Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Real Princess?
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The lion's mouth opened.
"We, as the guardian of the sacred Empire and father to all its people, do not forget the merits of our loyal subjects."
It didn't register in my ears.
I'd lost my troops. The 7th Legion. Everything I'd built. All gone with a single sheet of paper.
"In recognition of your contributions to stabilizing the northern front and the submission of the foreign tribes..."
Wait.
"We bestow the baronial title upon Adrian von Krushtein."
I was stunned.
What?
The antechamber stirred again. But this time, the mood was different.
"A baron?"
"At eleven years old?"
It wasn't unreasonable.
The feats I'd accomplished warranted at least that much.
There were precedents of people even younger than me receiving titles.
Princess Marian of the neighboring kingdom.
At seven years old, when her castle was besieged, she refused to flee to the end.
And she was said to have led the soldiers to a great victory.
Of course, she probably didn't command them directly, but the mere sight of that young princess standing atop the walls would have bolstered the troops' morale. After the siege was lifted, she received a baronial title.
Karl von Bremen of the east. At nine years old, for thwarting an assassination attempt, a barony.
Elise von Hayden of the south. At ten, she held firm alone in her fief during a plague and restored the people's hearts. A viscountcy.
It wasn't common.
Granting a title to a child was a double-edged sword.
The merits had to be undeniable. Any hint of doubt, and whispers of "lucky parents" would follow. Better not to give it at all.
That's why it was rare, and why Ernst hadn't received one.
Was it a gain or a loss?
I needed to think it through. I'd lost the legion commander position but gained a title. No troops, but now I had legitimacy.
Too many variables.
But at least Ernst's feelings were crystal clear.
He was over twenty. He'd seen more than twice as many battles as I had.
I was less than half his age and battle experience.
Yet I'd received a title first.
Ernst's shoulders trembled faintly.
His expression didn't change. But red crept up to his neck.
That guy...
One poke, and he might just pop?
**
But people smarter than Ernst seemed to think differently.
"Overall, it's a loss."
The moment we arrived in the room, Lize spoke up.
"Is it? Tell me why."
"No troops left. Huge loss."
"True enough."
"Information access drops too. As legion commander, frontline intel came in real-time. Not anymore. No qualification for strategy meetings either."
"What if I attend under Father's command?"
"Observer only. No speaking rights."
No gaps in her logic.
"Official ties with the Kuman cut too."
"Unofficially?"
"Can maintain them. But they'll need merits worth sticking with us for."
"The fief?"
"Baronial lands? If any, small-scale. How many troops can you raise from there? Compare to the 7th Legion?"
No good.
"The imperial family's cunning. Stripped the legion command and tossed a title as cover. Looks like compensation on the surface. But really, they've clipped our wings."
Edge crept into Lize's voice.
"Agreed."
"You agree, yet you're so calm?"
"Not calm. Just organizing my thoughts."
Lize's analysis was spot on.
Too spot on, matching my own thoughts almost perfectly.
Just one issue.
That analysis assumed I worked Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Fri-Sat-Sun.
Not short hours either. Easily twelve a day.
Honestly, that's how I'd been working lately.
Lucky my hair was silver from birth. Otherwise, white hairs might've sprouted already.
White hair at eleven? Silver's cool as hell, but white's just pathetic.
Anyway...
I stopped myself from complaining. She worked as hard as I did. Maybe harder.
"More importantly, what should we do going forward?"
"A system."
"System?"
"Procured supplies with legion commander authority, opened dealers with legion connections, signed contracts in the legion commander's name."
"I know."
"But no legion commander anymore. The trading company needs to run without you directly handling everything. Can't keep the current structure."
"Delegate?"
"More than that. Build a full system. One that runs no matter who's missing."
She wasn't wrong.
As legion commander, direct action was efficient. Authority and name value made it so.
Not anymore.
"Consider expansion too."
"Expansion?"
"Currently northern-limited. But now a baron's title. Legitimacy. For trading with other regions."
"Losing the legion command could turn into an opportunity?"
"Not quite. Loss is loss. But since we're hit, might as well restructure."
Silence fell briefly.
"Need people."
"Short on them now?"
"Running it with 7th Legion manpower. You know that. It's your planned company."
"Fair point."
Couldn't deny it.
Logistics handled by legion quartermasters. Accounting by legion clerks.
Called a trading company, but really a legion appendage.
"So, hire proper trading company staff. Not soldiers. Real merchants. Accountants. Contract experts."
"Costly."
"Yes. But skip it, and we fail."
She paused, then added.
"System over people."
I froze.
Those words.
Words I'd taught her.
People over systems? No, systems over people.
I knew their weight. Learned in my past life.
Finding someone with both skill and trust is near impossible.
The skilled have ambition. The trustworthy are often incompetent.
Those with both are already someone's or their own boss.
At least, past-life me never got that lucky.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a servant bowed his head.
"A letter from His Grace the Duke."
I took the envelope and broke the seal.
Household hiring budget.
I blinked at the number.
Looked again.
Still the same.
"This much every month?"
"Salaries paid monthly. Mainly for hiring maids."
The servant answered flatly.
Way too much just for maids.
Not recruiting a legion of them.
"Maids? New maids?"
Lize's voice sharpened.
Despite her genius IQ, she had this weird inferiority complex.
"Sure, I've only got one eye, weird speech too..."
Her hand unconsciously rose to her eyepatch.
I'd have to fix that someday.
Not impossible.
Just not easy.
Not just money. Needs the right connections.
Fountain of Regeneration, World Tree fruit.
Lots of tales, few who've seen real ones.
And shelf life is an issue even if they appear.
"We'll need to hire new maids."
Lize's shoulders slumped.
Kinda cute. But couldn't leave it like that.
"The head maid will select them."
"Head maid?"
Her head snapped up.
"Who?"
"Any other maids serving me?"
"Me?"
A beat late, her finger pointed at her own face.
"But my age..."
"You were 7th Legion chief of staff until recently."
Lize's mouth opened and closed.
Legion commander hat gone. Chief of staff too.
Time for a new hat. Head maid seemed fitting.
**
A month passed.
"Why are there so many people?"
Lize muttered, peering out the window.
"You posted the notices."
"I did, but... didn't expect this many."
The courtyard bustled. Easily over a hundred.
Half in Krushtein Maid Academy uniforms.
The rest in outfits from various places.
"Rumors spread fast, huh."
"What rumors?"
"That the ducal heir might hire them."
A spot in a new baron's house? Not enough for this crowd.
But "ducal heir"? Game-changer.
Success means salary, status, future husband. High stakes gamble.
"Ready?"
"Of course."
A head maid badge gleamed on Lize's maid outfit.
We descended to the waiting room. Murmurs filled the air.
Door opened. All eyes turned.
"Those kids... ushers?"
Whispers. Lize heard them too.
I stood beside Lize on the platform.
"Excuse me."
One bold applicant raised her hand.
"When will the head maid conducting interviews arrive?"
"Why?"
"To interview..."
"I'll do it."
Silence.
"Pardon?"
"Me. Head maid."
Murmurs erupted. Eyes darted. Joke? For real?
An older-looking woman raised her hand. Posture screamed experience.
"Pardon, but your age?"
"Eleven."
"Tenure as head maid?"
"One month."
Murmurs grew louder.
Lize met their stares. No reaction.
"Other questions?"
Silence.
"None? Test starts."
"Test?"
"Yes. Test."
She gestured. Servants moved. Papers distributed, face down.
"Don't flip. Signal, then start. ...Go!"
Silence.
Then explosion.
Over a hundred eyes blinked in unison. Some glanced sideways, others' pupils quaked.
"What is this?"
"Math."
"Math for maid hiring?"
Lize clapped.
Clap.
"What's household management? Money handling. Useless without that."
Silence.
"Begin. Thirty minutes."
Papers flipped. Sighs everywhere.
Thirty minutes passed.
"Time. Pens down."
Lize scanned answers. One sheet. Two. Three.
"Half fail. Usable from the rest? Twenty? Thirty?"
"Good enough. Interviews."
Fifteenth one.
"Next."
Brown-haired girl stepped forward. Mid-teens.
"Name?"
"Elisabeth. Head Maid."
No tension.
"Good score. Self-taught?"
"Yes."
As if to ask more, Lize tilted her head and stepped closer.
The pendant on Lize's neck hummed.
Whirr.
Low vibration. I heard it. Lize did too.
The girl's eyes flicked to the pendant.
"That..."
"Ah."
Lize grinned.
"Nothing special."
She tapped the pendant with a finger. Vibration stopped.