Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 37

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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 37
* * *
The morning after.
When the temperature plummeted overnight, Bridget suggested redecorating the castle.
Of course, her intent was less about aesthetics than about keeping warm.
I consented, and had the storeroom opened at once.
The interior was bursting at the seams.
Beeswax candles the thickness of a forearm were stacked in boxes—dozens upon dozens of them.
When lit, they burned with a pure, steady flame unmarred by soot or odor, far more expensive than ordinary candles but lasting proportionally longer.
Along one wall lay rolled Gobelin Tapestries by the score, and beside them, Damask Fabric was heaped high enough to cover doorways and seal out the cold.
Wool Rugs to lay across the floors and block the chill rose to the ceiling itself, stacked well above head height.
The velvet—particularly in deep hues—had been gathered in such abundance that every last piece was destined for the servants’ winter clothing.
What caught my eye in particular was the tablecloth.
Dense gold thread embroidery covered deep purple Lenfas fabric, while garnets hung from the hem at regular intervals.
When I lifted it gently, the faint scent of dried orris root and rosemary drifted up.
It was less a tablecloth than a dress fabric.
“Take this out and lay it in the dining hall.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Eggs are still the only thing we can eat freely.
But a tablecloth this fine—an imperial gift from when the emperor still possessed great wealth. The thought brought a small spark of joy.
In any case, it took the better part of a full day to refurnish the castle.
Though we added thick fabrics purely for warmth, each piece bore such an aura of imperial patronage that the rooms seemed transformed into something magnificent.
‘But we still have no money, do we?’
I reached out to touch the newly hung Dusty Rose Velvet Curtain, long and beautiful.
Rising generously to cover the high ceiling, even the tiniest dust specks clinging to its surface caught the light like scattered silver—sheer extravagance.
I felt a pang of regret.
“What if we cut some of this up and sold it?”
“That would be inadvisable.”
Erihi shut down the notion flatly.
In that instant, the air behind me turned ice-cold.
I didn’t need to look to know.
Bridget had surely fixed me with that nightmarish smile, the one with fifty teeth.
“I—no, I mean it wouldn’t do. That is, it wouldn’t be proper to do so. Or rather, I should beg your indulgence, for such an action would be most unseemly……!”
Erihi stammered his way through five more attempts before managing to wring his hands pitifully and continue.
“You’ve already been selling off the dresses bearing the Pasa Emblem, have you not? Surely there is no need to resort to cutting up the curtains as well…….”
Even I, who had been suppressing a private smirk, shrugged in acknowledgment.
“Fine. It was just a thought.”
We ventured into another storeroom.
This one overflowed with magnificent garments bearing no Pasa Emblem—pieces that could be altered and worn immediately.
There were shawls woven from the finest thread, semicircular cloaks for the shoulders, and mantillas adorned with delicate lace and vine-patterned edging along the hems.
‘It seems every single dress bore the imperial mark.’
The reason these beautiful, valuable coats had been preserved rather than sold was that the Social Season had not yet arrived.
Once the New Year’s Banquet commenced and society awakened, we could fetch far better prices for such finery.
“Hmm…….”
But I wanted to hold back a dress or two here.
Which ones should I keep?
I fell into contemplation.
The nobility of Gonet had yet to visit the castle once since my arrival.
Not a single person had come to pay their respects to the new Grand Duchess.
By protocol, only the highest-ranking could summon them—but that was merely protocol in name.
Ordinarily, noblewomen would arrive first, their arms laden with gifts, to offer their salutations.
It was a clear measure of how thoroughly I was being ignored.
‘Well, I’m penniless myself at the moment anyway.’
Should the women come in numbers, we’d manage preparations as needed—a headache to contemplate.
For now, mutual indifference was the proper course.
While the servants hurried about their tasks, I abruptly asked Erihi, who was following with his abacus in hand.
“Erihi. If we tallied everything up until now…….”
I had meant to ask the value of everything stored here, but thought better of it.
“How much money would we need to purchase everything in these storerooms?”
Erihi regarded me for a moment, then spoke without hesitation.
“At minimum, you’d need at least two hundred thousand Ribe.”
‘Good heavens.’
Two hundred billion won—that’s what it took to buy something like this.
It was staggering.
Well, they had defeated the vast empire of Pasa itself, so it made sense that Emperor Gaiad would have treasures left over that were beyond price.
The warehouses of the Pasa Imperial Palace must be absolutely brimming with rarities that couldn’t be purchased even with centuries of a kingdom’s budget.
But in actual liquid currency…
‘If I sold everything and managed to keep even a tenth of it, I’d count myself lucky.’
“Erihi. When can we go to the Iron Mine? His Majesty has already signed the permit.”
“Ah, I was just about to mention that. Since the Iron Mine is fundamentally a state asset, you’ll need to wait roughly another month due to administrative scheduling.”
“A month? That’s quite tedious.”
“The Iron Mine is naturally harder for higher nobility to access. Since iron becomes weapons, the state manages it with strict oversight. It’s a safeguard to prevent high nobles from secretly manufacturing weapons.”
“I see.”
I shrugged and moved to leave.
When Erihi began to follow, I waved him off.
“No need. Go help Bridget instead.”
In that instant, Erihi’s head began shaking violently—desperately so.
Save me! Save me!
That was when Bridget stepped in with a composed smile.
“Then I shall find a suitable use for this aide, Grand Duchess. When would you like him returned?”
I glanced at the wall clock and considered.
“Use him as you like until we’re done organizing here.”
“I shall obey your command, Grand Duchess.”
Save me! Save me!
Erihi was dragged away, his mouth sealed shut.
I covered my mouth with my hand and let out a small, quiet laugh.
It was strange. Why did I feel so energized by such things?
* * *
I made my way to the bedroom.
The moment I shut the door behind me, I spread my arms wide.
“Larkku! You’re back!”
“Rehl! I missed you so much!”
“Why did you stay in the Spirit Realm for so long?”
“That’s not something I can control…”
Larkku nestled into my arms, nuzzling my chest.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
After playing with Larkku for some time, an hour had passed before I realized it.
“You just came back from the Spirit Realm—won’t you be able to sleep tonight?”
“Larkku can sleep for a hundred years at a time!”
After playing a bit longer with Larkku, I rose from the bed with a cheerful expression.
“Larkku?”
“Look at this, Larkku. Were there really such large pieces of furniture among the gifts?”
I walked toward the drawer next to the vanity.
I had been startled the first time I saw this drawer.
“Do you know how expensive this is, Larkku? Even back when I was a lowly concubine, I’d never seen anything like it.”
This Rosewood Drawer was beautiful both in material and form, but its true value lay in its function.
I found the keyhole made of brass and inserted the key.
Click.
The gears meshed smoothly, and the drawer slid open with a soft whisper.
When I turned the key two more times, the secret compartment hidden within sprang out with a soft pop.
‘I’ve heard the previous Grand Duchess used something even more elaborate than this.’
Not rosewood like this, but a special drawer chest made entirely of silver, or so I’d been told.
Of course, it had already been sold off and was gone. If it were up to me, my fingers would be itching to sell silver furniture right this moment.
Inside my Rosewood Drawer, there wasn’t a single jewel. Instead, Gold Coins lay piled thick.
All of them sent by Sherkan. Not scattered carelessly, but each one carefully arranged with its face turned upward.
[Don’t give this to the castle’s steward. Use it as your personal funds.
I’ll send more next week, so there’s no need to be frugal.]
As I did normally, I turned the Gold Coins over in my hands, lost in thought.
‘Personal funds, he said…’
Sherkan hates taking money from me. He’s intensely averse to being indebted to anyone.
I can understand it, if I try.
His pride would be wounded.
It has to be wounded, but…
The feeling was complicated.
Is it his pride as a husband, the way he sends me money like this every time?
Probably because Sherkan is a Grand Duke, after all.
A man burdened with such enormous responsibility to his house, Sherkan clearly felt some sense of obligation or debt toward me now that I’d become Grand Duchess.
Otherwise, there’s no way he’d be sending money like this.
“It doesn’t make sense…”
How many people in Gonet Castle actually know the specific amount of that “enormous debt”?
Even Erihi said he didn’t know.
Bridget hardly needs mentioning, and the dismissed accountant didn’t know either.
Everyone knew the individual amounts, but not the total.
At best, they could only guess.
I lowered my lashes.
Why try to shoulder five million Ribe on your own? It wasn’t even your debt to begin with!
Five million Ribe.
I remembered it from the original work.
The amount of debt the previous Grand Duke and Duchess had thrown at their abused son.
‘About five trillion won…’
It was a sum that made the Grand Ducal House’s bankruptcy understandable in the most extreme way possible.
And it was also why Sherkan wandered the battlefields like a madman.
Every time I heard that Sherkan had left the castle, my mood darkened.
In the end, he was grinding away his own body to pay off the Grand Ducal House’s debts.
Of course, Sherkan was impossibly strong, and in the end he’d become the victor of his own life, grasping everything the world had to offer…
‘But the path was so terrible.’
It still was.
Sherkan had sent me gold coins each time. Without fail, never once missing.
It shouldn’t be like this.
“It’s the battlefield.”
I knew.
How difficult it must be for Sherkan to send me money.
Wherever he went, wherever he was, all roads ultimately led to war for him.
“And he’s younger than I am.”
Before I could help it, my lips pressed into a pout.
Sherkan had been a boy tormented by hunger his entire life.
No one had ever taken responsibility for him, so why did he always insist on taking responsibility for everything?
As if, without doing so, he’d lose everything he held in his hands.
‘That’s true enough…’
Thirst and inferiority.
Sherkan, who had suffered excessive deprivation since childhood, now clung to whatever he held with almost compulsive desperation—willing to take responsibility even as his flesh was torn away piece by piece.
Because he understood that only then would it truly become his.
A sigh escaped me.
“…I just can’t use it carelessly.”
I closed the jewelry box again.
“I’ll use it as sparingly as possible.”

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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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