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“Duke...” he panted hard, “The people are rebelling. They are on strike. They refused to pay the tax.”

“What did you say?!” Duke De la Pole slammed the table.

Albert gulped. “Duke... I’ve already passed the news to all the territories and told them to increase the tax.

“But their leaders disapproved. They said that this year they couldn’t grow enough crops. So...”

“So, they can’t pay more taxes?! Rubbish!” Duke De la Pole’s face turned red in anger.

Albert said, “The current tax was already too much for them. The field expert said that the main reason the crops were hard to harvest this year was that they didn’t have enough seeds to buy after paying taxes.”

.....

“Not enough seeds?” Duke De la Pole sneered. “There was enough when my men went to collect taxes last season.”

“Duke, the people in the lands have to eat,” Albert reminded him.

“That’s all excuses. I don’t want to hear any excuses. If they refuse to pay, I just have to snatch what belongs to me.”

Duke De la Pole’s eyes glowed in fury.

———

“Was this your plan?” Darius looked at Veronica.

“What do you mean?” Veronica feigned ignorance.

“The rebels,” Darius mentioned.

“What are you saying? What could I have done? It was the Duke who pushed his people to the edge and they had no other choice other than to rebel. They have to survive.”

Veronica’s logic was on point. Darius couldn’t say anything.

Zinnia put down her glass and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Veronica, I came home late the night before yesterday,” she said.

Veronica looked at her. “And?”

“I went to talk to Ovior but he wasn’t at his office.” Zinnia’s blue eyes were fixed on her.

Veronica said, “He could be in his room...

“But he wasn’t there either,” Zinnia finished her sentence. “Then, as usual, I went to guard you in your room but you weren’t present. Both of you were just gone.

“Then, I saw you in the morning. You had dark circles under your eyes. I know you weren’t cheating on Arthur with Ovior. There must be something else.”

“...”

Felix, Darius and Catherine looked at Veronica.

“Ahem!” Veronica cleared her throat.

The day before yesterday, Sebastian came to Veronica with urgent news.

“Are you saying that Duke De la Pole wants to raise the tax because he needs money for the next business?” Veronica stared at him.

Sebastian replied, “Yes, the people in his lands are already suffering. If the tax increases this time, they will starve to death.”

Veronica creased her eyebrows.

“This is bad. My greed to punish the Duke is hurting innocent people. Why didn’t I see this outcome?” she lamented.

She was in deep thought.

The guilt ate her as she felt bad for the people who were barely alive after paying high taxes.

She was mortified thinking of the future scenario.

She looked at Sebastian and asked, “Do you have any financial records of Duke De la Pole’s lands?”

“I don’t.” Sebastian remembered something and then shared, “Second Master Ovior has a hobby of collecting those records of many lands. If you want, I can ask him.”

“No, I’ll go talk to him. Thank you for notifying me.”

Afterward, Veronica went to Ovior’s office.

He was working there alone. Catherine wasn’t present.

As soon as he saw Veronica he said, “What are you here for? I thought you were busy working.”

“Ovior, I heard something terrible. It’s all my fault...” Veronica told him what she found out.

Ovior didn’t change his expression. “It’s nothing new. He had done it before when his son was born and also after he went to school. His excuse was that his son needed the best education and the best life in the empire.”

“You knew this would happen?!” Veronica stared at him in disbelief.

Ovior had nothing to hide.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I also knew what kind of reaction you would have after learning the truth. That’s why I didn’t tell you anything. Or else, you wouldn’t want to destroy the ships.”

Veronica felt weak on her knees. She sat on the couch and covered her face.

She muttered, “This is all my fault. Innocent people are suffering because of me.”

“Do you wish to help them?” Ovior asked while working on some papers.

Veronica lifted her head. “How can I help them? I want to do everything I can to amend.”

“If you help them, you will indirectly help Duke De la Pole,” Ovior reminded her.

Veronica said, “I don’t care. I have to do something for them.”

“Fine, after lunch, we will check out some territories which belong to Duke De la Pole,” Ovior responded with his usual poker face. “You can inspect the areas at first and understand their problems and needs before taking any action.”

Veronica’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Ovior!”

As he promised, after Veronica, Sebastian and Ironin gathered around at Ovior’s office, he teleported them to the worst territory the duke owned.

Veronica scanned the desolate area and shuddered.

People were lying here and there. They were so thin that the curves of their bones were shown through their skin.

“It’s like famine struck them,” she muttered. “I’ve seen worse but this is just the worst. How is Duke De la Pole managing his territory?”

“Who said he managed anything?” Ovior scoffed. “All his henchmen did his job. Duke De la Pole is too busy sucking the Queen.”

“How can they be treated so terribly? Aren’t they paying five hundred gold coins per season? How can they do that?” Veronica was confused.

“Even if Mistress wants to blame herself, you mustn’t because it’s not your fault,” Sebastian told her. “They have been treated badly for years since Duke De la Pole got his title.”

While the group was marching forward, a little boy around five years old rushed forward.

“Water... water please...” he begged with thirst in his eyes.

Veronica’s heart twisted in pain for the child. Without a second thought, she offered her water pouch to him.

“You can have it,” she said.

The child was stunned at first, he thought he was going to be kicked by the ferocious men around the woman.

He snatched the water pouch from Veronica and ran away.

“Let me take you to another territory,” Ovior said.

After that, he teleported the whole group to another area.

Looking at the situation in the next territory, Veronica was shocked.