TCBCVF 27

~Chapter 27~

“Pfft!”

I almost spit out the tea in my mouth.

I barely managed to cover my lips with a handkerchief, then looked at the princess with wide, trembling eyes.

“W-Wait… Me?”

“Yes, you, Lady Ansi.”

The princess met my eyes without even blinking.

Why on earth was I being brought into this?

‘No way—this can’t be happening!’

I tried to reason with her.

“Your Highness, this isn’t like organizing a short-term event like a salon!”

The princess looked at me like, So what? and stared calmly.

She acted like this was no big deal, which only made me sweat more as I continued:

“This is about managing the Claudius family’s household affairs. How could I possibly get involved in something like that?”

“Why not? I’m saying it’s fine. And technically, it’s just for the townhouse.”

“Even so, we’re talking about big budgets here. You can’t just let an outsider handle that kind of money.”

I was saying perfectly reasonable things.

For noble families, their budgets are usually split between the estate and the townhouse in the capital.

And townhouses were public-facing—they reflected the family’s prestige.

Even our own Ansi family allocated a big budget to ours.

As the heir, I’d been trained in finance and accounting.

And the Claudius duchy… is on a whole different level.

I could roughly guess how enormous their budget must be.

This was too important to entrust to someone outside the family.

But then…

Why was the princess glaring at me like that?

“What do you mean outsider? We signed a friendship contract, remember?”

“H-Huh?”

“How can a friend be an outsider? I don’t want anyone else helping me except you!”

Caught off guard, I tried to warn her again.

“B-But what if I had bad intentions…?”

“Bad intentions?”

The princess scoffed and narrowed her eyes.

“So? Are you planning to scam me or something?”

“What? Of course not!”

“Then it’s fine. What’s the problem?”

Her logic was… truly miraculous.

I stared at her in disbelief—and then, without meaning to, I laughed.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“Ah, nothing.”

I waved it off, though I could hardly suppress my smile.

It’s completely different from how it was with Seraphina.

When the princess talks like this…

It means she really trusts me.

‘This is the first time.’

Someone who recognizes my judgment, trusts me, and entrusts me with responsibility.

Honestly… I was really happy.

Meanwhile, the princess was fired up with enthusiasm.

“Since we even got my brother’s approval, I’m going all out!”

She started listing her plans one by one, even counting on her fingers:

“First, I want to redo the garden. Then, maybe rearrange the living room. And replace the parlor wallpaper too!”

…She wants to do all that?!

My jaw dropped.

But she wasn’t done yet.

“I want to get new furniture too. Oh! And I need to ask for the new teapot catalog. Also—”

Suddenly she looked at me with a bright smile and dropped the second bomb.

“My brother said it’s okay for you to help too.”

“…The Duke did?”

“Yep.”

“He really said that?”

“Yes, really!”

Eventually, she snapped at my endless questions.

I swallowed hard.

Well… this was about managing the Claudius household.

No matter how much the Duke doted on her, she couldn’t do this without his permission.

‘W-What do I do now…’

The pressure was enormous.

But—

‘Still… I’ll do my best.’

I steeled my resolve.

Now that I’d been trusted with this, I wanted to exceed their expectations.

If this helped the princess take her place as mistress of the house…

Maybe she could finally get some distance from Seraphina too.

But first, there was something we needed to do.

“I can help, but there’s something you need to do first.”

The princess’s eyes sparkled.

“What is it?”

“Studying.”

“Ugh.”

For the first time, her bright, cheerful face crumpled.

Some snobby male nobles always underestimate women managing the household.

“Isn’t it just housework? Just order the servants.”

“She just drinks tea and dresses up at home. What’s so hard about that?”

That’s the usual nonsense they spout.

Ugh, if only I could slap some sense into those smug faces.

Anyway—

They couldn’t be more wrong.

To manage a household, you need to understand numbers—really understand them.

Why?

Because ordering servants, drinking tea, and dressing up…

“All cost money!”

Which means:

The princess needs to not only read a budget but also create one and find errors.

“Lady Ansi…”

Slumped over, she whined.

“I finished it all…”

With her head on the desk, she held out the document with trembling hands.

It was a mock budget for the garden.

“Great job, Your Highness.”

I took it with a smile.

She peeked up at me with hopeful eyes.

“S-So… how is it…?”

Part of me wanted to shout, “You passed!” but…

“You’ll need to recalculate this part.”

I took out a red pen and began underlining all the mistakes.

Swoosh, swoosh…

The more I marked, the more despair filled her blue eyes.

“Again?”

“Yes. These tree counts don’t match up, and here—”

Her face darkened with every correction.

When I finally finished marking everything, I offered an awkward smile.

“Still, you’ve improved a lot, Your Highness.”

“Whatever.”

She pouted and buried her face in the desk again.

Muffled under her hair, her gloomy voice came out:

“No need to cheer me up… There’s no way someone like me can manage a household.”

If she loses motivation now, that’s a disaster.

Feeling responsible, I gently spoke:

“Your Highness, I mean it.”

She stiffened.

I continued softly:

“You had zero knowledge about budgets before.
Now, you’re formatting and writing them yourself. That’s huge progress.”

“You’re one of the best students I’ve ever taught.”

Well… to be fair…

She’s also the only student I’ve ever taught.

But I decided to let that part slide.