This morning I’ve been watching Lady Ellen extra closely. Heaven only knows what she’ll do with her suddenly attained power.


    It is beyond comprehension why Brother Jun trusts her and all he had to say about it was, “Tai, I am a wonderful judge of character. Trust me when I say her allegiance is not split. She needs us. We need her. It will all work out.”


    So now I have to watch yet another person before they can stab Jun in the back.


    I listen to Luan’s pointless interference over a lovely omelet at my desk. Then she leaves the range of the listening stone I put in Luan’s kit.


    I get through a recon report about Ru Liang’s movements. She has once again failed to engage her brother’s army in combat, choosing to lurk about near the border instead.


    I’m sure she was devastated that no one cut of her dear cousin Jun’s head.


    Lady Ellen is next picked up on the listening stone in her new office. Now, I don’t know if I had any particular expectations as to what the former maid was going to do to her old boss.


    But granting amnesty before accusing every single department of theft wasn’t it.


    We all knew that there was some pilfering; however, it appears that I have severely underestimated the full extent. Not enough to threaten to kill the whole staff.


    She doesn’t hold anything back as she grills them one by one and I’m starting to understand why Jun thought she would be good in this role.


    But when did she see a half-naked butler. I think I would have noticed.


    Then she scolds them for pregaming for an orgy, and I spit my tea out all over my desk. The butler assisting me this morning rushes over and starts frantically patting the documents hoping to salvage them from the wet.


    I look at him closely. His uniform covers all the places that I would find signs of rough and wild sex.


    Since apparently the whole department is now disposable, I ask, “Did Lady Ellen find some butlers about to do something wildly indecent?”


    He freezes for a moment mid wipe. Once his brain restarts, “I have no idea what you could be talking about.”


    An outright denial, he must have been there personally. “I can help you out. It would be a small favor after you’ve helped me salvage this report. Lady Ellen has set her sights on head butler like an archer tracking prey.”This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    He blots carefully for a moment as he mulls it over, as if the gears that make up his brain are unaccustomed to thinking.


    “The other day she strode into the Gentleman’s Gentlemen Club without notice and we were having a small party. The alcohol had gotten to a few of the butlers, but nothing indecent was happening.”


    “Out of uniform?”


    He nods emphatically, “Exactly.”


    “Naked?”


    His eyes dart to the ground with guilt. “No.”


    “Half-dressed?”


    “Basically.” So, they had kept it in their pants, but only barely.


    “What happened after she found out?”


    “She closed our club and sent us back to work. Had us nail up the door and everything. We know she keeps the key on her, but she can’t figure out where. All of her maids have looked.”


    He goes on for a bit about why housekeeping hasn’t given permission to go through one of the walls yet.


    Lady Ellen must have found some nice blackmail in there then. Too bad it won’t be worth much, if we kill most of the staff for their indiscretions.


    After that interesting tidbit, the day proceeds as usual fielding intelligence reports, trying to locate more iron for weapons fabrication, and writing reports for Jun.


    Somehow, Lady Ellen finds the stamina to work all day in her office only leaving for an inconveniently late dinner. So, I’m very hungry when I break in to see what she plans on using the manor’s budget for.


    She is a surprisingly neat person and there is nothing left out on her desk. Though there are a few more books on the shelves then when I planted the listening stone in here this morning.


    I sit in her chair and open the locked drawer. Inside I find the expected pile of paper still smelling of fresh ink. My stomach growls.


    Laying it out on the desk, I immediately notice that almost all of the fresh sheets are covered with strange symbols. There are about a dozen unique symbols arranged in chunks that must be words and then the chunks are arranged in columns.


    This is the strangest writing system I have ever seen. Why would she keep something encoded in a locked drawer and not hide it properly?


    She is the worst spy I have ever seen, but this code is something else. Dinner can wait. I haven’t found this sort of a challenge since we’ve taken up residence in White Fang.


    By dawn I have still not cracked the code. I settle for transcribing the letters as is and showing them to Jun immediately.


    Not even bothering to knock on the door, I stomp into Jun’s room. Since this fails to wake him, I poke his cheek while shining my candle in his eyes.


    Promptly, he’s sitting upright and swatting my hand out of his face. “Tai?”


    I thrust the documents into his face. Bleary eyed, he takes it and stares at it for a good few minutes.


    He spins the paper around a few times all while trying to blink himself awake. “Tai, what am I looking at?”


    “Proof that Lady Ellen is keeping secrets from us.”


    “How do you figure that?”


    “I have never seen a code like it in my life.”


    “Maybe it’s not a code then?”


    He normally wakes up faster than this. I should have used a bucket. “What else could it possibly be?”


    “How about we ask her?” He peers towards the window. “It can wait until after breakfast. I’m going back to sleep. You should have time for a bit of shut eye as well.”


    Then he has the audacity to lay back down and roll over, so his back is to me. I stomp out of the room as loudly as possible.


    If he won’t see the sense, I’ll make her confess.