Chapter 59
[My master’s work has suddenly become busy, and I must accompany him to a distant foreign land. In my last letter, I said I thought I could visit soon… I’m sorry I can’t keep that promise. It’s not much of a substitute, but I’m sending you a little figure I carved myself.]
What came with the letter Hyun received was a tiny bird, only the size of a thumb, crudely carved with clumsy skill.
Why a bird? Was it just the easiest shape to carve? Hyun had no way of knowing. Still, he set it on the corner of his study desk and, each time he went to read, would reach out and stroke its head once. It was petted so often that soon the little bird’s head grew smooth and shiny.
The long series of trials finally ended after a full year.
Mikhail fought fiercely in all five tests.
Had the Crown Prince not resorted to underhanded tricks, the outcome could have been decided by the third alone, but they ended up going all the way to the fifth.
When Mikhail was tasked in the third trial with finding a fair way to divide the assets of Count Macron of the Central Province—who was on the verge of death—among his twelve children, he thought his head might burst at the complexity of the inheritance list.
Why not just divide it into twelve equal shares? he asked, clutching his head.
Marcel answered firmly.
“That won’t do.”
It was easier said than done. A noble’s wealth was not merely money. Most estates concentrated inheritance on the firstborn to preserve the family legacy. If one became fixated on the word ‘fair’ and simply split everything twelve ways, House Macron would scatter into disarray and collapse into a rabble. The children would inevitably rebel and fight.
So Mikhail and Marcel disguised themselves as guests and visited the Macron household.
There, they learned why Count Macron, though at death’s door, had appealed to the Emperor for a way to divide his assets fairly.
Most of the Count’s children were long since adults, already independent with their own businesses or marriages. Only one remained. The youngest daughter, a mere six years old.
Though anyone with just enough strength to hold a spoon could commit that act… Mikhail nearly failed to hide his visceral disgust, but after Marcel uncovered the girl’s circumstances, he changed his mind.
The child was not the Count’s by blood. Her mother, a maid sold into the house at ten and long faithful in service, had borne her after being betrayed by the man she was promised to marry. Struck by despair, she had gone to the streets, lain with some nameless man, and died giving birth.
The Count, widowed for decades, could not turn away from the newborn and raised her as his own. But once the older siblings discovered the girl was not truly of Macron blood, he feared what reality would do to a six-year-old who had believed herself the Count’s daughter all her life.
The Count, who had already given each of his eleven older children their share of wealth when they married or struck out on their own—everything but the estate and title—feared the youngest would be stripped of even a penny and perhaps harmed.
So he was content even if the property excluding the estate were divided into twelfths, as long as the succession method could be sanctioned by the Emperor.
But if Mikhail focused only on dividing equally, like the Crown Prince, the Count wouldn’t care which of them he supported, and Mikhail might lose the right to the throne.
After long deliberation, Mikhail proposed the following.
The estate, title, and family name would go to the eldest daughter, who had been groomed as heir.
All liquid assets and property that could be converted to goods would be inherited by the youngest daughter.
Until the youngest came of age, all tributes and revenues from the estate would belong to her. On the day she reached adulthood, she would keep 1% of the fortune and distribute the remainder among her elder siblings.
If she died before adulthood, all assets would revert to the imperial treasury as relief funds.
At first the Count’s children resisted, but when they realized the youngest would ultimately take only 1%, their outward objections softened and they agreed.
The Count was overjoyed, saying a way to protect his youngest had been found, and he adopted Mikhail’s proposal.
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