The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 108

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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 108】

Exactly ten days later.

The servants were gathered together at the mansion entrance.

‘Oh, they’re coming.’

In the distance, the Duke’s carriage came into view.

The general work of serving only arises when there’s a master present. When the master is away, work naturally decreases.

‘I don’t care about the master, but I want to see the lady.’

The maid Nia had been earnestly hoping for Rianel and Asil’s marriage lately.

This was because she had recently bragged extensively about Rianel to a girl who served a lady known only for being irritable, during a gathering with other maids.

[You know, our lady is so gentle and kind. Moreover, she always speaks softly and has never once raised her voice. On top of that, she’s so meticulous with her work…]

‘I can’t become a braggart…!’

While repeating this to herself several times.

‘Ah, they’re coming!’

Finally, the two people appeared.

‘Did they fight…?’

Just looking at Rianel’s expression as she got off the carriage, it was impossible to tell.

Since she always had that same expression, there was no way to gauge whether she was satisfied with the trip or three seconds away from breaking up.

“W-welcome back.”

The head maid straightened her posture and approached to greet them.

“Was there any trouble?”

“The mansion has been peaceful as always.”

Fortunately, their master was somewhat easier to read. Having served him for so long, subtle changes caught their eye.

‘They didn’t break up, it seems.’

Whatever happened at the resort would be confidential, but Asil wasn’t the type to gossip about such inner workings anyway.

He was someone who seemed approachable yet clearly maintained walls around himself.

They were simply satisfied with the fact that the two hadn’t separated.

However, there were always those who couldn’t contain their curiosity.

One of them, Nia, asked Rianel.

“Um… how was the journey? Was it comfortable?”

“Yes. It was a meaningful time.”

Oh.

“What kind of meaning…”

“I met my birth mother.”

“…Pardon?”

“I thought she had passed away, but she was perfectly alive.”

“Um, excuse me?”

That’s not why you went there, is it?

“I learned that she had intentionally neglected me.”

“Are, are you alright…?”

“Since I gained new information, it helped with my judgment. It was a beneficial time.”

The people standing behind Nia covered their ears.

‘This is too personal!’

‘We didn’t want to know!’

No, more than that.

‘What about the date?!’

We sent you to get closer to each other!

While they were screaming internally.

The two had already slipped into the mansion as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Building violation cases usually surface in chains once one person is caught in the vicinity.

‘That person was doing it like that.’

‘Really? Then it must be okay.’

This kind of ignorance spreading like custom would later result in multiple violation cases being discovered all at once.

“I’m being wronged. Old man Filson over there did it first!”

“Why is this old hag acting like this? Bachelor Paul from across the street started before me. If you’re going to make a fuss, you should mention him instead, shouldn’t you?”

Thus, a chain of snitching continued as they dragged each other’s names into it. Since they had been running guesthouse businesses and viewing each other as competitors, there was no way they had any solidarity or camaraderie.

And so.

“Today is the day Team Leader’s vacation ends, right?”

“To think we’d be conducting a joint audit at this very moment, something that was never in our fate.”

Coincidentally, starting today, a joint audit with the Administrative Department began according to the Empress Dowager’s instructions.

[There seems to be something suspicious about it. If he needed scholarship money, there were other ways besides clinging to the scholarship foundation. Why did Professor Frederick try to expose the foundation’s corruption?]

This originated from the Princess’s questioning, who had been running the scholarship foundation.

[You’re right. There’s already a scholarship system established within the Academy, so as a professor, he should have considered that first. There must be circumstances that prevented him from doing so.]

“Since it’s come to this, I hope we can humble those Administrative Department guys a bit.”

The Special Tax Bureau people who had come to work without a care.

“Wh-what is all this?”

“You can impose fines and collect back taxes.”

Their eyes widened in surprise.

“What is this?”

‘Didn’t they say you two went on a date?’

Building up results during vacation?

At the same time, they realized.

‘The date was used as a cover again!’

As always, the Tax Bureau, satisfied with rough explanations, was peaceful today too.

* * *

The Special Tax Bureau also had Administrative Department people mixed in.

‘I heard from Til, the former Team Leader, but…’

‘What are those insane results?’

‘Is it showing off? Or asserting dominance?’

Having witnessed the shocking scene, they clicked their tongues.

Administrative Department people were quite obsessed with performance.

-We are the department that produces the best results.

Administrative Department people had strong pride, and it was indeed a place where ambitious people gathered.

Tasks that would be subdivided into Ministry of Education, Ministry of Land, etc. in other countries were all under the Administrative Department’s jurisdiction in the Empire.

This was because the Former Empress had passed away before completing the administrative reorganization.

As a result, the administrative system remained in an ambiguous state.

However, Administrative Department people took pride in this very point.

‘Where else is there a department that works as much as ours?’

‘We’re truly the department that earns its keep!’

For that reason, seeing Rianel who had instantly brought results surpassing theirs, they couldn’t help but widen their eyes.

But Rianel herself remained calm alone.

“I discovered violation cases while looking around the vicinity during my vacation.”

“Pardon?”

“It seemed inefficient to make a separate site visit there, so I handled it while I was down there. That’s more efficient, isn’t it?”

“But still, you were on vacation…”

“Of course, I handled it ‘roughly.'”

“…”

Only she didn’t know that this attitude actually seemed more arrogant.

Watching Rianel sit down without any hint of showing off even in this situation, the Administrative Department people felt a strange sense of defeat.

‘N-no…! It’s actually good when your counterpart is competent!’

They desperately suppressed their ominous premonitions and requested a handshake.

“Th, then please take care of us.”

“Yes.”

The area that Rianel and the Special Tax Bureau were assigned to handle was tax evasion and embezzlement.

Fortunately, since the Academy in question was a national institution, it was possible to examine their ledgers.

Rianel detected irregularities within just a couple of hours.

“I’ve confirmed evidence that scholarships and research funds were repeatedly paid to specific individuals.”

The current president of the National Academy was a man named Jamie Benton.

Among the students who didn’t receive benefits, there were actually those with superior grades.

Yet strange individuals were repeatedly receiving specific amounts.

“How is this possible? The Academy is also subject to regular audits, isn’t it?”

The National Academy was an institution operated with national funds. It was a place that couldn’t escape regular audits.

“Those bastards from the Ministry of Finance must have spread their shit all the way here.”

The fact that the Ministry of Finance had taken bribes and turned a blind eye was naturally revealed.

“How else could they just let this slide?”

“Those useless bastards anyway.”

They knew that those people had already been fired and punished, so there was nothing they could do about it now.

But they couldn’t help feeling rage surge up every time they encountered the traces those people had left behind.

“The appointment process for these professors is also suspicious.”

Clearly there were professors with superior experience, yet new professors were hired instead.

It turned out they were the president’s sons and relatives.

Since they shared the same surname as President Benton, it was impossible not to notice.

“If there was external pressure during the hiring process, abuse of authority charges would also apply.”

The Ministry of Administrative Management personnel could only look at each other with surprised faces.

‘They reviewed all those ledgers in such a short time?’

President Benton’s term in office was only 2 years.

Compared to the volume the Tax Bureau typically handled, it could be considered small,

but it still wasn’t a small amount.

Yet they finished reviewing all of that before quitting time?

“What are those documents?”

“Data organizing the evidence and circumstances.”

To leave no room for the suspect to deny the crimes, Rianel had meticulously written down the detailed records.

The Administrative Department people were left speechless by the flawless composition that was like a snare.

‘No way, they did all that while the sun is still high in the sky?’

Surely finishing this much work would require pulling an all-nighter.

“Wh, where are you going now?”

But Rianel and the Special Tax Bureau people were already shouldering their bags.

“Going home from work, naturally.”

“Go, going home?”

What nonsense…

“Leaving work on time is one of the rights of civil servants.”

‘We haven’t even finished half…!’

Rianel’s work handling skills were too perfect to find fault with.

“M, Minister.”

Feeling like he had hit an impossible wall, the Minister of Administrative Affairs collapsed with a thud.

“Are you alright, Minister!”

Seeing him almost on the verge of fainting, his soul departed and unable to continue speaking, the Tax Bureau people realized.

‘I wasn’t the only one who felt that way?’

‘Well, the abnormal one was them from the beginning.’

Right, it wouldn’t be fair for only us to deal with such unreasonable nonsense.

They shared a moment of satisfaction along with a strange sense of camaraderie.

* * *

President Jamie’s face hardened as soon as he heard about the official document.

“An official document requesting data submission came down?”

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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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