Chapter 5
After returning home, I thought I would go straight back to my domain, but that did not happen.
I wanted to do so immediately, but Prince Henri made his triumphant return, and a grand banquet was held.
Prince Henri and his companions were hailed as heroes, showered with the highest praise, and everyone rejoiced.
The banquet continued for seven days and seven nights, culminating in the announcement of Prince Henri's engagement to Saint Elizabeth, while my engagement was declared null and void.
Although I did not attend, Father could not very well fail to attend the celebrations as the count, so every day he set out by carriage for banquets that slighted him.
To be honest, I felt that I had done something wrong, but Father still said nothing to me.
While we remained in the royal capital, I kept myself confined to the mansion without going out.
With Father suffering so much, I could hardly enjoy myself when I was the cause of it. Besides, I knew we would be leaving this residence, so I decided to dispose of my belongings.
The clothes I had owned three years ago no longer fit, and my tastes in accessories and jewelry had changed, so I decided to sell everything except my keepsakes for cash.
Since I had nothing to do during the day, I slipped into Father's room and had him show me the documents concerning our domain.
The work of governing the domain had apparently fallen behind because of the daily banquets, and the documents continued to pile up. As I looked through them, I found a report compiled by the accountant.
It was my first time looking at the domain's financial reports, and I struggled to understand them, but once I got used to them, I began to grasp the general picture.
A quick glance made one thing clear: the tax revenue from the domain was declining across the board.
The accountant who had compiled the report attributed this mainly to the threat of the Demon King's army, the monsters it had unleashed ravaging the domain, and young men being conscripted, resulting in a labor shortage. I did not dispute that, but I suspected that the repeated tax levies had also caused the economy as a whole to cool.
The clearest evidence was the declining sales of porcelain, the domain's specialty.
Porcelain had been invented in our domain during my great-grandfather's time, and its sales had supported the prosperity of the Graham family.
Our tableware was beloved by royal families and nobles around the world, but these were turbulent times. Demand for luxuries was falling. Goods were piling up, and merchants seemed to be driving prices down.
Sales in other industrial sectors were also poor, including the brandy made by distilling wine and the glassware Father had been enthusiastically promoting.
The policy of shifting our focus toward industry because it seemed more profitable than food production had backfired in wartime.
Father was doing everything he could, but the reality was that he had been unable to turn things around.
I carefully examined the other documents concerning the domain. When I found the documents I was looking for and scrutinized them closely, what I found was quite interesting.
Because it was a remote area, Father had barely looked over them, and the accountant, considering it an unimportant domain, had simply accepted the reports at face value and stamped them. But a closer look made it clear: there seemed to be all sorts of problems waiting to be uncovered.
I took all the compiled documents, then went to the archive and searched for older records.
As expected of the Graham family, the archive was impeccably organized, making everything easy to find.
When I returned to my room with the documents I needed, Nanny Kairo was bustling back and forth among the merchants coming and going.
"What's the matter, Nanny?"
"My lady, do you truly intend to sell all these?"
Nanny gazed sadly at the clothes, jewelry, and other things being carried away.
"It can't be helped. There's no point keeping clothes I can't wear, is there?"
Besides, I had kept my keepsakes, so everything I was selling was something I did not care about.
"But for the Graham family to sell its possessions..."
Nanny was distressed over the blow this would deal to our family's dignity.
It was true that a noble family selling off its household goods was not considered very respectable.
"Well, yes, but I have a plan."
It might even yield a substantial profit.
"Well, well, my lady. Thank you very much for choosing to do business with our company this time."
While I was speaking with Nanny, Minebo of the Serra Trading Company, my trading partner in this transaction, arrived and bowed respectfully.
"Of course. The Serra Trading Company is one of our regular partners, so having you come was only natural."
The Serra Trading Company was one of the merchants who regularly did business with our family. It was widely regarded as the finest in the kingdom and operated stores throughout the country, centered around the royal capital. If I recall correctly, Minebo was the company's heir. Apparently, he had made a special trip here for my sake.
"Thank you. So, roughly how much would this fetch?"
I asked about the price right away.
"Would this amount be about right?"
Minebo wrote a price on a sheet of paper and showed it to me, but it was far below market value.
I knew they would take advantage of my situation, but they had some nerve offering less than half the price I had expected.
Of course, they were merchants. I understood that they worshiped profit as their only god and strove to maximize it, and I did not begrudge them that.
But they had looked down on me because they thought I was on the decline, and their attitude over such a small transaction was unacceptable.
"I see. I understand."
I pretended to be a fool who knew nothing about market prices, accepted the paper, and signed it. With that, the deal was concluded.
"By the way, there was one more thing I wanted you to take off my hands. How much might this fetch?"
I took a box from the desk drawer and showed him what was inside.
It was something resembling a grayish stone.