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Chapter 32
The Princess’s Palace was Princess Tyren’s private space, but the way its budget was allocated was structurally similar to that of other administrative institutions.
Once the Ministry of Finance distributed the funds, they were used to cover operating expenses and various miscellaneous costs.
What differed from other administrative bodies was that no performance reports were required, and there was no audit of how the money was used.
This was because the Princess’s Palace budget was effectively treated as private funds that the princess could spend at her own discretion.
Still, since the money was executed from tax revenue, keeping ledgers was mandatory.
Rianel, a civil servant, reviewed the records and immediately sensed something suspicious.
“Donations….”
Most of the Princess’s Palace budget was flowing into the temple.
“Was the princess always this devout?”
It had been three years since she last met the princess.
People could change in three years, but this went too far.
“At this level, she’s cutting even essential living expenses to donate.”
Some maids had even gone unpaid and had records of applying for transfers to other palaces.
But sitting here wouldn’t resolve these doubts.
“Newbie, aren’t you heading home?”
“I will.”
Since the fastest way to deal with such matters was to hear directly from the person involved, Rianel headed straight to the Princess’s Palace as soon as she got off work.
“We’re from the Special Taxation Bureau. Is Her Highness the Princess present?”
“Why are you here again?!”
The head maid truly loved that.
The next morning.
“Ugh, did I not sleep well yesterday? My shoulder feels awful….”
Wilbrin rubbed his stiff shoulder as he entered the office—and screamed when he saw a dark silhouette sitting in the dim room.
“Wah—! You startled me!”
Thankfully, it wasn’t a ghost.
“Newbie, you came in early today?”
It was less that she came in early and more that she hadn’t gone home at all, but Rianel simply nodded.
“Senior.”
“What, did you mess something up?”
She was expressionless as usual, but Rianel looked even darker than normal today.
Wilbrin grew uneasy.
“No. There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“What do you think heaven is like?”
“…Out of the blue?”
“Do you believe in the afterlife?”
Wilbrin blinked, standing there.
The question itself was unexpected, but it was even more bewildering coming from Rianel, who looked like the last person in the world to believe in such things.
“Uh… well. Do I have to answer? I guess… no?”
But Rianel didn’t seem particularly interested in his answer.
“What if this place were the afterlife—how would you feel about that?”
“…Newbie, did you get scammed?”
“Possibly.”
Only then did Rianel look him straight in the eye.
“I think my entire life may have been a scam.”
“?!”
That didn’t make it any easier to understand.
Rianel was an atheist.
She had been one when she grew up in an orphanage, and she remained one when she passed the academy entrance exam that even nobles often failed.
She acknowledged that she was smarter than her peers, but she had never once thanked a god for it.
It was simply her own luck—an outcome of chance.
At the same time, she had never denied or criticized religion either.
She acknowledged its purpose.
“Religion gives people comfort.”
When people encounter things that reason cannot explain, they turn to religion.
Saying that a loved one “died when their time came” offers no comfort, but saying “God cherished them and took them in” does.
In that sense, she could understand the princess becoming absorbed in religion.
“If only she weren’t skipping meals to make donations.”
Unless the princess loved God so much that she wanted to join Him, this situation couldn’t be left alone.
But persuading the princess was impossible.
There was no way to prove the proposition that “donating to the temple does not bring peace to the former empress’s soul.”
Even if Rianel revealed the truth of how she herself lived, the conversation would inevitably go like this:
“She is living a hellish present life.”
“Then the donations must have been insufficient… We should offer even more consecrations!”
“What I meant was that she obtained a second chance and is living an afterlife.”
“Oh my! Then we should donate even more so she can find happiness there!”
No matter what she said, she couldn’t break the line of thinking that always ended in donations.
The afterlife was a gray zone beyond the reach of scholarship.
“This is difficult….”
Still, she couldn’t just watch any longer. Even after everyone else had left work, Rianel stayed behind in the government building, poring over the Princess’s Palace ledgers.
Clink.
As she rubbed her sore eyes and sighed, she heard the sound of cups touching.
Asil was standing there.
“It seemed you could use some comfort.”
He set a teacup on Rianel’s desk. He held his own cup in his hand, faint steam rising from it.
“The cup is from my personal collection, and the tea leaves are from the pantry. There’s absolutely no risk of this being considered a bribe, so you can rest easy.”
“I never suspected that. Thank you for your consideration.”
Rianel took the tea.
It was clearly low-quality leaf tea—hardly any aroma, and the taste was bland.
“I noticed you’ve been reviewing the Princess’s Palace ledgers during every break.”
“….”
“Is there a particular reason you’re so concerned?”
He spoke as though they shared some past connection.
Asil was smiling, but he was keenly observing her, expectant.
“He’s testing me.”
Rianel set the cup down.
“The Princess’s Palace budget comes entirely from the national treasury, which means taxes. As a civil servant who manages taxes, it’s only natural for me to verify how administrative budgets are spent.”
“Oh my. Hearing you emphasize so firmly that you have no personal relationship with Her Highness makes my heart ache. You could be more at ease, you know.”
“I am perfectly at ease.”
“Did you know? My mentor had a habit when drinking tea. When setting the cup down, he would place the handle horizontally to the right, aligning the patterns of the saucer and cup.”
Rianel looked at the cup she had just set down.
She hadn’t realized she had that habit, and she hadn’t expected Asil to know it.
“Minor habits can overlap.”
“I know. I had no intention of interrogating you.”
“….”
“It’s because I grew up poorly.”
Still living under her mentor’s shadow—a pathetic disciple.
Unable to look away when he saw something reminiscent of his mentor.
Rianel didn’t respond and turned her gaze back to the ledgers.
She couldn’t chase him away, so she chose to ignore him.
After smiling bitterly for a while, Asil moved beside her and bent at the waist.
He looked like a superior checking on a subordinate—or someone suddenly giving in to curiosity.
“…Very well. I understand your concern. Even if the donations are excessive, they could be considered private expenditures, making them hard to challenge.”
His seemingly abrupt change in tone became clear when he clasped his hands together, just as he used to in his undergraduate days.
“But I know you have a plan in mind.”
Even now, he was testing Rianel—and expecting something from her.
“Pretending to be foolish now would be amateurish.”
What was needed here was shamelessness—acting as though nothing had affected her.
“Faith is a personal belief. However, if there was intent to deceive another party, it constitutes fraud. I plan to verify whether any such elements exist.”
Whether it was the head maid who induced donations by deceiving the young princess, or the temple that collected those donations—
if even one of them was implicated, she could find a thread to pull.
After digging into it for some time, Rianel finally—
“Found it.”
After several days, she achieved the triumph of seizing concrete evidence.
The next day.
“So what you’re saying is… the head maid of the Princess’s Palace has been siphoning palace funds under the guise of donations?”
Til was horrified after hearing Rianel’s report.
“Yes.”
“And you believe our Bureau should directly investigate and expose it?”
“She accumulated assets through improper means, so we should also be able to find evidence of tax evasion.”
Strictly speaking, Til just found it troublesome.
“I get that the intention is good, but do we really need to involve ourselves in the princess’s affairs?”
It wasn’t something that absolutely had to be done, nor something of great value.
Why stir up trouble that could be left alone?
“Yes.”
“Convince me.”
“The Minister of Finance is involved in this matter.”
Til was convinced instantly.
“Hey! Everyone, sit down!”
A meeting was convened immediately.
And Til achieved true enlightenment.
He realized that Rianel’s words were a source of dopamine.
“So why are we even making pointless donations?”
When there was a god in the Taxation Bureau, generously dispensing revelations.
