HSYR 26

Accompanied by all the keys of the count’s household and the butler, the first place she headed for was the former count’s study.

Standing before the door to the late count’s study, Wesley was overcome with emotion.

“The former count always worked here. I assisted him diligently. How many times did I haul ice and regulate the fire for him—complaining that it was too hot in summer and too cold in winter….”

Ignoring Wesley’s words, Helena inserted a key into the keyhole.

With a click, the door that had remained closed for five years swung open.

Seeing the inside of the study, Wesley let out an exclamation, while Helena released a breath she had been holding.

“Oh!”
“Phew.”

Though a thick layer of dust coated the room, nothing appeared to be seriously damaged.

“Ledgers, the ledgers!”

She rummaged through shelves stuffed with bundled documents and drawers filled with loose papers.

At that moment, Wesley called out to her.

“My lady.”

He walked to the deepest part of the study, to the large, elegant desk that clearly had belonged to the former count.

Then, from among the many paintings on the wall, he removed a plain-looking landscape painting.

“Oooh!”

Behind it was a hidden space containing documents that clearly looked important.

While Helena took them out, Wesley swiftly wiped the dust from the desk and chair with the cloth in his hand.

Thanks to that, Helena was able to spread the papers out on the now-clean desk.

“Wow, they were all here. Bank account contracts, deposit ledgers, business records, business contracts…!”

Helena’s green eyes sparkled.

“As expected, it’s only been five years. There was no way everything could’ve gone completely to ruin. Quite a lot survived.”

As she skimmed through the ledgers, she looked at Wesley.

“There must be a reason you stayed in Goha all this time, too.”

At her words, Wesley let out a heavy sigh.

“I couldn’t afford to lose Goha. The House of Ishfern holds significant shares in several businesses there. I knew it was overstepping my bounds, but I managed those enterprises on the count’s behalf.”

“I see.”

Normally, nobles appointed agents when they ran or participated in businesses. While some took part directly, it was rare unless the venture was large.

The prevailing belief was that even if things went well, one would only break even, but if they failed, the family’s honor would be stained.

The House of Ishfern must have had countless such agents.

But then the entire house collapsed.

In that situation, how many people would honestly seek out the new count—who knew nothing—and confess, “I’ve been managing such-and-such businesses on behalf of the former count, and I paid this much each year, so I’ll continue to do so”?

It would be far easier to grab what they could and wipe their mouths clean.

I would’ve done the same, she thought.

But with these ledgers and contracts in hand, tracking down those agents would change everything.

Helena swept her hand over the documents with a satisfied smile.

“With this, I can wipe out those shameless opportunists.”

Wesley was deeply moved by her confident words.

He thought to himself:

It seems the fate of the count’s house now rests in the hands of the new lady.

He hadn’t simply let time pass while staying in Goha. In his own way, he had kept an eye on Benjamin’s movements.

And from what he had observed, Benjamin seemed to have no intention of leading the house.

He showed no interest in managing assets or businesses—he was indifferent even to basic estate administration. There was only one thing he focused on:

Expanding the frontier.

To Wesley, it made no sense.

Burwood was vast. True, more than half of it had been overrun by monsters, but even excluding unusable land, there was no shortage of farmland.

In other words, frontier development was neither urgent nor profitable. It was not something that could attract investment.

Yet whenever tax revenue came in, Benjamin poured every last coin into the frontier project.

As a result, all the large and small matters within the estate that actually required funds ground to a halt.

Given everything he had witnessed, it was only natural for Wesley to think this way:

At this rate, the House of Ishfern was finished—and Burwood would fall along with it.

Then Helena had fallen from the sky.

Flipping through ledgers without pause, she chattered away in a pretty, almost sing-song voice.

“So this is the most recent ledger. Let’s set aside the small stuff for now…”

Truthfully, she wasn’t fond of managing money. Her clever half-sister Eliza liked it more—and was far better at it.

“I should grab the big ones first. The little ones will crawl out on their own.”

What she liked was exerting power, and what she was good at was squeezing people dry.

With these ledgers in her hands, she was the absolute superior—and a pursuer tracking her prey.

How could the thought of hunting down the agents who had fled after wiping their mouths clean not be appealing?

“I’ll reclaim everything they siphoned off—plus interest and a penalty for their insolence.”

As she said it, a rosy flush bloomed on her creamy white cheeks, and her glossy lips curved into an irresistibly lovely smile.

Seeing that, Wesley felt a strange, dizzy thrill.

Come to think of it… I once had a romantic notion about serving a beautiful lady.

Of course, that dream had been mercilessly crushed by the former lady—overbearing and irritable as she was.

With a curious flutter in his chest, Wesley made a silent vow.

My lady, though I am lacking, I will follow you.

Over the next few days, Helena was so busy she felt utterly drained.

After word spread throughout Burwood that the count’s house was hiring workers, people poured in endlessly, turning the castle into a hive of activity.

With more hands available, the interior of the castle grew noticeably cleaner by the day.

Helena gathered the estate’s carpenters and stonemasons and commissioned repairs to the castle.

There were countless places that needed fixing. An old castle was a money-devouring monster to begin with, and after being neglected for years, major renovations were inevitable.

She instructed them firmly.

“For now, let’s focus on finishing the basic repairs before winter sets in. At the very least, we need to survive this winter.”

She also met a new gardener.

Finding a skilled gardener in an unfamiliar region was nearly impossible, but with the help of Kurt—the former head steward—she managed to meet a young gardener who had gone independent and was looking for work.

The gardener whistled when he saw the garden, now turned into a jungle.

“This’ll be satisfying work.”

Helena could only sigh in anguish. Just thinking about overturning that jungle made her head throb.

“I almost wish the fire had broken out in the garden instead of inside the castle.”

“Haha. I’ll have it in reasonable shape by next spring at least.”

Next came the merchants.

New curtains, wallpaper, carpets… Each room required different furnishings, and every choice tested the lady of the house’s eye. None of it could be decided carelessly.

And if those were the major items, the minor ones were endless.

Jo went around among the workers, compiling lists of necessary supplies and bringing them to Helena every evening.

When she unrolled the tightly rolled lists, they were so long she felt she could swing them like a whip and hit Benjamin from across the room.

“What is that?”

Benjamin stared blankly after witnessing Helena absentmindedly whipping the air with the absurdly long order sheet.

Without changing her expression, Helena snapped the list sharply and said,

“Because I want to hit you with this.”

Benjamin looked at her with deep displeasure as she practiced her whipping.

What on earth is this woman?

Telling someone to their face that you want to hit them was picking a fight, yet Helena had a peculiar way of speaking that made it impossible for the recipient to get angry.

Ignoring her, Benjamin passed by, sank into an armchair, and began sorting through the letters that had arrived.

As he flipped through the envelopes indifferently, a glint entered his eyes.

He said casually,

“The castle’s in quite a mess. What do you think would happen if a guest showed up?”

Helena shot back immediately.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you picking a fight?”

She wasn’t joking.

The House of Ishfern was in no condition to receive guests. Anyone with even basic manners wouldn’t consider visiting until the castle was repaired and an invitation was sent.

Helena said,

“Oh, let them in. Tell them to come. I’ve never lost when someone picked a fight with—!”

Her words cut off abruptly when the order sheet she’d been swinging tore in half.

“Why did this rip now of all times?!”

Helena hurried off to retrieve the scattered pieces of paper.

Because of that, she didn’t see Benjamin grin.