The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 27

“Pfft!”

I almost spat out the tea I had in my mouth.

Barely covering my mouth with a handkerchief, I looked at Lady Claudius with trembling eyes.

“Me… me?”

“Yes, Lady Ansi.”

Lady Claudius looked straight at me without batting an eye.

Why am I suddenly being brought up?

‘No, this isn’t right!’

I tried to somehow persuade Lady Claudius.

“Um, Lady Claudius. This isn’t just about hosting a short-term event like a salon.”

So what?

As if asking that, Lady Claudius stared at me intently with a coy look.

At her attitude that there was absolutely no problem, I broke out in cold sweat and continued speaking.

“This is about the internal affairs of the House of Claudius itself. How could I dare interfere?”

“I’m saying it’s fine, so what’s the problem? And strictly speaking, it’s limited to the townhouse.”

“Even so. The budget itself that can be executed would be different, so you shouldn’t let an outsider have access to such a large amount, right?”

I only said what was truly common sense.

Honestly, isn’t that right?

Usually, a noble family’s budget is divided between the main house in their territory and the townhouse located in Jedo.

Especially the townhouse in Jedo was like the face shown to various nobles.

Each noble family paid quite a lot of attention to it.

Even our House of Ansi allocates quite a large budget to the townhouse.

Since I myself was the heir to the House of Ansi, I had learned about budget plans and accounting to some extent.

‘Moreover, the House of Claudius is on a different level from other noble families.’

Though I don’t know for certain, I can roughly guess how enormous the House of Claudius’s budget must be.

It’s too important an area to entrust to an outsider.

But why…

Is Lady Claudius getting so worked up and glaring at me like that…?

“An outsider? We’re friends who signed a friendship contract!”

“Huh, what?”

“How can a friend be an outsider? I have no intention of asking anyone but Lady Ansi for help!”

Completely dumbfounded, I carefully opened my mouth.

“But, I might harbor bad intentions…”

“Bad intentions?”

Lady Claudius snorted, then narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

“So, Lady Ansi, are you planning to backstab me?”

“What? No, I absolutely have no such intention.”

“Then that’s settled. What’s the problem?”

It was truly miraculous logic…

Looking at Lady Claudius blankly, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

Lady Claudius scolded me with a pout.

“No, it’s nothing.”

I quickly waved my hands dismissively, but it was hard to suppress the laughter that kept bubbling up.

It’s completely different from when I was Seraphina’s pushover.

How should I put it, the very fact that she’s saying this.

Isn’t it proof that Lady Claudius trusts me?

‘It’s a first.’

Someone who recognizes my judgment and entrusts me with some task without hesitation.

…Honestly, I was very happy.

Meanwhile, Lady Claudius had a face full of enthusiasm.

“Since I’ve even gotten my brother’s permission, I’m planning to try everything I can do.”

Lady Claudius even counted on her fingers as she listed off all the things she wanted to do.

“First, I want to decorate the townhouse garden, and I’d like to change the interior structure of the living room a bit. I also want to replace the wallpaper in the drawing room.”

…Wait, she wants to do all of that?

My jaw dropped.

But Lady Claudius wasn’t finished yet.

“I want to buy new furniture too, and oh right! I need to ask them to send a teapot set catalog. And…”

Lady Claudius, who had been chattering away, added as if she just remembered something.

“About this matter. You don’t need to feel so burdened by it.”

“Huh?”

Somehow my spine feels chilly.

It must be my imagination, right?

At the same time, Lady Claudius smiled brightly and dropped her second bombshell.

“My brother said it was fine too. Lady Ansi helping out, I mean.”

Gasp.

I froze right there on the spot.

“…Lord Claudius did?”

“Yes.”

“He permitted me to help?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really!”

Lady Claudius, fed up with my barrage of questions, burst out in frustration.

I gulped down dry saliva.

Well, it is a matter involving the household affairs of the House of Claudius itself.

No matter how much Lady Claudius is favored by Lord Claudius, she couldn’t proceed without Lord Claudius’s permission.

‘Wh-what should I do about this…’

Due to the pressure, my shoulders felt so heavy they might fall off.

However.

‘Still, I should do well.’

I steeled my resolve.

Since things have come to this, I wanted to show that I could meet Lord Claudius and Lady Claudius’s expectations as much as possible.

Most importantly, if through this work Lady Claudius could properly establish herself as the mistress of the ducal house.

Wouldn’t she be able to become more free from Seraphina’s clutches?

However, there was one thing that needed to be done first…

“It’s not difficult for me to help you, but there’s something you need to do first.”

At my words, Lady Claudius’s eyes sparkled.

“What is it?”

I answered with a bright smile.

“Study.”

“Ugh.”

Lady Claudius’s face, which had been cheerful all along, crumpled for the first time.

* * *

Some old-fashioned male nobles tend to easily look down on the work of a mistress managing internal affairs.

‘It’s just household matters anyway, so if you order the servants around, won’t they take care of everything?’

‘Just sitting comfortably at home sipping tea and primping. Isn’t that right?’

This is the repertoire those bastards tirelessly spout.

Ha, I should smack those disgusting mouths of theirs to make them come to their senses…

…Well, the conversation briefly went off on a tangent.

Absolutely not.

To manage domestic affairs, one must first become familiar with numbers.

Why?

Whether it’s managing subordinates, leisurely sipping tea comfortably at home, or adorning oneself.

‘None of it can be done without money!’

That means.

Lady Claudius needs to become familiar enough not just to review budgets, but to draft them and catch errors as well.

“Lady Ansiiiii.”

Lady Claudius, who had been absorbed in documents for a while, slumped down.

“I’m done….”

With her head buried on the desk, Lady Claudius held out a file folder with trembling hands.

It was a practice budget proposal related to the garden.

“You’ve worked hard, Lady Claudius.”

I readily accepted the documents.

Lady Claudius slightly lifted her gaze and looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“H-how is it…?”

I wanted to shout ‘You passed!’ but….

“Here, I think you need to recalculate this part.”

I drew red underlines beneath the error sections in the budget proposal.

Swoosh, swoosh.

As the refreshing sound of pen strokes continued, despair filled her blue eyes completely.

“Again?”

“Yes. The quantity of garden trees doesn’t match here, and also here….”

Lady Claudius’s face grew darker by the moment.

Having finally caught all the errors in the budget proposal, I smiled awkwardly.

“Still, Lady Claudius, you’ve improved a lot compared to before.”

“Forget it.”

Lady Claudius replied sulkily and buried her face deep into the desk once more.

A gloomy voice flowed out from beneath her bowed head.

“You don’t need to try to comfort me.”

“L-Lady Claudius?”

“With so many mistakes like this, what kind of domestic affairs could someone like me handle?”

…This would be terrible if she lost motivation for studying.

Feeling obligated to somehow resolve the current situation, I carefully opened my mouth.

“Lady Claudius, I’m being sincere.”

“….”

When I spoke in the gentlest voice possible, Lady Claudius’s shoulders stiffened with a start.

I began to gently soothe Lady Claudius.

“Lady Claudius, you had absolutely no knowledge about budget proposals before. But now you can draft budget proposals according to proper format.”

“….”

“That itself is tremendous progress. I’ve never seen a student as excellent as you, Lady Claudius.”

Well, actually.

The accurate expression would be that I’ve never taught any other student besides Lady Claudius….

I decided to just gloss over the minor details.

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