IN the end, we settle on Abigail coming to my office at military headquarters once a week to train Prince Dominic’s aides.
The documents aren’t written in code or anything. They’re simply so disorganized and full of scribbles with no discernible order or structure that “deciphering” is how we can best describe trying to read them. Abigail’s job is to teach the aides how to analyze the data.
I’m sure, given enough time, they would have figured it out by themselves. The royal palace must hire enough talented individuals to do so. And yet…
“Wait, wait. This is where the amounts in this report should go. Why is it written there instead?”
“The calculation was wrong, so I fixed it and wrote it here.”
“If that was wrong, do we need to correct the original numbers too?!”
Through many such exchanges during our journey back, Prince Dominic finally convinced me that the most efficient way to deal with the documents is to have Abigail explain everything.
Logistically, to have administrative officials appointed and stationed at every village in a territory is impossible. In fact, the smaller the settlement, the harder the search for someone who knows how to read, write, and manage accounts. Unsurprising, then, that the reports submitted from such places contain errors, and the territory’s main administrative office usually hires staff to review and correct them.
Longhurst employed numerous administrative officials, and each would have had a small team of subordinates to aid them. The documents and ledgers at the manor should have been disorder- and mistake-free, the information from the various records consolidated and collated to show trends. Without backing data, the earl would have struggled to decide on the right course of action.
When Prince Dominic called us to his office at the manor, Longhurst’s documents were strewn all over the floor, intermixed and unlabeled. With a single glance around the room, Abigail began to point to each, stating the village the report came from, the year it was written, and the recorded yield of which crops.
I know she’s talented. Ethan, astounded by her amazing memory and mental speed, was the first to alert me to them. Since then, I’ve started to allow her to assist with my own work. To be tasked with something delights her.
That said, Ethan’s accounting, and Rodney’s as well, has always been flawless, so I may be biased. I never see crossed-out and corrected mistakes, which means they check the amounts multiple times before even writing them down. I must be blessed to have secured such incredible staff when I established my household!
“Sir, I may be royalty, but at the end of the day, I’m just another noble like you. While I don’t wish to disappoint Father, I want nothing to do with Longhurst. But I can’t just run away with my tail between my legs. No, I need to bring the territory back to order so it at least doesn’t inconvenience the crown.”
“I see.”
“As you’ve said, there are many talented aides in the castle, some of them my own subordinates. Father won’t even know that the lady is assisting us, and I won’t tell him either. So let’s help each other, noble to noble? Yes?”
Thus ended our final conversation with Prince Dominic before we bid one another farewell at the gate into the capital. Our carriages diverge, and we head home, where Ethan awaits us.
I watch him smile as he counts the number of carriages and wagons. I nod to reassure him that we haven’t brought back any livestock. However…
“This is a mad coclear hat, and these are shiny mushrooms! They’re shiny even after drying! And look! This is the molted skin of a snake; see the beautiful fur on it?!”
“Y-Yes.”
“And here’s a stone, so smooth to the touch. Oh, the mad coclear horns are smooth too, and these seeds make a nice sound when you shake them! Which is your favorite, Ethan?! Look, the hat even makes a mooing sound when you put it on!”
“You…seem to like that one a lot, my lady…” His eyes water as Abigail pulls souvenir after souvenir from Rodney’s bag and lines them up on a table.
Rodney, swallowing laughter, is leaning against the wall as if trying to meld with it. My stomach hurts as well.
“Which is your favorite, Ethan?! Is it the mad coclear hat?!”
“…You never miss, my lady. This hat is indeed smooth, as well as nicely shaped, exactly what I like.”
My little chick looks up at me in triumph. “I knew it was perfect for Ethan!” she crows. I pat her on the head with a trembling hand.
Tabitha snorts.
Afterward, Ethan hands me a summary of all that transpired while we were away. After witnessing the mess that is Longhurst’s recordkeeping, I feel only gratitude for his neat and succinct report.
Prince Dominic despaired when he realized the documents weren’t remotely organized, not even by year, but that hadn’t seemed to faze Abigail at all. That was what persuaded me. If she alone could handle them, was there really a need to assign more staff to the endeavor?
“I see,” Ethan says when I tell him my decision. “Though His Highness isn’t fully aware of the lady’s Gift, is he?”
“No, and our deal is that he doesn’t try to find out.”
“He has a reputation of being frivolous yet has enough tact to negotiate using his position… It sounds like a good deal. I think it’s because he does like you, Master.”
“Perhaps, and… Pfft!”
“Master?”
“Sorry, i-it really is perfect for you.”
The mad coclear hat, so large that it covered half of Abigail’s face, fits smartly on Ethan’s head as though tailored. It is just too much to handle.