The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 20

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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 20】

“Not tax evasion?”

Royhum burst into angry shouts.

“How dare you lie in the presence of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!”

He didn’t mention the Emperor because, as usual, the Emperor was absent from today’s Administrative Council meeting.

Royhum pulled out some copies of the ledgers he had brought.

“Then explain this!”

It was what he had received from Vanessa.

“Here, and here, and here too. As you can see, there are repeated records of purchasing amounts of materials including wheat that the ducal house couldn’t possibly use each year. But when I asked a servant who worked at House Vincenheim, they said they never saw such quantities of materials entering the mansion during their time working there!”

He slammed down the copies and surveyed the assembly.

“What does this mean?”

Though he was asking a question, he wasn’t really expecting an answer.

Naturally, he didn’t pause for long.

“It’s obvious! They’ve been hiding this much money every year, secretly gifting it to their children!”

The Empire was a country that imposed high inheritance and gift taxes.

Since it was taxing funds that had already been subject to income tax, some called it double taxation.

Anyway, as long as one was born in the Empire, it had to be paid, but quite a few people resented this and used all sorts of tricks to avoid paying.

That kind of method was among the common ones.

“….”

As Duke Vincenheim bit his lower lip and endured the gazes and atmosphere turning toward him.

“That is an incorrect assumption.”

Rianel spoke.

“Because those materials were indeed actually purchased by House Vincenheim.”

“Purchased? What did they do after purchasing them? Did they resell them at higher prices?”

“They regularly donated them to five orphanages and three medical centers.”

Royhum, who had been sneering, froze.

The moment Rianel saw the evidence of House Vincenheim’s tax evasion, she naturally thought an attack would come from that direction.

Of course, she investigated the details and prepared supporting documents to refute it.

“Here, if you look at the material ledgers of those institutions, you’ll be able to confirm that there was an anonymous donor around similar times.”

“…!”

Royhum, who had tried to expose House Vincenheim’s dirty secrets only to end up revealing their good deeds instead, silently bit his lips. He couldn’t believe he had been humiliated in front of all these people.

‘Vanessa, how long has she been in the ducal house and she couldn’t even figure out something like this? What has she been doing?’

This was Royhum’s personal sentiment.

For most people, the fact that such a great family had been secretly making donations was something that inspired surprise and admiration.

The Foreign Minister asked.

“Why didn’t you receive donation receipts?”

“That’s….”

Rianel answered on behalf of the hesitating Duke.

“It was the wish of the late Duchess. She was concerned that if they received tax exemptions through donations, the meaning of the donations would fade and appear to be transactions for benefits, so she left such instructions in her will.”

Also, it was because she didn’t want those who received aid through the family’s grace to consider it a debt.

“But if we reveal that here, wouldn’t we end up betraying the deceased’s wishes anyway?”

“What are you talking about? If we stay quiet, he’ll end up being labeled a tax evader! Of course we have to reveal it!”

Though there were some who voiced different opinions.

“To think the State Minister has been making donations every year. Truly, he can be called the heart of the Empire.”

“I think it’s romantic. He’s been faithfully keeping his beloved’s last wishes all this time. Is there such a romanticist?”

Generally, voices praising House Vincenheim continued.

Meanwhile, Wilbrin was excited.

“While someone somewhere pockets even the money meant to build treatment centers, someone else secretly makes donations. There really are all kinds of people in this world.”

The people from the Finance Ministry, who fell into the former category, glared at Wilbrin, but she was confident.

Well! Who told them to evade taxes?

“Does this answer your question?”

The Foreign Minister answered on behalf of Royhum, who couldn’t say anything.

“More than enough!”

Royhum squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating the disaster to come.

* * *

“I thought you would find the family’s affairs unpleasant and not look into them deeply.”

“….”

“Or that you would be ashamed and try to cover them up.”

“….”

“You reached a more excellent conclusion than I had thought.”

After the Administrative Council meeting ended.

Duke Vincenheim caught Rianel as she was leaving mixed in with the other civil servants.

Rianel, who had planned to ignore whatever the Duke said, eventually turned around.

Emotionless eyes met his.

“Why should I hide it?”

Rianel meant that she was innocent regardless of what happened to House Vincenheim, but it sounded different to the Duke’s ears.

‘This child truly thought of the family.’

She believed in our family’s innocence.

The Duke’s eyes grew moist.

“Well done.”

“….”

“And thank you. For protecting Lisa’s honor.”

Rianel wasn’t heartless enough to be cold to someone who was moved.

“It’s nothing. Is that all you have to say?”

But she also wasn’t generous enough to let others waste her time.

“You don’t have any urgent reason to leave, so why are you in such a hurry?”

“I don’t want to show this scene to anyone.”

“Why would it be a problem for a daughter and father to have a friendly conversation?”

“Because while we’re family privately, we have a superior-subordinate relationship professionally. I’m concerned about receiving a pay cut if this situation is misunderstood as personal favoritism.”

She was already living in an expensive rental house. Her meager salary couldn’t afford to be cut further.

The Duke was so dumbfounded that he momentarily pressed his lips into a straight line.

“…I could just take measures to prevent that from happening!”

“Applying such pressure would be abuse of authority. It’s a violation of civil service law.”

The Duke sighed while pressing his throbbing forehead with his index finger.

“I felt this before too, but why are you so obsessed with money? Haven’t I been sending you living expenses every month without fail!”

“Have you?”

“Of course I have….”

The Duke was about to get angry but stopped mid-sentence.

…Huh?

* * *

“Wow, this is the first time in my life I’ve given a tax refund.”

The people at the Special Tax Bureau clicked their tongues while looking at House Vincenheim’s ledgers.

The Duke had been faithfully paying tax rates without applying any tax reductions other than donation deduction benefits.

Since this hadn’t been just a year or two, the amount to be refunded was considerable.

“So how much is the tax amount that needs to be refunded?”

“Roughly this much?”

Til wrote the calculated amount on paper.

“This is insane, seriously.”

The Tax Bureau people let out profanity-laced exclamations without anyone saying anything.

Calculating refund amounts wasn’t their authority but the Ministry of Finance’s.

Nevertheless, the reason they were doing this work was because the Ministry of Finance had received disciplinary action as an entire department. The Empress Dowager’s fury had been that tremendous.

‘There wasn’t a single person in the Ministry of Finance who hadn’t evaded taxes.’

It’s not like other departments didn’t have people who hadn’t paid taxes, but the Ministry of Finance was on a completely different level.

The Ministry of Finance, including the minister, had all received suspension.

It was called suspension, but it meant they shouldn’t resign and should wait until additional disciplinary action was handed down even after the investigation was complete.

‘Serves them right, those Ministry of Finance bastards.’

‘They were always acting like they had everything, pretending to be wealthy.’

Thinking that the wealth they had bragged about was built on tax evasion made it not enviable at all.

There were side effects too.

With an entire department suspended, the remaining people had to do that work.

Of course, it didn’t matter to the Special Tax Bureau people. They had the enthusiasm to chop firewood to fuel the flames if Ministry of Finance people were rolling in hellfire.

“Oh, the newbie’s here.”

“You came quickly? I thought it would take a while.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to talk with your father?”

“There was something worth discussing. More importantly, what are you looking at?”

“Well, that’s… I don’t know either. Look, look.”

Til sighed and moved aside so Rianel could see, while Mel watched her reaction.

“At least this time it’s not bad news…”

“I know.”

Rianel was expressionless today as well. So her thoughts couldn’t be read, but she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

“But is there a budget to refund this?”

“Don’t worry. Those Ministry of Finance bastards will pay for it instead.”

Til said, and Wilbrin nodded with understanding, saying “That’s true.”

“Now that I think about it, His Majesty the Emperor really seems like an emperor.”

“…?”

Only Rianel, who found the Emperor disagreeable, quietly twisted her lips.

“He doesn’t attend Administrative Council meetings, but he somehow discovers talented people like the State Minister and places them in key positions.”

“That’s true. That’s originally a ruler’s virtue, isn’t it? Discovering outstanding talent and placing them in the right positions.”

Rianel couldn’t stand it.

“If I may speak out of turn, the person who appointed that State Minister was Her Majesty the Former Empress.”

“Oh, was that so?”

Asil, who was just entering the Special Tax Bureau, chimed in.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

At the same time, he turned his head to look at Rianel.

“How did you know that fact?”

“I am a civil servant working at an institution established by the Former Empress. Therefore, I judged it natural to be familiar with Her Majesty the Former Empress’s achievements.”

“Excellent.”

“Wow, damn. I almost bowed to the wrong person.”

“Exactly.”

The Tax Bureau people were impressed.

Asil’s lips, which had been satisfied with a similar expression to theirs, slowly hardened.

‘How did she really know that?’

It was a truth known to very few, since the Emperor had packaged all of the Former Empress’s achievements as his own accomplishments.

It was even a truth that the person in question, the State Minister himself, didn’t know.

‘I’ll have to keep watching.’

Having made that judgment, Asil.

Called Rianel aside a few days later.

“Would you become my partner?”

“Could you explain the reasoning that led you to that conclusion?”

Rianel was startled.

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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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