The aroma of old parchment and dried ink in the Marquis of Vayne’s study felt far more soothing to Azura than the scent of roses in her bedroom.
To her, numbers never lied.
Humans could wear the face of an angel while clutching a knife behind their backs, but debit and credit columns always left a trail of blood if someone tried to manipulate them.
Azura sat in a large leather chair, her legs elegantly crossed over an oak desk piled with thick ledgers.
Her slender fingers flipped through page after page with unnatural speed.
[Krrrkk…
Glitch…]
[System: Boss, I just scanned last year’s ledgers.
The result?
Wow!
This territory isn’t being managed by a nobleman, but by a very greedy sewer rat.
There’s a discrepancy of about 40,000 gold coins over the last three years.
Should I prepare a loss chart, or shall we skip straight to the ‘worship’ of the death penalty?]
Save the chart, System.
I prefer seeing the culprit’s face when he realizes his grave has already been dug, Azura thought coldly.
She had found the pattern.
A very amateurish double-entry technique.
Embezzlement of grain funds for the commoners, inflated maintenance costs for military horses, and “security” taxes that never made it into the official treasury.
Whoever did this felt the original Azura was too stupid to understand basic arithmetic.
Azura stood up, closing the ledger with a loud thud that echoed through the room.
“Leopold!”
The door opened instantly.
Leopold bowed.
“I am here, Your Grace.”
”Gather all senior staff, the servants, and especially the Territorial Treasurer in the Main Hall.
Now.
Let no one be a second late, or they can consider their resignation letters already signed.”
The Main Hall once again became a stage of tension.
In the center of the room, a middle-aged man with a protruding belly draped in expensive silk robes stood with his chin held high.
That was Baron Vargos, a Treasurer who had served for ten years.
Behind him, several financial staff whispered among themselves while casting disdainful glances toward the throne.
Caspian, Aurelia, and the twins stood on the second-floor balcony, watching with immense curiosity.
They wanted to see how their “stepmother” would handle an old fox like Vargos.
”Marchioness,” Vargos began with a forced politeness, though his tone held a clear edge of mockery.
“I heard you summoned us to discuss financial matters.
It is a pity you had to trouble yourself.
Matters of numbers are quite boring for a young woman like you.
Just leave it to me, as the late Marquis did.”
Azura didn’t answer immediately.
She walked down the stairs with measured steps, dragging the heavy ledger in her left hand.
The clack…
clack…
of her shoes was the only sound to be heard.
”Boring, you say?” Azura stopped right in front of Vargos.
She dropped the ledger onto the floor, right on top of the man’s expensive shoes.
“I agree.
Reading fiction is indeed boring, Baron Vargos.
And this book is the worst piece of fiction I have ever read.”
Vargos’s face paled slightly, but he let out a hollow laugh.
“I don’t understand what you mean—”
”40,000 gold coins,” Azura cut him off sharply.
Her sea-blue eyes stared directly into Vargos’s pupils, which began to tremble.
“That is the amount you have stolen in three years.
Grain purchases from the Western territory worth 15,000 gold coins that never reached the people’s granaries.
‘Fortress repair’ costs worth 10,000 coins for walls that are, in fact, still covered in moss.
And let’s not forget the feed for the military horses that you inflated three times over.”
Total silence blanketed the hall.
The servants held their breath.
Caspian, watching from above, narrowed his eyes.
How could that woman know such detailed figures in just a matter of hours?
”That is slander!
You have no proof!” Vargos shouted, his face flushing crimson.
“You are just a little girl lucky enough to marry a Marquis!
You know nothing of territorial management!”
Azura took one step forward.
The atmospheric pressure around her shifted.
This wasn’t the golden magic aura of the Vayne family, but a Mafia Aura—a presence that made people feel as if their necks were being cinched by steel wire.
”Proof?” Azura smirked.
“Your bookkeeping system is pathetic, Vargos.
You used the code ‘Red Rose’ for every illicit transaction to your private account at the Royal Central Bank.
Did you think that by using the name of a flower, I wouldn’t notice?”
Vargos stumbled back.
His body trembled violently.
The secrets he had kept so tightly guarded were exposed as if Azura were a demon capable of reading minds.
”The laws of this territory might only result in your exile,” Azura whispered directly in front of Vargos’s face.
“But in my world…
under my law…
financial betrayal is punished in a way that is far more…
educational.”
Azura turned and looked at the line of guards standing stiffly at the edge of the hall.
Her eyes stopped on a young man with armor that had begun to rust, standing at the very end of the line.
The youth had a firm jaw and steady eyes, unlike the other guards who seemed subservient to Vargos.
”You,” Azura pointed.
“What is your name?”
The youth flinched, then gave a perfect military salute.
“Arthur, Your Grace!
Guard Third Class!”
”Arthur.
From this moment on, you are the new Captain of the Guard in this castle,” Azura commanded without compromise.
Leopold gasped.
“But Your Grace, the current Captain is—”
”The current Captain is busy counting bribe money from Vargos,” Azura cut him off coldly.
“Arthur, execute your first duty.
Strip Baron Vargos.
Right now.”
”B-but he is a Baron!” Arthur hesitated for a moment.
”In this house, there is only one law, and that is my word,” Azura’s voice thundered, filling every corner of the hall.
“Strip him.
Take his robes, take his rings, take every coin in his pockets.
Let him leave this castle in nothing but his undergarments.”
”How dare you!” Vargos tried to run, but Arthur, sensing this was his life-or-death opportunity, moved fast.
With one powerful motion, Arthur pinned Vargos to the marble floor.
RIIIP!
Arthur tore away Vargos’s expensive silk robes.
One by one, the gem-studded rings on the portly man’s fingers were forcibly removed.
Vargos howled like a trapped dog, begging for mercy, but Arthur didn’t stop.
”This is my law, Vargos,” Azura whispered as she watched the scene with cold satisfaction.
“If you steal from the family, you lose the right to own anything.
Including your dignity.”
The other staff members involved in the corruption immediately threw themselves down, slamming their heads against the marble floor until they bled.
They were scared to death seeing Baron Vargos, who was once so powerful, now being dragged out by Arthur in a state of near-nudity and drenched in tears of humiliation.
[System: Clap…
Clap…
Clap!
Congratulations, Boss!
You just performed the most brutal economic purge I’ve ever seen.
Efficiency score: 95%.
Reward: ‘Arthur’s Loyalty’ unlocked.
And look at your stepchildren…
they seem to have forgotten how to breathe.]
Azura looked up at the balcony.
Aurelia appeared transfixed, her eyes no longer showing cynicism, but a fear mingled with admiration.
Meanwhile, Caspian clenched his fists, realizing that the woman before him was far more dangerous than a thousand blades.
”Arthur!” Azura called out.
Arthur returned with a sweat-streaked face, standing tall before Azura.
“Task complete, Your Grace!”
”Good.
Seal all of Vargos’s assets in this territory.
If a single coin goes missing, I will hold you accountable,” Azura stared at the remnants of the staff still prostrating.
“All of you.
I give you until sunset to return every coin you took.
If not…
the dungeon still has plenty of empty space next to Hilda.”
They scrambled out of the hall as if being chased by the Grim Reaper.
The Main Hall fell silent.
Leopold approached with trembling hands, offering a vault key just confiscated from Vargos.
”What is your next plan, Marchioness?” Leopold asked in a low, respectful voice.
Azura took the key, feeling it within her grasp.
“The internal audit is finished.
Now it’s time to deal with the vermin coming from the outside.
Prepare the troops, Leopold.
I have a feeling my father, that useless Baron, will be coming soon to claim his share.”
Azura stared at the tightly closed castle gates.
She knew her father, Baron Meren, would come to exploit his “weak daughter.” He had no idea that the daughter he knew was dead, and what awaited here was a cold-blooded ruler who knew no such thing as “family.”
[System: Oh, a family reunion!
Should I prepare drama music or funeral music, Boss?]
Just prepare the ammunition, System.
I have a debt of pain to settle in full with that man.