Welcome to the Rose Mansion - Chapter 139
The brief life of Edgar Otis quietly ended on a night when heavy snow was falling.
The funeral was simple. The Sylvester matriarch had Edgar interred in the Sylvester family’s cemetery, instead of the Otis family’s neglected and now meaningless burial grounds.
After all, the Otis brothers and the Sylvester family were distant relatives, so there wasn’t much of an issue. There were no family members who could object, either.
Neil Otis was a drunken mess even as he saw off his brother’s final moments. Clutching a bottle of liquor, he spat on Edgar’s coffin.
「 If you were going to die, you should have done it sooner. You miserable wretch, even in death! 」
As expected, the Sylvester matriarch was furious.
「 Leave at once, Neil Otis! Sylvester will not give you anything! I plan to posthumously add Edgar’s name to Sylvester, so he will no longer have any ties to you! 」
「 It was just a minor mistake committed under the influence of grief! Madam, you would be in trouble if you sent me away like this, wouldn’t you? You need an heir for Sylvester! Now that Edgar, your chosen one, is dead, that leaves only me… 」
「 I didn’t need an heir—I wanted to pass Sylvester on to Edgar! I would rather let the family line end than hand it over to the likes of you! 」
Neil Otis resisted to the very end, but he couldn’t shake off the strong hands of the servants. Thrown out through the main gates, Neil Otis ground his teeth in fury.
「 Just you wait. Just you wait and see what I become! The next time we meet, you’ll be bowing your heads to me! 」
Neil stormed off in a fit of rage. And all the while, Rose was quietly watching the entire scene.
After leaving Bertrand, Neil Otis’s life took a new turn. It began with a message from a maternal relative.
「 Did you know your mother had an older brother? He left home as a child and accumulated considerable wealth, and he left a will stating he wanted to pass it all to Mr. Otis. 」
And so, Neil Otis became the heir to an immense fortune.
It was an amount that would ensure he could live comfortably for the rest of his life. But Neil Otis’s insatiable greed did not stop there. He wanted more wealth, more fame.
He immediately began to invest the inheritance in various ventures. Easily swayed by the idlers at taverns, he invested a fortune in trading ships sailing to unknown destinations. Anyone with a good sense of the market would have shaken their heads at such ventures.
Yet, to everyone’s surprise, Neil Otis’s investments returned with success beyond imagination.
And that wasn’t all. The lands he purchased continued to yield bountiful harvests even amidst a nationwide drought, and a mine he acquired in a dubious deal turned out to contain a vast deposit of diamonds. Everywhere he invested, money flowed like a fountain.
The once-poor and scorned Otis was now known as ‘the man with the golden touch’. Everyone scrambled to get on his good side. Invitations to high society events flooded his doorstep every season.
Then, a great fire broke out in the capital city of Lynton. Even in the era you live in, that fire remains a nightmare in people’s memories—it was the disaster that razed nearly half of Lynton to the ground.
Neil Otis generously donated a tremendous amount of money to the recovery efforts. The king was so pleased that he awarded Neil an honorary medal. Everyone sang Neil Otis’s praises.
Thus, Neil Otis achieved wealth, fame, and power.
Having reached that pinnacle, Neil Otis now sought stability. He wanted a virtuous wife and a reliable heir to whom he could pass everything on. It would be even better if the wife came from a noble family.
To bring a lady from a noble family into his home, he needed a splendid mansion. Something that would announce the rebirth of the prestigious Otis family’s history, a symbol for everyone to admire.
At that moment, Bertrand came to Neil Otis’s mind. The wretched Sylvester estate that had once brought him indescribable humiliation in his youth.
Neil immediately set out for Bertrand. The Sylvester matriarch, the last direct descendant of the family, had recently passed away. Neil clicked his tongue in disappointment.
「 I was too late. I wanted to make sure you experienced the same humiliation I felt! 」
Neil Otis spat on the matriarch’s grave and proceeded to purchase all of Sylvester’s land and the Bertrand estate. With the mountains of gold at Neil Otis’s disposal, nothing could stand in his way.
