.
We can talk later.”
He felt sorry for Abel, but he had a more urgent matter to tackle right now.
However, as he was about to continue down the hallway, Abel’s curious voice stopped him.
“Are you perhaps looking for Lady Heathcliff?
You won’t find her in the castle right now.”
“What?!” Hades turned back to Abel, startled.
“Then where did she go?”
“I don’t know.
She prepared herself to leave and dropped by my room before she left.
She told me she had to go somewhere.” Abel wondered at his father’s odd urgency and informed him what he saw of Aisha.
Hades clenched his fists and punched air in vain.
Aisha appeared to have already set out to ask Stanley Anning for the 8 billion nort.
“Shoot, looks like I’ll need to leave as well.
I’ll be right back….”
Hades quickly turned toward his room to prepare to leave but halted when he saw Abel.
More precisely, his gaze traveled to the handkerchief Abel was holding in his hands with care, as if it was some precious treasure.
“Hey….
Where did you get that?
That’s mine, isn’t it…?”
“Oh, this?”
The handkerchief was adorably embroidered with his face, black hair, and crimson eyes.
It was undoubtedly the very handkerchief Aisha embroidered herself, which he chose to keep inside his desk drawer.
Abel looked up at Hades and tilted his head in curiosity.
“This is a present Lady Heathcliff gave me just before departing.
She said she made this herself.”
Abel continued with a shy smile, thinking of Aisha.
“I was actually looking for you so that I can show you.
It seemed that she worked really hard to make it….
I was really moved.
She seemed to have lost the one she was making before, so she said she had to remake this one for me.”