“Because I can never become a completely ‘real’ marchioness.”

I was flustered by the unexpected words.

“……What are you talking about?”

“I heard that Her Highness the Princess was originally intended for the position of Marchioness Levizet.”

Completely unexpected words came out of her mouth. I hesitated for a moment. Mélisande continued speaking quietly.

“I heard that the successive mistresses of Levizet had competence or backgrounds befitting that honorable name. I’m neither as noble as Her Highness the Princess, nor can I add great power and honor to the family. I also don’t have the capacity to bear duties and lead the family like Mother, nor can I become a model of ladyhood who is wise and good like you, Alix.”

The last part is a bit strange.

“……So I thought I would inevitably become just a scarecrow. Still, at least here I wouldn’t go hungry even in bad years. I wouldn’t need to barely get through a season with just two sets of clothes. ……Because there are good people like you by my side. I tried not to dare covet the authority of a real marchioness. I just tried to stay quietly like a scarecrow should.”

Mélisande’s voice trembled.

“Am I allowed to be angry, being like this?”

What should I say? I couldn’t speak rashly. I felt like I was glimpsing the black despair sweeping through the heart of the romance novel heroine I had thought was just endlessly innocent.

“……Mélisande. No matter what anyone says, you are a legitimate marchioness. No matter what anyone says, what was sworn before God and humans cannot be overturned.”

Unless there’s a divorce. But divorce is still a distant story.

“……Even if I have legitimacy, I can never become a complete mistress of Levizet.”

Mélisande muttered gloomily. Seeing her shadowed face, I felt stuffy as if a ball was stuck in my throat. Impulsively, I threw out words as if spitting out the ball stuck in my throat.

“Mélisande, honestly, do you want to become the real mistress of the marquis family?”

Mélisande’s eyes widened briefly. Slight guilt rose at that face that seemed to encounter an unexpected reaction.

A woman like a butterfly trapped by surrounding pressure, setting her own limits. A pitiful creature resembling one with the most brilliant wings, yet whose courage to soar had been broken. If I hadn’t become aware of my previous life’s memories, I too would have greatly contributed to that misfortune. I made up my mind and opened my mouth.

“If so.”

I’ll make it so that others won’t dare dismiss you as a scarecrow. Incidentally, there are people who need to be taught a lesson too.

“Let’s start by learning how to read account books.”

At least until the male lead appears, try being a real marchioness.

***

Both in the original novel and in reality, Caleb occupied a quite significant position in the capital’s high society with his characteristic likable atmosphere and wealth. Refined taste, generous spending, luxurious habits. He was also a man who stood at the center of gentlemen’s society and led trends.

Honestly, after becoming aware of my previous life’s memories, and after noticing his evil deeds, I couldn’t like him, but his influence alone was admirable.

The problem was where that enormous amount of dignity maintenance costs came from. No matter how much Caleb was a duke’s son, in a situation where there was a separate legitimate heir to inherit the duchy, he was an illegitimate child with only a baron title. The income from Caleb’s territory was far insufficient to support court luxury. Nevertheless, the source of wealth that allowed him to occupy the center of the latest trends was elsewhere.

Caleb was secretly connected to the military supply business.

Few would know how much profit he was making from the large and small conflicts occurring in the border regions. Moreover, though it was currently at the declaration of war stage, soon the war between Grand Duke Nicerion’s territory and Vizern Kingdom would spread throughout the entire northern part of the empire. This would allow Caleb to earn enormous amounts of money. However, only for exactly three years.

According to the original novel, before three years passed since the war broke out, Grand Duke Lysander Nicerion would awaken sword aura for the first time in 150 years throughout the entire empire.

The war expected to be prolonged would suddenly end due to the grand duke who awakened sword aura, and Caleb would suffer a major financial blow. He had even put up Julard Barony as collateral and made additional investments to expand profits, but his investment target was blown apart due to the war’s end.

The one secretly providing financial support to such a person was Antoine. By that time, Mother would have completely withdrawn from territory management, I would have married into another family, and Mélisande, the scarecrow wife, wouldn’t even know that the territory’s assets were leaking somewhere.

Thus, Levizet territory’s blood tax would disappear through love-struck fool Antoine, becoming Caleb’s expensive clothing, spices and tobacco imported from colonies, social club membership fees, townhouse maintenance costs, etc.

He devoured so much that later, when Mélisande became the grand duchess and overturned Levizet, she was shocked at how noticeably weakened the family had become, crumbling like dominoes at the slightest touch.

When I read it as text, it was refreshing like carbonated drink, but now it’s become my business, so I can’t just watch like it’s a fire across the river. Of course, I had planned to prepare for this too. Later, when Mélisande became the grand duchess, if she was going to destroy someone, I planned to plead that she only destroy that bastard Antoine and minimize damage to the family as much as possible.

And what’s an even better method? Beforehand, thoroughly blocking all the corners where Antoine could siphon money into his side pocket.

Well, that would incidentally screw over that bastard Caleb too. I smirked as I finished my calculations. Not a single penny of Levizet’s money will go to your luxury.

That’s why I’m currently holding onto Mélisande and teaching her how to read documents.

Since I’ll become an outsider when I marry, it’s difficult for me to be involved in family affairs until then, and Mother can’t look at account books forever. So when the legitimate marchioness manages the territory’s finances, who could stop her with what justification? As long as there’s someone monitoring the territory’s finances, it will become difficult for Antoine to rashly siphon money to offer to Caleb.

Moreover, if Mélisande proves her capabilities as a marchioness and solidifies her position, the forces trying to drive her into being a scarecrow marchioness will have nothing to say. Is this catching two rabbits with one stone—I thought while flipping through copies of account books sent from the territory.

“Mélisande, could you look at this?”

Mélisande, sitting beside me, leaned her upper body toward me. When I explained how to read account books one by one, Mélisande concentrated as if not wanting to miss a single thing. At the excellent student’s attitude, I too became excited and explained in more detail.

After finishing the explanation, when I told her to try putting together next month’s budget allocation documents, Mélisande bit her quill pen lightly with her cherry-like lips and fell into thought. Soon she began writing on blank paper with scratching sounds.

Is this the heroine buff? Mélisande was truly quite clever and quick to understand, considering she had known nothing about the duties of a noble family’s wife.

Usually, most noble families teach their daughters how to manage the household from childhood. Where would daughters of noble families marry? Unless they made a cross-class marriage with a commoner, they would marry within the same noble families, so what would happen if they became wives of noble families knowing nothing?

Becoming the mistress of a family means bearing the responsibility of managing that family’s storehouse. Additionally, in situations of the husband’s absence, the wife sometimes had to act as the lord’s deputy.

Therefore, unmarried daughters of noble families basically learned how to read account books, how to manage people, how to handle small assets, etc. For great nobles like Levizet, where even daughters could receive a piece or two of land with their names, they learned how to manage overall territorial administration.

But Mélisande had no knowledge in that area. In the original work too, after marrying into the grand duke’s family knowing nothing, she was looked down upon even by maids before studying desperately. It also became an opportunity for her relationship with male lead Lysander to grow closer as she learned various matters from him one by one. Seen that way, was her ignorance a romance novel-like device?

Well, her family, Baronet Boden, was a place that barely governed a couple of villages too shabby to be called territories, and Mélisande, the youngest daughter, was said to have grown up neglected like a commoner, so it wasn’t strange. While thinking such thoughts, I observed Mélisande rustling through documents.

“Alix, I’m done.”

When Mélisande approached, I compared the budget plan she had created with the account books by hand and asked.

“Here, why did you mark that the budget for building public facilities should be expanded? The detailed breakdown is…… hmm, public toilets?”

Mélisande’s face reddened slightly.

“Ah, was it a bit out of nowhere?”

“No, it’s not wrong. I’m just curious why you thought this way.”

“Well, I looked at the territory’s crime rate. Crimes targeting women were a bit higher compared to other crimes.”

I tilted my head, wondering what relation that had. Mélisande continued.

“Many commoners’ homes don’t have proper toilets. Noble mansions have toilets, but most commoners just relieve themselves on roadsides or in grass……”

Mélisande continued with a slightly troubled expression.

“Women become targets of many crimes during this process.”

“……Ah.”

“……So they often deliberately take contraceptive medicine regularly. Dalluet is one of the common wild grasses, but when properly mixed with other herbs, it becomes contraceptive medicine. It’s so toxic that it has the side effect of stopping menstruation, but…… ah, sorry. The story went in a different direction.”

Mélisande smiled slightly bitterly.

“Well, not only that, but when plagues occasionally spread, villages with public toilets definitely had the disease stop faster than villages without toilets. I don’t know exactly what relation there is though.”