Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14
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[I examined the castle’s ledgers.
Strangely, the amounts owed had been inflated.
Embezzled.]
“Good grief.”
I nearly let a curse slip from my lips without meaning to.
I immediately pulled out fresh parchment and wrote again.
[While I must verify the exact figures further, I would be grateful if you would dismiss the accountant.]
I set down the quill and let out a hollow laugh.
It took me only four days to organize the ledgers completely and make copies.
That wretched accountant likely thought I’d given up within days and was preening himself with satisfaction, but I found it laughable instead.
You’ll probably never know.
What a Diary is.
What 6-hole and 9-hole mean.
The fact that refillable pages tucked between covers are a revolutionary innovation in ledger accounting!
How far human ingenuity has reached for the sake of efficiency!
‘Hah ha ha!’
The ledgers I examined were flawless.
Flawlessly chaotic, that is.
Money the accountant had secretly pocketed?
Miscalculated sums?
Suspicious amounts?
Every last decimal point was meticulously recorded, nothing overlooked.
As I stretched languidly, imagining how that fool would weep later, I thought that ledger work with numbers was truly not a simple matter.
‘I do hope Sherkan replies to my letter soon.’
Absurd as it was, in this Class System society, noblewoman secured their position only after bearing a child.
There were rare exceptions, but those required either the married couple’s ranks to be similar or the bride’s family to be exceptionally well-placed.
Without family backing, someone like me could manage small castle affairs, but couldn’t handle major decisions freely—that was the reality.
Especially if I dared act alone to dismiss someone as important as an accountant, countless elders of Gonette would come bearing down with blazing eyes.
“Which means right now I need to procure massive quantities of provisions.”
I crouched before the chicken coop and muttered to myself.
What mattered now was how to survive the winter.
When a household normally fell into poverty, they typically reduced the meals and firewood given to servants. It was unavoidable.
After all, the master cannot freeze to death in order to feed the servants.
But I…….
I did not want to do that!
“Beabea, come here.”
The young maid who managed the chicken coop came over, eyes full of apprehension.
“Miss, or rather—Grand Duchess! Is there an unpleasant smell? I’ll remove all the straw at once…….”
“No, the smell is fine. It’s already clean, isn’t it?”
“Y-yes, thank you…….”
The maid’s face flushed pink in an instant.
I thought to myself.
‘That’s right! I don’t want to let the maids starve! And I don’t want to watch them freeze either!’
To do that, I had to squeeze every bit of knowledge from my mind.
“Show me the chickens’ feed troughs.”
“Pardon?”
“And starting today, let’s add something new to their feed.”
“Yes? What kind of thing…….”
“Get some lime ready. I’m heading to the kitchen.”
“L-lime……? Your Grace, please, let me help you. Take your time……!”
I walked forward with grim determination.
The moment I arrived in the kitchen, maids came rushing with their hands full of all manner of ingredients.
“Lime. Crushed oyster shells. Fish meal. Increase the bean ratio. Add wheat bran. Finely chop medicinal herbs—a handful. Collect eggshells from the kitchen separately and grind them. Charcoal from the hearth, ground fine and a little bit. Do we have garlic? Crush it and give it just twice a week…….”
I tapped my chin with my fingertip as I continued speaking.
“And……. Dandelion, you know. The common kind that grows everywhere. Collect as much as you see. It’ll be easier if you carry a small basket while you work.”
“Yes, yes…….”
The maids, their faces hollow with confusion, quickly nodded. The young maid who managed the coop asked tentatively.
“Begging your pardon, Grand Duchess. Are we putting the dandelion in the chickens’ feed trough too?”
All eyes suddenly landed on the young maid. She flustered, ducking her head low. Her ears had turned scarlet.
The younger maids still had that innocent simplicity about them. I found it endearing and answered with a smile.
“Your guess is right. I mean to put them in the feed trough.”
“You’re going to… arrange them?”
“Hmm?”
I widened my eyes and then burst into laughter.
“I mean to feed them, but with just a few blooms they’d look rather adorable! Do as you like with them.”
The young maid laughed shyly, and the atmosphere brightened. I smiled as well.
Dandelion was the pinnacle of modern fodder technology.
Packed with vitamins, they made chickens lay eggs abundantly, and the slightly bitter leaves even purged parasites from their innards. They even deepened the yolk color.
‘And best of all—they were free.’
That was the crucial part.
Dandelions grew everywhere, common as they were. No one bothered harvesting flowers that held no particular value.
We had no money and needed to stretch our provisions, so doing everything we could was all that remained.
* * *
A week passed like that.
“My lady! My lady! Look here!”
I arrived at the hen house and couldn’t suppress my smile.
Thick shells that didn’t crack even when gripped in your hand.
Uniform size, as if stamped from a cookie mold.
Deep orange yolks!
“My lady, look at these eggs too. The eggs have grown so large. They look like two eggs instead of one…….”
The young maids, their faces flushed with excitement, whispered eagerly to each other.
The effect was far better than I’d imagined. But that was only natural.
Modern knowledge, after all.
Modern knowledge!
Maids who’d heard the rumors came circling through the hen house in wonder. The ones who managed the food stores looked ready to prostrate themselves before the feed troughs.
‘Look how gaunt the maids are. If they ate eggs every day, they’d regain their strength in no time.’
I returned, cradling eggs in both hands, deeply satisfied.
‘Good. If I gather eggs like this every day, at least we’ll have fewer servants starving come winter.’
Moreover, if I sold the large eggs and used the money to buy chicks or more hens, the castle would never lack for eggs.
‘But that mountain of debt still weighs on me. We can’t survive the winter on eggs alone.’
All I could think was that I needed to get my hands on Ayu’s Black Gold sooner. Should I write to Sherkan and ask?
I was lost in thought when I’d just returned to my chamber.
Tap, tap.
“My lady, may this Bridget come in for a moment?”
“Yes? Come in.”
Bridget entered with her usual composed bearing, then suddenly broke into a grin so wide it looked eerie.
I nearly startled and looked away. I managed to ask in a dignified voice.
“What is it?”
“Would you step out for a moment, my lady? A most amusing gift has arrived.”
“A gift? From where?”
“From the Pasa Royal Palace, my lady.”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
“Pasa?”
I rose from my seat at once.
When I came down to the first floor, I froze completely.
“……What is all this?”
I stood muttering blankly.
“What are all these things……?”
Piled before my eyes were an enormous number of exquisitely expensive dresses.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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