Chapter 53 | Fear Not, Witch — A Player Is Here to Rescue You

The tavern was dead silent.

Pelham's face was so pale it was almost translucent. His knees shook uncontrollably beneath his robe, sending ripples through the fabric.

His mind buzzed, a single thought echoing frantically: I'm next!

His feet felt as heavy as lead, refusing to budge even though he wanted to flee. Ultimately, he fell to his knees with a heavy thud.

“Your Excellency!” His voice shook like a leaf as his trembling hands raised the small, exquisite wooden box he held.

“This is all of my savings! Please accept it, Your Excellency! I only beg for you to spare my life!”

Wu Yao took the box, opened it to glance at the neatly stacked gold coins and deeds inside, and waved her hand in satisfaction. “Deal.”

Pelham froze for a couple of seconds before realizing she was speaking to him. He was instantly filled with wild joy, as if he had just received a royal pardon.

Scrambling to his feet, he didn't even dare to say thank you. He scrambled backward with quick, frantic steps and fled the tavern, terrified that the sorceress would change her mind.

Eleanor stood in place, watching everything unfold. Her expression remained largely unchanged, though the sharp contraction of her pupils the moment Hawkley was killed betrayed a hint of her true emotions.

Her hands were clenched tightly inside her sleeves, her nails digging into her palms.

It had been too fast.

From the moment Hawkley uttered those foolish words, to when the vines hoisted him up, to when his corpse fell to the ground, barely a few minutes had passed. This sorceress changed her mood faster than flipping a page.

Standing on the sidelines, Eleanor could clearly sense that the sorceress had killed Hawkley for no real reason at all.

Perhaps she simply found Hawkley irritating, or perhaps he was just too loud.

In her eyes, there was a true, terrifying equality.

Yet, the sorceress's attitude toward Pelham also gave her hope. At the very least, she was not a mindless slaughterer.

Eleanor's mind raced.

Ever since she was brought back to the Casti Family, she had been doing the exact same thing—observing others, identifying their needs, and using the smallest cost to secure the greatest benefit.

As an illegitimate daughter, she didn't even have the right to sit at the dining table with her family. Her only value lay in her face and a surname that could be used for a political marriage.

Becoming Lady Morceau, though forced upon her, had been the best choice she could make.

Ohm was lustful, greedy, and inherently lazy, which suited her perfectly.

A clever husband would control her, whereas a foolish husband would only lie in the palm of her hand and snore.

She had taken over the businesses that Ohm had run into the ground, slowly wresting actual control from that useless fool's hands and into her own.

Now that Ohm was dead, she held the most valuable assets in Qinghe Town.

However, this sorceress had absolutely no interest in managing the town, even going so far as to appoint a commoner woman as the mayor.

Thus, as long as she could prove her irreplaceable value, she believed this new mayor would not reject an assistant who came offering her services.

Eleanor adjusted her strategy, her tone neither servile nor overbearing, as if the corpse that had just fallen from the flagpole were nothing more than a stray leaf drifting past the window.

“Your Excellency is incredibly decisive in your actions. Eleanor has learned much today.”

Wu Yao was still counting the deeds in the wooden box. She had no idea what they were used for.

They were covered in dense writing and information that gave her a headache just looking at it. In the end, she simply scooped out all the gold coins and tossed the rest to Benita.

A massive harvest for the player's treasury!

In an excellent mood, Wu Yao pointed to an empty seat nearby. “Sit down. Take your time.”

Eleanor did not decline. She sat down with her usual elegance, her back straight and her hands folded neatly over her lap.

“Lady Eleanor, why don't you speak your mind plainly?” Benita took over the conversation.

“What I told Her Excellency earlier—that I wish to continue managing Qinghe Town—was the absolute truth.”

She leaned forward slightly, her tone sincere.

“When Ohm was alive, I handled all of the town's affairs. I can assist with infrastructure maintenance, tax policies, shop leases, and more.”

“That does sound enticing,” Benita said, looking at her calmly. “But no matter how much you say, we cannot bypass one simple fact: Ohm was your husband.”

Eleanor looked at her and, for the first time, let out a bitter smile. “I never had the right to choose.”

Benita did not respond.

Eleanor took a deep breath. She knew that to sway them today, she would have to swallow her pride.

Since she had already taken this step, she had to ensure that the benefits she gained would far outweigh what she lost!

“I am merely a pawn of the Casti Family. My mother was a mistress, and I was brought back to the family for only one purpose: marriage.”

She skipped over her life with the Casti Family in a single sentence.

“By the time the Morceau family reached Ohm's generation, he was the sole heir left. He held the fief of Qinghe Town and quite a bit of ancestral property, and he was both stupid and easy to control. The Casti Family set their sights on this fat piece of meat and needed a daughter to marry in so they could swallow these assets up legitimately.”

“After I married him, I quickly discovered that Ohm was an absolute useless fool. He knew nothing about management or bookkeeping. He only knew how to reach his hand into the public treasury for money to curry favor with nobles more powerful than himself. The family businesses had long since become empty shells.”

Her voice sank. “It was I who patched up the holes piece by piece. Those lands, shops, and canals—I was the one who brought them back to life. He didn't even know how many mu of farmland Qinghe Town possessed.”

“Now that Ohm is dead, according to the inheritance laws of the Holy Empire, the Morceau family's assets should be inherited by me. However, the Casti Family will take this opportunity to demand my return to the family, swallow the wealth I have accumulated over the years, and sell me off once again.”

Phelin had slipped down from her seat at some point, shrinking her body and leaning against Benita's chair.

Having listened for so long, she finally couldn't help herself. She poked her head out from behind her mother and chimed in with her crisp voice, “Then don't go back! They are all bad people!”

Only after speaking did she remember she wasn't supposed to interrupt, and she stole a quick glance at Benita.

Benita did not scold her, but merely reached out and gently patted her shoulder.

This made Phelin a bit bolder. She nudged forward another two steps, leaning against the corner of the table and looking up at Eleanor.

Looking at Phelin's bright, shining eyes, the tight lines on Eleanor's face softened for a fleeting moment. “I do not want to go back either.”

Her gaze settled back on Wu Yao as she said frankly, “Therefore, I need a backer stronger than the Casti Family.”

“I have no other requests except to continue managing Qinghe Town. I will double the taxes collected from the town, and I can forge Qinghe Town into an impenetrable fortress.”

Benita did not immediately voice her stance. Instead, she asked, “Do you know what Qinghe Town lacks most right now?”

Eleanor replied without hesitation, “Food. When spring began this year, friction between the Empire and Ulanda worsened, increasing border tax rates. Passing merchants decreased by thirty percent, but agricultural taxes weren't lowered. Most people's grain reserves won't last through this winter.”

As she spoke, she withdrew another thin scroll from her sleeve, unrolling it and handing it to Benita. “This is the manifest of my merchant caravan. The first batch of goods will arrive at the end of the month.”