Chapter 253
As soon as Kallen Krygen woke up, he sat down at the table and sipped tea. It was a rare tea, difficult to obtain from the Eastern Continent, said to be unavailable even to most noble families in Obelit—except for the Krygen dukedom.
“Hmm, fragrant.”
Kallen wasn’t really familiar with the taste of tea, but he happily hummed, savoring the fact that only the Krygen family could drink it.
“Kallen!”
At that moment, Ottilie Krygen burst through the door.
“Good morning, Grandmother. But what brings you here so early—?”
“What on earth did you do in the parliament yesterday?”
“Huh?”
Ottilie was visibly furious.
“What are you talking about?”
“The Gadvich Cathedral! Is it true you handed over the authority to supervise its construction to Marquis Naissen’s family?”
“Oh, that. Yes, I did transfer it.”
Kallen answered proudly.
“In exchange, we secured the Mantchen mines owned by Marquis Naissen’s family. The Mantchen mines are known for rare emerald deposits, after all. So this isn’t a bad deal—”
“Foolish man!”
Smack!
A sharp sting exploded on Kallen’s cheek. He was stunned, staring wide-eyed at his grandmother.
“That’s an old tale. The emeralds from Mantchen have been circulating for a long time and their value has plummeted. Moreover, rumors say the quality is declining and nobody seeks them anymore. Yet you bit the bait and sold off the cathedral’s construction supervision?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes!”
Ottilie pinched his forehead, lamenting what to do now. Kallen’s pupils darted nervously.
“Well, it’s just a supervision right!”
Flustered for a moment, Kallen shouted indignantly.
“I don’t understand why we bother with such laborious work when the cathedral won’t even belong to our family in the end!”
“It’s not just a supervision right! Do you not realize that by controlling that right, we can fill the cathedral’s decorations with works from artists sponsored by our family? The artistic value is going to be huge. And this was a strategic move to secure voting rights for the upcoming Archbishop election. Yet you ruin everything at the last moment?!”
Artwork? Archbishop voting rights?
Kallen knew the importance of art was rising, which was why even Obelit had recently been pushing cultural and artistic ventures.
But…
‘I didn’t realize they were even thinking about the Archbishop’s vote.’
While building the cathedral might grant some religious influence, was it really possible to hold such political power?
If so, Kallen admitted it was his mistake. The Archbishop’s voting rights outweighed an emerald mine by far.
“Ha. I sent you to parliament just to keep you out of trouble because you’re no good at business, but you can’t even stay out of it quietly…”
“……”
Ottilie sighed repeatedly, scanning Kallen up and down.
“Rubens had already become a top council candidate at your age, and even managed to turn around a struggling business…”
“I-I’m sorry, Grandmother. I’ll do whatever I can to fix this.”
“Enough. From now on, do nothing.”
“Yes…?”
“I think I misjudged things. Even when Rubens was running around causing trouble lately, I should never called for you, tsk.”
With that thunderous remark, Ottilie left the room.
A wave of humiliation and fury surged to Kallen’s very core.
“Damn it!”
Wherever he turned, it was Rubens Krygen.
This vast estate ought to be his, yet everyone seemed hypnotized, all searching for Rubens.
After neglecting his duties for a year, wandering outside lost in obsession with a woman, he was still missed.
“F**k!!”
Kallen threw the tea he’d just been enjoying.
Clang! The sharp crash startled the servants waiting outside, who hurried in.
“Young Master Kallen! Are you hurt anywhere?!”
“Get out!”
“But the shards…”
“Can’t you hear me? Are you ignoring me?!”
Kallen, now furious, grabbed the tea pot to throw at the servant.
“No! I’ll just leave today’s newspaper!”
“I don’t even need that!”
Kallen swatted the newspaper off the table with his arm. The servant, shocked and wary of being caught in the crossfire, quickly backed away.
“What’s the point of reading this crap?!”
The newspaper was just a sheet full of boring words.
Kallen only drank tea and read the paper because he’d heard it was part of Rubens’ daily routine, not because he cared for such refined things.
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