"So what you're telling me is, my brother spent a whole month living it up in the Kante Kingdom."
"He blew up the royal city, beat up the king, and even snatched someone else's territory."
"And in the end, the people of the kingdom are actually grateful and letting him become the lord of that land."
"He even got himself a daughter with the surname Clavenna!?"
Liya paced back and forth in the study, glancing at Viktor from time to time with a look full of disbelief.
Any one of these things, taken alone, would already be explosive.
And yet all of them happened to Viktor alone?
It was absurd.
Viktor sat quietly at the desk, completely unmoved by Liya's agitated reaction.
Liya suddenly stopped, strode up to Viktor, and slammed her hand hard on the table.
The impact startled Vega, who had been dozing on the desk.
Its fur puffed up all over, and its eyes slowly lifted.
What came into view was Liya's face, flushed red with anger.
Viktor looked at Liya without a change in expression, his face as calm as a windless lake.
Liya stared straight into Viktor's deep, obsidian-like eyes and demanded angrily, "So you think I'm easy to bully, is that why you're making up lies like this?"
"Shulben has my signature on it, and the princess can also vouch for..."
"I don't want to hear it!"
Liya clutched her head and started pacing again in distress.
Originally, when Viktor came back early in the morning, Liya had been quite happy.
After all, Viktor had been gone for so long. It was impossible for her not to miss him at all.
Even her attitude when welcoming him had become much warmer. She asked if he wanted something to eat, if he needed rest.
Her smile had been full of gentleness and concern.
But the first thing Viktor did after coming home was call her into the study with a simple line, "I have something to tell you."
And then?
Then came this whole pile of things.
Viktor, in a tone that sounded more like a notification, told her concisely, "There's now an extra territory for our family in the kingdom. You'd better send some of our retainers over to manage it."
At first, Liya thought she had misheard.
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"Are you too tired? You should get some rest."
Then Viktor gave her a definite answer.
The smile on Liya's face gradually fell apart.
That's right, this wasn't a joke. Viktor had really brought back a territory from the Kante Kingdom... Shulben.
'Heavens, what on earth was this lord who never did anything thinking, bringing back another territory!?'
Don't think a new territory is necessarily a good thing.
That's only true for Viktor.
This hands-off lord only needed to sit there and wait to collect money.
But for Liya, who tried to personally handle everything as much as possible...
this distant territory only made her already scarce free time even worse.
Going back and forth between the royal capital and Blaiston was already exhausting enough.
And now there was Shulben on top of that!
Liya was on the verge of breaking down. She crouched in a corner with her head in her hands, her face full of despair, her mind racing with calculations.
Managing Shulben would definitely require a lot of manpower.
If there were residential repairs needed, that would be another huge expense.
And that place was still part of the kingdom. Even if Viktor became the lord, what people feared was only Viktor.
What? She was Viktor's sister.
Who would care about that?
No matter how valuable that territory might be, it would still take until next year before it started generating profit.
In that one year, just personally going back and forth to manage it might wear her down to death.
Her life already felt like a candle flickering in the wind.
Just as Liya was about to collapse, Viktor calmly took out a gold card and placed it on the table.
That dazzling gold sheen cut through the air and caught Liya's attention.
She slowly stood up, turned her head, and looked at the card glowing with that tempting golden light.
She immediately threw herself onto the table, picked up the card, and examined it carefully over and over.
"What is this?"
It bore the embossed gold emblem of the Cassidra Chamber of Commerce, and beneath the mark was a line of small text... Cassidra.
As a merchant, Liya naturally recognized this symbol at a glance.
The Cassidra Chamber of Commerce was the largest and richest trade organization in the world.
Their business spread across almost every corner of the world.
Viktor looked at Liya, who was immersed in thought, and said flatly, "There's one billion in it."
"How much?"
The moment Liya heard that number, her entire body froze.
She slowly tore her gaze away from the card and looked at Viktor, blurting out, "Did you go rob someone?"
Setting aside the fact that he had snatched a territory, what was with this gold card?
What did one billion even mean?
Even the total annual income from all industries and operations across their entire Clavenna territory didn't reach that amount.
The money from selling potions over half a year, plus the revenue from the shops they had cooperated on with Duke Levi over the past month...
altogether only came to tens of millions.
And that wasn't even after deducting employee wages, servant salaries, territory management, construction repairs… and all the other costs.
Viktor folded his hands, resting them on the desk, and looked at Liya calmly as he said, "This is compensation from the Cassidra Chamber of Commerce. You can keep it in the territory."
To Viktor, it didn't matter whether he carried the money or not.
As long as it was stored in the territory, he could retrieve it anytime through the player inventory.
And Liya, right now…
After hearing that the one billion geo belonged to the territory, she stared blankly at the gold card, her hands trembling nonstop.
She didn't even ask Viktor what exactly had been compensated to warrant such a sum.
Because once she confirmed the source of the money was legitimate, she was completely at ease.
She had never seen this much money in her life.
Liya looked at Viktor carefully and asked in disbelief, "Y-you… you're letting me keep it?"
"Mm."
Viktor only gave that one simple reply, with nothing more to follow.
After getting his permission, Liya quickly and carefully put away the gold card, tucking it into the safest place against her chest.
Only after making sure it was absolutely secure did she slowly come back to her senses.
She cleared her throat and spoke gently to Viktor, "Big brother, go ahead."
"That territory over there, how do you want me to arrange it for you?"
Viktor, "..."
A money-loving younger sister was very easy to deal with.
———
"So that's how it is…"
Liya nodded, now understanding how the territory had come about.
She understood the cause of Count Laurien's death and learned about Priscilla's background.
Naturally, she also understood why Viktor now had a daughter from the kingdom.
If it were Liya in the same situation, she would probably have made a similar choice.
If Priscilla hadn't taken on the surname Clavenna, her father's territory would have long been divided up by greedy lords.
The name Clavenna was her protection.
If anyone tried to invade Shulben, they would have to consider the force behind it.
That was Clavenna.
Viktor's indifferent voice slowly rang out, "The management of Shulben can be left to the locals."
"But we still need to send a few of our own people. And they must be the ones you trust most."
Liya sat across from Viktor, resting her chin on her hand as she quickly sifted through possible candidates in her mind.
Viktor's words might have sounded cold, but they made sense.
This was the Clavenna family's territory. Naturally, it should be managed by them.
Otherwise, the kingdom might think Viktor didn't care much about this land.
Even if Priscilla bore the Clavenna name, it wouldn't matter.
After all, the empire and the kingdom were far apart. While they wouldn't dare cause trouble openly, harassment would inevitably occur from time to time.
Scheming against Priscilla behind the scenes would also become common.
So sending some reliable retainers to manage the territory was essentially a way of telling the kingdom through actions, 'This place is under the protection of the Clavenna family!'
Liya closed her eyes, her fingers lightly tapping her temple.
After some thought, a group of candidates led by Leon surfaced in her mind.
However, Leon had always stayed by her side all these years and had never gone out alone, which made her a bit worried.
It seemed she would need to have a proper talk with Leon in person.
"Then in a couple of days, I'll go back to the main house."
"I'll go with you.", Viktor said calmly.
Hearing that, Liya recalled that when Viktor returned, there had been a huge tiger-man following beside him.
That tiger-man looked extremely fierce, his face full of rough muscle.
Those orange eyes emitted a sharp, intimidating gaze, carrying a terrifying sense of pressure.
When Liya first saw him, she had broken out in cold sweat and stepped back several times.
For a moment, she hadn't even reacted... She thought Viktor had brought back an actual tiger.
It wasn't until Viktor explained that it was another kind of demi-human, called a beastman... only that, as a demi-human, it hadn't completely shed its beastly traits.
Only then did Liya realize.
"You're planning to send that tiger over?"
"I'm considering it."
Viktor tapped the table and continued, "In a while, the Cassidra Chamber of Commerce might send people to trade with us."
"Just in time, I need to go back and handle some things."
As Liya listened, her face turned blank, and she nodded in confusion.
What kind of situation had Viktor pushed that internationally influential commercial giant into?
They gave him a one-billion gold card, and now they still wanted to trade with him personally?
Viktor looked at the dazed Liya and casually asked, "Has anything happened at home this past month?"
Hearing the question, Liya snapped out of her daze.
"Mm… everything's normal. Henny is doing well at the academy."
At that point, Liya thought for a moment more, and her expression turned serious.
"But actually, there is one thing."
She leaned forward, staring at Viktor with a grave look as she said, "You need to deal with Cocotte."