The Duke's Unwanted Second Wife

”Where are you lost, Louis?” Damian asked, arching an eyebrow as he held up the file in his hand. ”Ever since you brought this to me, your mind has been completely elsewhere.”

”I met someone earlier... and I spoke to them incredibly harshly,” Louis admitted, finally shaking himself out of his thoughts.

”What are you talking about?” Damian asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. ”Whom exactly did you speak to so harshly?”

”A woman disguised as a man,” Louis answered. ”I genuinely believed he was just a troublesome man bothering me. But when her hair fell loose, I was completely shocked. I have a feeling she’s running from someone.”

”Can you really not differentiate between a man and a woman anymore?” Damian shook his head in disbelief. ”Regardless, what is there to be so upset about? Tell me, what have I even been saying for the past few minutes?”

”I didn’t hear a word, Your Grace. I was too absorbed in thinking about her,” Louis urged. ”Please, tell me once more.”

”Did you thoroughly check the data regarding the entry mismatch?” Damian asked once again, his eyes narrowing.

”Yes. I even went back and rechecked the ledger entries for grain and rice from the past six months,” Louis explained. ”Surprisingly, the records themselves show absolutely no discrepancy. Yet, the villages in Varos are still suffering from severe shortages. That can only mean one thing: someone along the supply chain is skimming off the rations before they ever reach the commoners.”

”Hmm.” Damian leaned back, absorbing the information.

Before he could ask for potential solutions, a sharp knock cut through the room.

The door opened, and Maurice stepped inside, offering a bow. ”Your Grace, Landlord Anthony and the others have arrived in accordance with your summoning order.”

”Let them in,” Damian commanded, shutting the file on his desk with a definitive snap.

Louis immediately rose from his chair and stepped to the side of the room. Maurice opened the heavy doors wider, gesturing for the waiting men to enter.

”Please accept the greetings of this humble landlord, Your Grace,” Anthony spoke first, bowing exceptionally low to show his respect.

”Please accept my greetings as well, Your Grace,” Kenneth, the village magistrate of Aethelgard, added, following with a deep bow of his own.

The two accompanying assistants offered their own polite bows to the Duke before the group straightened up, waiting anxiously.

”I heard you nearly cost a man his life, Landlord Anthony,” Damian began, his voice dropping into an icy one. He offered no acknowledgment of their greetings, nor did he invite any of them to take a seat.

”My Lord, that is simply not true,” Anthony replied, maintaining his composure despite the tension. ”I am afraid the couple who visited you did not tell you the entire story. Their son owes me a substantial debt. He was highly intoxicated when my men went to collect what was due, and he became violent, launching a physical and verbal assault against them. That is how the brawl began, and how he sustained his injuries. In fact, my own men were severely beaten as well, Your Grace. I simply chose not to bother you with such a petty grievance.”

Kenneth stepped forward to reinforce the statement. ”Your Grace, Landlord Anthony speaks the truth. The young man acted entirely out of line by escalating the situation and attacking first.”

”Tell me the exact interest rate you charged for that debt,” Damian demanded, completely ignoring the explanation. ”And show me the deed bearing their thumbprints. The kingdom explicitly mandates a flat rate of four percent, yet the way you calculated and collected your interest completely defies that math.”

”Your Grace, if you want, I can offer you a share—”

Damian slammed his palm onto the heavy mahogany desk, a thunderous crack that caused Anthony to instantly shut his mouth.

”Are you seriously attempting to bribe me so openly, Anthony?” Damian snapped, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low hiss.

”No, no, Your Grace,” Anthony stammered promptly, his face losing its color as he tried to defuse the Duke’s wrath.

”Why did you charge an interest rate exceeding fifteen percent? And you compounded it quarterly,” Damian demanded, stepping out from behind his desk. ”What kind of sick scheme were you running on innocent people? And you,” he pointed a sharp finger directly at Kenneth, the village magistrate, ”how dare you deliver a judgment so entirely biased?”

Damian rose to his full height, his looming presence radiating fury.

”Your Grace, please forgive me!” Kenneth pleaded, dropping to his knees in an apology.

”How am I supposed to grant forgiveness to the very man who was entrusted to uphold the law in that village?” Damian countered. ”You deliberately tried to portray an innocent, dying man as a criminal simply because the landlord lined your pockets! From this exact moment onward, you are stripped of your title and position as the village magistrate!”

”No, please, don’t do this to me!” Kenneth frantically pleaded, his voice echoing off the walls, but two guards stepped in on Maurice’s silent cue and dragged him roughly from the room.

”Now, for you, Anthony,” Damian began, stepping out from behind his desk to look down at him.

Anthony immediately dropped to his knees, his hands trembling as he pressed them together. ”Your Grace, please forgive me this once! I—I will pay back every single coin. This is the last time I will ever make such a mistake, I swear it!”

”No. You will serve a punishment for this much severe,” Damian stated. ”In the village, you’ll be given floggings for doing such a heinous thing to an innocent man. He paid you the amount, yet you put on exorbitant interest rates on him.”

The Duke then glanced at Louis. ”Prepare the order and also elect a new Village Magistrate in Aethelgard,” he ordered. ”And also pass an immediate order in every place in Varos if any such landlords are troubling people with high unexplainable interest rates, they shall be punished the same way.”