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Chapter 9
Pesha put her quill back into the ink bottle, turned her whole body toward Philia, and pressed her for an answer.
Philia replied in a hushed voice, as if the butler might still be somewhere nearby.
“The butler… didn’t get his position through a proper interview. He’s a commoner.”
“…”
When a family was large or belonged to the higher ranks of nobility, they usually hired butlers from the lower nobility, such as second sons who could not inherit their family’s baronial title or baronets.
Although the internal affairs of the estate were poorly managed, the Namoi Count’s castle itself was large and influential enough to have an impact all the way to the capital. Pesha had naturally assumed they would have hired someone like that here as well.
But apparently, the butler’s background was rather unusual.
“Is that all you have to say?”
After hesitating, Philia continued.
“I heard that he has known our lord since the days when His Lordship led a mercenary group, before he was granted his title. The people who were with him back then are mostly knights, so I haven’t been told the details. But…”
“Since before he received his title?”
“Yes.”
“There is a rumor that when our lord stopped at a village during the war, he was about to fall into a trap, but the butler, who was just an ordinary villager at the time, warned him and helped him escape the danger. Apparently, he also helped our lord with several other small things. So after the war ended, our lord sent someone to the village to bring him here and made him the butler.”
“That was a good thing.”
“The problem is that after the butler took charge of the castle’s finances, the financial situation, which wasn’t very good to begin with, became even worse.”
It was an obvious story.
Owen was simply repaying him for the help he had received, and once the butler suddenly got control over a large amount of money belonging to the castle, his eyes must have turned greedy.
When Pesha nodded as though she understood, Philia seemed relieved. She lowered her gaze to the floor and repeatedly warned her.
“Even if the butler seems like a nice person… all the maids who raised concerns about this were dismissed. Of course, the butler can’t do anything to you, Madam, but…”
Pesha understood what Philia was worried about.
Even while explaining everything, Philia continued to look anxious. Pesha smiled at her.
She was touched that Philia had been brave enough to tell her despite being afraid.
“Yes, thank you. I’ll keep what you said in mind.”
“Thank you, Madam. Then I’ll be going now.”
Pesha had expected that everyone here, from the knights to the servants, would resent her as soon as she arrived. So receiving this kind of kindness left her both surprised and happy.
After Philia left, Pesha fell into thought for a while.
Judging by the butler’s attitude and his refusal to show her the accounts, it was obvious that something was wrong with the household finances.
Finding out the truth was important, but the way she handled it was important too.
I’d like to humiliate him so thoroughly that he doesn’t just get punished, but is actually driven out. But is there any good way to do that?
As Pesha paced around the room, thinking hard, she happened to look out the window and see the garden.
The garden had no gardener and had been left completely unattended. At first glance, it looked green and lively, but a closer look revealed that it was an overgrown mess of weeds and all kinds of wildflowers.
“Hmm.”
Pesha slowly examined the garden. Then her eyes landed on a flower bed covered in clusters of blue flowers.
“Huh? That’s…”
That can’t be right.
Why are those flowers blue?
Sensing that something was strange, Pesha hurried down the stairs and approached the flower bed.
She hadn’t seen it wrong.
The flower bed was filled with blue roses.
The soil had even been covered with fresh nutrient-rich soil, as if the roses had been planted recently.
Pesha found this strange and stopped a passing servant.
“Do you know what kind of flowers these are?”
“Pardon? Ah… these are precious flowers that the butler ordered us to plant.”
“Precious flowers?”
“Yes. The butler spent a great deal of money to plant these rare blue roses. He repeatedly told us to handle them carefully.”
Pesha’s expression became peculiar.
“Oh… precious blue roses. I understand. Thank you. You can go.”
After sending the servant away, Pesha plucked off one of the petals and examined it. She became certain.
I might be able to get rid of the butler sooner than I thought.
She plucked one entire rose and immediately stood up.
* * *
Pesha went to Owen’s study and knocked on the door.
“What is it?”
An unfamiliar man’s voice came from inside.
It seemed the man who had already been visiting had asked instead of Owen.
Pretending not to know that, Pesha spoke gently.
“It’s me, Pesha. I came because I have something to discuss with you.”
“…”
Silence fell for a moment. Then Owen’s voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
Pesha opened the door and entered. Owen seemed to have been working, as he was casually going through some documents.
“You can go.”
The red-haired knight, Jane, who had looked unable to hide his surprise at Pesha’s sudden appearance, took a moment to react to Owen’s order.
“My lord, then what should we do about the painkillers?”
“For now, tell them to purchase more tobacco leaves. Pay a higher price for the ones harvested within the territory.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jane bowed and left. Owen lifted his head after taking his eyes off the documents.
“You said you had something to discuss. What is it?”
As usual, his expression was somewhat sullen, giving Pesha the impression that he was saying, I’m busy, so don’t bother me.
But Pesha didn’t back down.
“It’s nothing serious. I went to the garden and found some blue roses. I heard the butler had obtained them because they were valuable. They really were beautiful.”
“I’m glad you liked how they looked.”
“Yes. They were planted in a spot where I could see them clearly from my bedroom window, so I noticed them.”
“I heard that blue roses have recently become fashionable among the nobles in the capital. Do you like them?”
“Do I like them?”
Pesha looked momentarily confused.
Owen lowered his gaze and continued looking at his documents.
Unlike the cold way he had spoken to her in the carriage, he almost sounded as though he wanted her to praise them. At least, that was how it seemed to Pesha.
The moment she had that thought, her shoulders instinctively tensed.
Are you crazy? Owen Namoi wants me to compliment him? Obviously, he was just asking whether I liked the flowers.
Pesha shook that thought out of her head and asked instead.
“Is it important whether I like them?”
She was a little taken aback that he would suddenly ask whether she liked them or not when they weren’t even a gift specifically meant for his wife.
At her words, Owen’s quill, which had been moving quickly across the paper, suddenly stopped.
He raised his head.
Their eyes met, and Pesha was startled. She quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, what I’m curious about is who first told you about blue roses.”
Owen looked as though he had something to say, but after hearing her question, he remained silent for a moment and searched his memory.
“I’m not sure… Perhaps it was the butler. Before I left for the war last year, he said we needed money to renovate and improve the castle, so I allocated a budget for it. I think that’s when he mentioned it, while purchasing large quantities of furniture and household goods.”
He really took advantage of a master who didn’t care about managing his own household.
Owen looked at her as though asking why she was bringing this up. Pesha answered with a smile.
“Oh, that’s a lie.”
“What do you mean?”
Owen frowned at the unexpected statement.
“Think about it. Even if blue roses really were fashionable, the butler couldn’t possibly have known about it if he was stuck here managing the castle and couldn’t leave the territory.”
