When Duke Visconti summoned me urgently, I braced myself mentally, but he greeted me with a remarkably calm expression.

“You must’ve had quite a time cleaning up after your brother’s wedding,” he said.

Honestly, if I hadn’t taken the lead, the Medici Barony would have been forced into austerity measures for at least two years just to pay off that debt.

Even regular folks, who don’t care much about appearances, find it hard to tighten their belts. Imagine if they also had to maintain the family’s prestige while cutting back. Albert might have collapsed from sheer frustration.

For that alone, …