SPECIAL CHAPTER 7
Part 129
Viscount Blancha bowed his head and greeted me. The Viscountess and their children standing to his left followed suit and bowed their heads. Only Philia, who was standing to the Viscount’s right, raised her head and looked at her.
“Duchess Bigor.”
“Since I am here as an administrator of the Ministry of Finance, I think it would be better for you to call me ‘Lord Bigor’ rather than that title.”
The Duchess of Bigor was also very awkward title, but Lord Bigor. She hid her awkwardness and spoke with dignity, and it seems to have worked. Viscount Blancha immediately changed his title.
“Lord Bigor, this is my wife and children.”
Following his introduction, Viscount Blancha, his wife and son bowed their heads once more. The Viscountess was smiling, but the bags under her eyes made her look ill. She looked at Philia, who was still holding her head stiffly. Viscount Blanca followed her gaze and introduced her with an awkward smile.
“This is my guest.”
Because you are a guest. It was a title commonly used by men with families when introducing their lovers or mistresses. You have become the Viscount’s mistress, and even though you cannot even be introduced by name, you are still proud. She could have taken issue with her attitude, but I just looked away. Viscount Blancha led her into the castle, sweat dripping down his forehead.
“Dinner is ready. We have also prepared living quarters for the administrators. You can eat here.”
After Nelia and Bourbon arrived in the Viscounty, they would have told me where my room was. Even though he was suspected of embezzlement, he was the head of a fiefdom and couldn’t just attack him, so it was customary to give him a day off, but since he wasn’t there to socialize, his priority was work rather than food.
“Let’s check the documents before eating. Since they know why we came, I think they prepared it for us.”
She spoke as they entered the castle, and Viscount Blancha led them into the Viscount’s office. The tax rate imposed on the Viscounty of Blancha is 20% of the total estate income, and the noble tax is 10%. Although there are differences depending on the territory, the total tax income of a typical noble family is around 3 million gold to 5 million gold. Compared to other countries, Lorentine’s aristocratic tax rate was high, but since it spent a lot of its budget on national defense and relief, it was rare for nobles to express dissatisfaction. She had no complaints, but the tax rate that lords collect from their residents is usually around 70% to 80%. It seemed that the evil lord can squeeze up to 90% of the money. The majority of commoners who do not live in cities directly under the king’s control, such as Midok, find it difficult to escape the life of poverty. Being a city dweller doesn’t mean you have to live a big life. The pair of shoes she was wearing costs tens of thousands of gold, but the cost of food for a week for commoners is only about 1 gold. It’s embarrassing to say this to someone who has the full support of my father, who gave me about half of the income from the estate as my pocket money, and Ethan, who sets the standard for the duke’s budget, but it’s wrong. She may not be able to change the chronic dual economic structure of this era overnight, but as our King Remina is also aware of this problem, it is possible to lower the tax rate imposed on commoners to about 50%. They were working on a long-term plan together, but in order to do that, they had to instill awareness that if they got caught playing around with taxes, they would be in trouble. For this purpose, the administrative officers of their inspection department were having incredibly busy days, and that was why she came all this way on a business trip. Viscount Blancha reported that total tax revenue was lower than normal in 421 due to the poor harvest. Naturally, the taxes paid also decreased. Since it was a common occurrence and the amount was not much different, she tried to ignore it, but she felt uncomfortable and looked into it further. Other nearby territories reported flat or bumper crops, and they also received reports that the population in the eastern part of the country had recently increased.
The tax, which was normal when increased, was reduced. The old smell of embezzlement was so strong that Adrian, who was like a flower, was also left behind. What Viscount Blancha presented was the same false document that had been sent to the U.S. dock. It comes out like this.
“Viscount, what is the population of your territory?”
“It’s about 15,000.”
“What was the population last year and the year before?”
“Similar, Sir Bigor.”
“I understand that there was a movement of immigrants from the north last year. Is there a population increase only in the Viscounty of Blanca?”
‘Ah, that’s because our territory had a poor harvest, so we couldn’t afford to accept immigrants.’
“All the surrounding fiefdoms were hit hard last year, but why was the Viscounty of Blancha particularly poor?”
“Yes?”
“According to what my adjutant found out, the crops in the Viscounty Territory are not much different from the surrounding areas, and in addition, an iron ore mine was discovered in the territory. Why didn’t you report to the capital?”
“And the mine, because of its small reserves, is not producing any revenue worth reporting.”
“…Viscount.”
“Yes?”
“Are you hot?”
“Yes? No, Lord Bigor.”
“Your forehead is covered in sweat.”
At her point, Viscount Blancha wiped his forehead with his sleeve. The fact that there are only a few immigrants here, the fact that there is a poor harvest here, and the iron vein mine that is said to have insufficient reserves are all suspicious, right? If you are so openly embarrassed, the person asking the question will also be embarrassed. The Viscount’s shoulders flinched as he placed the documents he was holding down on the desk. I laughed as I twirled his bunny pen around in my fingers.
“I’ll have to see the farmland and mines with my own eyes. I’ll have to check to see if they’re overgrown and if the reserves are insufficient. That’s okay, right?”
“Yes?”
“Of course it should be okay, right?”
“Yes, yes…”
“Okay, I’ll have to look around tomorrow. I don’t need any guidance, but I’m missing a lot of documents regarding the estate’s finances. Instead of the final draft, please bring documents with detailed information by region and date. Everything for the past three years.”
“Yes…”
“I hope you’ll be ready after dinner. So, shall we go eat now?”
“Yes, manager.”
Nelia answered with a smile, and the Viscount, still sweating, led us into the dining room. The Viscountess must have paid a lot of attention, as the long table was filled with various dishes. The servants seemed a little nervous, but they were polite, and the attitudes of the Viscount, his wife and son were impeccable. Everything was fine, but Philia was sitting next to the Viscount. It’s not a big deal to have a meal with a familiar face, but this doesn’t seem like a big deal, does it? She thought it was strange when she was introduced earlier, but this isn’t a friendly family gathering where even the Viscount’s mistress can sit in, right? As she was standing instead of sitting, Nelia stood up and spoke.
“I think there is someone who is not suited to this position, Viscount?”
Viscount Blancha, who had been sitting in his seat, hesitantly got up from his seat. She said, smiling as Philia followed suit.
“An important guest has arrived from the capital, but the Viscountess is not familiar with the capital’s etiquette, so I was helping her, my lady.”
The Viscountess lowered her head. Hmm, I was wondering something about this a little while ago, but now I’m a little angry. In Laurentyne, where monogamy is the rule, bringing a mistress into the mansion and living with her would be a shameful act that should be hidden, but to treat a mistress who openly ignores your wife as a guest?
“I asked the Viscount, and a commoner answered. This is a form of etiquette I have never seen or heard of in the capital. Viscount, since you don’t seem to know, I will tell you. In the capital, no one presents their mistress in front of guests like this.”
“Lord Bigor, I just thought of your friendship with Philia…”
“I don’t know if I had any kind of relationship with that woman. Even if I did, does that give her a reason to disrespect me?”
When the Viscount couldn’t answer my question and started sweating, Philia joined in, smiling like a doll. Please do not misunderstand the Viscount’s meaning.
“Only…”
It was a story that there was no reason to listen to.
“I am not a lady, and I have never given you permission to answer. The one who must make an excuse is Viscount Blancha, who created this situation. Viscount, do you understand if I say more?”
As she glared at him, the Viscount wiped the sweat from his forehead and winked at Philia. With her red skirt covered in gorgeous lace flowing, Philia left with an indignant look on her face. She was so dumbfounded that she was about to leave, but when she saw the Viscountess looking at her as if she had sinned, she sat down.
“Lord Bigor, she came here at my request, and there is nothing wrong with her.”
She couldn’t confirm yet whether this person embezzled or not, but she was sure he has a keen sense of humor. He’s got the romance of the century. Should she make excuses for Philia in front of the displeased guests and the embarrassed wife?
“Okay. Philia was only following the Viscount’s orders, so it’s okay for me to be displeased with the Viscount, right?”
“Yes?”
She picked up the fork as the viscount made a dumbfounded look. The meal was so good that it overshadowed the unpleasant happenings. However, she didn’t have an appetite, so she finished her main dish and put down her fork.
“Thank you for the wonderful meal, ma’am.” After saying hello to the viscountess, I and my subordinates left the restaurant. The room I entered after being guided by a servant was carefully organized. I wasn’t sure if this was the Viscountess’ consideration or Philia’s etiquette, so I was a little disturbed.”
Soon the requested documents were delivered. Nelia, Bourbon, and she sat around piles of documents that looked like we needed to learn how to write them again, and whined for a while. Let alone calculating, it took a long time just to organize it by item. Time continued to pass, and Nelia and Bourbon noticed me, but she pretended not to notice and continued handing out documents to them. As a result of struggling with the numbers to confirm that the total amount was correct as calculated by Midoc, the tax amount was about 500,000 gold as originally calculated. 500,000 gold is not a small amount of money, but judging by the foul smell of alcohol, she had a strong feeling that this would not be the end. She hadn’t even thought about mining, but the number of things to do keeps increasing. She needed to end him quickly and go to Adrian. After sending the two people with puffy eyes under their eyes, she left the room thinking about going to bed. She thought she should have a bowl of rice and had a drink, so she asked the servant to guide me to the garden. Franz and the other escort knights followed behind. On a deep spring night, the pleasant moonlight fell on a well-maintained garden with a small pond. Adrian must have fallen asleep. He was the one who was always gone, and she was in the position of waiting, and now that she was in the position of the person she left behind for the first time, she realized that this is not something she should do. It wasn’t easy to wait for someone she didn’t know when would come, but I also felt very embarrassed not being able to go when I knew clearly that the person she missed was waiting for me. Adrian must have spent the past year with this kind of feeling. She needed to give him a hug when she returned.
‘Wow, Damian, it’s only been 5 days. Are you shaking like a person who has been away for 5 years?’
She was squatting by the pond, throwing rocks around, and was about to get up and go back to her room, wondering what was going on. A shadow appeared in the darkness, and Franz teleported in front of her. She peeked my head out from behind the large back panel and saw that it was Philia, with red hair flowing down in the moonlight. Philia walked in front of me and greeted me with her signature confident smile on her lips.
“Did you enjoy your dinner, Duchess?”
This girl has been so distraught from the moment she first saw her until now. Why would she want to come see her after she was chased away like that? She looked at her Filia-like smile for a while, and then she sighed. She lived her whole life as the daughter of a duke, but due to her father’s fault, she lost her identity and became the mistress of a distant viscount. She cannot possibly feel at ease when she meets again someone she knew from her days of luxury. Franz was waiting for her order, ready to bring Philia to her knees at any moment, but she just watched. Well, she wasn’t her close friend, but considering her old friendship, she understood her feelings of injustice. She made up her mind and tried to pretend not to notice, but Philia caught her.
“I never thought she would become a duchess. She was just a countess and eventually she got wings she deserved.”
‘Just a count’s daughter? Are you looking down on our family just because it’s one day? You don’t seem to know, but Ethart doesn’t tolerate it. Ah, now I don’t tolerate Bigor, and I can’t tolerate Bigor even more.’
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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