MADWD 18

Chapter 18

The vampire, Bephar, ground his teeth.

Ariella had argued back so clearly that he had no more excuses left.

He turned to the head butler standing beside him.
“Is what she said true? That she led this construction project?”

The kobold with the monocle answered in a calm voice.
“Yes, it’s true.”

Now, Ariella didn’t even bother looking at Bephar.
It was as if all business between them was finished — a complete, deliberate disregard.

She turned to the workers.
“Alright! Let’s get back to work—”

“Hold it! I said stop!”

Ariella’s face openly showed annoyance now.
“You just won’t let go, will you?”

She clicked her tongue loudly, and Bephar, offended, quickly came up with another excuse.
“Fine! I’ll admit — those kobolds might have been loafing around until now. But that doesn’t mean this project is justified!”

Even though she had given the townsfolk jobs and food, Bephar argued that it was somehow wrong.

“We barely have enough grain to collect for taxes — and you’re wasting the budget on a library?!”

His voice rose.
“Not only did you skip the Demon King’s permission, you spent money without my approval — and I’m in charge of this castle’s finances! You think you can just burn through funds like this?”

Pathetic.

Ariella’s already cold gaze became even sharper.
Now, Bephar was criticizing the wages for the workers.

Then he pointed at the materials being carried.
“You think wages and building supplies come for free? That’s all money — the Demon King’s money! Who do you think you are, to use the domain’s budget without—”

“I didn’t use the domain’s budget.”

“What?”

Bephar froze, at a loss for words. Silence filled the space between them.

Ariella’s voice was firm.
“The workers’ pay and all the building materials came out of my own pocket.”

Gruv, who had been silent, backed her up.
“This is true. As the contractee said, not a single coin from the domain’s budget was spent. She even covered the workers’ meals herself.”

When Ariella escaped from the ship, she had brought her dowry — including gold coins, which still had currency value in the Demon Realm. That was what made it possible.

With Gruv confirming it, the vampire could only open and close his mouth in shock.

There was a reason Bephar was so shaken.
In his worldview, it was unthinkable.

The idea of spending one’s own money to care for the people of the domain… to him, it was something from another world entirely.

He had simply never imagined it.

“Th-that’s absurd!”

Now he had nothing left to nitpick.
But still fuming, he twisted his lips and muttered in mockery.
“Hmph! Must be nice to have money rotting away, if you can waste it on this nonsense—”

“No, my funds are limited. That’s why I thought very carefully before taking a single coin out of my purse.”

The core of good administration was allocating limited resources in the most efficient way.

“And after thinking it over, I was sure this project was necessary. So I acted.”

Then she dropped a comment with a sharp edge.
“The real question is… how much thinking do you actually do?”

She glanced at the workers, their fur dull from malnutrition, then looked straight back at Bephar.

Her eyes were full of criticism and judgment.

Even though she didn’t say it aloud, Bephar could almost hear her voice in his ear:
‘If you had done your job properly from the start, none of this would have been necessary.’

He had been hit right in his weak spot.
He had tried to mock her, but her counterattack landed harder.

Anger burned in his chest, but he no longer had any argument to stand on.

“Oh, and one last thing — I already got permission. I gave a full report… to the Demon King.”

Sure, she had acted first and reported after — but it wasn’t a lie.

Then, with meaning in her voice, she added,
“Be careful. I think I’m starting to figure out what you’ve been up to.”

Bephar glared at her fiercely.
His pale face turned blotchy red and blue with rage.

Finally, with a sharp flick of his cloak, he stormed off — heavy, furious footsteps echoing as he left.

Thanks to the unexpected number of workers and Ariella’s special adhesive formula, the library repairs finished quickly.

By sunset, the workers received bundles of grain and went home smiling.

Seeing that, Ariella felt both joy and sadness at the same time.

‘It’s still not enough. This is only temporary. If I really want to change their lives… I have to rebuild this domain from the ground up.’

Determined, she settled into the newly repaired library.

As if the answers were hidden there, she stayed up all night reviewing the ledgers.

The accounting format was different from that of the human realm, so at first it gave her a headache…
‘Ah… now I get it.’

After reading them again and again, the system finally made sense. She had understood it entirely on her own — no one had even taught her.

If Bephar had seen it, he would have been horrified.

Once she grasped the rules and formats, she focused on the contents.

There were decades of records to review, and the sheer volume was staggering.

Then—

‘What’s this?’

As she scanned the entries, something felt… wrong.

‘Strange…’

She couldn’t pinpoint the reason yet, but her instincts were already warning her.

What was it?

That ticklish, almost-familiar feeling made her concentrate harder—

Knock, knock.

She had lost track of time when a knock came at the door.

It was the fairy.
“Lady Ariella, may I come in?”

What’s this about?

The door opened, and the fairy flew in carrying a tray full of something.
“You’ve been working late. I thought I’d make you some tea.”

Her eyes were tired from staring at numbers for so long.

After Ariella cleared the messy pile of papers and notes from the table, the fairy began preparing the tea.

Soon, a soft, fresh fragrance filled the room.

“Wow… what is this smell?”

Even as a princess, Ariella had enjoyed rare and expensive teas from all over the human realm.

But the aroma from this teapot was mysterious and enchanting in a way she had never experienced.

“Right? It’s an herb that only grows in the Fairy Forest.”

So it was herbal tea.

“The Fairy Forest… That’s where all the Demon Realm fairies live, right?”

“That’s right.”

For a moment, Philly’s expression darkened slightly.

What’s that about?

Before Ariella could ask, Philly handed her a cup.
“It’s ready. Please try it.”

Ariella took a sip — and her eyes widened.
“Wow!”

The fresh taste spread through her mouth, then exploded into her nose.

It wasn’t just delicious.

Her blurred vision from fatigue cleared instantly, and her mind felt sharp again.

As she savored it, Ariella thought:
‘This… this would sell out instantly in the human realm. No — even here in the Demon Realm, there’d be demand.’

She asked if it was sold to other races, or if it could be grown in the Demon King’s lands.

“No. This herb can’t grow anywhere except the Fairy Forest.”

And currently, it wasn’t sold outside at all.

Ariella clicked her tongue.
“That’s… inconvenient.”

“I’ve read that there have been many attempts to grow it outside the forest,” Philly said.

Apparently, several Demon Kings in the past had fallen in love with the tea and ordered their followers to try.

‘I can see why. The aroma alone is worth it.’

But every attempt over the decades had failed. The only result was enormous costs wasted.

Hiring someone powerful enough to bypass the forest’s barrier, finding land, trying to cultivate — all of it cost money.

Philly sipped her tea and said,
“This is why keeping records is so important. People tend to repeat the same mistakes over time.”

If those Demon Kings had checked the past records, they could have avoided all that trial and error.

Ariella partially agreed.

She nodded, repeating the fairy’s words.
“Right… people do tend to repeat the same mistakes…”

Then—

‘Same mistake?’

Something clicked in her mind.

That strange feeling she had earlier while reading the ledgers suddenly became clear.

‘The same mistake has been repeated — I’m sure of it.’

Even if people were slow learners, when a serious problem came up, they usually found a way to fix it.

But if the same problem kept happening regularly…

And the numbers involved were suspicious…

‘This isn’t coincidence. This is deliberate. Someone’s behind it.’

Her instincts told her she was right.