20 years had passed when I woke up! ~ The villain's daughter’s thereafter and after that ~ - Chapter 18

Translator: Darling | Editor: Nebosuke

A story of good cop and bad cop.

Tiara, first of all, let’s get rid of the minor ones.

** 

Elsa, a daughter of the Marquis of Ladderout in the Regalia Empire, was alone smirking in the carriage on the way back to her home.

“I may be talented to conspire plots,” she thought in her mind.

Elsa hated Annerose.

Annerose was an annoyance to Elsa because she was allowed to become an aristocrat, even though she was raised as a commoner.

Elsa also didn’t like that the boys were always hanging around her despite Annerose’s appearance just being mediocre. 

Thus, Elsa provoked her friends to carry out various kinds of harassment on her.

For example, her school uniform was torn, and her books were thrown into a mud puddle.

When all their wrongdoings were disclosed, she blamed another student for the bullying.

Tiara Sylberia was used as the scapegoat.

A daughter of the Duke of Sylberia.

Elsa hated her second-most.

“I wonder where and what that honor-student is doing now.”

Tiara was intelligent, social, and well-mannered. She behaved like a genuine lady all the time. 

Elsa didn’t like her.

Else thought that Tiara had to be looking down on others while she was pretending to be a lovely lady.

So, Elsa deceived and threw her into the ordeal.

“She might be raped by bandits by now. Or, she might be eaten by monsters.”

Elsa imagined scenes where Tiara was humiliated and killed many times.

…… Actually, Tiara was not a person who looked down on others. It was Elsa who felt inferior to others because of her family. Her family, the Marquis, was not top-ranked in the aristocratic hierarchy. Her pride was too great. She couldn’t stand bowing to members of the Monarch or the Duke families. She was rude and nasty to her servants and daughters of the Viscount or Baron families.

Elsa was a typical “arrogant noble daughter”.

Eventually, the carriage entered the premise of the Marquis of Ladderout, and she arrived at the mansion.

Stepping out of the carriage, she felt that it was a little warm and humid.

Summer was approaching.

The sunset over the mountain ridge was glowing.

It would be night shortly. Despite that, there was no light in the mansion.

“What’s going on?” Elsa wondered.

The inside of the mansion was empty. The old servants were just walking around.

She asked them what was happening, and they only answered, “Please ask the master.”

A sinister mood was floating around in the mansion, like a declining noble family on the verge of bankruptcy.

Elsa couldn’t bear.

Her face was frozen in anxiety. She walked up the corridor in a hurry.

“Father, what happened?!”

She abruptly pushed and opened the door into the study room.

She was irritated, and she didn’t care about courtesy as a lady.

“Tell me what’s going on………, what?”

Her mind went blank. 

Elsa couldn’t understand what she saw in the study.

“Welcome home, Elsa …”

“Welcome back, Elsa. Long time no see?”

Her father was on his limbs on the red carpet.

He was holding up his body with his arms and knees.

Drops of greasy sweat were on his forehead.

He seemed to be in pain, but he smiled like a flirt.

Elsa’s father was a chair.

A girl with her short and trimmed silver-hair was sitting on his back.

A very familiar person. 

A girl who was supposed to be a comforter of bandits or the food of monsters.

“Tiara, what are you doing here…?”

“I was waiting for you, Elsa.”

Tiara squinted and smiled at Elsa. 

Elsa was confused.

Tiara’s ambiance had completely changed.

She didn’t look like what she did, who was polite and frail, as if she had never killed even a puny bug.

Tiara was seductively grinning. Her lip color somehow displayed the savageness. 

She was the same girl, yet she so looked different – so sexy.

Her silver hair, which had been cut short, was shining in the setting sunlight through the window.

“Elsa, do you understand what the financial situation your family is in now?”

“What?”

“I don’t think you know anything about that. It’s been in a deficit. You’re partly responsible.”

Elsa was, in fact, spending too much money.

She bought useless staff just because a good-looking sales guy flattered her. 

She frequently ordered new dresses to show off at the ball.

She sometimes purchased jewelry and handed them out to her subordinates. 

Elsa’s mother was just like her. Savings of the Marquis of Ladderout were slumping.

On top of that, the expansionary policy of the Regalia Empire completely ate their savings away.

The Empire was winning consecutive victories in attacking neighboring countries.

Despite the spectacular military advancements, only aristocrats who performed great deeds could receive rewards.

The Marquis of Ladderout was not good at training a strong army. He had rarely made positive impacts in any battels.

Their deficit increased at each war. They were trying to uphold their state as a Marquis family by borrowing money from the bank. 

“It can’t be…”

Elsa was speechless.

She had never been interested in the financial situation of her own family. 

Money naturally sprung up to no end, and if they were short, they could squeeze it out of their people. 

She just thought of it like that. 

“Even so, why are you here?! You are supposed to be exiled!”

“Yeah, you are right.”

Tiara nodded.

“I was kicked out of the Sylberian family and abandoned in the Black Forest….. But, a very kind person picked me up and adopted me. Anyways, do you know the name of the biggest bank in this Empire?”

“Are you fooling me? Even kids know that. Well…”

She bluffed hastily, then murmured.

She was so upset, it slipped her mind.

“It’s Franz Bank. I agree with you. Even kids know their name.”

“Hey, I just couldn’t remember. More importantly, you are a mere commoner now! My father is the Marquis! Get off!”

“… The Franz Bank is also investing in this family.”

Ignoring Elsa who was screaming hysterically, Tiara kept speaking.

“In fact, I have just been appointed as the head of Franz Bank, and am thinking of stopping our investment into the Marquis of Ladderout… Since that’s on short notice, the Marquis doesn’t like it. He has offered to become my chair for an hour in return for getting his continuous investment from us.”

Tiara said so and pretended to lift her buttocks.

“But Elsa is mad at me, so let me just stand up.”

“Wait a sec!”

The Marquis of Ladderout cried out in desperation.

“My family is over if you do that! Don’t listen to what my stupid daughter says. Keep sitting on me!”

“So, as Marquis says, what would you like me to do, Elsa?”

“I don’t understand this!”

Elsa screamed in madness.

“You must be joking. You are a deported criminal. It’s impossible for you to become the head of the bank! Father, this is a scam! Tiara is lying!”

“Do you want to see the document?”

Tiara passed over a piece of paper to Elsa.

Elza was shocked as she read it through.

“‘Order: Tiara de Florence is inducted to the president of Franz Bank.’ Florence? No way …!”

“Yes, I’m now an adopted daughter of the Duke of Florence.”

It had been strictly concealed so far. The truth was that the Franz Bank was a subsidiary of the Granford Campany, which was established by Fioria 20 years ago.

If Fioria wanted, the head of Franz Bank could be swapped right away. Besides that, if the replacement was from the Duke of Florence per se (even if Tiara was an adopted daughter), no one could refuse.

“But why now? Why are you suddenly collecting now?”

“It’s a managemental secret that I cannot tell you. I’m going to visit a few other aristocrats too, but first of all, I’ve dropped into the Marquis of Ladderout. Well, it’s all my personal interest. …You can’t deny this. It was you Elsa who let your people harass Annerose.”

“………!”

Tiara abruptly revealed the truth. 

Elsa became speechless. She was stunned and stopped breathing for a while.

“I know that you were plotting everything behind. At a tea party the other day apparently, you were proudly saying, ‘I was the one who framed Tiara. Anyone who opposes me would be exiled,’ and ‘I’m the cleverest noble daughter.'”

“Why do you know that…?”

“In exchange for an investment into her family, one of your close friends confessed to me. You have such wonderful friends.”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh …”

Elsa burst into tears and collapsed on the spot.

Yet, Tiara didn’t change her facial expression, and rather her face turned even harsher.

“Don’t cry, Elsa. I’m not so evil. I’m thinking of a way to rescue your family. Come in now.”

Clap, clap.

Tiara clapped her hands twice.

Then, from the door connected to the next room, a fat middle-aged man appeared. He was obese like an orc.

He had such a villainous face. He didn’t say anything.

“Alfred is his name. He is a merchant with notorious reputations. He lost his wife years ago. He seems to be wanting remarriage these days… If Elsa agrees to marry him, he will lend money as much as your family wants. It’s a great deal. Of course, nobody is forcing you though. Well, your family would just go bankrupt if you reject.”

“………”

Alfred emotionlessly stared at Elsa. 

“Huh …!”

Elsa shivered as if her heart and soul had been frozen up. 

“Please, Elsa! We’re done for if you refuse!”

The Marquis of Ladderout begged while he was serving as a chair for Tiara.

“Accept to marry Alfred! You can enjoy your riches forever! Say yes. Okay?”

“Ohhhhh … Father …”

Elsa looked up in despair.

She kept crying. 

She wept without accepting or rejecting the marriage.

“I can’t help it. Then, you don’t have to get married.”

Tiara stood up.

“Actually, this is fake.”

Puff…

Alfred’s body was wrapped in smoke.

As the smoke drifted around and dissipated, Alfred was gone.  

He was an illusion created by Tiara’s image magic.

“If you said yes to the marriage even if it was a lie, I would appreciate your determination and grant your father the extension of time. Well, it’s too late.”

A ruthless death sentence.

Tiara plainly yet quickly spoke as if she was throwing daggers as words.

“In fact, the Marquis has already acted as my chair for 55 minutes. I’ve already stood up. The deal is over. Well, there are other banks. Do your best.”

She basically said that the Marquis Ladderout family was no better than a “wrecked ship”. If the largest Franz Bank was withdrawing,

other banks wouldn’t lend money. They were destined to declare their bankruptcy straightaway.

Asking the Emperor for some help… was the worst option.

The policy of the Regalia Empire was result-driven.

If he begged the Emperor for financial assistance, the Marquis of Ladderout would be seen as an incapable family and denounced from their aristocracy.

And, even now, their bankruptcy was inevitable.

“Wait! Please wait! If you do that, we will lose everything …!”

The Marquis of Ladderout shouted heartbreakingly. 

“Please don’t leave us! Hey Elsa, kneel and bow! You useless money-eating bug!”

“I’m sorry, Tiara! I beg you for mercy …!”

The father and his daughter shamelessly got down on their hands and knees and rubbed their heads on the floor. 

Tiara coldly looked down at them. 

“Your request is declined. Do you understand who deported me in the first place?”

She sounded as if she pulled the rope attached to a guillotine, and its blade dropped.

**

That night.

The Marquis Ladderout couldn’t bear the atrocious reality and tried to kill himself. 

A knife in his hand.

He intended to stab his daughter Elsa first, and then follow her.

“Uhhhhhhh …”

He walked down the hallway while he moaned like a zombie. 

He came to the door to Elsa’s bedroom.

He held his breath and put his hand on the doorknob. 

“Wait”

Before he knew it, someone was standing right next to him.

She grabbed the Marquis’ arm and held it down.

“You don’t need to end now… My sister-in-law seemed to be quite a nuisance earlier today.”

The moonlight was shining through the window.

Golden light.

The Marquis Ladderout gasped.

He couldn’t speak a word.

It was midnight.

If a stranger was in the mansion, above all, they should have been caught as a suspicious intruder.

However, he did not come up with such an idea.

The woman right in front of him… He was fascinated by Fioria.

He fell on his knees on the spot and hanged over his head.

He didn’t know why, but he felt he should.

“The Marquis of Ladderout. If you want to protect your family, listen to me. At the very least, you won’t be in trouble.”

This was how one of the Marquis’ families of the Regalia Empire fell into Fioria’s hand.

Next chapter is Annerose’s secret!