YMLTM 10

Chapter 10

I let out a heavy sigh while looking at the stacked boxes.

It seemed I would have to check every single one myself.

If I carelessly put them up for auction without verifying them, the ducal house might end up being branded as treasure thieves.

“Everything has been sorted.”

“Good. Let’s start from here. Open them.”

“Yes.”

At my signal, the servants carefully opened the boxes one by one.

“Gasp!”

“My goodness…”

“So this is Izeria No. 406. We’ll need to keep this one separately.”

I immediately told them to open the next box.

There were so many that it looked like it would take quite a while to sort through all of them.

“Oh my…”

“That necklace, isn’t that the one from the Taitonic?”

Every time a box was opened, the servants kept gasping in admiration.

I checked dozens of boxes one by one and assigned the gemstones to their proper places.

“Put this in storage.”

“Yes.”

After checking the final jewelry box, I was finally able to sit down and rest.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Something cold.”

“Yes.”

I stretched out slightly on the small table prepared by the servants and enjoyed a short break.

By now, I even started wondering whether the Emperor was deliberately trying to get under my skin.

Who just sends treasures of national-heritage caliber like that…?

“Ha, honestly, what on earth is he thinking…”

“You should rest a little before continuing.”

“No. Since I’ve started, I’ll see it through to the end.”

Behind the butler, who smiled with satisfaction at that, I gestured to the servants.

The next items were fairly large boxes, so I decided to change my method. My mind was tired enough already; at least my body should be comfortable.

“Bring the big boxes.”

“Yes!”

I regretted not doing it this way sooner.

Sitting comfortably, I assigned places for the items the servants showed me.

“Storage.”

“A treasure.”

“Storage.”

“Storage.”

With just one word from me, the Emperor’s gifts were assigned their places.

Fortunately, when I looked at the overall ratio, the number of national treasures was not that high.

“That’s great, Lady!”

“What is?”

“The Emperor has finally started noticing you!”

At one maid’s words, the others inhaled sharply and lowered their eyes.

I was about to scold the maid, but the butler stopped me.

What did people think of me by now…? Should I hear it?

“Hmm? Really?”

“W-what? Um… s-sorry! I misspoke!”

Realizing something was wrong, the maid dropped to her knees and apologized immediately.

She was loose-tongued, but had decent instincts.

I rested my arm on the table and pressed my temple.

Then I deliberately let out a sigh.

“Yes. So in your eyes, does it really look like His Majesty is giving me his full attention?”

“T-that… I’m sorry, Lady!”

“I asked you a question. If you keep shaking like that, my patience will run out.”

That wasn’t an empty threat. I was actually starting to get irritated.

I didn’t want to waste time on a servant.

I motioned to a soldier, and he helped the maid back to her feet.

“Tell me. What are the others saying about Lady Delorvant?”

“S-sorry…”

“If you tell the truth, I won’t punish you separately.”

The maid, trembling in fear, rolled her eyes around in thought.

I clicked my tongue and lifted the face of the unnamed maid.

“What, are you hesitating? I wasn’t giving you a choice.”

“I-I’ll tell you!”

“Good.”

Only after she finally understood the situation did I remove my hand from her chin and sit up straight.

The maid, still unable to control her trembling, spoke carefully.

“T-the ignorant commoners say…”

“They say?”

“T-the proud Lady Delorvant has finally yielded to His Majesty… that even Lady Delorvant can’t do anything once a man is involved…”

At the maid’s continued words, I let out a dry laugh.

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

I was, after all, trying to adapt myself to the Emperor’s preferences.

Maybe that was why it irritated me even more.

How dare they. Who spread such vulgar rumors about me—about Delorvant?

I clenched my fists so tightly that my palms ached.

I had no idea where those rumors were coming from.

The noble faction? The imperial faction? Or the moderates?

The range was too broad. There were people everywhere who didn’t like me.

“Your name.”

“A-Ann!”

“Good. Ann. You said the commoners were gossiping about me like that, correct?”

“T-that….”

I could see her eyes darting around in distress.

I sighed and warned her again.

“You would do well not to lie.”

“S-sorry! Yes! The foolish commoners dare to talk without knowing their place!”

The maid’s disjointed muttering was rather pitiful.

I had no way of knowing how much of Ann’s story was true.

But one thing was certain.

This is deliberate. And planned.

It was not strange for commoners to spread rumors about high noble families.

To them, we were rulers and also targets of envy.

My control over information was more than sufficient.

That didn’t mean it could be completely blocked, but this time the rumors had spread too fast.

Who is it? The Coora branch director? No, the reins are still in my hands. Then…?

As I was trying to guess who was behind the rumors, Ann—still held by the Delorvant estate’s private soldiers—started trembling even harder and apologizing again.

“L-Lady! Please, milady! Forgive me, please!”

“Hm.”

“M-my parents passed away, and I still have three younger siblings, all not even ten years old yet!”

That was a very detailed family story.

To verify whether it was true, I looked at the butler.

“It’s a lie. Her parents did die, but she has no siblings. And she also owns a small house in the capital.”

A house in the capital?

The maid appeared to be in her early twenties.

For a maid of that age to own a house in the capital would not be easy. No—perhaps not even if she worked her whole life would it be possible.

Unless she had been serving as a noble’s mistress.

Well…

“So you’ve taken quite a lot from the ducal house, haven’t you?”

“Wh-what? N-no, Lady!”

“Everyone, leave. Keep only this one behind.”

“Yes.”

Once the butler took the others out, only Ann and I remained in the storage room.

Ann seemed extremely anxious about the situation, looking pale and shrinking in on herself.

I smirked and picked up a small box beside me. It contained a gemstone of slightly lower quality, around ten carats.

“Look at this. Do you want it?”

“W-what? I… I could never take a lady’s property…”

Even as she said that, she could not hide the way her eyes kept drifting toward the gem.

I knew this kind of person well.

People whose restraint weakened the moment something they wanted was in front of them.

And if what they craved was money and gemstones, they were very easy to handle.

And I had money in abundance.

I leaned in and whispered in a low voice.

“Don’t say that. This is yours.”

“…Pardon?”

“Of course, only after you successfully carry out what I ask.”

Ann’s eyes flashed at once.

At that, I smiled with satisfaction.

Her gaze was already soaked in greed for the sparkling ten-carat gemstone.

With her reaction pleasing me, I explained the task she would need to do.

“You will be going to work as a maid in the Popolas count’s house.”

“…Pardon?”

“It will not be difficult. You only need to report Lady Popolas’s movements to me.”

I had decided to use Ann as an informant.

Wasn’t she a perfect chess piece—one that could be cut off without much risk?

More importantly, for her, attaching herself to a wealthy ducal house would be the best possible option.

At the very least, the risk of her being bought over by someone else would be low.

“One year. If you complete your mission safely for one year, I will give you a mansion in the capital.”

“A mansion…?”

“Yes. This is only an advance. You can think of it as a deposit.”

I placed the box into Ann’s hands.

The area under her eyes turned red with greed.

I was pleased by how honestly she reacted to wealth.

“I will do my best—no, I will be loyal! Lady!”

“Yes.”

I called the others back in and instructed them to finish organizing the rest.

Then I summoned the butler separately and told him to write a letter of recommendation for Ann.

“You want a recommendation letter for that girl?”

“I know what you’re worried about. Just write it.”

I told the butler to use the vassal family’s name when drafting the recommendation, then headed to the study.

There was still a lot to prepare.

I’m tired.

I had definitely planned to rest today, but somehow I felt even busier than usual.

“It’s not a feeling—it’s real. At this point, I really am that busy.”

I cursed the Emperor in my head while also praising him.

He had given me both trouble and satisfaction at the same time.

Thinking about auctioning off the unexpected gifts to raise side money made my steps feel much lighter.

As I walked, considering when would be best to auction them, I soon arrived at the study.

I had to decide on a summer retreat location.

Unlike clothing, preparing for a retreat involved more decisions even after the location was chosen.

So I had to move quickly.

“Hm… the map…”

I pulled out the Abyone Record Log, which contained detailed notes on each territory’s characteristics.

Uncle Abyone… you really were a traveler.

I thought of my uncle, whom I had often seen when I was young.

Whenever he visited the ducal estate, he would bring all sorts of souvenirs in piles.

“Missing, huh… and yet Father doesn’t seem very concerned.”

My uncle, who had traveled all over the country as if he were cursed with wanderlust, had somehow disappeared without a trace.

And my father’s opinion of that was this:

He’s a tough bastard. He’s probably alive somewhere. When the time comes, he’ll crawl out on his own.

In the end, I shook my head and let my thoughts about my uncle go.

As Father said, he would probably show up on his own when the time came.

When I looked at it that way, it was hard not to admit that my personality had indeed been inherited from my father.

“The imperial family usually spent their summer retreats in Balt territory.”

Geographically and environmentally, Balt territory was more than suitable as a retreat destination.

Because sea trade was active there, foreign influence spread faster than in the capital.

The problem was that Balt territory bordered Grand Duke Salavar’s domain.

“First of all, Balt territory is out.”

If Balt territory was excluded, the remaining choices were few.

With the options now far too narrow, I let out a small sigh.