Home/A former empress hides her abilities (roughly)/side story 7

<Side Story 7>

'Do they think that simply not giving their names counts as hiding?'

Tiren was bewildered.

For high-ranking figures like the two of them, a quick glance through the empire's noble registry would reveal their identities without difficulty.

Then Tiren considered another possibility.

'Or could it be… that they're embarrassed?'

Seeing them stubbornly prevaricate—so unlike themselves—it did seem plausible.

"Um, well, yes…"

Tiren decided to let it slide.

'They've certainly grown brazen since their trip.'

They said trials made people grow—but it seemed they also amplified one's flaws.

"So what did you do next?"

Had they returned home by then?

Was that the end of the story?

"We agreed to assist the princess."

"What…?"

Tiren was astonished.

"Didn't you conceal your identities precisely to avoid getting involved in another country's affairs?"

That was true in principle.

But every principle had its exceptions.

"The compensation the princess offered was reasonable."

Rosetta had said:

[Valmar's tax rates are low.]

That was why many foreigners had used the Kingdom of Valmar as a tax haven.

Among them, naturally, were Imperials.

They had hidden their assets and evaded taxes by establishing shell corporations in the kingdom, or by parking their wealth in accounts under borrowed names.

[If you are Imperial nobles, you would hardly refuse a chance to earn merit.]

The Special Taxation Bureau was already aware of this situation. However, they had refrained from acting because demanding financial information from another country or challenging its low tax rates would almost certainly escalate into a diplomatic issue.

[If you cooperate with me, I will see to it that a list of Imperials who have hidden assets in the kingdom is handed over to you. That should not be a bad deal for you—what do you say?]

---

Needless to say, the scale of assets presumed to be hidden in Valmar was considerable.

These were not people scraping by day to day, but those who had amassed great fortunes and diverted funds abroad to minimise their taxes.

If those funds could be recovered, the imperial treasury would grow substantially—but…

"That is a peculiar proposition. Was it not the Valmarian royal family itself that facilitated the hiding of Imperial assets?"

Valmar's economy ran on foreign capital, so the royal court had provided various conveniences to allow wealthy foreigners to stash their assets in Valmar.

From the empire's perspective, with a new emperor newly enthroned, consolidating internal stability had taken priority, so they had not touched external problems.

"Let me make one thing clear—the one who spearheaded that policy was not me, but Prince Olen."

Rosetta was competing for the throne with this older half-brother of hers.

A few years ago, they had been evenly matched, but he had risen as a formidable candidate for the next king by actively attracting foreign capital and growing Valmar's economy.

"The King was pleased. Tax revenues had increased."

Though the tax rates had been lowered, the kingdom's economic growth had greatly expanded royal income.

"Foreigners believed that Prince Olen would pursue foreigner-friendly policies if he became king, and they supplied him with political funds."

Prince Olen's power base had essentially grown by feeding on foreign money.

"The problem is that the side effects of having so many foreigners are no small matter."

Problems that had not existed when Valmar was purely a tourist nation began to erupt once foreigners started treating the kingdom as a repository for slush funds.

As they purchased villas, real estate prices soared; with the capital they brought, they entered the tourism industry and competed with locals, driving up labour costs and the cost of living.

"Tax revenues certainly increase. Economic indicators couldn't be better. Yet the citizens grow poorer—a truly strange phenomenon."

Moreover, some foreigners accumulated wealth through crimes such as drug smuggling or stock manipulation, bribing the judiciary to avoid punishment or cover up incidents.

"The Riding Mining fraud case was one such example."

The founders of Riding Mining, who had manipulated stock prices with false announcements, were found dead—apparently by suicide, with notes left behind.

But Rosetta believed there was a mastermind behind them, and that these were mere pawns.

Otherwise, she could not explain how the investment funds they had raised had simply vanished into thin air, leaving only corpses behind.

"I suspect Olen was involved in this."

Prince Olen's power base rested on foreigners. He knew this well, so he turned a blind eye to their bribery of the judiciary, and even went so far as to pressure the inspectorate to destroy evidence.

If public opinion formed that foreigners were destabilising the kingdom's security, it would do him no good.

Asil nodded slowly.

"Then it was very important for Your Highness to investigate this case and uncover the truth. If you could prove that Prince Olen was trying to conceal crimes, you could weaken his influence and restore order to the kingdom."

"Indeed."

But the suspects from Riding Mining were dead, and deeper investigation was being obstructed by Olen.

"What I can do is maintain low tax rates to keep foreign capital flowing in, while drawing a clear line against crime."

Since the kingdom's economy was deeply entangled with foreign assets, she could not turn them into outright enemies.

"However, grasping the scale of assets hidden by foreigners is certainly meaningful. Most of it would be money earned illegally."

Thus, by winning public support for herself, she could break Prince Olen's power and draw closer to the throne—that was her ultimate goal.

"I understand Your Highness's ambition well enough…"

But one thing did not make sense, so Asil asked:

"Why seek cooperation from us—foreigners of unknown identity?"

It was only natural for people to align themselves with those in power who pursued policies favourable to them.

Most foreigners would feel more comfortable with Prince Olen—he was the one who had made it so that most problems could be solved with money.

"Can Your Highness trust us?"

"Trust?"

Rosetta lowered her head and let out a sardonic laugh.

"An amusing notion—but I trust no one."

Take today's events, for example.

Just hours earlier, Rosetta had thrown her head lady-in-waiting into prison for embezzling the princess's reserve funds to invest in Riding Mining.

That lady-in-waiting had served her for over a decade.

"People are inherently untrustworthy."

She did not believe the lady-in-waiting had feigned her feelings for ten years. It was merely that the prospect of a once-in-a-lifetime windfall had clouded her judgment.

People were beings who could betray others at any moment, depending on the circumstances.

That was why Rosetta did not trust people.

'What I trust are situations that make betrayal impossible.'

"You two must be fairly competent administrators."

The fact that they had not attempted to hide assets even while in Valmar suggested either that they were honest, or that they were too poor to have anything to hide.

'Whichever they are, they would hardly look favourably upon those who create secret accounts abroad to evade taxes.'

The account list would serve as bait to align their interests with Rosetta's.

As long as they wanted something from her, they would cooperate as much as possible.

"What does it matter that you are foreigners?"

So long as they stayed on the same side, even temporarily, that was enough—a relationship in which betrayal would not occur.

---

Punishing economic criminals was a tricky business.

To establish fraud, one had to prove intent to deceive; to establish breach of trust, one had to determine whether the loss to an organisation was intentional or due to incompetence.

But identifying tax evasion was relatively simple.

One merely looked up the individual's asset records, and if suspicious assets were found, they were treated as tax evasion and the back taxes were collected.

"We sent telegrams to all neighbouring countries."

No nation would refuse the prospect of securing additional tax revenue.

Each country dispatched tax collectors, investigated the assets their nationals had hidden, and levied back taxes. In the process, if hidden funds were determined to be criminal proceeds, they were fully confiscated.

Several times a day, newsboys shouted "Extra! Extra!" as hidden funds were seized from the kingdom's secret vaults and economic criminals were caught up in tax-evasion charges—articles poured forth.

Valmarians, whenever they had nothing to do, would stroll the streets or gaze out the windows, growing accustomed to a life fuelled by daily doses of dopamine.

"The empire also achieved no small results."

Rianell and Asil personally managed the Imperial tax-evasion cases.

They collected not only the original taxes that had not been paid due to asset hiding but also additional penalties—and the resulting thick reports now sat beside Tiren.

"Am-amazing. To achieve such results while staying in Valmar…"

Tiren was impressed, but at the same time, she realised another truth and shuddered slightly.

'But wait… did they go on vacation and end up working?'

She wondered whether there had been any point in granting them leave.

"By the way—"

At the same time, Tiren felt a question arise.

"If I were the princess, I would have tried everything to recruit the two of you. Did she not make such an attempt?"

For someone who had experienced frequent betrayals and lacked trustworthy aides, it would be natural to covet capable talent.

Just as Prince Zarvan had.

"She did."

'Just as I thought!'

"So what did you do?"

Since they were standing here now, they must have declined the princess's offer—but she was curious about how they had persuaded her.

Had they declined with elegant words?

Or had they appealed to patriotism for the empire?

Tiren waited with anticipation for their answer—

"Instead, we recommended Prince Zarvan."

'What?!'

She stared wide-eyed at the unexpected turn of events.

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