Chapter 19
Noticing his expression stiffen as he stared at the incomplete ledger, Layla quickly approached his side.
Then, pretending she had only just noticed it herself, she looked startled and hurriedly bowed.
“It’s my fault. I should have checked more carefully.”
Kallion frowned at Layla’s words and sighed.
“There must have been a limit to how much you could help her. Don’t blame yourself too much, Layla.”
Then he immediately continued.
“Bring Juliana here.”
Before long, Juliana entered the office.
Before Juliana could even understand the situation, Kallion questioned her with a cold gaze.
“Part of the ledger is missing. The list containing the most important expenses.”
Juliana’s brow furrowed deeply at the way he accused her without explaining anything else.
“That can’t be. I checked that ledger several times before handing it over.”
Kallion twisted his lips into a sneer.
“Then did the ledger grow legs and run away?”
Juliana’s expression stiffened.
Then her gaze shifted toward Layla.
Layla still wore a calm expression and didn’t even look in her direction. After glaring at her, Juliana quietly rose.
“Please wait a moment.”
With those words, Juliana coldly left the room.
Did she run away out of embarrassment?
Kallion sighed and turned to Layla.
“Was it the Vas Guild? Go there and reorganize the items and prices. No, now that it’s come to this, I can’t trust anything that woman handled. Cancel the deal even if we have to pay a penalty, and resume business with the guild we normally use.”
At his decisive words, Layla bowed.
“Understood.”
She lowered her head as though burdened by the situation, but the corners of her lips were raised where he couldn’t see them.
Not long after, the office door flew open.
Ignoring the gazes of Kallion and Layla, Juliana strode confidently into the office. In her arms was a stack of documents about as thick as the previous ledger.
Juliana looked directly at Kallion and Layla and smiled.
“It’s fortunate that I prepared a spare copy of the ledger.”
She had gone through the trouble of organizing a duplicate just in case.
Looking at Layla’s stiffened expression, Juliana smiled softly.
“How fortunate, isn’t it? Miss Layla?”
At her question, Layla answered without meeting her eyes.
“Yes… How fortunate.”
Juliana approached Kallion, who stood with his arms crossed arrogantly, and set the stack of documents before him.
“Now, check it again.”
At her words, he examined the documents without a single word of apology, as though nothing significant had happened.
She remained standing before him for quite some time, wary that he might find something else to criticize.
As he checked the ledger entries, he tilted one eyebrow and looked at her.
“What is this amount assigned to you?”
I knew this would come up.
The allowance commonly allocated to the lady of a noble house for maintaining her dignity and status.
In the past, she had never received such an allowance.
She hadn’t even thought of asking him for something like that. She had spent all her time desperately trying to gain his favor.
But this life was different.
Because once Denion was conceived, she would leave this estate immediately.
She needed emergency funds sufficient to live with Denion. Preferably enough that her child would never have to go hungry.
And she also needed money to pay the Vas Guild for the information she purchased.
“It’s the customary allowance the lady of a house needs to maintain her dignity.”
“An allowance for maintaining your dignity…”
He let out an incredulous scoff.
In the past, that mocking smile would have hurt her, but she remained expressionless and unaffected.
Kallion stared at her for a moment before tilting his head.
“Isn’t the amount rather large for something like that?”
His tone implied that someone like her had no business receiving such an amount.
It was also a rebuke implying that she wasn’t worth that much in this estate.
But her heart had already been torn to shreds beyond repair, so such a remark couldn’t even leave a scratch anymore.
“If I’m going to take a lover like you suggested, I’ll need at least that much.”
Kallion’s brow immediately furrowed.
“What…?”
“Why? Are you going to take back what you said now?”
At her utterly calm question, Kallion let out a disbelieving scoff.
“Of course not.”
Then his contemptuous gaze shot toward her.
She wondered why he was looking at her like that when he had been the one to suggest it in the first place.
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