The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 32

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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 32】

The Princess Palace was Princess Tiren’s personal space, but the structure of receiving budget allocations was similar to other administrative agencies.

It was similar in that the Ministry of Finance distributed the budget, which was then used for operating expenses and various miscellaneous costs.

The difference from administrative agencies was that they didn’t write performance reports and there were no audits of expenditure records.

This was because the Princess Palace’s budget was essentially treated as private funds that the Princess could use at her discretion.

Still, since it was executed with tax money, keeping ledgers was mandatory.

As a civil servant, Rianel reviewed the records and immediately noticed something suspicious.

‘Donations…’

Most of the Princess Palace’s budget was flowing to the Temple.

‘Was the Princess such a devout person?’

It had been three years since she had met the Princess again.

People could change in those three years, but this was excessive.

‘At this level, she’s cutting even essential living expenses to make donations.’

Some maids even had records of requesting transfers to other palaces due to unpaid wages.

However, this wasn’t a question that could be resolved by sitting in this position.

“Newbie, aren’t you going home?”

“I will.”

Since such problems were fastest resolved by hearing statements directly from the person involved, Rianel headed straight to the Princess Palace after work…

“I’m from the Special Tax Bureau. Is the Princess in?”

“Why are you here again!”

The Head Maid was truly delighted.

* * *

The next morning.

‘Ugh, did I toss and turn last night? My shoulder feels stiff…’

Wilbrin, who was rubbing her stiff shoulder as she entered the office, screamed when she saw a black shadow sitting in the dark room.

“Ah, you scared me!”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a ghost.

“Newbie, you came to work early today?”

Rather than coming to work, she hadn’t gone home at all, but Rianel just nodded vaguely.

“Senior.”

“What, did you cause some trouble?”

Though she was expressionless as usual, today’s Rianel seemed even darker than normal.

Wilbrin felt unnecessarily anxious and worried.

“No. Rather, I have something I’d like to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“What kind of place do you think Heaven is, Senior?”

“…Suddenly?”

“Do you believe in the existence of the afterlife?”

Wilbrin blinked while standing.

Setting aside that the question was too out of the blue, it was bewildering to hear such words from Rianel, who looked like the least likely person in the world to believe in such things.

“Uh… Um. Should I answer? For now, ‘No’?”

However, Rianel didn’t seem particularly interested in Wilbrin’s answer.

“How do you think you’d feel if this place were the afterlife, Senior?”

“…Newbie, were you scammed by someone?”

“That might be the case.”

Only then did Rianel look directly at Wilbrin and speak.

“It seems like I might have been scammed out of my life.”

“?!”

Of course, that didn’t make her words any more understandable.

* * *

Rianel was a non-believer.

This was true when she grew up in the orphanage, and when she passed the Academy that even nobles failed to enter.

She acknowledged that she was smarter than her peers, but she had never once been grateful to God for it.

It was simply Rianel’s personal luck and the product of chance.

But conversely, she had never denied or criticized religion either.

Because she acknowledged the very reason for religion’s existence.

‘Religion gives people comfort.’

When people face things they absolutely cannot accept with reason, they turn to religion.

The words “a loved one died when their time came” provide no comfort, but “God took pity on them and called them home” does offer solace.

In that context, she could understand the Princess’s devotion to religion.

‘If only she wasn’t skipping meals to make donations.’

Unless she loved God so much that she was trying to join Him, the current situation couldn’t be left alone.

But she couldn’t persuade the Princess either.

There was no way to prove the premise that ‘making donations to the Temple doesn’t bring peace to the Former Empress’s soul.’

Even if she revealed the truth about how she was living, this kind of conversation would obviously follow.

“That person is living a hellish present life.”

“I see, the donations were insufficient… I must offer even more blessings!”

“What I meant was, she received a second chance and is living her next life.”

“Oh my! Then I must make even more donations so she can find happiness in that next life!”

No matter what she said, she couldn’t break the thought process that led to ‘beginning-development-turn-donations.’

The afterlife was a gray area that academia couldn’t approach, so there was nothing she could do.

‘This is difficult…’

But she couldn’t just watch any longer, so Rianel remained in the government building even after everyone else had gone home, poring over the Princess Palace’s ledgers.

Clatter.

As she was rubbing her tired eyes and sighing.

There was the sound of tea sets clinking together.

Asil was standing there.

“You seemed to need comfort.”

He, whom she thought had gone home, placed a teacup on Rianel’s desk.

He held his own teacup in his hand, from which gentle steam was rising.

“The cup is from my personal collection, and the tea leaves are from the break room. There’s absolutely no possibility of being charged with bribery, so please don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t suspicious of that. Thank you for your consideration.”

Rianel picked up the tea.

It seemed to be low-quality leaf tea indeed, as there was hardly any aroma and the taste was bland.

“You’ve been looking at the Princess Palace’s ledgers during every break.”

“…”

“Is there a particular reason you’re so concerned about it?”

As if you were someone with past connections.

Asil was smiling, but he was keenly observing her with expectation.

‘He’s testing me.’

Rianel put down her teacup.

“The Princess Palace’s budget all comes from the national treasury, and the national treasury means taxes. As a civil servant managing taxes, it’s natural to check how administrative budgets were executed.”

“Oh my, hearing you so firmly emphasize that you have no personal relationship with the Princess breaks my heart. You could be more comfortable about it.”

“I am quite comfortable right now.”

“Do you know this? My master had a habit when drinking tea. When setting down the cup, he would place the handle horizontally to the right, aligning the patterns on the saucer and teacup.”

Rianel looked at the cup she had just set down.

She hadn’t expected Asil to know a habit she wasn’t even aware of herself.

“Minor habits can overlap.”

“I know. I had no intention of pressing you about it.”

“….”

“It’s because I grew up poorly.”

Because he was a pathetic disciple still living in his master’s shadow.

Because when he saw something resembling his master, he couldn’t look away.

Rianel didn’t respond and turned her gaze back to the ledger.

Since she couldn’t drive him out, she decided to ignore him.

After smiling bitterly for a while, Asil soon came to Rianel’s side and bent his waist.

He looked like a superior checking on a subordinate’s condition, or someone suddenly showing curiosity.

“…Yes, I understand your concerns. Even if the donations are excessive, they could be seen as private expenses, making them difficult to question.”

His seemingly random attitude became clear in intent the moment he clasped his hands together like a student.

“But I know you have a plan in mind.”

Even at this moment, he was testing and expecting something from Rianel.

‘Acting foolish at this point would be amateur.’

What was needed now was shamelessness.

She had to act normally, pretending she hadn’t been affected at all.

“Faith is personal belief, but if there was intent to deceive someone, it becomes fraud. So I’m thinking of checking if there are any related matters.”

Whether it was the head maid who deceived the young princess into making donations, or the temple that collected those donations.

If either one was caught, she could find a lead.

After digging into it for quite a while, Rianel.

“Found it.”

Achieved the triumph of grasping evidence within a few days.

* * *

The next day.

“So what you’re saying is…. The head maid of the Princess Palace was embezzling palace budget in the form of donations?”

Til was shocked after hearing Rianel’s report.

“Yes.”

“And you believe our Agency Bureau should directly investigate and expose this?”

“Since she accumulated wealth through fraudulent means, we should be able to find tax evasion charges as well.”

More precisely, she was on the annoyed side.

“I understand the good intentions. But do we need to get involved in the Princess’s affairs?”

It wasn’t something they had to do, nor was it particularly worthwhile.

Why stir up trouble that could be left alone?

“Yes.”

“Convince me.”

“The Minister of Finance is involved in this matter.”

Til was immediately convinced.

“Hey! Everyone sit down!”

A meeting was called right away.

Til realized true faith.

The realization that Rianel’s words were a source of dopamine.

‘So why make pointless donations?’

When a god who generously gives revelations resides in the Tax Bureau.

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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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