A Suspicious Scent of Something Fishy?
It smelled fishy.
After that day, I started commuting to the Emperor's study every day with Count Millord.
It had been a week since I officially dove into the field.
During that time, I had learned quite a few things. The first was that I could literally die buried under mountains of paperwork.
The Imperial Palace usually started full business at nine in the morning, but by noon, nearly a thousand documents flooded in like a tidal wave.
Without a single day missed!
Even in the afternoon, things should have eased up a bit. Yet the reality was anything but.
It was either about the same as the morning or even more.
Only two possibilities existed.
Still, the Empress, Flora, Mullia, and even Count Millord never seemed to take a break during work hours. Because of that, I stayed busy squinting at the documents instead of resting.
The second realization was that the Empress worked harder than I had expected.
As the head of state for the Eckhart Empire, it was only natural. But it clashed sharply with the version of her from the original novel.
In the original, she mercilessly purged anyone who defied her, indulged in luxury and pleasures every single day. This left the citizens of the Empire in utter chaos, causing noble families to flee in droves.
The result? The Empire fell to invasion from neighboring kingdoms.
But seeing her at work now made it hard to imagine.
That didn't mean she was any kind of wise king.
She was decisive and had sharp, prickly edges rather than a broad, inclusive nature.
Especially so during noble meetings, where I sensed that side the most.
After attending three meetings to gauge the atmosphere, she frequently clashed with the aristocratic faction. They didn't attack her directly. Instead, they grumbled about paperwork delays and staff issues across departments.
After all, it was her decision to reshuffle every department's staff.
Nobles do have something shadowy about them, I suppose. Not all, but...
Count Montersen, the faction's leader, was different. As the Empire's only duke and the oldest, he wielded real power.
He trusted that power enough to speak his mind directly about the Empress's policies. More accurately, it was criticism wrapped in a straight-man's bow.
The Empress was stubborn once she set her mind on something, so they collided often.
"Ugh... that old grump...
Once, as the Empress left the conference hall, she pressed her forehead and let out a deep sigh.
"You've worked hard, Your Majesty."
Count Millord offered kind words, and the Empress replied briefly,
"Yeah."
That had to be the knack I'd picked up after years on the job.
Count Millord had served as Chief Personal Secretary since the time when the Empress Dowager Olivia, the Emperor's regent, sat on the throne.
'I should be more like him from now on.'
For the next year, I had to survive like that.
There was one more thing I had to keep in mind.
Don't be flashy during work. Just quietly do the middle.
***
Today's main task was to finally verify the list of Imperial tax expenditures for last month, submitted by the Finance Department.
"Everyone, check with pinpoint accuracy. No errors allowed."
Before we began, the Empress warned us.
"Understood, Your Majesty!"
The Empress settled into her throne first. The ladies and I, along with Count Millord, returned to our seats.
Then came the endless paper juggling.
We banged abacus beads, double-checked calculations...
Fortunately, there were no calculation errors, so the work flowed smoothly.
"Luke. Check this too."
"Yes."
Count Millord passed me the Empress's private purse expenditure ledger.
Just like other noble families, noblewomen received private purse funds monthly. In other words, it was maintenance for their dignity.
That is, money they could spend freely to maintain their noble status.
'I wonder how much luxury the Empress has indulged in.'
I pored over the ledger with a curious, heart-pounding feeling, like stealing someone's diary.
Huh?
I tilted my head.
She hasn't bought luxury goods much, has she?
Only a few black onyx earrings and an emerald brooch stood out.
Of course, from my perspective as a low-ranking noble, both were expensive accessories. But for high nobility daughters, they weren't hard to afford.
In short, as the Empire's Empress, she was remarkably frugal.
Yet the most eye-catching expenditure wasn't that. More than half the private purse went to donations for orphanages and temples.
The donation amounts seemed a bit too high.
I was curious how the money actually flowed. But the ledger I received had no details on that.
"Um, Count Millord."
"What is it?"
Even while answering, he didn't take his eyes off the papers.
"I have a question."
"What?"
Only then did he glance my way.
"There's no separate detailed list for the donations listed here."
"Why ask that? It's a donation, it's a donation."
Count Millord sounded unbothered. But to me, it wasn't satisfying at all.
"Don't you get picky about things like this? This has been a tradition since forever."
"You spend donations from the private purse?"
"That's right."
A look of annoyance crossed his face, as if why bother mentioning something so obvious.
But I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.
Our Nedville territory also had an orphanage. We donated monthly, but the former headmistress once embezzled the funds.
Because of that, my father had flown into a rage, grabbed the man by the throat, and shaken him like a rag doll.
After that incident, we received a ledger of how the donations were used. It had continued to this day.
That was why I felt uneasy looking at this list.
Whether the donations were truly used properly.
"What are you two discussing?"
The Empress showed interest in us.
"This new arrival didn't seem to know the tradition of using private purse funds for donations to orphanages and temples, so I was teaching her."
I thought the Empress would lose interest by now. But unexpectedly, she turned the question to me.
"Luke. Any other questions?"
Count Millord elbowed my side, signaling to behave.
What to do?
Here, the best answer was to say I had none.
But ignoring the opaque details left me feeling too uncomfortable.
How should I describe this feeling?
Should I say it offended my pride as someone who had worked as a territorial lord?
The thought didn't last long.
"Your Majesty, may I inquire how the donations are being used?"
"I don't know. But I believe they are properly spending the money where it's needed."
She even trusted people's consciences in unexpected places.
But that was naive faith.
"Your Majesty, may I speak frankly?"
The Empress spoke after a moment of silence.
"Granted."
"I believe we should receive a ledger detailing how the donations are spent."
"Oh? And why?"
By now, Flora and Mullia had stopped their tasks and were watching us. Count Millord beside me tugged at my collar, urging me to stop.
But once started, I couldn't stop.
"Because there's no way to rule out the possibility that they might embezzle the donations. After experiencing a similar incident in our territory a few years ago, we now receive monthly ledgers of donation expenditures."
"Hmm...
The Empress rested her chin on her hand and let out a low hum.
Oh no, had I made things more complicated?
A sigh came from beside me. When I glanced over, the count was pressing his forehead.
I knew. He thought I'd made my job unnecessarily harder.
But I couldn't just ignore this uneasy feeling.
Especially since it involved important money!
"Your observation has merit."
Huh? She was accepting it?
I stared at her in a daze, then quickly lowered my eyes. Meeting the Empress's crimson gaze was still difficult for me.
"It was the policy not to interfere with how the donations are spent... but perhaps we should conduct a thorough audit this time."
"I agree, Your Majesty!"
Flora and Mullia both sided with the Empress.
"They say strike while the iron is hot. Luke."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I'll assign a few Finance Department staff. Work with Count Millord on a full investigation."
Well, it seemed quiet desk work in the palace wasn't in my future.
***
After work, Count Millord shook his head with a sigh.
"Thanks to you, haa...
He waved dismissively. Well, with ten mouths to feed, I just listened patiently to his complaints.
The next day, Count Millord and I left the palace with two Finance Department employees to investigate the orphanage ledger.
Fortunately, the Empress had lent us a carriage for official business, making the trip comfortable.
"We have to check ten locations today."
Count Millord, legs crossed in the carriage, glanced at the paper and muttered.
"Is it far from here?"
"We'll need to head to the outskirts. It might take some time."
His calm reply answered my question.
After that, silence filled the carriage. The two dispatched Finance staff showed no interest in talking to us, and neither did I.
I looked out the window. The streets were well-maintained, and passersby wore neat, clean attire.
'Speaking of which, Emma had asked about Deleson...'
It had been three weeks since I started life outside the territory.
Sometimes I missed family or territory life. After work, I should write Emma a letter.
After about forty minutes, we arrived at the first orphanage.
The orphanage head bowed deeply as Count Millord introduced himself.
"Yes, Your Lordship. But how did you come all the way to this humble place?"
"Ah, we're here from the Imperial Palace to check the usage of donated funds."
"D-donations...?"
The headmistress trailed off, eyeing us nervously.
"We don't have a separate ledger...
It seemed we'd need to inspect the orphanage.
I relayed the thought to Count Millord. He nodded once and told the headmistress,
"Then we must check inside whether the donations are being used properly."
"W-wait, Your Lordship!"
The headmistress suddenly panicked and blocked our path.
Her reaction turned my suspicion into certainty. The man who embezzled our territory's donations had reacted exactly like this.
"We're here under Your Majesty's decree. Interpreting our presence as blocking the way as refusal, could that be right?"
I spoke up this time. The headmistress's face turned pale. But because I mentioned the imperial decree, she quickly stepped aside.
Count Millord and I, along with the two Finance staff, inspected the orphanage's operations. The headmistress's room was filled with lavish items, while the children wore ragged clothes.
Even worse, nearly half the children were so malnourished they skipped meals.
"You've been embezzling the donations, haven't you?"
The headmistress collapsed flat at the sarcasm.
"P-please spare me, Your Lordship."
But watching her grovel made me chuckle.
"You should have done it properly from the start."