"This is ridiculous..."
After reading through all twenty years of territorial reports Albert had brought me, I slumped against the sofa and groaned at the ceiling.
"Y-Your Highness...? Is there s-something wrong with the reports?"
Albert, who had seemed so indifferent only moments ago, now stood beside me, watching me anxiously.
"Twenty years ago, the available cash reserves were 333,029,384 gold. Ten years ago, they were 210,293,931 gold, and this year they're down to 113,904,023 gold. But the Grand Duke's residence has average fixed monthly expenses of 20,134,220 gold! Meanwhile, the grand duchy's annual revenue has averaged only 12,984,246 gold over the past twenty years!"
"I-is that so?"
Albert frantically flipped through the thick reports to check my figures, his face going blank with astonishment.
He had been certain I was merely skimming the pages without properly reading them. How, then, could I recite twenty years of financial records without getting a single number wrong?
Ignoring his reaction, I reminded him once more of the bleak future awaiting the Grand Duke's residence.
"Until last year, you somehow managed to make ends meet with financial support from the townhouse. But that funding is going to stop now, too."
I heaved a sigh.
I'd expected things to be bad, but the residence's financial situation was far worse than I'd imagined.
At this rate, even with the strictest possible budgeting, the available funds would be exhausted within six months. Forget paying the servants' wages—we might go bankrupt and lose this dilapidated residence altogether.
And there was even a private loan agreement.
The reports included a loan contract, and I shuddered at the thought of its outrageous interest rate.
Apparently, taking out a private loan was the best solution Albert had managed to come up with to address the financial crisis.
There was no obvious way to make money from this barren territory, and given the Grand Duke's current circumstances, the only people willing to lend him money would be unscrupulous loan sharks.
But if we borrowed from them and let the interest snowball...
Even if we get his fortune back, paying off those loans will eat into my share!
The moment that thought occurred to me, I shook my head firmly.
Fortunately, the Grand Duke hadn't signed the agreement yet.
Just then, a noisy group of young men burst into the office.
"...?"
I stared at their familiar faces in confusion.
They were all soldiers who had demonstrated outside the prison on the Grand Duke's behalf, including Victor Genoa.
Victor caught my eye and let out a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! Your Highness! Starting today, my comrades and I will be staying at the Grand Duke's residence!"
"What...?"
My mouth slowly fell open at the unexpected announcement.
Grand Duke Richard, who had entered with them, added in his usual blunt voice, "The Crown Prince has ordered the dissolution of the 107th Regiment. I've decided to hire these men as private soldiers for the grand duchy."
"Oh... no..."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
The residence's remaining time before bankruptcy had just been cut to three months.
A little while later, everyone else had been dismissed from the office.
I sat across from Grand Duke Richard, glaring at him in protest.
"Please, stop saying such ridiculous things! Do you have any idea how dangerous borrowing from loan sharks is?"
"What exactly is ridiculous about it? The residence's finances are entirely my responsibility. That makes this my problem to solve."
After hearing Albert's report on our financial situation, Grand Duke Richard looked grim enough to sign the loan agreement on the spot.
Alarmed that he might actually do it, I hurried to stop him.
"Why don't you invest the money we have left instead? You've made a fortune through investments before."
In the original novel, the Grand Duke had accumulated his wealth by snatching away all the Crown Prince's business opportunities.
Our starting capital might be small, but surely, with his talent for investing, we could find some way to...
"..."
He merely pressed his lips together and turned toward the window without answering.
For a while, he silently watched the soldiers of the 107th Regiment and the servants moving about outside.
Then his expression hardened with resolve.
"Protecting my people is my responsibility. Any consequences of taking out a loan will be mine to bear as well. It's not something you need to concern yourself with."
His stubbornness made me sigh and press a hand to my forehead.
Then I looked him straight in the eye.
"Let's at least try to find another way first. Together. If we still can't come up with anything, I won't interfere with whatever you decide to do."
*******
How can there be absolutely nothing in this place worth selling?
I was practically in tears.
After a great deal of persuasion, I'd finally reached a compromise with the Grand Duke: we would sell whatever valuables we could find in the residence and use the proceeds to get by for a while.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find a single expensive-looking object in the entire enormous mansion.
At this rate, the private loan agreement the Grand Duke wanted to sign was becoming inevitable.
After thoroughly searching the study, drawing room, and bedrooms, I trudged down the winding staircase, all but resigned to defeat.
"...I told you there was no other way."
The Grand Duke's voice was subdued as he descended the stairs ahead of me.
Well, of course he didn't want to borrow money from loan sharks, either.
It was simply his sense of responsibility toward all the people who depended on him that had driven him into such a desperate position.
I gazed at his back and answered weakly.
"I know... I only said all that because I was worried about you, Your Grace."
After all, his well-being and financial situation would have a tremendous impact on the Success Fee I was supposed to receive.
Suddenly, the Grand Duke stopped short and turned toward me.
But I was walking in a daze and failed to notice until it was too late.
My feet tangled, and I lost my balance on the steep staircase.
"Ahh... Eek!"
In an instant, he reached out toward me.
With lightning-fast reflexes, the Grand Duke wrapped an arm around my waist.
And then—
"...!"
His entire body went rigid.
As though he'd suddenly been paralyzed, he lost his balance the moment my weight came down on him.
We pitched downward.
"Y-Your Grace! The stairs!"
I cried out in alarm at his strange reaction, but it was already too late.
Our bodies had become tangled together, and we were airborne.
Dear God, please don't let me break anything! Injuries cost money!
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed, bracing myself for the impact.
CRASH!
"...?"
Considering the deafening noise, which sounded as though the floor had shattered beneath us, I wasn't in nearly as much pain as I'd expected.
I cautiously opened my eyes.
There was something firm beneath me.
Wait. This was...
"Y-Your Grace...? Are you all right?"
I was lying on top of the Grand Duke.
Realizing I'd been using his body as a cushion, I hurriedly pushed myself upright.
He lay sprawled on the floor, blinking his wide eyes like a man who had completely lost his senses.
D-don't tell me he has a concussion!
If he died here, everything would be over.
Panicking, I seized his face between my hands, completely unaware that I was sitting astride his waist.
I patted his cheeks, lifted his eyelids, and checked his dilated pupils for signs of a normal response.
For some reason, he seemed to have stopped breathing altogether.
"P-please, try to breathe!"
I frantically undid the buttons and loosened the ties of his shirt, which seemed to be constricting his chest.
By now, his gaze had gone unfocused, and his eyelids were slowly drifting shut.
This looked like an emergency.
I was seriously considering whether I needed to perform rescue breathing.
Just as I leaned forward to bring my lips to his—
"Eek!"
A shriek rang out.
Startled, I turned around.
A maid who happened to be passing by was staring at us, looking utterly flustered.
"Oh, goodness gracious! I-I'm terribly sorry! I didn't see a thing, so please, carry on with whatever you were doing!"
After blurting out that incomprehensible remark, the maid covered her face with both hands and fled.
At that very moment, the Grand Duke sprang to his feet as though he'd never collapsed in the first place.
"I-if you're not injured, hurry up and get up!"
"Ow!"
The sudden movement sent me tumbling off him, and I landed on the floor with a thud.
While I lay sprawled there, he hurriedly began fastening his undone shirt buttons.
What the heck? He's perfectly fine!
Just moments ago, he'd seemed so badly injured that he couldn't move or even breathe.
I rubbed my aching lower back and grumbled at his abrupt change in behavior.
"A-are you all right?"
Only now did he seem to notice me sitting rather ridiculously on the floor.
Annoyed by his thoughtlessness, I puffed out my cheeks.
I know he doesn't like me, but isn't shoving me off like that a little much just because I was sitting on him?
That was when I noticed his shirt buttons.
He'd fastened them all crookedly, leaving his shirt in a terrible state.
I narrowed my eyes.
If his fingers weren't working properly, perhaps he really had suffered some sort of head injury.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, an enormous object standing directly in front of me caught my attention.