Friedrich Medichin was telling his parents they should write up a contract.
Some might call him cold.
However.
Wilhelm was not merely pleased. He was thrilled.
‘This boy···!’
That same boy who had whined so much about hating heir’s education was now valuing contracts, the very foundation of a merchant.
For Wilhelm, who had been racking his brains over the heir problem, it was wonderful news that made the corners of his mouth rise.
“Bwahahaha! Of course! That is how it should be! A proper merchant must first be good at contracts!”
Wilhelm laughed heartily and agreed.
Johanna, who had been staring blankly at him, her friend, lover, and husband, pressed a hand to her forehead and shook her head from side to side.
“I cannot live like this, truly···.”
“What is there that you cannot live with, my dear? Our eldest son has finally made up his mind to become the heir, hm? Hahahaha!”
After laughing for a long while as though all his pent-up feelings had been cleared away, Wilhelm composed his expression and spoke to Friedrich.
“Now then, let us go to the study. We must draw up the contract.”
“Yes, Father.”
“You should come as well. A contract requires a witness, after all. Haha.”
“Aah···.”
Johanna sighed in disbelief. It was one thing for her son to insist that a promise should be made clear through a contract, but her husband had gone one step beyond that.
Still, if it had already come to this, they had to be thorough if they did not want any regrets.
The three entered the study, and after much back-and-forth, they drew up a contract that satisfied them all.
As a result.
If Friedrich diligently devoted himself to the heir’s education, his wishes could be granted. Of course, there was a condition attached: he could receive support of up to four percent of House Medichin’s annual profits.
‘Four percent of annual profits is enormous. I will have to have the grounds and validity of its use acknowledged before I can obtain it, though.’
Four percent of the annual profits of House Medichin, which raked in gold and silver coins from the Empire and, beyond that, the western continent, was money equivalent to the annual revenue of three or four free cities within the Empire, including the Etilant Autonomous Territory.
After examining the highly satisfying contract, Friedrich asked Wilhelm.
“You are truly going to keep this, correct?”
But Wilhelm had no intention of going back on it.
“I promise on my name as your father and on the crest of our house. In return, however, you must also keep your promise faithfully.”
Wilhelm even said that to Friedrich with a deliberately solemn expression. Was he trying to hold on to his once-frail son before he changed his mind again?
In any case.
Only after confirming that Wilhelm had no intention of nullifying the contract did Friedrich dip the quill in ink and write his name in the signature field.
‘With this, I have the man called my father on the hook.’
Friedrich wrote the name he would use from now on, Friedrich Medichin (Friedrich Medizin), in elegant handwriting and held it out to Wilhelm.
‘It is done!’
Wilhelm had to struggle desperately to suppress the cheer that threatened to burst from inside him as he signed. Had he not secured grounds to raise his art-obsessed son as the heir and avoid his wife’s scolding?
“For this contract to take effect, you will have to work hard from now on. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Father.”
Perhaps pleased by his son’s clear answer, Wilhelm nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Good. Then go and rest now. I will see you at dinner.”
“Yes.”
Wilhelm had made his son walk the path of the heir.
Friedrich had laid the foundation for the future ahead.
As the two smiled while harboring different dreams, Johanna grumbled with an exhausted expression.
“I cannot tell whether I am living with a husband or raising another son···.”
“What does it matter, my dear? I feel as though I will be able to sleep easy from tonight onward. Haha.”
Even at his wife’s reproach, the corners of Wilhelm’s mouth rose without knowing how high the sky was.
***
That evening.
In the mansion’s parlor, Wilhelm and Johanna gathered, along with all four children born to the two of them. It was to witness the contract Friedrich had made.
“Alfred, Vera. This is a document in which Friedrich promises to faithfully become the heir from now on. Please examine it and pass it to our Maria.”
“Yes, Master.”
Alfred, the head butler who supervised House Medichin’s butlers, and Vera, his wife who directed the maids, received the contract.
After confirming there were no flaws, the two signed their full names as witnesses, then passed the contract to Maria.
“Here it is, Young Lady.”
“Thank you, Head Butler.”
As the first child and eldest daughter of this family, Maria became the third witness to the contract. After examining the contract, Maria asked Friedrich with an expression of disbelief.
“Are you truly going to live like this?”
“I promised Father. I promised to work hard at the heir’s education.”
Since he was not yet used to calling her his older sister, Friedrich omitted the subject as he spoke. Maria smiled softly at him.
“It seems our little brother has finally grown up.”
‘She has every right to say that. Her younger brother, who had been an art fool, has said he will become the heir.’
Friedrich smiled bitterly to himself, then spoke with an awkward smile.
“What can I do? If that is what I have to do, I should quickly gain the qualifications of the heir and then do the things I want.”
“Good. Then I will sign too, so do your very best.”
Perhaps pleased that her younger brother finally seemed mature, Maria hummed lightly as she signed the witness field.
“Here you are, Father.”
“Thank you, Maria.”
After Wilhelm received the contract from Maria, two little boys spoke up.
“Father, what is that?”
“That is right, Father. What promise did you make with Brother?”
The two children were the twin sons of this family, the third child, Felix Medichin, and the youngest, Julian Medichin.
Looking at his two young twin sons, who asked with bright, sparkling eyes, Wilhelm spoke with a pleased expression.
“It is a promise that your older brother will become the person who succeeds this father of yours from now on. Haha.”
“Really? But Brother said he wanted to live writing, playing instruments, and painting.”
“That is right! He said he did not want to do things like fighting.”
Looking at the twin younger brothers staring at him, Friedrich smiled bitterly to himself.
‘Just how rebellious was the former owner of this body······?’
To think even Felix and Julian, who were only twelve years old, would say something like that.
‘They are both lively children, but Felix has talent in martial arts, and Julian has an aptitude for magic, right? As long as I properly fulfill the role of eldest son, this family can never fall.’
Any ambition beyond that could only be promised far in the future, depending on how much he and his younger siblings achieved.
For now, when everything was still lacking, it was nothing more than delusion.
Friedrich bent at the waist and stroked the heads of his two younger brothers.
To him, who had been an orphan, the siblings who had suddenly appeared warmed his heart simply by existing. A desire to do everything for them rose within him naturally.
‘I will protect them. To do that…….’
After making that resolve inwardly, he opened his mouth.
“From now on, your brother is going to become a strong person like Father.”
“A strong person?”
“What does that mean, Brother?”
Was it because even little boys were still men with ambition in their hearts, or because their older brother looked especially dependable today?
At the words “a strong person,” Felix and Julian’s eyes shone brightly. Seeing that, Friedrich smiled faintly and said,
“Someone who can allow many people to live happily without worry. Right, Father?”
“Hm? ···That is right.”
At Friedrich’s words, Wilhelm briefly answered in a daze, then soon laughed heartily and spoke.
“That is right, yes. Everything this father of yours does is work done for the peace and happiness of the people of Etilant. Haha.”
Perhaps pride and all the efforts he had made until now suddenly came to mind, for Wilhelm’s laughter did not cease.
‘At last, you understand this father of yours, Friedrich.’
The reason Wilhelm put effort into educating his children while leading the Medichin Konzern, Firenburg, and the Etilant Autonomous Territory was not merely for the advancement of himself and his family.
He did not know when it would happen.
But it was because he wanted all the people of the Empire to live better lives.
Just like his ancestors, who had come down to Etilant after laying down all wealth, honor, and power, turning Firenburg, once a small fishing village, into the greatest free city in the Empire.
Just like those ancestors, who had spread the wealth that began in the city of Firenburg far and wide, striving so that the entire Etilant Autonomous Territory could eat better and live better.
‘I do not know your will precisely, but as Merkl’s proxy, I will do my best, Father. If I do, then you, I, no, all of us will become happy, will we not?’
There was no way for Friedrich to know what Wilhelm was thinking.
Still, in this life, Friedrich intended to unleash his abilities and ambitions to his heart’s content. Even if it was self-inflicted, he would do so to resolve his lingering attachment to his previous life, which had ended incomplete.
“So your brother is going to work hard at his heir’s education from now on. That means our Felix and Julian should study hard too.”
“Why us? Brother can just become strong like Father.”
“That is right. Brother is very smart, so you learn anything quickly.”
At the answers of his two younger brothers, who were still in the midst of childhood, Friedrich smiled.
‘Promising green shoots should be given plenty of nutrients! I am sorry, my little brothers!’
His contract was not something that would end with him alone. Greater change required more talented people.
Hiding his true intentions, Friedrich smiled slyly and asked, “Do you not want to become strong people like Father?”
“Huh?”
“Well···.”
Friedrich spoke to his twin younger brothers, who were hesitating.
“You are my brothers, who inherited Father and Mother’s blood just as I did. So if you make the effort, you can do it well enough. Right, Father?”
‘Look at this boy.’
Wilhelm was briefly flustered by Friedrich winking one eye at him, but before long, he answered with a pleased expression.
“Of course! What kind of children are our Felix and Julian? Is that not right, my dear?”
‘It is one thing for this man to be like that, but even Friedrich···.’
Johanna was dumbfounded as she watched Friedrich and Wilhelm fall perfectly in step, as though they had planned it in advance.
Until he had set out on the long journey, her eldest son had been frail and timid.
It was surprising enough that such an eldest son was burning with the will to become the heir, but now he was even dragging his younger siblings into it?
‘What on earth happened to Friedrich?’
Maria, the eldest among the four siblings of this family and their disciplinarian, was just as surprised.
What had come over her first younger brother, who had seemed gentle to the point of being soft?
Seeing Maria’s disbelieving expression, Friedrich smiled faintly.
‘Hoo, now that I think about it, our dear elder sister too···.’
Did Maria sense something strange in Friedrich’s gaze? She rubbed away the goosebumps rising on her arms.
‘What is that look in his eyes?’
‘I am sorry, but you will have to help as well, Sister.’
Maria’s intuition, which sensed an inexplicable unease in Friedrich’s smile, was not wrong.
“It will not be enough for only the three of us to work hard, so Big Sister should study with us too. What do you think, boys?”
“!”
Felix and Julian instinctively realized they had been caught up in something troublesome.
Still, it felt unfair to let their sister escape alone. The twin younger brothers did not let their prey slip away and clung to Maria like water ghosts dragging someone down with them.
“That is right! Brother and we are all going to work hard, so it is unfair if only Sister does not!”
“Sister should study with us too!”
Maria was flustered by the unexpected joint attack from the three brothers.
‘These little…?’
As befitted a member of House Medichin, Maria was so intelligent that it would be a shame to call her second to anyone, and she had acquired more refinement and knowledge than most young noble ladies.
Not only that, but in accordance with the belief of her mother, Johanna, that “a woman should at least be able to protect herself,” the swordsmanship she had learned directly from her mother was no worse than that of most men.
However.
The heir education course received by the men of House Medichin boasted a level of difficulty separated from what she had learned and mastered until now by a gap as wide as heaven and earth.
‘How long has it been since I came of age? What heir’s education now? I am truly sick of it….’
Maria quietly examined the expressions of the people around her. At a glance, there was no excuse for her to get out of this.
Maria squeezed her eyes shut.
‘If I cannot avoid it···!’
Then she had to gain at least one thing.
As befitted the bloodline of merchants, Maria busily turned her thoughts and considered her own situation.
‘Even though I am the eldest···.’
A woman inherited the position of family head only when there were no male heirs and her ability had been clearly proven.
As long as she had younger brothers whose promise was certain, the heirship belonged to Friedrich Medichin, her younger brother just below her and the eldest son.
‘Still, I refuse to be married off as if I were being sold. In that case….’
After organizing her thoughts, Maria looked at Johanna’s face and spoke.
“Very well. In return, I have a condition too.”
“You too?”
“Yes. I want to decide for myself who I will marry.”
“!?”
Johanna Berstein Medichin had all but laid down everything she had inherited for the sake of her love with Wilhelm.
If her mother was that devoted to her family, then surely she would accept her wishes.
Wilhelm was startled by his daughter, who had come out strongly with such expectations toward her mother.
“You are saying that you will choose the man you marry yourself?”
“Yes. If I also properly receive the heir’s education, then I will be acknowledged as one of our family’s heirs, will I not?”
“That is true, but······.”
Being acknowledged as qualified to be an heir meant that one could also assert some degree of right to inheritance.
As if seeing through Wilhelm’s concern that an inheritance dispute might arise between his children because of his own greed, Maria moved first.
“I have no intention of coveting any inheritance beyond the dowry Father and Mother give me. In return, please allow me to choose the person I will live with.”
“Hmm······.”
Wilhelm groaned softly and thought.
‘That child is also of my blood and hers, so······.’
Even if she was not perfect, he did not think she would choose a deficient spouse. It was obvious that, in this proposal she had made half on impulse, she was rapidly thinking and attempting to negotiate in order to obtain what she could.
But the fact that she had shown such wit alone meant she would not be taken for a fool anywhere, so Wilhelm had no reason not to trust his daughter.
“Very well. In return, I would like you to bring home a son-in-law who may not be perfect, but is not lacking either.”
“Do not worry, Father. I dislike men who are like sacks of salt dropped into water too. You know that, right?”
At his daughter’s charming smile, Wilhelm laughed heartily.
“Hahaha, I do. Of course I do. Your eye for men should take after your mother’s, should it not?”
“What a horrible thing to say, dear. If she takes after me, she will meet someone like you.”
“Well, now···.”
Though Johanna’s sharp reproach made Wilhelm smack his lips, she turned to Maria and spoke with a gentle smile.
“My daughter, meet someone better than your father. Understood?”
“Yes, Mother.”
Seeing Maria answer while struggling to hold back her laughter, Friedrich smiled.
‘What an amusing family.’
Feeling interest in his new family, Friedrich began to blend in as a member of House Medichin.
As the changed heir.