For the Lady's Wise Regression - Chapter 55

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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 55
“……What?”
With Ian’s sudden arrival, Kirious vanished like the wind, muttering something about a more suitable candidate appearing.
When Vanessa heard why Ian had returned to the manor so early, she stared at him with an expression of sheer disbelief.
So he’d rushed back to the manor without even finishing his schedule because of…….
“You came……to pick me up?”
Just for that? He’d left in the middle of the Regular Budget Report Meeting at the Imperial Palace?
As Vanessa looked at Ian as if he were mad, he let out a small cough.
“……It was a break.”
What is he talking about?
Most of those attending would be too occupied coughing up blood trying to squeeze out more budget allocations by now.
In any case. Those blockheads who strut around because business is going well deserve to crash hard.
That’s the only way they’ll wake up.
Looking at Ian, Vanessa recalled something Calail from her past life had once said, and her brows furrowed sharply.
‘Reports? Why bother with such tedious things. Profits are proof enough.’
She’d been infuriated by talk that bordered on the recklessness of a speculator.
Remembering how that year’s budget wasn’t allocated at all but instead confiscated, and all the businesses she’d poured her own money into collapsed…….
Wait a moment.
If he left his post like this, he might not have attended today’s Regular Budget Report Meeting at all.
That would be a relief, at least.
She ought to ask, just to be safe.
“Who attended in His Majesty’s place for today’s budget decision?”
At Vanessa’s question, Ian blinked his eyes as though it were nothing of consequence.
“Do you mean the Administrator? It was Raimond Pilgram.”
“You……aren’t going back right now?”
At the irritation in Vanessa’s voice, Ian flinched.
He truly didn’t know about that demonic Administrator!
Raimond Pilgram.
He had a reputation for always smiling as if he’d grant everything, then slashing budgets in half once he left the room.
Half was generous.
He was a man who cut first and asked questions later, and newly arrived nobles at their first Regular Budget Report were prime prey for him.
‘Anyway, the budget will come through intact.’
Calail, too, had thought the same while running his sprawling enterprises.
He’d believed the Regular Budget Report was merely a formality, and that no matter what was said within those meetings, the outcome would remain unchanged.
But it was Raimond Pilgram who thoroughly shattered that notion.
It was rare for the Emperor himself to attend the Regular Budget Report Meeting.
The nobles, too, preferred submitting their reports in writing rather than meeting the Emperor face to face to discuss that year’s achievements—instead, they typically tried to persuade the Administrator who attended in his place.
Even if somewhat lacking, it was more effective at securing budget allocations that way.
So at first, they handed in reports barely filling half a page, waving them at the Administrator.
Whether they attended or sent a proxy, the budget remained unchanged, so they gradually began to test the waters.
Eventually, some nobles even began slipping bribes to the Administrator.
That was when Raimond Pilgram arrived on the scene.
The nobles, thinking nothing would be different, acted as they always had……and the results were catastrophic.
Something far worse than budget cuts: Budget Confiscation.
With those half-page reports, he precisely identified which ventures were nothing but money sinks, and thanks to him, Calail alone lost a third of his enterprises.
That wasn’t all.
He even confiscated budgets that hadn’t been spent according to allocations, and as a result, all those ventures started out on a whim collapsed utterly.
After that, every time the Regular Budget Report came around, the nobles appeared carrying reports thicker than ancient manuscripts.
Raimond, as if mocking them, didn’t appear at subsequent Regular Budget Reports—but.
Just when the nobles breathed a sigh of relief at returning to normal budgets and the regular Administrator, Raimond Pilgram would appear at a meeting now and then, as if toying with them.
As budgets were cut, then restored, then cut again, the nobles began carrying those thick reports to every Regular Budget Report without fail.
One painter even immortalized it in a painting.
The backs of nobles, each carrying thick reports in their arms, making their way toward the Imperial Palace.
What was the title again—”The Weight of Household”?
The funny thing about nobles is that when they suffer something, they often keep their mouths shut, as if saying others should suffer too.
Usually only married nobles attended the Regular Budget Report, so for Ian this would clearly be his first time.
Nobles who had experienced Raimond Pilgram even once would quietly prepare thick reports for the next year’s Regular Budget Report, but newly married nobles would come carrying reports barely half a page long.
And then they’d meet Raimond Pilgram and face Budget Confiscation.
In those moments, the other nobles and Raimond Pilgram became allies.
In her past life, even Calail, after suffering terribly at her first Regular Budget Report, began carrying thick reports like the other nobles.
What contemptible creatures. If they’d endured it themselves, shouldn’t they at least give a warning?
The thought that you ought to experience it once too—their malice is truly wretched.
What would have happened if I hadn’t returned to the past?
“Ian. Go back to the mansion right now and gather all the business revenue and expenditure records you have. Bring them with you.”
“……All of a sudden?”
In my previous life, I never married and never attended the Regular Budget Report Meeting, submitting directly to His Majesty instead—so there were never budget problems. But now it’s different.
Raimond Pilgram, regardless of rank, was the type to cut budgets mercilessly if a report fell short.
He didn’t blink an eye cutting even a marquis’s budget, so it was obvious a duke’s could suffer the same fate if anything went wrong.
“Listen to me and take those documents. And if anyone asks why you left so suddenly, tell them the report looked insufficient so you stepped out to revise it.”
“……Is it really necessary to go that far? The budget is set by His Majesty anyway……”
“Ian. You don’t have time for this…….”
Even now, your budget was being slashed in real time.
My eyes, which had held a faint flicker of confusion, soon settled into stillness.
“……Then, would it be alright if I came along? Theseus—I mean, His Highness the Crown Prince sent you a letter, or so I heard.”
His words trailed off somewhat rambling, at odds with the steadiness in his gaze.
Vanessa nodded.
With the Genuine Sedative Herb nearly monopolized, the nobles itching to step into the pharmaceutical business were watching for any opening.
If the budget wavered now and development stalled, it was certain that similar ointments would sprout like mushrooms the following year—no need to wait and see.
In that sense, this Regular Budget Report was their finest bait.
House Leonard would likely be no different.
For those eyeing the Dukedom, a guaranteed profitable business was ripe for plunder.
Vanessa paused to think.
Ian Ruscliffe, gasping for breath after a massive budget cut following today’s Regular Budget Report.
No. It couldn’t happen.
‘I absolutely can’t bear to see him like that.’
A duke struggling with budget constraints?
It wouldn’t do—not for his image.
***
“……It seems Duke Ruscliffe is running late.”
The spectacled man glanced at the clock hanging on the conference room wall.
Ian Ruscliffe.
A man skilled in the pharmaceutical business utilizing the Genuine Sedative Herb.
The fact that the ointments and medicines he invented have eased the suffering of the Empire’s people cannot be denied, and yet…….
‘Monopoly or mutual prosperity. It’s always a dilemma, but always difficult.’
If price competition emerged, commoners could purchase at lower rates, but there was a concern that quality would suffer.
Conversely, if monopoly continued, they would have no choice but to follow as prices rose steadily.
So I wanted to see what his true intentions were on this occasion, but…….
Raimond Pilgram, before the meeting began, looked down at the report Ian Ruscliffe had submitted.
Seeing the same mistakes repeated year after year—it only draws sighs.
These men who wish only for their own prosperity, blind to others’ success, occupy the pillars of the Empire with their titles, and that’s how they sit.
‘……Though at least it’s concise and easy to read.’
Still.
I cannot shake the feeling that this is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Raimond Pilgram wanted a definitive answer.
In the Decart Empire, a steady and stable source of income was the most vital element in maintaining one’s rank.
What if a great merchant nation abroad were to suffer manipulation?
Thinking of what the Empire endured in the past, it should be far more fortified than it is now.
That was true not only for the Five Great Ducal Houses but for all who conducted business.
How well each understood their own enterprises.
I didn’t even ask for the meticulous management of every grain of rice.
Business, after all, can collapse if you meet with poor weather or the wrong people.
A wall crumbles from the tiniest cracks.
Nothing is ever truly unshakeable.
So what Raimond Pilgram wished to confirm was…….
“……My apologies. I am late.”

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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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