Chapter 28
Everyone that was looking at Natalie felt chill inside their hearts. Although she was smiling at the count, no warmth could be seen in her eyes.
“How, how are you, Ms. Natalie?” Count Nougat greeted while forcing out a smile.
Count Nougat's smile was so forced that it was even uglier than his crying face earlier. In all honesty, the woman that was looking down on him was one of the people he wanted to see least right now.
“I’m perfectly fine, my lord. And looking at the pathetic state you’re in right now makes my day a lot better.” Natalie answered without mending words which leaves the count and onlookers speechless.
Natalie’s obvious sarcasm could be heard by everyone watching. Although she was talking to a noble there’s not a single hint of respect in her action. From the looks of it, there’s some conflict between the two. Moreover, it doesn’t seem to be a small conflict as one could gather through their interaction.
Seeing Natalie controlling the situation, Rennel stored her spear somewhere unknown (unknown because it just vanishes from her hand) and walk towards Karen and Mina. She gave Mina a modest smile as a form of greetings before speaking to Karen.
“What’s wrong with Natalie? Did she have some conflict with that annoying, pig-like noble?” Rennel asked in a low voice.
“…” Do you have to call the count a pig too? Hearing Rennel openly insulting the count, everyone who heard her pursed their lips. All of them couldn't help but to fell slightly exasperated at the two young women that seemed to hate Count Nougat a lot.
Even Karen who was the victim of the count’s arrogant behavior could not help but give Rennel a strange look before answering.
“Yeah, it’s something like that... Count Nougat and Natalie’s family have an ongoing conflict,” Karen answered truthfully.
“From what I've heard, Natalie’s family was almost financially destroyed by the count’s action. Also, the count seemed to have some design on Natalie in the past as well.”
Oh? Hearing Karen’s explanation, Rennel was a little surprise, especially when she heard that Natalie’s family have conflict with the count. Why is this important? Because it tell us that Natalie was a noble herself!
“Is Natalie a noble?” Rennel could not help but ask.
Um! Karen nodded at Rennel’s question, directly admitting that the girl’s deduction was right.
“Natalie’s father was a baron, and owned a silver mine. The count had vested interest in the mine and tried to purchase it but was denied by Natalie's father, Baron Othell. Known for his narrow-mindedness, Count Nougat did everything he could to force Natalie’s father to sell the mine to him."
"I heard that some of the businesses that belong to Natalie’s family was forced to close because of the count. I’m not really too sure of the specifics but at the end of it all, the count managed to get his hands on the silver mine.”
Rennel blinked several times before looking and giving the count an unfriendly gaze. She then turn to Karen and asked something that’s been bothering her. “The silver mine... It was the same silver mine where Lucas used to work? It originally belong to Natalie’s family?”
“Yes. It’s the same mine.” Karen answered.
“I seem to recall you saying earlier that the count used to have design for Natalie? How old was she then?” Rennel asked again.
Karen thought for a while before answering, “Yeah, the count wanted to make Natalie his mistress and talked to her father about it. Baron Othell obviously wanted none of it and decisively rejected the proposal. Forget that the count just cheated him of his silver mine and caused some of their family business to fail; the biggest reason why the baron refused was that the count was known for his amorous behavior and already have three mistresses. Not to mention that he was old enough to be Natalie’s father. As for how old Natalie when it all happened, I think she was just 14 years old back then?”
Wow! So the count was really a pig; a sleazy and chauvinist pig. No, he was worse than a pig, he’s trash and a cradle snatcher!
Older men having relationships with younger women weren’t exactly an uncommon occurrence in this world. No, to be more precise it was a common practice. The only reason Rennel reacted the way she did was thanks largely to her teacher's influence.
Whenever Chaos and Rennel converse, the girl’s teacher would often use words or phrases that Chaos learned from the other worlds it had traveled to.
Even the phrase “cradle snatcher” was a phrase she learned from her teacher. The phrase was actually for her. Since Rennel was an attractive young woman, the girl’s teacher would often remind the girl to be wary of men, especially older men which Chaos describe as “cradle snatchers.”
“I might have been too merciful to that trash. Maybe, it’s for the benefit of all women in the world if "it" was cut off?”
Rennel’s chilling words causes all of the men, including Lucas to distant themselves from her. Even Karen and Mina, who were both women could not help but let out cold sweats and step back a little while staring at Rennel in disbelief.
Fortunately, the count was currently busy dealing with Natalie and didn’t hear what the girl had said. Because if he did, Karen and others are confident that the count would faint then and there!
“The story shouldn’t have ended there, right?” Rennel turned to Karen and asked another question curiously.
Karen wiped the sweats in her brow with the sleeve of her uniform before answering, “Y, yeah… The count was displeased that Natalie’s father didn’t agree to his proposal, even going as far as to threaten to destroy Natalie’s family if he didn’t get what he wanted. He also approached Natalie personally in an effort to convince her – even repeating the threat he left to her father.”
“Fortunately, Natalie didn’t fall for the count's ploy. And as luck would have it, Natalie was discovered to have great talent for magic and was even taken as the disciple of the Arch-mage Emeril.”
“Really” Hearing that Natalie was the disciple of an arch-mage, Rennel was really surprise. Only after hearing this did Rennel finally understood why the count was so terrified of her, to the point of not even daring to voice out his grievances despite being verbally abused by Natalie.
“So does that mean that Natalie got her revenge in the end?” She asked.
“That’s right. Natalie told her teacher what the count did to her and her family which made the old arch-mage very angry. According to the rumor that was flying was around, the Arch-mage Emeril was so enraged that he stormed the count’s castle, force him to apologize and to return what he took from Natalie’s family. Well, everything with the exception of the mine which Natalie no longer want. Instead she “convinced the count to pay 20 times of the mine’s original cost!”
****
There were still a lot of question in Rennel’s mind that needed answers but before she could ask another question, she saw the count kowtowing towards Natalie!
“I beg of you, please just let me off, Ms. Natalie.” The count begged without even a single care for his pride as a noble – even going as far as to ignore the pain of his injuries.
A frown appears on Natalie’s forehead. She then gave the count a look filled with disgust. “What are you begging me for? It’s not like I’m the victim here. If you’re going to beg, beg to those two ladies over there!”
Natalie pointed towards Karen and Rennel while telling the count to beg for forgiveness from the real victims which causes the expression on the count’s face to fall. Being a noble, the count had a lot of pride. Although he didn’t mine begging other nobles for forgiveness or help, he would never lower his head at commoners and peasant as he considered them inferior to the nobles.
Basically, his pride just won’t allow it, especially since the one of the person he needed to beg for forgiveness was the same person responsible for all of his injuries.
“You seemed to be hesitating, my lord?” Natalie gave the hesitating count a cold gaze which shows her displeasure. In reality though, she was actually happy seeing the abhorrent man struggling with his inner demons. For her, the more Count Nougat suffers the better she would feel. And considering that this pathetic man was the cause of his family’s sufferings, Natalie’s action was somewhat justified.
“But, Ms. Natalie, they’re commoners!” The count argued indignantly, still unable to let go of his pride.
“So what if they were?” Natalie asked with annoyance.
Natalie was starting to find the count more unbearable. The man’s inability to separate right from wrong was getting to her nerve. So what if the Karen and Rennel were commoners? What does it has to do with anything?
“Let me tell you, Clyde has good impression of Rennel, if he finds out what you did, he’ll be very displeased. Moreover, I remembered there’s a consensus among nobles that Rennel should never be antagonized. And yet, you did exactly that. I don’t need to remind you that there will be punishment, do I?”
Natalie using Clyde as a threat against the count was rather surprising, which could only mean one thing, Clyde's identity was special.
“Also, Karen is Guild Master Tigre’s secretary. You might not care much about it since, the guild master is not a noble but you shouldn’t underestimate his connections. He knew people from high places and could easily make your life a living hell with just a word. So I suggest you think things through. If you apologize, you might still not escape punishment but they’ll be more lenient to you.” She added.
Natalie wasn’t reminding the count not out of good will. What she really wants to do was crush the man’s pride and humiliate him so thoroughly that he’ll think twice before showing his face in public. Although it won’t be enough to appease her anger, it’ll still serve a purpose. And as whether he’ll retaliate against her later down the road; Natalie isn’t afraid. Actually, she welcomes it with open arms as she’s just waiting for the opportunity to truly settle the score with the count.
“Damn it all! How did this happen? All I wanted was to get back a slave that he had thrown away. So why do I have to run into these women?”
Count Nougat could not help but curse his luck, and was suddenly reminded of what happened a few years ago. Due to his greed and lust, he messed with the Othell household which actually went well at first. He gotten the silver mine that he always wanted through trickeries, and almost succeeded in making, Natalie, Baron Othell’s beautiful daughter, his mistress. But as fate would have it, the young woman was revealed to be very talented in magic. So much so that she attracted the attention of the kingdom’s arch-mage!
It was then that his luck turned around. Turning from good to really bad. Everything he had gained from cheating them was taken back from him with the exception of the silver mine that the Baron no longer wants. Worse still, even though the silver mine was retrieved, he was forced to pay 20 times the compensation!
And now he was even being forced to apologize to two commoners.
“I think that silver mine is a jinx. Bad luck after bad luck keeps happening to me ever since I acquired it… Should I sell it?”
Taking a peek at Natalie, the count saw that she was starting to get impatient. If he still didn’t apologize to the two women, his situation might really get worse… What’s more, he had been kowtowing since a while ago and he could feel his injuries getting worse. Forget about his broken right arm, what truly worry the count were his crushed balls!
If he takes too long before seeing a healer, he might just lose his function as a man even if the crushed balls were restored. Once that happen, he’ll live his whole life in regret.
After some more struggles with his inner demons, and weighing the pros and cons of his next action, Count Nougat finally made his decision. But as he was about to approach Karen and Rennel to apologize, Mina, who had been watching all this time, approaches Natalie first and pointed at someone.
It was Tyr, who suddenly arrived to fetch his other party members. Currently, he was with Karen and Rennel and was conversing with them.
“Tsk! You luck out. But don’t ever think that this is over...”
Natalie gave the count a dirty look before walking towards Rennel and the others. Although she really wanted to see Count Nougat being humiliated, Natalie knew that she didn’t have much time. Since Tyr went his way to fetch them, it could only mean that they need to leave quickly for their next quest.
Seeing Mina and Natalie leaving with the male elf, the count knew that he no longer have to apologize. At least for now... And as for the threat that Natalie left behind, the count decided to deal with it later and pushed it to the back of his mind.
Right now, all he wanted to do was leave this accursed place and see a healer before he lost something very important that'll surely make him regret for the rest of his life.
Turning towards his guards, the count yelled at them to take him to the best healer without even glancing at Lucas, and the others. As for Rennel, she no longer bothered with him and allowed the man to escape. Right now, all Rennel wanted to do was speak with Lucas.
****
To be continued
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