Madam and the Stable Keeper (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
“Do you know how to read accounting ledgers, Walter?”
Edith, having straightened her clothes, strode right up to him. Walter nodded, suppressing the unwelcome thoughts instinctively rising within him.
“Roughly.”
“You’re holding the paper upside down.”
“…….”
Walter nonchalantly flipped the paper the right way up. He didn’t know which ledger she’d copied, but he recognized many of the names listed.
“More than half of them worked with me. The rest seem to be those currently staying at the estate.”
“Worked? Not anymore?”
“They either stole goods from the viscount in lieu of back pay and fled in the night, or formally resigned, forfeiting their wages.”
“Just as I thought…”
Seeing Walter react precisely as expected, Edith let out a relieved sigh. Things were unfolding exactly as she’d anticipated.
“There was a ledger from Portrion Manor in the viscount’s room. It falsely recorded payments made to people who are no longer at the estate.”
“Never imagined Sophia and Butler Whitman shared a hobby like this.”
Walter carefully read through the document. The hurried handwriting showed not the slightest hesitation.
Considering others could barge into the viscount’s chamber at any moment, her act had been astonishingly bold.
Although tucking the folded evidence into her stocking had been rather provocative.
Walter felt deeply impressed by the woman standing before him. Yet the new information Edith uncovered wasn’t limited to just this.
“And I learned something important while talking with Isabel.”
“Something significant?”
“Yes. Sophia and Butler Whitman didn’t just embezzle the viscount’s money.”
Edith remembered every word Isabel had muttered, almost like a complaint, before Vivian came to fetch her.
“In the end, the viscount only needed the lump-sum dowry my father would pay upfront and financial support from Karckus Guild.”
“Financial support?”
“Yes. Since I’d be living at Portrion Manor, my father agreed that the guild would cover part of the estate’s upkeep. It was a kind of agreement between the viscount and him.”
Whenever Sophia and the butler inflated the estate’s operating expenses, Guild Master Karckus would shoulder a portion of those inflated costs.
“That means Isabel’s father—the guild master—and everyone in his guild are victims of their embezzlement too.”
Walter’s eyes narrowed as he listened to her.
“If the guild master learns this, he’ll fly into a rage. He’s famously stingy with money.”
“He’s been paying for the upkeep of the estate where his beloved daughter lives, wanting to strengthen ties with Viscount Portrion—only to find out they’ve been padding the bills. He’ll be furious.”
Just from how Sophia dared not mistreat Isabel outright, one could tell how much influence Karckus Guild held over House Portrion.
Knowing well she lacked the power to confront Sophia directly, Edith had been carefully biding her time.
Waiting for the perfect moment to deliver a fatal blow.
Fortunately, the estate had a major event approaching.
“They said they hold an annual Harvest Festival banquet, inviting all merchants connected to Portrion.”
Walter smiled faintly, thinking Edith had chosen an excellently timed moment to expose everything.
“Most guild masters linked to Portrion Guild will attend. And Guild Master Karckus, doting on his daughter as he does, will surely come.”
“Walter, please don’t breathe a word of this for now. If rumors spread among the staff that the ledgers have been tampered with, Sophia and the butler will forge new ones.”
“As my lady commands.”
Walter gave a playful nod. His teasing tone, as if mocking her “lady” act, made Edith’s expression turn slightly sullen.
“That’s all, then. That’s everything I wanted to say.”
Edith gathered up the copied ledger again. Just as she was about to tell him to turn around so she could hide it back in her stocking, he spoke first.
“So, my lady, you’ll be taking only your share again today?”
“Oh… our deal.”
Edith finally understood why Walter had been staring at her so intently, as if ready to devour her whole.
Since he’d helped her, fairness demanded she give him something useful in return.
‘But I don’t know anything concrete yet. I can’t promise to break into the viscount’s bedroom and office right now…’
It felt awkward to admit she’d accepted his help yet brought back nothing substantial.
“I did sneak into the viscount’s room today, but all I found was the ledger.”
“…….”
“And I discovered a possible hiding place where the viscount might have concealed the incantation scroll to release your binding magic. It’ll take some time until I get a reply, though…”
Edith trailed off, lowering her blue eyes. It was a habit she’d picked up while working at the clinic.
Walter gently lifted her chin with his knuckle.
“My lady, what am I to do if you lower your eyes so easily?”
“Well… I don’t have anything useful to give you right now…”
As Edith fumbled for something to offer him, Walter spoke.
“I hope your time-consuming efforts yield something certain, my lady.”
Edith swallowed hard and nodded. Hearing his deep voice made her keenly aware that her safety now rested entirely in this man’s hands.
Perhaps her growing impatience to prove her worth made her suddenly remember something she’d forgotten.
“Now that I think of it, the viscount took my necklace. He didn’t seem after the item itself—more like he just wanted to threaten me by destroying it.”
“Necklace?”
“Yes. I was wearing it when I was captured. A lady who’d briefly stayed at my house as a lodger gave it to me—as both a Harvest Festival gift and a birthday present. It must’ve been quite expensive.”
Edith remembered clearly. Though Isaac’s mother, Madam Leah, always dressed modestly, she often switched to lavish jewelry hidden beneath her clothes.
How had a woman raising her son while wandering from village to village gathered such treasures? Edith had always liked the mysterious Madam Leah.
Back then, peeking at her jewelry while she read or knitted had become one of Edith’s little pleasures.
“I cherished it, but we were suddenly ambushed during the carriage ride, and I lost it completely.”
Imagining that keepsake, filled with memories, now buried in dirt and dust because of the viscount, made her mood sink.
“That’s all I can recall for now, but I’ll work harder to bring you something useful. Exposing how Sophia embezzled by using staff who aren’t even staying at the estate should improve our situation.”
Edith grew anxious, fearing Walter might change his mind. He kept helping without getting anything in return—surely he’d want to call off their deal.
But surprisingly, Walter wasn’t angry.
“If it was the very necklace the viscount targeted at the last moment, that might actually be quite useful information.”
He didn’t press her or raise his voice, demanding something immediately useful. Edith stared at him in astonishment.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s just… I’m surprised you’re not acting like a thug today.”
“A thug?”
He sounded genuinely shocked at his own reputation. Edith herself was slightly surprised at her own words.
Thug. A word that perfectly described him—always mocking her, using his strength to render others helpless, or claiming diligence while doing nothing at all.
“It was a slip of the tongue. Don’t take it to heart.”
Though Edith tried to retract her careless remark, she couldn’t fully suppress the smile escaping her lips.
Even as Walter looked at her with an exasperated expression, she found it easy to meet his eyes. Strangely at ease—so much so she wished to stay facing him for a very long time.
✦ ✦ ✦
On Harvest Festival day, Viscount Portrion’s manor gave a different impression than usual.
Most noticeable were the decorations made of golden reeds woven together with deep orange ribbons.
As Edith admired the garden decorations, Vivian combed her hair and said,
“Since the viscount hasn’t regained consciousness, this year’s decorations seem rather modest.”
“They don’t look modest to me…”
Vivian chuckled softly at Edith’s precise observation.
“In truth, only the appearance is simpler—the expense is probably about the same. If they truly worried about the viscount’s condition, they’d have canceled the banquet altogether.”
“There must be something more important to them.”
After all, they’d soon announce the fourth wife’s pregnancy and introduce her too…
Edith forced a bitter smile and prayed to the gods that an opportunity to expose Sophia and the butler’s corruption would come.
Tucked into the window frame she was gazing at was a small note, small enough for Isabel’s pigeon to carry away.
Meanwhile, the carriage carrying Victor, owner of Karckus Guild, slowly approached Portrion Manor.
Victor’s secretary set aside his documents momentarily and glanced at his master’s face.
“Seeing you smile, I take it we’re nearly at Portrion, where the young lady resides.”
“Is Isabel well?”
The secretary smiled fondly. Everyone knew Victor had especially cherished Isabel, his late-life daughter, raising her like a delicate greenhouse flower.
‘We never expected her to accept an old viscount’s proposal for the sake of the family and the guild—thinking she’d remain a carefree girl forever.’
No one knew she’d been tempted by the promise of becoming a singer.
Victor, however, felt immense gratitude and guilt toward his wise daughter, who’d married the elderly viscount to elevate Karckus Guild’s standing.
For a man of common birth like him, forging close ties with a viscount had been immensely important.
“As soon as we arrive, check whether Isabel is well and if she needs anything. Remove anyone troubling her.”
“Understood.”
“Then…”
Victor looked at the manor and garden, decorated more simply than last year. Though he’d heard the viscount’s condition was critical, House Portrion seemed strangely calm.
That very calmness made Victor suspicious.
“Send people to investigate whether there’s any way to profit from Viscount Portrion’s estate.”
His merchant’s intuition told him they were hiding something within the manor.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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