Since It's My First Time Being a Lady, I'll Cause Some Trouble - Chapter 11

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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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A Lady’s First Mistake — Episode 11
But what good was regret now? The milk was spilled.
My only hope was that this pretty-faced rake would vanish without a trace, quick and clean.
“Well then.”
Tatio reached for the carriage door, preparing to step out, but I paid him no mind.
‘What’s so pretty about him that I should bother with parting words?’
I turned my head and gazed out the window with cold indifference.
‘Once I reach the Mansion, I’ll take a hot bath and tell the coachman to spray disinfectant inside the carriage.’
What if I caught some foul disease from this wretch?
But he didn’t leave. Instead, he made as though he were about to go, then closed the door again without stepping out.
“What are you—”
“What exactly are you doing?”
“Excuse me?”
That was my line.
Not only did he refuse to leave, but he stood there glaring at me with eyes blazing, as though I’d wronged him.
I’d begged to give him a ride, and now he was getting high and mighty about his nobility?
“You asked for a ride, so I gave you one. What’s your grievance?”
My words were sharp, and Tatio’s gaze only hardened further.
“I’m grateful for the ride, but why are you being so disagreeable? Have I offended you in some way?”
Tatio’s tone was courteous, but his manner was not.
He stood with his arms crossed, staring me down as if he wouldn’t budge until he got a proper answer.
‘If he’s being dismissed without understanding why, he probably does feel wronged.’
So I decided to explain without dancing around it.
“Yes, it’s you. I gave you a ride in good faith, but it turns out I’ve personally delivered one of the notorious Toggle Club’s regular patrons. How am I supposed to be happy about that?”
Though I’d extracted twenty Gold Coins as compensation, the favor itself was still a favor.
Hit where it mattered, Tatio began to sweat and stammer.
“How did you even—? No, that’s not—! I’m not that kind of person!”
“Of course not. That’s what everyone says.”
“I’m telling the truth—it was really just for work—!”
“Right, right. I’m sure everyone who goes there is just taking care of business.”
“I can’t even show you proof—”
Proof? Of what? Disgusting.
I waved him out curtly.
Tatio’s face twisted with indignation, though I pretended not to notice.
Before he left the carriage, he spoke to me.
“In time, you’ll come to know that I’m innocent.”
* * *
“There are far too many nobles these days.”
The Baron grumbled in displeasure while reading his newspaper.
His expression was stern, as though he’d come across something deeply troubling.
“Dear, I’ve told you not to read the paper during meals.”
“But when the paper prints something like this, how can I not read it?”
The front-page headline in the Baron’s newspaper announced a drastic Tax Increase to take effect next month.
I caught a glimpse of it from the corner of my eye and nearly spat out the salad I was chewing.
‘All taxes raised by twenty percent? Is everyone mad?’
When taxes rise, prices rise with them.
When the taxes owed to the state increase, miners earning less will demand higher wages, and mine owners will raise coal prices to pay those wages.
Once coal prices go up, train fares rise as well.
Trains are essential transport for all imperial subjects. Everything shipped by rail will have transportation costs added to the final price, and that means prices go up across the board.
‘How long has it been since the last increase?’
I’d only recently lamented that my meager salary had shrunk to hamster-tail proportions, and now they’re raising it again.
Besides, it says next month, but realistically there’s barely a week left.
The Baroness, sharing the same thought, furrowed her brow.
“This is all because of the Late Empress Alisande.”
Late Empress Alisande is the Current Emperor’s grandmother. Though she was the legitimate imperial daughter, being the youngest of six siblings left her far from the line of succession. Her ascension to the throne was purely a matter of luck.
Without exaggeration, higher-ranking princes and princesses died one after another from war and plague, leaving her as the only heir.
The problem was that, having ascended by necessity rather than choice, she had very few noble supporters.
An emperor with weak authority falls easily into the hands of the aristocracy—that was always the way.
So Late Empress Alisande worked to secure power, buying the nobles’ loyalty with Tax Exemption Privileges.
Finding support still insufficient, she even began indiscriminately granting Titles of Nobility.
Because of her, she held power until her death, but left behind a depleted national treasury and the side effect of tax increases.
The Baron lamented the tax increase just as much. When a wealthy nobleman thought of the sum he’d have to pay in taxes…….
“If they raise taxes, it’s me who has to listen to complaints from my territory residents……!”
Ah, so it wasn’t money that was the problem after all.
The Baron was both the lord of the Netzer Territory and the steward of Count Batory simultaneously.
In other words, that meant he had twice as many territory residents to manage and twice as many complaints to hear.
I let the Baron’s lament go in one ear and out the other as I finished my meal.
I harbored only vague worries that prices would skyrocket, but thought nothing else of it.
How naive I was at that moment.
* * *
Today was the day of Baron Seia’s daughter’s tea party.
Ever since I made the acquaintance of many ladies at the Imperial Palace ball, I had been receiving invitations to tea parties, and I attended one of them.
‘When the young lady was here, I never once received even a single sheet of promotional paper masquerading as an invitation.’
The thought of that made me feel a little sorry.
The young lady…… rebellion is fine and all, but you should have made some friends too.
I was pushing a sweet cake into my mouth to soothe the bitterness on my tongue when Baron Seia’s daughter suddenly raised her voice.
“Did you see today’s newspaper? They’re raising taxes by twenty percent!”
At her words, the surrounding area immediately filled with murmurs.
This announcement of a tax increase seemed to be shocking indeed.
You could tell from the way the word came from the lips of the ladies seated at the table laden with delicious refreshments and fragrant tea.
“And they say they’re raising tariffs too — I really don’t know who came up with such an idea.”
“It must be those desk-bound bureaucrats who think it’s fine as long as the national treasury is filled.”
“What on earth are the members of parliament doing?”
I was startled by their conversation.
To be honest, it was unexpected. I had assumed that noble ladies were creatures who concerned themselves only with jewels and dresses, but it seemed that assumption was wrong.
“You ladies seem quite interested in economics?”
When I cautiously broached the subject, they looked at me with eyes that said I was the strange one.
“Of course. Such an important matter isn’t something we’d simply overlook, is it?”
“Doesn’t everyone think that way, unless they’re without sense?”
……So the people I’d met at the Imperial Palace tea party really were senseless after all.
Those people who boasted about what they’d bought and sold were too busy lauding the Imperial Palace while invoking their Tax Exemption Privileges.
Their attitude was that rising taxes were like a natural phenomenon, something that had nothing to do with them.
“Lady Ulfina thinks the same way, doesn’t she?”
The atmosphere was so tense it felt as though a teapot might fly if I opened my mouth even a moment too late, so I answered hastily.
“Of course. Our household has been struggling with territory tax issues as well. Heavens, I really don’t know how we’re supposed to weather the aftermath of all this!”
When I spoke with feigned excitement, the ladies nodded with faces that said they’d always known I was a sensible person, that they’d been confident in me all along.
Phew…… Master, Madam, I have preserved the honor of the Netzer Family once more today.
* * *
After the tea party ended, I headed toward the Batory Territory.
It was a very simple errand — I only had to deliver the documents the Baron had left behind.
It should have been just that…….
“Guarantee the survival rights of territory residents!”
“Our income stays the same but they’re raising taxes — what’s this all about!”
“Proceed with tax reform!”
……Why on earth was I caught up in an angry mob of protesters?

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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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