NLBM 08

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Chapter 8

“Madam!”

“Are you all right?!”

No sooner had I screamed than I heard the voices of the butler and the head maid.

I quickly let go of my hair, which I had been clutching, fixed my disheveled appearance, and pretended nothing had happened.

“Why are you making such a fuss?”

“We heard a scream from this side!”

“Have you perhaps suffered some misfortune?”

“You must both have heard things. I never made any sound.”

“But we definitely heard something…”

“I said nothing happened.”

When I widened my eyes to emphasize that I was perfectly fine, the two of them looked at me with confused expressions and repeatedly checked to make sure I was safe, clearly worried.

“Was there perhaps an intruder?”

“No.”

“Then where are the maids who were with you? They were by your side until I left.”

“I sent them on errands. I told Mary to bring me ink and parchment, and Rose to bring refreshments.”

“…Then that is a relief.”

“I’m fine, so you may leave now.”

“But!”

“Yes. We’ll be going, so please get some rest, Madam.”

Sebastian seemed about to say something, but Sophia grabbed his arm and pulled him back a step.

Click.

The door closed.

Once I was alone, I tossed the ledger aside and grabbed my hair with both hands.

“Ah. This is insane.”

They say that even if a rich family goes bankrupt, their wealth lasts for three generations, so why was this place on the verge of collapse?

The moment I looked at the ledger, my head began throbbing so badly it hurt.

Every page I turned revealed a festival of minuses.

There was revenue, but the losses were overwhelming.

In other words, the House of Hettis was drowning in debt.

“How on earth did they manage the books?!”

The South!

The South, known as a land of abundance and prosperity!

The South, where there was enough grain to enjoy lavish banquets all year round!

The South, which earned an enormous fortune from tourism!

“Why is it in this state?!”

If it weren’t for Cassian, I would have immediately accused him of deceiving me into a fraudulent marriage and filed for an annulment.

“Haah. Let’s go through this one step at a time.”

After possessing Eveline’s body, information about the South had entered my mind.

According to my memories, the South was prosperous enough to afford a luxurious lifestyle without any trouble.

But the House of Hettis…

“It’s on the verge of collapse.”

It was nothing more than a sandcastle facing a gigantic tidal wave.

Outwardly, it gave off the impression of overflowing wealth.

“But in reality… not only is it facing bankruptcy, it might even lose its title.”

I needed to come up with a solution quickly.

To regain my composure, I took several deep breaths.

Only after I had calmed down somewhat did I pick up the ledger from the floor.

“Let’s take another look and see if I missed anything.”

I needed to analyze what was causing this situation—what items the money was being spent on, why such enormous losses were occurring, and so on.

Before I met my untimely end by being hit by a cargo truck, I had worked as an intern. Remembering those days, I did my best to examine the ledger as carefully as possible.

“Could the butler and head maid be siphoning money off?”

At first glance, there was nothing particularly suspicious about the ledger.

Aside from the fact that there were several chronic debtors who had failed to pay huge sums, and that the expenses for maintaining the ducal residence were excessively high.

“Put another way, that means they could be skimming money from essential supplies.”

Inflate the original cost, then pocket the difference in the middle.

If they were making excessive profits that way, then the current situation made perfect sense.

“They seemed pretty close earlier.”

Could the two of them have deliberately set out to deceive Cassian?

If so, it was entirely possible.

Weren’t all the servants of House Hettis under their control?

“In romance-fantasy novels, it was pretty common for butlers and head maids to embezzle their masters’ wealth.”

Exactly. If their relationship was built on corruption, they would siphon off the ducal family’s wealth to squander it or satisfy their own greed.

I had nothing but circumstantial evidence, but considering the butler’s attitude toward the ledgers, which he had refused to show me until now, my suspicion was more than reasonable.

Moreover, wasn’t Sophia, the head maid, also avoiding direct contact with me except when absolutely necessary, while receiving information about my daily life through Mary and Rose?

She must have been afraid of me digging into the truth of the ducal household.

“How dare they take advantage of my innocent husband!”

Cassian was already working so hard!

Just how much had those two been taking for themselves?!

“How should I deal with them?”

Should I reprimand them in front of all the servants?

But first, I needed evidence.

Besides, wasn’t the majority of the staff on the butler and head maid’s side?

The more I thought about it, the more infuriating it became, but stopping the unnecessary spending had to come first.

Punishing them would come afterward.

“What expenses can we cut immediately?”

Just as I was carefully examining the records with sharp eyes, trying to find a practical solution—

“Oh? Today happens to be the day?”

My eyes fell upon the date for the food supply transaction.

“Ha-ha! How much is all this?!”

“A whopping 3,000 gold!”

“So the rumors about House Hettis being incredibly generous were true.”

Boisterous voices rang out one after another.

The lords who had rented out an entire old, shabby tavern clinked their glasses as they gazed at the gold coins packed inside the boxes.

“We should have done this from the beginning. Isn’t it wonderful how much we can make by inflating the price of the ingredients several times over?”

“At first, my heart was pounding because I was afraid we’d get caught. But now, all I think about is how to make everything look convincing!”

That was right.

These men were the lords who supplied food to House Hettis.

More precisely, they were unscrupulous landlords who exploited the farmers and supplied House Hettis with low-quality ingredients.

“By the way, why is Viscount Rivelt taking so long to arrive?”

“Perhaps he has a lot to prepare since he’s in charge of the ingredients.”

“Even so, it’s almost time for the transaction… At this rate, we’ll miss out on a fortune.”

Since they took turns supplying the ingredients, they were waiting for Viscount Rivelt.

As they waited, ready to make another fortune as usual—

“Ugh!”

“Viscount Rivelt?”

The door opened, and Viscount Rivelt rolled across the floor into the tavern.

“What happened to you?!”

“Were you attacked by some thugs?”

“The ingredients! Where are the ingredients you’re supposed to deliver?!”

The viscount looked absolutely miserable.

His face was covered in a large bruise, as if someone had thoroughly beaten him.

On top of that, a foul smell was coming from his clothes.

The stench was so terrible that it seemed as though he had fallen into a field of manure on the way there.

They wanted nothing more than to get away from him, but they needed to check the condition of the most important thing—the ingredients. So the lords hurriedly helped Viscount Rivelt to his feet and bombarded him with questions.

Just as they waited anxiously for the viscount’s answer—

“You’re all gathered here.”

An unexpected person appeared.

The Iron Sword representing the Empire.

The prodigy who led the way to limitless prosperity.

The union of an ancient, prestigious noble family and the Imperial Family.

The master of the South.

Duke Hettis, Cassian, had appeared.

“W-Why?!”

The lords were so startled upon seeing Cassian that they nearly stopped breathing.

In an instant, the air inside the tavern froze.

The Duke… Why is he here?!

The lords’ faces turned pale.

They desperately tried to deny what was happening before their eyes.

This couldn’t be happening.

They still had plenty left to take!

No, actually, they had only planned to do this a few more times before washing their hands of it!

Why now of all times?!

How had Cassian caught them in the act?

To keep their identities hidden, they had put others up as figureheads and avoided being traced by the ducal family.

They had even used other people’s names in their transactions so that it would appear as though a different merchant guild was supplying the food each time.

They had even received the money through layers of false names to evade taxes, so how had they been caught?

Countless questions flooded their minds, but they had no opportunity to ask them.

They weren’t even sure whether they would survive long enough to get answers.

One thought dominated their minds.

They had to escape immediately.

The lords exchanged glances, abandoned Viscount Rivelt, and hurriedly attempted to flee.

“Ugh!”

But it was a futile attempt.

Before they knew it, soldiers from House Hettis had filled the tavern.

Seeing the armed soldiers, the lords backed away and returned farther inside.

Should they escape through a secret passage?

They frantically racked their brains as they looked toward the tavern owner, but—