Published: January 4, 2026
“I’m surprised too.”
“But when you think about it carefully, maybe it’s only natural.”
“Natural?”
I turned to Zoe, who seemed to be convinced.
She nodded quietly and answered,
“Master always says that people are treasures.”
“Ah.”
“And if we’re talking about treasures, children are even more precious.”
“...I see.”
I chuckled softly.
It’s probably not exactly that, but I can’t help but feel that Zoe is right.
People are treasures, and potential.
Both apply perfectly to one’s own children.
“That’s a good way to think. Here.”
I pulled out 100 Liens from my pocket and tossed it to Zoe.
She hurriedly caught it and bowed, and I turned to Audrey.
“Audrey. From now until you recover after childbirth, you don’t have to do any serving or that kind of work.”
“Understood, thank you very much. Also…”
“Hm?”
“I have news that Anya will arrive soon.”
“...I see.”
I chuckled softly.
She’s arriving a bit earlier than expected.
It was clear that the schedule was moved up because she knew Audrey was pregnant.
This is a unique story involving nobles—especially the royal family.
When dealing with the royal family, although you can never say it out loud, there’s always the possibility that the man might be infertile.
But since Audrey is safely pregnant, it means I do have seed.
So I can confidently send Audrey’s sister here.
“I’ll have to give a treasure to my sister too.”
“Thank you!”
Audrey nodded with a very happy expression.
☆
The next day, I gathered all the servants and subordinates in the garden of the mansion.
Maids, eunuchs, and subordinates like Don.
I rounded up as many people as I could.
Perhaps unsure of the reason for the sudden gathering, about half had anxious looks, and the garden was buzzing.
But that changed the moment I appeared.
Standing before the gathered people, in a position to give a speech, everyone fell silent and stared at me.
“You probably know, but my lawful wife, Audrey, is pregnant with our first child. It’s a joyous occasion.”
“““...”””
“This is the perfect occasion to give you all a bonus as a token of appreciation.”
Saying that, I raised my hand, and the servants began carrying boxes from inside the mansion one after another.
These were boxes containing one hundred thousand Liens given to me by Byron not long ago.
When the boxes were opened, most of the servants started to buzz with excitement.
“I’m going to distribute this to you. Zoe has reviewed your work so far and divided you into three ranks: A, B, and C. Those in A rank will get 300 Liens, B rank 200 Liens, and C rank 100 Liens.”
“““Woooooo!!”””
The servants’ anxiety vanished all at once.
A great cheer rose that could probably be heard hundreds of meters away.
And it made sense.
A grown man’s monthly income is about 10 Liens.
Even the lowest C rank bonus is nearly a year’s wages, and the top A rank is equivalent to two and a half years.
Seeing that, I decided to push even further.
“On top of the A rank, I’m giving two people a special extra bonus. One is Evelyn. You all know her, she was a maid in my mansion but proved capable, so I recommended her to be a magistrate. She’s done very well at her post.”
I paused briefly, then continued.
“The land Evelyn governs has become so safe that people don’t even have to lock their doors at night. Because of that, a term ‘wise appointment’ was coined to describe a good magistrate like her. I’m giving Evelyn ten thousand Liens.”
“““Ohh...”””
Most people looked envious, but some had a distant look as if watching something from another world.
Ten thousand Liens is an amount that one might or might not earn in a lifetime.
They probably felt it wouldn’t fall upon them.
The idea of a magistrate also seemed far away to them.
Just as expected.
“And the other one—Guran, come forward.”
“H-Huh? Y-Yes!”
Called out suddenly, the young eunuch stepped forward in surprise.
“Afterwards, you paid close attention to the land prices around the mansion and seem to remember all of them?”