Obviously, It’s My Child - Chapter 224

It was absurd to be paying wages to the very people who had caused the accident, instead of being able to claim compensation from them. That was why he had told Horst to recover the wages he had paid.

Horst lowered his gaze, looking uncomfortable.

“I received word from the Klausener side. Apparently, the person who ran away had embezzled funds at the Kohlberg mine.”

“Ha! But wasn’t he someone with a lot of subordinates?”

“There’s more to it. Klausener took the remaining people with them.”

Since the details were not something the Marquis was particularly concerned with, Horst only shared the basics.

Marquis Ludendorff slumped back into his chair with a heavy sigh. He leaned his head back against the backrest.

“Ha. I see. So, in the end, we couldn’t recover the money we paid.”

“Since the mine development has been halted, we should be able to make up for it.”

He had already expected that recovering the wages from the past period would be difficult. If it had been given to Jacob directly, there was a slight hope of getting it back, but since it was paid to the miners individually, most of it was likely already spent, and there was no way to recover it.

Marquis Ludendorff sighed deeply.

“Father, has anything else happened in the meantime?”

“Truly, something unbelievable happened.”

The Marquis’s voice trembled with anger, as if he couldn’t contain his frustration.

“Count Brüning came to see me.”

“The owner of the sunken ship?”

“Yes, that one!”

Marquis Ludendorff raised his voice in irritation.

Count Brüning had come to see him two days ago.

[I sent a lawyer and he wrote to me, saying that the Marquis wouldn’t properly engage with him, so I decided to come in person.]

[What does the Count have to say? If you have time for that, hurry up and salvage your sunken ship.]

[Salvaging is urgent for me too, but I need you to provide the funds for that.]

[What do you mean by that? The ship is yours, so naturally, you should take responsibility.]

[You are speaking nonsense. According to the contract, the responsibility for the accident at the port falls on you, Marquis.]

[What contract?]

[The liability insurance agreement.]

Count Brüning’s lawyer presented an interim insurance contract to him.

The document stated that, in the event of an accident at the port, the port itself would be primarily responsible for covering the costs.

Subsequent claims could be made to the insurance the ship owner belonged to, or, depending on the amount, the costs would be covered by the reinsurance provided by the regional lord’s association.

Until then, accidents in other regions had often left sailors stranded without money, unable to return home, or led to situations where no one took responsibility for the damaged ships due to a lack of proper contact.

This was the core of the new insurance system that Archduke Victoria had created.

At the time, Marquis Ludendorff had signed the agreement without much thought.

The idea of keeping a significant amount of funds from the shipowner’s association as insurance was appealing, and the temporary insurance premiums collected from visiting ships felt like easy money.

[The amount was not small, but since the lord, Marquis himself, was guaranteeing it, I willingly paid the insurance. Therefore, according to this contract, the insurance money should naturally be paid to me.]

[That’s an issue for when an accident happens. You know full well the state of the port because of the actions of the Count’s navigator, yet you have the nerve to act like this.]

Marquis Ludendorff protested.

[How is this an unavoidable accident?]

[Where in the contract does it say that compensation is only given in the event of an unavoidable accident? And it wasn’t my navigator, it was the pilot from Ludendorff Port who caused the issue. I heard you hired a drunkard.]

Count Brüning mocked him.

[My loss is not just about one ship, Marquis. Do you know how much the sunken materials are worth?]

[That money is actually our loss…]

[Moreover, this is a national project. If you understand what losing trust means and how hard we worked to secure this project, you wouldn’t be so quick to speak like this.]

The Count twisted his lips in disdain.

[Well, what would the Marquis know, who simply signed whatever his sister brought to him without any effort?]

Marquis Ludendorff’s anger flared up again, and he trembled.

“He demanded the salvage money, the damaged ship, and compensation for the lost cargo. If I don’t pay on time, he says he’ll take it to court.”

“Ah…”

Horst’s face twisted in distress.

He had seen the scale of the ship. In the past, perhaps, but not now, Marquisate Ludendorff could not handle it. And his father lacked the ability to manage it.

Although the Marquis was not a competent person, the family had managed decently when nothing went wrong. But looking back, Horst realized his father had never actively done anything.

Signing off on the family business as long-time employees requested was something anyone could do.

“It will be fine, Father. I’ll handle it.”

“Right, right. You’ll take care of it. You’re the heir.”

Marquis Ludendorff shook his head and said this as if he had always relied on his son.

Horst bowed his head and left the study.

Standing in the hallway, feeling frustrated, he looked out the window and noticed Hermann in the garden.

Despite probably receiving a scolding or being vented at by the Marquis, Hermann had a calm expression on his face as he was trimming a camellia branch.

Cornelia stood nearby. Hermann threw a branch with blooming buds into her basket.

It seemed like Hermann had offered to help after seeing her pruning.

Thinking about it, why hadn’t Hermann returned to the capital? Since Horst had been chosen as the heir, Hermann had never stayed long in this house.

Want to read more? Up to [24] advanced chapters are available on Patreon: