I Refuse To Be A Character In A Novel - Chapter 47

“You did a great job in such a short period of time, madam. I’m impressed.”

The butler astonishingly praised Erna’s work as he flipped through the documents she had worked on.

“I’m glad that I didn’t mess things up. This is actually harder than I thought.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it through practice. However, I would like to mention that you did make some mistakes while reviewing the financial expenses for this month.”

While she sat across Dylan, Erna paid close attention to his words as he pointed out the mistakes she had made, and listened attentively to his instructions.

In the back of his mind, Dylan noted her change of behavior.

‘Why now?’ He wanted to ask.

Supervising the estate’s internal matters was originally the Duchess’ duty in the first place, but Erna had repeatedly failed to fulfill her duty even as Zachary was away in war, which led Dylan to lose all hope in her.

However, as it was Zachary’s order to guide her, Dylan had no choice but to follow through with it.

“Though it is primarily Mr. Pomad’s job, but as the hostess of the mansion, it is one of your duties to supervise the financial state as well, so for today, we will have to go through it again.”

And thus, Erna started her class with the butler, while Jonas was also having his own class with his nanny, Baroness Catherine Dale, who also served as his Etiquette teacher.

As the afternoon went by and the weather cooled down, the green leaves fluttered under the tranquil wind.

Thomas called out carefully to the Duke.

“Your Grace.”

Zachary, who was standing by the window, remained silent as he looked out into the distance.

The leaves of grass shone freshly under the sunlight as the gardener soaked them in water.

After he estimated that their stay in the capital might be longer than what he had originally planned, Zachary decided to handle the territory matters in advance for the next year, since he would be absent by then.

As such, the trip was delayed and he had been occupied in his office ever since, in order to finish the tasks as fast as possible.

Another reason was that a long journey in the middle of summer might prove to be difficult for his son and wife as they were both too frail, and it would be best to travel when the weather is cool.

“Your Grace?”

Unable to escape from his deep thoughts, Zachary couldn’t hear Thomas’ calls even as Thomas stepped closer to his side.

Looking out on the Duchess’ garden which had been redecorated and now had  flowers which had bloomed in different colors, Zachary thought back on the scene he had witnessed earlier during the day.

His wife and son, who seemed to have grown closer to each other, were walking around the garden hand in hand.

They cheerfully exchanged words which Zachary couldn’t make out from a distance.

Even though they had two maids and one of the knights accompanying them, the two of them seemed to be consumed in their own world which couldn’t fit anyone else.

Despite the fact that he liked how his son had become happier and livelier around Erna, looking at the happy smile that blossomed on Erna’s beautiful pale red lips was strangely irritating.

His wife never smiled that way around him.

“Your Grace”

Only when Thomas’ voice rose a bit high, did Zachary finally come to his senses.

“What is it?”

“I was going to report to you about what we found out about the mana lingering in the forest but… I think you should retire early today.”

While Thomas continued, Zachary walked over to his desk and settled on his seat again.

“You can report it later if it’s not urgent. I still have some important documents to go through.”

“You have been working really hard lately but you need to rest. Why don’t you join the madam and the young master for dinner tonight?”

“Was there something else you wanted to report?”

Zachary spoke impassively while tapping his fingers on the desk.

“…”

Thomas looked at Zachary with a slightly strange feeling.

As though it had become a habit, The Duke would always take a break during the same time the Duchess would be taking her stroll, and silently watch through the window, until she was completely out of sight.

During one time when Thomas suggested that Zachary should join her on her walk, Zachary indifferently brushed off the subject, the same way he did today.

Thomas approached the Duke’s desk with a heavy sigh.

“No, there isn’t. I hope you will change your mind and join your family for dinner, but for now-”

He then pushed forward the pile of documents he had left on the Duke’s desk.

“-I will leave you to it.”

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“Shall we end it here, Madam?”

“Alright.”

As Dylan left his seat, Erna followed him with a question that has been occupying  her mind since earlier.

“Actually, I had been wanting to ask you about something. Why is the tax rate in our territory so low?”

“The master has decreased the amount of tax imposed ever since he took over the title of an Archduke.”

“But doesn’t that mean that we’re losing money instead?”

“…”

Unsure of how to answer her question in a way that wouldn’t offend her, Dylan thought deeply before choosing his words.

“It depends on the way you choose to see it. For the master, rather than focusing on profits, he was willing to invest the north’s goods on the territory itself and as such improve the quality of life of the people under his rule. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything is spent on the territory. A good amount of the money is used to run the estate in which you reside, and as you have seen, is not a small amount by any means.”

‘It still doesn’t even make up 30% of the total profits.’

Erna swallowed her words as it might have misled Dylan into thinking that she was a selfish, materialistic person.

It was not that she disliked the idea of making people’s lives easier even at the expense of the Duke’s hard work, rather she just found it odd that a person as cold and distant as Zachary would go to such length for his people.

“That’s… very generous, I suppose.”

Erna spoke vaguely with a hint of admiration in her eyes.

‘I somehow hate knowing these things about him.’