Chapter 31: The Bureaucratic Bride

Chapter 31

The palace servants’ breakfast was a buffet.

While meals were hastily prepared for royalty, guards, ladies-in-waiting, and high-ranking officials, such effort could not be extended to the servants who performed menial tasks.

Piling food onto platters and allowing each person to serve themselves was the most efficient and least labor-intensive method.

Naturally, given their employment within the palace, the servants’ food was not lacking in either quality or quantity.

There were fresh salads, soft white bread made from last year’s wheat, and bacon and sausages that had been cooked some time ago.

Affordable fruits were readily available, while expensive ones, slightly bruised or damaged and thus unsuitable for royalty, were creatively prepared and served.

Since the servants’ meals typically utilized leftover ingredients from the emperor and officials, the daily specials varied constantly.

This made the meals surprisingly enjoyable and intriguing.

For this reason, Evening had been having her breakfast at the buffet for several days now.

“An omelet today, please!”

“What fillings would you like?”

“These mushrooms, bacon, onions, and cheese. I’m looking forward to it.”

The chef, specializing in five types of egg dishes, gave a thumbs-up, indicating he had received her order.

Evening, brimming with anticipation, hummed a tune.

She had started eating omelets three days prior, and the omelet chef’s skill was truly exceptional.

With a knife, it would split to reveal a fluffy, soft-boiled egg gently spreading within a beautiful crescent-shaped omelet.

Its appearance was delightful, and its taste was simply divine.

“Hmm, hmm-hmm~♬”

Evening hummed as she went to fill her plate before her omelet was ready.

She arranged salad and a soup bowl widely on her buffet plate, spread orange marmalade on soft bread and placed it in a corner.

After adding tomato marinade atop her salad, she received the freshly made omelet in the center of her plate.

Finally, with a glass of diluted apple juice, voilà!

It was a perfect breakfast.

Evening cut into the center of the bright yellow omelet with her knife.

As she admired the softly flowing egg, the servants whispered amongst themselves, avoiding her gaze.

“She’s here for a meal again today.”

“Didn’t you see her yesterday too? Is she always eating breakfast here?”

“The head chef offered to bring breakfast to her room, but she apparently said it was fine.”

The palace’s morning buffet was meant for servants. While the food, prepared by palace cooks, was superior to outside fare, it was still considered ‘food only for servants.’

To think the emperor’s fiancée and the Margrave’s daughter was in such a place.

The sight of a high-born lady serving herself among the servants was quite unfamiliar.

“As expected… she must be out of favor, right?”

“It seems so. The previous two weren’t treated this way. This one must truly be in deep disfavor.”

A gamekeeper who had worked in the palace for a long time clucked their tongue.

In six years, Erich’s fiancée had changed twice. It was unheard of to betroth respectable ladies only to annul the engagement, yet he was now on his third fiancée.

The first had acted as if she owned the palace, constantly clashing with Erich. The second, though on Erich’s side, was always timid and fearful of him.

Nevertheless, both had received the treatment befitting an emperor’s fiancée from Erich.

Yet Evening was burdened with a mountain of work, and now she was eating breakfast in a place meant only for servants.

“He’s being cruel.”

Servants within the palace rarely had the opportunity to meet nobles like the Emperor or Empress. It was the same principle as not everyone at a large corporation’s headquarters getting to see the chairman.

It was a servant’s virtue to work diligently where they were not seen by their master.

Yet, unexpectedly, they encountered Evening, seemingly mistreated by the Emperor, in the dining hall.

Servants with traditional sensibilities found her presence unsettling, and some even felt pity for her.

While they weren’t typically in a position to pity a well-bred lady like Evening, compassion naturally arose for someone being unjustly mistreated.

This feeling intensified when the person in question feigned cheerfulness, pretending everything was fine.

“Tsk, how long will this fiancée last?”

The gamekeeper, who had witnessed the turmoil that engulfed the palace with each broken engagement, shook their head.

Amidst the uncomfortable and dismal atmosphere, Evening neatly finished her omelet and salad, then cleansed her palate with apple juice.

Still, feeling something was missing, she stared intently at an espresso before dropping ice, conjured from her fingertips, into the coffee.

“Oh dear! Wh-what is she doing?”

“Shouldn’t someone stop His Majesty? Lady Evening is ruining coffee and her life!”

Leaving behind those in minor shock, Evening downed the iced americano in one gulp.

‘Breakfast buffet is the best.’

As Evening happily enjoyed the breakfast buffet, Erich’s reputation was plummeting disastrously.

****

After waking up from the floor beside her bed and enjoying a buffet breakfast with the servants, her serious work began.

Evening, holding the titles of Minister of the Household, Chief Financial Officer of the Palace, Capital Beautification Director, Head of the Palace Tax Collector Management Department, Imperial Foreign Affairs Envoy, and Chief Justice, was tied to her duties from 10 AM to 5 PM.

From 10 AM to 5 PM.

Her commute time was about 20 minutes on foot.

She worked five days a week, and as the initiator of her own projects, her annual leave was flexible.

Although it might affect her work, as Minister of the Household and the Emperor’s fiancée, she didn’t need to worry about others’ opinions.

Truly—

‘This is a dream job, isn’t it?’

It was a heavenly workplace.

Of course, having six different titles was bothersome, and there were many decisions to be made.

However, half of her duties were high-ranking positions that only required a final approval stamp or broad directional guidance.

This meant she didn’t need to be overwhelmed by arduous work every single day.

Everyone lived a life where they returned home to sleep once the sun set.

No matter how busy her work seemed, her schedule ensured she always started at 10 AM and left by 5 PM.

Evening leaned back comfortably in her chair, reviewing the reports submitted by her subordinates.

A junior official, responsible for negotiations with the tax collector’s union, approached Evening with documents.

“Head of the Tax Collector Management Department, have you decided on this collection plan?”

With her many titles, everyone addressed her by the specific one relevant to their business.

“Yes, I have. We’ll issue an official notice stating that those who voluntarily report to the authorities by month’s end will receive a 20% reduction, while those who exceed the deadline will be charged an additional 20% of the concealed amount.”

“Huh, won’t fewer people report then?”

“Perhaps at first, but after being hit with additional taxes a few times, they’ll learn to pay properly. And this method will be more convenient as it incurs fewer costs.”

“Yes, yes.”

“This time, instead of selling collection rights in advance, let’s have the authorities hire tax collectors skilled in calculations. At month’s end, we’ll focus on collecting from those who have significantly underpaid their taxes.”

“If someone deceives a tax collector and pays less than they owe, how would the collector know?”

“That will require managing by looking at their neighbors and last year’s tax amounts, then averaging them appropriately. We’ll assign the calculations separately… and create a new method, but for now, let’s issue the official notice.”

“Understood! Thank you for your swift decision!”

The junior official bowed and withdrew.

As he left the desk, the Head Lady-in-waiting, who had been standing behind him, stepped forward.

“Chief Financial Officer of the Palace. Here are the items needed for maid management and the corresponding estimated budget. Dealing with young girls requires a considerable amount of supplies. If you could please consider…”

“Okay, approved!”

Evening stamped the budget proposal with a decisive flourish.

“Ah, Chief Financial Officer! Funds are also needed for stable repairs. The Imperial Guards accidentally started a fire in the stables, burning them down. We need to rebuild them—”

“Approved! Still, please get one more estimate from another source!”

“I wish to install new pavilions in the hunting grounds. The current ones are old, and His Majesty and his guests have all complained—”

“Replace the existing pavilion and build three more. Approved!”

Stamps were firmly pressed onto the budget approval documents that had been delayed for some time.

Officials and servants who had come to get their budgets approved left the line with joyful expressions.

“While we’re at it, how about building royal stables for promising racehorses within the palace and a racetrack in the garden? I’ve prepared all the proposals!”

“No! Denied!”

“Ah, this one won’t pass.”

“That’s a definite no.”

The official’s plan to seize this opportunity to build luxurious stables and convert the garden into a racetrack was thwarted.

Evening pointed at Antoine, who had presented the absurd plan, with her stamp.

“Watch carefully and check. Denied!”

“Aw, a racetrack would be the most fun and profitable, though…”

Antoine, a young man with fluffy hair, grumbled as he withdrew. A ripple of tension passed through the spines of those who had thought she was merely stamping documents indiscriminately.

Evening was processing everything quickly, but she wasn’t stamping every single document.

Not that she was meticulously reading everything and making perfectly sound judgments…

‘But it was fast, wasn’t it?’

Still, she was confident in her speed.

The administration of the capital, Witherne, had been stagnant for over half a year due to a lack of leadership. Swiftly clearing the backlog of tasks, such as wage payments and procurement, was paramount.

‘Honestly, there’s a lot I don’t know, but then again, Lord Erich probably won’t care.’

Would someone who intentionally left high-ranking positions vacant truly care about smooth administrative operations?

The answer was ‘no.’

Of course, Evening intended to do her best in every matter. She wanted to raise her standing with the palace staff and Erich.

She didn’t want to appear lazy or incompetent.

However, she couldn’t be certain if her judgments were correct.

She was boldly trying to move away from the medieval style of selling collection rights to tax collectors who then roamed about, instead implementing a ‘voluntary payment system.’ Yet, she wondered how effective it would truly be.

Would the budget have a surplus due to reduced tax collector employment costs, or would everyone feign ignorance and evade taxes, leading to a shortfall? Or perhaps, would tax revenues increase significantly with added penalties?

There was nothing she could be certain of, yet Evening’s heart felt light.

‘If it fails, then I’ll just act like a politician.’