Hayley was rarely this excited.

I recalled how flushed her face was when she entered my office and offered her a warm tea.

“Take your time, Hayley. It’s alright.”

“Ah. My apologies, Your Highness. I am a bit… surprised.”

Hayley took a sip of the tea and slowly took a deep breath.

She seemed quite shocked after meeting His Majesty the Emperor, and even more so upon learning that this whole audit was a setup from the beginning.

I waited for Hayley to calm down before opening my mouth.

“His Majesty said that? That it was all planned from the start?”

“Hoo… Yes. At first, I was extremely nervous when I heard His Majesty summoned me, but after hearing that, I suddenly felt deflated.”

This was Hayley’s story.

Just as she was rejoicing that the troublesome Count Felice had disappeared after the audit, someone from the Imperial Palace came as soon as the Count left.

She was dragged there and faced the Emperor, hearing a shocking story.

“Do you know what His Majesty’s first words were? ‘I apologize for making you go through a pointless audit.’ It was something that I didn’t need to go through from the beginning!”

A waste of time, a waste of money, a waste of efficiency.

In front of Hayley, who hated the word ‘waste’ the most, what His Majesty essentially said was ‘I’m sorry for wasting your time.’

Moreover, His Majesty even told Hayley that this was all for her sake.

“His Majesty said, ‘This was all to prepare for any unforeseen mishaps.’ and asked me to understand. He said he will surely compensate for all the wasted time, so I shouldn’t hold too much of a grudge.”

“But still, there must be a reason, right? Did he really order an audit without any justification?”

We went through so much trouble because of that, isn’t this too much?

Now even Betty chimed in, slamming the table.

Together with some words that could easily be misunderstood, she said that the higher-ups are truly incomprehensible.

And Hayley ardently nodded at Betty and continued.

“It’s not that there was no reason. Apparently, the young Duke’s project proposal was suspected of plagiarism, so His Majesty wanted to verify that. It was only announced as selected, but no budget has been allocated yet, and the selected party hasn’t been registered in the Imperial Palace Records either.”

If it wasn’t registered in the Imperial Palace Records, that means it wasn’t officially confirmed.

Then it does seem like it was planned from the very beginning.

I thought it was fortunate that it was resolved well, even if it took some time, but Hayley seemed to think differently.

If that was the case, she complained, why not investigate first and then make the announcement, instead of making people work twice.

“We’ll have to go through an audit again after the project is underway anyway, right? Then it’s practically working twice!”

Of course, pre-organizing the documents made it a bit easier, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling of being deceived.

I smiled slightly at Hayley and patted the back of her hand.

“I understand your frustration and hardship, Hayley. But the result was good anyway. You said His Majesty will compensate you.”

“…That’s the only reason I didn’t argue further, Your Highness. Because he said there will be compensation for the troubles.”

Ever the merchant to the bone, Hayley sighed in a much softer voice than before.

Her cute and amusing appearance made me burst into laughter.

“Yes. His Majesty will provide ample compensation.”

“That’s the one thing I’m counting on. Everyone is working hard these days for the support project. I think we should give them a raise at least.”

Hayley spoke about the hard-working members of the merchant group and took a sip of her tea.

“Anyway, I feel a bit relieved that Your Highness was unaware of this too. If you had known, I would have felt a little betrayed.”

“I’m also involved with the candidates after all. Although His Majesty showed me the applicants, he didn’t tell me about the selection process or the points he had in mind.”

The evaluation process was fair.

That much was true, so I comforted Hayley with a smile.

“Don’t think about anything else, just focus on the compensation. Even if you feel deceived, at least there’s that.”

“That’s true. I understand, but still…”

Hayley, smiling a bit bitterly, fiddled with her teacup and raised her head.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’ve taken up your precious time.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad I found out too.”

I had thought from the beginning that Lloyd might have copied the project proposal.

But after hearing Hayley’s story like this, I thought that even if it was plagiarism, he wouldn’t have done this alone.

I decided to discuss this matter more with Leoprick and also ask Arianna.

After all, Arianna, who had been by Lloyd’s side, might know something.

Or she herself could have written the proposal.

“Is the project progressing well? Is there anything I can help with?”

“No, Your Highness. Everyone is motivated and especially the members of this special department are well-matched, as if they were well-chosen. If possible, I’d like to work on other projects with this same group of people.”

The person who was just complaining about feeling deceived was gone, and Hayley, back to her usual self, started happily talking about work again.

The support project has progressed to a certain extent, people are working well together, and at this rate, it seems the outline will be visible soon, and so on.

As we were talking, Hayley suddenly hit her knee as if she remembered something.

“Ah, that reminds me, Your Highness. About the investigation you asked Betty to do before.”

“The one I asked for?”

“Me?”

There should be more than one or two things I asked Hayley through Betty.

As Betty and I tilted our heads, Hayley searched through her bosom, looking for something.

“I mean the one where you asked to investigate the family of the late first head of the Merchant Group.”

“Did you find anything?”

The moment I heard that, I remembered something I had briefly forgotten.

I had completely forgotten that I asked her to investigate my mother’s family.

My father’s reaction was strange, so I should have focused more on it, but I couldn’t believe I had forgotten it so perfectly.

As I was dazed for a moment, not believing I had done that…

“Amelia, are you there?”

Suddenly, there was a gentle knocking sound.

Leoprick entered, saying he had something to discuss for a moment, together with someone.

I couldn’t see well as the door covered the face, but when I looked at the person who entered with him, it was Count Philipa who went out for the audit this time.

“Is it something to discuss with the Count?”

“Yes. But… you had a guest.”

When I asked Leoprick, he nodded and turned his gaze to Hayley, who was standing back in one corner of the room.

Hayley bowed to him and the Count in greeting.

“Greetings to the small sun of the Empire.”

“I see. Hayley, was it? I apologize for taking up your time.”

“Not at all, Your Highness. We have finished our discussion.”

When Leoprick offered an apology, Hayley replied with her head bowed.

It was a little strange to see her, who was always confident in front of anyone, bowing her head stiffly as if nervous, but I thought it must be because she was facing the Crown Prince and brushed it off as unimportant.

So, I didn’t notice Count Philipa staring intently at Hayley from behind Leoprick.

“Then may I spend some time with Amelia?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Of course.”

When Hayley acted as if she was about to leave, I became anxious.

She clearly said earlier that she had information about my mother’s family.

Worried that the investigation would be delayed again following the last time because of my father, I was just glancing around without saying a word.

“Who is this person, Your Highness?”

Count Philipa, who had been standing quietly behind, spoke in a low voice.

Leoprick glanced at the Count, sought my agreement with his eyes, and opened his mouth.

“If you’re referring to the person standing over there, that’s Hayley Belle, the vice-head of the Jenit Merchant Group that Princess is running. If you have any concerns about business, you should consult with her, as she is skilled in commerce.”

“Vice-head at such a young age. She must have remarkable abilities.”

“…You flatter me. My skills are lacking, but I am doing my best thanks to Her Highness’s trust in me.”

Hayley did not raise her head, both when Count Philipa spoke and when she replied to him.

She simply spoke in a flat tone with her head bowed, and Count Philipa couldn’t take his eyes off her.

To the point where a stranger might misunderstand that there was something between the two.

“Then, Your Highness. I will take my leave now.”

At that moment, Hayley turned and bade me farewell.

With Leoprick present, it was right to let her go, but I was so disappointed that the conversation that was about to continue was cut off.

Plus, I was curious about what happened between Hayley and Count Philipa.

“See you again soon, Hayley.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I will report to you again.”

Hayley politely said goodbye, then bowed to Leoprick and Count Philipa.

I told Betty to see Hayley out, then offered seats to the two men.

“Please sit over here.”

As they took their seats, Betty and Hayley left the room and closed the door.

With everyone seated and waiting for tea, I couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s this about?”

“Hmm. It’s nothing much, Amelia. Actually…”