“Brother.”
“It’s outstanding to use you as an example. I don’t want to hear that nasty thing again.”
It was such a proposition that’s not even worth thinking about.
Cedric firmly shook his head and cut off Lilian’s persuasion.
“Just as defiance was your decision, it’s my decision to accept your actions. Afterwards, it’s strictly prohibited in the name of the Marquis of Turin to discuss whether or not this decision is right or wrong. Nothing more.”
“In the first place, I didn’t mean to be severely punished either. Even with probation or budget cut…”
“Lily, what did this brother just say?”
Ugh. Lily was slightly surprised by Cedric’s response, which was unusually severe. So, without realizing it, she innocently replied.
“It’s strictly forbidden to discuss the feudal lord’s decision…”
“Correct.”
Cedric crossed his arms and smiled. Seeing the strength in his temples, Lilian was convinced.
“But yes. If you wanted to be punished that much, I’d rather do this.”
Her brother is very angry right now.
“I will double your budget for the duration of this Grand Reconciliation. Use all of them without any leftovers.”
“Yes? No, wait, how could that be a punishment…”
“It’ll be enough punishment for you.”
Indeed. In fact, just spending the allocated budget was daunting.
Lilian momentarily rolled her head. And pretending to be concerned about his financial situation, she opened her mouth but Cedric leisurely struck it down.
“Since you organized the account books yourself, you should have a better idea of how good this year’s crop is and how wealthy Islar really is. Right?”
“That’s…”
It’s true. The opulence of Turin, which has been passed down from generation to generation, was literally at its peak. But she couldn’t back down like this.
“You’re trully wise, but brother… no matter how much it is, it’s a bit hard to budget extra as a punishment.”
“This. It looks like you’re going to turn protesting into a hobby, Lily. Just a moment ago, I told you what to do with the family head’s decision, right? If you feel it’s unfair, think of it as your karma for having an older brother who’s one of the richest people in the country.”
It was only then that Lily became speechless. Cedric’s anger had eased somewhat as well, and he had time to properly examine his sister’s paperwork.
He let out a sigh.
‘What the hell am I supposed to say about this.’
A genius idea that enables cross contrast verification by listing assets and liabilities, income and expenses side by side on both sides of a table.
Cedric was basically a military man, but he’s also a person with innate aptitude as an administrative official with that meticulous personality.
Not only did he immediately understand double-entry bookkeeping, which he had never seen before, but he was also able to see at a glance how valuable this technology was.
In fact, Lilian’s sins were never light.
‘She stole the documents without the family head’s knowledge.’
Cedric’s chronic love for his younger sister was the reason why he couldn’t punish her, but it’s also because the document he looked at at first glance was too great.
It was just a few papers. However, thanks to these sheets of paper, he, his head butler, and other vassals were spared a week of all-nighters.
Cedric honestly admired it as a miracle that was hard to believe even while lookin at it.
“How did you come up with this idea?”
“The other day, I saw the ledger of a merchant in a distant country who did business with my mother. It’s only a bit but I refined it in my own way.”
After the prepared excuse, Lilian quietly asked.
“Is it okay?”
“What is okay?”
Laughter came out. It’s not boastful to say she just submitted a neat ledger, almost like a work of art, and say ,’is it okay?’
Aside from the content, even the technology of adjusting the size of the font and arranging it into five columns for ease of viewing was very skillful.
Moreover, Lilian even attached a separate document explaining how to understand this new ledger.
An uncompromising person who was perfectly considerate of their superior.
There was not a single flaw.
There’s only one conclusion that Cedric could draw if a person who had never seen administrative work all their life had done this in just a few days.
‘A genius who can’t even be compared to me in terms of bureaucratic aptitide…’
Even if the original draft of this ledger wasn’t Lilian’s, he could never underestimate the effort it took to make the ‘skills I’ve seen’ into one’s own, refine them, and pass them on.
He didn’t even feel good at all since the gap was so big that it wasn’t even his main field. Cedric admitted while rubbing his face.
“If this draft hadn’t been made by my sickly sister, I’d probably have hired you for life.”
“Really?”
“What really? I could have proposed marriage just by looking at this document.”
In otherwords, it’s a lifetime employment.
Lily was a little surprised by the unexpected rave review.
“You may be exaggerating, but I feel good.”
“You… No, it’s fine.”
Apparently, Lilian thought that Cedric’s courtship was just a joke out of his fierce love for his sister.
Without the energy to correct the misunderstanding, Cedric let his lovely sister misunderstand.
“Me and my vassals should all learn this method from you.”
“Well, if you do, will you dispose of the budget increase given to me?”
“Nonsense. Don’t dream, Lily Islar.”
“I was told that I did a good job.”
“Then treat it as my tuition fee.”
“But…”
“Nuh-uh.”
Cedric pretended to look at the papers, then glanced up.
The sullen younger sister was very cute. Cedric hid the corner of his mouth that was about to go up inside the papers.
Was it because he was so absorbed in hiding his expression?
He made the mistake of overlooking that his sister was a person who knew how to calmly plan her next move regardless of her feelings.
***
The next day, Lilian received from Allen a set of documents proving that the budget allocated to her had exactly doubled.
“As expected, my brother is one who doesn’t talk nonsense.”
“You’re also like that.”
Besides, even the fact that he organized and set the documents in Lilian’s way was Cedric-like.
It was the earnest perfectionist’s own retaliatory prank. Lily let out a laugh.
Haa. Then…
“What should I do with this?”
“It’s just spending money.”
“Yeah, but…”
As Rita said, she just had to spend the money. Depending on what she do, money can disappear like snow melting in the spring sun.
No matter how much money there is, there’s a way to waste it.
But…
“You know I can’t do that. This money is Turin’s money.”
The feudal lord protects the land and the people at the forefront of the war. The people pay taxes and serve the feudal lord.
Lilian and Cedric’s father taught them that the one they should serve were the people before the Emperor.
‘Of course, nominally, it’s true that His Majesty the Emperor gave Islar the right to rule Turin. But we can never rule Turin without the tacit consent of the people of this land.’
Islar, before being the sword of the Emperor, is the protector of the people of this land, and that must be how Islar reigns, the siblings’ father taught them.
Lilian could now understand what she hadn’t understood before.
‘It means that the money the people of Turin give is the price of my brother’s life.’
“I can’t waste my brother’s blood. Even if it’s just a penny.”
What’s the best use of this money? In fact, there’s one way that came to mind.
“…actually, you already have a method in mind, right, young lady?”
“…did you find out?”
There weren’t many ways to trick the maid who was quick-witted and had served her for a long time.
Even pretending not to, Rita was curious. She urged Lilian with a stare.
Lilian gave in and beckoned her.
“Lend me your ears.”
Rita quickly lowered her stance.
Lily whispered what she was thinking.
Rita’s reaction after hearing the whole plan was this.
“…if the Lord knew, I think he would rather cry for his blood money to be wasted.”
“Um, is that so?”
***
To be honest, Damian Rupenwein has been enjoying the fact that he is a monster.
Being a monster that can’t be killed, a symbol of living fear, was not the life he chose, but he didn’t have any room for enjoyment.
He either does what he wants to do or he doesn’t.
Not being able to bond with others meant that he didn’t have to notice anyone.
It had a lot of really convenient features. It’s also suitable.
To him who lived in this world alone, his eldest brother Ideol, always told him not to give up on being human.
[Damian, won’t you grow old and die like the rest of the world?]
Idoel tried to leave at least a piece of humanity in his brother’s heart, but Damian wasn’t very cooperative.
He rather laughed.
[In this crazy world, it’d be a tragedy for someone like me to die of old age, brother.]
He was the only person hurt by that cynism.
It wasn’t until seven years after the death of his older brother that he finally had someone to keep by his side.
Even if he was alive, he couldn’t help but think of the person who would have bothered to give him advice on everything, saying, ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do that.’
“Uncle…?”
Then the door opened and Matteo entered the room.
“What are you doing?”
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