Princess Lyra Belle de Anemoi
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Chapter 21

After Dylan had gone back, Lyra had been exchanging letters with him quite regularly. Initially, she felt highly self-conscious and would scrap off quite a few letters before finishing and dispatching him one.

Simultaneously, her father had ultimately agreed to give her official duty work. To say she was overjoyed would be an understatement. Finally, she was going to gain a little bit of authority. Although this position came at its own price. The cost of having to divide the work with her elder cousin Wily, who previously overlooked these affairs.

Even if Lyra was annoyed, she wasn't overly besieged since she knew how to strike him out. But first Lyra needed to decide upon what she covets. If she were to embrace this opportunity, it would lead to others being misguided as her accepting her position as the crown princess. And once she accepts her original position, her whole life will be turned upside down.

She definitely does not want to involve herself in such dirty royal politics and would like to stay far away as much as possible but sometimes it cannot be helped. After thinking about it for quite a few days, Lyra decided at least to have a little bit of revenge, find out her father's cure, and then leave. At this point, Dylan's words came to mind. If she were to accept him, she could be with him and move to the territory of Boreas. However, once she leaves the imperial palace, she will not befall a noble anymore. That would cause quite a huge status rift in their relationship. She doesn't thoroughly fathom what to do about him nor what to do about her growing feelings about him.

After settling on what to accomplish, for now, she accepts her position. In the first instance, Aunt Medea scorned her. However, it is as if she had a split personality, she congratulated her wholeheartedly and even sent her gifts on this event which she claimed was a joyous occasion.

Lyra wasn't stupid. She knew they were implementing this because they were already messing up the accounts. Either they are putting an act so that she doesn't investigate anything or they want to wheedle her in the future by placing all the blame on her.

One day she sat in her father's room, going over all the paperwork and accounts for the month. She highlights a few things and then turns to her father who is engrossed poring over a worn ancient book.

Lyra takes in a deep breath as she examines her father's pale face. Even though he looked as if he sustained more energy than yesterday, the truth was far from it. His weight had reduced significantly so much so that you could compare it with a skeleton. His parched lips were cracked just like his fingers once used to be when he used to indulge in sword fights.

"Dad."

Lyra very rarely called her father as intimately like this.

"Yes?"

He places the book down and looks up smiling at her.

"I assume you already perceive what I am about to declare, and I already apprehend what your response is going to be. Still, for the comfort of my heart let me ask again. Are we continuing to turn a blind eye towards all these embezzlements, frauds, and missing money?"

"I already advised you. Wholly overlook it. This amount of money won't empty the treasure."

"I know it won't, but this is still stealing. This is an act of crime that needs to be addressed more promptly than later."

"I already talked about this with Nabal. Apparently, they are using all this money to establish an orphanage, and a school, and even provide medical facilities and free clothes to the public. All of this money is being put to good use therefore let us not claim it as stealing."

Gritting her teeth, Lyra thinks,

'What beneficial use? They are undoubtedly lying. They have done nothing of the sort.'

She doesn't reply anything but her father nevertheless continues,

"You know you should learn a thing or two from them."

"You require me to steal?"

Lyra bitterly spits out to which her father shakes his head,

"No, my dear. I am referring to helping our people. Set aside money from your own account to aid them."

Rolling her eyes Lyra thinks about how she is heretofore achieving that, but it is useless to inform her father of it. She then changes the topic back to where they had begun conversing,

"Tell uncle that next time instead of extracting money secretly, I demand details of where they squandered it. After noting the evidence, I will overlook it otherwise, it will still come under as stealing and if someday, someone was to leak these records, then I won't help them."

"Alright, I will do that. Don't worry, he will provide you with everything you require. Now, enough of this topic. How is work going?"

"Pretty good. Although does Brother Wily has to work with me?"

"Is anything wrong with working with him?"

"As you already know, I am a perfectionist. His way of working is too relaxed and careless. No wonder the accounts were falling apart. He barely knows how to tally numbers."

Her father hums in return. This surprises Lyra as he did not assert anything to defend his brother's son. However, it was too soon for her to be pleasantly surprised as her father adds,

"While that may be valid, you must admit he is comparatively splendid at convincing investors. Solely give him time and counsel him where necessary."

Ignoring his words Lyra compiles her papers and gets up abruptly,

"I wanted to request to be allowed to leave the palace today."

"Where do you wish to go?"

"As you know Viscount Vile was my tutor growing up. I want to ask him whether the accounts I am managing are correct. Don't worry, I will merely be seeking advice on the way to manage everything. It will merely be for a short while if only you would allow it."

"Is that so? You can take the royal carriage then. Take 4-5 knights with you as well."

"I wish to travel as discreetly as possible. I do not like drawing attention to myself."

"This is something I do not appreciate about you. You represent the future Queen. Naturally, throughout the land you go, you need to make them look toward you. That is exclusively how you lead a kingdom."

"Let us say we agree to disagree. I will be obtaining my leave now. Take care of your health."

"Send my regards to Vile."

"I will."

Lyra inclines her head as she vacates his room. When she is on her way to her Palace, she runs into Solon who had been waiting for her.

"Your Highness. Everything is prepared."

"Let's go."

Solon nods and follows after her. After she wears her robe and gets on the plain carriage, Solon sits opposite to her. Accompanying them was a coachman named Jack and two guards named Lucas and Mika.

"Your Highness...I am slightly concerned about his majesty's reaction after this."

"Do not fret. I already forewarned him about this."

Surprised, Solon tilts his head and inquires,

"His majesty already knows and he didn't object?"

"I did mention it to him, and he didn't seem to express anything. Although I didn't say I was the one going to do it. In any event, I can't wait to do some fishing."

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Lyra was greeted by a surprised Viscount Vile.

The Viscount used to be Lyra's teacher until he was dismissed by Medea. He is one of the few people who remained idle all this time since he refused to side with Duke Nabal. He wanted to support Lyra but since Lyra kept herself hidden away from all the limelight, it was arduous to support her openly. He had run into her at parties before but they never conversed more than a sincere greeting. Terribly rarely they discussed books and research that were going on.

To him, Lyra had inevitably been an above-average student. Although sometimes she was the most oblivious and naive girl, which never set right with him. He often wondered if she pretended to be dumb since she didn't feel like getting into a mess or even didn't want to talk.

"I hope I am not disturbing you."

Lyra smiles politely which hauls him back from his thoughts.

"Ah no, your highness. You are always welcome. Please come in."

He warmly welcomes her, and Lyra is escorted to the guest room where Duke Atlas was seated. It appears he was visiting his old friend Viscount Vile. Duke Atlas is the 3rd most influential family in Anemoi. The first is Duke Nabal. Second is Duke Wren and then it is Duke Axel. Even though Duke Atlas was third, he maintained a lot of contacts and possessed a formidable reputation even among his enemies that respected his virtue, honesty, and justice.

Duke Atlas

Smiling inwardly, Lyra pretended to be surprised,

"Oh my, I did not know that Duke Atlas was visiting you. Maybe this isn't an adequate time. It seems I am disrupting your time. I shall come later."

"I greet the sun and moon of the empire. Please don't, your highness. It is not you but I that should be leaving."

Duke Atlas greeted her respectfully.

"Your Highness, you can never disturb us. Let us know whatever you require. I am at your command."

"Ah, as it happens I required some advice. It is advantageous that Duke is also here. Perhaps he can also assist me if he doesn't mind."

"With pleasure, your highness. What is it that troubles you?"

Lyra sits down as do they both. She subsequently brings out the paperwork she had sneaked from the Palace.

"Umm...actually...it seems I have failed you, my teacher. You taught me all these things but over time I have forgotten them."

She turns to Vile who sways his head,

"Do not say that, your highness. You can never fail me. You are the student that I am most proud of."

"You flatter me, Viscount."

"What seems to be the matter?"

Duke Atlas interrupted their conversation as she pretends to peruse the papers and replied,

"It seems I am not skilled with calculations. I keep adding and subtracting, but there seems to be something missing. Can you check whether this is accurate or not?"

She delivers him a paper with calculations on it. This paper was not the official record but rather a copy she had made which only included the calculations and missing values.

Viscount Vile accepts the paper from her hand as he and Duke Atlas try to analyze what is on her mind.

'She wouldn't have come all this far just to ask a mathematic problem, would she?'

Vile next read the paper as he thinks,

"She is far too clever to come here for this. She must be devising something and these numbers aren't mere simple numbers.'

His gaze suddenly widens as he notices that indeed the maths doesn't add up.

"Your Highness, are you sure the answer is supposed to be this? Because all of this doesn't seem to add up."

Vile comments as he delivers the paper to Atlas to read. Atlas was also becoming suspicious of Lyra.

"Agreed, this should be the answer. It is what is written in the records."

"Records?"

"Ah, it seems I forgot to brief you beforehand. You see I recently started handling the accounts. Brother Wily transferred me all these papers after approving them just to see if there wasn't any mistake or not. Even though this was the first task handed to me, I couldn't even do a simple math problem. How lacking me. This is why I decided to seek my teacher for help."

She smiles innocently as Vile and Atlas eye each other.

'You mean to say these represent official records and someone is stealing money and Wily, Duke Nabal's son seems to be a part of this.'

They both think as Lyra then goes over a few other papers in her hand and suddenly goes,

"Ah! How silly of me. I forgot to add this. It seems all the missing money had gone to TWIST."

Hearing the name TWIST, makes Vile and Atlas narrow their gaze as Lyra pretended to be naive. She inquired,

"What is this TWIST? It seems to be a bank."

"Your Highness, it is a bank where the client's identity remains concealed and they can transfer as much money as they can without paying tax. They can also convert black money into white."

Lyra's mouth went round. She then tilts her head,

"What is black money?"

"Crown Princess."

Atlas spoke firmly as he monitors Lyra's reaction. He then bluntly comments,

"If you require us to investigate Duke Nabal for fraud, embezzlement and stealing, you could have beseeched us straightforwardly. Why pretend to be oblivious?"

At his remark, Lyra's expression changes for a split second. Her radiant face turns serious as the spark in her eyes had changed from being innocent to someone who knew every single thing and was asking questions just to pretend to be naive.

After a brief pause, her expression shifts back as she chuckles,

"I don't fathom what you are talking about, Duke. When did I ever accuse my uncle of such a crime?"

"I see. I may have been mistaken."

"Indeed, you may have been mistaken."

She smiles. Duke Atlas has ceaselessly been a sharp man but this time it seems as if Lyra could see right through him and was far more intelligent than he had imagined. He previously hadn't interacted with her since she rarely approached him. In contrast, Duke Nabal and his family had always been warmly welcoming and chatting with him which led to the rumors that he was part of Duke Nabal's faction. When in reality, he preferred to remain neutral.

His friend, Vile had consistently assured him about how wise Crown Princess Lyra is. He inevitably said that Lyra was someone who is calculative about her every particular move. Even her words are planned. This does not mean that she deceives others but rather is quite sharp and is good with words. She supports those that deserve it and establishes a boundary with those that she knows will do nothing but foment her trouble.

Atlas, however, has never believed Vile since Lyra used to seem like a naive average girl who was always dull and timid. Although right now it felt as if a completely unfamiliar person is sitting in front of him.

"Well, in that case, it seems I came here for nothing. The problem is resolved. Thank you for all your help, and I apologize for disturbing you with something so trivial. Thank you for all your time."

"We are obliged that we could be of help to you. Please do visit more. It is eternally a pleasure to have you around."

"I will do so. It was a pleasure to encounter you both."

She stands up as they both stand up in return. She stops as she gets to the door and then starts thinking to herself. It seems as if she was devising something. She abruptly turns around and looks at Duke Atlas,

"Duke. If you will investigate the transfer of funds to TWIST then it would be best to start investigating in a way that way no one would be suspicious of why you are investigating the TWIST bank."

Smiling serenely, she thinks to herself,

'Great. Duke Atlas has taken the bait. In the present circumstances if he does investigate and bears this forward in the next council meeting then it seems he is on my side. Fishing is so much fun. Let's see how many fishes he catches while investigating.'

She subsequently adds,

"I am merely saying if you investigate. I am not quite sure if you will or not. Moreover, I don't even perceive what you will investigate TWIST. Even your assistant secretary is squandering it to transfer money. I am confident all the talks about TWIST being an illegal way of transacting are solely rumors. After all, your assistant secretary wouldn't be resorting to it."

Atlas's eyes go wide. She knows that he was going to dig deep into the missing funds. But what he didn't perceive beforehand was that she would apprise him about his assistant secretary. Atlas had recently hired the guy and it is true he did seem suspicious but he did not expect her to know.

Atlas bows in respect and states,

"I am grateful for your highness's advice. I will be firm to follow it."

"Great. I am looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming meeting. Till then, it was a pleasure to encounter you both."

Saying that she leaves.

Duke Atlas smirks as he turns to Vile,

"Her Highness is quite smart. I ponder why she has stayed unresponsive all this time."

"I told you she is a brilliant princess. She is the one that deserves to be our Queen. I am not sure as to why she has been remaining quiet all this time but it seems she has started to move her chess pieces one by one."

"As it was anticipated she will. Her birthday is this year which means her throne ceremony will equally be held. Before that, if she doesn't achieve anything, she will be assassinated."

"What are you going to do Atlas? I know I have consistently been supporting her, but you have remained neutral."

"Vile, do you comprehend why she didn't come with this matter to us directly? Because she doesn't want to be branded as the one who disclosed the documents. If it were to happen, the royal family's image would be affected adversely and also there will be no conclusion reached even after the leakage of documents as the public would focus more on her being a thief and stealing and leaking documents. Do you perceive another thing? I don't believe her coming here remains a coincidence. She knew I was here, and she approached me on purpose. I come third in terms of ranking. I am in a position where even if I do something, no one would bat an eye since I am not someone in the second or first position. For this reason, I can easily investigate TWIST. Equally, I am not so insignificant that no one would follow my words and believe me. I nevertheless maintain a reputable position and if I were to present the shreds of evidence in the upcoming meeting it would clearly provoke an uproar."

"Whence what does this signify?"

"If such a princess becomes a Queen, then it would be my honor to follow her."

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Princess Lyra Belle de Anemoi