Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 56 Reputation
"Any results?"

“Yes… I’ve had quite a few eye-watering finds.” Milo waved the newly revised documents in his hand.

"Let me see." Emma walked over and took the notebook from Milo's hand.

“Uh, aren’t you still preparing for your college entrance exams at the end of the semester? Why don’t you just stay out of this?” Milo withdrew his hand.

"I killed Cillian, so let me at least give you some advice."

Emma's outstretched hand remained suspended in the air, not intending to retract it. Seeing that Milo did not react, she added, "Okay?"

Milo had never seen Emma speak to him in such a humble manner.

While he was surprised, he also sensed the stubbornness in Emma's tone.

"Then let's just have a simple discussion."

He handed the notebook to Emma.

……

At this moment, neither of them noticed that little Finn, who should have been asleep, was standing in the living room with sleepy eyes, holding a pillow in one hand and rubbing his eyes with the other, looking at his older brother and sister:
"What are you doing? Is it already dawn?"

Emma and Milo exchanged a glance, gave him a "let's talk upstairs" look, and then turned and went upstairs. As they passed by Finn, they patted his head and said, "It's not dawn yet, go back to sleep."

"Ouch." Little Finn, still confused, hugged his pillow and went back to his room.

……

Milo followed Emma upstairs.

His first choice was to go into the study room.

But Emma stopped in front of her bedroom and pushed open the door: "Let's talk in the room."

You see, Milo has never been inside Emma's room before. Not only Milo and Kang, but even Finn has never been inside. The male members of the family in this house are only allowed to stay on the first floor and the clothes drying area on the second-floor balcony. The study room and Emma's bedroom are forbidden areas. Tonight, Milo will finally know which of these two forbidden areas has a higher priority.

Of course, it's not like anything will happen once you enter these two rooms; it's more of an unspoken understanding among family members.

……

Emma's room wasn't anything special.

These back-to-back apartments, typical of the working class, are all uniform in size, with somewhat cramped spaces, old and yellowed walls, and rough floors.

Emma's room had no feminine features whatsoever. The only thing worth mentioning was its tidiness, which was unusually tidy, like the room of someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Every item was placed at an unusually uniform angle and position, and even the bed was without a single wrinkle, making Milo wonder where he should sit.

After Emma entered the room, she kept flipping through Milo's notebook, very intently.

After reading through most of the content, I realized that Milo was just standing there dumbfounded.

"What are you doing? Standing as punishment?"

“I’m waiting for your opinion.” Milo subconsciously tried to put his right hand on the gun handle in the pouch at his waist, but found nothing, because the gun had already been stored in the weapons management office before he left work.

There was only one chair in the room. After Emma sat down, she gestured for Milo to sit on the bed.

"Why are you being so polite?"

"Then I won't be polite."

Milo turned to sit down.

But before his bottom even touched the bedsheets, Emma suddenly spoke:
Why do you smell like perfume?

"Body scent." Milo replied without hesitation.

"Let's switch places."

"okay."

……

So, they switched places; Emma sat on the edge of the bed, and Milo sat in a chair, and no one mentioned the scent anymore.

Emma looked intently at Milo's notes in the notebook and asked, "How did you know?" Emma blinked.

Milo raised his hand and loosened his tie knot.

“I saw it all.”

"It doesn't seem so." Emma cleared her throat, reorganizing her question: "Then, how do you plan to use this information? To make the two brothers fight each other first?"

“Actually, there is another very important matter.” Milo paused and continued, “Their old father, Edward, is returning from the capital. I heard that he is going to determine his heir. According to the royal decree, the right of succession to a title is by default to the eldest legitimate son, but the title holder can also freely choose an heir from among his legitimate children.”

"So that means he's going to choose Harrison?" Emma quickly made her judgment: "If he doesn't plan to choose another heir, he doesn't need to make this trip at all. The title is by default inherited by Dylan. Making this special trip means he wants to choose another child. Grace is impossible because she is an illegitimate child and not a legitimate child. So Edward only has one option left: Harrison."

Emma's logic was very clear, but as soon as she finished speaking, she began to contradict herself:
"Why would he do this? Logically speaking, of the two sons, Dylan is the one who truly controls the family business, while the other half is in the hands of that castor bean lady. It's impossible for the family to hand it over to an illegitimate daughter, so giving the title to Dylan is the most reasonable thing to do. Moreover, Harrison, as the head of the oversight group, obviously doesn't have enough power to stand up against the castor bean lady..."

“Reputation.” Milo immediately grasped the crux of the problem: “For nobles, especially earls who are members of the House of Lords, the family’s reputation directly affects their voice in the House of Lords. The only reason to change the heir is to maintain the family’s reputation. Edward should know what kind of person his eldest son is.”

Whether to protect his own voice or to safeguard the Sherman family's reputation, Edward cannot hand over the title to Dylan.

"Edward had no other options. He could only start now to build up Harrison's influence in the Z-altar until he was capable of accepting the title and establishing himself in the House of Lords."

"What are your plans?" Emma asked Milo.

“Now that we know what Edward values ​​most, things will be much easier.” Milo rubbed his hands together.

But he didn't go into details.

"I can handle these things myself, you don't need to interfere."

"Are you afraid I'll hold you back?" Emma asked calmly.

“No, it’s enough for you to stay home and give me advice. I can handle everything else, trust me,” Milo said earnestly.

“I believe you,” Emma nodded.

……

Emma closed the notebook and handed it back to Milo, then suddenly remembered something: "But I have a question. Since Edward has made it so clear that he intends to hand over the title of successor to Harrison, why hasn't his eldest daughter, Grace, made any move yet?"

"Didn't you say that she and Dylan are now actively vying for the family business?" Milo thought for a moment.

"This can only be considered Dylan's resistance. As the legitimate eldest son, he can only regain his standing in Edward's eyes by holding onto the family's wealth as much as possible. But Grace is different. She was never in the category of heirs from the beginning. Whether she fights for the property or not, the right of inheritance is irrelevant to her. If she does nothing, it can only mean that she has never coveted this title from the beginning."

Emma's words made Milo feel that it was necessary to re-examine the family.

He had heard from several people how mysterious and terrifying this Castor Lady was, but as Emma said, on the surface she seemed to have no reaction to the finalization of the family title succession. However, for someone who controlled half of the Sherman family business, this was clearly unreasonable. Once the title was completely transferred to Harrison, he would become the most crucial person in charge of the family's development, and the Castor Lady's position would inevitably be damaged.

“Although from a legal point of view, Grace is completely ineligible for the inheritance, the more inactive she is, the stranger it seems to me.” Emma frowned slightly. “I have a feeling that Grace is the most crucial person.”

"I will write it down."

Milo nodded seriously.

Emma's words make sense.

The only explanation can be:

"Perhaps it's because Edward is still alive that the three siblings haven't reached the point of completely falling out."

“Hmm…” Emma agreed with this deduction. She sat in her seat, staring calmly at the floor, lost in thought.

"Oh, by the way, how have you been feeling lately?"

Milo suddenly changed the subject:

"You haven't had your check-up this month, have you? Let's see if we can go to the hospital again tomorrow or the day after. Don't forget, you have your entrance exams coming up soon, so make sure you're in good health so it doesn't affect your exams."

“Yes, you don’t need to worry about that,” Emma replied softly.

"It's getting late, you should rest first."

After a brief conversation with Emma, ​​Milo gained a clearer understanding of the situation and had a general idea of ​​what to do next.

(End of this chapter)