The territory of the Gorden Family is known to the outside world as Goldenburg. Within the territory, there are three manors and a small town with a population of around a thousand people. Additionally, there are thirteen villages scattered across the manors. The total population of Goldenburg is approximately three thousand, far lower than that of other prosperous earldoms. As a result, its tax revenue also falls short compared to other earldoms. An annual income of two thousand gold coins is already a testament to the old count’s skillful management.
Moreover, the castle’s treasury holds the accumulated wealth of the Gorden Family over centuries. The gold coins alone amount to over a hundred thousand—a fortune that even many more illustrious families might not have amassed.
According to the background setting of “Power and Roses,” if these hundred thousand gold coins were converted into 24th-century Chinese currency, they would be worth over four hundred million. This doesn’t even account for the other valuable items, such as jewelry, antiques, oil paintings, armor, and weapons.
Thus, despite its outward appearance as a remote and impoverished region, the Gorden Family’s heritage is no less substantial than that of some major noble families.
Of course, the Gorden Family has always understood the importance of not flaunting their wealth. The exact amount of wealth in the treasury is known only to the successive counts. Even the heir is only informed on the deathbed of the previous count. Others, including the steward, remain unaware of the specifics.
Theresa only learned where the treasury key was hidden after finding a letter in the count’s study—a letter the count had prepared for his son as a precaution.
In addition to the treasury, the castle also has several storehouses stocked with grains and meats. The wine cellar is filled to the brim with barrels of wine, enough to sustain everyone in the castle for several years.
All of this now belongs to Theresa. Even if she were to do nothing from this day forward, she could live a life of luxury without a care for food or clothing.
However, while a windfall is certainly delightful, cataloging everything is no easy task.
The first thing Theresa needed to do was review all the accounts.
Fortunately, although “Power and Roses” is a game set in a Western context and uses English, it mercifully avoids the madness of authentic Old English. Otherwise, Theresa would have been rendered illiterate.
Though Theresa no longer has the game’s automatic translation feature, English is her second native language, so reading and writing pose no difficulty for her.
A large stack of ledgers was brought to her by the various stewards. Worried that she might not understand them, the stewards temporarily stayed in the castle, awaiting Theresa’s summons at any moment.
Most of these stewards had served the Gorden Family for many years and couldn’t help but look down on the young countess, doubting her ability to make sense of the accounts.
While noblewomen are typically taught household management skills, including reading ledgers, Miss Theresa’s background raised doubts. Though she is also a noble descendant, her father was said to be an obscure small merchant, and her mother had long passed away. Whether she, as a girl, had received any such education remained uncertain.
Theresa indeed had never learned to read ledgers, but what she didn’t understand were the systematic and complex accounts of modern society. The ledgers now delivered to her were merely those submitted by stewards who had only mastered basic arithmetic. With a bit of effort to study them, it wasn’t difficult for her to comprehend.
Not only could she understand them, but she could also clarify the accounts and identify issues within them using simpler calculation methods.
When a group of stewards were called in one by one, they initially thought Theresa was seeking their guidance because the ledgers were too difficult. They felt quite proud, intending to flaunt their abilities before her so she would value them more.
However, upon arriving before Theresa, they were startled into a cold sweat by the problematic entries circled one by one in the ledgers flung before them.
Although Theresa didn’t reprimand them excessively, only instructing them to take the problematic ledgers back and recalculate, the stewards knew in their hearts that if there were further issues in the next batch of ledgers, their positions might not be secure.
Moreover, many of these errors were their own manipulations. If the embezzled funds and goods couldn’t be restored, they might very well be hanged by the new Countess.
—After facing the formidable presence of this new Countess in person, no one thought she could be any kind of weakling.
As for Greg, the butler who had been serving by her side and was occasionally asked about prices and other matters, his impression of the new mistress changed the most.
He knew better than anyone that Theresa had reviewed all those ledgers entirely on her own, using only the paper and pen placed beside her as tools. Yet she calculated faster than others using counting boards and slide rules. This computational ability alone was enough to earn the butler’s admiration, let alone the fact that she had reviewed all the ledgers in just three short days and identified every single problematic entry.
Even the best accountant might not have done better than her.
Her attitude and approach toward those stewards also made Greg suppress all his petty thoughts, sincerely regarding her as his master and pledging his loyalty.
After all, as a butler who had served the Gorden Family for generations, Greg still hoped this family would continue to thrive.
After reviewing the ledgers, Theresa still had to tour the castle first, ensuring that the items in the Treasury and Storehouse were properly stored inside and not just a bunch of falsifiable numbers in the ledgers.
“In addition, you need to inspect the Manors,” Greg said.
The Manors he referred to weren’t just the one where the castle was located but also included two others belonging to the Gorden Family. These three Manors weren’t connected, so to inspect all of them, Theresa would essentially have to traverse the entire territory of Goldenburg.
Of course, since Theresa was already within one of the Manors, she only needed to travel to inspect the other two. And if she wished, she could also visit the only town within the territory.
This was a major undertaking, and a count’s journey was no simple matter. Just preparing the luggage would take considerable effort, not to mention arranging the entourage. Besides servants, accompanying knights and soldiers for protection were absolutely essential.
Moreover, Theresa had arrived in haste and brought very little luggage of her own. Her old clothes were no longer suitable for her current status and position.
Additionally, Theresa was much taller than most women—even most men—which meant she couldn’t wear any of the clothes left behind by previous Countesses Golden.
—At this time, the textile industry was highly underdeveloped, and noblewomen’s clothing was extremely luxurious. Thus, even among royalty and aristocracy, many garments worn by ancestors were preserved and passed down for later generations to wear.
Therefore, her clothes had to be custom-made by tailors, which would take quite some time. Although Theresa preferred simple, practical styles that prioritized ease of movement—unlike the formal gowns for banquets that could take months to complete—even these would still require at least three to five days. And even though she wasn’t particularly keen on wearing formal attire, she still needed to prepare a few sets.
So, in the following days, Theresa continued to wear her original clothes: long shirts, trousers, and leather armor. In the words of others, it was a man’s attire—truly somewhat unconventional.
However, the steward and servants only dared to mutter a few words in private, never daring to say anything more in front of Theresa.
After all, Theresa was now their master. Their very lives were in the hands of the Countess—how could they risk displeasing her and endangering their own safety?
Moreover, although Theresa had only been at Goldenburg for a few days, while outsiders might not know, the servants in the castle did not dare to underestimate her in the slightest.
This was especially true for the servants fortunate enough to be assigned by the steward, Greg, to serve Theresa—they regarded their new mistress with both reverence and fear.
This matter had to be traced back to the second day after Theresa moved into the castle.
The maids responsible for tidying the rooms discovered several damaged gold ornaments in Theresa’s bedroom. Without exception, each ornament had been crumpled into a ball as if it were dough.
Sharp-eyed maids even noticed clear handprints on one of the damaged items—the size of which closely matched Theresa’s.
Upon discovering this, the maids were greatly startled. Although gold is a very soft metal—so soft that fingernails can leave marks on pure gold, and items made of pure gold are easily deformed—this didn’t mean they could be kneaded and shaped like clay, effortlessly rolled into balls.
Especially since these gold ornaments were quite sizable and solid. Simply deforming them would require considerable effort, let alone reducing them to their current state.
The frightened maids promptly notified the steward, Greg.
Seeing the ornaments—whether intentionally or not—left in place, Greg quickly composed himself and instructed the maids to replace them with new decorations.
Interpreting the new Countess’s intentions, Greg did not forbid the maids from spreading the news. Soon, everyone in the castle knew that their new mistress seemed to possess astonishing strength.
Thinking again about Countess Theresa’s daily attire and the Sword she always wore at her waist, everyone’s fear of their new mistress grew even more. With such strength, they no longer believed the sword was merely for show.
This notion was confirmed after they witnessed Theresa practicing with her sword in the morning.