Chapter 214: Keep Your Wife in Line

Late at night, Viscount Arend Estate.

The moment Leon entered the house, he began taking off the formal attire he was wearing. The maids waiting at the estate immediately swarmed over, and two maids greeted him while simultaneously reaching out toward him.

At first, Leon was somewhat at a loss because of their actions, and only realized half a beat later that they were preparing to help him remove and take care of his clothes and hat.

Before leaving today, when he had put on his formal attire, the maids had also bustled around helping him get everything in order, which left him somewhat unaccustomed to it.

These maids were professionally trained servants Leon had hired from an agency introduced by Father Auden. They were quite skilled at serving people, but Leon himself was not accustomed to this kind of life where others waited on him.

By comparison, Adele was far more accustomed to it. She raised both hands and cooperated with the maids as they first removed her silk scarf, hat, and hairpin, then lifted the hem of her skirt and headed upstairs. The maids followed closely behind her. With everything she was wearing, it truly would have been difficult to change out of it without the maids’ help.

Leon simply changed into another coat, then said to Adele: “I’m heading back first.”

Adele, who had just been about to go upstairs, stopped and came back to her senses: “You’re leaving?”

“What, is something wrong?” Leon asked in return.

Although it was already late at night, he had never told Rena that he would be staying away overnight. After becoming Viscount Arend, he had also never slept at this estate. Coming by was merely a convenient way to escort Adele home and change his clothes along the way.

On the journey back from the Marquis’s villa, aside from the few questions Adele had asked him at the beginning, she had been unusually quiet afterward, looking deep in thought. Now that she had called out to stop him, it seemed as though there was something she wanted to discuss.

“I……” Adele hesitated slightly, but in the end still shook her head, “It’s nothing, be careful on the way.”

Leon nodded, then turned and left.

Adele returned to her room and stood in front of the mirror, changing clothes under the maid’s assistance. Watching the noble formal attire come off her body, she immediately felt much more relaxed——the outfit looked luxurious, but having the corset and skirt hoops on her body truly was uncomfortable.

The rules that constantly bound people were the same.

In truth, whether one wore noble formal attire, a lightweight dress, or coarse cloth clothing, after taking it off, the person underneath was still the same.

Along the way, she had indeed been thinking about certain things, even some thoughts that, in the past, she would not have dared to entertain.

These thoughts had not appeared only today either. During the process of interacting with Leon, they had gradually sprouted and grown little by little.

After this ball, and after hearing those words from Leon, this thought had finally grown to the point where she had no choice but to face it seriously.

Now, she had no choice but to admit one thing. She was actually extremely envious of the way Leon lived, envious of his courage to break free from the restraints of rules, and envious of his resolve to actively take his fate into his own hands.

At that moment, when she had called out to stop Leon, a slight impulse had actually surged within her to discuss something with him.

But she quickly realized that if she wanted to win anything for her own life, she had to make the decision herself. If a person wanted to change something, they could only rely on themselves.

If she truly wanted to discuss something with Leon, then it would inevitably have to be after she personally made her choice. When discussing business, only those who could provide value had the right to speak.

“Madam, are you preparing to retire for the night?” the maid asked her softly.

“Later. Help me light the lamps in the study, I have some things I need to look up.” Adele said to the maid.

……

Two days later, in Hamel Town, Leon finished handling the Inquisition’s work and came to the church in the East District.

He had arranged to meet Father Auden today, intending to hear the other man report on the recent progress of his work.

The moment he entered the church, he immediately saw the Church Attendant who frequently ran errands for the Priest and whom he often encountered.

“My lord.” the Church Attendant immediately saluted him.

“I arranged to meet the Priest.” Leon said.

“Ah, Father Auden might be a little late.” the Church Attendant said somewhat apologetically, “Today just happens to be the fifteenth.”

“Does he have some arrangement on the fifteenth?” Leon asked.

The Priest generally arrived at least fifteen minutes early for appointments. Leon had basically grown used to that, so he himself would usually arrive a little early as well. This time, he had arrived ten minutes before the agreed time, yet had not seen the Priest. That was rather rare.

“Every month on the fifteenth, the Priest has to make a trip to the outskirts of the city. The round trip takes quite a while, but since he has an appointment with you, he should still try his best to arrive on time. I’ll take you inside to wait first, my lord. I’ll brew you a pot of tea.” the Church Attendant replied.

“No need, I’ll sit here for a while.” Leon estimated that Father Auden would probably still arrive on time, so he sat down inside the main hall of the church first.

Just as he expected, almost exactly when the appointed time arrived, the Priest returned to the church with a follower serving as his bodyguard.

“Sorry, I had a little personal matter to deal with and kept you waiting.” Father Auden greeted Leon as soon as he entered.

“No, you’re right on time.” Leon replied.

“Give me a moment, I need to put something away. Go to my study first.” Father Auden hurried toward the inner door while carrying a case.

Leon shifted his gaze toward the follower serving as the bodyguard. The other man was also a member of the organization and immediately lowered his head to salute him.

“Where did you go this morning?” Leon asked. He felt that Father Auden seemed somewhat different from usual today.

“An orphanage built beside a public cemetery in a village west of town. It’s called Renia’s Home or something like that.” the other man reported truthfully.

“What did he go there for?” Leon could not help frowning.

“I don’t know. The Priest only asked me to drive him there and wait until he came out.” the bodyguard shook his head.

Did that old bastard go there to collect debts? He even sets traps to squeeze money out of orphanages? What kind of profit could there possibly be in that? Leon was somewhat puzzled.

“My lord, let’s go to the study and wait first.” the Church Attendant proactively led the way for him.

Leon entered the monastery and came to the Priest’s study. Father Auden arrived soon afterward, and the moment he saw Leon, his expression became serious, his brows even furrowing slightly, as though he had encountered something unpleasant.

“Judging by your expression, did things not go very smoothly?” Leon asked.

“Most of the Money Laundering is still being arranged normally. There’s still no result regarding the charitable fund application, but right now you might have something more urgent to deal with.” Father Auden stared at Leon and said in a deep voice, “You should keep your wife in line. Do you know that she went to Caster City yesterday?”

“Adele? Petra told me. She followed her the whole time. What happened, did that woman cheat on me?” Leon said half-jokingly.

Adele was currently using the five hundred thousand he had invested to engage in fishery trading between Arend Island and the Caster port market, so she still had a need to travel. He had not restricted Adele’s personal freedom, but whenever Adele went out, one of his people still had to accompany her. Yesterday, Adele had made a trip to Caster City, and Petra had followed her throughout the entire journey.

“Some acquaintances I have in several agencies told me that she asked about those applications I handled before. In other words, she’s investigating us, do you know that? The bodyguard you assigned can’t even tell whether she’s handling her own affairs or making inquiries about us.” the Priest shook his head and said.

“She can find out about our affairs?” Leon asked.

“Before you inherited the noble title, she handled matters in that territory of yours. She is still the Viscountess now. Officially, I serve Viscount Arend, so she has a way to request access to the portions that can be disclosed to her.” Father Auden explained.

“But is there anything wrong with those applications if she finds them?” Leon confirmed with the Priest.

Everything Adele could investigate consisted of procedures the Priest had submitted through official agencies. In other words, it was the portion of their Money Laundering process that was entirely “clean.” Logically, there should be no problems to uncover in this portion. Otherwise, it would have been Father Auden’s dereliction of duty. If Adele could casually spot a problem, there would have been even less chance of escaping scrutiny from the Tax Official and the Church.

“No! No one can find problems in anything I’ve handled. She can’t get any leverage on us at all. But the problem is that the very fact she’s trying to investigate this matter is unacceptable! She wouldn’t suddenly investigate our affairs for no reason. She crossed the line. She definitely has a purpose. We can’t possibly wait until she learns something she shouldn’t know before taking action, can we?” Father Auden said.

“That’s true, but why would she suddenly do this? Surely she wouldn’t fail to realize that we’d find out?” Leon was somewhat confused.

“Then the best thing for you to do right now is find her directly as soon as possible, ask her clearly, and properly ‘educate’ her so she won’t do this kind of unnecessary thing again.” As Father Auden spoke, he had already begun tidying up his documents, “It works out well too. I was preparing to ask her for some documents. I’ll go with you, and I can slowly report the recent situation to you on the way.”

Leon nodded, stood up, and left the church together with the Priest.

After some time, they took a ship to the dock on the western side of the island, immediately transferred to a carriage, and traveled along the Mountain Path all the way to the Viscount Arend Estate on the eastern side of the island.

Leon and the Priest walked through the main entrance amid the servants’ greetings. Just as Leon was about to ask someone to inform Adele, a burst of footsteps sounded from the staircase, and Leon then saw Adele herself walking down from upstairs.

Seeing this, Father Auden coughed twice, signaling that Leon could conveniently call Adele over and have a proper talk with her.

But before they could speak, Adele proactively came over and first said to Leon: “You’re back. There’s something I want to discuss with you properly.”

Leon looked Adele over with some surprise. Her gaze appeared unusually serious, as though she had made some kind of decision.

“Miss Adele, before that, don’t you have some things you should explain to us?” Father Auden could no longer hold back and questioned Adele first.

“I know what you want to ask. I was also preparing to explain this matter. Since you’re here too, Priest, then come to the study with us and we’ll make everything clear.” Adele said calmly, then turned toward Leon, “Can I take a few minutes of your time so you can listen?”