The Loser Lord Who Kept Getting Sweet Revenge and Somehow Rose to the Top - Chapter 09: The Count’s House - Glory, Ruin, and Humiliation

Chapter 09: The Count’s House – Glory, Ruin, and Humiliation

The house I was born into—the Shakara Count family—was one of the kingdom’s most prestigious lineages. A noble house among nobles, standing at the very peak of the elite.

Blessed with fertile lands rich in natural resources, we squeezed heavy taxes from our people—far more than other lords could manage—and rose to power on that wealth. Of course, those same lands crawled with monsters, and for generations my family struggled to keep them in check.

But when my turn came, I had a stroke of genius. Instead of wasting knights and resources trying to kill the monsters, I switched tactics—just drove them out of the territory instead. That way, our lands stayed safe, and my knights suffered fewer losses. Brilliant, wasn’t it? Just thinking about my own cleverness filled me with a sense of omnipotence. I was a genius, after all.

On top of that, I was born with a handsome face that made women flock to me. Back in knight school, I spent my days playing around with all kinds of girls. And that’s when my eyes landed on Talia Retenable.

She wasn’t of noble birth, just the daughter of a powerful merchant house. But her beauty? Stunning enough to rival any aristocrat’s. Even though she was already engaged to some boring heir from the old Tourmaline viscount family, I used sweet words and charm to seduce her. From our student days onward, she was mine.

Snatching a gorgeous fiancée from that pathetic viscount family and mocking him as a pitiful loser—ah, things were going perfectly.

Until suddenly, Talia’s family business, Retenable Trading Company, collapsed under crushing debts and went bankrupt.

And the cause? None other than that same unimpressive viscount lord I’d stolen Talia from. He undercut Retenable by flooding the market with cheap spices—the very product they monopolized—and triggered a price crash.

Since I was a genius and a handsome man to boot, I immediately cut ties with Talia’s ruined family and arranged for her to be re-adopted into a noble house within my own faction. When her parents came crawling, begging for money, I slammed the door in their faces. Thanks to my brilliant decision, their debts never touched us. Truly, yet another display of my genius brain at work.

But just when I thought I’d neatly dealt with Talia’s family problem, something bizarre started happening. For some reason, monsters in my territory began multiplying. Normally, they’d retreat once driven out, but now they dug in, fighting desperately and lashing out at my knights. Losses piled up fast.

The more monsters there were, the harder it became to move supplies. Shortages grew worse day by day. My soldiers were exhausted, food was vanishing, and the entire territory slid deeper into hardship.

Even when I sent knights as escorts to buy supplies from outside, they either died to the monsters or came crawling back half-dead. Disaster after disaster.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

And then, right in the middle of this mess, a royal letter arrived—announcing that the Tourmaline Viscount house was being promoted to a Count house, and inviting me to the grand celebration.

Last time, that man got a medal. This time—an actual promotion in rank?!

The Tourmaline family. Sean Norské Tourmaline. Talia’s ex-fiancé. That pathetic weakling I’d stolen his woman from. That third-rate noble, now a Count?! Impossible.

To think the trash I crushed, the loser I humiliated, was now climbing high enough to stand as my equal—it made my stomach churn.

And yet, since the letter bore the royal seal, as a great noble house I had no choice but to attend. The humiliation burned all the more for it.

At the party, I tried to make the best of it. With so many nobles gathered in one place, I went around asking for support and cooperation for my struggling territory.

…And yet, not a single thing worked out. Every house I approached—nobles I’d once had connections with—suddenly acted distant the moment I asked for help, then quickly excused themselves and slipped away.

Worse, word had already spread that Talia used to be Sean Tourmaline’s fiancée. If that was the case, then surely Sean’s house couldn’t have managed all this alone. Someone higher up—someone with real influence—had to be backing him.

Annoyed as I was, I still stuffed myself with the luxurious food on offer. My territory was suffering food shortages, so if I’d come all this way, I might as well eat my fill. No point wasting the trip.

Still, I couldn’t bear to leave with absolutely nothing, so I swallowed my pride and approached the Grand General’s adjutant. I offered to pay—just send some soldiers to help suppress the monsters. But he flatly refused, saying the Empire’s movements were unstable and invasion could come at any moment. There was no way they could spare troops.

That aloof face of his stayed calm and breezy the whole time, but there wasn’t a shred of intention to compromise with me.

I tried to salvage something—at least asked him to deliver a letter to the Grand General about the dire state of my lands. But before I could even pull it out, the adjutant suddenly “remembered” something and dropped a bomb.

“Oh, that’s right. Young Sean—ah, no, Count Tourmaline now—was once the Grand General’s disciple, wasn’t he? If you sincerely bow your head and beg this hero everyone praises… well, maybe he’ll help you.”

After saying that, the adjutant added, “Besides, you’re a count. Handle the monsters in your own lands yourself—every lord does,” and then ended the conversation with that bizarre farufaru laugh of his.

That damn farufaru bastard!! I’m a Count! A noble of the realm!!

…But even if I wanted to lash out, he was the Grand General’s adjutant. I couldn’t possibly match him in strength. Worse, what he said about Tourmaline being part of the Grand General’s faction—someone with real expectations placed on him—that was the real problem.

Which meant… by stealing his fiancée, I had indirectly picked a fight with the Grand General himself.

The realization drained the blood from my face.

No wonder no one wanted to help me. Supporting me would mean opposing the Grand General’s faction—practically the army itself. And that faction wasn’t just strong, it was beloved by the people, its reputation ironclad both at home and abroad. I had spat in the face of that power without even realizing it. The sheer terror of it hit me like a hammer.

And then it dawned on me—Tourmaline himself might not care much about what others think, but in truth, everyone else held him in high regard. Talia probably never noticed his “value” because they grew up together. And me? I’d avoided him entirely during our school days, so I never saw it either.

I had made an enemy of exactly the type of man one should never cross. Cold sweat trickled down my back.

Meanwhile, Talia kept sneaking glances at me from the corner of her eye—

…So what was the point of swallowing my pride and coming here? Absolutely nothing!

And it didn’t end there. At the party, all anyone could talk about was Tourmaline—his broken engagement, and who his new fiancée might be. The houses approaching him were all ancient, prestigious families. And their daughters? Every single one was among the most beautiful women in the kingdom.

Sure, Talia was pretty. But the girls now circling Tourmaline were the kind of high-class beauties I could only admire from afar, completely out of my reach. And yet, those “untouchable flowers” were now lining up to propose marriage to the very loser I’d once humiliated. He had his pick of them all!

Damn it! Damn it all! I’m so jealous I could scream! He could at least spare one for me!

At this rate, it looks like I’m the one who settled for Talia. Me—the one who stole her! How pathetic does that make me look?!

Why am I the one suffering like this?! This absurd, unfair situation had me grinding my teeth in frustration. I hadn’t done anything wrong! Not one damn thing to deserve this!

And yet, my territory was collapsing into chaos, famine creeping closer by the day. The other nobles sneered, calling me “the cowardly Count Shakara.” No matter who I turned to for aid, no one would listen.

How is this fair?! How can this be allowed?!

All I did was steal one woman, slap a false charge on a rival, use my power to crush him, and sabotage his marriage prospects so his family line would die out… and now I’m the one being ruined?!

No mercy. No justice. No salvation… Is there really no salvation for me?! Am I just going to die like this—die in misery—?!