Chapter 48
The next day.
Serena woke up early in the morning. She had too many questions running through her mind to sleep deeply.
After repeatedly waking and dozing off, she finally got up as soon as the sun rose.
Her room had a large attached bathroom, so she could get ready without needing anyone’s help.
Just in case, she left a note for Sophia, tidied her outfit, and stepped out of her room.
The fourth floor was reserved only for her and her family, so she decided to go down a floor first.
“No one here either.”
She checked the third floor, but there was no sign of anyone.
Going down another floor, she finally ran into someone coming up from the second floor.
“Oh?”
“……!”
It was the maid who had guided her to her room yesterday.
“Good morning.”
Wanting to greet her warmly, Serena noticed that the maid had gone pale as if she had seen a ghost.
“Did something happen last night?”
Serena had told the maid she didn’t need to attend to Lianna and Daisy and could rest, so had something gone wrong?
Worried that she might have been scolded, Serena approached with a concerned look. The maid shook her head vigorously.
“N-No, no, no…! I went to report to Lord Edward as you instructed and then went straight to rest…!”
“I see? That’s a relief then…”
Why did she react like this every time they met?
Serena felt guilty seeing her trembling in fear, even though she hadn’t done anything.
“Did I do something wrong?”
When she asked, worried she might have accidentally offended the maid, the maid’s eyes widened in shock.
“W-What?! Th-That’s impossible…!”
“But why are you so scared? Am I… scary? Is my face frightening enough to be threatening just by looking at it?”
Serena touched her soft cheeks. Though her family often teased her as “ugly,” she didn’t think her face was scary enough to cause such panic.
Stepping closer, she asked the maid to take a better look.
It was such a simple gesture.
But the maid froze, stepped back in terror, and nearly tripped on the stairs—Edward caught her just in time.
“Silvia! Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
“Are you alright?!”
Startled, Serena hurried over to check on the maid, Silvia. Luckily, Edward had caught her, and she wasn’t hurt.
She just looked pale, out of breath, and shaken.
Serena apologized for causing unnecessary trouble.
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to be so frightened. I won’t do it again.”
“What did you do?”
Edward asked. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Serena scratched her cheek and explained.
“Well, you kept getting startled, so I asked if my face was scary… I also stepped a little closer.”
“I see. Silvia, it would be best to rest for a while and calm down.”
“Yes…?! Y-Yes…! I-I’m really sorry…!”
Silvia bowed repeatedly, then hurried down to the first floor at Edward’s gesture to leave.
Worried she might fall, Serena craned her neck to watch her go.
Edward also watched Silvia descend before turning his gaze to Serena.
“You must have been startled as well, my lady. Please forgive Silvia’s rudeness.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s my fault for not realizing my face could be scary. I’ve lived unaware until now.”
Realizing she should be careful now that she knew, Serena made a sad promise to herself. Edward’s expression turned bitter.
“That’s not the case. You don’t have a scary face.”
“Really? That’s a relief… But then, did I make some mistake? I don’t remember doing anything…”
She had only recently started living more like a proper noble, yet she had already unintentionally frightened a servant.
Just as Serena was about to scold herself, Edward shook his head.
“That’s not the case. There’s an explanation.”
“An explanation? What is it?”
“It might take a little while to explain. Is that alright? You don’t have urgent matters to attend to, I hope?”
“Edward, actually… I do have something to ask you. I was looking for you to clear up some questions I had.”
“I see. Then it’s best if we move somewhere quiet to talk.”
Edward guided Serena to his office on the second floor.
It was lined with thick bookshelves, making it feel almost like a library.
Curious, Serena pulled out a book. The cover read: “Rosegold Estate Expenditure Report.”
Other books were similar—records detailing how the estate and castle were managed, spending and usage meticulously documented.
“They record everything…?”
The books even listed how much flour was bought, how many grams were used, how they were used, what remained, and its equivalent value.
As Serena examined the books in awe, Edward prepared tea himself.
Sitting across from him with a book in hand, she asked,
“Are these books a collection of the expenditure reports I showed Father yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“…All of them?”
Pointing to the wall filled with books, Edward’s eyes softened.
“Only half.”
Of course, not much could have been spent in a wasteland.
“The ones over ten years old are stored separately in the library.”
“So these are records within the last ten years?”
“Yes.”
“…Father is in big trouble.”
She had thought he brought a lot of documents yesterday on purpose because of her sudden questions about money, but the pile in the cart was really just the organized ones.
Though she felt a bit satisfied, she was also worried.
“So… do I have to read all these to know how much budget is left?”
She wondered if she needed to go through everything herself.
Edward laughed at her flustered face.
“No, my lady. You need not do such work. Only those involved with the estate must check the records as required.”
Serena sighed in relief.
“Then, how much is left in the budget?”
“17 gold and 68 silver.”
“Only that much…?”
It wouldn’t even cover a month’s living expenses for a family of four. And that’s for the upkeep of such a vast estate and castle.
“Yes. Monthly expenses are around fifty gold, so we were just beginning to worry.”
“Fifty gold per month…?”
It was increasingly shocking. Her sense of economics was crumbling.
“Is that really enough? What about the servants’ wages? Edward? And since this is a wasteland, don’t you have to buy all the food outside? Surely the food alone costs more than fifty gold?”
She couldn’t imagine any inexpensive ingredients available there.
As questions piled up, Edward answered each calmly.
“None of us, including myself, receive wages. Instead, we pay no taxes. As you guessed, food cannot be avoided, so we buy cheaper items of lesser quality, occasionally helping with labor to lower costs.”
“Even so, how can you manage the estate for fifty gold?”
“Fortunately, nothing needs managing outside the castle. It’s a wasteland, so there’s nothing to care for. Nothing grows, so no labor is needed. Left alone, it remains the same.”
He spoke calmly, as if discussing the weather, with no trace of emotion.
By now, Serena felt wronged.
If the Rosegold family had managed this land for generations, why did they look fine while being exploited?
“Why live here? Without wages, eating low-quality food—why stay? Wouldn’t it be better to work somewhere else for proper pay and good meals?”
Not just Edward, but everyone else seemed in the same situation.
They received no wages but didn’t pay taxes. Taxes are normally only a fraction of earned income. For those doing labor without compensation, there was no benefit at all.
Seeing her frustration, Edward’s expression finally changed.
With a slightly darkened expression, he spoke slowly.
“The truth is… we have nowhere to go. More precisely, there is nowhere left for us to go.”
