In the Doghouse - Chapter 5
Bang, bang!
The distant noise made Courtney’s eyelids twitch. When had she fallen asleep? As she lifted her head, the letter she had been writing stuck to her cheek and came off as she moved. She peeled the paper away and rubbed her face with the back of her hand.
The candle had long since burned out, leaving the room in darkness. Outside, it was still pitch black. She vaguely remembered hearing some kind of noise. And then, there it was again—
CRASH!
A loud crash came from downstairs, the sound of something breaking.
Her scoundrel of an older brother must have lost money again and come home drunk. Despite having a wife and child, he showed no signs of growing the hell up.
Courtney felt a surge of irritation at the thought of hearing Elise’s pathetic sobbing yet again tomorrow. Furious, she stomped out of her room.
Crossing the dark hallway, which wasn’t even lit by a single wall lamp, she could now hear muffled voices from downstairs. As she reached the landing, her eyes were suddenly hit by a bright light.
Squinting, she peered down at the scene below.
“I told you I’ll pay it back!”
“Pay it back? How many times have we heard that, Sir Devon? Just by looking at this place, it’s clear there’s no money to be found here.”
“How dare you speak of a noble house in that manner!”
“Whether you’re a count or a commoner, if you enjoyed spending other people’s money, you need to repay it.”
Courtney scanned the scene in the hall with a cold gaze. Frederick lay sprawled on the floor, looking as filthy as if he’d just been dragged out of a dust heap. There was no trace of noble dignity in his disgraceful state.
Surrounding him were a group of rough-looking men. They were better dressed than the typical thugs who guarded gambling dens—almost elegant, like well-dressed footmen of a noble house.
The reason for the sudden brightness in the room became clear—two of the men were holding magical lamps, their bright light casting harsh shadows. They looked far too well-off for commoners to be using just to light their way at night.
Courtney took a deep breath and spoke in a clear voice.
“What’s going on here?”
All the men’s eyes turned toward the staircase.
Despite feeling terrified inside, Courtney forced herself to walk down with a calm exterior.
As she descended the stairs, Frederick’s eyes lit up, as if he had just found his savior. There was no trace of shame at showing his younger sister such a pitiful sight—though Courtney hadn’t expected anything at all from that wretch.
The tall man who had been berating Frederick tilted his head with a sneer and spoke.
“And who might you be?”
“I am Courtney Devon, his younger sister.”
“Ah.”
Whatever hint of wariness he had vanished instantly. If these men had no respect for the eldest son of the household, they certainly wouldn’t show any for his younger sister.
Courtney glanced at Frederick. His face was a mess of bruises and scrapes, clearly from being beaten or perhaps having rolled around somewhere filthy. It was his own fault, as always.
The man spoke again in a mocking tone.
“So, are you going to repay your brother’s debt?”
“It’s late. Come back during the day. Everyone’s asleep…”
Bang—
The man stomped his foot loudly, the impact echoing. Something embedded in the sole of his shoe made the sound even more jarring.
Despite her earlier composure, Courtney flinched, her shoulders jerking.
“Do you think they’ll stay asleep after that?”
“Why are you doing this? I told you, we’ll pay it back. It’s not like we’re refusing to pay or running away in the middle of the night!”
Her voice cracked with an involuntary tremble. She had dealt with countless debt collectors before and had dragged Frederick out of seedy gambling dens more times than she could count. But no one had ever tried to collect from a noble house in such a brazen manner before.
“Well, then, why don’t you pay it back right now?”
The man shoved a stack of documents into Courtney’s arms. Startled by the sudden contact, she instinctively stepped back, and the papers scattered all over the floor.
The man snorted loudly.
There was no gentleman here to pick up the fallen papers for a lady. Courtney bent down, her hands trembling as she picked up a few of the documents.
Loan agreements. The kind of documents she was all too familiar with, having seen them countless times.
But these loan agreements were on a completely different level from those in her family’s ledgers.
The paper was of high quality, with formal clauses written in elegant handwriting—clearly not the work of some lowly loan shark lending small amounts.
And, most shocking of all, the amounts listed were staggering.
Courtney hurriedly gathered the rest of the scattered documents. They weren’t just a few high-value debts—there were multiple papers, each with large sums written on them.
In a shaky voice, she read the signature at the bottom of one of the contracts.
“Marquis Mallon…”
Marquis Mallon was a notorious high-ranking noble known for his greed and for backing various gambling dens. There were even rumors that almost every loan given in gambling circles could be traced back to House Mallon.
But seeing a formal loan document with his signature on it didn’t make sense to Courtney.
“Why would the Marquis lend money to my brother…?”
“If someone asks for a loan, you lend it. He should be grateful for that. Now, what are you going to repay with?”
The man casually cleaned his ear with his pinky as he spoke. Despite his neat appearance, his behavior was that of a common thug.
Courtney quickly added up the amounts on the various loan documents in her head. It was an enormous sum—easily half the value of the Devon estate.
No one, not even the wealthiest noble, would have that kind of cash just sitting around at home.
In disbelief, she replied,
“How do you expect us to produce that kind of money in the middle of the night after showing up unannounced?”
“Then maybe you should vacate the house, yeah?”
Finally, the man revealed their true purpose.
It seemed Marquis Mallon had loaned the money with the intent of seizing the mansion at a bargain price.
