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Chapter 23
Mrs. Green’s office, where Oliver led the way, was on the first floor of the maid’s quarters.
Rose had thought it would be easy to find evidence—surely no cat would mess up this place—but she was wrong.
[Why is it all just love letters!?]
Whatever had been carefully stored in the drawers, which Rose assumed might be embezzlement evidence, turned out to be nothing but love letters.
Moreover, for some reason, there wasn’t even a simple ledger, let alone a double-entry book.
Even if he was smart enough to not need a double-entry ledger, it was strange not to have even the main ledger.
[Where could it all be hidden!?]
The only relief was that everything was written in English.
Though some words were scribbled sloppily and there were a few she didn’t know, Rose could roughly make out what was written.
[Rose! You can read this?]
[Uh, sort of…?]
Oliver looked at her with awe, having no idea that Rose had once been a test prep student and was possessed. Rose felt slightly embarrassed to receive praise for such a skill, but couldn’t help but let the corner of her mouth lift.
[What does it say?]
[Andrew says that just thinking of Mrs. Green’s dense forest sends shivers down his whole body. True love, really true love.]
[Dense forest? What’s that?]
[Well… it’s a thing.]
[But it says he shivers when seeing Mrs. Green? That’s terrible—she has a husband.]
[What? An affair?]
[Yes, Andrew has his own family.]
Despite looking so prim and proper, this woman’s life was pure chaos—embezzlement and an affair too.
‘If all this gets exposed, it’ll be a total disaster.’
Rose felt no sympathy. All of this was the consequence of their own actions, considering the twisted characters she’d seen.
[But seriously, why isn’t the main ledger here either?]
What was even stranger was this shabby office.
[And if they embezzled enough food to starve the palace, shouldn’t there be more than this?]
The walls were so grimy that it was hard to tell if they had ever been painted, and the old furniture was falling apart—but that could be blamed on the palace not updating it.
What was strange was that it didn’t look like any money had been spent at all. Even something as minor as the dust-stained lampshades could have been replaced.
Rose searched thoroughly under the desk and on top of the bookshelves, thinking maybe cash or jewels were hidden—but found nothing.
[Maybe Andrew manages it all himself?]
She replied, but at the same time thought that would be a foolish move. What kind of trust puts everything in one man’s hands? What if he threw her under the bus?
[Andrew’s office is nearby, right?]
[Yes!]
[Let’s go!]
Since it seemed likely the two were working together, it made sense to check Andrew’s office. Rose led Oliver out of Mrs. Green’s office.
Stacks of petitions piled up on Noah’s desk—requests to cancel mandates or revisit agreements—but he paid them no mind. Instead, he thought of the nobles who had tried to threaten him but ended up getting outmaneuvered, and felt a strange satisfaction.
Sitting at his desk, Noah signed his name at the bottom of the decree on tax reform and stamped it neatly, planning to push the reforms forward.
“Are you really okay with this?”
Jonathan, watching, spoke again, clearly worried about the growing dissatisfaction among the nobles.
“What if I’m not?”
“The Duke has already met with Lady Melissa.”
“I see.”
Jonathan paused at Noah’s brief reply but eventually said what he wanted.
“It’s admirable that you aim to be the emperor, but shouldn’t you at least build some support? Surely there are some nobles who share your intentions.”
“You think anyone would support me just because we share intentions?”
Jonathan’s hopeful thought vanished as soon as he met Noah’s red eyes. Unless Noah saved the country during a war, it was doubtful any noble would accept him.
Noah, after a brief flash of visible irritation, continued:
“I’m the only one carrying the Ernete imperial bloodline, even if half-blooded. They know that unless they intend to overthrow me, opposing me to the end is pointless.”
Even without further explanation, Jonathan understood. Back in the academy, no matter how impressive their grades, nobles here would never engage with him due to bloodline.
Having struggled to even get a house as an outsider in this empire, it was obvious that even the most rebellious nobles would hesitate to deny Noah’s lineage.
“Still, you should at least appear courteous to the nobles.”
Noah considered it unnecessary:
“I have no intention. This position isn’t for that.”
While Jonathan searched for words, the knock came. Entering the room was Ein Evans of the imperial inspection office.
“What’s the matter?”
“We found out who sent Lady Rose to the Ramsdam shopping district.”
Noah stood and asked after hearing Evans’ answer:
“Who?”
Chasing after Oliver toward Andrew’s office, Rose hadn’t thought they’d find evidence there. After all, why leave embezzlement proof in an office if there was a home?
[It’s all here!]
But the main ledger and double-entry ledger were indeed in Andrew’s office. Though he’d hidden one drawer cleverly under another, Rose’s eyes immediately noticed the depth difference.
[Of course, there’s no way the ledgers wouldn’t be here.]
[Ahem. Hem. Ahem.]
Oliver kept clearing his throat, though he could have simply checked the documents quietly and been praised.
[Thanks, Oliver. You did very well.]
[Hehe…]
Even Rose’s half-hearted praise thrilled Oliver, and feeling guilty, she praised him again sincerely before turning back to the documents.
[Wow, how much have they embezzled? They’ve been skimming a lot!]
The initial amounts weren’t huge, but gradually it increased, and six months ago, a whole extra zero appeared.
‘If they’d been taking this much for two years, Noah would have noticed.’
It seemed they had ramped up six months ago. And it looked like they intended to stop there, as the related deposit certificates had been canceled.
‘It’s about time people start talking.’
But who would be allowed to escape?
Noah had never touched the servants’ rations, so Rose couldn’t let this slip.
‘I wonder if they hid money here too?’
Looking around Andrew’s much nicer office compared to Mrs. Green’s, Rose understood why he had foolishly left the evidence here.
‘Better than leaving it at home where his affair could be exposed.’
Some secrets were better left unknown even to family. Any slip could be disastrous. Thankfully, it allowed them to find solid proof.
[Oliver! Can you take the canceled deposit certificates with us?]
[Of course!]
Their plan was simply to secure the evidence and return it to Noah. But then…
“Wait, Andrew! Don’t break up! Just three days ago you said you’d divorce her!”
“Did you believe that? Are women who enter the housekeeper position all that dumb? Haha, I only pick those kind of women.”
“Uh…?”
Suddenly, Andrew and Mrs. Green stormed into the office, and a messy scene unfolded right before them.
