Chapter 66
Just as I expected, Lucas finished going through that mountain of paperwork within a week.
I glanced over the papers beside him and caught up on the contents little by little as well.
“There’s nothing wrong with the numbers and documents. They’re actually being well managed,” Lucas concluded, putting the last file down.
“Really?” I asked.
Although I asked, my opinion was exactly the same.
Devon was being managed admirably by loyal Asinov retainers.
If anything in the paperwork had been problematic, the duke would have noticed and taken action before I arrived.
‘He doesn’t have to run it himself to receive regular reports, after all.’
Just in case, I’d also done an on-site inspection.
While Lucas focused on the documents, I toured the manor and the fiefs myself, and nothing particularly stood out.
In an ordinary situation, the new lord might receive high praise for that — and if they were magnanimous, maybe even some reward.
But my situation was special.
My goal was to ruin the fief.
So I didn’t need loyal retainers like these.
“I’m going to dismiss all three of them,” I said.
“What?” Lucas’s eyes went wide at my words.
He opened his mouth to ask why, then furrowed his brow as if something had dawned on him.
“Did you feel something when you were on site?” he asked.
Lucas hadn’t toured the grounds himself. Since I had, and I’d brought up dismissals, he naturally assumed I’d found a problem there.
Though it wasn’t true, I shrugged lightly.
“Well, yes. You could say that.”
“What kind of problem?”
“That’s a little… hard to put into words.”
‘There isn’t a specific reason, so I can’t explain it.’
But Lucas seemed to think there was some very serious issue — something he couldn’t even bring himself to say out loud.
His face hardened as he stared down at the papers.
“There’s nothing wrong on the paperwork. But there was an opposite situation before.”
“An opposite situation?”
“Yes. The treasure ship investment.”
Back then Lucas had warned me against investing, saying the documents showed it was a bad idea.
But I went ahead and invested anyway, and it turned out to be successful.
“If you felt something on site, you’re probably right. I’ve already realized you can’t evaluate everything by paperwork alone….” Lucas looked down, lost in thought, then smiled and lifted his head.
“Do as you wish, Danae. The lord’s opinion is the most important, and I trust you.”
My conscience pricked at that pure trust.
‘Well, anyway, Lucas went along with my wish — that’s what matters!’
I’d worried we might have an intense argument, but things were much easier than I’d expected.
I smiled and began drafting the dismissal notices to send to the Dalgona trio.
There was no need for flowery language.
<After evaluating your job performance, we have judged you unsuitable for this position and hereby notify you of your dismissal.>
I wrote only what needed to be said and stamped the lord’s seal beneath it.
In an instant, the three retainers who had loyally served the family for generations were dismissed.
It was a magnificent first move as a cruel lord.
Unsurprisingly, the Dalgona trio did not accept the sudden dismissal quietly.
“This is unacceptable!”
“What is the reason!”
“You can’t do this to loyal retainers!”
I held the dismissal letter and deliberately hardened my expression as the three of them stormed into my study.
“I am the lord. I don’t have to explain the reasons for my decisions, do I?” I said firmly, lowering my voice. The three flinched.
In the fief, the lord was effectively king.
It was true that no reason needed to be added to an order — even if the order was unreasonable.
“We have served the Asinov for five hundred years, passed down through generations. Does the duke know of this decision?” Nadin, the officer in charge of military affairs, bared his eyes and demanded loudly.
“Revoke it at once. Then we’ll let this go as a mistake.”
He ground his teeth and looked terrifyingly red-eyed; if I’d been an ordinary girl, I might have burst into tears.
My reaction was simply this:
“Wow, are you trying to threaten me right now?”
So what if you threaten me? What are you going to do?
‘You don’t even measure up to a punch from me.’
I crossed my arms, tilted my head, and stared down the violent man trying to resolve things with force.
My nonchalant reaction made Nadin’s shoulders twitch.
He probably didn’t expect his threats to fail on a young girl lord.
“I’ve already decided. This decision won’t change. So—” I looked each of the three over and issued my order firmly, “pack your things and leave.”
The three of them stomped off to find the butler, Dein.
“Dein! Dein!”
They knocked roughly on his door. The door cracked open and Dein’s face peered through the narrow gap.
“Shh. Don’t make a fuss.” He hushed them, glanced around, then opened the door wide and let them in. They slipped inside quickly.
As soon as the butler locked the door tight, the three exploded with complaints.
“What’s up with that young lord?”
“How could he dismiss us!”
“The paperwork was perfectly in order!”
They hadn’t expected the young lord to fire them. They’d assumed he’d rely on the servants who had loyally served the family for so long.
“Dismissed? The lord dismissed you?” Dein cocked his head oddly, and the three bawled in outrage.
“He did! His expression changed and he drove us all out!”
“What a bolt from the blue!”
“…Could it be that he noticed?” Dein muttered quietly in the middle of their stomping. The room chilled as if cold water had been poured over it.
Devon’s retainers had run the fief through generations for five hundred years.
From father to son, and son to grandson.
Four influential servant families held the reins of power and managed everything in the fief.
A lord? Sure, that’s true in theory. But in Devon, that was wrong.
The real rulers of Devon were the local magnates who had inherited their positions for generations.
They monopolized all the fief’s power and profits and used them like weapons.
Without going through these retainers, no one could conduct business in Devon.
The populace knew this well.
They slipped money to them hoping things would turn out in their favor; those who couldn’t afford to do so swallowed their resentment.
Five hundred years of stagnation had rotted the water until the stench was unbearable.
But paperwork could be manufactured.
The accumulated data and know-how over the long years looked convincing enough that problems were hard to detect from documents alone.
“That’s ridiculous. The paperwork was perfect.”
“They say the lord toured the manor and the lands. Maybe he noticed something then.”
“No way.”
Retainers’ eyes and ears were planted everywhere in the fief.
If anyone spoke carelessly, the magnates would immediately hear and make the speaker’s life miserable — that was something their long experience had taught them.
If the newly installed lord had asked about retainers, no one would dare speak ill.
In fact, when the lord toured the estate, retainers shadowed him.
They reported only that the lord returned satisfied after his inspection.
So until they received the dismissal notice, the trio had never expected this fallout.
“We even tried threatening him, but that little girl just smiled like it was amusing.” Nadin ground his lips remembering the lord’s expression.
They had tried to frighten her on purpose, but instead the lord smiled as if entertained.
“We must have underestimated him. Even though he’s young, he’s an Asinov.”
Asinov. The retainers swallowed at the fearsome name.
Insight that reads hidden things, and decisiveness that pushes through without caring for others’ opinions.
Indeed, he was an Asinov!
The three fell silent for a moment, then turned to Dein.
“Dein, what should we do?”
“Yeah. Since we’ve been treated like this, you won’t be safe either, will you?”
“Why me? I’ve never used my status as a retainer for personal gain.”
“Hah, nonsense. Who’s spotless when thoroughly searched? You won’t be safe either!”
Their veiled threats made Dein sigh.
“Then try begging for forgiveness first.”
“What? Will that solve things?”
“He’s still a child despite seeming extraordinary; it’s better than outright defiance. Say it was a misunderstanding, or that it was a small mistake.”
“Well, perhaps….”
Reluctantly, the three retainers glanced at each other and let out heavy sighs.
There was nothing else they could do for now.
Watching the three hurry off, Dein smiled faintly.
It seemed a proper new lord had indeed arrived in Devon.
