The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 41

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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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41.

“…You summoned the knights from dawn?”

“Yeah, Rose gave me some time for once.”

It seems Casian was also able to leave his office earlier than usual yesterday.

“The knights are going to resent you.”

“What are you talking about.”

Casian laughed while taking my hand and helping me up from my seat.

“You have no idea how our knights think of Rose.”

“…A demon?”

Though it’s not something I want to say with my own mouth.

When I spoke with a reluctant expression, Casian let out a small laugh.

“You’re like a hero to them, Rose.”

“I only remember making them work…?”

Honestly, the knights were the only ones with relatively free hands in the Winter Palace.

Our Winter Palace even frequently deployed servants for document work, so it couldn’t be helped.

The Empress prevented us from increasing the number of Winter Palace administrators beyond a certain limit, using the excuse that we only had one aide.

‘Did she say she’d let us increase them if we hired more aides?’

The imperial regulations even stated that each aide could have a maximum of five administrators, making it difficult for us to argue.

And she put pressure to prevent anyone from applying for aide positions, which required at least a baron title to qualify.

Her Imperial Majesty the Empress was truly a disgusting person.

“Well, maybe it’s because you didn’t just make them work.”

While I was thinking about the Empress, Casian placed my hand on his arm and escorted me to the dining room.

“I don’t remember, Your Highness. You don’t need to comfort me with things that didn’t happen.”

“Things that didn’t happen?”

After we sat at the dining table, Casian gestured and the servants began serving the meal with practiced ease.

“The quality of training changed immediately after Rose arrived.”

True, if Casian had been alone, he would have had to reduce training time to handle this workload, and even someone as strong as steel would have been exhausted.

“There’s much more besides that, but I’ll let you hear it from the knights someday.”

“Just tell me yourself.”

“It would be too much to steal what they should say as your superiors.”

Seeing him say that, it seemed there really were stories about me circulating among the knights.

“Anyway, so the reason Rose is angry is because of Francis Ashwood?”

“Yes.”

I approached my meal combatively while venting to Casian about how ridiculous Francis Ashwood’s words had been.

Casian simply listened to my grumbling with appropriate agreement while eating.

After venting like that, the irritation in my heart seemed to clear up a bit.

Then my head cooled down enough to think rationally.

“Actually, the Summer Palace has been handling most difficult matters with help from the Empress’s Palace or Winter Palace.”

“That’s right, His Majesty also turns a blind eye to it.”

There was a possibility that difficult and important matters could escalate if they tried to resolve them arbitrarily.

The Empress was busy packaging the First Prince as competent, but she was objective enough about her child to know that packaging was necessary.

“Honestly, the Summer Palace aides are all like precious young masters, so they’re probably piling up work by now.”

In fact, after I left the Summer Palace, they acted all high and mighty saying they could handle it, only to leave at eight in the evening saying they’d deal with it tomorrow.

‘Eight o’clock is basically right after dinner.’

Given their personalities, they wouldn’t have skipped meals to work either.

“If there’s really a problem with the settlement data, we won’t be able to completely avoid responsibility either.”

“Her Majesty the Empress will somehow drag us into it.”

Casian nodded while drinking richly brewed black tea instead of dessert.

Of course, in front of me sat an iced americano so dark it seemed like it would suck you in.

It was a six-shot venti-sized iced americano that existed only in the Winter Palace, just for me.

“So we need to prevent that, since we’re holding all the important stuff anyway.”

“Right, so how do you plan to solve it?”

Looking at my superior who was deliberately passing the ball to me despite knowing the answer, I smiled brightly.

Because today, the Summer Palace’s First Aide would have to accept a somewhat humiliating proposal.

*

“…Are you telling me to assist Aide Salice’s work right now?”

Francis Ashwood’s brow furrowed slightly upon hearing my proposal.

The man, who was nearly expressionless to begin with, looked at me as if he found it hard to understand.

“Is it difficult to understand? You’re thinking right now that the Winter Palace could just handle about half of it, aren’t you?”

“If you could just do that this time, from next time-“

“Is half the workload what allows people affiliated with the Summer Palace to leave work on time?”

At my words, he closed his mouth as if hit where it hurt.

“Aide Ashwood, the Winter Palace administrators were happy just to leave before midnight yesterday.”

They really only think of themselves.

“From your perspective, are the Winter Palace administrators and I people you can just use? Let me ask you one thing: is Prince Charley superior to Prince Casian?”

“That’s…”

You can’t say that carelessly, can you?

If you did, you’d see yourself on tomorrow’s front page for arbitrarily deciding the hierarchy between two people the Emperor hasn’t even determined yet.

“Then am I inferior to Aide Ashwood?”

“…”

His mouth trembled, unable to open.

“You might think that way since you’re a precious duke’s son and I’m just a baron’s daughter.”

I smiled brightly.

“Even if that were true, that’s something to consider at balls or social gatherings, not in administrative work, right?”

You know too, don’t you, that Winter Palace affiliates consistently occupy the top quarterly performance rankings?

It was one of the reasons why applicants for Winter Palace administrator positions never stopped despite the intense workload.

It was a position where you could secure fast promotions, thorough overtime pay, and performance bonuses.

Even the Empress didn’t touch the performance system, knowing that interfering with it could make things difficult for the First Prince’s Summer Palace or her own Rose Palace.

“And you said ‘just this time,’ but are you confident it won’t happen again if we help you this once?”

“I plan to make it so.”

“I can’t believe that. Anyone can say that with words. What if the other Summer Palace aides push it to us again when the time comes? You’re not thinking something foolish like the Sun Palace will mediate if it really doesn’t work out, are you?”

Did you think I wouldn’t know?

Even if Francis Ashwood doesn’t do that, is there any guarantee the other aides will be the same?

“Well, there’s so much to say, but I’m not idle enough to enlighten you on everything.”

“Even so, if I assist your work, it would damage Prince Charley’s honor. You know this too, being a First Aide yourself.”

At his words, I openly scoffed.

“Then let’s call it failed negotiations and handle it yourselves. We were trying to help, but Aide Ashwood rejected it?”

I picked up my notebook and stood up without regret.

“Since you’re so confident, I hope you’ll handle everything on your end from now on, except for things that absolutely require collaboration with the Winter Palace.”

I turned to leave, then spoke to him with a thoroughly condescending look as if I’d just remembered.

“During the Ilium cruise incident, you ran away because you were scared when it came down to it, yet you act like we’re equals in work.”

Casian and I had discovered Duke Ashwood’s name on the guest list while organizing the Ilium incident.

“That wasn’t running away…!”

“If it wasn’t running away, does that change the fact that we cleaned up after you?”

I opened the door, truly not wanting to say anything more.

Go ahead and get buried in mountains of documents while clinging to that precious pride.

Just as I stepped three paces outside the door.

“Aide Salice, I’ll accept the proposal.”

That rigid pride broke once.

*

Of course, I wasn’t the type to let him off with just one blow.

After all, you have to be crushed to the ground before you realize how wrong you’ve been.

“…A chamberlain, you say?”

When I told him about his position within the Winter Palace, cracks appeared on the noble prince’s face.

Of course, while it was customary for chamberlains to be selected from aristocratic families rather than servants, in reality, unless it was for the Emperor, Empress, or Imperial Consort level, only those from poor count families or below would apply.

‘Actually, even that’s rare these days, and it’s mostly viscounts or children from knight families.’

To place the heir of one of only three ducal families in the Empire in such a position, even temporarily?

Of course it would be absurd, from Francis Ashwood’s perspective, whose mind was much more rigid than the aged Duke Ashwood.

“I know I shouldn’t say this when I’m here asking for help, but…”

Perhaps due to the bombardment he’d received from me throughout the morning and afternoon, Francis Ashwood’s foolish remarks had been somewhat revised.

“Still, wouldn’t a temporary administrator position be sufficient? This way, it might look like the Winter Palace is retaliating against the Summer Palace.”

He even attached what seemed like a pretext of concern for us.

But.

If you know you shouldn’t say something, then just don’t say it, right?

I smiled sweetly and spoke to the Winter Palace Chamberlain.

“I’m sorry, Chamberlain. It seems filling the chamberlain position will be difficult.”

“It’s fine, Salice Advisor. It’s a common occurrence-“

Then Ashwood urgently opened his mouth.

“I’ll be a chamberlain, Salice Advisor!”

Now that I had his consent too.

It was time to use Ashwood to roll the entire Summer Palace around.

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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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