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Chapter 15
“For reference, the detailed items of the unpaid taxes are written in the attached documents. If you have further questions, please refer to them.”
Vanessa’s lips quivered, then shut tight.
It seemed her business in this mansion was now over.
Lianel slung her work bag over her shoulder. At that moment, Vanessa shouted with reddened eyes.
“I held back all this time for the sake of the late duchess… but you have no idea why you even came to this mansion, do you? Did you come here to turn the whole place upside down? How could you be so inconsiderate on a day like today?”
She spoke so, even though she herself didn’t even know what yesterday had been.
“The duchess spent her childhood in the temple. She lived her whole life upholding honesty and integrity as her core values. If she knew that the filthy problems hidden in the family were being resolved, she would be happier than anyone.”
Lianel paused briefly to choose her words before adding more.
“Those taxes have already passed their deadline. The longer the delay, the more interest will accumulate. It would be best to pay them as soon as possible.”
Vanessa, trembling all over, darted her eyes around.
The maids who were always under her thumb now watched from afar, afraid the sparks might fly their way. The duke looked at her with eyes colder than the north wind.
Only then did Vanessa realize the situation was real and that she had no way to escape it.
“W-Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”
She shrieked. All the money she earned from the hotel business had been spent on luxury goods, leaving her practically penniless.
“You have no money?”
“That’s right!”
The moment Vanessa stiffly raised her chin—
“You needn’t worry.”
Lianel added calmly—so calmly that it sounded all the more cruel.
“The Taxation Bureau accepts payment in kind if the taxpayer has no cash.”
“…”
In other words, property tax payment.
There was even a term that existed specifically for delinquent taxpayers who lacked cash.
The mansion Lianel left behind was silent.
Like the stillness at the center of a storm, right before the raging winds sweep everything away.
In the middle of it—
“…Haa.”
The duke skimmed through the documents Lianel had left behind, then looked at the two people before him.
Two—because Rupert had quietly slipped in to stand beside Vanessa.
His son, who at some point stopped asserting anything at all, doing nothing but staring at his fiancée.
That unchanging behavior had never felt as bothersome as it did today.
Eventually, the duke clicked his tongue.
“Deeply disappointing.”
Vanessa flinched as though struck by lightning.
The duke did not mind that Rupert had given some of his assets to Vanessa.
It had originally been Rupert’s property to begin with.
However, he believed the messy problems related to that should have been handled by them. Or they should’ve at least shown some intent to fix things afterward.
But Rupert, and the woman he had chosen, did nothing except watch his expressions.
Pathetic.
The duke tossed the documents onto the table.
“The delinquent tax issue is something the two of you caused. Resolve it yourselves. I will not tolerate a delinquent taxpayer bearing the name of Vinsenhaim.”
“…”
“Did you understand?”
The small scrap of hope Vanessa had held onto froze solid.
But arguing back would only bring greater trouble, so she bowed her head.
“…Yes, Father.”
“You may go.”
Rupert still said nothing until the end.
He simply followed his fiancée out the door, powerless.
The office fell quiet again.
The duke rubbed his temples and sighed.
Lately, he had been thinking of his childhood.
His own father had tried to tame him with control and pressure—
To raise him into the ‘perfect son’ he desired.
When he had said he wanted to marry an orphan from the temple, it was only natural that the household had been thrown into chaos.
Perhaps because he grew up with parents like that…
The duke had vowed not to suffocate his own children.
He tried his best to respect their wishes and help them walk the paths they wanted.
“…Was I wrong?”
Should he have opposed Rupert’s engagement to Vanessa?
Should he have stopped Lianel when she said she wanted to leave the mansion?
He had no idea where things had gone wrong.
“Haa…”
The duke’s sigh weighed heavily on the mansion’s air.
At the Taxation Bureau, the staff kept glancing toward the door.
As though they had clocks embedded in their heads, they noticed immediately that Lianel—who always arrived ten minutes early—had not shown up for the second day in a row.
‘It’s already noon.’
She hadn’t even been here a month.
But they had already become accustomed to the presence of Lianel, who handled everything mechanically with a robotic voice and efficiency.
They had even grown fond of the convenience that “machine” provided.
Her absence felt all the more glaring.
Someone finally voiced their anxiety.
“She’s not… actually quitting, right?”
“No way. I checked the team leader’s desk—there wasn’t even a scrap of anything resembling a resignation letter. Don’t worry.”
A few sighed in relief, but others still doubted.
“Even if she didn’t resign, transfer is still possible, isn’t it?”
“Or maybe she’s out interviewing somewhere? These days, most people secure their next position before quitting cold.”
Those who had barely regained their composure began to stir again. The absence of their newbie suddenly took on a different meaning.
“What? Our newbie is leaving?”
“We don’t even know anything for sure yet—stop speculating. What if she comes in while you’re saying that…?”
Wilbrin tried to calm the unrest, but the anxiety had already spread like fire through the entire department.
“Why would she even stay here anyway? With her skills, other departments would fight to take her.”
Tasty fruit is desired by all.
Anxious, people began tapping their feet.
“Damn, we can’t lose our newbie…”
“We’re one of the least popular departments—new recruits rarely come here.”
Then they began reviewing one by one: reasons the newbie might want to leave the Taxation Bureau.
‘What about the welcome party?’
They never held one. Their department wasn’t friendly enough for that. So skip.
‘What about the incident with the other department?’
When Cedric picked a fight with her, Wilbrin stepped in first, and then the Bureau Director supported her.
So that part was fine.
‘Then what about when she first joined and was still settling in?’
Here they could not give themselves a high score.
During that crucial first impression period, they had all been eager to keep their distance from Lianel.
“Come to think of it, who started that weird rumor about her? Calling her a villainess and all that?”
Their gazes rolled over and fixed on the culprit.
“Mel, it was you, wasn’t it? Did she decide to leave because you spread weird rumors and ostracized her?”
“Well, if we’re going to point fingers, isn’t the person who threw the liquor-tax ledger at her on the first day more at fault?”
Unwilling to sink alone, Mel immediately tried to drag others down with her.
“You brat—you didn’t stop it either! Why blame me?!”
A harmless lunchtime chat threatened to turn into an argument when—
“I’m late.”
A cold voice.
But at this moment, a voice everyone was relieved to hear.
All heads snapped upward.
Lianel stood there with her neatly tied-up hair.
“….”
“…?”
The silence was brief.
The moment everyone confirmed she wasn’t an illusion, they surged toward her.
“Newbie! You’re here!”
“Yes. Thank you for the warm reception.”
“Right—do you need anything?”
“Nothing in particular.”
“Just tell us anything. Improvements, requests—if we can accommodate it, we’ll try our best.”
“For now.”
“For now…?”
At her words, everyone held their breath.
Even Wilbrin stopped shaking his leg.
“…Please take your seats. It’s nearly work time, and if you keep standing, others might get confused and think it isn’t.”
Which, put plainly, meant: she was worried other departments might think they were slacking.
“….”
Unable to refute her, they awkwardly coughed and dispersed. Chairs scraped and coffee machines whirred as they hurried to settle down.
Mel, sitting beside Lianel, was sipping water when he noticed something she took out of her bag.
“What’s that?”
“A business trip report.”
“…Business trip?”
Only then did everyone recall that the director had casually mentioned something about her being on a trip yesterday.
They had assumed it was just an excuse he made for her unexpected absence.
That she actually wrote a full report!
They themselves always marked such absences as business trips, submitting perfunctory reports afterward.
But Lianel’s report was nothing like their typical ones.
It was filled with detailed records of personally visiting a delinquent taxpayer and collecting overdue taxes.
“….”
“What’s wrong?”
Everyone except Mel bowed their heads in embarrassment.
‘The newbie was so sincere…’
‘And we didn’t even realize…’
They had gossiped and speculated while she did her job thoroughly.
They were deeply ashamed.
