The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 122

Sheila planned to leave the mansion as soon as dawn broke.

Cedric had told her to pack for a week, but she also had to consider the possibility that things might be resolved quickly and he would return sooner than expected.

If she hesitated and missed this chance, she didn’t know when another opportunity would come.

In any case, unless Cedric, who left for Lotas yesterday, returned immediately upon arrival, she would be safe until tomorrow morning.

‘If I want it to look natural to anyone who sees me, it’d be better to go out in my maid uniform, right?’

Sheila planned to move early in the morning when there would be fewer people around. But if she happened to run into someone, wearing her maid uniform would draw less suspicion than wearing outdoor clothes.

As she made a fairly meticulous plan, Sheila lifted the floorboard and took out all the belongings she’d hidden inside.

There were the black leather shoes her older sister had bought for her, the Sheila doll her sister had made by hand, a small money pouch with just enough left for travel expenses to Holzeroad along with bits and pieces like shoelaces, and a ledger containing records from the past three years.

After carefully packing what she needed and organizing her personal matters, night had already fallen.

On the desk lit by a lamp, only the whipping maid contract and the ledger remained.

Sheila pulled out the resignation letter she had tucked between the pages of the ledger and unfolded it.

[Resignation Letter

I hereby wish to resign from my position as a maid under Count Calley for personal reasons.]

‘Hmph. Permission, my ass.’

Sheila snorted at the sentence she’d written and filled in tomorrow’s date at the bottom.

Then she folded it neatly again, placed it back under the floor, and covered it with the carpet.

When he returned and heard that she was gone, he’d probably start looking here first, right?

What kind of expression would he make when he found the resignation letter?

If even a tiny crack appeared on that flawless, emotionless face of his, it would probably feel a little satisfying.

‘He just lost a thousand solids. It must sting quite a bit.’

That’s why you shouldn’t throw money around like that.

Sheila decided not to care at all. Whether he regretted the money or not, it was Cedric’s own doing.

***

After hearing about the audit and leaving the mansion, Cedric and Rufus rode the train for eight hours and arrived at Bertol Central Station in Lotas.

It was late, but near the station, carriages lined up, waiting to pick up passengers getting off the train.

Cedric and Rufus boarded one of them and headed to Cedric’s residence that he’d prepared a year ago.

Cedric’s separate residence was located in a residential area not far from his company.

It couldn’t compare to  Calley Mansion in size, but it still had ample space, from the basement level to two floors above ground.

When Rufus got off the carriage and knocked on the door, a servant came out and opened it.

As Cedric stepped into the room he used to stay in, Rufus said, “It seems the vice president hasn’t left the company yet.”

Currently, Vice President Edouard and a few servants were staying here.

Because of the sudden audit, Edouard hadn’t even been able to leave work.

For Cedric and Rufus, who had expected to meet Edouard once they arrived home, it was an unfortunate situation.

However, it was already so late that there were no more carriages running in the residential area.

“Get some rest. At this point, we’ll have no choice but to go to the company early tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

As soon as they arrived in Lotas, Rufus, who had switched to formal address, gave his greeting and left.

After taking that short rest, they headed early the next day to Cedric’s company, Rovenhagen.

When Cedric and Rufus entered the company, Edouard, who had been going over documents all night, and his secretary welcomed them enthusiastically.

“It’s the first time I’ve been this glad to see the president’s face.”

Edouard Cancelo was from the Kingdom of Arche, neither Beloica nor Lotas. And like a typical passionate man from that country, he took great pride in his appearance.

The one complaint Edouard had was that whenever he stood next to Cedric, his own looks seemed to fade.

In any case, the olive-toned skin he was so proud of looked dull, and his dark brown curly hair was disheveled and haggard.

“I’ve prepared the documents so you can review them right away.”

His secretary and Rufus moved the documents that had been reviewed in the vice president’s office to the president’s office.

“The audit team will arrive around ten. We’ve set up the audit room in the conference room.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s start with the urgent documents.”

Cedric took off his suit jacket and immediately opened the documents placed in front of him.

The documents Edouard had organized overnight were indeed easy to understand at a glance, and any notable points were carefully annotated.

While Cedric reviewed the documents, Edouard paced in front of him and began venting about the audit with grand gestures and passion.

“He’s completely impossible to reason with. I’ve never met anyone so unresponsive in my life. Even though I’m a founding member and the vice president with full authority delegated to me, he insists on seeing only the president.”

“What are the clients saying?” Cedric asked.

The audit was one thing, but the bigger issue was that all transactions had been suspended until the audit was over.

“For now, I managed to talk them into delaying for up to a week. In exchange, we agreed to supply goods at cost to offset the expenses incurred during that time. But if it’s delayed any further, they said they’ll not only demand compensation for damages but move their business entirely.”

The characteristic hand gestures of someone from Arche grew even more intense.

“When I protested that it made no sense to suspend operations outright, they said they had no choice because a report was filed. Apparently, until it’s confirmed there are no illegal activities, suspension of business is the rule! This is clearly discrimination. They’re being stricter because we’re not locals. In the end, it hurts them too, doesn’t it? Do they have any idea how much tax we pay for using Lotas’s geographic advantage!”

Cedric continued reviewing the documents without responding to Edouard’s complaints.

“The Chief Auditor, a man named Gabriel, must have had something go wrong in his upbringing. Otherwise, it’s hard to explain how both his personality and his fashion sense are so consistently wrong. Where does he even find clothes like that…!”

There was plenty that wasn’t related to work, but through Edouard’s rant, it was still possible to get a sense of what kind of person the auditor was.

By the time Cedric finished reviewing the documents while checking the time, Edouard’s secretary knocked on the door to the president’s office.

“President, Vice President, the auditors have arrived.”

Cedric nodded to the staff member. “Vice President, go in and get some rest. I’ll take it from here.”

Cedric had the staff bring the reviewed documents to the auditors.

Then Cedric himself put his jacket back on and headed to the conference room where the auditors were.

In the conference room were a middle-aged auditor and his subordinates.

「I’m Cedric Calley, president of Rovenhagen.」

Cedric extended his hand for a handshake, and the auditor took it.

「Auditor Gabriel Paulus.」

Gabriel’s appearance, dressed in clothes that looked over a hundred years out of date, was exactly as Edouard had described.

「Please, have a seat.」

「Let’s.」

***

Gabriel looked at Cedric with displeased eyes.

A young man who looked like he had just graduated from the academy was the president of a company earning over 200,000 denars in annual revenue.

Moreover, the fact that he was a foreigner stirred Gabriel’s competitive spirit.

‘There’s no one who doesn’t have something to hide. And no company that’s been caught by me, Gabriel, known as the dust sweeper of the audit world, has ever gotten away unscathed.’

Gabriel lifted his chin arrogantly and spoke.

「If the degree of violation is minor, it will end with a fine, but if it’s serious, you may face punishment worse than that, so keep that in mind.」

Gabriel deliberately pressured him with a warning close to a threat. It was a method he used often.

「I’ll take that as a reminder to cooperate sincerely with the audit.」

Cedric neither got angry at the provocation nor tried to flatter him.

‘Not bad for a brat.’

Even so, it didn’t matter.

Thinking he’d see how long that confident expression would last, Gabriel opened the documents.

True to his nickname, the ‘dust sweeper of the audit world,’ he was prepared to shake out every last speck, down to Cedric’s underwear.

***

At dawn the next day, Sheila set out early.

“Where are you going so early in the morning?”

“I’m going to the market for a bit.”

Sheila gave a brief reply to Boris, who was guarding the front gate.

There wasn’t a single servant who didn’t know that Cedric, whom Sheila served, had gone on a business trip, so Boris simply nodded without suspicion. It was more of a greeting than a question to begin with.

Boris soon turned his head back and busied himself wiping off the bird droppings the birds had left on the front gate.

Holding her worn travel bag and forcing an awkward smile, Sheila passed through the front gate and headed straight to the carriage station.

In the early morning, there weren’t many carriages waiting.

“Where to?”

“Wellingford.”

Wellingford was a small village located in Baron Hayek’s territory, past Holzeroad on the outskirts of Count Calley’s domain.

The coachman, who looked old but moved briskly, said, “Hop in.”

Dressed neatly in her maid uniform, Sheila quickly climbed into the carriage and shut the door.

On the way here, she kept checking behind her in case someone was following, but she didn’t notice anything unusual.

Unlike his appearance, the coachman moved slowly. She was just starting to wonder, ‘Why isn’t he leaving?’ when the carriage finally began to move.

As the carriage set off, Sheila finally let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the seat.

Escaping the mansion had been easier than she expected, and the tension drained out of her.