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Chapter 17
After Chloe was dragged away by Countess Malate, I spent some pleasant time with the baby male lead. I finally unveiled the word cards I had completed.
“Let’s see this. What is this?”
“Bba-bya!”
“A horse! It’s called a horse. Clop, clop. Heeeyaaah!”
Hayden blinked.
“Neigh!”
Oh my, oh my. I couldn’t help but light up.
“That’s right! What does a horse say? Neigh!”
“Neigh!”
Oh my goodness, my child was a genius. Of course—who could become the male lead just like that? You only start showing talent at this age!
“Now, this is a tiger. A very scary animal. Roar!”
“Roar!”
His pronunciation was still messy, but the baby male lead was trying hard to follow along. Hayden grabbed his own feet and wriggled as he laughed. His curved eyes made me laugh along with him.
How adorable!
“Oh, well done! Genius, total genius! Our Hayden is the best!”
“Waaah! Mama! Mama!”
“Yes, yes, let’s eat lots of food today!”
I hugged Hayden tightly and rubbed my cheek against his. Of course, he grabbed my hair and pushed against me with his feet, trying to shove me away.
“Now, this is a monkey! Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh! Do it like this.”
I placed my right hand on my head and my left hand on my chin, scratching like a monkey.
“Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh… Cheres.”
I didn’t expect Cheres to show up right then. Slowly, I lowered my hands.
Cheres covered his mouth and coughed. He was clearly holding back laughter.
Damn it. My dignity. He could’ve at least come in when I was doing the tiger roar!
Cheres lifted Hayden, who immediately crawled over and clung to his leg like a monkey. Then Cheres kissed his cheek.
Hayden grabbed both of Cheres’s ears and began climbing.
Cheres slipped his hands under Hayden’s armpits and lifted him up effortlessly.
“You planning to become a monkey in the future?”
“…Cheres!”
At my scream, Cheres let out a low laugh. Ugh.
After Chloe was dragged off by Countess Malate, she remained quiet for a few days—then became fixated on something else.
While I was making additional word cards for Hayden, Chloe said to me,
“Duchess, I’ll take a look at the account books.”
“The account books?”
What kind of absurd idea was this now?
“Yes. I’m the Duchess’s maid, after all. It’s only natural for a maid to inspect the household accounts. Someone has to do it for the sake of the ducal house.”
“…How about just painting better?”
Chloe shook her head firmly.
This wasn’t something I had any involvement in. From the beginning, I had decided not to take on the role of Duchess in this place.
That could become a stain on the ducal house.
And yet Chloe wanted to look at that? If Borgus found out, he would faint.
“Chloe, that’s an area I haven’t even touched yet.”
“Why not? You’re the Duchess.”
“If I needed help, Cheres would’ve asked me first.”
“That’s exactly why it’s wrong! Because the Duchess isn’t paying attention, I have to look into it!”
Chloe crossed her arms with a pout. Where does that confidence even come from?
“This is something I should discuss directly with Cheres!”
She jumped up and stormed out before I could stop her. I clicked my tongue. This was definitely another case of reaping what you sow.
I dipped Chloe’s brush into the water and finished the remaining cards. Now, this time it was a plant series instead of animals.
Never again would I create such dark history. No more “ooh-ooh” nonsense.
Cheres rubbed his forehead.
Chloe’s constant whining and ridiculous demands were giving him a headache. Still, the account books were a completely different matter from pink ribbons.
“No, Chloe. I won’t say it twice.”
“Cheres, I’m doing this for Beireiden! What if the Duchess is embezzling money?!”
Chloe clenched her fists.
“This is not your concern, Chloe.”
Cheres didn’t even look up from the documents.
Borgus sighed. It was getting painful to listen. He stuffed tissue paper into his ears and gritted his teeth.
He had only wanted to test the daughter of Hezest, yet somehow he was the one being thoroughly tormented instead. It seemed he had brought disaster upon the ducal house. Chloe, in particular, was mentally exhausting.
At Cheres’s firm refusal, Chloe ground her teeth and stormed out.
She couldn’t give up here. She was the only one truly concerned for the ducal house’s safety. As a Malate, and as someone from a house loyal to the ducal family, she couldn’t ignore this.
Lunchtime.
When everyone was away, Chloe sneaked into the office. She pulled out the account books, her eyes gleaming.
“As expected!”
What she had found was the budget allocated to the Duchess.
“What is this? The Duchess’s budget is this large? That’s ridiculous! And she walks around like that?!”
Chloe trembled.
Money was clearly being wasted somewhere. She examined everything carefully. Most records were neatly organized and within acceptable margins of error.
Then the only thing left was Roana’s personal budget.
Chloe snorted and waited for Cheres. The moment he returned, she shoved the account book in his face.
Cheres frowned at the sudden intrusion.
“What is this?”
“Look! This is how much budget is allocated to the Duchess! It’s not a small amount!”
“And?”
“And she walks around looking like that! She must be embezzling it. Sending money to Hezest, aren’t you?”
Chloe said proudly, praising herself for discovering it.
Cheres snatched the ledger.
“Who authorized this?”
His voice was icy. Not only had she entered the office without permission, she had also accessed confidential records—this was a serious breach.
Cheres swallowed a curse.
He wanted to throw Chloe out immediately, but he had been the one to allow her to become a maid. And Countess Malate’s looming presence behind her made him hesitate.
Cheres spoke through clenched teeth.
“Get out.”
“Cheres, I’m doing this for you! Someone needs to check whether the Duchess is wasting money!”
“I’ll handle it. Do you not understand that this is none of your concern?”
Chloe puffed her cheeks.
Cheres finally snapped.
“Listen carefully, Chloe. If you want to interfere in the ducal house’s budget, fine. Then I’ll take a look into Malate’s household accounts too.”
At that, Chloe deflated slightly.
“Huh? What?”
“I’ll make sure every single coin coming in and out is reported properly. What you’re doing is overstepping—but I won’t be.”
Chloe swallowed nervously under his gaze. She realized he was serious. She stepped back.
It felt like she could already hear Countess Malate’s terrifying voice.
“I—I was just thinking about the ducal house!”
“Get out.”
Cheres threw Chloe out.
He let out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair, exhaustion etched deeply into him.
It seemed he needed a legal way to remove Chloe without damaging relations with Countess Malate.
Bringing Chloe in had been his worst decision.
