CH 60

What kind of power did she have to cure Damon’s phobias? Besides, it wasn’t a phobia, it was the same as disgust, and it wasn’t like he could get better all of a sudden.

“So you need new manpower though the Grand Duke won’t allow it. Is this the problem?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It seemed that they really wanted to hire new manpower for quite a while.

“It’s not something I can choose if I want to…”

Even if she said she would hire maids, that would be nothing if Damon didn’t allow it. In addition, she didn’t want to do anything to catch his eyes. Her situation was still precarious, unable to properly protect herself.

“The Grand Duke has entrusted everything to increase the manpower to Your Grace.”

“Yes?”

…How could he entrust everything to her? Elysia seemed to understand why Julia and Sebastian had rushed to her. She became burdened by those eyes full of hope that they could finally run the household.

“As you may have seen yesterday and today, the entire castle has not been used yet.”

“The same goes for the garden.”

Did she see the garden on the way yesterday? Perhaps, she was too nervous to look around. While she hadn’t seen it yet, as the castle was massive, the garden must be big as well. To leave such a large garden unattended would look bad from the outside.

“There didn’t seem to be any problems on the outside.”

“Because we couldn’t manage it, so we pushed everything away.”

“The same goes for the hall. We have never used it.”

Elysia was troubled by Julia and Sebastian’s appearance, talking grievingly. The County did not seem to have a separate party hall, but the Grand Duchy was different. There’s even a party hall in the castle…

“There has never been a party.”

“Yes, that’s right. His Grace hates parties so much.”

Although they must be the two people who know Damon better than anyone, she wondered why they were so anxious that they couldn’t change it. If it were her, she would try to be as inconspicuous as possible.

“Actually, so was the kitchen.”

“What?”

“There were very few people in the kitchen until Madam came.”

The food was too delicious for that. It was unbelievable for a kitchen that was completed in such a short time.

“All kitchen facilities are brand new.”

She wondered what was going on before that and why Julia was voicing so much enthusiasm, Sebastian as well.

“Finally, the chance to live like a human has come.”

* * *

Sebastian, in particular, seemed out of his mind with excitement. Conversely, while Julia didn’t show it, Elysia could see that she really welcomed the notion as well. Were they not both afraid of Damon…?

“First of all, I will guide you through the castle. Please let me know if there are any shortcomings or if there is anything you would like to change.”

“Oh, yes.”

A chance to live like a human. Elysia did not know the meaning of the word.

“Ah…”

However, as she looked inside the castle, she found out why Sebastian and Julia had no choice but to cling to her so desperately.

“We can’t take care of this place right now, so we’re just leaving it alone.”

Unlike the splendid exterior of the castle, the inside was miserable. The rooms she was introduced to were rarely used, more than half. It wasn’t just that as there were also many halls that were left unattended.

So was the garden, there was only desolateness in the place where the trees were plucked out.

“The same goes for the garden. We don’t have a gardener…”

Finding a good gardener was like picking a star in the sky. Learning from Estelle, the noble society valued appearance as the most important thing. First, they had to have enough power to own a garden, and they needed the financial resources to manage the large garden beautifully.

“If it’s the Grand Duchy, don’t you get enough…?”

“That’s because the Master didn’t want that… He hates the castle being crowded. He isn’t interested in housekeeping in the first place.”

If both of these were not satisfied, it was tough to manage the garden, so the nobles who had a garden deliberately held an outdoor party to show off. Whereas for Damon, who had both power and wealth, the condition of the garden didn’t make sense.

“Can I change the garden?”

It was different when she heard it only with words and when she saw it with her own eyes. The current Grand Duke’s castle was serious, so much so that Elysia didn’t know where to start. Also, she was terrified because Damon had left the castle unattended until this happened.

“The Grand Duke said it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s right. The kitchen was also changed because Your Grace was coming.”

“The kitchen was no different. His Grace doesn’t care about what he eats at all.”

She had been diligently going around the castle since morning though the Grand Duke’s castle was so huge that she still couldn’t see everything of it. She seemed to know how they managed to run the place with this small number of people.

It was possible because the minimum amount of space was used by a minimum number of people.

“What made you uncomfortable?”

“Which one would you like to change first?”

At Julia and Sebastian’s sparkling eyes, Elysia only smiled awkwardly. It looked like there were a lot of problems, but she didn’t know where to start and fix them.

“Well… I think we should select only the necessary spaces from among the unused spaces.”

“All of the spaces we have shown you so far are urgently needed.”

It seemed that it certainly did seem urgent.

“The only hope of the Grand Duchy is Madam!”

“…Ho, hope?”

Sebastian’s attitude, even saying that she was a hope, made Elysia a little embarrassed. She didn’t want to pour cold water on them, but she didn’t have an idea.

“Didn’t the kitchen also get changed, which we thought would never change?”

“Were there any problems with the kitchen?”

At a glance, the kitchen, which she had peeked at earlier, was equipped with the latest cutlery and utensils. It seemed that there were a lot of people working there. It was luxurious enough to think that all the shortage of manpower was used in the kitchen.

“Before that… we couldn’t even call it a kitchen. There was only one cook.”

Lies. There was no way it could be like that in the Grand Duchy. Even the County had many kitchen staff, including cooks. She knew it very well because she sometimes helped with the kitchen when they were busy.

“As a result, things that came out for the meals were feeble.”

“But now…”

“It all changed when Madam came.”

…The kitchen was changed for her? Why?

Elysia only tilted her head at the words she couldn’t understand.

“Why… ?”

No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t come up with a clear answer. Why did they change the kitchen because of her?

“We heard that Your Grace doesn’t eat well.”

“What does it have to do with me not eating well…?”

Indeed, even when Elysia heard the reason, she did not understand.

…What did that have to do with Damon? Did he really want to fatten her? If not, that couldn’t be the reason.

“Originally, the Grand Duke doesn’t eat much. But he brought famous chefs because Madam was picky when you can’t even eat much.”

Obviously, famous chefs must have belonged somewhere though it was surprising that everything was set up in less than a month. It would have been impossible unless they paid a large sum of money and brought the chefs.

“Certainly, we spent a lot of money making the kitchen, though… The Grand Duke has never spent a proper budget before.”

“Absolutely, there is also a budget set aside for Your Grace.”

When they said she had a budget, Elysia turned her head. It was the first time she had ever heard that there was a budget set aside for her… A new budget that wasn’t an allotted budget for wedding preparations?

“Still, the wedding budget has been spent, right?”

“Oh. Of course, it’s your personal budget. It’s completely different from the wedding budget.”

“Personal budget?”

Was there such a thing…?

She wondered if the Countess had any sort of personal budget, though when she thought about it again, there was nothing to worry about. The Count’s money originated from the Countess’ house. There was no way she couldn’t have such a budget.

“There is a budget allotted to you every month. There is also a separate budget to manage the castle.”

She was surprised that they had a budget allotted to her personally, which was even more incredible that they had a separate budget for managing the castle. Usually, the budget for managing the castle included the budget of the mistress. The budget was not set aside unless there was a lot of money.

“The budget allotted to Your Grace is around thirty million gold per month.”

…Thirty million gold?

That was equal to the amount allotted for the wedding arrangements. However, it was possible because there was a special event called a wedding. There were a lot of things going into it, so it was an acceptable amount…

Even Estelle, at the time, had said that it was a marriage that rivaled the Imperial Family for such a high budget… However, her usual budget was thirty million gold?

“What?”

“Do you need more?”

When asked if she needed more, Elysia vigorously shook her head.

Need more?!

It was already a large enough budget. At that time, the money, which was spent solely on her, was about ten million gold, but now it has increased to thirty million gold.

No matter how rich they were, she was worried about how they could give her such big money like this every month. After all, thirty million gold was a lot of money to buy a small castle. Perhaps, this was why the Grand Duchy’s balance was running low.

“The budget to manage the castle is sixty million gold. For now, it has been temporarily increased.”

“Or, originally…?”

Hearing that the temporary increase was sixty million gold, Elysia seemed to fall back. Although it was not a big event like a wedding, it was still an overpriced amount. Even if the County’s annual budget were combined, it would probably be less than sixty million gold. It was such an absurd budget.

“It was thirty million gold, equal to Madam’s personal budget.”

Elysia felt her head turn white in an instant, and she staggered.