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As it turned out, Medici was quite interested in the matter.
Sauron was the first to launch an attack:
"Why are all you youngsters so eager to leave the family? The Sauron Family may have declined, but surely it can still afford to support one little girl? She's already in her twenties and still a Sequence 8. She certainly won't become a demigod, and with her bloodline and status, she won't be involved in a marriage alliance either. What's she running away for?"
Traynor nodded politely, but not without perfunctoriness. "You're right."
Then he realized Sauron was asking him, so he immediately pulled out a ledger. "The family's annual debt in 1359 reached 110,000 Gold Louis, including castle repairs and hunting grounds needed to keep up appearances. To maintain the main family's standard of living, the year-end debt repayments were deducted from the branch families' annuities."
"To put it simply, the lower-ranking branches can barely afford to eat."
Sauron was unmoved. "So what? They're all part of the same family. Don't the branches benefit too?"
Traynor nodded politely, but not without perfunctoriness. "You're right."
"But after the coup, the Sauron Family's influence within the country did become very limited. Roselle published many literary and artistic works satirizing the royal family. Unfortunately, the government of the time really was quite corrupt."
"Now the Sauron Family is only equivalent to an ordinary middle-ranking noble family. Helene is still a collateral relative within four generations, but she hasn't received much preferential treatment from the family. Instead, she had to go out to earn money at a young age and even support the family in return."
Sauron's focus was peculiar:
"Why do you still have the family's ledger from last year?"
Traynor paused for a second.
He said, "Because I wanted to see