Kevin discreetly looked Dane up and down.
Even he couldn't guarantee that he would win if he lunged at Dane right now. He'd probably have to lay down his life just to land a solid hit.
And he treasured his own life quite a bit. No amount of wealth or glory meant anything in the afterlife.
‘For now, I should just observe.’
If Dane Schmaichel had come alone and brought up the word 'donation', Kevin would never have taken it at face value.
He would have assumed that Dane visited with an ulterior motive or was just testing him. No, he would have immediately called the kids to wait secretly outside the room to create an opening in Dane's defenses.
However, Rose's innocent eyes and the sight of Dane resting his hand on his wife's shoulder had made Kevin let his guard down.
‘Well then, let's see if I can squeeze them dry.’
Praising their benevolence could stimulate the vanity of wives who wanted to be known as good mothers and wives. Mentioning the donations made by other nobles could also prick their pride.
Kevin was an expert at getting such vain nobles to open their wallets.
“Donation is a sublime act that warms both the giver and the receiver.”
Kevin clasped his hands together and smiled warmly.
“The Schmaichel family has contributed to the peace of the kingdom with massive donations so far. I sincerely thank you for giving Arsil Orphanage a chance as well.”
He pulled out a document he always kept handy under the table and placed it on top.
“First, I will show you this year's list of donors. I will also show you how transparently we manage these donations.”
Kevin began happily contemplating how he would sweet-talk this naive young wife.
However, it didn't even take a few minutes for the smile on his lips to disappear.
“The donations this year are quite substantial.”
“That's right. Donating an amount like this is also a way to show the power of one's family. The other nobles were quite surprised, haha.”
Ordinary nobles, when told this much, would mostly get anxious and cast calculating glances.
Driven by the single-minded thought of raising their rank above the other nobles, thinking they could never lose.
However.
“I see.”
“Is that so.”
Dane and Rose Schmaichel merely muttered indifferently as if they were twins.
They weren't surprised by the substantial amount of the donations. Above all, they seemed completely uninterested in competing with others.
“Donating such a large sum is rather suspicious. I know that the businesses run by that Count's family have been declining lately.”
“It's suspicious enough given the timing. Since ancient times, donations have been a time-honored means of raising slush funds under the nose of His Majesty the King.”
“As expected.”
Taking it a step further, they even chatted among themselves with a deduction that was very close to the truth.
Kevin couldn't say a word and could only let out a dry laugh.
‘Ugh, is it because they're Schmaichels after all?’
According to rumors, the amount the Schmaichel family dedicated to academies and monasteries was astronomical.
Recalling that fact made his mouth water even more. He didn't want to lose the delicious prey in front of him.
“Haha, how could such sordid greed be mixed into a sublime act like donation?”
Kevin hastily swept the donor list away and unfolded another document this time. It was a double ledger he had prepared for moments like this.
“Would you believe me if I showed you where the donations went? It's a document I try not to show as much as possible, but… since you are a Schmaichel.”
With a subtle smile, he emphasized the secrecy of the document, making it seem like he was specially showing it only to them.
“The welfare of our orphanage is at a much higher standard than other places.”
“Let me take a look.”
Rose Schmaichel replied indifferently and silently scanned the document. Her sharply gleaming eyes were no joke.
Flip, flip.
Watching Rose flip through the pages and examine the ledger, Kevin felt his spine run cold for some reason.
‘Am I here to be audited right now?’
His prediction became reality.
“Here, this item. And here.”
Rose pointed to a few items in the ledger with her finger.
“The amounts are wrong.”
“Pardon?”
“At this rate, shouldn't the total be larger? It's recorded much smaller than the actual amount.”
“Ah… is that so?”
He thought he could easily dupe her, but she was entirely beyond his expectations.
Most people would just skim through the item list, marveling at how many good things were bought and how large the amounts were.
‘How did she find that! And so fast, too!’
Kevin didn't know.
How tight on money the woman in front of him had lived. How she had painstakingly saved every penny belted out of her family to purchase supplies, and how fiercely she had written reports just to secure research funds.
That detecting false facts and calculation errors in a ledger of this level was as easy as drinking cold water for her.
“Let's skip this for now. When I came in earlier, there wasn't a single flowerpot in the hallway. It's the same in this room. So what does it mean that flowerpots were purchased here?”
“The flowerpots are in the children's rooms. We have a few kids who like to garden.”
In truth, he had purchased toxic herbs.
Normally stored neatly in Kevin's drawer, they were doled out to the kids assigned to commissions.
“Tableware from this vendor? You use quite high-end tableware. The children use it, of course?”
“Of course. If you wish, I can show you the dining hall.”
In truth, he had purchased bladed weapons. Most of them had been used for the children's training or lost during commissions.
‘Why is this so hard for me?’
She looked young, so he thought she would be easily swayed, but she was no pushover.
‘Would it be better to…?’
Just in case, Kevin cautiously glanced over at Dane.
Dane was resting his chin in his hand, watching Rose and Kevin. He was fully approving of everything his wife was doing.
He looked relaxed, but his eyes were anything but. His eyes, so blue they almost looked white, were capturing every single detail of him and Rose.
‘…No, never mind.’
Rather than trying to sweet-talk that man, it would be better to deal with this side.
Kevin made that judgment and spoke up.
“It seems Lady Schmaichel has a lot of questions, so I think it would be best to show you around directly.”
“You will?”
“I have a child who assists me. How about you tour the facilities, including the children's rooms, together with him?”
Rose seemed to think for a moment, and then,
“What should we do?”
She looked back at Dane as if asking for permission.
“Go ahead.”
Dane readily nodded and added.
“I'll be drafting the contract in the meantime.”
“A wise decision.”
Kevin bowed his head, hiding his jumping-for-joy feelings.
“Kasto! Come in.”
At his shout, Kasto entered the room. However, the kid's complexion was different from usual.
His face was flushed and excited, looking as if he was barely suppressing something. Come to think of it, the hallway seemed somewhat noisy, too.
‘Is there some good news?’
Kevin tilted his head in wonder but focused on what he had to do for now.
“Show Lady Schmaichel around the facilities. Where are the children?”
“They're all on their free time.”
That meant they were gathered in their rooms resting. Not undergoing brutal training or carrying out assassinations.
“Good. Answer any questions Lady Schmaichel has ‘with utmost sincerity’.”
If things went south, taking Lady Schmaichel hostage was an option. Kevin gave a slight signal, and Kasto nodded as if he understood.
“Yes.”
Kasto left the room with Rose. As instructed beforehand, he would show her mostly the places that looked presentable.
After watching them leave, Kevin pulled out the prepared donation contract.
“Thank you for choosing our orphanage. May I ask why you chose us?”
Dane hadn't seemed particularly interested, so the question was quite unexpected.
Dane, who hadn't looked at Kevin even once until now,
“Are you curious about that?”
finally met his eyes. A cold smile crept onto Dane's face.
“I thought you'd be curious about something else.”
“Pardon?”
Kevin's spine shuddered, and an ominous alarm bell began to ring. In an instant, he felt the temperature in the room drop.
‘…Could it be?’
For now, he feigned a puzzled look as if he didn't know what Dane was talking about.
“What do you mean…?”
“To answer you first, I had a rehearsal with my wife.”
Dane made some puzzling, incomprehensible remark.
“She did better than I thought. Cutely.”
He muttered in a low enough voice that Kevin couldn't hear, then picked up the paper with the donor list from the table.
“Count Olsen paid a considerable sum.”
Kevin tried harder to manage his facial expression upon seeing the name. It was exactly that Count Olsen who had commissioned him to attempt Dane's assassination.
“I'm a bit disappointed by this.”
“Pardon?”
“Is the price of my life only this much?”
His heart sank. The suspicion he had harbored had become reality.
“It's obviously a double ledger. But even so, the amount is a bit trivial.”
Dane muttered in a frigid tone and looked straight at Kevin.
“This time, I'll be making a ‘special contribution’. I want Count Olsen's head.”
“…….”
“I'll pay double what he gave. Will you accept?”
A biting killing intent began to constrict Kevin's breath.
‘He knew everything coming here.’
How Dane knew didn't matter.
What mattered was that he was interrogating him with a purpose, and what followed would be a far from pleasant end.
The next moment,
Bang!
Dane abruptly lifted the table and hurled it.
“Ugh!”
As soon as he barely dodged, he felt Dane charging at him.
Whoosh!
The air violently shook from the sheer brutality of his punch.
Dodging the attack was almost a fluke. He bent his waist to barely avoid it and grasped the dagger he always kept inside his coat.
However.
Thwack!
The moment Dane's fist struck his elbow, his arm twisted and he couldn't exert any grip strength.
“Ugh!”
Kevin dropped the dagger and tumbled to the floor.
Clatter.
Dane picked up the dagger he had dropped. Then, he slowly approached Kevin.
He looked completely flawless. It was the gait of a thoroughly trained knight and an evil spirit who had cut down countless people.
He felt the grim reaper's scythe drawing dangerously close.
But.
“…….”
Kevin calmed his ragged breathing. He hadn't thought he could beat Dane in the first place.
He had his own final trump card.
‘Just a little closer.’
He needed to make Dane come closer to him.
“P-Please, spare my life.”
Kevin deliberately spoke in a servile voice and pulled his body back.