That Lucian’s money had been reduced was not something that could be taken lightly.
Even if it was called an “allowance,” its origin was still the family’s budget.
In other words, from the moment someone pulled this trick, it was practically a crime of embezzlement.
‘And embezzlement is always punished with death.’
Not even the nobility, which was usually exempt from capital punishment, forgave a crime like that.
Tampering with the budget was the same as toying with the family’s lifeline.
And worse still, that someone from the finance department—who was supposed to be spotless in matters of money—would do something like this.
Even if it were the very minister of finance himself, he would be executed immediately and his head would be hung from the city wall.
Whoever that bastard was, today would be his death anniversary.
Thinking that, Lucian went to look for the person in charge of finances, but—
“Th-this is a misunderstanding, third young master! This is not embezzlement!”
The moment the word embezzlement was mentioned, the official broke out in a cold sweat and dropped to his knees.
He wasn’t acting—his face showed genuine terror.
Under Lucian’s cold gaze, the man repeatedly slammed his head against the floor as he shouted:
“I only carried out what was written in the report! If you wish, I can prove it right now! Please, please, just look at it once!”
He was trembling so badly it looked as though he might wet himself at any moment.
Lucian, who had already judged him guilty, frowned.
“So it wasn’t you who stole it?”
“N-never! I swear by the Eight Gods that if I am lying, I will fall straight into hell!”
“Then who ordered the budget to be prepared this way? You said you only followed the report.”
“It was the head maid of the third young master! She was always the one who brought the budget, wasn’t she?!”
“What? The head maid?”
The position of head maid or head servant, depending on the sex, was the one who stood at the top of all the domestic staff.
In small families, one or two were enough, but in large families there were several.
Simply because the number of servants was far too great for a single person to control.
In a house like the Valdecks’, surely each wife and each child of the duke had one of their own.
The head maid the official was referring to must have been the one in charge of Lucian’s household.
“This is really the last straw.”
At the words “head maid,” an incredulous laugh escaped Lucian.
No matter how nice her title sounded, she was still a servant.
And a mere head maid had committed embezzlement for which even a knight would lose his head?
“I-it’s true! She was always the one who handed me the budget, and I only prepared it according to that! Besides, the third young master gave written authorization to the previous head maid, didn’t he?!”
“That’s enough. Stop getting in the way and shut up. If you keep screaming, I’ll treat you as an accomplice.”
“Hiik…!”
The official immediately covered his mouth with both hands.
Leaving him behind trembling, Lucian sank into thought.
It was true that he had delegated the budget to the head maid.
Modifying it discreetly would not have been difficult either.
But no matter how much he thought about it, the risk was far too high for the reward.
No matter how large the sum, it wasn’t enough reason to gamble with one’s life.
‘The quickest way is to confront her directly.’
With a sigh, Lucian left the office and headed to his room.
With the responsibility now clear, there would be no way to deny what had happened. One way or another, he would get an answer.
***
“I am Jenny, the head maid. I was told you summoned me.”
The head maid was a young woman with a proud expression.
She looked barely over twenty, so Lucian blinked in surprise.
Normally, that position was held by someone middle-aged and very experienced.
So young—almost a girl—and already head maid?
“T-this… did the head maid change? I’m sure that until recently it was Madam Dana…”
While Lucian was thinking, Hans asked with an awkward expression.
At those words, Jenny raised an eyebrow.
“The previous head maid retired due to her age two months ago already. Didn’t you know?”
“N-no… well… it’s just that I hardly had any dealings with the previous head maid…”
“Pathetic. Serving the young master without even knowing the situation around him—what are you even here for?”
At Jenny’s rebuke, Hans fell completely silent, like a mute who had been given honey.
Seeing that, Lucian’s eyebrow twitched.
Even if her position was higher, Hans was his personal attendant.
A direct servant was practically the face of the master.
Scolding him openly in front of his owner was the same as looking down on Lucian himself.
And as if she believed Lucian hadn’t noticed, she even let out a mocking little laugh.
“So then, what did you call me for? This girl didn’t tell me anything, so I have no idea what the reason is.”
“…I called you because of the budget. Did you prepare this?”
“That’s right. Since I knew the young master had delegated authority to the previous head maid, I simply assumed the position.”
“Assumed? I gave authority to the previous head maid, not to you.”
“Really? I’m sorry. But the budget had to be submitted on time, and since the young master wasn’t handling it, I had no choice. Please understand.”
“What the…?!”
At Jenny’s audacity, Hans shouted, unable to contain himself.
It wasn’t a tone a head maid should use with her master.
Lucian stopped Hans and spoke.
“It’s fine, I’ll accept that. Then let me ask you another question. What’s with this budget? Why did you arbitrarily reduce the amount I should receive and increase the servants’ salaries?”
“I was told the budget allocation was also under the young master’s authority, so I adjusted it at my discretion. Lately, the servants have been very busy and there were many complaints about the wages.”
“And you did this without telling me?”
“Since the young master hadn’t been involved for over a year, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem. That was my mistake. But what’s done is done, so let it go. Can’t you endure just one more month?”
Those words crossed an unforgivable line.
Hans stood frozen, mouth agape in shock.
She wasn’t even trying to hide her contempt anymore.
Lucian couldn’t tolerate it either. He stood up and gave an order to the other servants.
“One of you go get a whip, right now. Let’s see if she keeps that same attitude after taking a few lashes.”
“….”
“….”
Despite Lucian’s command, the surrounding servants hesitated and didn’t move.
They actually seemed more afraid of Jenny than of Lucian.
Seeing that, Hans raised his eyebrows.
“What are you all doing? The young master gave an order! Bring the whip at once!”
“….”
“You bastards! Then I’ll go get it myself!”
“W-wait! Hans!”
“Stop! Calm down!”
“Why are you stopping me?! It’s an order from the young master! Are you all insane?!”
When Hans tried to move on his own, seeing no one else reacting, the servants blocked the door with their bodies.
In practice, they were disobeying Lucian’s command to protect Jenny.
Faced with that absurd situation, Lucian frowned.
To openly disobey an order meant there was someone even more fearsome behind all this.
“You’ve got backing, huh?”
“Backing? I’m just young master Jordi’s milk-sister.”
At Jenny’s proud response, Lucian understood why the servants were acting this way.
Being milk-siblings meant she was the biological daughter of the wet nurse who had raised Jordi.
Even if their statuses were different, they couldn’t be closer on a personal level.
For the servants, that was naturally a heavy burden.
If they made a mistake, they could fall out of favor with Jordi and lose their heads.
‘The real issue is that, out of fear of Jordi, they’ve ignored my order.’
Jordi wasn’t the only one with the power to make heads roll.
If Lucian wished, he could easily have those servants executed too.
And yet, they ignored Lucian and protected Jenny.
That was proof that just as they feared Jordi, they also looked down on Lucian.
‘What a pitiful sight.’
With a sigh, Lucian stood up.
He had suspected as much, but the trash left behind by his former self was more abundant than expected.
His initial plan was to observe the situation a bit more, but at this point, discipline had to be enforced immediately.
“Hans, come with me.”
“Huh? Where are we going?”
“Follow me and you’ll find out.”
When Lucian stood in front of the door, the servants hesitated with uncomfortable expressions.
They seemed afraid he was going out to fetch a whip.
“Y-young master, please calm down.”
“The head maid surely didn’t mean any harm…”
“I’m not going to get a whip, so move aside. I’m just stepping out for a moment.”
Only after hearing that did the servants slowly step away from the door.
Seeing them, Lucian sighed again and was about to leave when—
“As expected, the young master is wise. Lord Jordi will surely praise your judgment.”
Her tone, subtly flaunting her closeness with Jordi, was full of mockery.
Lucian didn’t respond to Jenny and walked away.
After all, in a few hours, she’d be regretting her behavior like a madwoman.
***
“Young master! Why the hell did you let that damn woman go?!”
Hans, unable to calm his anger, ended up shouting.
It seemed he was more upset that Lucian had been disrespected than about being scolded himself.
“If no one else brought it, you could’ve gotten the whip yourself and lashed her! If you’d made up your mind, no one could’ve stopped you!”
“That’s true. But even so, I’d still be the one to lose.”
“Huh?”
“Do you think she became Jordi’s milk-sister just by chance? She had it all prepared in advance. Even if I had brought the whip, she wouldn’t have let herself be hit.”
Instead of taking the lashes, she would’ve screamed and fled.
And the other servants, scared of Jordi, wouldn’t have stopped her either.
It was just a guess, but even if Lucian had tried to catch her himself, it probably wouldn’t have worked.
If she truly was Jordi’s milk-sister, she surely had people stationed nearby to protect her.
“She would’ve run straight to my brother—no, to Jordi—and twisted the story, leaving out the whole budget issue and painting me as some scoundrel. As a brute who tried to punish Jordi’s milk-sister for no reason.”
“But something so absurd… could it actually work?”
“Even if it doesn’t, that’s exactly what makes it a proper scheme. Right now, I don’t even have someone at my side who could properly tell the truth, but he has plenty of people who could fabricate it out of thin air.”
“T-then, if we told the duke everything…”
“That’d be the worst option. If Father sees I can’t even control my own servants, what do you think he’ll think of me?”
Above all, the root of this problem was that Lucian had entrusted something as important as budget management to a mere head maid.
If responsibilities were analyzed, the blame would naturally fall on him too.
That’s why, as much as possible, he had to resolve this matter on his own, without involving others.
The more time Jenny was given to run her mouth, the more Lucian would lose.
After hearing the explanation, Hans scratched his head with a frown.
“But you don’t have any supporters, young master. Even if you want to fix it yourself, there’s no one who’ll act for you. What do you plan to do?”
“Then I’ll build that support from now on.”
“Huh?”
“If I don’t have people in the family, I’ll just bring them in from outside. Don’t you think?”
At Lucian’s smile, Hans tilted his head in confusion.
What did he mean by that?
Just as he was about to ask again, Lucian stopped.
“We’re here.”
“This is the place? It’s my first time coming… A casino?!”
Hans stared at Lucian, dumbfounded.
After Duke Sigmund had resumed his support, was he planning to gamble it all away?
When Hans, reacting late, was about to try to stop him—
“Out of the way for a customer, bastards!”
Boom!
Lucian kicked open the casino doors as if to break them down.
____
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