The Ledger of My Folly
Even after driving out that parasitic bastard, Chloe's rage refused to subside.
What infuriated her most was the sheer stupidity of Chloe Grace—how the woman had been so blinded by love that she'd handed over virtually everything, even when the deception was obvious. If her past self were standing in front of her right now, Chloe would have smacked her upside the head.
"What an idiot."
Her voice came out razor-sharp, edged with the emotions surging inside her.
"I'm so sorry, My Lord!"
Anna, who had been attending at Chloe's side, bowed deeply in a voice tight with tension.
Chloe had been so consumed by her own feelings that she'd momentarily forgotten anyone else was there. The sudden voice snapped her back to reality.
Seeing Anna's flustered, uncertain expression, the boiling anger inside her cooled as quickly as it had risen. No matter how furious she was, she had no intention of taking it out on an innocent person.
"Anna, I wasn't angry with you. There's no need to apologize. You haven't done anything wrong."
In the way Anna shrank in on herself, Chloe saw an echo of her own past self—the part-timer constantly watching her boss's mood, terrified of being fired. Wanting to put the girl at ease, she softened her tone as much as she could.
Anna looked utterly confused by her lord's emotional whiplash, swinging from one extreme to the other in the span of moments.
Not knowing what to say, she could only helplessly twitch her lips.
If she spoke, she feared making a mistake. If she stayed silent, she worried it would seem disrespectful.
"I was just mad at how stupid I used to be."
"...I'm sorry."
Even though it wasn't her fault, Anna instinctively apologized and lowered her head.
Things might have changed, but Anna still grew so tense in Chloe's presence that her expression sometimes froze completely. Chloe could easily imagine what her past self must have been like toward the girl.
She made a silent vow to treat Anna better from now on.
"Anna. When Ray visited before, did he always come with Erma?"
Chloe tried to strip the sharpness from her voice as she asked. Though most of the intensity had drained from her tone, her feet—still buzzing with unspent energy—kept pacing in tight circles around the room. If she didn't burn it off somehow, she'd feel so pathetic she'd want to hang herself with the curtains.
Anna had been watching her lord's restless circling with visible anxiety. When she finally answered, her voice was noticeably more relaxed.
"Yes. Lady Erma always accompanied Lord Ray. When you and Lord Ray had tea or shared meals, she would wait in the adjacent room or sometimes join you."
"Insane."
"Pardon?"
Anna's eyes widened at Chloe's unfiltered curse.
Realizing she'd startled the maid again, Chloe quickly waved her hands in apology. With so many things to keep track of, exhaustion crashed over her like a wave.
Still, she couldn't treat the people her past self had hurt with anything less than care. It didn't matter that the Chloe of then and the Chloe of now felt like different people.
In Anna's eyes, she was simply a difficult mistress whose moods shifted like the weather.
"No, it's just... ugh."
Chloe thumped her chest with her fist as if she might die of frustration. Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
The knock was solid and weighty. From the sound alone, Chloe was certain it was Delma.
Sure enough, the person who opened the door was Delma.
Knowing the woman must have been aware of all these details made a flicker of resentment rise in Chloe's chest.
Couldn't she have talked some sense into her?
"Why didn't you stop me all this time? You even agreed to give money to that bastard Ray?"
The moment she stepped inside, Delma was met with a barrage of complaints. Looking aggrieved, she furrowed her brow and pursed her lips.
"I did stop you. Many times. I even begged you, but back then you only grew angry with me."
Resentment colored Delma's voice. Chloe felt even more stunned.
"Many times? Don't tell me I already gave that bastard money?"
"Don't you remember? You gave him funds several times, saying Lord Ray needed it for his business ventures."
"S-several times! Holy crap, this is insane. I was a complete pushover. Do you know how much I gave him?"
"The financial officer would know the exact figures. He was terribly upset every single time. After Lord Ray took the money, he would suffer for two full days."
Just recalling those events seemed to spike her stress; Delma's neck flushed bright red.
"Argh!"
Even though she hadn't actually done any of it herself, secondhand embarrassment flooded through Chloe like a tidal wave. She scratched furiously at her scalp.
Anna looked pained at the way her lady's neatly styled hair was turning into a bird's nest, but Chloe couldn't stop herself. Right now, the only safe target for her anger was her own head.
If she kept this up until her fury finally ebbed, she'd be bald before morning.
Chloe studied Scrooge's office—which doubled as his living quarters—with careful eyes.
It was larger than she'd expected, but every piece of furniture and fixture inside looked miserably worn. The curtains, which had spent years single-handedly blocking the sun's assault, had faded so badly it was difficult to tell their original color. The bookshelf covering an entire wall was packed tight with what appeared to be ledgers and records.
The documents were bound in brown leather covers, growing lighter in color the older they were. Even assuming thirty volumes per shelf section, there had to be close to a thousand books in total.
"Wow... all of these are financial records?"
Chloe tilted her head back, mouth falling open.
"Yes. They have been kept since the moment the Grace family was first founded."
"How many volumes have you recorded yourself?"
Chloe asked, unable to tear her eyes from the shelves. Dust motes floated in the sunlight, glittering like specks of gold.
"Two volumes per year. This year marks my thirtieth."
"So you've been the financial officer for fifteen years."
"Yes. I inherited the position from my father the year you turned four, My Lord."
Father?
Standing in this room filled with the Grace family's long history, Chloe felt a strange emotion wash over her as she looked around.
She had slept here, eaten here, met people here, completed quests here—but she had never truly thought of it as a place that actually existed. She'd vaguely assumed that, just as it had appeared out of nowhere one day, it would all vanish like a dream.
But seeing records that stretched back decades—no, centuries—brought her crashing back to reality.
It seemed the Scrooge family had served the Grace household for generations.
The solemn weight of that realization helped settle her turbulent emotions.
Scrooge, however, was in no state to sit still. The sudden arrival of his lord had sent him into a frenzy of cleaning; he darted back and forth without pausing for even a second.
"You could have given me some warning that you were coming. Must you always throw people into such chaos..."
Even as he grumbled, he tapped the scattered papers on his desk into neat stacks and hurriedly scooped up the trash littering the floor. After only a few trips back and forth, the room looked presentable again.
"I wanted to check exactly how much money was given to Ray."
Scrooge's bustling movements froze.
Chloe dropped heavily into the chair in front of the now-tidy desk. His eyes bulged at her words. The sight of his lord sitting there at his workspace felt utterly foreign.
"Suddenly?"
"Yeah. I need to see exactly how stupid I was."
"Oh, thank the gods!"
At Scrooge's abrupt exclamation of faith, Chloe frowned and blinked in confusion.
"What? Where did that come from?"
"I cannot tell you how long I have prayed for this day. My prayers have finally been answered."
His expression made it clear he was completely sincere.
"Congratulations on the answered prayer. Now, will you show me the ledger that recorded all my foolish mistakes?"
"Of course! I have documented everything in meticulous detail."
His excited response left her feeling slightly sour.
Did he really have to document it in such excruciating detail?
Scrooge placed what appeared to be a recent ledger in front of Chloe, who sat with a somewhat disgruntled expression.
"Wow."
Quite apart from the stupid things her past self had done, Chloe couldn't help letting out a genuine sound of admiration at how impeccably organized the ledger was.
Scrooge clearly possessed a natural genius for bookkeeping. In an era without spreadsheets, to maintain ledgers this clean and efficient was remarkable.
Looking at the volume he presented with such pride, the reason the estate had been dirt-poor became painfully obvious at a glance.
It was all because of Chloe Grace.
Chloe Grace, who had nothing of value but had still sold off what few mementos remained of her parents in her lovesick madness and offered them to Ray.
Chloe Grace, who had summoned merchants to the castle to buy gifts for Ray while her own people were starving to death.
She really had been a crazy woman pouring oil on a burning house and then fanning the flames.
That was Chloe's conclusion.
"How long has it been since I first met Ray?"
Chloe asked without lifting her eyes from the neatly arranged ledger. The anger she had barely managed to suppress began to bubble up again.
Scrooge was astonished that his lord had suddenly demanded to see the financial records, but he was even more shocked by the way she seemed to actually read and comprehend them.
Well, she had calculated the total value of the jewels Gold Rich presented in the blink of an eye not long ago.
As he watched her meticulously examine the documents, turning each page with care, anticipation glimmered in his eyes.
Having witnessed the transformation of Morta Village, perhaps his lord possessed astonishing abilities he had never suspected.
"The engagement was formalized one year ago. You have been following Lord Ray around for a little over two years, My Lord."
"She even followed him around."
"You were quite... devoted. When Lord Ray accepted the engagement, as a token of gratitude—"
"She gave him the last remaining villa."
Chloe glared at the ledger as if she could set it on fire with her eyes.
"Yes. I strongly opposed it at the time. You may not remember."
Around the time of the engagement ceremony with Ray, Chloe had behaved as though nothing else in the world existed. She had openly declared that Ray was the sole reason for Chloe Grace's existence.
Recalling that period, Scrooge let out a deep, involuntary sigh.
"I was even crazier than I thought."
"Pardon?"
Scrooge looked startled by the words she had muttered to herself.
"Never mind. Anyway, I need to take back the money and the villa I gave that bastard."
"That would mean..."