Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 47

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

Chapter 47
“Y-Your Grace……!”
Oswald, whose face had gone equally pale, hastened to speak.
“Please forgive me. It is my fault for failing to keep my daughter in proper check. I swear to you that nothing like this will happen again!”
I regarded Oswald for a moment.
Since this was the first time, this should suffice.
Besides, if I thought about it honestly, Oswald had no real reason to grovel before me like this.
The House of Gaiard owed the Gonet Council of Elders an enormous debt.
Right now, I was merely borrowing the Empress Dowager’s name to wield authority I didn’t truly possess.
What I could claim by virtue of my ‘position’ only extended this far, no further.
I nodded.
“Since you put it that way, I’ll let this one slide. Now, shall we return to what we were discussing? I said you had given me an ‘incomplete’ introduction, didn’t I?”
Oswald spoke in a rush.
“I will introduce myself properly. I am Oswald, the elder brother of the Former Grand Duchess, and… the Chairman of the Gonet Council of Elders.”
Only then did I tilt my head slowly.
“Chairman. Get to the point.”
Oswald did not open his mouth at once. He seemed to be organizing his thoughts quickly in his head. Soon enough, he regained his composure and spoke.
“If I may be so bold, the merchants whom Your Grace drove away have fallen into truly dire circumstances. Some of them are on the verge of complete ruin.”
I let out an inward snort.
“And so I should have simply allowed them to touch my dowry?”
“Since you also forbade them from laying hands on the carriages afterward, I speak without shame. Your Grace must understand—the House of Gaiard carries an enormous debt to the Council of Elders.”
“Of course I understand. However…….”
I tilted my head and asked Oswald.
“Isn’t the Grand Duke paying back the debt on schedule? I’ve never heard that anything was overdue.”
If the debt had even fallen a month behind, Oswald would have brought that up first, to gain the upper hand.
As expected, Oswald could not answer immediately. Yet in his eyes as he looked at me, a faint discontent gleamed.
It was amusing.
Did he think only he was permitted to attack?
I sighed at once.
“Surely you, as Chairman of the Council, know the House of Gaiard’s circumstances better than anyone. And I assure you, it is no easier for me. Wasn’t that enormous debt incurred in the first place because your sister purchased all manner of jewels?”
For a moment, Oswald’s eyes seemed ready to burst from his skull.
But I did not flinch.
If such a look could frighten me, I would be sorely mistaken indeed.
‘They are all tediously dull…….’
If I had survived a month among the concubines of Pasa, I would understand what true killing intent looked like.
Oswald managed a strained smile and answered.
“‘My sister,’ you say? Isn’t that title somewhat inappropriate, Your Grace? She is, after all, the Former Grand Duchess…….”
“Why would it be inappropriate? The moment you sat in this chair, didn’t you keep repeating that she is ‘the elder brother of the Former Grand Duchess’? I was merely respecting your phrasing. Is that also a problem?”
“…….”
Oswald’s face flushed crimson.
‘Hmph.’
Calling the same person the “Former Grand Duchess” versus calling her “your sister” made an enormous difference.
But he kept parroting on about being the elder brother of the Former Grand Duchess, so I simply returned the favor in kind—what else was there to do?
As expected, Oswald’s chest heaved with fury, yet he said nothing.
I continued.
“The Grand Duke continues to labor without rest, does he not? Surely you are aware of this?”
“How could I not know? When I think of His Grace’s hardship, tears come to my eyes even now…….”
Oswald drew a handkerchief from his pocket, pressed it firmly to his eyes, and then withdrew a thick envelope of documents.
“In fact, an urgent dispatch arrived from the imperial court last night.”
“An urgent dispatch?”
“Yes. His Grace completely eliminated one of their strongholds, and this is the official War Spoils List.”
“……?”
As I turned through the documents one by one, my heart sank.
My mind, which had been drawn tight as a bowstring, suddenly went slack at the sight of the figures written there.
“This amount will enter Gonet Castle starting next week. However, since it must all be used to clear our debts, I beg you—please do not lay a hand on these carriages…….”
“Bridget!”
As I ground out the name, Oswald’s mouth clamped shut.
Almost at the same moment, Bridget came running and dropped to one knee.
“Your Grace.”
I slapped the War Spoils List down upon the table with a sharp crack.
“How dare the War Spoils List leak to outsiders before reaching me, the Mistress of the House? Whose doing is this? Did you do it?”
Bridget remained prostrate on the floor.
Her forehead pressed against the cold stone, flattened even further.
“Never, Grand Duchess. While you were absent, the War Spoils List was being sent to the Council of Elders, but it seems the recipient address has not yet been redirected back here.”
“Go and fix it at once! How dare you insult me! If this isn’t corrected by today, don’t bother coming back! I shall personally send word to your true mistress, the Empress Dowager herself!”
“I, Bridget, shall go to the Council of Elders at once and complete the matter!”
“Be gone!”
Bridget crawled out on her knees.
‘That’s Bridget for you. How does she manage to make me look like such a tyrant?’
And we hadn’t even rehearsed it beforehand!
Despite my inner admiration, my expression was utterly cold.
Oswald’s face had gone completely rigid.
I continued in a glacial tone.
“I shall overlook the discourtesy just now, since it occurred during my absence.”
“Grand Duchess…….”
“But don’t forget that according to Continental Common Law, the war spoils of the Grand Duke belong first and foremost to his wife—to me.”
“…….”
Honestly, I was furious.
Did he take me for a fool?
The treasurer had been dismissed for falsifying the ledgers to pocket the difference.
And the Council of Elders’ chairman, who sided with the merchants I’d expelled the moment I arrived at the castle—
A man who was the brother of the Former Grand Duchess, no less.
Who would believe he hadn’t had a hand in inflating Gonet’s staggering debts?
‘Why hasn’t Sherkan slit this man’s throat already?’
I found myself thinking I’d need to reread the original work more carefully.
Watching Oswald and his daughter, whose faces trembled with indignation, I smiled as smoothly as milk.
“Oh, and I’m still waiting for those tea leaves Mona promised to send. I’ll be opening them soon to entertain the notable ladies of the Grand Duchy, so do try not to disappoint me.”
“……Of course, of course, Grand Duchess.”
Mona’s hand flew to her chest, her lips quivering as she barely held them steady.
“But after hearing your words today, Grand Duchess, I realize I must sell my tea leaves to help my father with his difficulties, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to send you very much.”
“Is that so?”
“I do hope you’ll understand my father’s circumstances, Grand Duchess.”
“I’ll consider it.”
I tossed back the empty reply and continued.
“All the same, Mona, if your situation has become so difficult you need to stint on tea leaves…….”
I looked the woman up and down—this future patricide—and smiled.
“Why don’t you sell that expensive ornament in your hair, along with those earrings, necklace, ring, and bracelet? In fact, let me offer you some friendly advice.”
“……?”
“At the Gaiard Ceremony of State, such ornaments are only worn by elderly ladies who’ve seen grandchildren by the dozen, Mona.”

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