Now I am sitting on one of the chairs, on my left side there is a work table used by my predecessors in leading the family and the duchy since the beginning of the empire.

The atmosphere in the room looked quite tense because several imperial guards were standing guard from the door of the study, the only sound I could hear was between the birds chirping and the sound of a clock ticking. I had just been sitting bored, occasionally sipping tea. Last night I couldn't sleep because of the strange feeling I felt in my body, a sense of hot and cold with blood rushing through all corners of my body; plus I found the game's mysterious easter egg that's now in my safe.

I glanced occasionally at Oliver who returned a friendly smile at me as if making sure that I hadn't done anything wrong. I also actually doubt what Count Marion's words meant.

While I was thinking about what would happen next, the study door opened and Count Marion entered, still wearing the clothes he used as a mediator, he politely greeted me, “Good morning, young master, I hope your sleep is soundly and peaceful,” we both exchanged handshakes.

I replied, "Of course Count Marion, thank you for worrying about me,”

Count Marion smiled faintly before he sat opposite me, in his hand was the file that Duke Bailey and I used yesterday to stamp the verdict of yesterday's trial, “Okay, young master, we don't need to make small talk anymore because we have to discuss two important things regarding the answer you gave to the question I asked yesterday,"

Nodding my head, I said, "Very well Count Marion, to be honest, I'm a little nervous and confused about where I went wrong in answering your question.”

While placing the file beside him and not on the table, Count Marion looked at me seriously, sharply, and piercingly, “Young master, the answer you gave is generally correct, but there are two things you forgot in that answer. First, You do not mention how many figures were in the court which I interpreted that you didn't know the actual number of members of the Imperial Court, you didn’t mention Grand Duke Rochefort, he was also in the imperial court despite they were somehow being ‘ignored’ by the emperor and the imperial court,”

Oh, right, Grand Duke Rochefort, the real heir of the Stonewall family was put in a noble prison by the emperor.

I gaze at Count Marion to continue his explanations, “Then, the second one is that you are wrong about the position of your family in the factions,”

I frowned, confused by what Count Marion said, and tried to think of a reason why my answer about my family's position could be wrong according to Count Marion.

As every second passed, a piece of a possibility started be build inside of my head; it seemed I could pull the tangled thread from the wrong answer I gave to Count Marion, but to confirm it, I needed to ask, "What do you mean, Count Marion?” I asked curiously.

Count Marion sighed, ruffled his hair a little, "It seems like you were not told by your mother, the late duchess, the previous duke, or your grandfather," he deliberately left the sentence hanging and tried to give an explanation that was at least easy for a child like me to understand.

"...so, if you remember the incident where your grandfather wanted the entire Albright family to be 'clean' from all the 'pests' and 'parasites' that were in his beloved family, he made a deal with the emperor that as long as the next leader of the empire did not bring up the family that he had banished, he stated that the Albright bloodline would always be loyal to the legitimate heir of the Terones Empire, to make it even more solid. Your mother even officially stated that the Albright family supported the imperial faction led by Duke Winfield,"

I was a little surprised but I managed to hold back from saying anything, ""...so your answer that your family's position is in the neutral faction is wrong, because now your family is in the imperial faction, even though you are ostracized from every event held by that faction," at the last part Count Marion chuckled slightly.

“Therefore I can conclude that your answer is mostly correct, there are only shortcomings in the parts that I explained earlier. However, after conducting an assessment and evaluating as deeply as possible all the possibilities that exist, for now, I can give you an offer that can smooth your position as the duke, which you will need a Council of Elders to help you manage your territory, it can make you get two different titles, either a direct Duke or as Lord Regent. However, if you insist on not wanting a Council of Elders and want the title of duke, I'm sure it might be a little difficult for the emperor to approve giving you the title duke; unless within three months you perform an absolute miracle you lead the territory!” explained Count Marion to every option I could have.

For a moment the room went silent, somehow Oliver also froze and didn’t say anything, but I could see his eyes were against the idea.

“And, that was my suggestion, you should have at least an elder council to help you run the duchy until you reached adulthood, but once again, the decision was yours; I could only help you for now, but if you persist to hold your own power alone, then there’s nothing I can do to support you when emperor call you in the capital to asked some questions, in which if you failed to impressed the emperor could lead both of you, me, and Duke Hillingham under dangerous situations!”

“But…”

“I know, it will be quite annoying to have an elders council if all of your local nobles are quite supporters of the emperor’s faction, thanks to your, ex-father!” cut Count Marion again.

While raising one of my eyebrows, I wondered what he meant and also got curious about who he was talking about.

“But, it was for you to decide, my job is almost done, so would you accept my recommendation?” said Count Marion.

I took a deep breath and released before looking at Count Marion who was already awaiting my answer with highly anticipated, “Firstly, I want to express my gratitude for your unwavering support. I deeply appreciate your dedication to upholding the imperial code and the teachings of the Great Book of Enlightenment in this special case. Your backing during the confrontations with Duke Winfield has been invaluable to me and I recognize that I have much to learn and areas in which I must improve. I understand the importance of aligning with the emperor’s interests, and as such, I am in agreement with establishing an elder council composed of local nobles in the Duchy of Solunoct.”

Count Marion smiled, “Very well, young master, your answers are quite satisfying for me, it was really a great day to begin to end of the case that can be closed neatly,” he arose from his position and bowed to me, “...may the god and St. Hurios always blessed and lead the young duke of Solunoct and House of Albright to the righteous path, from now to eternal life!” praised him before he stood up, and we exchanged hands.

It didn’t take long for Count Marion’s entourage to be prepared to leave the manor, they are waiting at the front door. Despite the cold weather of snow, Count Marion is against any idea of delay due to weather.

“It’s such an event that could only happen once in a lifetime, young duke!” said Count Marion as he was already on his horse, I could see his breath thanks to the cold weather.

Seeing how he loved ‘the surprise’ that I made, sent some shivers down to my spine. An unwanted smile showed on my face and said, “Well, if you love such an ‘event’ that could happen, I could bring a lot, just be prepared…” with a big smile I said leaving Count Marion quite confused and somehow in his eyes I can see the eyes of terrified.

“Oh, one thing I almost to tell you is that, I take your two maids to be investigated in the capital, the case of yours will I used as leverage for the emperor to consider, although it was a small possibility everything was meant for you to be ascend your position, am I right?”

I smiled, “Yes, everything was meant to secure my position, I didn't want this to take a long time, I have work to do as it was my responsibility as the legitimate heir of the house and duchy!”

Count Marion smiled to hear my answer, “Very well, hope you able settled the problem, young duke!” then he turned his horse to the gate before started to move; while I waved to the entourage who left the manor, I could feel Oliver standing behind me, his face show some worried with me and asked, “Do you need something or else, milord?”

I could hear Oliver’s words, but somehow my body froze, the feeling of something running cold behind my spine moving to my brain like I already did some calculations, it made my body shiver, “Are you alright?” asked Oliver, he looked very worried.

When I turned around, the cold wind of January could still be felt, and said, “It’s alright Oliver, everything's gonna be alright from this moment,” my body’s temperature was rising despite the cold and the wind gushed through us. Ah…the feeling of tingling can be felt again, I put both of my hands covered with warm cloth gloves. It feels so good…

I put my hands down and looked at the sun that now appeared and illuminated the courtyard.

‘Yep…everything’s gonna be alright, from this moment until the last breath I take!’

“What do you want to do for now, milord?” asked Oliver still standing behind me.

I turned to him and smiled, “Can I have a moment for myself at the study?”

Oliver bowed his head as gestures he understood, “Of course, I will bring the snacks for brunch!”

“Thank you, Oliver!”

As I and Oliver take our respective ways to our destination, I wonder how my life has already taken such a turn of events. Previously, I should have lost my wealth and become the imperial family's dog for my dignity to survive but right now, I managed to prevent the fall of my family's name and wealth to a person that technically connected to me who in reality wasn't at all.

I remember our late discussion as Count Marion prepared to leave about the situations in the capital, especially the duke-level nobles. Overall it is unwritten that duke-level noble families will not interfere or try to swallow another duke-level family, but this was broken by the Winfield family since they thought that the current Duke Winfield was the father of the Albright family's heir, they were afraid that Duke Winfield, who voices his supports to the crown prince and led the crown prince's faction, will take over the Albright led duchy and forced the heir to abdicate so their territory will become the largest and the most powerful in the empire. But since the emperor and Duke Winfield have been best friends ever since both of them are just the fourth prince and son of a baron. The emperor even didn't mind the Albright family's situation since he was thinking of dissolving the duchy if I didn't take the position to support his beloved child as the crown prince, maybe he would merge it with the Winfield and so the emperor and Winfield family's power grew bigger and stronger.

Well, that was all they were afraid of, especially Count Marion until the letter came out from the meeting and changed the direction of not only the meeting but also the empire's political landscape. Count Marion also said that the letter would be sent together with a report containing conclusions from the results of the meeting. He assured me that there was nothing to be worried about although there was a possibility I was being called to answer by the emperor.

Finally, my twelve-year-old feet arrived at the study where yesterday I tested positive for imperial knowledge and where I found out that my family was the supporter of the crown prince but it was in name only. In reality, this family is already being used as a shield when other families try to attack the emperor’s faction in other words to paid the damage caused by the emperor's faction or take the blame for the emperor's faction's wrongdoing.

My eyes are glued to each old book in this room, I was being hypnotized by the desire to know every book in this room since I was barred in my past life by that hypocritical father and to make me look dumb and uneducated to take over the duchy.

Let’s forget that, now, it’s time to treasure book hunting! Started when I took one book and read it.

One Hour Later…

"Woah..." That's the only word inside my brain but I really can't say anything about what I saw right now.

You must be curious about what I found, right?

As I said before, I plan to find where my family's hidden treasure is under time alone to read a book as the reason for anyone not to disrupt me. If previously this treasure was found by that damn future emperor and his best bastard friend after they looted and destroyed the Albright Manor (which I heard from the prison guard's conversation), in the game it is still in the same location, where the heroine after defeating the boss (me), with the help of the egg, she managed to find the secret room that was used by the Duke of Albright for centuries as a place to store their treasures.

I walked towards the manor's main study room that was used as the duke’s study and next to it there was the duke's private library on the left between two bookshelves, it was connected through a single door with a large room that was neatly arranged. I fumbled towards the book the game said. Even though I live in this world, I don't know where the developer got information about my family secrets. The room was filled with books and books.

That's when I touched a maroon book on the third left shelf about the history of the empire then a secret passage was opened. Despite feeling afraid, I braved myself up and decided to take a step inside it; after a few steps there were two tunnels, the first one for the emergency and hiding room, and the other one was where I was standing right now. For your information, this study is located on the second floor of the manor, this secret tunnel I believe sent me to the basement.

Since the mysterious letter also contains the password for the tunnel, the person who knows the key and the password must read a letter from the first duke that's been sealed in the safe in the study. The letter from the first duke said that whoever found the treasure should keep quiet about it and asked his lineage to continue filling the room with other valuable possessions that make it full and can be told if the successor was deemed responsible, so far I can see my ancestors and grandfather's signature on the letter, it's said that this treasure could only be used if the duchy was under serious trouble. Like right now, although I was decided by the meeting with Count Marion that there's a possibility that I can be stripped of my title if Count Marion was sued and tried by the emperor who was influenced by Duke Winfield.

I believe he will do everything in his hand to kick me out of my rightful position. Luckily both mother and that bastard didn’t know about this secret treasure room. I could shiver wondering what would happen if they found the treasure of the Albright family.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Gosh, these treasures really dazzle my eyes. I could probably feel that my eyes would be turned into gold just to see how many there are, but I can guess that this is more than the wealth my family owns. For your information, it's not just gold coins, there are also gold bars, silver coins, and bars, of every color of diamond, jewelry, etc. This amazes me, they are neatly arranged so there's no spill of treasure in them.

Alright, now that I've found this oasis of gold for the duchy's dry throat of finance, now there's just one problem, Of course, I don't want anyone to know about this treasure, there's no big hell way I wanted someone to know this golden bin; I couldn’t carry a sack of gold around the house in which will be heavy for a small body of child like me and it will arouse suspicion among servants. To make it hard, there's no magic to help me hide all this money and there's no game setup that can help me hide this treasure. I also couldn't immediately set up a bank or open an account because I was still twelve years old unless there was any logical reason or they would think that I was just playing around or even thinking that I may have stolen it from someone. I stomped my feet on the ground because I was stressed thinking about it. I put my left index finger on my forehead and tried to think how to let this treasure out without exposing it.

I looked around the room and found that the room also has good air ventilation so the room doesn't feel so stuffy or too moist that it can grow mold on the wall or floor. As I caressed the wall and touched the gold, "How should I bring all of this gold?" murmured me while looking at every sack containing the gold and silver coins.

"If I said it to Oliver, he will for sure have a heart attack,” murmured me as I squeezed the mini gold bar which felt very hard in my hand, “...and this treasure would be found out,” again I stomped my feet unrealized, “...damn, it's not like in games where you just click and then all the money will be transferred to the game account or pockets.”

Based on my rough calculations, the gold coins in this room could be around millions of gold coins and it was just gold coins not counting the many jewels in the other sack.

After confirming the location of my family's hidden treasure and still feeling annoyed that I couldn’t carry it outside without everyone noticing the location, I chose to walk outside to refresh my brain; My eyes looked around, and I was impressed with this room which was full of bookshelves that were also full of various types of books from history to war and still lots of it. I stared at one of the books titled, the administration book of Solunoct Duchy, and it came to my mind, "Looks like I have to take care of my territory first." as I grabbed the book, I shouldn’t blind my mind with golds, I also need to learn how to manage my territory. After all, I am not a supercharacter who can do everything in thought, word, and deed.

I positioned myself at the best place to read on the sofa and began to read, behind me there was a stack of books waiting to be read and examined by me.

Another one hour later….

KNOCK…KNOCK…KNOCK…

Turned my head towards the door, I already expected someone coming. Well, it was two hours in total of my time to read the books about the administration history of the duchy and find a quite shocking treasure under the secret door. I hope no one will notice it.

“Excuse me, milord, I brought some refresher for you!” greeted Oliver as he came to the library with a trolley filled with cakes and tea.

“Thank you, Oliver!” I answered as I flipped the book on my thigh and then took a sip of the tea.

‘My pleasure, sir!” answered Oliver as he examined the table where I read the book about Solunoct Duchy, starting from the duchy's financial, administrative, and defense records. The management is divided into two, the first is the financial management of the Albright Household managed by the duchess usually, and the financial management of the Solunoct Duchy managed by the people appointed and led by the duke. In recent years, the duchy's treasury decreased by two-thirds because the bastard used the money to help his business and lavish life. With only 145 thousand gold coins left, if I maintain everything as usual, we can survive for another two to three years. Remember that duke only cost 500 gold coins? It's just a duke-level noble family in regular, but the cost of maintaining a duchy and living lavishly like that bastard can reach up to 100 thousand gold coins if your area and family are big enough. Currently, the expenditure for both households and the duchy was on average level 41 thousand gold coins.

Well, as I enjoyed the tea and snacks, why wouldn’t we discuss it inside my head? I hope you like it!

Let's start with the duchy's budget.

The Duchy of Solunoct as one of the founding members of the Terones Empire had a budget which the largest budget came from two areas, bureaucracy and military. I looked at the duchy's income sources, currently taxes in the duchy are at their lowest point in the last five years while the duchy's debts to the empire and financial institutions are starting to increase. Total duchy's debt almost covered half of the duchy's tax revenue for this year at 48 thousand gold coins. Some of the issues that have become problems in the duchy include unmanaged bureaucracy, not well-maintained infrastructure, coupled with the declining purchasing power of the people, as well as the condition of the empire which is starting to show signs of slower economic growth.

I was quite fortunate that I am the heir of a duchy, not an imperial province. Both acted as the empire’s region and the representatives of the imperial government, also both of them had the right to change or re-create their tax policies to their like despite the imperial provinces needing approval from the emperor before being implemented, as for the duchies more flexible on term of creating its own law; and what was clear that the empire would require 30% of each duchy's total tax revenue annually or with the lowest must be 100 thousand gold coins. So this is a piece of good news for me to change not only tax policy but carry out a plan for large-scale bureaucratic and social economic reform. But also this became my very first bad news since I woke in this world because for the first time in the history of the Solunoct Duchy failed to reach the threshold of 100 thousand gold coins since we will only receive 96 thousand gold coins this year, that was come from my forecast using of the up and down of the income by the past five years. The duchy’s income relied overly on tax revenue which now only produced 96 thousand gold coins, down 11 thousand gold coins from last year.

Oliver said that the time to collect the tax was in spring with the exact time March to May 1 or as late as June 1, 1861, which needed to be delivered by early to mid-summer. Any delay or can't be paid will result in a fine and a higher trial at the imperial court by the emperor as the judge. Three months to collect tax and report as well as to send it to the imperial government.

“What a rigid empire” murmured me as I realized it was already evening. Oliver had come to me to say that dinner would be ready soon after he took the cup and plates of snacks and also sent a trolley for me. I also prepared myself by returning the book and taking some books for me to take to my bedroom.

"Wow, looks like tomorrow will be busy," I shook my head to normalize my gaze which had been glued to the duchy's books all day and I saw the stack of books that I needed to pay attention to. As for treasure, they can stay still for now; while the tax can be covered by the treasury for now.

After putting the books in their place and choosing what I wanted, I prepared to leave after putting away this last purple book. That's when I passed the history section, I saw a book that had the exact same color as the one I was holding right now. I slowly approached and my mind wandered, I hoped this wasn't what I imagined. I pulled the book, and then the sound of the clock started to be heard as a secret door opened from under the table, I reluctantly walked closer to go downstairs, and to my surprise, there was a small room with three large wooden boxes like treasure chests. I touched the treasure chest and saw that there was an Albright crest on it.

"God, please don't tell me..." I opened the first crate and that's when I grinned widely, the first crate was full of gold coins, and then I opened the second one, it was the gold bar and the last one was jewelry.

“Wow, ancestor, did you hear my plea? How much treasure that you buried in this house, well, I guess I can use this treasure without seeing Oliver having a heart attack due to a huge pot of gold on the other side of the room.” I said with a grin on my face, “Oh, right…” I ran back to the study and saw if anyone had come but fortunately, no one came.

Later that day, I called Oliver to see that I just found a treasure room with three treasure chests in it, he was so shocked and almost fainted but he managed to get a grip. Then he orders the other servant to carry the treasure to the treasury room. Oliver looked at me with teary eyes as if he was proud of me.

But before that...

After dinner, which is quite tense up since this is the first time since I come back to my original world, I have my dinner for the first time in this world and am alone in the empty dining room. All servants, despite some of them being relieved and happy as we exchange talks but others are afraid maybe due to their allegations and support for that family.

Return to the study as I continued my research about the duchy, Oliver opened the door, “Good evening, milord, is there something that you need me to discuss?”

I rubbed my eyes a little, my eyes felt sore after reading so many books, “Yes, here,” I handed Oliver a list, not just an ordinary list; but the list of those who secretly support that bastard family. I still remember their name even in my second life. It's an easy job to write their name and hand it over to Oliver as the Chief Servants of Albright Household.

Oliver looked calm as he read the list, his face looked wrinkled for a moment then as if he was guessing what they did when they entered the list, after some time, he looked at me and said, "What do you want me to do, my lord?"

"Just fired them, I already maintained enough mercy for their attitude during the past week!" I answered while yawning. Firing a servant without giving a letter of recommendation from their previous workplace especially a noble can become their punishment since they will need to start at the beginning again if they try to work at a noble house.

"Sure, my lord!" replied Oliver plainly, he folded the paper neatly with his gloved hands, “Is there anything else, my lord?”

“I believe, that’s all!” again I yawned, gosh, this child’s body of mine can be so easily tired.

“Great, then it’s time for your bedtime, milord, it’s already passed 9 p.m.,” said Oliver with a warm smile.

“Fine…” I said a little languidly.

By the next morning, all those servants on the list disappeared without handling any letter of resignation or even saying anything to me. I thought they would be expelled by morning, but even the existing servants seemed to not care about the situation and they just worked diligently.

“What happened to those that I fired?” I asked while I sipped the warm lemon tea after being poured by Oliver together. He also served breakfast, a salmon royale with caviar and eggs, and there were also tarts and fruits for dessert.

Oliver smiled neatly, “Nothing happened milord, just to avoid any disturbance, ruckus, and other pests. Since the list is quite long we didn’t have enough time and ‘mercy’ to fire one for each day to deliver any unnecessary greeting. Pardon my rudeness but I decided to fire them all at night and give them their compensation before telling them to leave!”

I looked at Oliver who was still standing beside me, as I cut the salmon and put it in my mouth, the taste of smoked salmon spread on my palate. Despite the great taste of the food, I feel there’s something off with Oliver’s sentence. But as this wrong feeling kept growing, I disregarded that thought as at least they disappeared and didn’t bother me. Oliver also quickly hired new and more talented servants that promptly adapted with the old servants and they never discussed the dismissal like it never happened.

As for the treasure I found, it takes around another two days to count every coin and come up with calculations of 300 thousand gold coins, when I received the information about how much the family's current wealth, right now there were 145 thousand gold coins in the treasury that I saved, and according to Oliver, the total amount of those three crates was 420 thousand gold coins which makes both me and Oliver shivering hear the number, in total I have 565 thousand gold coins. Indirectly, I have become the richest person, maybe a child in the world by inheriting this much money. My whole body shivered when I remembered the treasure in the other room. Honestly, it would make the emperor jealous just to hear that. As my fortune could cover the empire's military budget for around one or two years without cutting.

Just after breakfast, I decided to go to study and begin to write my life plans for the future. I can’t waste any more time and wait for the emperor to call me; since the duchy and family’s seal are already given to me by Oliver. I finished writing some cheques for the servants who helped me count every coin and those who secretly helped me even though they could change their allegiance to that family. Totaled around 5 thousand gold coins.

Moved my eyes towards a report from Oliver, I will ensure there is a separation between the duchy treasury and my personal treasury. Since I was young and unmarried, oh right, discussing marriage, hah, I did not care about her anymore; basically since there was no duchess, the family’s treasury became my responsibility to manage it. I decided to use the remaining 145 thousand gold coins for the Albright family's treasury. While the rest of the treasure accumulated to 565 thousand gold coins, I will take 50 thousand to be used for investment while the rest will be used to run the duchy.

By this, I can avoid the trap by reporting low revenue of the tax and will make my image look bad for the emperor in judging my experience. What a lucky day. It was an easy job to make a false tax report. Just said that there’s a company and it sends their tax, luckily enough it can cover the shortfall in tax revenue which previously only amounted to 96 thousand gold coins. Yes, I will use this year's tax revenue to pay the threshold of 100 thousand gold coins. In other words, the duchy didn’t receive any pennies of their tax revenue, and now they relied solely on the treasure I found.

Oliver looked at me worriedly about my decisions, “Are you sure, it was a good idea, my lord?” he accompanied me in giving instructions and his thoughts regarding the conditions of the duchy, sometimes he looked surprised at how fast I learned in the past three days after the meeting, but I convince him to keep teaching me and don't hesitate to challenge me if I make the wrong decision or something that for him it was not right, like for now.

I nodded my head, “Yes, at least it will show the emperor that Solunoct has not completely collapsed, because I'm sure, Duke Bailey will start manipulating the emperor’s opinion by saying that Solunoct will collapse before the emperor summons me, also the need to impress the emperor with the development of the duchy are also important!”

Nodding his head, Oliver started to understand my actions, “Well, I never thought that we needed to sway the emperor’s opinion, and I also never thought that Duke Bailey could go to such length?”

I stared at the paper and thought, Duke Bailey de Winfield, if anyone caught off guard maybe they just regard him as the mere antagonist in their life that they can disregard easily but, no one knows that he was a manipulative person. He always uses every power he has to sway everyone to be on his side, even the emperor who unfortunately like I said earlier they're childhood best friends, despite that fact, Duke Bailey is willing to go to such lengths to use even the emperor to always support any policy he proposes. He also handled everything behind the door and no one dared to make problems with him.

By afternoon after 2 p.m., another servant sent a trolley for brunch with letters from the merchants, these are the replies from the first ducal ordinance that I already signed and stamped as temporary ruler of Solunoct and head of the family. The first ducal ordinance I signed and stamped was about the repairment of all infrastructure in the duchy starting with bridges, tunnels, roads, ports, trading posts, sanitation, sewers, public buildings, warehouses, and more it total cost of almost 39 thousand gold coins since I used the best lumber and materials that usually will be used in capital and especially higher noble and quality. The cost of all of it, if I used basic materials, would be 17 thousand gold coins. But, since I’m the richest, why not invest more?

I am also aware that my actions made the market in the duchy run out of building materials due to massive orders that never happened previously, especially for high-quality lumber and others that only noble used, another thing is that Solunoct duchy’s market is now still in small compared to my northern unfriendly neighbor Forte-Osz Duchy and Administrative Region of Halerones, all trade items to Solunoct usually go to between Dimeview Duchy or Grand Hillrama Duchy, I didn’t know the reason for their unfriendly even though we are from the same factions that support the crown prince. But at least that is the reason why all the merchants started to send their messages to me with their apology for not fulfilling my wish for the number of lumber that exceeds the number of their own, even one of the merchants said that my order would make him rich but will empty his stock of lumber overnight.

Turning my sight to the imperial maps, I could see that there was only one place that could pour the lumber at a cheap price and be willing to sell it in large quantities. Unfortunately, they can be so avaricious that they only think about profit instead of using the forest for their profit and care for environmental stability; but, oh pardon me, it’s 1861, and there’s no way people care about the environment, care about their life alone is already hard to do. I started a river that was running through them and directly to the capital. Well, despite their lumber being top-notch, let’s forget about that…

I just dip the pens into ink as I take a piece of paper then start to write a letter of purchase to them. At least by now, they will still be intact with that ancient unfortunate thought, hah, remembering that time, I will help them. It will be my last time to help them. I take the ornate box of ink that sat on the edge of the grand oak desk. The ink inside glistened darkly, I take the duchy’s official stamp, an intricately carved seal bearing the crest of the duchy. Its handle was smooth, worn by years of use, yet still holding the weight of authority. With a steady hand, I dipped the stamp into the ink, watching to make sure that the deep black liquid clung to the engraved emblem. Then I lifted the stamp from the ink, poised it above the paper, and without hesitating for the briefest of moments I stamped the paper with it.

After the ink dried off, I folded the letter and put it in a dark blue envelope which indicated it was an official letter. I lit a white candle then took a red block-shaped candle which I aimed at the burning candle once I felt it had melted enough, I placed it on the envelope and then took another smaller duchy stamp to press on top of it.

“Oliver, send this letter to Duke Ferdinand de Sylvanel,” I handed the letter to Oliver who received the letter with a hidden questioning eye, I could read from his eyes despite his maintaining his composure.

“It's just a letter that contains my desire to buy his lumbers,” explained me as I took a sip of the tea and then stretched my body.

It only took a moment for him to understand what I meant and immediately bowed, "Very well then, my lord, I will send the letter immediately. Would you like some light snacks while waiting for dinner?"

I turned towards the remaining cake, "No, there's still enough,"

Nodding his head, Oliver asked permission to leave the room and myself. A moment after Oliver left the room, I stood up from where I was sitting and turned towards the outside, namely the back garden of the residence which was still well-maintained thanks to my mother who loved gardening.

“Mother…” murmured me, I compared the view of greenery in the parks and the conditions of my desk. Comparing the greenery in parks to the condition of my desk led me to a conclusion: For stability to be achieved, a form of order is necessary—an order that benefits both the creators and the users. However, this order should be flexible and considerate, allowing both sides to support each other. If one side must endure some hardship, the other should step in to help restore balance. Stability comes not from rigid rules, but from mutual care and cooperation, ensuring that order benefits everyone involved.

Turned back to my desk, I took one of the ordinance proposals, ‘Food Storage Project for Duchy of Solunoct’. I opened the proposal and started to read, then I took a book that contains the report of weather and also there's a project called, ‘Meteorological Forecast Development Project’

I smirked, “What we have here…” I didn’t know this kind of project existed since these will only come up after the great catastrophe of that damned war, and thanks to my stupidity, I didn’t know these kind of projects. Moving my chair slightly, I settled back down and began to read both projects. These two projects, the food storage and meteorological came from two nobles named Paul Dryden, Count of Hund, a county that stretched to all northern parts of the duchy. He was quite fortunate thanks to his sharp investment and trade company that he inherited from his father.

The proposal came with his cooperation in research with the second noble, the Countess of Etvini, Estella Maurez. Ah…I remember her, as one of the most fierce women in the duchy yet must succumb to depression and illness. In short, the project initiated by both of them recommends the duchy build a kind of integrated food storage starting from every village with a population of at least 50 people to important cities in the duchy to anticipate famine and food stock shortages. A point from Count Paul Dryden, who said that food storage can be used to regulate and stabilize food prices in the region. Meanwhile, according to research by Countess Estella Maurez, food storage can be used to anticipate crop failure.

This brings us to the second project, namely the meteorology project, despite I know why they proposed the projects, which was also initiated by both of them. In this second proposal, they believe in data that drought will come and need help from the duchy to establish an agency that researches the duchy's weather and climate as well as a kind of early warning system for natural disasters.

Reading both proposals made me satisfied but unfortunately, everything they did to me in the past still lingered freshly inside of my head. I was hoping to repair the relationship but these past memories made me uncomfortable.

I didn’t know how to act with it…

To Be Continued…

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