Leveling Up My Husband to the Max - CH 47
“Was there something off?” Amber curiously asked.
Heinreich hurriedly shook his head. “No, not at all.”
“Then why are you just standing there like that?”
“It’s just… you are very proficient at this, madam.”
“Ah.” This time, it was Amber who was flustered and shut her mouth. She quietly studied Heinreich’s expression.
He was clearly confused.
“When the emperor decided my marriage, I looked into the situation of the Eastern Lands. I should learn about the place I’ll live in, isn’t that natural?”
“But it must have been difficult to gain detailed information living in the Western Lands.”
Though it was easy to learn how to prepare for winter from other territories, the skillful excuse for Count Nasto was clearly strange.
“The Liart Viscounty manages a large mercantile, does it not?I was able to collect various information no one else could know.”
“Is that so…” For now he seemed to accept her explanation, but there was still suspicion in his eyes.
Amber felt a little nervous. ‘Did my excuse not work? Kalix believed it.’ Her thoughts couldn’t help but turn to Kalix in the face of Heinreich’s reaction. Kalix had completely believed every word without a hint of suspicion. Amber felt strange. ‘That man is still young after all… The difference in experience compared to Heinreich is quite large.’She tried her best to push her thoughts of Kalix aside.
“For now, this is the basic setup we will work with.”
“Yes, I will purchase provisions, clothing, blankets, and animal fat first.” Thankfully, Heinreich no longer questioned Amber’s. From his perspective, the efficiency of the Duke’s wife was much preferable to the foolish Duke.
“And there’s one more thing I need to check with you.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Heinreich was now seeing Amber in a completely positive manner.
“I’m sure there is some privy purse assigned to me. I wish to use that money to hire some maids…”
“I heard that you are planning to have Jenia serve as your personal maid…” Heinreich was suspicious about her intentions. “Did you wish to bring in new maids from outside the castle?”
“No, I am thinking of choosing maids who will serve me directly from the ones that Jenia recommends.”
“If that is the case, you do not need to spend from the privy purse. The wages for the maids are taken from the castle’s budgets after all.”
“What I wish to give isn’t their wage.” Amber shook her head. “I wish to give a special gift to those that will be working for me.”
In theory, the maids that Jenia recommended would be trustworthy, but Amber still wanted to improve their favorability towards her. ‘And I’ll make sure that the employees working under Bella learn as well.’
That the new lady of the castle was much more generous and better to work for than Bella.
Understanding Amber’s intention, Heinreich immediately brought forth a portion of her assigned privy purse. “It seems that this is all that we can exchange for currency right now.”
“This is good enough.” Amber smiled widely and thanked him.
“Now then, could you call for Jenia? And bring the people that she recommends to me. Of course, as discreetly as you can.”
“Understood.” Before leaving to do exactly that, Heinreich tidied the tea room. As Bella’s people existed all over the castle, he could not easily call anyone else to do so.
Amber quietly spent her time there after Heinreich left.
The sun was already setting on the horizon outside the window. Dinner had likely just ended, and though she drank several cups of tea, she was still hungry. ‘What should I do if that man calls to have dinner together again?’ But there was no news from Kalix. She was curious whether he was eating dinner by himself again, but there was no one she could ask.
‘Well, that’s one good thing at least. I don’t need to have my mood ruined again having to converse with someone.’ Amber did her best to reassure herself. Even though it was clearly a good thing, for some reason, she couldn’t understand why a corner of her felt so uncomfortable.
Knock knock.
At that moment, a knocking sound woke Amber from her deep thoughts.