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At Kimberley’s calm words, Ekaterina’s eyes widened.

Embezzlement?!
That’s not good!

“Ekaterina. Kimberley served as the head of finance ever since Grandfather was alive. He’s the one most familiar with the ducal finances. But after Grandfather’s death, he was suddenly dismissed.”

…No need to ask who did that.

“Others were unjustly dismissed as well—Khalil, among many others—but Kimberley was the first, and the most inexplicable case. Even so, he and Khalil, and many others like them, swore loyalty to Jurnova and stayed by my side. Novak gathered them and built an organization that took charge of the actual management of the territory.”

Ohh, like a shadow cabinet! In Britain, that’s what the opposition forms to be ready to take power at any time.
But in this case, it’s the *real* cabinet. Because the ones actually running the domain were my brother and his close aides.

“When I inherited the ducal title, I reinstated them to their rightful positions. Numerous problems had arisen during their absence, but the financial issues were especially severe. I had Kimberley focus solely on investigating them. These are the results.”

An embezzlement so large the head of finance had to dedicate himself to investigating it…

Ekaterina looked down at the documents handed to her.
The entries were simple—date, account name, and amount.
I see… the transactions started around the time Grandfather died. Wait—*right after* his death?!
And the amount! What is this digit count?! In yen, this would be… hundreds of millions?!
Well, maybe just that one… oh wait, no, the next ones are still tens of millions!
Then again—millions! And again!
They’re not even pretending to hold back anymore?! It’s almost monthly!
The total for the first year alone… is already outrageous!

“Uh… what happened to the treasurer who replaced Lord Kimberley?”
“…He disappeared.”

At Aleksei’s answer, Ekaterina’s eyes flicked toward Kimberley. His bald head and hooked nose gave him a severe air, and his silver eyes revealed nothing.
I-I have a feeling that both of them *know* what happened to that missing treasurer, but my instincts strongly told me that I better off *not knowing*, so I just stay silent…

In the second year, then the third—
The amount per case decreased, but the number of entries grew, and the yearly totals hardly changed.
No doubt the huge sums in the first year were pure fiction—entirely fabricated transactions.
Perhaps they overdid it and had to switch tactics, moving to skimming off smaller, less noticeable payments.

(*Ah.*)

One entry caught Ekaterina’s eye, and she froze.
Maintenance of the detached residence.
That was the household budget for her and her mother. It had been embezzled—vanished somewhere.

The amount was… Small, especially if it was for the living expenses of a Duchess, but still, if this money had reached us properly, we wouldn’t have had to live… that kind of life. Deprived even of food and clothes.

“Ekaterina…”

Noticing her reaction, Aleksei realized what she was looking at.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”
“No, Onii-sama.”

It occurred to me—he had known where our mother and I lived but never took us away.
After Grandfather’s death, isolated and lonely in the Jurnova house, he must have suffered so much. Yet even longing to see us, he only passed by the residence and endured.
It had to be because staying at the detached house was safer for us than being within Grandmother’s reach.
Even back then, as a child, Onii-sama always put himself last and tried his hardest to protect Mother and me. He could never have imagined that the Duchess’s own living expenses were being embezzled.

And when he finally found out the real stiatuion—what must he have felt?
He must have learned the truth at Mother’s deathbed. When she, barely conscious, mistook him for our father—the man who had helped torment us—and called to him by that name.
He had answered her gently, pretending to be that father, enduring the agony tearing through his heart.

“Onii-sama, you are not at fault. You have always tried to protect Mother and me—from the very beginning.”
“Ekaterina…”

Please don’t make that painful face. You were just a child then—A child who was never allowed to be one.

The documents went on.
Funds meant for disaster relief and reconstruction—embezzled in large amounts.
Jurnova was vast, but landslides and flash floods occurred every year, perhaps from overlogging. There were also mine collapses.
A dry, lifeless list of figures.
But how many lives had been destroyed because these sums were stolen? How many families that could have rebuilt their lives after disaster instead found them utterly shattered…?

“Ekaterina, that’s enough. You don’t have to look anymore. I should’ve realized how much seeing this would hurt your kind heart. Forgive me.”
“No, I’m fine. If it’s a burden you bear, then I wish to bear it too.”

Tears welled in her eyes, but she gripped the list firmly. Aleksei, looking worried, nodded slowly.

“I understand. However, regarding the relief funds—some portion was managed to be paid from other sources. Around the third year, I began noticing that the distributed funds were not reaching the people when I inspected disaster sites. Old Forli and Great-Uncle Isaac noticed as well, and we did what we could. But I only realized the full scale after I officially inherited the title.”
“I see… as expected of you, Onii-sama.”

Inspecting disaster sites—he would be only thirteen then, wasn’t he? At that age, he personally went to dangerous areas? This elegant brother of mine, trudging through mud with his own feet…
Take a page or two from Onii-sama’s book, you deadbeat of a Father!
And doing all that *without* any formal financial authority—how stressful that must have been.

“You’ve been fulfilling a lord’s duties even before inheriting the title. Truly admirable.”

If my brother weren’t such an absurdly capable lord, I can’t imagine what would’ve become of Jurnova.
Even so, the fact that the domain’s economy could survive this much theft shows just how robust it is. The GDP of the Jurnova territory probably wasn’t even measured in billions. Still, discontent could have grown, and public order could have easily disorientated. A lot of worst-case scenarios were just waiting to happen.

The embezzlement list continued through seven years before finally ending.
Ekaterina saw the total sum on the last page—and her skin prickled.

In yen—roughly thirty billion.

Hang on, what? *What??*
Who could possibly spend that much?! Of course that old hag must be behind it, but did she use it all for vanity and luxuries? She was very open with her spendings, though. And even then, I doubt it could have reached this amount.

Now that I think of it, I recall news of that gambling-addicted CEO who withdrew ten billion yen from his own company from my previous life. Our father wasted money on women and gambling too, but he was so shamelessly indulgent he never needed to steal. Apparently he just had everything billed directly to the ducal estate, while he himself never held a single coin.

What else…? What could have consumed such enormous funds in just seven years…?
It must be something that devours wealth.
For no reason, I suddenly remembered the French Revolution. It was said that Queen Marie Antoinette’s extravagance caused France’s finances to deteriorate, but the real cause was military spending. The military is a money pit.
And then, there’s Jurmagna—home of the largest Knight Order, and in constant financial strain.
Added to that, Onii-sama once mentioned that Georgiy of Magna often visited during that time…

Ekaterina raised her head.

“Onii-sama, Lord Kimberley, the missing treasurer—was he introduced to our house by someone?”
“There’s no written proof, no letter of introduction. But… we know he came from Magna.”

Ekaterina closed her eyes.
Bullseye.
The treasurer sent from Jurmagna funneled Jurnova’s money to their side. And that hag allowed it.

That bold faced rotten old b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲… I knew she had no morals or sense of right and wrong, but letting our funds be siphoned to another house?! Are you so slow in the head that you don’t realize how positively insane that is?!!
No, that hag wouldn’t want anything to do with embezzlement. Would someone who always fancied herself noble and pure, want to be involved in something as low as sneaking money? For someone who claimed herself to be “The Finest of Noblewomen” and despised all financial matters, embezzlement… simply didn’t fit her image. As strange as it sounds, but did Jurmagna somehow manipulate her…?

Still, we know the treasure came from Magna but have no proof—and he’s missing on top of it… no, stop. Don’t think about it.

“Onii-sama… The ducal residence here in the capital already runs under your proper command. But that means the main manor in our territory, where those crimes took place, may still have remnants of those culprits, doesn’t it?”
“Clever girl. You’re right. They may not know of Magna’s involvement, but there are still those who aided them. I’ve removed the key figures, yet small fry remain. Among our relatives and lesser nobles of the domain, there are many who would line their pockets if given the chance. I showed you this so you’d understand that. —But I won’t let any of them lay a hand on you. They already know well what would happen if they tried.”

Onii-sama… even that faint smile is beautiful, but the air temperature definitely dropped. That’s not magic—it’s intimidation. Truly, the elegant Ice Demon King himself.
Speaking of which, that messenger who dragged our bedridden mother out, shortening her life—he must’ve been that hag’s agent too. I’m sure he paid for it later.
As for what kind of retribution it was…like the missing treasurer, I’m probably better off not knowing.

“Thank you for telling me, Onii-sama. As the lady of Jurnova, I’ll keep strict watch over the main manor.”

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind of the many beautiful but ill-fitting dresses that had been made without my permission when I was living at the main residence.
So *that’s* what that was about. Somehow it all made sense now.
They’d treated me courteously out of fear of Onii-sama, yet their hostility was wrapped in the silk they sewn—the perfect behavior for the hag’s remnants.
Now that I think about it, when the Emperor praised him during the Imperial Visit, saying the territory seemed well-governed, Onii-sama kept replying that there was still much to do.
He hadn’t been being modest—he meant it.

The main residence had long been that hag’s base, so I was already prepared to face her leftovers.
But I never imagined things were this rotten. I’m really glad he told me.

And then there’s Jurmagna.
Onii-sama once said that conflict between houses of the same rank never ends, but to attack us this way, through embezzlement—That’s beyond disgraceful.
I noticed he never saw Jurmagna in a good light for some time, but now I know why.

I guess there’s no rules nor honor in a rivalry between houses.
Nevertheless, the fact that they were pulling such a devious act probably meant that their finances were in so much trouble they had to resort to crime.
Still, that hag… how could she allow it?

“Ekaterina, if you’d rather not go to the main residence, you can stay here in the capital. You could spend the summer comfortably at our villa.”
“No, Onii-sama. I wish to go with you. I feel safest by your side.”

I don’t know how much use I’ll be with my lack of domestic management skills—but I won’t leave you alone.

“…Thank you. Since you say so, I’ll protect you—As your brother, as duke, and as the lone sword of my lady.”

Ah, how gallant he looks when he declares that.
All right then.

Time to march on the main residence!

Well, it *is* my own house, and I *am* just going home—but still!