# 5
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When Patricia stormed into the kitchen and violently threw off her apron, the maids who were preparing dinner turned to look at her.
Among them, Anna, who usually followed Patricia's orders, quickly laid down the eggs she was carrying and rushed towards her.
“Lady Patricia, what happened to the lady?”
Patricia did not respond immediately and grumbled for a while. The kitchen fell silent for an instant.
It was some time before a response came from Patricia.
“The lady said she needed to check the family books of accounts.”
“The ledger...? Why all of a sudden...?”
“I noticed that the master is not checking it properly, so it seems that she will manage it herf.”
The maids' expressions became dark.
Perhaps there was no one here who could be happy with family accounts.
They would order more carrots than necessary and take them home, and when the lighting in the palace was changed, they would ask for a few extra lamps to replace those in their homes.
Gradually, these actions escalated, and the maids began to order larger items, which they then resold in the market to turn into money.
But soon Anna spoke, trying to lighten the mood.
“No need to worry. The lady has never run a house properly before, what will she know? Even if you check the account book, you won’t find anything strange.”
Another maid intervened.
“That's right. You probably don't even know whether the carrots cost 1 Dalian or 2 Dalians.”
The dark expression that fell on Patricia's face at the maids' reassurance gradually disappeared.
“And honestly… her relationship with the master isn’t good either… do we really need to care so much about the lady?”
“That's right. They even use separate rooms, right? The master left for work in the morning without even greeting the lady.”
Patricia nodded.
“That's true...”
Although Evelyn might want to assert herf as the mistress of the house, it won't be that easy.
If asked why the prices of components or goods in a home's accounts are so much higher than the market price, Patricia could simply say that suppliers provide higher quality goods, so they cost a little more.
Patricia felt reassured, unaware that the house would become noisy again in a few days.
***
Evelyn had to be busy for a few days.
She mostly wandered around the city alone, striving to learn about this world.
Intermittently, she was also tutored by Rekal.
Education was mostly about the Duke's family and Dyffryn. It included events and rules of the Duke's family, Dyffryn's behavior patterns, and things to pay attention to.
Evelyn let it go in one ear and out the other. After all, she had read the original work, so she was already well acquainted with not only Dyffryn but also the people of the ducal family.
The only thing that was a little different from the original work was the maids of this house.
Patricia seemed to be speaking poorly of her, and the maids' attitude became strange and disrespectful.
This was the reason she was walking around the city alone.
The maids were not nice to her, and she still couldn't trust them.
In the original work, the maids' attitude was also not good, but unlike the original Evelyn, this Evelyn became more active in checking the house's accounts, so the timing was very early.
Of course, not all of them were like that. There were rarely polite maids either.
Evelin carefully monitored the maids who had no respect for her and those who did not.
This was not due to personal feelings, but rather because the maids who were behaving disrespectfully were likely to be involved in the household accounts in a negative way.
Evelin watched the maids' actions for a few days in this way.
When she was sure of everything, she called Patricia and Rical.
Patricia's expression was somewhat tense, while Rikal faced Evelin with his usual impassive face.
“Why did you call us, Lady Evelyn?”
“I have something to say about the house accounts.”
Rykal nodded calmly.
“Yes, please speak.”
“As Rykal said, there are parts that have excessively high expenses.”
Patricia's shoulders trembled.
In contrast, Rikal asked without much change in his demeanor.
“What kind of parts are you referring to?”
“First, food expenses, even though we were buying in large quantities, we were paying much higher prices than the market.”
Rekal looked puzzled by Evelin's words and asked
“How do you know the market prices, Lady Evelyn...?”
“Because I used to check the prices by going to the market myf.”
This time, Rykal could no longer hide his astonishment.
“Did you check it yourf?”
"Yes."
In her previous life, she worked in an office for 5 years. Because she was always working overtime, her desire was to finish work early and go shopping for dinner, so asking prices while walking around the market alone was nothing for her.
Then Patricia interrupted her.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding, ma'am...!”
Evelyn turned her head to look at Patricia.
“What is it?”
"We don't buy ingredients from anywhere. We get high-quality goods directly from farms, so they're a little more expensive than the market."
That's how she tried to explain it.
Evelin quickly leafed through the ledger. Then I stopped at one point.
“Okay, I understand that buying higher quality items makes it a little more expensive. But… how can the price of potatoes stay the same throughout the seasons?”
This place was not as developed in farming methods as Korea, so crops varied greatly depending on the season.
Especially potatoes grown in summer, they should be cheaper then, but the price was the same as potatoes grown in winter. Prices should be a little higher in winter.
It seemed as if Patricia had prepared an alibi, but it was clear that the calculations had been manipulated in very minor details.
"Good…."
“The same goes for other crops.”
Patricia could only move her lips without saying anything else. Rykal looked silently at Patricia.
But it's not over yet.
There's still something special left.
"Also, the landscaping expenses include the gardener's wages. What kind of gardener works here to spend such an exorbitant amount?"
Patricia was almost trembling now.
“I...this...”
“Should I call the gardener now and ask him directly?”
When Evelin asked with cold eyes, Patricia got up from her chair and knelt on the ground.
“I'm sorry, ma'am!”
Evelyn looked at Patricia bending on the ground and said:
“Who is the gardener?”
“Um… my husband.”
'As expected,' Evelin thought to herf.
The gardener's wages were extremely high compared to the small size of the palace garden, so Evelin thought there was no way to give him that much unless he was a member of her family.
Perhaps Dyffryn, who had not checked the accounts properly, was unaware that there was a gardener running the small garden of this palace.
With everything revealed, Patricia admitted the things she had gradually embezzled from household expenses, along with food costs and labor costs.
After learning the truth, Evelyn called another maid and asked to take Patricia.
Rekal, who had been quietly observing the situation, spoke when he was left alone with Evelin.
“What are you planning to do with Patricia?”
“She should be fired.”
Evelyn said, flipping through the dilapidated ledger.
“Although the amount that Patricia embezzled is insignificant compared to the wealth of the Duke family, trust is the most important aspect that cannot be estimated with money, right?”
And Patricia betrayed that trust.
No matter how much she repented of her mistakes, now that the truth had come out, Evelin couldn't entrust Patricia with the palace's accounts.
“What about the other maids involved in this matter?”
“I plan to fire them too.”
It would be difficult to completely rule out all the maids involved in the calculations, but there were a few who were remarkably careful.
By interviewing trustworthy maids and asking them who else is involved in the accounts, she can become more certain.
“What are you going to do about Patricia’s vacant position?”
“I have someone in mind. Maybe one of the few people who has nothing to do with this ledger thing.”
The person Evelyn had in mind was a maid named Merlin.
Merlin was a servant who always behaved respectfully towards Evelyn, although there were rumors that she kept the family accounts.
Unlike other maids who were suspicious, she was more likely to be clean when it came to doing the family accounts.
“And there's something else I'd like to tell you, Rykal.”
"… What is it?"
Rykal nodded. He had been wearing a strange, uncomfortable expression since earlier.
“The palace’s monthly expenses were one million dalians, right? If we correct the expenses, it would likely reduce to about 700,000 dalians.”
“Yes, then I will inform the master about it...”
“No. There is something I want to do with the remaining 300,000 Dalians.”
“What do you plan to use it for...?”
“I intend to use 100,000 Dalians to increase the wages of the remaining maids.”
Rykal frowned.
“Why?”
"Half of the maids will likely be fired, and the rest may want to resign due to the increased workload. It will take some time to refill the vacant positions."
“Nevertheless…”
"The remaining maids deserve a pay raise. It's harder than you think, not to join the others when they acted dishonestly."
Well, Evelin also had an ulterior motive to win over the remaining maids by raising their wages, but Rekal would never know that.
“So… what are you going to use the remaining 200,000 Dalians for?”
“I think it’s necessary to renovate this dilapidated corner… No, the entire old palace. It won’t be done all at once, but I will gradually repair it every month.”
Rekal watched Evelin silently.
He looked uncomfortable earlier, but now he looked somehow stunned.
As Evelin tilted her head curiously, Rekal cleared his throat and spoke.
"I understand. If you don't have anything to say, I'll leave now."
“Yes, thank you for your time.”
Rykal got up from his seat and left the living room.
Evelin watched his retreat, then turned her head and took a sip of tea.
***
After exiting the parlor room, Rykal stood in the corridor for a moment, staring out the window.
Then he noticed his reflection in the window looking a bit disheveled, so he unnecessarily adjusted his clothes.
Earlier, he had relaxed his guard for a moment. She must have seen his foolish expression.
But he was really surprised and couldn't control his expression.
He never expected Evelin to handle the chaos so perfectly.
“Her personality was very introverted...”
Not only did she go to the market on her own, but she also knew the prices of the ingredients to compare them with the calculations.
What's even more surprising is her subsequent handling of the matter.
In short order, she had identified trustworthy maids and was trying to appease the rest by raising their wages.
It will take some time to refill the positions of the fired maids, she said. Even if new female employees are hired, it will take some time for them to adapt to the work.
If the remaining maids exhausted their energy and decided to quit during that period, it would be a truly unpleasant situation.
Rykal was surprised by the fact that Evelin was thinking about the distant future, and he also felt a strange sense of defeat.
When he entrusted her with the household accounts, he secretly expected her to surrender in tears.
Then he noticed a crack in the corner of the glass window.
Evelin said that she would use the remaining 200,000 Dalians to repair this palace.
He couldn't even find fault with it in his mind.
‘…The palace definitely needs some repairs.’
Rekal frowned slightly, glanced at the door of Evelin's room, and then walked down the corridor.