For the Lady's Wise Regression - Chapter 42

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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 42
I’d have naturally shed my escort knights as well.
Since there’s still time before heading to the Northern Region, now would be the opportune moment to move, wouldn’t it?
The one thing that worried me was Ian’s reaction.
I’d thought he wouldn’t take much interest in my affairs.
But the way he picks at every detail of my outings, I’m half-convinced he’ll start asking where every coin I’ve spent went.
And if I coldly snap back with “It’s my money, what’s it to you?”—judging by his behavior so far, he’d probably sulk about it.
Vanessa, who’d been lost in thought for a moment, shook her head slightly.
Spending money when you already know it’ll pay off handsomely isn’t gambling—it’s investment.
And investments take time to bear fruit.
Whatever he says, I’ll figure it out then.
Right now, what matters is staying ahead of Marquis Leonard.
Vanessa shook the bell on her nightstand a couple of times.
Within minutes, someone knocked at the door.
“You called for me, madam?”
“Charlotte. Will you help me prepare to go out?”
“Of course! How would you like me to dress you?”
At Charlotte’s question, which brimmed with eagerness, Vanessa let out a small laugh.
“Make me look as wealthy as possible, would you?”
Charlotte’s eyes sparkled.
“Leave it to me, madam!”
***
“This is what Vanessa spent in a week?”
“Yes. More precisely, sir, it’s from her personal funds.”
Ian blinked at the amount written on the documents Denian had presented.
Lately, she’d been leaving the house in dresses dripping with jewels, even adorned with accessories, so he’d allotted funds generously, thinking she might run short.
It seemed she was far more frugal than expected.
“…Start over. Report slowly from the beginning.”
“After lunch on the fourth day, she concluded a long-term contract with shrimp-fishing vessels operating in the Glendar coastal waters. That same evening, she transferred one year’s worth of investment capital to the Glan Madras Workshop in Pommeldt, then purchased a restaurant near the Bentens River. After lunch on the fifth day, she additionally purchased the street where that restaurant is located, along with the surrounding land. In the evening, she visited the residence of Count Gideon in the Western Region and purchased both the mining rights to the Pilebo Mine that they own and the land where the mine is situated.”
“Wait—Count Gideon?”
“Yes, sir.”
“…Continue.”
“This afternoon, she additionally purchased the ownership of the Pilebo Mine itself, then submitted documents to the Imperial Family regarding the change of ownership and resumption of mining operations. This evening, she purchased a boy’s clothing on La Pond Dunev Street, then proceeded to the Sharoze Duchy. It appears to be clothing for that servant boy she’d brought there the day before.”
“……”
“Shall I continue?”
“…No. That’s enough.”
Even as Ian listened to actions bordering on eccentricity, he found them difficult to believe.
He’d thought her quick-witted like the Duke—had she wanted to go into business?
Yet her current moves resembled gambling far more than investment.
That vessel operating in Glendar waters primarily harvested crustaceans: shrimp, crabs, crayfish, clams—that sort of thing.
Because of their distinctive fishy odor, crustaceans weren’t a preferred commodity, and even when harvested in abundance, they sold poorly.
Clams especially required extensive purging, so compared to the time invested, they were scarcely a reliable ingredient.
One would be better off grilling fish, steaming it, or cooking it some other way.
Yet to dismiss it as mere personal preference seemed odd, given that she’d touched the Bentens River, which lies near the Glendar coastal waters.
The Glan Madras Workshop in Pommeldt was the same.
Among all those workshops, why mattresses specifically?
Of course, the mattresses they produced used natural materials and were supplied even to the Imperial Family, but it seemed unlikely she’d chosen them for that reason alone.
Tap, tap. Ian lightly struck the desk with his index finger.
And on top of that, the one place she’d actually spent significant money was a mine.
“Is the Empire’s list of mines still in the study?”
“Yes, sir. We keep it in the safe.”
“And the ore veins discovered so far have been added to it?”
“All of them except the Margula Mine.”
“Then bring me only the materials on the Pilebo Mine. Do we have internal maps?”
“We likely do, sir.”
“If we don’t, obtain new ones.”
Minerals from mines were both the Empire’s primary source of revenue and its chief trade commodity.
The high purity of the minerals deposited throughout the Empire had even enabled the development of advanced metalworking techniques.
Thus, each noble house possessed at least one mine, however modest in scale.
Considering the number of noble families in the Empire, it was no small number.
Once a vein hits pay dirt, the temptation to strike gold is tremendous, which is why many choose to sell only the mining rights while keeping ownership intact—though more often, nobles simply paid a premium and sold both to be rid of the trouble.
Mines grew exponentially more expensive to maintain in taxes paid to the Imperial Family the longer one held them.
But Pilebo Mine was no ordinary deposit.
From the entrance onward, stone and rock choked every passage, and the tunnels themselves ran so narrow that workers could barely squeeze through single-file—so cramped that a single swing of a pickaxe would strike the ceiling, doubling the labor.
Gideon’s family had attempted extraction once, found it unprofitable, and abandoned the effort; ever since, the mine had remained dormant.
To reopen such a place now?
Unless one wanted to pour money straight into the earth, there had to be another motive at work.
For Gideon’s family, the mine was worthless—they’d sold it at a premium and made a tidy profit. But…
If.
Ian fell silent, turning the thought over in his mind.
It was an assumption so absurd even he could hardly credit it, yet—
“Vanessa didn’t mention anything else, did she?”
Ah. Denian sighed softly.
“Now that you mention it, the lady did say something of the sort. That if one knew beforehand, it wasn’t gambling—it was investment.”
……
“Then, once the documents are prepared, I’ll bring them along with—”
“No.”
Ian shook his head slightly and set down the papers he’d been holding.
A smile slipped through, thin as a knife’s edge.
Whatever she had in mind, it seemed his wife possessed the heart of a beast.
“Give that to Vanessa instead.”
“…To the lady, sir?”
“Yes. Anyone bold enough to call these ventures investments rather than gambles has a sense for business that I lack.”
Each of these opportunities was an amount no sane man would stake his own fortune on.
It wasn’t about the money—it was about the business acumen required to see value where others saw only risk.
Even he would need days, perhaps weeks, to work through the calculations; other nobles wouldn’t have spared them a glance.
If she could speak of such ventures with unshakeable confidence, calling them investments not gambles—
“She’ll have insights I never could. The information will be far more valuable in her hands.”
Let’s see just how sharp that instinct of hers truly is.
Denian watched his master grin, a pleased arc playing at the corners of his mouth, and felt a chill run through him.
By all appearances, this was about to cost them another pillar.
When the master had shown him expenditure records labeled as “dating expenses,” Denian had nearly torn his hair from his scalp.
After a single outing, the household had taken on nearly a hundred new dependents.
The wages, food, and clothing costs for all those souls—he’d gone sleepless calculating it all, and the toll had been considerable.
What the lady didn’t know was that every musician who’d performed at Nirvana Hall that evening had since become a direct retainer of the Luscliff household.
The entire ensemble.
Why?
The reason was simple.
Because Vanessa Sharoze had watched them perform and enjoyed it.
When she’d then commanded the purchase of Lapis Hall itself—at a premium—Denian’s throat had nearly choked on the objection before he’d swallowed it down and asked for an explanation.
Her answer had been breathtaking in its absurdity.
‘It’s where Vanessa sat.’
With that single phrase, Lapis Hall became the exclusive property of the Luscliff household.
Did the lady know?
That Nirvana Hall had undergone renovation ever since that day.
‘Are you mad? I knew you’ve never been right whenever a noble got involved, but… even His Highness called you a madman. Show some restraint, will you?’
The pleasure he’d felt when the Crown Prince came rushing over and said precisely what Denian himself had wanted to scream did not last long.
Whatever words had passed between the two of them, the Crown Prince’s demeanor had been entirely transformed by the time he departed.
‘I pray your love with the lady endures for a thousand years eternal. Do spend freely, won’t you. Spend as much as you like.’
In that moment, Denian finally understood why the two were such close friends.
Not long after, a letter arrived from Nirvana Hall requesting the use of Lapis Hall, stating politely that there was insufficient space for all their recitals.
It came with an assurance that the seats where the lady and master sat would remain reserved.
A subsequent letter detailed revenue-sharing arrangements for any performances held at Lapis Hall—
‘The hall is too small? Then we’ll expand it.’
Without a second thought, he’d sent back the construction costs as his reply.
The shock of having to deliver that message still hadn’t faded.
Wasn’t the smile on his face right now eerily similar to that moment?
“And one more thing—”
Oh, please.
Denian prayed fervently in his heart.
‘No overtime, please……!’
But as Ian continued, Denian could only shake his head in resignation, as if to say ‘I knew it’.
“Have everyone at the places Vanessa bought sign employment contracts.”
……The staff at the restaurants near the Bentens River — there were quite a few of them.
The Glan Madras Workshop would be close to thirty people if you counted the apprentices.
The Pilebo Mine would need hired workers, so he’d better plan for around a hundred.
Just like that, the number of mouths to feed had increased by several hundred with a single word.
Indeed, the lady was proving to be more frugal than the master, no matter how you looked at it.
Separately, he himself had received what amounted to a death sentence where romance was concerned.
‘Salary cuts weren’t enough — now overtime…….’
And who knows when it would end!
If only the lady would notice the master’s spending habits…….

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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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