Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Making a request like this was, in a way, probably a kind of test—one to see whether Chloe was truly capable of managing the ducal household’s budget.

But to be honest, Chloe wasn’t particularly afraid. She had years of work experience, and since her department had been accounting, she had particular confidence in such tasks.

From any angle, it would’ve been strange if she refused.

“Of course! I’d be happy to.”

Chloe readily accepted Kiel’s test.

She resolved to give it her all this time, to reclaim the right to manage the budget and become a duchess no one would underestimate.

Thus, Chloe began her work. First on the list: drafting a hypothetical budget for the second half of the year.

Just by reading the budget and final account reports from the previous year, Chloe could get a rough grasp of how the household’s financial operations worked.

What surprised her most while reading them was the sheer scale of the duchy’s internal budget. She’d suspected it was no small operation just from the size of the estate, but that was nothing compared to reality.

The budget circulating just within the capital’s ducal estate was enough to run an entire palace.

She even got a rough idea of the duchy’s financial sources, which she’d been curious about. While part of it came from taxes collected from the massive ducal territory, nearly rivaling the nation itself, and stipends from the imperial palace, the largest share came from the duke family’s dozens of business ventures, bonds, and investment assets.

The current duke, Alphonse, seemed uninterested in wealth himself—there were no new or expanded businesses under his leadership. Most of it had been passed down from his predecessors. All of it had become a robust, deeply rooted financial foundation through a long history and the efforts of countless capable ancestors.

The budget Kiel handed her covered only the estate in the capital (from the expenditure records, the ducal castle within the territory seemed even grander), but even that was enough to give Chloe an idea of the immense wealth of House Battenberg.

“To think the estate budget alone is like this… The finances of the entire duchy must be astronomical.”

Coming from a humble, civilian life in her previous existence, Chloe found it hard to wrap her head around.

In any case, after reading and understanding all the materials, Chloe focused on drafting the hypothetical budget.

***

Meanwhile, Kiel was thinking,

‘Just reading and understanding all that, and then writing a budget similar to last year’s… She’ll probably need at least a month.’

That was how large the household’s accounting scale was, and how voluminous the data. Kiel decided he would patiently wait for whatever Chloe brought back.

But his expectations were completely shattered.

“Kiel, here’s the budget I put together.”

It took Chloe only 2 days and 7 hours, not even a full 3 days, to complete it!

Kiel was stunned. He was beginning to lose count of how many times Chloe had shocked him.

Still, he hid his surprise, took the budget she handed him, and returned to his room to review it.

‘There’s no way she read all that and wrote a new one in just two days. She must’ve copied last year’s and tweaked a few items.’

That was Kiel’s initial thought. After all, unless something significant like a renovation or move happened, yearly budgets didn’t change drastically. Kiel himself often reused previous budgets with minor updates.

But as he read through Chloe’s work, his opinion changed. Disbelief flickered in his eyes as he scanned the pages.

‘Unbelievable… She didn’t copy it—she rewrote the whole thing from scratch?’

Even more astonishing: she had clearly read and understood all the materials before compiling the budget.

‘How did she read and understand all that so quickly? Wasn’t this her first accounting task since quitting her former job?’

Just from the estate’s internal budget, she had managed to grasp most of the duchy’s revenue and financial channels.

And the budget distribution? Remarkable. Chloe had allocated the necessary funds to the right places with such precision that her work surpassed even that of the professional accountant who’d previously handled the job.

Kiel set down the budget, feeling like he’d been hit over the head. He was beginning to feel both awe and curiosity about the extent of Chloe’s blossoming talent.

Next, Kiel handed her a dummy budget for the estate’s garden that he had created himself. When he gave it to her, he offered only vague instructions,

“Please read this and tell me what you think.”

Chloe was momentarily confused. What she thought? Was this a novel or a movie she had to write a review for?

Still, after reading it carefully in her bedroom, she understood Kiel’s intention.

‘There are holes in it.’

The budget clearly had some strange points. Excessive allocations for certain items, mismatched figures—discrepancies that were subtly hidden, but undoubtedly there.

It was almost as if someone had deliberately created the budget with malicious intent to embezzle funds from the estate.

Kiel had wanted to see if Chloe would notice those issues on her own.

Chloe went on to correct the errors one by one and made the budget at least appear proper before showing it to Kiel.

Once again, Kiel had to admit defeat. But it wasn’t unpleasant. It was a joyful, awe-inspiring defeat.

“My lady, you’ve done amazingly again. How did you become so capable in such a short time?”

He asked without malice. But Chloe broke into a cold sweat.

She couldn’t exactly say, ‘I lived a Spartan life in the corporate world in my previous life, and then one day I woke up in Chloe’s body.’

Kiel, full of curiosity, persistently tried to uncover her secret, but Chloe only gave him an awkward smile and dodged the question.

At this point, Chloe’s skills were clearly proven. As the examiner, Kiel knew this better than anyone. He was confident she could take over the budgeting role immediately and perform excellently.

However… past bad experiences held him back. Chloe’s prior mistakes had been that significant. So Kiel decided to test her one last time.

This time, it would be a real-world trial.

He gave her a portion of the kitchen’s budget and told her to manage it for the next five days.

This wasn’t a particularly difficult task. The estate had long-standing, reliable vendors. And there were no major events planned during those five days, just routine operations.

So Kiel wasn’t worried. Chloe also accepted the task without pressure.

She checked the ingredients already in the kitchen and made a list of items to order.

Upon returning from the kitchen, Chloe stretched her arms and called for her maid, Josephine.

“Josephine, take down what I say. Then seal the letter and send it to the Buckley Grocery.”