As I read the documents on my desk, I heavily sighed.

A lot happened and my heard hurt. I wanted to start a new business, but because of the princess, I couldn’t afford to.

A few days after the summon, I received another letter from the royal family.

Just looking at the royal crest was enough to make my stomach churn.

The letter stated that I was to entrust the management of the Lowenberg’s orphanage to the princess for a period of six months.

I couldn’t simply dismiss it. To do so would have been the same as confirming the princess’ suspicions towards me. At the same time, I couldn’t just accept it knowing that it would only cause damage.

Therefore, I clearly stated the various expenses that would include on the condition that the princess would bear them.

The aristocrats mocked me as a result, claiming that Lowenberg was so poor I couldn’t even afford to shoulder the costs myself, but I didn’t deny them.

Instead, I replied with, “The damage inflicted by the war wasn’t something that could be recovered from in a few months. Good for you, your territories—which aren’t on the border—didn’t suffer any damage.” Most of the fools shut up with that.

After all, my words implied that while Lowenberg fought for the country, the others were simply resting in a safe place the entire time.

In truth, that was indeed fact. Had they persisted, those who ridiculed me would be condemned for treason.

“Either the princess exhausts her money in half a year, or the orphanage will go bankrupt before that.”

Even if the expenses were covered by the royal family, the director and the staff of the orphanage might have enough of it and quit.

When I saw the look of peril on the director’s face after he was told that the princess would be operating the orphanage for half a year, I wanted to offer my deepest condolences.

“Will it be all right?”

However, the director wasn’t referring to the princess. He was worried that the orphanage might deviate from what an orphanage is, resulting in adverse effects on the children.

Nevertheless, it was still a royal decree.

If I declined, it’d be no different than an admission of guilt. Afterwards, the spotlight would turn on the Lowenberg family instead of the royal family.

Isn’t this just coercion?

I could only sigh at my own helplessness. In the end, I had no choice but to respond, “Even so, I have no choice but entrust it to her.”

“I’ll be sure to visit the orphanage as much as possible.”

Will he have time to do that? Or does he intend to sacrifice his sleep for it?

“I’ll help, too.”

Both Eric and my aunt, who had heard about the princess, seemed quite concerned. Perhaps, that was why he came to see me even now.

“Aren’t you busy too, Eric?”

“Not as busy as you. Besides, I’ve been preparing myself ever since my older brother was drafted. …I really didn’t expect any of this. Somewhere in my heart, I thought that my father and brother would be fine. But they didn’t return.”

“…”

“Having returned alive, it’d be laughable if you were to die from overwork in your own territory.”

“…Well, certainly.”

Perhaps, I should delegate some of the work in the territory to Eric so that I could focus on the princess. Besides, as my steward, he was allowed a certain degree of discretion.

I wanted to hire an aide, but I couldn’t afford to as it was…

Then, how about hiring children from orphanage as servants?

While I couldn’t entrust important matters to them, they should be able to assist with cooking and cleaning. If so, they should be able to handle a low-ranking servant’s tasks. This would reduce the burden on each employee.

Originally, for an aristocratic household to employ children from an orphanage as servants would have been impossible.

After all, no matter the status, a letter of recommendation was required for someone to be employed as a servant of an aristocrat. Naturally, that was something children from an orphanage wouldn’t have. Still, if some children was promising, I could write them letters of recommendation or employ them as servants in the house.

I was still borrowing a room in Eric’s mansion, but I was employing the bare minimum of servants I needed for myself.

I’ll discuss this with Eric, my aunt, and the director before making any decisions.

Eric’s mansion had also been inconvenienced by the war. His number of servants had decreased, so he might be willing to employ a few orphans. With that, there’d be more opportunities for the children of the orphanage.

Ordinary children would go to a vocational school for servants and become servants on the recommendation of their internships or teachers. Those students with excellent grades could receive further education as senior servant candidates even if they were commoners. Nevertheless, the children from orphanages weren’t able to attend school. They could only read, write, and only perform basic math, so even if I were to implement my idea, they’d only ever become low-ranking servants.

Still, it’s worth considering.

“Eric, I want to discuss something.”

---

***T/N: The princess will surely go against this idea because to her, every orphans ever is entitled to free real estate.

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