Chapter 190: Political Consequences [4]

Ilya wasn’t quite sure what to say.

Anastasiya turned her head to the side, looking utterly drained after the confrontation with Oleg, and a bitter smile slowly formed on her face.

The anger she had shown only moments earlier had seemingly disappeared along with the Margrave, leaving behind an exhaustion that she had probably been hiding since before he arrived.

"You’ll call it off, won’t you?"

"Does it really matter to you that much?"

"What matters to me is whether we can afford to bite off more than we can chew."

Anastasiya leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes, pressing two fingers against her temple as though trying to suppress an incoming headache.

"I’ve just made an enemy of Volnograd, and depending on how the Council responds, several other branch families may decide they don’t particularly like what I’m doing either. I cannot afford to spend any more resources cleaning up after you."

Ilya frowned.

"...I know this started as a problem between Mikhail and me, but I never asked you to involve yourself—"

"Volnograd is colluding with external parties."

Ilya stopped.

Anastasiya opened her eyes again, although she still didn’t bother looking at him.

"Mikhail’s situation was an opportunity unlike any other I’ve been presented with, so I took the bait, and now I’m praying to God that I can use it to expel that House for good."

"...."

That changed the situation quite a lot.

Until now, he had assumed Anastasiya’s disproportionate response toward Mikhail had mostly been the result of what happened at Holy Trinity.

Mikhail had spread the rumors that eventually escalated far beyond what he had probably intended, people associated with Ilya had suffered because of them, and Anastasiya had responded by taking the matter directly to the Belozersky Council.

Apparently, that had only been part of it.

"...You were already looking for a reason to move against Volnograd."

"Yes. And Mikhail practically wrapped himself in a ribbon and delivered himself to my doorstep."

Anastasiya let out a humorless laugh before finally turning toward him.

"Do you think I would attempt to remove an entire branch because one spoiled little bastard decided to make your life miserable at the academy? I may be vindictive, but I’m not that fucking stupid."

Ilya narrowed his eyes slightly, but chose to ignore it.

"What external parties?"

"No."

"I haven’t even finished asking."

"You were going to ask who they’re working with, and the answer is no."

Anastasiya reached for her tea only to remember that it had long since gone cold, prompting another irritated sigh as she pushed the cup away.

"You already have enough problems without sticking your nose into mine."

"You just admitted that my problem is part of yours."

"Unfortunately."

"So tell me."

"No."

"Anastasiya."

"Ilya."

The two stared at each other for several seconds before Ilya eventually clicked his tongue.

Judging from her expression, there was absolutely no chance of getting anything more from her right now, and attempting to force the issue would probably only restart the argument they had barely finished having the previous night.

Anastasiya seemed satisfied by his silence.

"Will you cause any more problems for me, Ilya?"

"...."

"Answer me."

Ilya let out a long sigh, already finding the question irritating for reasons he couldn’t quite put into words.

Perhaps it was the way she asked it, as though every problem that happened around him eventually became another burden for her to personally shoulder.

"...You really must think yourself important, Anastasiya."

Anastasiya raised a brow.

"...What did you just say?"

"You think that just because you’re the Belozersky heir, the entire fucking world is somehow your burden to shoulder," Ilya said. "That anyone and everyone, even your own father, is nothing but shit beneath your boot the moment they become inconvenient to whatever you think is best for this family."

Anastasiya’s expression changed immediately.

"Watch your fucking mouth."

Her voice dropped low as she leaned forward, her expression twisting in anger.

"I won’t hesitate to cut you in half, too, Ilya."

"You’re not as important as you think you are."

"...."

The words hung between them, and Ilya could already tell from the look on her face that he was getting dangerously close to making good on her threat.

Still, he had already started, and stopping now simply because Anastasiya was glaring at him would defeat the entire point.

"Open your eyes, Anastasiya. That tough-girl act of yours is going to bite you in the ass one day."

Ilya sighed before his voice softened slightly, unwilling to let what he said next sound like another insult.

"And before you start screaming at me again, thank you for helping me. I really mean that."

Anastasiya said nothing.

"But that’s all there is to it." Ilya gestured toward the documents scattered across the table. "You helped me with Mikhail, and whether that was entirely for my sake or because you wanted an opening against Volnograd doesn’t really matter to me. I’ll help you deal with the Margrave and whatever comes after this, too, so consider us even if that’s what you want."

Her eyes narrowed, but Ilya continued anyway.

"But my arrangement with Liselotte is mine to handle."

He held her gaze, making it clear that this was the one point he had no intention of surrendering.

"I’ll talk to her, I’ll deal with whatever political consequences come with it, and if it becomes a problem, then I’ll be the one to solve it."

Ilya rose from his chair before Anastasiya could interrupt him, already knowing exactly what sort of argument would follow if he remained in the room for another minute.

"Okay?"

He didn’t give her enough time to answer.

Ilya strode out of the receiving room and closed the door behind him, leaving Anastasiya staring after him with her mouth half-open, whatever response she had prepared dying before she could get a single word out.

He continued down the hallway without looking back, apparently satisfied now that he had managed to get the last word for once.

For nearly a full minute, the mansion remained quiet.

Then a loud crash echoed through the hallway.

Shatter——!

Ilya stopped.

Several servants farther down the corridor stopped as well, all of them turning toward the receiving room before immediately deciding that whatever had happened inside was none of their business.

Ilya stared at the closed door for a moment, already having a fairly good idea of what had just shattered.

From behind it came Anastasiya’s furious voice.

"Nobody fucking listens to me!"

Ilya remained silent.

Then he continued walking.