Chapter 6 (Part 6)

Leaving Aethon’s room, Meia spoke to Theodore.

“Grand Duke Theodore.”

“Yes.”

“Aethon saved me.”

“Yes.”

Theodore felt a slight jealousy towards Aethon for saving Meia, something he couldn’t do himself. Just a slight jealousy.

But he was genuinely grateful to him.

“I am just a noble lady from another country. I might not be of help.”

“Please don’t feel burdened by Aethon’s request. It is fine if you do not work.”

“What if I want to do it?”

“Then I will trust you and leave it to you.”

“Both Aethon and you trust me, Grand Duke Theodore.”

Meia turned her body to look at Theodore.

“If I were an assassin, Grand Duke Theodore, you would be a dead man. Don’t trust me too much.”

Despite Meia’s sudden frightening statement, Theodore smiled and said,

“Do you think I would resent you if I died by your hand, Lady Meia?”

If Meia wanted something, he wanted to give it to her no matter what.

Love is undoubtedly a frightening thing. If she told him to die, he would not pretend to die but truly do it.

If she wanted, he would give her the whole world.

He knew it was a dangerous feeling, but it was already too late. He had already given her his entire heart, and it continued to grow towards her every day.

“If you stab my heart with a knife, I would not resent you.”

Meia tilted her head, waiting for Theodore’s words.

“Instead, I might ask you to stab my heart even deeper.”

Meia smiled at Theodore’s response. She liked his answer.

He was saying he would not resent her and would accept death.

What kind of heart did he have to say such things?

“Instead, when you kill me, please smile brightly.”

“Why?”

“If I see your smile before I close my eyes, I might feel happiness. Lady Meia.”

At the moment of his death, if he saw her smiling face and closed his eyes…

“Alright. I will definitely smile.”

She had a strong premonition that she and Theodore would become closer than family.

Meia looked at him and reached out to touch his chin, then stroked his cheek.

His body flinched, and his eyes quickly turned red.

She spoke with a smile in her voice.

“But there is no way I would kill you, Grand Duke Theodore.”

Theodore widened his eyes and stared at Meia.

“It seems you have been touching my face quite often lately.”

Meia did not avoid Theodore’s gaze, filled with heat.

“Does it bother you?”

“Not at all. You know I would never refuse anything you do.”

Meia smiled at Theodore and then turned to walk forward.

Theodore also walked alongside her.

Meia decided to take care of the household affairs of the Grand Ducal residence. Aethon cheered.

<Just look over the documents simply.>

Feeling good about having some work, she reviewed the documents in the study. But the more she read, the more she felt something was wrong. Clearly, the amount of 10 should be written as 1 silver, but it was written as 10 silver. No matter how many times she rubbed her eyes and looked again, there was an extra zero next to the number 1.

Thinking there might be a miscalculation, she added and multiplied again, but the answer she got was clearly different from the amount on the invoice.

“Is something wrong?”

Meia showed Theodore the part marked on the document.

“No matter how I add and multiply, the number I get is different.”

Theodore looked at the checked part of the document Meia showed him.

“Hemann.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Call the accountant.”

Lady Jasmine, who was watching, cleared her misunderstanding about Meia.

She had thought that the young noble lady from another country would only help with organizing documents, but she was greatly mistaken.

<Let’s start with something simple.>

<Try recalculating this part. When the calculation is complicated, it’s easier to break it down into 500s and then add them up.>

Seeing her sit down confidently and speak precisely, Lady Jasmine was convinced that Meia was not doing this for the first time.

***

Matthew, the accountant working at Grand Duke Florence’s residence, was called by Theodore and nervously went to his study.

When he entered, Theodore placed the documents on the desk with a thud and glared at him. Matthew anxiously looked at him, unable to meet his eyes.

After a moment of silence, Theodore spoke to him.

“Matthew, as an accountant, calculate these documents I am showing you.”

“…Yes.”

Matthew sat down, picked up a pen, and carefully reviewed the documents, calculating calmly.

The hand holding the pen began to tremble. Theodore watched Matthew, who was looking at the documents, with a predatory smile, like a beast cornering its prey. The problems he gave him were the ones Meia had pointed out.

<If he solves these problems, he might be good at math, but he is not a competent accountant.>

<I’m sorry.>

<For what?>

<I should have checked more thoroughly…>

<You had a lot of work and were busy. It’s not wrong to delegate tasks to your subordinates.>

After his parents passed away when he was young, Theodore ascended to the position of Grand Duke at a young age. By the time he could handle the documents alone, the most troublesome issue he found was money.

Purchasing necessary items, repairing and maintaining the mansion, and various other management tasks required a lot of money. Of course, the accountants received and organized all the invoices before sending them to the study.

When the invoices came up, he had to confirm the expenses and stamp them, but when busy, Lady Nordic would stamp them on his behalf.

“Your Grace, I have finished the calculations.”

Taking the documents, Theodore reviewed the answers carefully and spoke.

“Didn’t you find anything strange about this?”

“Excuse me?”

“A pig costs 13 gold. A cow costs 9 gold. A lobster costs 22 gold. On average, 34 were purchased over 7 days. Isn’t that strange, Matthew?”

“Excuse me…?”

Theodore glared at Matthew with piercing eyes and said,

“I clearly told you to solve the problems as an accountant…”

Theodore walked over to Matthew and leaned in close, speaking.

“Calculate it again.”

“…Yes.”

No matter how many times he looked, Matthew was sure his calculations were correct, but Theodore kept insisting he redo the calculations. Matthew kept solving the problems repeatedly, but eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and asked.

“The calculations are correct. But you keep saying they are not. Please tell me what you mean.”

“When did a pig in Florence become 13 gold?”

“…!”

“Your name is Matthew, right?”

Matthew turned his head slightly and bowed to Meia, who was sitting in the study chair watching him solve the problems. He had been introduced to her as a mage and a noble lady from another country.

“Don’t you wonder if the pig is male or female, and whether it was born and raised in Florence or imported from another empire?”

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I was too focused on finding the correct mathematical answer.”

“I’ll tell you what I think when I look at the expense documents that come up.”

Matthew’s throat bobbed.

“It feels like a math teacher calculated it.”

Even for the same pig, the cost differs between male and female. A truly competent accountant would first ask whether the pig was male or female. It was obvious. The price of a pig varies by gender.

Matthew sat there with a pale face, unable to say anything.

“Mistakes are not shameful.”

Meia smiled gently. Matthew had a sour expression as he apologized.

“Yes… I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

“But you know…”

“Yes?”

“It would be pretty embarrassing if everyone knew about your mistake.”

Matthew’s face turned red in an instant. Meia continued speaking.

“Not doing your job properly and admitting it as a mistake in front of others should make you feel ashamed.”

“…I’m sorry.”

As an accountant, his competence was questioned. And he admitted his mistake in front of others.

He was embarrassed. If there was a mouse hole, he would have liked to crawl into it and disappear. He thought it would be enough for an accountant to be good at math, but in front of Meia, he couldn’t open his mouth.

Everything she said was correct.

“Then let’s do it this way.”