"What are you going to do? Answer me, Aslan! The Emperor is scheduled to visit tomorrow! You have a plan, right? Tell me you do! Quickly!"
"…What?"
"Ha!"

Irene let out a sigh as if she couldn't believe it.

"What? Did I hear you were unaware of this?"
"Explain it to me. What does that mean?"
"How could you not know!? It's the road you completed! The Emperor is attending the ceremony for the monumental first road that crosses the mountain range! While traveling along the road, he’s supposed to visit Vermont as well, how could you not know this!"

Irene shook me by the collar, her voice trembling.
This was a woman who seemed like she wouldn’t shed a tear even if she was stabbed, yet here she was, on the verge of crying in front of me.

"Is this reliable information?"
"It's information from the imperial palace! If this isn’t reliable, then what is!!!"

Alright. Let’s sort this out.
Once the road is completed, the Emperor will attend the opening ceremony.
And he’s supposed to come all the way to Vermont along that road.

Why didn’t I know this?
First, this road was originally a project commissioned by Arient.
I received it after they relinquished the construction rights.

So there’s only one possibility.
The news of the Emperor’s visit was known to Arient, but they didn’t inform me.
Those bastards...

"Coachman. To Arient!"

"Ugh, I completely forgot! I’m so sorry, little brother! I didn’t mean to not tell you, I just... forgot!"
"Are you joking? You forgot about a matter as significant as the Emperor’s visit!?"
"I’ve committed a grave sin! There’s really nothing I can say to defend myself!!!"
"…."

Ugh. My neck aches.
I thought they were purposely trying to make us look foolish, but it turns out they simply forgot?
As I was about to let my suspicions rise, I glanced at Count Arient, who was huddled down on the ground with a pale face, and that thought quickly faded.

He was completely laying aside his pride.

"Get up, you old fool!"
"Ugh! I’m so sorry!"
"Enough! Apologize with your life. If you’ve become senile, you should die quietly. I don’t want to see you making a mess in front of the kids! Just die!"
"Calm down, sister."
"Am I calm!?"

I restrained Irene, who was about to slam her fist on Count Arient’s head.
We can’t afford to kill this man.
He’s the one we need to pay monthly dues, or rather interest, to.

After temporarily sealing Irene’s arms from behind,
she looked back at me, seeming to have calmed down a bit.
So what now? Her eyes seemed to ask that question.

"Count. Because of your blunder, we’re in quite a difficult situation. How would you feel if you learned the absolute power of this country would be arriving the day before?"
"V-very troubled..."
"If you make a mistake while entertaining the Emperor, the Vermont family could disappear from history! Oh dear. To eliminate a creditor of considerable debt, you must have intentionally hidden this... Wouldn’t that explain everything perfectly?"
"N-no! I swear I didn’t mean to, little brother! Please believe me!"
"In order to prove your innocence and our friendship, you’ll do anything, right? Of course, you will!"
"Absolutely! I’ll do anything!"

Siiiigh.
At Count Arient’s answer, I couldn’t help but smile.
Realizing he had just slipped up, his face turned pale.

"Then let’s rewrite the contract. From now on, the maintenance costs for the road will be covered by Arient."
"W-when?"
"For life."

Is this guy trying to compromise right in front of me?
When I gave him a serious look, he looked as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

"What do you mean? You’ll do anything? Why aren’t you bringing the contract quickly? If this drags on, I’ll cancel all the contracts and demand the interest I was supposed to receive next month starting tomorrow..."
"Ugh! I’ll bring it right away!"

Wiping his tears, Count Arient dashed out quickly, returning soon with the contract.
We revised the contract right there.
Originally, the maintenance was to be handled by Arient, with Vermont covering the costs, but now all maintenance would fall under Arient’s responsibility.

[The Evil God, 'Carly', expresses admiration for your cunning.]

With this, I managed to save about 2 billion Lark in fixed annual costs.

'Even if I squeeze Arient, it won’t change the situation. I should grab whatever benefit I can from this chance.'

What has happened has already happened.
Even if I beat Count Arient now, it wouldn’t cancel the Emperor's visit to Vermont.
So I decided to take only what I could, as much as I could manage, without pushing him to the brink of ruin.

Inside the carriage returning to Vermont,
Irene, arms crossed, glared at me with plenty of dissatisfaction.

"You. Did you run the family like this while I was away?"
"What do you mean, like this?"
"Clearly, the one who got played by Vermont should be setting an example. The other party has committed such a grave crime that we could kill them, and you’re just letting it slide?"
"Why would I split the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs? Practical benefits come first; family pride comes second."
"Stop spouting nonsense. This is why Vermont is called a toothless tiger these days. You’re pathetic. Why am I not the head of the family instead of you...! Ugh, ugh."

As Irene raised her voice while clenching her fists, she cleared her throat.

"Ha. I agree that this isn’t a situation that can be resolved by getting angry. So what are you going to do? As you said, a single mistake could cause the Vermont family to vanish into thin air. Do you have a plan?"
"I don’t have a plan for entertaining the Emperor."
"You bastard, really...! Ugh!?"

I pushed my finger against Irene’s lips, seating her back in the carriage.
No matter how much she might dislike that I’m leading this family, she surely doesn’t want it to be destroyed.
So she’s probably pretending to cooperate with me now, given the situation we’re in.

If Irene had come to disrupt things, that would already be a big help.

"I have my ways."

We can still plan for the Emperor’s visit starting now.
Even though I’ve played this game before...
...only up to Chapter 1, though.

"Lord Vermont. I am a messenger from the royal family, and I am here to see you on behalf of the Emperor, who will be visiting tomorrow. I wish to discuss something urgent regarding the Emperor's visit schedule..."
"Let’s save all the surprises for later. Now, the discussion ends here. You may leave."
"N-no! Lord Vermont...!"

As soon as we arrived at the mansion, I quickly dismissed the messenger who had been waiting.
What? You want to discuss the visit schedule?
What could I possibly say when I have nothing prepared?
I figured that anything I said would only reveal my lack of preparedness, so I made up an excuse to send him away.

"A grand feast and a splendid banquet... while it might be a stretch, we can at least prepare something that won’t look shabby. The goal is to ensure that we don’t offend the Emperor and get through this without a hitch. First, let’s remove that ugly brown creature."
[It’s not brown! It’s earthy! Kyaaa!]

"No, Earthy. If you snarl at just anyone, we can’t use you."
"The stern Emperor will be disgusted just seeing something like that."
"No. The goal isn’t to just get through this event without issue. It’s to make a deep impression on His Majesty the Emperor. That will be our goal."
"Have you lost your mind!?"

As I yelled, Irene glared at me, astonished.
While we both wanted the family to survive, it didn’t mean we would have the same approach.

"Stop saying nonsense. Leave a deep impression on the Emperor? If it’s a bad impression, it might be easy, but for a good impression, there’s no chance. The Emperor is a cold-blooded monster, an automaton. To such a person, the world only appears in black and white. How will you satisfy a man who has never smiled in his life?"
"That’s…."
"All the methods you can imagine have already been tried and failed by countless sycophants. Be it wealth, exquisite delicacies, art, or even the most beautiful women, he shows no interest whatsoever."
"There’s one thing that hasn’t been tried."
"…What?"

Irene looked at me with an ominous expression.
As she said, the Emperor is a cold-blooded man.
He rules the world with a strict and harsh standard, unfazed by any temptation.
I even suspect he might be a machine.

But even such an Emperor has weaknesses.
Though he hides it from everyone,
the truth is...

"Children."
"…What?"
"I’m going to use the kids. The Emperor is sure to adore children."

He loves cute things.
A lot, indeed.
So much that he doesn’t know what to do with himself!

"Aslan, you bastard, have you lost it?"