Filed To Story: Queen of the Battlefield Her Return to Glory Novel Online Free
Back in the carriage, she reported to Sophie, “Your Highness, the filigree gold bangles with embedded gems are sold out.”
Sophie responded with a simple hum.
“That style is from The Golden Tower. The Gilded Tower copied their design, but still sold them quite well.”
“Well, if they’re selling well, the year-end accounts should look promising,” Helen said with evident pleasure.
Gillian, however, was troubled. The shop assistant mentioned that their business was excellent and claimed that, apart from The Golden Tower, no other shop in the capital had better business. Seeing how pleased Helen was, Gillian decided to withhold her concerns for now and wait to see the accounts when Jessica brought them.
They should be arriving in the next few days.
After witnessing Eleanor’s despicable behavior, Gillian couldn’t help but worry if Eleanor and her daughter Jessica had been deceiving Helen all along. Could they really be so deceitful?
Gillian looked at Sophie, who seemed to be aware of something.
Could it be that Sophie already knew more than she let on? Was it possible that Sophie had deliberately brought Helen to see The Gilded Tower’s business? Helen had indeed mentioned visiting The Gilded Tower before. However, her entourage usually consisted of a large number of servants and guards.
If Jessica had intended to deceive her, she would have likely briefed the shopkeeper in advance, instructing them on what to say if someone like Helen came by.
After all, the patrons seen at The Gilded Tower earlier were ordinary citizens on the first floor, while the second floor was frequented by wealthy merchants or minor officials’ wives.
Since Sophie pointed out that The Gilded Tower’s designs had been copied from The Golden Tower, true nobles and prominent families were less likely to frequent The Gilded Tower. Helen’s presence was quite noticeable, so it would be easy for her to be recognized if she went out.
As luck would have it, on the day Rafael and Sophie were preparing for their visit to Northwatch Estate, Jessica had someone deliver the accounts. And it was none other than the shopkeeper himself, Eric, who brought them.
Since Helen was staying at Hell Monarch Estate, Eric made the trip personally. Had Helen been at the palace, Jessica would have handled the delivery. Gillian suspected that Eric’s visit was also to recognize the people involved, so they could identify them if they came by in the future.
Helen eagerly opened the account book, only to find that the few sparse pages contained sales of only mundane items, with no expensive jewelry at all. The final summary showed a loss.
In one quarter, there was a loss of over ten thousand silver coins. Over ten thousand-this was even more than before.
Helen trembled with anger, and threw the account book to the floor.
“How could there be such a loss? You’d better give me an explanation!” she hollered.
Eric knelt on the floor with a sorrowful expression, and said, “Lady Helen, you don’t know how tough business is these days. We hoped to make some profit before the New Year, so we stockpiled a large quantity of goods. Little did we know that many of these goods were flawed and unsellable. While other shops are thriving, our shop is deserted, which is truly heart-wrenching.”
He crawled forward, picked up the account book, and opened a page. “This loss was mitigated somewhat because you and Lady Jessica had previously injected some money. Otherwise, the loss would have been at least twenty thousand silver coins.”
“Nonsense!” Helen slammed her hand on the table, her face turning pale with rage. “The Gilded Tower, deserted? Why did I see it full of customers when I passed by? And many of them were leaving with their hands full!”
Eric was startled. Had Helen visited The Gilded Tower? When did that happen? What day specifically?
He suddenly recalled that a day ago, a shop assistant had mentioned that a woman, who appeared to be from a high-ranking family, had come to buy the popular filigree gold bangles from The Gilded Tower. Could that have been yesterday?
Eric’s eyes darted around as he decided to take a gamble.
“Lady Helen, you must be referring to yesterday. Recently, the only day we had good business was yesterday. We had accumulated too much stock, so Lady Jessica instructed us to sell it off, even at a loss, rather than have too much inventory on hand. If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be able to give you a good justification. We sold a lot yesterday, but it was all at a loss. We’re still having a discount sale today. If you don’t believe me, you can go and see for yourself.”
His earnest tone moved Helen, and she began to believe him.
Observing from outside the door, Sophie realized that Helen had been deceived. She immediately stepped inside.
“Really? If so, why did your shop assistant say that you sold batch after batch of the filigree gold bangles, which were copied from The Golden Tower’s design? You wouldn’t be selling them at a loss, would you? Let me see if this transaction is recorded in your accounts.”
With that, Sophie grabbed the account book from Eric. He instinctively tried to hide it, but she was quicker, and the account book was soon in her hands.
She flipped through the few pages with a cold smile.
“What a surprise! There isn’t any record of this transaction. Not even the large gold bracelet my guild senior bought for me is listed here. So, what exactly does this account book record? Eric, embezzlement is a grave crime.”
When Eric saw Sophie, he was instantly terrified.
It was the young lady who came to collect the large gold bangle the other day! She was the Hell Monarch’s princess consort?!
“Guards, take the account book and this man to the Royal Citadel. Have my nephew’s uncle, Lord Klein, thoroughly investigate to see how much money The Gilded Tower really defrauded from Lady Helen and Lady Jessica,” Sophie said calmly.
Luke immediately ordered two guards to take Eric to the local authorities.
Terrified, Eric cried out, “Your Highness, please spare me! It wasn’t my idea. Lady Jessica instructed me to make these false accounts to deceive Lady Helen!” “What?” Helen was enraged, and smashed a cup. “Jessica used fake accounts to deceive me?”
Sophie pressed Helen’s hand to calm her. “If the previous account books were false, then there must be genuine ones.”
With the guards holding him, Eric’s arms ached as if they might break. Fearing further punishment, he nodded vigorously. “Yes, of course! There are real ones.”
Since Sophie was preparing to visit Northwatch Estate, she didn’t want to waste more time arguing.
She called Luke in, and instructed, “Please take two people with you and return to The Gilded Tower. Retrieve all the account books from these years and have them verified one by one by the accountants. Confirm on-site whether they are genuine accounts. If they continue to falsify records, there is no need to report back. Send them directly to the Royal Citadel.”
Luke responded, “Understood, Your Highness!”
He signaled for the guards to act swiftly. The carriage outside was already prepared, and they departed for The Gilded Tower immediately.
Eric had never faced such a situation before, and trembled in fear. He silently cursed Jessica.
Hadn’t she claimed that dealing with Helen would be easy? It had always been manageable in the past. Why was it different now? And facing the Hell Monarch’s princess consort was even more terrifying! Sophie was known for her decisive and ruthless nature. Plus, the governor of the Royal Citadel was her late sister-in-law’s brother.
If Eric ended up at the Royal Citadel, he would be lucky to escape with his life if he didn’t face severe punishment.
Helen was fuming. “Jessica deceived me? How dare she?!”
Sophie had someone come in to clean up the broken pieces of the cup, and sighed inwardly.
How dare Jessica? How could she not? Usually, Helen was terribly intimidated by them. If not her, then who would be deceived? Besides, Helen always stayed in the inner palace and never went out. So, it was easy to deceive her without her ever seeing the truth.
“Mother, please calm down. We can handle this. You had contracts in place, didn’t you? When I return from my visit, we can go over them together. Getting angry won’t solve anything,” Sophie said. Helen felt tears welling up in her eyes, and was almost unable to hold them back. Jessica and Dakota had been in business together for years. Dakota always received profits, while Helen found herself pouring money in to cover losses.
She felt inadequate in comparison to the other concubine.
Helen never expected Jessica to deceive her. Jessica hadn’t cheated Dakota, but had tricked her instead.
The injustice and hurt surged within her, and it took all her strength to keep from crying.