I Stole The Duke - Chapter 98

“Transferring the territory should be the very last resort.”

When someone steps back, others tend to hope they’ll retreat even further. That’s human nature. They couldn’t afford to give the Emperor any opening. In the end, Michalis had no choice but to come up with a solution on his own.

“Increase port usage fees and ship rental charges. Raise taxes on merchants by 3% each…?”

That was sure to provoke resistance.

A sudden 3% tax hike would almost certainly trigger a 10% surge in market prices.

“Of all times, why now…?”

The thought of the sunken Hestia once again pierced Michalis painfully. If only the Hestia had returned on schedule, things wouldn’t be this complicated.

“Damn it.”

Even the emergency reserves he’d been building up for years had completely run dry. To make matters worse, the Tower had blindsided him at the worst possible time.

“I’ll need to rework the entire budget. Bring me all the relevant ledgers.”

Michalis, lost in a mess of thoughts, opened the door to the adjutant’s office.

“Yes, Your Grace. Shall I convene an emergency meeting with the Treasury?”

“No. No meetings.”

He already knew what suggestions they would offer.

1. 1. Reduction in knights and soldiers. (Reducing military strength was out of the question.)

1. 1. Suspension—partial or complete—of magical support. (Lives were at stake. This couldn’t be compromised.)

1. 1. Negotiation with the Magic Tower. (Which might lead to Eliana being brought into the discussion.)

In the end, it was a burden he had to carry and resolve on his own.

“Raise the tax by just 1% for now, and make major spending cuts to secure the funds.”

A direct approach—one that meant shouldering all the blame alone. Michalis could already feel the headache forming, just thinking about the complaints that would come from every direction.

“Just hold out for three months.”

If he could endure for three months, revenue from the mana stone mine would stabilize, and the harvest in the Esrona region would begin. Barring any major disruptions, the additional saltpeter shipment would arrive by then as well.

“I’ll need to come up with countermeasures soon…”

The real concern was that the increase in the magic usage fee didn’t seem like a one-time thing.

Thud.

The book that had been resting on Eliana’s knees slipped and rolled off the bed.

“Ah… What time is it?”

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Eliana looked at the wall clock. She’d dozed off while reading, leaning back against the headboard.

It was already two in the morning. The neatly arranged space beside her was cold.

“Again…?”

This marked the fourth night in a row that she’d gone to bed alone.

Only after coming to Flencia did Eliana realize how easy things had been in Wespa—it had practically felt like a vacation.

“Sigh… This won’t do.”

She stared absentmindedly at the empty side of the bed before grabbing a thin shawl to wrap around her nightgown and quietly stepped out.

“……”

Iadis had likely gone home for the night. Only a small magical lamp on the wall of the adjutant’s office cast a faint glow.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Michalis, it’s me. I’m coming in.”

Eliana gently knocked on the door of his office, where a soft light was spilling through the crack.

“……”

There was no reply, but the door slowly creaked open.

“…Oh my.”

Eliana’s eyes widened at the sight. The normally neat office was in complete disarray.

What on earth…?

The desk was buried under piles of documents, and the trash bin was overflowing with crumpled papers. The walls, usually bare, were now covered with charts and tables.

“Food expense records… Knight uniform cost estimates…”

Her gaze naturally landed on the closest chart.

“This is intense…”

Tiny scribbled notes filled every inch of space beside the documents—some marked with frustrated Xs, others changed to Os, telling the story of painstaking decisions.

Splash!

The sound of water pouring echoed suddenly.

A shower?

It sounded like Michalis was washing up in the office’s private bathroom.

“……”

Eliana folded her arms, quietly observing the documents posted along the wall.

“Who would’ve thought I’d be grateful to Baron Acklera…”

Her biological father, Baron Acklera, truly had the instincts of a merchant. Wanting to raise her value as a noblewoman, he had made sure she was thoroughly trained in accounting—a must-have skill for any refined lady.

“The income of a ducal household is staggering… but so is the spending.”

Thanks to that training, Eliana could easily grasp the military’s financials—and more importantly, she could understand what was troubling Michalis.

“Why is he suddenly trying to cut spending so drastically? Is the fallout from the Hestia really this bad?”

Eliana’s expression turned serious as she examined the papers on the wall.

Splash, splash, splash.

The sound of the shower continued from the bathroom.

“Hm…”

Approaching the desk, Eliana’s eyes fell on a particular document at the center.

Rustle.

She picked up the half-crumpled paper.

Notice of Rate Increase

Even the title annoyed her.

“He’s lost his mind.”

She couldn’t help but mutter as she flipped past the cover page.

“Wow… So, this is what power abuse looks like.”

Whoever said the world’s the same everywhere was right. This place was no exception—this too, was a world of people and their flaws.

“I knew the Magic Tower loved money, but this is just shameless.”

The last traces of sleep disappeared completely from her mind.

“Don’t tell me… they’re trying to push me into using magic again?”

Bang!

The bathroom door swung open.

“Eliana?”

Michalis froze in place as he stepped out, drying his wet hair with a towel.

“Why are you still awake at this hour?”

“Michal… What is this?”

His gaze followed hers—to the document she held in her hand.

“You saw it?”

Yes, she had. The document from the Magic Tower… and the Duke’s dripping, naked body.

“Why are you dealing with this all on your own, Michal?”

“This is a military matter. It’s something I can handle within my own authority.”

Michalis had hoped Eliana wouldn’t find out about any of this. He didn’t want his wife to carry unnecessary worries.

“Uh… well, how about you put on some clothes before we talk?”

Her eyes kept drifting toward a very specific part of his body. It was hard to keep the conversation going when her attention kept—drifting. For example… his chest. Yes, that chest.

“Here, wear this.”

While Michalis wiped down, Eliana fetched a change of clothes from the wardrobe in the corner of his office.

“This is a nightshirt.”

His work wasn’t over yet. He had determined where cuts could be made. Now came the harder part—deciding how much to raise in revenues.

“It’s already your fourth all-nighter. You should at least get a couple of hours of sleep.”

“If things get too rough, I’ll use the stamina recovery card you gave me. Don’t worry—go ahead and sleep first.”

“Still…”

Eliana found herself regretting ever giving him that recovery spell card. She hadn’t meant for him to use it just to keep working like an ox.

“You really expect me to sleep soundly while my man is exhausting himself like this?”

“Ahem!”

My man? My man, she said…

Oddly enough, Michalis suddenly felt less tired, even without sleep.

“Then… I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”

Eventually, he gave in and accepted the nightshirt.

“Shall we go hand in hand?”

“Mm.”

Michalis let himself be led by the hand, naturally following Eliana back to the bedroom.

“Give me your arm. I want a pillow.”

“Come here.”

Fresh out of a cold shower, Michalis’s body was just cool enough to feel perfect beside her.

“I have a negotiation card that could shake the Tower.”

Eliana nestled into the comfort of his presence and finally spoke.

“A negotiation card?”

The hand that had been combing back his silver hair suddenly paused.

“If there’s even the slightest chance it could expose your powers, I won’t allow it.”

“No, it’s not my ability. It’s something my father prepared in advance, you could say.”

“Your father?”

Michalis raised an eyebrow. There was only one-man Eliana would call her father.

Her father…?

There had been no mention of him leaving anything behind that could help with Tower negotiations. It was completely outside Michalis’s expectations.

“Close your eyes, Michal. I’ll tell you tomorrow morning—after you’ve had a proper rest.”

If she didn’t say this, Michalis was liable to lie awake all night again, only to greet the morning in exhaustion.

“…Alright.”

His eyes fluttered shut, though reluctantly.

“Michal, your hand. Stop creeping upward and behave.”

She hadn’t brought the Duke to bed to make him exercise. She just wanted him to rest.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep that easily.”

His hand, which had been slowly sliding up her smooth thigh, suddenly froze.

“Try harder.”

“…Understood.”

As if sleep was possible now. She had his heart racing like a teenager. Eliana could be merciless like that, sometimes.

“Good night, Michal.”

“……”

Despite her worries, Michalis fell asleep almost immediately. The tension he’d been holding together with sheer willpower had finally collapsed.

“I still need to come up with a countermeasure…”

The one who couldn’t sleep now was Eliana.

“Even if we get through this year… who knows what the Tower will demand next year?”

The Tower contracts were renewed annually. A long-term solution was needed if they were to free themselves from the Tower’s control.

“Milady, you’re here?”

“You’re working hard already this morning, Sir Iadis.”

Eliana pulled out her old crossbody bag for the first time in a while and slung it firmly over her shoulder before heading to the duke’s office.

“Yes, Milady. I’ll escort you.”

“No need. You seem busy, so go ahead with your tasks.”

Just as Michalis barely had time to breathe, the adjutant’s office seemed just as swamped. The dark circles under Iadis’s eyes had deepened noticeably.

“Michal, it’s me. I’m coming in.”

“Yes, come in.”

Even before she finished knocking, Michalis’s warm voice answered from inside. It sounded like he’d been waiting for her all along.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Thanks to you, I had a good rest.”

“I brought what I promised.”

Michalis accepted the unexpected item Eliana handed him.

[Southeast Sector 280: Undersea Ruins Exploration Log]

The thin book had yellowed with age—it looked like it had been written quite some time ago.

“This is… from forty years ago, isn’t it?”

It was a book compiled during the days when her father, still in his youth, had roamed the seas far and wide.

“I didn’t even know something like this was in the archives.”

A book containing records from the magical civilization era—undeniably a powerful bargaining chip.

“It must’ve been set aside for future negotiations with the Tower… then forgotten over time.”

“Well, we didn’t have a single issue with the Tower for the past thirty years.”

She and her father hadn’t been particularly close—certainly not enough to discuss long-term strategies like this.

“At least now the soldiers won’t have to survive on just oatmeal porridge and fish anymore.”

“Sigh… You saw even that?”

Michalis winced. She’d hit a sore spot. After personnel cuts, food expenses were the easiest and most obvious place to make reductions.

“I was planning to rotate the fish types periodically…”

A poor excuse, really.

“And everything was supposed to stabilize after three months.”

Thank goodness this book still exists…

Honestly, food shouldn’t be used as a tool for punishment. What Eliana was truly relieved about, though, was that this meant Michalis wouldn’t have to face so much blame from others.

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