Claire Levitt.
Levitt of Levitt Trading Company, a long-established musical instrument manufacturer in the Empire.
Their hometown is in the old capital of Saint-Tejac, and they still have quite a reputation in the music world. Rean’s old classmate Elliot’s family has a lot of musical instruments produced by the company. It is a company that is not small in scale, but has deep roots in a specific field.
Claire is the eldest daughter of the club and the apple of the eye of the former president.
Normally, Claire, who was gifted since childhood, should have followed her father to learn business and music, and when she was old enough, she would have taken over the family business - if that incident had not happened.
Ten years ago, guided vehicles had just entered the civilian field. Claire's father became one of the first people to try them out because his family was not short of money. Then, by chance, he collided with a transport truck.
As a result, Claire's father, mother, and brother all died, leaving only Claire who miraculously survived.
What’s even more coincidental is that the transport truck was actually stolen, and the driver fled directly after the accident, leaving the incident an unsolved case.
Afterwards, Claire was adopted by her uncle who was then the vice president and later took over as the president.
This uncle has two children. The eldest son is named Michael, who is currently the Dean of Studies at the Second Tolz Branch and is Claire's cousin.
When she was adopted, Claire was still young and didn't think much about it.
Her uncle's family had a very good relationship with her own family. There was no filth and infighting of the aristocracy. After she was adopted, her uncle, aunt, and cousins were all very kind to her. Claire was always grateful to them.
But as time went on, the doubts in the incident became more and more troubling to Claire.
Is it really such a coincidence
There is no clear legislation in the field of guided transportation.
A cold case with no clues left.
And why she was the only one who survived.
Miracle? Man-made
The two speculations swayed in her mind like the two ends of a scale.
Until a certain opportunity arises.
Not long after being adopted, Claire gradually came out of the haze of losing her family and went to sort out her father's belongings.
In the process of sorting, he found account books from recent years.
A strange thing happened.
Although she had never studied accounting, Claire could still spot the problem in the account book at a glance.
Levitt Company is one of those companies that does not have big ambitions, but at the same time has a conscience that is rare among businessmen. It takes the route of high quality and low price, and will never sell at a high price unless the products are made of high-end materials or designed by a master.
However, there are many records in the account books showing revenue far exceeding costs, and all of them are in the recent period.
Claire became suspicious and looked through all the account books while analyzing the meaning.
The final conclusion is that some people are selling inferior products as high-quality ones in the high-volume market, while using counterfeits to pass off as masterpieces by masters in the high-end market to make huge profits.
According to the records left by my father, this person is the former vice president and uncle of the current president.
My father wanted to persuade my uncle, but at this moment, the accident happened.
The balance in her heart had settled, and Claire went to her uncle angrily.
Under Claire's questioning, although her uncle was surprised, he admitted it straightforwardly.
Because Claire lacked direct evidence and had no backers, while her uncle had already established connections with the nobles by relying on the interest chain of impacting the high-end market.
"It's useless to argue. On the contrary, people will become suspicious. How come you are the only one who survived?"
Claire, who was still a child, almost collapsed. She was unwilling and very sad.
How can a person be so shameless? Is this still the kind and friendly uncle in my memory
Our family has always regarded you as the closest people, but you—
Were all those happy times we had in the past fake
Just when Claire was at her wit's end, that adult appeared.
"Your father and I were friends during our time at the military academy. Although I care about you, I am very sorry that you came so late due to my busy schedule..."
This person is Rean’s biological father, the later “Iron Chancellor” Gillias Osborne.
I don't know why, but he has seen through all the truth. (It's not that hard to guess. Even without looking at the account book, the prime minister can get a rough idea with a casual investigation.)
Instead, he was surprised that Claire could find out the truth, and he noticed Claire's talent.
"Your kind, should we say 'holistic synesthesia'... the ability to instantly grasp the whole and the parts, this innate talent that was originally there but was revealed by accident, it would be more reasonable to think so—"
"I wanted to judge this matter myself, but I changed my mind. Do you want to use your ability to avenge your parents and brother?"
Claire was afraid and hesitated.
This is only natural as he is only in his early teens.
It would obviously be easier to leave the matter to that adult, but the smiles of her father, mother, and her brother, who was as important as a treasure, lingered in her mind.
Finally, she made up her mind to follow Osborne's advice and collect evidence sufficient to prove her uncle's guilt.
Background, motive, disguise, executor... these things that had been buried under the surface for a long time were actually found out by her one by one, which even she herself found incredible.
Eventually, decisive evidence was formed that even the judicial authorities could not erase, and finally even alarmed the Marquis of Haines, causing the nobles who had interests involved with his uncle to stop.
As a result, after a fair and strict trial, the uncle was sentenced to death and the company was awarded to Claire.
Successfully avenging the entire family can be considered a great victory.
But in Claire's eyes, this was actually a lose-lose situation, as she lost her "family" and "hometown".
He felt ashamed to face the family who had lost his uncle, especially when he knew that his cousin had changed his mother's surname to Irving.
Therefore, she handed over the "management rights" of the company to senior employees (note that it is management rights, that is, the owner is still Claire, she is not short of money but a rich woman), and in order to repay her gratitude, she entered Thors College recommended by Osborn, which is located in the suburbs of the imperial capital.
After graduation, she joined the newly formed Railway Gendarmerie and became one of the "Ice Maidens", one of the "Sons of Iron and Blood", which led to her current status as Major Claire Levitt.
“This is my past.”
During the not-so-long narration, the bottle of wine was already empty, and Claire's face gradually turned red due to the accumulation of alcohol. She was put on the ground, hugged her knees with her hands, and let out a long breath.
"Originally, I didn't intend to tell you about this unbearable past... But maybe it was the moonlight tonight and the wine you brought that made me no longer myself... I'm sorry to let you see a strange me."
"No, on the contrary, I saw another side of the major, the truest Claire Levitt." Rean shook the red liquid in his hand and smiled warmly, "I also learned why the major followed him, and why there is always a blue melancholy under the frost of the Ice Maiden."
"... Um..."
Claire's body trembled slightly as if she had received an electric shock.
Li En continued, striking while the iron was hot: "Major Michael is also... worried about Miss Claire. Although he always speaks in a stern tone, there is no doubt that he is concerned about you."
"Yes." Claire knew that. She was a very sensitive person. "Although we both joined the Railway Gendarmerie by chance, as a senior and colleague, he helped me a lot... But I didn't think I was worthy of that. I let hatred control me and mercilessly let my uncle suffer the death penalty..."
"No," Rean interrupted. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I can't help it. Claire Levitt, you are a major in the Railway Military Police, a soldier with extremely high law enforcement authority in the Empire. Am I wrong?"
"Yes, but why are you saying this now?"
"Major, what is the most important thing for a law enforcer?"
"Strictly abide by the law, be fair and just...ah..." Claire began to understand what Rean meant.
"Who is breaking the law, you or your uncle? You?"
"no."
"If the incident did not happen at the Levitt family, but at someone else's home, what would you do?"
"I will bring the perpetrators to justice."
Claire is honest.
"But this is not just a legal issue. Even if my uncle is a criminal, he is an irreplaceable relative to my brother, aunt, and cousin. Because of me, they have lost him forever. Ten years ago, they were all blaming me. After all, I did that. They should hate me now."
"No." Li En shook his head. "Major, I found a weakness of yours. The more you care about someone, the less effective your holistic synesthesia will be. If he really hated you, why would Major Michael help you, worry about you, and ask you not to be trapped in the past ten years ago? If he really hated you, shouldn't the more you blame yourself, the happier he would be?"
"Ah... this..."
"The biggest difference between humans and monsters is that humans have emotions and are easily swayed by them. Ten years ago, when I suddenly lost my family, it was normal to say something like that. I also went through a similar period, but humans are also rational. Once the emotional outburst passes and they start to think slowly, they will understand who is right and who is wrong.
In the final analysis, the cause of the incident was your uncle's selfishness, not his greed. You won't lose your loved ones. In the end, it's all his own fault. From your relatives' perspective, it's not strange for them to blame you, but as long as they still understand some sense, they won't really hate you, because it was their loved ones who made you suffer so much, and it was your uncle who owed you first."
After all, Claire lost three relatives, and you only lost one. Although human lives should not be measured by number, it is obvious who has suffered greater damage.
"If you still don't believe it, you can go directly to Major Michael, ask your aunt and cousin for confirmation... Wait, by the way, I once met a woman by chance when I was on missions in various places. I think her name was Isara Irwin. I didn't think about it in this way before. She was-"
"-Yes, she is Michael's brother's sister, my cousin."
PS: You wouldn’t believe it, but Rean’s operation is so cool.