# 66
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“Oh, really! I was right on the verge of death, you know?”
Andrew Isaac, whose closely shaved hair had grown quite long and who looked like a grass doll, clenched his fist and raised his voice.
“I fainted when I tumbled down back then, so honestly, I don’t remember! Anyway, they say there was a huge werewolf down that slope. That bastard… no, those guys, I mean!”
Andy.
Mrs. Isaac took her youngest son's hand with a troubled expression and glanced at Eliza. Andrew, who had grown up among knights who had no interest in etiquette at a time when he should have been receiving instruction from a governess, was literally 'raw'.
“Ah, I ran my mouth… *Gasp*!”
This is why the unconscious is so terrifying. As the words the senior reporters had been spitting out came out without even being thought, Andrew quickly covered his mouth.
Mrs. Isaac let out a deep sigh and squeezed her eyes shut, while Eliza wore a cold expression and did not even smile.
I apologize. I will retrain him and bring him back.
At Mrs. Isaac's polite words, Andrew clamped his mouth shut and bowed his head. This was not the Wall of Death, where etiquette was irrelevant, and it was true that, even to himself, his behavior was unbecoming of a nobleman.
Just then, a voice as cold as the wind blowing from beyond the wall of death pierced the ears of the two.
I was really enjoying listening to it, so why are you apologizing on your own accord and taking away my pleasure?
As Mrs. Isaac and Andrew looked up at the same time, Eliza elegantly raised her teacup and gestured to Andrew.
“Go ahead. You rolled down a slope trying to save Grace, and a werewolf appeared while you were unconscious. So, what happened next?”
Andrew glanced stealthily at his mother, and Mrs. Isaac nodded to her son as if to say it couldn't be helped.
Andrew opened his mouth, choosing his words as carefully as possible.
“My brothers said that the Princess suddenly stood up and blocked my path.”
Eliza, who had been drinking tea with her eyes downcast, looked up.
They say I stood between the werewolf and myself and shot the werewolf with the arrow I was carrying.
“Shoot a werewolf? With arrows used by knights?”
“Yes. Even though His Excellency helped out a bit at the end, it is said that it was you, the Princess, who captured that werewolf.”
At the unfamiliar remark, Mrs. Isaac involuntarily asked back.
"You didn't run away when a werewolf was running towards you?"
“If you had run away, I would have died there.”
Mrs. Isaac felt relieved once again by the fact that all three of her sons had returned alive. Her shoulders, which had always been held stiff and rigid, slumped with a sigh.
Eliza stared at the hat for a moment, then spoke to Andrew.
Since you also jumped in to save Grace, it seems we saved each other.
Andrew looked back at her.
The Queen of Richmond, whom my mother had devoted her entire life to serving, indeed looked worthy of the title. Her elegantly styled silver-white hair and black velvet dress with a raised collar exuded an atmosphere that was both elegant and stern.
“You worked very hard serving alongside the Duke. I will never forget your efforts.”
It is an honor, Madam.
Andrew rose from his seat and knelt on his left knee before Eliza, and Eliza personally helped him stand up.
“You must have just come back from paying your respects to the Duke, right?”
Yes, of course.
“However, pay a little more attention to etiquette. The treatment of knights is not the same as before. From now on, the front line will not be your only battlefield. Etiquette is also the invisible sword and shield that will protect your body.”
"yes."
As the boy smiled shyly, wrinkles formed on the bridge of his freckled nose. Eliza smiled for the first time at the innocence that could only be felt at that age.
“Since you’re here, why don’t you say hello to Grace before you leave?”
Oh, would that be okay?
Andy.
As Mrs. Isaac called out to her son with a sigh, he gestured to her as if he had become Eliza and spoke to Andrew.
“Do you think I need your permission for every single thing like that? While you’re there to pay your respects, tell them to look at the documents moderately. It seems they think there is no one in the Richmond household who would look at documents.”
"yep!"
“No, no. If you say it like that, they’ll just laugh and say okay. Just say I’m the one calling. You take responsibility and bring them here. Just work all day today.”
"Understood, Madam!"
I can hear everything even if you don't speak that loudly.
Andrew grinned and vanished like the wind.
Mrs. Isaac said awkwardly as she poured tea into Eliza's empty cup.
I have found a teacher to teach etiquette.
You don't need to worry about what I think. I'm only just realizing that there are things more important than etiquette. Just making it back alive is commendable.
“…….”
It is a relief that all your sons returned alive.
With those words, Eliza watched the spot where Andrew had disappeared, lost in thought.
Before I knew it, the wind swept through the trees, where all the leaves had fallen and only bare branches remained. It was just as I was about to make a proposal as Mrs. Isaac went inside.
“Taylor… Father always said that one should not be deceived by the handsome looks of that family.”
Lately, a blonde stranger had always been on Eliza's mind. Mrs. Isaac already knew that Eliza's gaze never left her. Her expression looked cold and heartless, as was usually the case, but Eliza wore that look in everything.
“You seem like you would bend this way and that flexibly like wheat lying down in the wind, but do you think that is how you could have built and maintained the empire's greatest wealth?”
“…….”
“Do you remember the stuffed werewolf we saw together? It was as big as a decent tiger.”
“Yes. I remember.”
“I fearlessly blocked the path of a bastard like that, and ultimately killed him... with my own body.”
“Since he has that much guts, I suppose those proud vassals of the Duke of Richmond are following your word, Miss.”
“I see. No matter how much she is Princess Taylor, she has absolutely no connection to Richmond, does she? If we were to order her to take orders, those stubborn vassals would rise up, asking what on earth we look down on…”
Eliza, who had been speaking, finally burst into laughter.
This moment is important above all else. Please forget who I am and simply regard me as a colleague with the same goal.
Grace Taylor was courteous, her eye for reading documents was faster than anyone's, and her insight into extracting the truth from them was unrivaled.
Eliza touched the corners of her mouth, which held a hint of a smile, and slowly raised her head. Gazing at the branches hanging overhead, Eliza softly called out to the deceased.
Are you watching?
Her dark eyes were filled with remorse.
For days and nights, she had barely slept as she reviewed the documents Grace was handling. And finally, she finalized all the choices.
“It seems I will have to cut down the sons and grandsons of the vassals you cherished so much with my own hands…….”
Tears flowed down the wrinkled corners of his eyes.
"sorry."
* * *
Meanwhile, Count Isaac, upon seeing Andrew, muttered in a dumbfounded voice.
“Crimson and Sirius said this fellow would soon become a servant… and they weren’t wrong.”
Another middle-aged gentleman passing by him chimed in.
“I heard a rumor that the youngest son of the Count Isaac family is going to switch careers from being a servant to a coachman.”
Then Count Isaac glared at him with burning anger.
I was just accepting the servant, so where did you get the nerve to call him a coachman?
At that moment, a voice of respect flowed from the boy's mouth, which had been wide open in a daze.
As expected of the Princess...
Andrew Isaac endured for a full three years in the military, where hierarchy is everything. What that means is that he had to be able to tell who the strongest person in the place was as naturally as breathing.
The boy knight's eyes sparkled like stars.
The huge black table, piled high with all kinds of documents, was the captain's seat on a battlefield. The person who occupied that seat in this room was none other than Grace.
She was having a conversation with an elderly official. And behind him, officials holding bundles of documents were standing in line, waiting.
I could feel it without even being asked.
The Princess is the strongest.
“Oh my…”
Count Isaac let out a sigh as he watched to see what on earth this fellow was about to say. However, since it wasn't entirely wrong, he didn't add anything further, even though he sighed at his son's tone.
It has already been five days since the Marquis Rinko faction was ousted and the Duke faction began taking office.
The Duke of Richmond Castle was waging an invisible war. At the forefront of the Duke's faction were the Duke, the Godmother, and Grace. Of course, it was a secret that Grace was reviewing the documents.
As you requested, I have selected everyone who could have touched the gold bars.
Reclaiming the Duchy of Richmond intact meant securing land, people, and resources. The people were being screened out, and while the land was easy to reclaim since it could not be concealed as real estate, the problem lay in the resources that could be hidden.
Seventy percent of the gold bars held by the Duke's family had disappeared.
The poorly written financial documents stated that the gold bars had been embezzled evenly by five financial officials over a period of more than ten years. However, Ares, who had personally interrogated them, coldly asserted:
“They are guys who couldn’t even properly use a hundred gold bars. As if blackmailed, they just keep repeating what they’ve already said; it is clear they have never even properly handled gold.”
Grace read through the list with quick glances.
Surely, one of them, or perhaps all of them, must have siphoned off Richmond's gold. What would have been the easiest way to smuggle the gold?
Grace, who had been reading through the list, suddenly held her breath. With a flash of realization, the puzzle pieces that had been floating in different shapes instantly converged into one board.
Steel Canyon.