Chapter 34
As I quietly looked through the ledger, I noticed something strange.
Just how mechanically was this countryside territory running that the recorded income and expenses were exactly the same every time, like they were stamped by a machine?
Of course, the detailed contents were all different. But when crops did well and income increased, there would be some strange expense that increased by exactly the same amount. During summer, winter, rainy season, or dry season, the income and expense records were unnaturally consistent.
If a family head who hated looking at accounting books saw this, they would probably be satisfied with these perfectly neat numbers.
“Something is strange. There was huge damage because most of the livestock died in the flood, so why did they buy so much animal feed afterward?”
I carefully compared the ledger back and forth.
“They bought new farming tools, and less than a month later, they bought the exact same items again in the same order? What in the world….”
Even when writing reports, if you copy and paste, you still need to change small parts. But this ledger didn’t even put in that much effort. It only looked like records were made just because someone knew nobody would care.
The internal accounting was a mess as if even the financial manager was doing things as he pleased because there was no duchess managing the household.
At this moment, I even felt respect for the marchioness of Guineiro who said she personally managed everything in the mansion.
“There are too many places to fix. I don’t even know where to start.”
I pressed my temples because my head hurt. Now I finally understood why nobles avoided looking at ledgers filled with ugly accounting records and meaningless numbers.
The next day, I called Yan as soon as I woke up.
Although I knew there was someone else managing this ledger, I wanted to confirm a few things before meeting him. During that process, I also gained an unexpected harvest.
Dalton had been managing the accounting books of the capital mansion since Ricardo received the duke title and left the imperial palace. After gathering information about him step by step, I called him one peaceful afternoon.
“Madam, I brought him.”
Yan entered first and told me that he was waiting outside.
“Mm. Let him in.”
I sipped my black tea calmly and nodded.
Soon, a man who looked younger than I expected straightened his collar and entered.
He politely bowed to me, but there was a somewhat dismissive look in his eyes.
“You are Dalton? I heard you have been managing the mansion’s accounting ledger all this time?”
I placed my teacup down while smiling lightly.
“Yes, that is correct. Is there any problem?”
“No, it’s not that. I just had some questions after looking at the ledger. My head gets complicated when I see numbers.”
“I understand. It’s not easy for noble ladies to understand complicated ledgers. You have many other important things to do, so it is not recommended to waste precious time looking at things that hurt your head.”
He spoke politely while showing the amazing talent of mocking me with courtesy.
“Is that so? But I have a lot of free time, so I have many questions about this ledger. Come closer and sit here.”
He sat on the chair in front of me with a reluctant face. Yan also poured tea into his cup.
“What part were you curious about?”
Unlike when he first entered stiffly, I could feel that he was getting a little nervous. I started with simple questions without rushing.
“I heard you are very skilled in accounting? Even though you are young, you were recommended by an impressive person. Where did you learn number analysis?”
He didn’t answer immediately, rolling his eyes slowly as if trying to understand the meaning of my question.
“I studied under Master Bentang Kuzan. If you know him, Master Bentang is—”
“Ah, I know. He is the person who founded the first accounting school. A genius who worked for the imperial palace for a long time and recently retired to train students.”
“Yes. I entered this place to work through his recommendation.”
I nodded, pretending to be interested in his story.
“Then did you ask your teacher for a recommendation because you wanted to work at the duke’s mansion first?”
“No, it was because the imperial palace suggested that someone like me was needed to help the duke’s work…”
“To be exact, Her Majesty the Empress asked your teacher. She said they needed someone to send to the duke’s mansion and told him to recommend someone. Am I right?”
Since I mentioned the empress directly even though he only said it was the imperial suggestion, he seemed surprised.
“Well… you could say that.”
“In the end, it seems you were able to work here not because of your teacher but because of Her Majesty the Empress. Did you thank her? Do you send greetings or ask about her health from time to time?”
Even with such ordinary questions, his face turned pale as he wiped sweat from his thigh.
Watching him quietly, I smiled softly again and changed the topic.
“The question I said I was curious about earlier. If you look at this ledger……”
Now feeling relieved, he straightened his posture happily.
“In Slough territory, there is a record that a baby was born and a celebration payment was given. I checked, and a total of eight babies were recorded.”
“When new life is born in the territory, it is considered auspicious, so the duke specially ordered celebration money to be paid. Likewise, consolation money is also given to the families of deceased territory residents.”
He answered with a flat smile, as if he thought I called him for such a trivial reason.
“I know. That is not what I am asking. It’s a good thing if the number of territory residents increases, so even if the celebration money is increased from now on, it doesn’t matter. And consolation money given to families who must hold funerals is a great help. I heard this is something unimaginable in other territories.”
“Yes, it is. It is the great grace of the duke who cares for the territory residents.”
His tone became drawn out, and his confidence seemed to fade.
“Then why is the number of territory residents recorded last year and this year different from the number of people calculated from the total celebration and consolation payments? Did ghosts give birth instead of people? Or did you kill already dead people several times?”
When I looked straight at him and asked, his snake-like eyes trembled slightly.
“T-that must be a recording mistake. I think I forgot what I had already recorded because I was distracted and wrote duplicates. I will check the ledger again and correct it…”
“There is no need.”
At my firm words, he flinched and looked at me.
“Because there is someone who can confirm it right there.”
Following my gaze, he turned his head toward the entrance and looked like he had seen a ghost.
“You, you are!”
The person who entered the door following Yan was a middle-aged man with graying messy hair. Wearing worn clothes and holding a hat in his hand, he was someone from Slough territory mentioned in the ledger.
“The door was open, so you must have heard everything we said in the corridor. Is what this man said true?”
At my question, the territory resident hesitated, then gathered courage and said,
“The territory residents have never received celebration money or consolation money even once. We didn’t even know such a thing existed.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the man sitting in front of me slumped his shoulders as if in defeat.
“You know who that person is even if I don’t explain, right? The territory residents have never received money, and didn’t even know such compensation existed. Then where did this money disappear to?”
“….”
He couldn’t answer, but I didn’t rush him and opened another part of the ledger.
“If it’s hard to answer, I’ll ask something else. It’s not like I only have one or two things I’m curious about.”
While looking through the ledger, I pointed out strange parts one by one and asked.
He seemed to have lost the energy to refute and only listened in despair.
Because even if he told lies, there was a witness standing behind him who would tell the truth.
Silence was another form of admitting everything.
Actually, the answer I wanted to hear most was the last question.
I closed the ledger and asked with determined eyes.
“Have you been secretly reporting everything happening in the duke’s mansion to Her Majesty the Empress? You probably couldn’t meet her personally, so it was likely through letters. Did she order you to act as a spy?”
“T-that is!”
“You dared to insult the duke and commit accounting fraud in the duke’s mansion. Even if your room is searched thoroughly, you wouldn’t have anything to say, right? Yan!”
When I called Yan, he knelt down in front of me and lowered his head.
“Please forgive me. I will confess everything!”
I smiled slightly, exactly as expected, without a single deviation from my prediction.
