Chapter 252: We Are White Gloves
Half an hour later, outside the residence's main gate.
“I'll escort you to the docks.” Leon said to Edward, who was preparing to leave.
“It's getting late, so Your Lordship the Viscount needn't see me any farther. My ship is already waiting by the shore, I can return on my own. You've only just reunited with your family after being apart for a short while, so you should spend more time with her. I'd be embarrassed to continue taking up your time.
I quite enjoyed spending time with you. I'll remain in the archdiocese for a while longer, so it would be nice if we could have dinner together in the future.” Edward said with a cheerful smile, then suddenly added, “If there's an opportunity.”
This guy……
Leon caught the slight implication in Edward's words. He had long noticed that throughout his entire stay at the residence, Edward had never touched the tea or pastries prepared by the servants.
And now, at the very end, he had deliberately added the meaningful phrase “if there's an opportunity” before saying they could have dinner together again. In other words, “if there isn't an opportunity, then such a thing won't happen”.
Clearly, Cardinal Stuart already knew, or at the very least strongly suspected, that Leon himself possessed the heretical power of the Blood of the Evil Curse.
Leon and Adele stood shoulder to shoulder, watching Edward board the carriage Leon had arranged and depart. Only after quite some time passed did the smile on Leon's face slowly fade.
Edward Stuart's primary purpose in coming this time had been to confirm whether Leon could replace the slain Count Fry and become a force supporting Prince Aaron.
Second, he had probably also come on behalf of the Stuart family to issue Leon a warning, hinting that Cardinal Stuart essentially already knew not only that Leon was profiting from heretical business, but also that Leon might possess heretical power himself.
The main reason Cardinal Stuart wasn't taking action was because he hoped Leon could be like Count Fry and use the enormous profits obtained from heretical business to support Prince Aaron, which benefited the Stuart family.
Supporting a country's future ruler required enormous costs and resources. After Count Fry's death, someone needed to replace him and provide the corresponding resources for that purpose.
However, this also indirectly showed that Aaron's current position was probably weaker than that of the other successor, Imperial Princess Freda. After all, Aaron was only a recently acknowledged illegitimate son, while behind Freda stood the Empire's three most senior and powerful dukes, as well as the established western noble faction they led.
Precisely because of this, Cardinal Stuart had not rashly dealt with Leon. Any strength that could now be used to support Aaron was something he had to preserve.
On this matter, Cardinal Stuart was relatively rational. His relationship with Count Fry had always been one of mutual use, and the Count had been involved in heretical business. With the Count murdered, whether from personal feelings or from his responsibilities as Grand Inquisitor, he had no compelling reason to avenge him.
Although the Count's death certainly wasn't good news for him, if he then eliminated Leon, who had now inherited the Count's business, it would become very difficult for him to find someone else in this area who could replace the Count and be used by him. That would only cause his interests to suffer further losses for no reason.
“Fortunately……” Leon relaxed slightly, but he didn't completely lower his guard because of that.
For the time being, events could be considered to be developing in the strategic direction he had anticipated. The effect of swallowing up the Count's business as quickly as possible had already begun to show. Whether on the Witch Assembly's side or the Church's side, he had at least managed to win himself a little room to maneuver.
But that didn't mean his position had already become as stable as the Count's. Neither side could currently be considered completely secure.
Dorothy still hadn't given him a reply, while Stuart's side had listened to his answer and issued an implicit warning, but had yet to fully state its position.
And even if he managed to simultaneously obtain protection from the Church and establish stable smuggling trade with the Witch Assembly, if both sides demanded intelligence from him in the future, maintaining the balance like the Count had done would by no means be easy.
It was a dangerous path like walking a tightrope. If he failed to maintain his balance even once, he would fall and shatter to pieces.
“Leon.” Adele's cautious call brought him back to his senses.
He looked at Adele and found her uneasily studying him.
“Is it really all right? That Inquisitor said he came to inform you of your promotion, but somehow he……seemed to keep implying things. He really isn't preparing to investigate you?” Adele asked quietly.
“If they were really preparing to investigate me, they wouldn't bother implying anything. They don't need to investigate. They're basically already certain.” Leon turned and walked back toward the house.
Leon wasn't surprised that Cardinal Stuart knew he had killed the Count and was doing business on Allende Island.
The fact that he had killed the Count had long since spread throughout the underworld. Even if the news hadn't leaked immediately, it was impossible for the Tribunal to have no channels into the underworld. Leaving others aside, how could a major figure like Cardinal Stuart, who controlled the entire Tribunal, possibly fail to uncover something like “Fenrir of Allende Island killed the Count”?
“This……this……” Adele's eyes widened in alarm when she heard that, and she hurriedly followed Leon, “The Church already knows!?”
In her understanding, once law enforcement learned the truth about their crimes, that basically meant the sky had fallen.
She couldn't understand how Leon could still remain so calm.
“It's inevitable that they'd find out. What's important is that I'm useful to them. Simply put, they want me to meet their requirements. Only if I fail to do well enough, or go against their interests, will they take measures against me.” Leon explained.
“Requirements? What requirements could people from the Church have?” Adele didn't quite understand and continued asking quietly.
𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
“Simply put, they want us to use the money we earn to support the imperial successor they want.” Leon explained to Adele.
“Imperial successor, you mean Prince Aaron?” Adele began to understand.
Within the eastern noble circles, Leon's public reputation had already basically become tied to Prince Aaron's side.
“That's right. Do you know that the father of Inquisitor Edward just now, the Marquis of Isenburg, Cardinal Stuart, is the Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal?” Leon asked.
Adele nodded nervously.
“The Stuart family, the House of the Marquis of Isenburg, wants to support Prince Aaron. Because they oppose Duke Gran, they oppose Imperial Princess Freda. If we support Prince Aaron, they'll consider us useful. And since we're good at making money, our usefulness becomes even greater.” Leon said.
“Making money? But this is dirty money earned from heretical business!” Adele's eyes widened.
“Exactly, it's dirty money. So the noble Grand Inquisitor Stuart absolutely can't touch it himself. If he does, his hands get dirty, he might get dragged into it, and with one mistake his reputation could be ruined! So he either decides not to touch it at all, or he finds a pair of gloves to pick up this dirty money for him.” Leon used an analogy.
“Gloves?” Adele asked.
“Right, put on a pair of white gloves that look perfectly clean and let them touch the dirty money in his place, then use that dirty money to invest in the places he wants it invested. That way, only the gloves get dirty. And if something goes wrong and gets exposed, all he needs to do is throw away the stained gloves. His own hands remain spotless, with no problem whatsoever.” Leon looked at Adele and spoke slowly.
“So, we're the white gloves he wants to use.” Adele finally understood.