The moment the thick report titled the Draft Reberk Barony Reform Plan was placed squarely in the center of the table, everyone drew in a breath as one and stared at it.
Before anyone knew it, everyone there had begun applauding naturally.
Yuri lowered his gaze to the report, looked around at everyone's faces, and then spoke his words of thanks.
"Thank you... truly, everyone.
I feel like I can finally see the future of the Reberk Barony opening up."
Lieselotte's eyes glistened with emotion as she nodded, gazing at the report as though caressing it with her eyes.
"What are you saying...?
This is only a plan.
The real battle begins now, does it not?"
There was a deep sense of duty in her words.
Ophelia let out a deep sigh, her shoulders drooping with composed weariness, yet her gaze on the report held a trace of satisfaction.
"Ten days... I truly thought I was going to die,
but it seems people can accomplish quite a lot if they really try."
Watching her, Celine puffed out her cheeks a little and raised her voice in mock complaint.
"How nice for all of you, getting to spend every day with my lord husband.
As for me... I had to work with nothing but men who were not even cute!
I deserve a little healing too!"
With one hand on her hip, she lamented in a theatrical tone, and the mood in the room softened.
Aina gave Celine a slight bow and gently reined her in with her usual calm composure.
"Lady Celine, do please calm yourself.
This too is the fruit of everyone's hard work..."
Though she was as expressionless as ever, the slightest smile had risen at the corners of her mouth.
Fiona looked at the report and grinned brightly.
"We really did work hard, didn't we?
To think we could make a reform plan this huge...
Seriously, we're amazing. Just what you'd expect from us!"
Then Chloe let out a deep sigh and gave Fiona a flat response.
"What are you talking about? Your calculations were full of holes.
I would have liked you to spare a thought for the one who had to fill them in.
If my lord husband had not lent me his calculator, we never would have finished."
Her tone was cool, but the edge of her expression was tinged with a smile.
Lily modestly pressed her hands together and murmured with deep feeling.
"To think we managed to make something this splendid...
I'm so very happy..."
[The Draft Reberk Barony Reform Plan]
Primary reform proposals aimed at the development and stabilization of the domain.
Part I: Tax Reform and Guild Reform
(Lead: Celine / Support: Chloe)
Strengthen the economic foundation by reducing the burden on the people and liberalizing commerce and industry.
Abolish the thirty-percent levy: introduce a system in which the lord purchases agricultural produce in bulk
Establish an Agricultural Cooperative Guild: create a new food-production management organization centered on the Adventurers' Guild
Dissolve the Artisans' Guild and establish a Chamber of Commerce and Industry: ease workshop regulations and introduce a safety net
Establish the Passage Arcade Management Board: create a new organization to oversee the arcade district and manage its operations
Part II: Agricultural Reform and Development of Integrated Value-Added Industries
(Lead: Lieselotte / Support: Fiona)
Link self-sufficiency with new industries in order to increase profits from agriculture.
Introduce double-cropping centered on rice cultivation: reduce fallow land and establish a stable food-production system
Cultivate useful plants: produce mulberry, camellia, Japanese wax tree, paper mulberry, and other plants to expand their industrial use
Develop products and recipes: create new local goods and dishes rooted in local production for local consumption
Part III: Industrial Promotion and Development of Local Industries
(Lead: Ophelia / Support: Aina)
Aim for economic self-reliance through the growth of local industry.
Launch local industries: establish workshops for silk textiles, soap, and the like, creating industries unique to the domain
Support openings in the Passage Arcade: support retail outlets for goods and secure stable sales channels
Build a distribution network: negotiate trade with the Saint Elmo Trading Company and lay the groundwork for product circulation
Found the Luna-Noir Trading Company: establish and expand a beauty-focused esthetic salon business
Part IV: Securing Talent and Developing the Tourism Industry
(Lead: Yuri / Support: Lily)
Develop outstanding talent and tourism resources in order to advance the Reberk domain.
Recruit outstanding talent: negotiate with other lords to attract artisans and merchants
Secure Harem personnel: win over capable people who can be entrusted with domain management and product development
The Luxuriaria Initiative: develop a lakeside resort and build the domain's brand
Yuri flipped through the Draft Reberk Barony Reform Plan and let out a sigh at the issues listed inside it.
"Even so... we're overwhelmingly short on people..."
As Yuri muttered with a furrowed brow, Lieselotte answered calmly.
"We especially lack artisans, as well as people who can be trusted with highly confidential work."
At that, Celine smiled mischievously.
"It seems my lord husband will need to begin an active recruitment drive for Harem personnel after all, doesn't he?"
"Come on, it's not as though they'd gather just because we recruited for it."
As Yuri faltered and looked away, Ophelia gave a small shrug and voiced her opinion in a composed tone.
"I may not be the best person to say it,
but would it not be more rational to secure excellent people even if that means accepting the risk of information leaks?"
Celine folded her fingers together and answered quietly, looking a little off into the distance.
"You may be right... Perhaps there is little point in worrying about the future when we have not yet accomplished anything."
"Then maybe we should strengthen security a little."
When Yuri suggested that, Celine smiled in obvious relief.
"As expected of my beloved my lord husband. That would set my mind very much at ease."
"By the way, Ria, what sort of report have you been giving Her Majesty the Queen Dowager?"
Lieselotte bluntly asked the very thing that had been on her mind. Ophelia tilted her head slightly, as if trying to recall it.
Then, with a teasing smile, she flicked her gaze toward Yuri.
Her eyes gleamed like a little temptress's as she answered in a whisper.
"Let me see... the last time, I gave her a small report about this and that concerning my lord husband."
At her innocent way of putting it, Yuri's eyes widened in surprise.
Ophelia merely shrugged with a smile and continued, even more mischievously.
"There really was not much else I could write."
At that, Celine could no longer hold back her laughter and said merrily behind her hand,
"Hehe, I can just picture Her Majesty the Queen Dowager turning bright red and tearing up the report."
Then Lieselotte drew her brows together with a touch of concern.
"If that is the sort of report you keep sending, is the loan to your family really safe?"
Ophelia waved one elegant hand and smiled with easy confidence.
"The fact that I am here should tell you that it is."
"Yes. If she cut off the loan over this, the Queen Dowager's authority would be in danger."
When Celine said that with a nod, Yuri tilted his head, not really understanding why.
"Hm? Why?"
"Because among the nobility,
rumors would spread that she is 'the heartless Queen Dowager who sold off a daughter for her own sake.'"
Celine answered with a bright smile, and Lieselotte muttered with an exasperated look, "Mother really is awful."
Looking somewhat taken aback, Ophelia cut in toward Celine.
"Not 'would spread,' surely. You mean 'you would spread them,' do you not?"
Celine gave a tiny shrug and smiled.
"Well, I suppose you could put it that way."
Then Ophelia turned back to Yuri with an amused smile and asked, looking up at him,
"In that case, for the sake of my reports to Her Majesty the Queen Dowager as well,
could you perhaps provide us with a few more entertaining topics for the Harem?
Naturally, I mean plenty of delightful stories that would make my lord husband blush."
"The breeding stud of the Reberk Barony. Now then, who will this month's victim be?"
When Aina murmured that under her breath, Yuri nearly choked.
"H-hey, Aina, it's not like that!"
Yuri waved his hands in flustered denial.
At that, Celine laughed and said, "So Aina can say amusing things once in a while too."
Once the room had settled down a little, Celine slowly looked around at everyone and spoke.
"This is where the real work of reforming the domain begins.
This is still no more than a plan."
As she said that, Celine lightly tapped the Draft Reberk Barony Reform Plan with the palm of her hand.
"We have many debts, and many things bleeding us dry...
so please lend me your strength."
At Celine's words, everyone answered at once and nodded firmly.
Just then, Celine turned her gaze to Yuri and smiled with a trace of mischief.
"Oh, my lord husband. Just because you'll be paired with Lily,
do try not to get too enthusiastic about that side of things, won't you?"
At that single line, Yuri and Lily looked at one another, and Lily's cheeks turned red.
"T-there's no way that would happen!"
Even Yuri felt his face growing hot as he hurriedly protested.
"Really?"
Celine pushed out her lips just a little and looked up at Yuri with moist eyes.
"Every once in a while, I would be very happy
if you could spare some time for the rest of us as well."
Though Yuri faltered before those eyes, he still managed to protest.
"We've been busy nonstop lately.
It's not like we had more than a tiny bit of time for that!"
At those words, everyone exclaimed at once, "Eh? That was only a tiny bit?"
"If that counts as a tiny bit, I'd really like to hear what exactly does."
With that remark from somewhere in the room, quiet laughter spread through the chamber.