episode_0284

“I will give you ”

-Bam.

Karsine put down the envelope of money.

-Bam.

Then someone dropped the teddy bear they were holding.

“…what?”

“I said I would pay the tax myself.”

Everyone present was dumbfounded by Karsine’s unexpected reply.

An incident that occurred in less than a minute.

Isabella, who had said she would meet Karsane, brings him.

Arina had said some barbed words to him when he had just returned.

In this process of having to measure the Duke’s taxes, shouldn’t the two territories of Rusmeyer and Chatren, which are currently Karsane’s, be paid directly?

In principle, that’s true, but…

Everyone there knew that, logically, there was no intention to extort money from Carcein.

I hope Karsine will attend more of the schedule.

I hope that you won’t get hung up on the spirit world by intentionally skipping meals like you do now.

It was to adjust so as not to appear negligent in family relationships.

But Karsine now openly held out a thick envelope of money.

When things started to look strangely tangled, Claire took the initiative.

“Hey! You don’t have to do that. Where is the money from that I’m really asking you to give it to me?”

Claire handed the envelope of money back to Carcein.

“You didn’t show your face to us so much, so I tried to turn it around like this…! I didn’t mean to just extort the money you earned!”

“Yeah. How can you possibly get money from me like this? Huh?”

Isabella agreed and clapped her hands.

“Unlike other children, aren’t you not receiving any allowance from the Duke? You’re also refusing Claire’s support money and paying all the maintenance costs of the estate with your own money.”

“…What are you talking about, Mom? You’re paying the maintenance costs by yourself?”

“Ah… Right. I didn’t tell you, Arina. It’s been months since that happened.”

The support money that Claire had been sending was replaced with Carcein’s allowance.

He also refused to accept the replacement allowance and refused support from the Duke’s household.

Claire’s grant too.

Also with the support of the Bagrand Dukes.

The story is that none of the Karsains had any influence on managing the territory.

‘That means…’

The money Karsain had in his hands now would be even more insufficient.

So much so that I can’t even think about paying taxes.

“You stupid kid…! Put that thing away right now!”

The taxes paid by the Duke are truly enormous.

Because of the power held by the only duke in the empire, the amount of tax each family had to pay was also considerable.

It was possible because she had tried her hand at all kinds of businesses and the profits were greater than that. If Arina had been given the same conditions, she would have been suffocated.

“There is a limit to how much you can do to earn money as a resident. I never thought you would shoulder all that small money. You want to pay taxes here? Are you crazy? If you force yourself to pay money like this, it’s really─”

“For your information, that’s not just my taxes, it’s the entire Duke’s taxes.”

“…what.”

“Please excuse me for calling you to breakfast with this.”

If it were normal, I would have been furious and said, “What nonsense is this?”

But Arina froze in place at this moment.

Meanwhile, Karsine continued speaking without changing his expression at all.

“Well, since that wasn’t everyone’s intention, should I just count it as a fine?”

“Ber, a fine?”

“You can figure out the rest by opening the envelope and checking it yourself. I’m busy, so I’ll go now.”

“Wait a minute. Hey, Carcein!”

“Carcein…!”

Karsine goes back outside with an indifferent expression.

Isabella, Claire, and Flora, three mothers and daughters, follow Carcein.

Arina, who was left alone, watched it with a blank expression.

-For your information, that’s not just my taxes, it’s the entire Duke’s taxes.

-I beg you to excuse me from inviting you to breakfast with this.

“…This is the entire Duke’s tax? It’s not even just one person’s tax? ”

No way.

You are saying that you have been consistently maintaining and managing the estate without any support or investment?

Even though it’s just one soaring estate, you’ve managed to secure enough funds to pay taxes with just two estates?

That’s nonsense.

There’s no way that’s going to happen.

“I’m sure the contents inside are just useless papers, folded and cut up, and a bunch of pranks.”

There’s no need to fall for this idiot’s tricks.

…I had to do that.

“…”

Arina picked up the envelope of money that Karcein had put down.

And as soon as I opened the envelope with the money, the corners of my mouth fell open.

“What the…what the…”

Not a single inch lacking.

There is not an inch of leeway.

The envelope, which boasted a heavy weight, contained exactly the amount of taxes for five people without a single error.

The envelope of money was crushed and crumpled.

-Tiring!

▶Arina’s inferiority complex deepens!◀

[ Current figure: 91% ]

***

Because Arina kept harassing me, I had to meet Karsene in person and bring him back…

Absolutely not, that’s not why I called.

Just a little more eye contact between family members.

We face each other and chat about all sorts of things.

I wanted to laugh and show my love as a family while adding various stories.

Isabella relayed this to Carcein as he was leaving, and Carcein silently agreed and got back in his carriage and headed back to his estate.

“…”

It seems like the misunderstanding has been resolved.

But those words still lingered in her memory. Those words that had made Isabella’s heart sink.

-I’ll give it to you.

-I said I would pay the tax myself.

I wasn’t a proper mother to Karsene.

She knows best.

I couldn’t help you when you were having the hardest time.

And he wasn’t even there for me.

I didn’t even know who was tormenting the child or how.

I just left it alone.

I was not able to support you as a mother.

I unknowingly built a wall against that child and treated him like any other child.

It was something that had to be acknowledged and accepted.

‘Yeah. I know that. I know she’s a gluttonous mother. But, but…’

I can’t shake the feeling that I’m leaving my mother’s embrace too quickly.

It’s too early.

He’s grown up well and sturdy enough to handle things on his own… but it’s still too early.

Karsane doesn’t receive any allowance, no support money, not even a congratulatory gift.

At this point, all Isabella had left to offer Carcein was her wealth.

At the very least, I wanted to make sure that they lived comfortably in the mansion. Even if that wasn’t possible, I wanted to at least provide them with this much so that they wouldn’t have to worry about taxes.

It was so disappointing that he even rejected that.

“Why… don’t you want to receive anything. Karcein…?”

-Tiring!

▶Isabella character exclusive hidden episode. Cleared ◀

▶Synchronization is in progress.◀

▶An event occurs when the target discovers a key memory.◀

[ Key Memorial : ??? ]

***

When the Empire pays taxes, it sets the figure in proportion to the number of members in the family, and according to the size of the clan and its territory.

So, there was a gimmick where if you return to the Duke’s house and add an additional amount in the quarter where you pay taxes instead of limiting the amount to yours, the hidden event would be hidden and the penalty would disappear.

You may wonder if it would be a waste to spend money since you already have the funds to proceed with Another Plan.

‘That’s not true. This game.’

It may seem contradictory, but you have to spend money to buy time.

After the martial arts tournament, Karsain is forced to continuously carry out the work of a craftsman.

Thanks to that, even while managing the territory, he was called to the Duke’s residence.

When I want to make some progress in business, my family interferes.

Every time this happens, a message will pop up asking if you want to spend money to buy some free time. If you try to save money and complete a lot of tasks to match the episode’s progress, this will come back to haunt you and make it impossible to clear Another Plan in the future.

The reason is simple.

Because you can no longer carry out Another Plan, it leads to a bad ending.

If you think about it carefully, Another Plan is a goal that the player designated in advance before Chapter 3 begins.

It’s not entirely strange if there’s a deadline for achieving it.

In short, you end up wasting your time trying to save a little money and end up bringing about your own fate.

-Tiring!

▶Paid more than the standard amount of tax.◀

▶The penalty was completely offset by paying the taxes for five members of the Bagrand Dukes.◀

[ Penalty Offset: Arina doesn’t catch you ]

▶The episode will be postponed by using up some of your funds.◀

▶Shows the time remaining until the next episode.◀

▶The time may decrease depending on the player’s actions.◀

[Episode run time: 3 hours and 20 minutes]

I was convinced when I saw the status window that appeared late.

Arina didn’t even catch me.

No penalty is imposed.

The fact that the episode grace period is displayed is blatant evidence of this.

I was on the right path just like in the game.

▶Your current Noblesse Points are 22.◀

“Noblesse points also reached positive values much faster. You can just keep going as you did in the game.”

Really, there isn’t much left.

From here on out, I can’t change my choices or do anything else I want.

You can quickly clear the episodes and save up money. When necessary, you can spend money to buy time, and from this point on, it is not difficult to call money.

Once a business gets going, it continues to grow in size and creates a lifeline for me.

Chapter 3 after the martial arts tournament was originally like that.

So much so that it might have been the easiest part of the game.

It’s not that there aren’t any annoying troubles, but I guess I can deal with them since I’m in the game.

“Of course, you’ll have to stay up all night during the process.”

At that moment, I heard someone nagging in my head.

-Are you trying to focus on work again without even getting enough sleep?

“…”

I stayed up all night and complained in the carriage.

Again, things get complicated.

The blood that had been cold begins to drain away little by little.

Because of her presence.

Yeah, to be honest, there’s something on my mind.

The game revolves around Karsine, whom I have been possessed by.

There is no case in which carcinogenesis is not at the center of any incident.

But that’s not it. Those were clearly incidents aimed at Harnie.

-Kwak.

I think the chances are slim.

But if this time it wasn’t me but Harnie that was being targeted…

“…I guess I can check it to some extent.”

After thinking about it for a long time, I decided to change my destination.