Chapter 213: The Power to Hold Fate in One’s Hands

It was already late at night when Leon and Adele finally boarded the carriage for the return journey. Leon adjusted his collar slightly and loosened his necktie. This formal attire still felt somewhat restrictive to him.

The continuous socializing had left him somewhat exhausted, and he let out a long breath, only for Adele to happen to sigh deeply at exactly the same time.

Their perfectly synchronized reaction made Leon raise an eyebrow at Adele, while Adele awkwardly lowered her head and began straightening the hem of her dress.

“Looks like you had a hard time too. Quite a lot of people came over to talk to you.” Leon remarked.

“Thanks to you. After all, you attracted so much attention today that I, the Viscountess, got to bask in some of your reflected glory as well.” Adele replied in a somewhat self-deprecating tone.

This was the first time at a noble banquet that so many powerful and influential people had approached her for conversation. Everyone had been exceedingly courteous toward her, including some old acquaintances who had once mocked her family.

But Adele did not feel particularly happy about it. She knew very clearly that the guests who had politely approached her did not truly value her, but had their eyes on the value of Leon, her husband.

Leon smiled, leaned back against the cushioned seat, folded his arms, and relaxed his body.

The entire evening’s banquet had left him somewhat tired. It would still take at least another hour before they returned to Arend Island, and they would need to transfer to a ship once along the way. For now, he could still get a little rest.

Adele stared at Leon for a while, recalling everything that had happened at the banquet, then tentatively asked: “The way that Prince sees you seems very different.”

“What, you seem to have quite a lot of objections to his assessment.” Leon raised an eyebrow.

“He called you upright and kind.” Adele said.

“You’re talking as if you understand the real me all that well. Isn’t the me you know also only one-sided?” Leon glanced at Adele, “Then what do you think the real me is like? Ruthless and utterly wicked?”

“I never said it was that bad……” Adele frowned slightly.

“To tell the truth, even in how I’ve treated you, I could already be considered a reasonably good person. If another man held absolute power over your life and death, forget bandits and thugs, just those men who wanted to persuade you to become their mistress, can you imagine how you might have been treated?” Leon said.

Adele could not refute him. To a certain extent, Leon had already treated her rather gentlemanly. As for the things he had threatened her with, they had ultimately only been threats, and he had not actually carried out even one of them.

However, Adele still believed that if the time truly came to do so, whether it meant sinking her into the sea or throwing her to Magical Beasts, this man would definitely be capable of doing it.

Her current situation could hardly be described as having been rescued by Leon either. Not only was the power over her life and death entirely in Leon’s hands, but if Leon’s illegal business was ever investigated and punished, now that she had married Leon and even handed over the noble title to him, it would also be difficult to guarantee that she would not be implicated.

“Putting it that way, it sounds like I should thank you.” Adele muttered.

“I don’t care what you think anyway.” Leon replied indifferently.

Adele sighed, then returned to the main subject: “I saw Marquis Veronia go over and talk with the two of you at the end too.”

“I spoke privately with the Prince for that long, so of course he had to come over and figure out my background.” Leon replied.

“So, are you planning to become one of their people?” Adele asked.

The nobles at the gathering basically all believed that Leon, who had long-standing ties with Prince Aaron, would likely receive Marquis Veronia’s support in the future, whether in terms of his position within the Church or the development of his territory, and become one of Prince Aaron’s aides.

If Prince Aaron ascended the throne as the Eastern nobles hoped, Leon should also be able to rise to great wealth and status alongside him.

“If the need arises, it’s certainly worth considering for me.” Leon did not give an absolute answer.

Participating in a struggle for Imperial Authority was no small matter. Joining forces with Prince Aaron and top Eastern nobles such as Marquis Veronia meant becoming a thorn in the side of the Western noble faction. Although the rumors that Duke of Glen had plotted to murder the Earl were false, the fact that they had aroused such widespread suspicion showed that such a possibility existed.

But when the Earl had chosen to support Prince Aaron, naturally he had not intended to make a losing investment. Secretly supporting Prince Aaron had brought him a powerful alliance with Marquis Veronia, as well as an opportunity to consolidate the interests of the Eastern nobles and stabilize his own position within the faction.

In addition, Cardinal Stuart, the Chief Inquisitor who commanded the Church’s Inquisition system, had also chosen to support Prince Aaron rather than Princess Freda because of his conflict with Duke of Glen. According to Johnny, he had no interest in the profits from the Earl’s business, and had merely chosen to turn a blind eye because the Earl could restrain Duke of Glen in that regard.

In other words, if Leon now wanted to follow the strategy of taking over the Earl’s ecological niche to carve out room for survival beneath the Church’s investigation, then he had to seize this opportunity to choose a side and become a supporter of Prince Aaron!

It was just that this strategic objective was still a little distant for him right now. Even if he had the opportunity to receive support from the Marquis and Prince Aaron, he still needed the ability to provide corresponding returns before he would be regarded as someone truly indispensable. He still had to develop sufficient resources, just as the Earl had.

“Then they probably still don’t know about the ‘business’ you’re doing, right?” Adele asked cautiously.

“Letting any unnecessary person know is trouble, so it’s the same thing I told you before. Remember to keep your mouth shut.” Leon stared at Adele as he spoke.

Leon was uncertain how much Marquis Veronia knew about the Earl’s Magic Essence Trade, but based on what he knew, Aaron should have been completely unaware.

As for Leon’s own circumstances, they were even less suitable for anyone to know about. The moment someone learned that he had once been a Cadre appointed by the Earl and learned that he was Fenrir, they could investigate further and discover that the Earl had been killed by him.

“You don’t need to tell me. If something happens to you now, I’ll be implicated too.” Adele frowned slightly, “That’s exactly why I’m worried.”

“What good does worrying do? What can you do about it?” Leon glanced at Adele.

“I was just thinking, at this banquet you displayed so many connections. Archbishop Miller appreciates your knowledge, Prince Aaron appreciates your character, and the Marquis has also befriended you because of your relationship with Prince Aaron. You hold an Official Rank within the Church, you have so much money in your hands, and now you possess our family’s territory……actually, even if you stopped doing illegal business, you could still develop very well, couldn’t you?” Adele said cautiously.

By now, she had already realized that Leon had no particular interest in harming her. To her, the greatest danger was not Leon himself, but the possibility that the things Leon did might implicate her.

If Leon could stop now and instead earn money through investments and industries, while relying on his connections to raise his position within the Church, then Leon would still have the opportunity to become a prominent and powerful figure, and it would be safe enough!

“Are you trying to persuade me to stop?” Leon asked.

“……No, I know you definitely won’t.” Adele thought for a moment, “I’m just curious about your reason.”

There was no way Leon had failed to understand something she herself could figure out, yet Leon still insisted on continuing his business. He must have had reasons of his own.

Adele was extremely curious about that reason. She had vaguely realized that Leon was the complete opposite of her. She followed rules and regulations, while Leon actively overturned them. Yet reality forced her to admit that Leon lived far better than she did and had even obtained the power to control her fate.

After experiencing this banquet, she suddenly wanted to seriously understand the difference between them.

“Why do you want to know this?” Leon examined Adele with some confusion.

“If you think it isn’t appropriate to tell me, then just pretend I never asked.” Adele replied cautiously.

“Once you enter this kind of trade, it isn’t so easy to get out. The grudges and entanglements left behind from the past will keep following you.” Leon remained silent for a while before finally answering, “But for me personally, keeping this business going is necessary.

Those connections you mentioned earlier ultimately rely on other people. If you don’t possess enough power yourself, there’s no way to maintain them. This business allows me to personally obtain resources, seize opportunities, and gain power——power sufficient to control my own fate.”

“Control your fate, even if it means taking risks and trampling the law?” Adele asked.

“Adele, you studied law. Do you really think the law, a tool used by the Church and Imperial Family to rule the country, is truly so sacred and supreme? How did you feel when the gambling debts your father owed were protected by law?” Leon suddenly asked in return.

Adele’s eyes widened sharply upon hearing this. No one in this world had ever proposed the view that “law is a tool of the ruling class,” and when Leon said something like this, it sounded somewhat outrageous and treasonous to Adele.

However, she had also studied law, so it was not as though she could not understand it at all. The law could indeed sometimes become a tool of oppression and was not entirely synonymous with justice. Never mind the Church and Imperial Family that formulated the laws; even a legal schemer like Father Auden could exploit loopholes in the regulations, set traps that burdened others with enormous debts, and then turn around and use the law to squeeze his victims.

“But resisting the law ultimately comes at a price, doesn’t it?” Adele said softly.

“Sometimes, if you want to climb out of the Abyss, you need to be prepared to slip and fall to your death. Let me give you a hypothetical. If your family’s debts hadn’t been paid off, and one day all your territory and titles were liquidated and taken away, and you still couldn’t repay the remaining debt so you were about to be seized and sold into servitude, but at that moment all you needed to do was carry out a few illegal transactions to clear the debt, would you choose to risk breaking the law and change your circumstances, or let others slaughter you as they pleased while waiting for someone to someday come along and uphold justice for you?” Leon asked in return.

“I……” Adele blinked.

In truth, an answer had already formed very quickly in her mind, but she could not immediately bring herself to say it aloud.

No matter what, compared to obeying those rules, her own life was naturally more important. If she was destined to be unable to live a smooth and stable life, and taking risks was unavoidable, then it was surely better to keep her fate in her own hands.

Leon had no interest in pressing her for an answer either. He adjusted his sitting posture, narrowed his eyes, and continued resting.