Chapter 2
The reception room connected to the bedroom.
After locking the maid inside the wardrobe, the one who finally broke the awkward silence was Marcus.
“…I think this is the first time we’ve met while you’re sober in about six months?”
“Ahem! Cough…”
His words hit a little too close to home, and Rachel covered her embarrassment with a fake cough.
Why am I the one who has to feel ashamed?!
It was true.
For the past six months, Rachel had not spent a single day sober.
She had been drinking alcohol instead of eating meals.
Considering I’ve lived like that, I’m not sick at all…
Could I secretly be a wizard?
The ridiculous thought crossed her mind for a moment, but she quickly shook her head.
If this body had belonged to a wizard, it would never have died so young in the original story.
Magic was an energy that possessed powerful life force.
“…Um… have you at least been eating properly?”
For some reason, Marcus looked even more sickly than this body did.
Hearing her worried question, he held out a thick stack of documents.
“Your Grace, these are the materials I gathered and organized while skipping meals until I ended up looking like this. You must read them.”
Unlike his exhausted face, his brown eyes shone with the determination of someone who had made up his mind.
“Hmm…”
She quickly skimmed through the rather thick documents.
They contained budget plans, spending records, and reports about the condition of the territory.
“Don’t tell me… you did all of this by yourself?”
“Yes.”
A look of admiration flashed across Rachel’s eyes.
I already thought he was incredibly capable while reading the novel, but talented people really are exceptional from the beginning!
“I’ll read everything carefully later. For now, give me a simple explanation of the situation.”
“The territory is in ruins. Not only the soldiers, but even the knights haven’t received their salaries for months. Because of the high taxes, the people are abandoning the territory.”
She already knew the duchy was half destroyed, but this was far worse than she had imagined.
Her head began to ache.
“How did things become this bad?”
Marcus looked at her as though she had asked an absurd question.
“Have you forgotten that you handed all authority over to the head maid?”
“…Ah.”
“Every document goes through the head maid. The one truly running House Agnes isn’t the Duke—it’s the head maid.”
Rachel’s eyes darkened.
The original Rachel had never been worthy of inheriting such a great family.
After losing her parents, she couldn’t bear the pressure of leading the household alone. She entrusted everything to the head maid and escaped into alcohol.
As a result, the territory had become this disaster.
How pathetic…
I’ll have to throw away this body’s weak and pitiful personality.
If she continued acting like the original Rachel, there was no way she could clean up this mess.
She spoke in a cold voice.
“…Then we’ll start by identifying the head maid’s people and removing them.”
“I-Is that really what you intend to do?”
“I was actually going to ask you for a favor regarding the head maid.”
“A favor?”
Rachel stood up and returned carrying a wine glass she had hidden inside the bathroom.
Marcus frowned as if he had expected exactly this.
“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t bring it because I want to drink.”
“Then why…?”
“The head maid gave me this wine. I’d like you to investigate what’s inside it.”
His lips trembled with anger.
“Surely…!”
“I’m not sure what it is, but I’m certain she put something in it.”
“How can anyone commit something so monstrous?!”
Rachel bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.
The future ruthless strategist who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals was saying something like that.
Well… if he hadn’t changed, he would never have been able to protect the young duke.
Thinking of her favorite character’s tragic future made her heart feel heavy.
She continued quietly.
“Please find out what it is.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll discover the truth and return as quickly as possible.”
Marcus nodded firmly before leaving the room.
Marcus’s loyalty did not belong to her.
The one he had devoted his heart to was his beloved homeland and the former duke.
But one day he’ll become Liz’s most trusted right hand.
He was someone she could trust completely.
She casually flipped through the documents he had left behind.
This should be enough.
There was even a list of all the rats hiding inside the estate.
There was no need to wait until every piece of evidence was in her hands.
Then… shall I begin?
A meaningful smile spread across her lips as she stood.
If she wanted to prevent them from escaping, she needed swift decisions and immediate action.
The Agnes Ducal Estate Training Grounds
A training ground should have been filled with loud battle cries and the heat of intense practice.
Instead, it was chaotic.
One group was drinking alcohol in broad daylight.
Another continued doing their duties with grim expressions.
“Vice Commander, may I have a moment of your time?”
The man had short brown hair like freshly cut grass, blue eyes, and the powerful build of someone in his late thirties.
Rupert Archer gave his approaching subordinate a bitter smile.
“Of course. Let’s talk over here.”
The two moved to a quieter corner of the training grounds.
“My family’s situation has become difficult. If our salaries aren’t paid by this month… I really can’t hold on any longer.”
“I’ll speak with the commander once more.”
“…Thank you.”
Rupert sighed before walking toward the Knight Commander, who was lazily drinking beer.
Tail Waver.
He was the younger brother-in-law of the head maid.
He rarely showed up at the training grounds because of his terrible attendance, but whenever he did, he simply drank and ruined the atmosphere.
Yet no one could discipline him.
Rupert, the Vice Commander, was only a viscount.
Tail Waver, however, was a count.
When the previous Count Waver died suddenly without an heir, Tail inherited the title.
As a high-ranking noble backed by the head maid, who enjoyed the duke’s complete trust, it was no wonder he behaved however he pleased.
“Commander. I’d like to ask you something.”
“Huh? What is it?”
Tail lifted his flushed face, already drunk.
“When will those who still haven’t received their salaries finally be paid?”
“Oh, that? Tell them to wait a little longer.”
Tail waved his hand dismissively.
Rupert clenched his teeth.
Not only his own salary, but those of the knights who followed him had been overdue for half a year.
Meanwhile, the commander and a few favored knights not only received their pay on time, but also celebrated with bonus payments.
And now he was telling them to wait?
“How much longer are we supposed to wait? The same people keep getting paid, while the rest of us are expected to starve and keep waiting?”
“Hey, you little brat. Since when did you become so bold?”
Tail staggered to his feet.
A Knight Commander who could barely stand on his own.
Rupert felt nothing but disappointment.
How did the great House Agnes fall this far?
“I didn’t say anything wro—”
Slap!
Tail’s hand struck Rupert across the face.
“What? Are you saying I’m the one who’s wrong? Huh?”
Rupert tightly shut his mouth.
“Come on, Commander. That’s enough. Our Vice Commander might start crying.”
“Idiot. You’re supposed to pretend you didn’t see that.”
Mockery poured over him.
Humiliation wrapped around his entire body.
He was reaching his limit.
He had engraved his knightly oath of lifelong loyalty to House Agnes into both his body and soul.
“…Please stop.”
The head of the house had abandoned all responsibility and shut herself away, drowning in alcohol.
There was no one left in this family worthy of his sincere loyalty.
“What if I don’t? What are you going to do about it?”
Tail sneered and deliberately slapped him again.
Slap!
Slap!
“What are you gonna do? Huh?”
Do I really have to endure this humiliation?
Smack!
Rupert grabbed Tail’s wrist.
“H-Hey! Let go! Are you trying to start something?”
“I told you to stop.”
“You bastard! With a single word from me, I can have trash like you thrown out! Want to lose your job?”
The faces of the knights who followed him flashed through Rupert’s mind.
If he left this family…
Who would take care of the men who remained?
Just then—
Bang!
“Damn it. I’ve had enough of this.”
One of the knights threw the cloth he had been using to polish his weapon onto the ground and stood up.
“Hell with this. It’s not like we have nowhere else to go.”
The other knights nodded in agreement.
The only reason they had stayed was out of loyalty and respect for their late lord.
There were countless other places willing to take them.
“A person should know when enough is enough. Vice Commander, let’s stop putting up with this and leave.”
“That’s right. There’s no reason for us to stay here and keep accepting this kind of treatment.”
One by one, the knights who had long been dissatisfied began speaking up.
The atmosphere quickly turned hostile.
Tail drew his sword, trying to intimidate them.
“Have you all gone crazy? Do you want to die?”
But the knights had already made up their minds.
They quietly gathered their belongings and stood up one after another.
“You bastards! If you don’t stop right now—”
Then—
“And if they don’t?”
The sudden voice caused every knight to turn toward the entrance of the training grounds.
That person…!
Someone who should never have been there.
Rachel Agnes stood at the entrance, watching everything unfold with an expression full of interest.
