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“This is a record of the manipulation of pedigree records of dogs at risk of developing genetic diseases due to inbreeding. Are you saying that you manipulated dogs born from inbreeding to appear as if they were produced through rigorous breeding?”
Just as there were many different races of humans, there were also many different breeds of dogs, and there was a species that was sold as the Emperor’s hunting dogs. In terms of dog breeds in my previous life, they were similar to shepherds in appearance.
They were popular as slaves because of their combat prowess and extraordinary loyalty, even among dogs.
Therefore, the slave traders would select the strongest and best of them and breed them, creating pedigrees for the shapeshifters to sell at a higher price.
The slave traders of Count Bilbao created pedigrees for inbred dogs in order to increase the price of the dogs. Shapeshifters born through inbreeding had many health problems due to genetic diseases, so it was impossible to issue a genealogical certificate.
“The price of the bloodline certificate, the organization that manipulated it, and even the impression of each shapeshifter are all recorded, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“The price of the pedigree book, the organization that manipulated it, and the facial expressions of each recipient are all recorded, so let’s keep each other’s spirits up.”
At those words, Count Bilbao closed his mouth and looked blankly at the chairman. Meanwhile, Dimitri said cheerfully as if he was enjoying the situation.
“I finally learned the secret of the rapid growth of the Bilbao family through this incident.”
He wiped the smile off his face and glared at the Count.
“How did it feel to hide in the hedges of Blois, eating the Emperor’s back and puffing yourself up, Count?”
The Count of Bilbao trembled, his face flushed red.
“I-it’s not like that…”
“When I thought about what would have happened if the emperor had known about this first, it was terrifying. What about the elders?”
The backbone of the Emperor’s force was the dog shapeshifters, who were trained as combat weapons.
Of course, force was not power in an aristocratic society, but it was also true that it accounted for a very large proportion. For generations, the Imperial Family had trained the dog shapeshifters in special ways to create an elite slave army.
In short, the unit called the ‘Emperor’s Hounds’ was an imperial tradition and a source of pride for the Imperial Family.
So, if the Emperor were to find out about this, the repercussions for Blois’ vassal family’s dishonor to the Empire would be devastating for Blois and everyone here. In addition, the relationship between Blois and the royal family wasn’t exactly on the best of terms, and they had been secretly fighting over wealth and power throughout their long history.
However, the Count of Bilbao has done something reckless enough to break that precarious balance…
“You better make a decision. If it’s a tooth that will rot and cause pain to everyone, don’t you think you should pull it out?”
It meant that he intended to appease the anger of the Emperor, who would later find out about this incident, by striking the ball quickly and punishing Count Bilbao. Of course, after showing the evidence to the witnesses, no one objected to Dimitri’s words.
The Count’s face withered as if he was dying.
“Why are you all standing still? Wasn’t it Count Schdental who showed me the way?! Count Charlerois, say something!”
As if he couldn’t die alone, he began to name several people, and Count Schdental clicked his tongue.
“The sinner has lost his temper in the sacred council chamber and is making a ruckus, Duke, so I suggest you imprison him and take measures with the senate. He is trying to confuse the minds of the rest of us with his nonsense until the end.”
“Count Schdental!”
Count Bilbao screamed at the betrayal of Count Schdental, whom he considered a trusted ally. However, he was soon forced to be dragged away by the knights. Abiding heat lingered for a while, tightening the tension in the room.
Dimitri leaned his upper body forward and clenched his jaw.
“Then, let’s get down to business.”
The elders, who a moment ago had been glaring at Dimitri and me while engaging in an invisible battle, lowered their eyes in unison.
˚ ･: * ✧ * :･ ˚
In the meeting that followed, Dimitri completely drove the elders to a complete cliff. He didn’t seem to have any intention of investigating who was involved in the first place.
“I’ll apologize in advance, gentlemen. When I go before the Emperor sooner or later to talk about this matter, I won’t ignore the possibility that I’ll mistakenly suspect and mention the names of innocent people among them. Even if you say it’s unjust later, there will be nothing I can do about it.”
“I apologize in advance, gentlemen. When I appear before the Emperor to discuss this matter in the near future, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that I may be mistaken in my suspicions and mention the names of innocent men among you, so I ask you to brace yourselves, for if I am later found to be unjust, I will not be able to help it.”
Speaking with an air of obligation, he put forward absurd logic.
“As you saw earlier, decisive witnesses, Count Bilbao was out of his mind and didn’t mention the names of innocent people. Isn’t that right, Count Schdental, Count Charlerois?”
“Th-that’s right.”
“He gave false testimony.”
“That’s what I’m saying. However, depending on the circumstances, I might believe that crazy word.”
Then, watching him laugh as if it were a funny joke, no one laughed along. Not only did we laugh, but everyone all swallowed dryly, unable to speak.
It was because it was a threat.
It meant that from now on, no matter who they were, they would be sacrificed and offered to the Emperor.
At this point, investigations and evidence were unnecessary.
Everyone would admit that when everything was confided to the Emperor, it was necessary that some people needed to take responsibility in order to clearly convey that they were apologetic for not managing their vassals properly.
It was impossible to end such a significant incident by apologizing with only words.
“Of course, if anyone wants to discuss this with the Emperor directly without using Blois as a shield, I won’t discourage them either. They will walk the same path as the Count of Bilbao as I intend to hand them over so that the Emperor can handle the matter.”
So, if anyone betrayed him and spoke to the Emperor first, they would be sent away with Count Bilbao.
Finally, Dimitri gave all the credit to me.
This should have taught the elders that I was no pushover and what happened when they pointed a sword at me.
Also, Dimitri’s friendly gesture towards me was an announcement that we were a tight-knit couple, completely hand-in-hand. Therefore, he had established my dignity by making it clear to the elders that if they dared to talk about me as they were doing now, they wouldn’t be seen in a good light.
‘To defend justice, I made enemies and gained dignity. Haha…’
I did the right thing, but for some reason, tears were covering my eyes.
‘Will I be able to live as the comfortable humble bourgeois I dream of…’
˚ ･: * ✧ * :･ ˚
While the naive Rowaine was crying inside, unable to let go of the future hope of being a ‘humble bourgeois,’ Dimitri was thinking a little differently.
“Madam Rowaine keeps mumbling something about humble bourgeois. What does that mean?”
Dimitri, returning to his office after the meeting, chuckled at Hyle’s question.
It just happened that he was thinking about it, too.
‘I can’t believe she’s been thinking about getting out of Blois all this time. Her wildest dreams are amazing, too.’
In the first place, Dimitri had no intention of letting Rowaine go. While there was a time when he didn’t fully trust her, now that he’d gotten to know her, the thought that he wouldn’t let her go was even stronger.
Just imagining her saying goodbye made his stomach turn.
“What a dream.”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have to pay attention to what she’s muttering to herself.”
He wasn’t going to let it happen anyway.
Nevertheless, even though he was the one who told Hyle not to pay attention, he continued to dwell on Rowaine’s words to himself.
‘Wasn’t she happy here? I let her raise the cats she wanted to raise, and I even shared all my territories. Not only that, but I also do everything she asks me of… but why does she still dream of leaving Blois?’
He couldn’t understand.
Wasn’t the natural tendency of all living things to settle into a comfortable life of contentment?
‘Is there anything more she wants? Was she not satisfied with her current life?’
Dimitri, narrowing his eyebrows and thinking about it, spoke to Hyle.
“I don’t think I’ve ever given Rowaine a present, and since we’ve stymied the elders with this, I might as well repay her.”
“What shall we prepare?”
“What does Rowaine like?”
Something that usually made her smile…
He’d seen Rowaine’s joy when Coco had done well in a hunting game, when Sasha had been generous to Coco, and when he had turned blue in her arms…
‘She likes cats… Should I get her another cat?’
[ T/N: ˭̡̞ ( ◞⁎˃ᆺ ˂) ◞*✰ OMG DIMITRI IS SO CUTE AAA ]
While thinking about that, Dimitri shook his head. It reminded him of the scene earlier when Rowaine was running around the slave trader’s warehouse with a string of kittens behind her. It was like watching the ducklings follow the mother duck as she led the way.
‘This is enough with the cats.’
After thinking about it, he sighed and made a decision.
“Ask her directly and do whatever she asks you to do.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. Whatever.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
At the time, Dimitri didn’t know. He didn’t know that in return for letting Rowaine do what she wanted to do, he would have huge ramifications.
˚ ･: * ✧ * :･ ˚
Meanwhile, the carriages exiting Blois seemed to scatter, only to reconvene secretly at their respective junctions. Some gathered vassals of the family, as Dimitri had done, others gathered people with business connections, and others elders gathered quietly together.
In any case, at dawn, not a single one of the elders went home alone to sleep.
“I should have abandoned Blois long ago when that shapeshifter said he would become our leader…”
“How easy would it be to break the oath of allegiance to our ancestors?”
“You clearly saw what happened to the vassals of the Marquis of Valencia who broke the alliance without a perfect justification a decade ago.”
There was a case when the vassals broke their oath of loyalty by rebelling against the Marquis’s young lady, who had inherited the title by defeating her stupid brother, that was, the current Marquis of Valencia.
It was also common these days for women to be titled, but what about those conservative Southern aristocrats who refused to acknowledge it?
Those who broke their oaths under duress to join other great noble families with a forcible cause were kicked out of the aristocratic society for not trusting the master-servant relationship.
Disorganized and scattered, they were quickly overrun by the forces of the Marquis of Valencia.
As a result, only the Marquis of Valencia, who confiscated their lands and property, became more powerful. Breaking an oath of allegiance like this was a tricky thing that required many circumstances to align perfectly.
“What’s the matter? For now, we’ll have to take what we can get.”