The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 66
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
【Chapter 66】
Joseph couldn’t understand the situation.
Before he even had a chance to execute his perfect(?) plan, he was caught for embezzlement.
Naturally thinking he wouldn’t be caught, he was in a state of having made no preparations whatsoever.
But the woman who dropped into the Duke’s estate discovered his embezzlement just by looking at a single maintenance fee…
‘No, not everything has been revealed yet.’
Joseph believed there was still a way out for him.
Rianel hadn’t uncovered all of his embezzlement after all.
‘Since it’s come to this, I’ll only admit to what’s already been discovered.’
If he could hide the undiscovered embezzlement as much as possible and somehow escape the Duke’s estate with the hidden money after leaving…
‘No matter how powerful the Duke’s house is, what could they do?’
When all the truth was revealed, he would already be gone from the Empire.
He had also thought of how to excuse the maintenance fee issue.
‘I’ll make up a story that I was trying to help because my nephew’s business was struggling.’
If he made excuses that he was only trying to help his nephew, he might be able to get out of this.
“Follow me.”
As he left the underground prison and moved to the interrogation room, Joseph prepared to cry pitifully.
Until that moment, he still thought he would be released.
“Please verify this.”
He had no idea that Rianel would expose every last one of his remaining sins.
“…!”
The documents presented contained detailed records of his embezzlement methods and scale.
The detailed items and evidence were so clear that he couldn’t even refute them.
‘How did she find all of this…!’
Nothing was missing, but nothing was added either.
With so many items, one would expect at least one mistake.
Joseph felt despair, having planned to nitpick any strange parts he could find.
‘What kind of person is this?’
No, is she even human to begin with?
He could believe that the Duke had brought a secret weapon to eliminate him.
Lennon clicked his tongue.
“Did you really embezzle this enormous amount?”
The scale of Joseph’s embezzlement was so substantial it was hard to believe even seeing it.
“You embezzled the maintenance fees together with your nephew, didn’t you? Where is that person now?”
Joseph had filled his own coffers by submitting expensive bills to the Duke’s estate under the pretext of maintenance fees and pocketing the difference.
To do such things, he had to coordinate with the contractor.
However, Joseph’s nephew lived a wandering life, working without a fixed business location, making his whereabouts unclear.
“Try finding him with your own hands. Of course, it won’t be easy!”
Joseph, realizing his end was near, tried to protect his nephew’s stash at least.
That way, if he succeeded in escaping, he could at least put food on the table with that money.
“Didn’t you say the construction payment hasn’t been settled yet?”
When Rianel spoke, Lennon let out an exclamation of realization.
“That’s right… Ah, if we say we’ll pay that, he’ll come on his own!”
“No. If we do that, there’s a high possibility he’ll just send a representative to collect the money. So tell him there’s additional construction work to be commissioned. If you say you’ll pay an advance as a contract fee, he’ll come immediately.”
Joseph scoffed.
“Do you think my nephew is a fool? That kid won’t fall for such shallow tricks!”
However, an hour later.
“You want to repair the stable?”
Jacob opened the door and entered, then tilted his head seeing his uncle kneeling in shabby condition.
“Uncle, why are you like that?”
“Why are you so stupid!”
Joseph exploded in frustration.
He had boasted confidently in front of Lennon and Rianel that his nephew would never come. Seeing his nephew walk into the trap with a clueless face and not even grasp the situation made him feel embarrassed.
“When I can’t be reached, you should have the sense to avoid this place! What are you doing crawling in here!”
However, Jacob had something to say too.
“How would I know what happened to you, Uncle? It’s not like we contact each other every day!”
“What?!”
The most surprised person here was Lennon.
Although he did it because Rianel told him to, he didn’t think they could actually lure Jacob in.
“How did you think of such a scheme?”
“I simply used their arrogance against them.”
The reason contractors commit fraud with maintenance fees is simple.
Because they think the other party is more ignorant than themselves.
Most customers follow whatever they suggest without knowing material costs or construction processes.
Since they committed fraud while looking down on their target from the beginning, they naturally thought they wouldn’t be caught and came here.
Jacob, grasping the situation, blinked his eyes.
“Don’t tell me this is about the construction costs being expensive?”
“The billed amount seems excessive for repairing a single window.”
“That’s… the water damage was worse than expected, so additional construction costs were incurred. We also did painting.”
“If additional construction costs were incurred, you should have submitted an additional estimate or drawn up a new contract. Construction done without prior notice is improper billing. I cannot accept it.”
Jacob immediately came up with another excuse.
“We also replaced a lamp at the same time. We replaced it with an expensive one befitting the Duke’s estate, so the cost was billed high.”
“This thing?”
Hulbert, who was observing the situation in place of Asil who had gone to work, went into the room and brought out the lamp.
Rianel examined the problematic lamp.
“There’s no craftsman’s authentication mark, and the surface plating is determined to be defective. It’s judged to be a similarly made substitute product, and cannot be accepted as grounds for paying the current billed amount.”
“I constructed it as ordered. Since it’s already been used, there are no refunds.”
A cold smile appeared on Rianel’s lips.
“Then we’ll proceed with the verification process. Please submit the packaging materials from delivery and the authenticity certificate. If that item is genuine, I’ll pay double the price.”
Jacob’s gaze wandered in the air.
“Well… actually, I lost the certificate.”
“Then it cannot be recognized as genuine.”
“This is unfair! To treat it as counterfeit just because I can’t prove it!”
Rianel calmly countered.
“Even if that were genuine, losing the certificate is your fault. What exactly is so unfair about this?”
“!”
The servants who had been clicking their tongues or giving looks of ‘what kind of person is this’ every time Jacob made excuses felt relieved and let out admiration.
Our lady is doing well!
Finally, Jacob bowed his head.
“I’m sorry. I got blinded by money and became greedy.”
He admitted that the lamp was counterfeit.
“As an apology, I won’t charge for the construction work.”
“That’s all?”
One of Hulbert’s eyebrows curved.
“I’ll also refund the advance payment I received.”
“Of course you should!”
A watching servant shouted as if he felt completely satisfied.
“Then I can leave now, right?”
Jacob asked with faint hope.
“No. Now you can speak with the other people.”
Other people?
While Jacob was bewildered, the door to the adjacent room opened and a group of people entered.
“Good day! We’re from the Special Tax Bureau.”
“So how much additional tax are you collecting this time?”
They were people from the Special Tax Bureau.
They were also known as people more frightening than the recent plague.
Jacob tried to flee, but the servants were already blocking his escape route.
“I’ve organized everything here.”
Rianel held out the prepared documents.
“Fines will be imposed for unregistered business activities, and additional taxes will also apply to unreported income tax.”
On top of that, just like with Vanessa’s case, delayed interest would be added as well.
Jacob was horrified when he saw the tax bill that was issued.
“Wait, shouldn’t you consider the material purchase costs? My net profit isn’t that much!”
Til scoffed at him.
“If you were going to make excuses like that, you should have kept ledgers.”
No matter what business one runs, there are basic costs that go out.
The Imperial Family also recognized this, so when business owners properly prepared and submitted ledgers, they only taxed the net profit remaining after deducting those costs.
But what if no ledgers were kept?
Since the net profit couldn’t be known, they imposed estimated taxation.
This involved roughly estimating and calculating the costs that would have gone into the business, but since the Tax Bureau calculated conservatively, the taxes inevitably ended up being set high.
Jacob’s lips trembled.
He had deliberately not kept ledgers, worried that traces of using cheap materials would remain.
Who knew it would come back with such results!
‘I’m, I’m ruined…’
Jacob staggered and collapsed.
Taxes were debt owed to the state.
Escaping from that was nearly impossible.
‘I’m bankrupt.’
Jacob, who would not only have all his saved money confiscated but also have his house sold and end up on the streets, couldn’t accept this situation.
“Uncle, what on earth is going on here?”
“….”
“You clearly said that woman would take all the responsibility. So why was I caught? I don’t understand at all…”
It was an outburst that erupted from his inability to contain his bewilderment.
“Sh, shut up!”
Joseph glared at him, but everyone had already heard.
‘Oh?’
This was truly interesting.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
