Before she died, there was no one to tell her such things. Even the maids from Ostein were ostracized as outsiders, so Kaela never received any proper information.
Knowing nothing, she made many mistakes and suffered huge losses. And she was always ridiculed for finding out late. Kaela really knew nothing.
“I see. Thank you for telling me.”
Sir Renard, who was carefully observing Kaela as she spoke curtly, added.
“It seems Lady Silenster is trying not to involve Your Highness. I heard her say she would establish the head maid’s position herself. If she comes to Your Highness to tattle every time something like this happens…”
“It ultimately becomes a fight between me and the butler. It becomes a fight between me, a non-Lusenford person, and Lusenford people.”
At such an accurate and blunt statement, Sir Renard awkwardly replied.
“Yes, that’s right.”
In that sense, the new head maid, Fabiola Silenster, was doing very well. However, she was a Lusenford person. So she could never be Kaela’s person.
“There must have been another friction today. They’re busy preparing to meet the investigator, but old Rolf isn’t giving up the authority to purchase tableware or expensive ingredients. Using the excuse that a head chef hasn’t been decided yet.”
The head maid could have come to Kaela and asked her to quickly appoint a head chef since the butler was behaving this way, but she hadn’t said a word about it to Kaela yet.
“You really don’t miss anything, Sir.”
“Thank you for the compliment. May I say one more thing?”
Kaela looked at Sir Renard.
“I really like how the head chefs have been changing lately. Among them, the chef around the time Lady Ravalley arrived had the best skills. It was really delicious, Your Highness.”
“Is the cook currently in charge of the kitchen not good?”
“Well, he’s good, but…”
That means he’s not great.
“I think I prefer the Crain style rather than the Lusenford style. And when I visited the kitchen, that chef at the time made me a salmon dish, saying it was a southern style. There was cream with dried tomatoes, and it was really…”
Kaela smiled unknowingly. It’s an Ostein-style grilled dish. It was something she used to enjoy eating in her hometown.
“It has a good flavor.”
“Yes! With lemon added, it was very refreshing to eat. It had been a long time since I had fish that wasn’t fishy, so I was happy. I don’t know where or how they got the lemon and dried tomatoes, though.”
“Do you consider food important, Sir?”
“It’s the joy of my life, Your Highness.”
“I’m glad to hear that. The Grand Duke also liked that chef, so he’ll be appointed as the head chef right away. He starts tomorrow.”
“Ah… You’ve saved a knight’s life, Your Highness! Finally, in this dreary place, I’ll have at least one joy in life…”
Cecile was looking at him, wondering how there could be such a frivolous knight, when Sir Renard stopped mid-sentence and stared blankly. Sir Renard carefully asked about the fact he had just realized.
“…So, is that why the head maid went after old Rolf today, saying she needed to purchase tableware and ingredients?”
Instead of answering, Kaela gave an ambiguous smile that was hard to read. The Grand Duchess, not receiving proper treatment as a Grand Duchess, was becoming more cunning day by day.
When wronged, she learned from it. Even if she wasn’t skilled in politics and scheming, she became somewhat capable. Though her heart grew weary faster than that.
Sir Renard was about to open his mouth wide when he saw the door opening while his mouth was still agape.
“Your Highness, the head maid is here.”
“Let her in.”
The head maid, Lady Silenster, who brought in the cool outside air, was the wife of a knight but was more knightly herself. She showed her respect and then raised her head. Judging by her flushed face, she seemed quite angry.
Sir Renard thought, ‘They must have had a fight.’
“Your Highness. Please dismiss those around you. I have an urgent matter to discuss.”
Kaela looked at Cecile, Denise, and Sir Renard before saying, “They are all my people. What I need to know, they eventually need to know too. What’s the matter?”
Lady Silenster eyed Sir Renard particularly suspiciously, then spoke as if she had no choice. “I’m very sorry to bring this up at this time, Your Highness.”
Kaela wondered if she had come to report that the butler was still not relinquishing power.
“…It’s a truly unfortunate matter, but I request a private audience.”
“Clear the room. Everyone, leave.”
Finally, in the Grand Duchess’s office, now empty of maids and Sir Renard, Kaela faced the head maid she had appointed. Lady Silenster lowered her voice and spoke in one breath.
“The butler is suspicious.”
“In what way?”
“He keeps holding onto tasks that should be done by the head maid, so I checked, and His Highness the Grand Duke had already ordered that the head maid’s rights be transferred to Your Highness. When I confronted him about this, he evaded the issue and acted frustratingly obtuse.”
Lady Silenster pulled something out from between the folds of her wide dress.
“I’ve simply taken the ledgers and food inventory logs that I’ll use, the ones previously used by the former chef and butler. The problem is that the numbers don’t match at all with the budget I know.”
“How do they not match?”
“It’s short. Significantly so. With this, we can’t properly host the investigators.”
Kaela pursed her lips and then relaxed them. Lady Silenster, who had bravely stolen the documents, was fuming with anger at this shocking new discovery.
“We’ll need to fill the budget first, then.”
“No, Your Highness. An investigation should come first. This is embezzlement. You must investigate thoroughly. Please let me handle it.”
Just then, there was a polite knock at the door.
“Your Highness. It’s Renard. There’s an urgent matter.”
“Come in.”
As soon as the door opened, Sir Renard poked his head in.
“I apologize for interrupting, but the investigators from Crania have arrived.”
They’ve finally come. Kaela looked at Lady Silenster again. She was looking at the Grand Duchess with eyes that said this must be investigated.
Perhaps there might be one more person who could be on Kaela’s side in this matter.
