Why are you obsessed with your fake wife? - Chapter 25-1

“Do you have something to say?”

“Well, about the thorny herbs…”

“Please, you may speak comfortably.”

“Did you buy them because you knew this would happen?”

“Of course. If it was a coincidence, how could I be so calm now?”

“How is that possible? Unless you have the ability to see the future–”

Glenn looked at her disbelieving.

The expressions of others in the room were the same.

Wayne and the others were also listening.

How did the Marchioness predict this? It would be a lie if they didn’t wonder.

Nadia felt that people’s eyes were all focused on her, but she didn’t falter.

In case this situation happened, she prepared something in advance. Hence, Nadia could give them her reason, although it consisted of both truth and lie.

“The first case of the Black Death happened in a district in the Aral estate. And the lord there is a vassal under my father’s wing. He posted a report on this to my father, and I happened to catch a heard of it in the office.”

Of course it was a lie.

The lord of Aral kept his mouth shut to cover the outbreak, and, of course, he did not report it to the Duke of Balazit.

‘Just because he hid it, does he think it’s not there? That idiot…’

Nadia could hear her father’s voice, who was running wild on the street in the past, as he went rampage at the Aral lord.

But none of the people here could confirm the facts with her father.

Thus, Nadia proudly carried on with her lies.

“The lord of Aral feared his position would be at stake if anyone knew that the epidemic had begun in his territory. That’s why he tried to cover it up and move on. Don’t you think that a flaw in your subordinates will soon become yours as their lord? My father also agreed with this idea, that’s what happened.”

“He made a foolish choice. If he hadn’t tried to hide it, there wouldn’t have been as many fatalities as there are now.”

Glenn muttered, disgusted at the choice made by the lord of Aral.

A lord has an obligation to protect the inhabitants of their estate.

That was the price that a lord had to pay in exchange of the taxes and respect received from the people.

Nevertheless, the lord of Aral put his own interests first and led his people to death.

‘Well, it’s like adding non-existent sins that my father hadn’t committed…’

But didn’t the Duke frame his innocent daughter in his past life? Nadia chose not to feel guilty.

“How did you know that the cure for the Black Death is these herbs?”

“My mother was from a wandering gypsy. Originally, gypsies learn a lot from their experiences of wandering around. That’s what I heard from my mother. If your whole body turns black and there is a big chance that you are going to die, you should consume thorny herbs. Maybe it’s not a knowledge that the royals are aware of.”

Of course that would be a lie, too.

Nadia’s mother was not an outstanding figure in medicine.

“Do you have any more questions?”

“No, I’m quite convinced.”

“I’m glad.”

Glenn seemed to have something more to say, but Nadia turned around first.

Nadia could guess what he was trying to say, but now work was her priority.

As she approached the treasurers in the next room, they looked up to her with a tired face.

They looked half tired due to the increasing work yet half happy to finally be able to escape the financial crisis.

“All of you must be having a hard time with all of this sudden work.”

“Oh, no, Madam.”

“That’s why I’m going to show you how to make your work easier.”

“….?”

A way to make things easier?

All of the treasurers showed a confused expression.

After confirming that everyone had gathered, Nadia picked up a quill pen.

Then she began to draw a line on an empty paper.

What she taught them was a slightly more advanced accounting method than the one used right now.

A method of bookkeeping in which expenses and income are recorded on both sides by dividing debit and credit.

The clever ones were quick to see the point of the method.

One of the treasurers flicked his fingers and said.

“This will help us to record and calculate at once!”

“That’s correct. This way, you can see the flow of the money at a glance, so the profit and loss calculation is more accurate. When you have a lot of work like these days, the calculation often goes wrong. With this method, there will be fewer mistakes.”

It was a way that even the treasurers, who were proud to be elite in their own field, hadn’t  thought before.