Chapter 77
The Duke’s office.
At the reception table sat Kenich, Yelloise, and Ferdinand, facing one another.
“What exactly is it that you’re dissatisfied with?”
It was Ferdinand who opened the conversation.
He lounged back in the seat that had always been Kenich’s—at the head of the table—cigar clamped between his teeth as he spoke.
Perhaps because of his granddaughter’s sharp, slanted glare, he at least had the sense not to light it.
“The one with complaints isn’t us. Isn’t it you, Grandfather?”
Kenich replied expressionlessly.
Back when his grandfather had tossed the ducal title aside and disappeared the moment Kenich came of age, Kenich had thought, Well, that’s just how he is.
His grandfather had settled in a small territory at the southernmost edge of the empire—a resort his late grandmother had loved more than anywhere else.
Despite his fearsome face, enough to make even a sturdy adult weep at first glance, his grandfather had been a devoted romantic.
He had lost his beloved son, and only a few years later, the wife he treasured more than his own life also left his side.
No matter how legendary the Black Dragon Duke was, even he needed time to heal.
Thinking that way, Kenich had taken on the role of duke without complaint.
And, as was common among dragonkin, he gradually erased his grandfather’s presence from his memory.
He simply assumed the old man was living well somewhere.
For dragonkin—including the House of Kreuz—no news was the best news.
When word did arrive, it was usually about someone meeting their end.
Then, one day—
His grandfather’s name.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a real name.
Kenich heard, from another noble, the nickname his grandmother used to call his grandfather.
“Fehin Solana….”
“Oh? Duke Kreuz, have you heard that name before?”
Even now, remembering that day made the back of Kenich’s neck go cold.
What made it worse was that Solana had been the nickname his grandfather used for his grandmother.
Fehin Solana.
Put a heart in the middle and it practically meant Ferdinand ♥ Solania.
There was no word for such shamelessness.
And then, as if that weren’t enough, the nickname One-Eyed Pirate was tacked on after it….
“I didn’t know where to hide my face.”
At Kenich’s words, Yelloise silently nodded.
“If Grandmother had known, she would have been so embarrassed.”
At the mention of their grandmother, Ferdinand shot his granddaughter a frightening glare.
“What do you kids know? My Solana loved everything about me—especially said the things I did were cute!”
“……”
They knew their grandparents’ relationship had been especially affectionate.
But this—this was information they truly did not need.
Anyway.
For once in perfect agreement, the Kreuz siblings decided to dig into this Fehin Solana character.
And the deeper they dug, the more unbelievable things surfaced.
“In the southern territories, there’s practically no one who hasn’t borrowed money from Fehin Solana.”
“If that were all, it would’ve been fine. But getting caught cheating in casinos, over and over….”
Yelloise rubbed her gaunt face as if she couldn’t believe it herself.
Twelve counts of causing disturbances in casinos.
Thirty-five incidents of getting into fights with other nobles while cheating at games.
Eventually, he was banned from every casino in the south—so he simply built his own.
In the middle of the sea.
A casino accessible only by luxury yachts.
Its novelty spread by word of mouth in an instant, and it was a hit.
With the profits from the casino, he ran a loan business; with the interest from that, he invested back into the casino….
“Ahem. Yelloise, your business sense comes from me.”
Ferdinand shot his granddaughter a meaningful look.
Naturally, there was no response.
She ignored him completely, as if he wasn’t even worth answering.
And regrettably, this wasn’t the end of his grandfather’s misadventures.
“Why did you threaten nobles who couldn’t repay their debts—telling them to pretend they never had children?”
The case of Count Albon’s son.
As if recalling that day, faint lines appeared on the siblings’ smooth faces.
Just thinking about it even now…
The back of Kenich’s neck still felt cold.
But the problem was—it didn’t end there.
Investigating Fehin Solana revealed more than ten cases similar to Albon’s.
“Were you actually planning to kill them if they didn’t pay?”
Yelloise shot Ferdinand a look of thinly veiled disgust.
“Ahem. I’m not that much of a scumbag. I just planned to make them work a bit until they paid everything back!”
Ferdinand cleared his throat awkwardly.
At first glance, it sounded almost reasonable.
But the siblings knew the pitch-black intentions lurking beneath his words.
He clearly meant to stick them on fishing boats they’d never even seen before, or force them into menial labor—just so he could mock them.
Ferdinand Kreuz.
Their grandfather had always been that kind of person.
Despite being a member of the Kreuz ducal house—the very cornerstone of the Wigdnia Empire—he despised nobles.
Even when he was duke, tormenting nobles had been his sole hobby and greatest talent.
Especially if the noble in question was a pampered, greenhouse-raised delinquent—he’d leap out of bed laughing at the thought.
“Hahaha! Just look at them bawling, screaming ‘Mother!’”
Then and now, he was a grandfather too embarrassing to show anywhere.
“It’s a miracle no noble recognized him.”
“No one would imagine an imperial hero spending his days gambling and playing cards in casinos.”
And so, Kenich had no choice but to make a decision.
Namely—
“I even let that little Albon brat go! So why won’t you unfreeze my funds?!”
He cut off all of Ferdinand’s financial lifelines.
The Kreuz ducal family halted the pension paid to the former duke and froze the taxes of the territory registered under his name.
Finally, bearing the seal of the Duke of Kreuz, they contacted the Imperial Bank.
The message claimed that someone appeared to be impersonating his grandfather.
Since Fehin Solana didn’t officially exist, Ferdinand—who had been using ledgers under his real name—was struck by disaster.
In business, liquidity was everything.
And his funds had been completely blocked.
“Those idiots are demanding identity verification even when the person himself is standing right in front of them!”
Bang!
Ferdinand slammed the reception table, still fuming at the memory.
The Imperial Bank must have been in a bind as well.
But if they had to choose between the setting sun and the rising one…
The answer was obvious.
They chose the active Duke of Kreuz.
And so, now—
Ferdinand, sitting on a mountain of money he couldn’t withdraw a single coin from, had stormed the Black Dragon Castle.
“If you leave the south and return to your territory, we’ll resolve the matter with the Imperial Bank.”
“Ahem. I can’t do that. I still have something to take care of there.”
Ferdinand was unexpectedly firm.
“If you tell us what it is, we’ll help.”
“Hmph. You don’t need to concern yourselves with it. This is my business.”
He turned his head away, looking oddly petulant.
The standoff across the reception table showed no sign of narrowing—
“By the way, how long is that thing going to stay here?”
His deeply furrowed gaze landed on the squirrel sitting between the two siblings.
Cherry, hugging a walnut like a cushion, was listening intently to the conversation.
“Chuu, chuut…?”
Why are you picking on me?
“Are you using Cherry-Cherry as an excuse because you’re losing?”
When Yelloise reached out and hugged Cherry protectively, Ferdinand clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“Cherry-Cherry? What a strange name. Is that really its name?”
“Chuut….”
Even when addressed directly, Cherry only widened her eyes and tilted her head from side to side.
She was acting the part of a harmless little squirrel who knows nothing.
But then—
“When an adult asks you something, you should answer!”
“Chuu, chuut….”
“What is this, pretending to be an animal? I’ve lived a long life, but this is a first. A beastman pretending to be a squirrel—tsk.”
As Ferdinand shook his head in disbelief, every gaze in the room turned toward him.
“Chuu, chuut….”
No, Pirate Grandpa—
What on earth are you saying right now…?
