CH 28

I became annoyed from the bottom of my heart hearing about me crying. Damn a*sh*le! Is he still trying to play with me?

“I don’t cry!” I shouted angrily at him, but Rave’s eyes sank. 

‘What’s this now?’ It was while I was thinking of that when he spoke in a low voice.

“…I guess it’s okay then.”

He seemed somewhat serious when he said that. Rave, you don’t seem like a bad guy except for your flirting. Anyway, I have my superior’s weakness in my hand, and it’ll help me adapt to this place.

Rave seemed to have finished teaching me about work here and suggested we return. “Shall we go back to the main office? I will teach you about assigning tasks to your associates there.”

We’re going into action now. Yeah, let’s do it. I’m a bit worried, but so what? I can stop if I need to, even if I start moving forward, can’t I?

***

And now we’re back. But something was off. Everyone was in panic mode and frantically moving about. 

“What’s going on?” asked Rave.

“Head Secretary! You need to see this!” A man with a clerk nametag came over and handed a document to Rave.

“This is…”

Rave became serious. Out of curiosity, I peeked at the document and realized the reason for the ruckus. The documents were from the Crown Prince’s office. It seemed his highness pointed out a problem with the taxes on farmers from the general plans that we filed this time.

I deliver this message to the officials of Internal Affairs. I have found an error in the tax adjustment you have reported. 

First, the idea of lowering taxes this year when we had a good year of harvest instead of a bad one seems to be decided out of convenience for the local lords that own these large lands. 

Secondly, others will demand lower taxes if only the farmers’ taxes are decreased.

If you don’t prepare an alternative to the errors I have found by today, I will hold you accountable for your negligence in reviewing the policy.

So… the famed Crown Prince, I see. The way that he pinpointed each point made me wonder about the original proposal. What was it that made him make such a big deal about it?

“Can you bring me the original proposal for the tax adjustment?”

The man, who was frantically talking to us, quickly brought over the proposal for me to see, “Here you go, ma’am.”

It was an ordinary proposal, but it certainly had issues like the Crown Prince pointed out. I picked up the paper and pen on the desk and began to write.

“Associate Harrant, what are you…” Rave stuttered as he saw what I was writing, but I ignored him and began utilizing my knowledge to respond to the Crown Prince’s letter.

I address this to his highness, the Crown Prince. 

It is a blessing to Genorium that your highness cares and examines the tax policy imposed on the common people. As you pointed out, the original proposal has errors. But I wish to explain the reasoning for the tax reduction as follows:

Due to the increase in supply from years of great harvest, the general price of crops has dropped, and it has become difficult for farmers to acquire essentials other than food. Food is important for living, but they are now having a hard time trading it for other necessities such as clothes or crafted goods. This is the reason for the tax reduction. 

As an alternative to your question, we can have the Department of the Treasury buy a certain amount of harvested crops from the farmers, increasing the general price of crops and successfully removing the need for tax reduction. This will ease complaints from other industries as well.

This will also help the finances of the palace by stocking up on food with lower costs, which benefit both. 

I truly hope that you are satisfied with the alternative plan.

Yours sincerely, Marina von Harrant.

“Ma-Mari-, I mean associate Harrant! Did you just write this just by looking at the proposal?” Rave asked while stuttering.

I nodded as I believed this was the best option. I replied, “That is correct.”

“And, uh- the name you wrote there…”

His disappointed expression made me frown. Sure, you don’t want a brand-new recruit taking all the credit by herself, don’t you?

“I wrote my name so that I take full responsibility if his highness doesn’t like the alternative option,” I answered. That’s right. This new proposal was a double-edged sword. I was to be rewarded if he liked it, but if he found another problem, then I was solely responsible for it.

“I-I see. So, are you thinking of reporting to his highness’s office by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“But shouldn’t you get approval by the Chancellor at least?”

Then the clerk became troubled and answered instead, “The Chancellor and his aides are at the state conference. It will take a long time for him to return, sir.”

So it was on purpose then. It confirmed that the rumor that the Crown Prince hates officials was true. At that, I asked Rave, my superior and the head secretary.