Obviously, It’s My Child

The important thing is that the child who appeared now is the son of Erich Klausener.

The new heir to the throne who had Arren blood.

Augusta asked,

“Shall we do something?”

“Hmm. What shall we do? It’s a bit of shame that even Klausener is tainted with Arren’s blood, but it’s not my business to interfere.”

Even if there was a new heir to the throne, it would still be a child with a lower rank than Erich. The probability of that child being involved with the throne was extremely low.

Wouldn’t it be better if Erich himself jumped into the succession war?

‘But it’s not impossible.’

It was a natural decision to marry an Arren noble in order to coax Arren and gather support. Alliance through marriage was one of the oldest methods.

Erich went a step further from there. He chose the Weaving Guild’s owner as his partner, not just a traditional noble.

Ultimately, that’s the problem here. The Weaving Guild was no small organization.

The empress intended to subordinate the southern Arren region to Rommel to supply cheap food and labor.

Even five years ago, the plan seemed to have been going smoothly. The rich Arren lands became Rommel’s granary, and the poor Arrens came to Rommel to become laborers who were cheaper than bread.

However, the situation changed as the Weaving Guild boosted the economy of Arren as a whole.

Huge cotton fields were established on the land that was meant to be a source of cheap wheat.

Farms were paying considerably higher wages to its workers than other places in accordance with the policy of the Weaving Guild. It was the same with the factories.

So, instead of coming to Rommel and becoming laborers, more people chose to stay home and work at the farms there.

Subsequently, urbanization was promoted as textile and textile factories entered Arren.

Claire Delford was moving down a completely different path.

She was not obsessed with building an industry on her own estate. Neither did she sporadically search for sites near cities where demand was abundant and labor was easy to attain.

From the start, she laid out a large-scale factory, dividing the wide plain along a large river and railroad.

Conversely, a new city was being formed around the industrial complex.

It’s still in its infancy, but sooner or later the city units would come under Claire’s influence.

When the empress became aware of her existence, Claire was under debt that was on an unimaginable scale. At first, the empress thought she was a madwoman, but now even the empress knew that was the answer.

Even now, Claire was heavily in debt. But more than that, she was also earning a staggering amount of money.

No creditors were telling her to pay off their debts. On the contrary, they were antsy about wanting to lend her more.

She was neither a timid connoisseur nor an opportunist. 

Was it truly because of love that such a woman was about to enter House Klausener?

‘Even if it’s true that it’s for love, it’s too risky.’

Even with just the name of Baron Delford under her, she had done that much. So, what if she were to gain the name ‘Duchess Klausener’?

Snip.

Deep in thought, the empress accidentally pricked her fingertips with the scissors. Drops of blood leaked out.

Augusta was startled and quickly covered the empress’s hand. Those who followed her knelt down on one knee in shock.

“I’m okay. It’s just a little stabbed.”

“I will bring you medicine and bandages.”

Augusta said politely, taking out her white and clean handkerchief and wrapping it around the empress’s finger.

The empress looked down at Augusta for a moment, then she said,

“There must be a lot of people who can’t fall asleep because they’re upset. Louisa, for one. But there will be many people who coveted the position of the Duchess, of the Weaving Guild.”

Augusta raised her gaze. The empress’ eyes were exceedingly calm and merciless. So she responded politely,

“It sounds like you might need some effective ‘calming agent’.”

The Empress did not bother to comment. Having said that much, Augusta would take care of the rest.

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.

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08. There is nothing more important than marriage

It was in the afternoon when Claire’s uncle, Sir James Delford, got off at the capital’s railway station. He came here with his twenty-five-year-old son, Charles.

“To marry the son of a serf. Does it make sense? Even though his daughter is cute, my older brother pampered her too much!”

He trembled and grabbed his cane.

“This time, I will teach Claire even if I have to hit her.”

Originally, the title of Baron Delford should have been his. The law had stipulated that if a noble did not have a son, the closest male blood relative would take up the position.

But the former, Baron Delford, passed it on to his daughter.

[ Claire has the ability to maintain the household. Don’t you know that? ]

James, too, didn’t think Claire was incompetent. He also understood his older brother’s desire to pass on more so that it could serve to protect his young daughters who had not yet reached adulthood.

So, he had no intention of telling her to give up the title that she had already inherited.

‘But of course you should marry Charles! Only then can the Delford family continue properly!’

A daughter was just a daughter after all, and the daughter’s son would thus hail from another family.

But if Claire were to marry Charles, this problem would go away. It has become a trend to avoid marriage between cousins, saying something about science and such, but it was still often done to preserve the family line.

The unborn child would then be a descendant of Delford, and Claire would still hold half of the rights to the Delford family. He would not go against the wishes of his older brother and his older brother’s wife.

That was what he had decided as Delford’s direct lineage, as the head of the family, as an adult.

But Claire went off alone to the capital to marry Grey on her own accord! How could his background change just because he became a lawyer?

To even register an illegitimate child whose father still remained unknown? Absolutely unacceptable.

Thinking as such, he strode out of the train station. But at that moment, eight huge men in black uniforms came straight toward James.