Chapter 380 - 377: Finances, Plans, And Allies
After getting dressed and having brunch, Serena decided that it's time to talk with Fergus, the head butler. Fergus, she learned, has worked as Geoffrey's head butler in his own palace wing before taking over the position in Kensington house. She also realized while talking to him that he was very organized and competent. It was easy for him to answer all her inquiries.
Their first topic was the household. Kensington house was owned by the royal family thus the fund to maintain the house also comes from the royal's public fund. That practice doesn't change even when the crown prince marries and takes the house as his family's personal lodging. However, that doesn't mean that the prince gets to live there totally expense free.
The house receives an annual budget of 2 million and it compromises of the employ's salary, house maintenance, and house renovations. Looking at the breakdown of accounts, Serena thought that the budget was only good for sustaining the house when none of the royals actually live there.
Anyhow, she took note of the sudden inflated expenditure last year on the account and Fergus smiled at her explaining that the house went through an extensive renovation, all at the personal expense of his royal highness.
Serena could only smile and shake her head. From there, she confirmed that Geoffrey has been preparing for their marriage long before he proposed to her.
Anyhow, the second thing they discussed was Geoffrey's finances. For that, Fergus called in Geoffrey's estate manager, Divan.
Divan who joined the meeting explained that Geoffrey's finances were divided into two. One was his personal income, the other from the royal fund.
Last year, Geoffrey received an annual budget of 5 million from the royal fund. It was for his work, activities and office which were in line with his responsibilities as the crown prince. The expenditure of the fund must be outlined clearly and submitted to the house of lords at the beginning of their session for the year.
Now, since Geoffrey got married, his annual budget has also been increased to accommodate the crown princess. Before the wedding itself happened, the budget has been approved and increased to 8 million, but that will only take into effect next year.
On the other hand, Geoffrey's personal account, compromises of his own income. As minister of social welfare, he receives his own salary amounting to 3 million a year, which equates the money earned by other royal dukes. Then, aside from that, he also has his income coming from his estates, in which, he receives sizable earnings from rent. Thus, in a year, he makes about 10 million.
Although money should not be something she needed to think about given their position, she thought that it was still important especially for the machinations in the battle for the crown. Anyhow, she needed to talk about it with Geoffrey later.
After discussing the finances, Serena asked Fergus to gather all the house employs for her to meet. According to the accounts there were about a hundred employees in the house. It was not surprising though. The house was huge.
The main house was not that big, but she surmised that cleaning the guesthouse and the ballroom, plus maintaining the perfectly manicured extensive garden must be a lot of work. Then, there were also staff there whose purpose was to be there when she wants to host parties. Aside from that there was also the stable which she has not seen just yet. According to Fergus it houses about four dozen of horses. She was not surprised though, Geoffrey as she knew him in the past, loves polo, which of course involves riding horses. If she were not pregnant, she thinks that she would ride one with him for romance. Yes, she said she hated horses for their smell, but that was just an exaggeration.
After meeting the employees, she finally dismissed Fergus. She gave out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she doesn't have to think much of the household with a trustworthy and competent butler on duty. She would just have to check his work every once in a while.
Moving on, she went back to her room's office to read through the invites which already piled up on her new study table. While doing so, she instructed Beatrice to be on the outlook as to when Geoffrey comes home. She wanted to welcome him herself.
Back in her room, she started reading the invites. The first party she would grace as crown princess was very important. But then, choosing one out of the many might sow some discontent, especially knowing who she was now. Thinking it through, the season was not yet over. It was only the first week of October, and so, she could of course, just host her own party.
She has never hosted one herself, but she can ask for help, particularly from her mother. By the way, it has only been 9 days, but she already missed them. She also wants to show them her new home. She should invite them over for dinner. They should be excited to hear from her too. Thinking about it, she decided to ask Geoffrey's permission to do all those later.
Now, what else does she need to do? Oh, she needs information about the political reality. She thought of reading through some newspapers for research, but then, what's the point of that? Thinking it over, she can just ask that from Leonard. It's not that she can't ask from Geoffrey, but from her conversation with him last night, she believes that he won't actually tell her anything useful just so that she won't have to worry.
She understands that he didn't want her to stress herself over his position, that he wants her to have full confidence in him for he can do it on his own, which of course, she does. However, she knew that to keep herself uninvolved was also wrong. She and Geoffrey were a team now. Once she knows better, she can try to help him in her own way too.
She sighed. She didn't think of it this way this before, but now that she's crown princess, she also needs political allies, and who else could she rely on first but her family? She almost felt evil for involving them, but then again, they must have already been prepared for that since her engagement to the crown prince was announced.
Checking the time, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon. Time flies so fast when one is busy. Should Geoffrey be arriving back now?
Earlier she wanted to check their wedding gifts and read the wedding letters sent to them but felt like it would be better to do those with Geoffrey. That, and she did not have the time to do so just yet.
"Milady, ugh, your royal highness, his royal highness' carriage just entered the house's main gate." Beatrice announced as she entered Serena's room.
Serena smiled hearing the news. Ah, it's just been a few hours, but it felt like she had not seen him for an eternity. She shook her head, who's turning to become clingy now? She mocked herself as she walked out of her room.
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TBC