Chapter 17

Rumble!

- Get out of here to your fucking mother! How dare you even offer such a thing?!

- .... Oh, shit with him, I was about to leave anyway!

The living room, located on the ground floor, was heard by a loud cry from the Earl of Montagu, who very rarely raised his voice.

- I'll get up and see what's there. - Juliet said hastily to stop her mother, who was about to get up and go up with a surprised expression on her face.

But before Juliet managed to climb the stairs, she ran into a middle-aged man who left the Count's office.

- Why yell like that? It's just stupid antiques... - The man grumbled irritated with an evil look, but when he saw Juliet in front of him, his eyes expanded in surprise.

- No, wait, Juliet, is that you? I can't believe my eyes. The last time I saw you, you were much smaller...

The look he threw her from top to bottom was unpleasant to her, but Juliet still made herself smile at him.

- Hi, Uncle Gaspard.

Her father, the Earl of Montagu, was a soft and good-natured man.

And although he lacked the talent to make a fortune, thanks to him, the family made ends meet somehow.

In addition, the Count valued his family above all else, so even when his useless half-brother got into some trouble, he settled all the problems, without a word.

The Count's half-brother, Gaspard, was always jealous of Juliet's father. Although he was originally granted the title of Baron belonging to the Earl of Montagu, he could not be satisfied with this title alone.

Juliet clearly remembered that in her first life it was Gaspard who provoked the death of her father and mother. Everyone considered the cause of death to be an accident, but this accident was deliberately organized by her uncle.

So the first thing Juliet did, once she realized that she had returned to the past, was discredited Baron Gaspard.

When Juliet came back in time three years ago, after her death, she was only fifteen years old.

And despite the fact that she had memories of her previous life, the possibilities of what a 15-year-old aristocrat can do were not so great.

Therefore, she began to work on what she could do within the framework of the information and authority she had.

The first thing she did was create a fake personality. Then she hired an information guild to carefully study and collect evidence of Baron Gaspard's cruelty.

Of course, she couldn't let him kill his family again and ruin his life.

And so, when the necessary information on him was collected after a while, Juliet "purely by chance" led her father, the Earl of Montagu, to one of her uncle's illegal transactions, Baron Gaspard.

Stumbled upon this illegal deal, the Earl of Montagu began to carefully check all his cases and eventually found many more similar transactions. During this investigation, he also found many people who told him about all the black cases Gaspard had committed over the past few years.

From fraud with the name of the Earl of Montagu to the secret sale of their family property.

When Gaspard had been sparged, he was able to continue his wasteful life, only because he was the half-brother of the Earl of Montagu, whom many people admired and respected, for his nobility and honesty.

The aristocrats lend money because they believed that their borrower was Count Montague, not Gaspard.

But at the beginning of last year, the Earl of Montagu completely broke off all relations with his brother and expelled him from the family.

"I'll never let you come back to our family!"

After the rumor that the Count of Montagu had renounced his grief-relative, no one else lent money to Baron Gaspard.

Juliet looked at his clothes and said:

- Uncle, you're so luxuriously dressed.

- Huh? Oh, yeah, you're right.

"By now, all the money paths should have been cut off for him. Strange."

Gaspard's camisole was decorated with gold buttons and fancy buttonhole.

How could he afford to keep up with the new-fashioned trends when he should have already been prosecuted for non-payment by creditors? But despite that, he looked like he was still viable.

"Well, okay, then you can move on, without the slightest remorse."

The next step she planned was to expel Baron Gaspard from the country.

Although it took some time, Juliet's plan progressed smoothly all this time. Gaspard probably didn't even think about anyone being behind all his failures.

And for sure, he would never have thought that this was his niece, who has consistently destroyed all his financial resources over the past few years.

While Juliet briefly plunged into her thoughts, Gaspard suddenly noticed the tea tray she was holding in her hands, and his eyes lit greedily.

- Thank you for the compliment. Hmm, isn't that Quinn tea you carry?

- Yes, that's right. My dad really likes him.

Quinn tea was not easy to buy.

The price of this tea was so high that you might think you were buying gold for such money. Also, it was very rare and even if you had the money you couldn't buy it so easily without being on the early booking list.

It was the only luxury enjoyed by the Count of Montagu, who stayed away from drinking and entertainment. Also, his friends, who knew how much he liked the bizarre taste of this tea, sometimes presented it as a gift.

- Oh, I see. I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I drink a cup of tea...

Having said this, Baron Gaspard stretched out his hand forward as if he wanted to steal a tray with this rare tea.

However, Juliet cleverly dodged and quickly said:

- No. I don't mind at all, but I thought you were very busy and should go, because people from the bank were waiting for you outside. Or was I wrong?

- What?! Oh, is anyone waiting for me? Khm, could you...

- Well, goodbye then!

Juliet smiled nicely and passed by her uncle, as if nothing had happened.

Knock knock knock

After knocking on her father's office door, Juliet stuck her head in a slightly open door.

- Daddy, it's me.

- Oh, Juliet!

The Earl of Montagu's Angry Face instantly warmed when he saw his daughter.

- Do you mind if I come in?

- Of course, honey, come in.

Juliet put a tray of tea on the table.

The Count of Montagu poured sweet tea into cups and gave one to Juliet.

- So, did you have fun with Glenfield's daughter?

- Yes! We had a good time.

It was really a very useful pastime.

While Fatima was choosing a dress, Juliet took a break and looked through letters from the information guild.

At home, it was impossible to do it, because she could get caught in the eyes of her parents.

- But what happened between you and your uncle?

- Don't worry about it. It's too early for children to worry about such issues. - Father Juliet said to the end.

Although her age was not a childish for a long time, as she was 18 years old, the Count was inclined to take unnecessary care and protect his only daughter.

Juliet knew about it, so she didn't insist. She was happy with the way things were going now.

Because now all she has to do is follow her plan.

Uncle may not have understood it yet, but in fact he was almost bankrupt. Juliet naturally contributed to the spread of rumors about it throughout the country.

She lied to him earlier, saying that people from the bank were waiting for him, but soon it would really happen to him and he would be chased by creditors.

- The tea is very tasty.

Juliet covered her mouth with a cup to hide her happy smile.

Over the past three years, Juliet has worked tirelessly to change the expected tragic finale.

And now she could already say with confidence that she has achieved no small success. However, so far, she has only come a part of the way.

Juliet initially lost both her parents at the age of fifteen, but now both her father and mother are alive and healthy.

"It's all that's left to expel Baron Gaspard from the country, and my next step will be the poor life of my parents. I'll make us get rich!"

She had several ideas that she had already begun to implement slowly, and if they were successful, her father would be able to enjoy this expensive tea not once or twice a month, but every day.

The Count of Montagu, who at that time was drinking tea with a calm face and was completely unaware of the scale of his daughter's thinking process, suddenly called her, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

- Honey, could you come up to me?

Juliet put the cup on the table and walked up to the count.

The Count handed her a handmade mahogany box that used to always lie on his table.

When she opened the box, she saw a shiny silver key. It was small and its shape had an old design, but it didn't look very expensive.

"It looks like the same antiques he was talking about."

Juliet understood everything right away. This key must have been a family heirloom her uncle was talking about.

- Juliet, you know what the role of our family was in history, right?

- Yes, I know.

Montagu is a Guardian.

It's been 300 years since their family was named that.

Ernst, the first emperor to found the empire, together with their name, gave them the mansion in which they lived so far.

But Juliet seemed a little strange that he gave them that name.

Because when she looked through her family's family tree, she found out that none of her ancestors had ever used a sword or something like that.

Guardian? Isn't that the name he had to give to a family that had the best swordsmen?

Moreover, our family relic was just the key.

In other families, relics were objects such as rings, armor, swords, etc.

But why the key?

Juliet, of course, seemed a little unusual.

It's impractical, isn't it?

The Count of Montagu, looking at the key, said:

- I'm giving it to you.

Juliet's eyes widened.

- Really?

- Yes, initially I wanted to give it to you for your 14th birthday. However...

The Count of Montagu frowned and didn't agree. He seemed still dissatisfied that his half-brother dared to talk to him about selling a family heirloom.

- I hope you take him after all.

The count put the key in Juliet's hand.

The key with some mysterious blue gem was very beautiful.

But it probably wasn't made of silver because it was strangely light for its size. However, it won't be too comfortable to use as a pendant, even though the long leather strap that was on it.

Juliet smiled gently at her father and said:

- Thank you, Dad. I'll value them.

"And that's what Gaspard called antiques? Why did he need it? Did he really want to sell the key to some collector?"