Chapter 188: You Should Be Quite Rich, Right?
Hearing Leon's words, Adele felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over her from head to toe.
Her entire body turned cold with fear.
The witness...
Wasn't that her?
Come to think of it...
Had Hayley really resigned and left?
If Hayley had already been dealt with...
Wouldn't she be next?
In fact, it would be much easier for Leon to kill her now than ever before.
One gunshot.
Her corpse on the floor.
Then, when filing his report, he could simply claim that by the time he arrived, the Viscount's daughter had already been murdered by the bandits.
The time of death would be so close that no examination would be able to distinguish it.
He would even have enough time to "fabricate" all kinds of atrocities the bandits had supposedly committed before killing her...
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Adele's scalp went numb.
Seeing Adele begin trembling again, Leon smiled knowingly.
After dealing with this Viscount's daughter so many times, he had gradually begun to enjoy frightening her.
“Just kidding, Miss Adele.”
“I've already explained everything.”
“Why are you still so nervous?”
“The evidence here has already been collected.”
“For me, clearing this place out can be done at any time.”
“Paying to renovate your home is simply a gesture of goodwill.”
“But there is one thing you absolutely must understand.”
“You're in a very dangerous situation right now!”
Leon said.
“I know that already!”
Adele looked at Leon, both aggrieved and frightened.
As far as she was concerned...
The greatest danger standing before her was him.
“No.”
“You don't.”
“Think carefully.”
“Are you certain every gangster running loose on the island has already been eliminated?”
Leon asked.
Adele blinked.
Then she suddenly realized.
It was true.
No one could guarantee that every bandit had been dealt with.
Perhaps some had escaped just now.
Perhaps there was another group still wandering around the island.
Maybe Leon would leave...
And another group of bandits would immediately break into the estate.
But even if there weren't any bandits...
As long as Leon wanted to...
He could always create a few "bandits" and fabricate the appearance that she had been murdered by them.
To Adele...
Leon was unquestionably an extremely dangerous man.
If she showed any sign of intending to report him...
Such as attempting to leave the island...
Or even if Leon simply happened to be in a bad mood...
He could easily dispose of her.
But if Leon left with his people...
She couldn't possibly stay alone inside a mansion containing more than twenty corpses.
And no one even knew whether other bandits remained somewhere on the island.
Her situation...
Would still be utterly hopeless.
“Waaah...”
“What exactly do you want me to do?”
Adele looked at Leon, on the verge of tears.
“Don't cry, Miss Adele.”
“Who wouldn't feel sympathy for such a delicate and pitiful young lady?”
Even as he spoke those words, Leon's tone remained perfectly calm.
“In truth...”
“I simply want to protect you.”
“Protect me?”
Adele couldn't understand at all.
“Yes.”
“Your situation is dangerous.”
“But your bodyguard, Miss Hayley, has already resigned.”
“So I've decided to assign people to protect you.”
“I'll provide several professional bodyguards.”
“If you prefer female guards, that's perfectly fine too.”
“This will be considered part of my investigation.”
“You won't need to pay them any wages.”
Leon explained.
Adele thought for a moment before quickly understanding what he meant.
“You want to... monitor me?”
“Protect you.”
“There's no need for me to spell everything out so explicitly.”
Leon corrected.
Adele understood.
In a sense...
Such surveillance really did count as protection.
As long as she didn't do anything unnecessary...
Such as going to the Archdiocese...
Or the Public Security Bureau...
Or contacting anyone related to the matter...
Leon would limit himself to monitoring her and wouldn't take any further action.
In a certain sense...
He really was protecting Adele's personal safety.
From himself.
But that also meant...
She would have to remain under this man's shadow indefinitely.
Thinking about that made Adele's brows droop once again, looking as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
“Don't act as though I've wronged you terribly.”
“This is a transaction, Miss Adele.”
Leon said.
“A transaction?”
That word immediately caught Adele's attention.
Her late grandfather...
The previous Viscount Arend...
Had probably neglected her father somewhat while raising him, which was why her father had grown into such an irresponsible man.
During the final years of his life, her grandfather had instead focused heavily on cultivating Adele.
He had taught her extensive business knowledge.
He had brought her along to numerous commercial events.
She had personally assisted him with various administrative work.
He had invested a great deal of connections and resources into educating her.
She had also lived up to his expectations by being admitted to one of the Empire's top academies in the Imperial Capital, specializing in finance and law.
Had her grandfather not suddenly passed away from illness...
Had the island's resources not been ruined by consecutive disasters...
Had her father not followed up with one disastrous decision after another...
Plunging the family into its current predicament...
Adele should never have fallen this far.
At the very least...
She remained confident in her abilities in commerce.
“You leave this matter to my investigation.”
“You won't contact any other organizations.”
“If someone does become involved in the future and questions you...”
“Simply answer according to the facts I explained earlier.”
“In return...”
“I'll clean up your home.”
“I'll pay to renovate it.”
“I'll assign people to serve as your guards.”
“You don't need to feel uncomfortable.”
“As long as you don't do anything unnecessary, I'll instruct them to treat you with respect.”
“You'll retain your basic privacy.”
“You can even order them to help you with certain tasks.”
“Simply think of them as employees you've hired.”
“But they must know your whereabouts.”
“As for your father...”
“I'll handle him appropriately as well.”
“Overall, your family isn't receiving nothing in return.”
“How does that sound?”
Leon said slowly.
He had dealt with Viscount Arend through Father Auden before.
The man was very easy to handle.
In reality...
Once he secured Adele's cooperation, the Viscount's family would essentially be under control.
Leon bore them no grudge.
Nor did he have any direct conflict of interest with them.
There was no need to do anything drastic.
After all...
They were still nobles.
Killing them might eventually lead to the territory being auctioned off...
But it would also invite an investigation.
In more peaceful times, that wouldn't have mattered much.
But now...
Having only just dealt with the Earl...
Leon was in an especially sensitive period.
Drawing even more attention would only make things worse.
He already had far too many matters demanding his attention.
There was no reason to create additional complications.
Besides...
Viscount Arend himself was incompetent.
Adele was timid.
The entire family was actually quite easy to control.
Hearing Leon's explanation, Adele gradually calmed down.
At the very least...
These measures showed that Leon wasn't directly threatening her family's lives.
“Then...”
“How long will this last?”
Adele asked cautiously.
“Do you remember the duration stated in the contract we signed at the harbor?”
“We'll use that.”
“Let's start with three years.”
“How about that?”
Leon replied.
“Three years?”
Adele's eyes widened.
That meant...
She would spend an entire three years living under this man's surveillance?
“That's only the provisional term.”
“If my investigation makes progress and I eliminate the outside threat...”
“Your protection can naturally end ahead of schedule.”
Leon explained.
“And if the threat can't be eliminated...”
“Then the surveillance will be extended?”
Adele asked uneasily.
“Miss Adele.”
“This is my decision.”
“I'm merely informing you.”
Leon looked directly at her.
Startled by Leon's gaze, Adele instinctively shrank back.
But then she thought about it.
She gradually regained some composure.
The basic principle of business negotiations...
Was to determine the other party's bottom line as much as possible.
Only then could one weigh the advantages and disadvantages before playing one's own cards.
Constantly surrendering and making concessions would only allow the other party to manipulate you.
The fact that Leon had proposed surveillance and protection proved one thing.
His first choice wasn't killing her.
He wanted her cooperation as much as possible.
With that thought, Adele hesitated briefly before gathering her courage.
“If...”
“If you want my cooperation...”
“You can't keep frightening me all the time.”
“You said that if someone investigated later, you hoped I'd cooperate by giving the version of events you told me...”
“But...”
“If I'm too frightened...”
“And someone notices...”
“That wouldn't be very good for you either, would it?”
Leon was somewhat surprised that Adele had suddenly attempted to negotiate with him.
“From what I can see...”
“You don't seem all that frightened.”
“Do you think...”
“I'm only trying to scare you?”
“I just think...”
“Since you called this a transaction...”
“If you could loosen the conditions...”
“Even just a little...”
“I could definitely cooperate with you a bit more.”
Adele said cautiously.
“What?”
“You want me to shorten the term?”
Leon asked.
“No.”
“That ultimately depends on you.”
“There's no point negotiating over that.”
“What I actually mean is...”
Adele paused briefly before carefully asking,
“You should be...”
“Quite rich, right?”
Hearing that question, Leon looked at Adele with great interest.
It was as though he were seeing her in a new light.
“What?”
“You want me to do something?”
“Lend your family money?”
Leon raised an eyebrow.
“Just... make a small investment.”
“We can set a normal interest rate.”
“I'll use the money to do business.”
“Within one year...”
“I guarantee I'll repay both the principal and the interest.”
Adele said seriously.
She was currently worrying herself sick over investment capital.
She was already approaching a dead end.
Since there was no way she could refuse Leon's conditions...
And she was destined to become entangled with this dangerous man anyway...
She might as well seize the opportunity to try borrowing money from him.
“You dare use my money?”
Leon asked.
“There should be a clean portion of it... right?”
Adele replied.
Leon examined her for a while.
Then he suddenly laughed.
“How much do you want?”
“Well...”
As Adele thought carefully, she timidly held up two fingers.
Maybe start by borrowing two hundred thousand and see if there was any hope...
“Two million is a bit too much.”
Leon interrupted immediately.
After thinking for a moment, he continued,
“I do happen to operate a lending business.”
“Considering the relationship established by our agreement...”
“Let's start with five hundred thousand.”
“I'll charge half the Church's normal interest rate.”
“Is that acceptable?”
Adele was completely stunned.
It took her quite some time before she finally reacted.
“Really?”
“The conditions are actually that generous?”
Come to think of it...
Leon had just admitted that he operated a lending business.
That meant his legitimate assets alone were already sufficient for him to qualify as a professional lender.
Casually lending out five hundred thousand...
That wasn't merely wealthy.
That was extraordinarily wealthy.
“Then...”
“Our contract is established, Miss Adele.”
“I hope you'll honor the agreement.”
Leon smiled.
Adele's attempt to muster the courage to negotiate with him made him feel that risking fifty thousand—no, five hundred thousand—was perfectly acceptable.
After all...
Five hundred thousand meant very little to him now.