I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

25 – Foundation for reform (3)

“What? One of the death row inmates escaped prison? From a prison in the castle of Dijon?”

“Yes, yes…”

As I started working early in the morning, the attendants report that the prisoner has disappeared this morning.

What are you talking about?

The prison in Dijon is very secure. You escaped from there?

“Did the other prisoners disappear too? Any witnesses?”

“Except for that one person, no one has disappeared. Witnesses and death row inmates all use solitary confinement—”

Then it’s highly likely that some of the guards stole it secretly.

Since he was in solitary confinement, it would have been easy to avoid the eyes of other prisoners.

“First of all, stop the soldiers who were on duty in the prison during that time and investigate one by one. In particular, give priority to those who have increased wealth or have something to do with the prisoner.”

“Yes.”

Tsk… I thought there were still worms left.

I thought I caught them all–

Smart –

At that moment, I heard a knock at the door that I had never heard before, small but with a unique echo.

Who are you? I don’t think it’s Chloe, Leclerc, or any of the other attendants.

“Your Highness, Duke of Burgon, Ines of Laurel asks to see you.”

“Ines? Yes, come in.”

I was a bit puzzled because it was a knocking sound I had never heard before, but it must have been knocked by Ines’ attendants.

The knocking culture in Laurel is slightly different from that in Burgon.

After politely answering my permission, Ines’ attendants carefully open the door and escort Ines who follows.

“Good morning, Duke.”

Ines just smiles and doesn’t say a word, but only after coming in front of me, supported by the attendants, does he greet me according to the manner.

As is the etiquette for a woman from an aristocratic family to greet her spouse.

“Good morning, Ines. What about the…?”

“Do you need a reason to meet your fiancé?”

“Huh?”

I got to the point right away because I was busy with work, but Ines said something difficult to answer.

Yeah… That’s right.

“Ines, but this is my office.”

“It’s too bad that I can’t see my fiancée often. I won’t disturb you, I’ll just sit on the sofa over there, so please…”

“Uh, uh…?”

I’m running out of answers again when it comes out like this.

I haven’t been able to see Ines often because I’ve been so busy lately.

“Can’t I…?”

As Ines said, she looked down at me as I sat there with teary eyes.

I’ve always seen Ines from the top down, but this time looking at Ines from the bottom is very different.

“…Be quiet.”

“Yes!”

If you look at me with those eyes, you won’t be able to refuse. Write…

First of all, it’s a relief that the purges and all that said harsh things were finished yesterday. You don’t have to tell Ines the cruel story.

After receiving my permission, Ines politely bowed his head to me as usual, then went to the sofa and sat down.

“…”

‘Looking at it like that is too burdensome.’

Ines, sitting on the sofa, takes a cup of tea from an attendant and watches me.

His head is fixed towards me, and he even has a bright smile.

It’s the same with Chloe, but she’s still beside me or behind me, not in my line of sight. Besides, the clothes are flashy, so it stands out.

…It’s hard to work.

…………

“…Meet the Lord of Burgon.”

“Welcome, Luca.”

Luca looks a bit surprised to see Ines sitting in her office, but she soon returns to her usual face as if she hadn’t seen anything and greets me.

“What about our bureaucrats?”

“There’s a lot to teach.”

Luca answers my question in the same language.

Lucca’s hometown, the Commercial Republic of Vines, speaks a different language than the Principality of Burgon, but Lucca, an educated person, has learned many foreign languages, so there is no problem communicating with him.

“There’s a lot to be taught… Well deserved.”

I, who had nothing to do with documents until I became a duke, including my previous life, could understand the horrors of bureaucrats very well, but it would be terrifying in the eyes of a merchant who has even served as financial advisor.

“Yes, rediscover the meaning of the old adage that a lot of gold has a price.”

I have never heard of that proverb, but I know very well what you mean.

Yeah, there’s no way they’ll give you a lot of money for no reason.

“Of course, I am a person who works hard for what I have been given. I will thoroughly train His Highness’ people until they meet my standards.”

“It’s your standard… Roughly how much?”

“Your Highness, the easiest way to understand… Is about 30% of what Chloe does.”

“Huh?”

Why is Chloe suddenly here?

I turn my head and look at Chloe standing behind me, and Chloe looks puzzled as well.

“Sir Chloe’s documentation is impeccable, from the tidy arrangement of information, to the simple sentences with no missing items, to the graphs that can visualize information.”

Ah… I understand roughly what happened.

As I said, Chloe showed Luca all the documents he had written, and Luca was very impressed.

…Wait a minute, a picture called a graph, not a graph?

“A picture called a graph? Seeing a graph for the first time?”

“Yes.”

This is kind of surprising.

A gentleman who knows how to use all kinds of methods when filling out documents such as double-entry bookkeeping, tables, etc., Didn’t know about graphs?

“As expected, it was good to go abroad. After the contract is over, if you bring the concept of graph back to your home country, it will be a very good gift for your compatriots.”

“You who used to criticize me are all compliments.”

“Because it’s commendable. By any chance, did Miss Chloe invent that graph?”

“No, I told you.”

Luka’s eyebrows twitch slightly, as if my answer was unexpected.

Luca’s gaze, which was looking at me, moves to Chloe, who is by her side, and then returns to normal.

“Then… The Duchy of Burgon only has a way to ascend upwards. If you ever need a little money, let me know. Just contact your compatriots in your home country—”

“No, that’s fine. I won’t run out of money for a while because I gained so much from the victory against Carolingian.”

This bastard. Look at the fact that the essence is not a merchant, so he rushes to do business right away.

The Republic of Vines, Luca’s hometown, usually uses the technique of inducing the other country to go into debt and then obtaining all sorts of benefits based on the debt. It’s clever, but it’s a way to earn a lot of resentment, so it’s quite notorious.

…A little uneasy?

In case you don’t know, I’ll have to put someone on Luca.

…………

“Your Highness, I won’t do that again. Please, please!”

“You bastard bastard!!!!”

“…That’s it.”

The day of execution has finally arrived.

Death row inmates are usually divided into three categories. Those who beg for their lives, those who swear that they will die anyway, and those who accept death calmly. With three like this.

The nobles who rebelled seem to be very dissatisfied with being executed along with embezzlers who look petty criminals in their eyes, but I don’t have to worry about you, do I?

“Waaa!!!”

From Carolingian to the rebels, following the successive victories, the excited citizens of Dijon are again cheering loudly for the big event of mass executions.

…Did I get this wrong?

Obviously the fear of mass executions was meant to stop the crime, but no one in the plaza looks terrified.

“Your Highness, executions have been used for generations as a tool to incite fear, but they have also been used as the best entertainment.”

As if he had noticed my doubts, Leclerc, who was by his side, spoke.

“The people do not have much to enjoy. Noble fiddles have many entertainments to enjoy such as banquets, horseback riding, reading, and board games, but the only games they can enjoy are s*xual pleasure, alcohol, and provocative things such as executions. .”

“Hmm…”

Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard it somewhere.

Did there be a lot of spectators at execution ceremonies before entering modern times?

In ancient Rome, gladiator fights were the most popular among citizens.

‘I can’t help it.’

I wish people would have fun with something other than this brutal… But I can’t think of a way to do that.

For now, let’s finish the execution. Before that-

“Chloe, Ines. We’re going to start the execution ceremony from now on. Is it really okay if you don’t go inside?”

“It’s okay, master. As an exclusive lady-in-waiting, I cannot leave the master’s side during business hours.”

“Yes, you can’t make a good duchess if you turn your eyes to these things.”

“Whoa… Neither of you need to push yourself too hard… Should I tell you right away if something goes wrong?”

“”Yes.””

There’s no way Chloe, who faints when under stress, and Ines, a princess who seems to come out of a fairy tale, can’t be safe even after seeing something like that.

I want to keep them apart, but… For some reason, I can’t force Chloe and Ines to do anything, hehehe.

“Okay then execute.”

“Execution!!”

When I gave up and told the attendant beside me to start the execution, the attendant screamed loudly and grabbed his handrail to convey my words to the waiting executioners.

“aaa”

Quaaa!!

The screams disappear one by one with the sound of a huge blade being slashed.

The severed head, which was blown out after being shocked, rolls around on the floor in front of the execution hall, then is picked up by the executioner’s hand and placed in a wooden box.

‘Awesome.’

Onlookers seem bewildered by the execution that ended in the blink of an eye.

I can hear a lot of buzz from here, such as bewildered and booing.

“What, what…”

However, compared to the bewildered onlookers, the death row inmates waiting their turn are wide-eyed and look surprised.

Ah… This is the guillotine.

Why are you so surprised?

I have a purpose to end the death penalty quickly, but was this made with you guys in mind?

“This is an instrument of death penalty that I devised because I did not want someone to die quickly and someone to suffer and die. What do you think it is like? I plan to unify all execution methods with this in the future.”

“…Very impressive.”

Luca, who is observing the death penalty, answers in a timid voice.

I’ll take that as a compliment.

Death row inmates end their lives by protruding their heads on a guillotine after walking forward like a conveyor belt in a factory.

Citizens, who at first booed at the punishment because it was too trivial, now seem to be fed up with this organized and systematic execution method.

Aside from the screams of the condemned prisoners and the sound of blades being slashed, the whole square is filled with silence.