Chapter 86

From the moment he heard that Philen returned to the capital, he already thought it had something to do with Leila, but behaving like that in front of someone else’s house? 

It was absurd and ridiculous. It wasn’t something a famous duke would do.

If Leila’s house had been a noble mansion with proper formality and structure, it wouldn’t have been possible for something like that to happen.

Kalian was very upset because it seemed to be his fault for not giving her a proper house from the beginning. 

[What should I do?]

In his mind, he wanted to get him out right away, but he swallowed it because if he did that, he would find out that he was monitoring her.

Kalian thought for a moment, then told him to call the guards.

He didn’t forget to tell him to keep his eyes on Philen.

The report ended there. 

Kalian looked at the messenger bird, whose spring had been completely stopped, and spoke out abruptly.

“Ver, look for a mansion.”

“A mansion?”

A mansion all of a sudden?

At the sudden remark, Ver tilted his head.

“Ah, do you want to give it to Sir Thebesa?”

“Yeah.”

Kalian continued, putting the messenger bird in the drawer.

“It’s fortunate that Leila is not at home right now, if she had been, it would have been a disaster, so it would be better to prepare in advance.”

That’s right. Ver agreed with Kalian.

Even to him, Philen’s obsession with Leila was abnormal.

“I understand. I’ll find a proper noble mansion.”

“Also, look for butlers and servants who will take care of the mansion.” 

“Me? They are the people who will serve Sir Thebesa, wouldn’t it be better to look for them yourself?”

It makes sense. 

Kalian, who instructed him to do so, asked something else.

“How is the establishment of the child care institution going?”

“It’s going smoothly. It’s easy to work because Sir Thebesa organized the data so meticulously.”

“I see.”

Kalian smiled proudly as if he was the one who had been praised.

Ver looked at him strangely and took out the report about the child care institution from among the reports he had brought and put it down in front of Kalian.

“This is the current progress of the establishment.” 

Kalian looked through the report.

As Ver said, it was proceeding without any problems. If this continued, the agenda for the child care institution would be passed within a month.

If there’s anything I’m worried about…

“The temple won’t stay still.”

Until now, the temple had been in charge of caring for orphans.  

In return, the imperial family gave a huge donation to the temple.

However, once the child care institution was established, all the orphans would go there. There was no need to give donations to the temple anymore.  

If they realized that they would lose the donation, there’s no way the temple would stay still.

“That is something I’m concerned about too, but I think it would be better to keep an eye on the situation first. It’s not too late to check how it turns out from the temple side and move.”

Kalian nodded.

“We should do that. It looks like Leila will be back soon, so let’s discuss it as soon as she comes back.”

“I wanted to finish it before Sir Thebesa came back, but it’s not easy.”

“Because it’s a new agenda that was passed to you. Of course.”

Tok tok-

Knocks were heard and Rahel informed him that it was from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

“I guess he’s going to report about the diplomatic meeting with the Natsha Kingdom.”

“Yeah.”

Hiltine had already reported it, but it didn’t hurt hearing it again.

There might be something Hiltine missed.

“Then I will get going now.”

“Don’t forget to look for a mansion.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it in my head.”

In a playful response, Ver left the office.

When Ver saw the official standing outside, he bowed his head lightly to greet him.

But the official neatly ignored him and went into the office.

“How rude.”

Ver lightly clicked his tongue and returned to his office.

He was welcomed by an empty office with no one in it.

Ver’s gaze naturally turned to Leila’s desk.

He had been using this large office alone for several years, and he had only been using it with Leila for only a month. But he felt her absence greatly. A corner of his heart felt empty.

Is it because there’s less work to be done and then more to do?

“…it seems like that.”

Other than that, there’s no reason to feel this way. 

Because it was convenient in many ways when Leila was there.

He didn’t have to work overtime, and they could think about work together and share their opinions.

…and unlike other nobles, she didn’t ignore him.

Now, it had been over two weeks since Leila had been away.

“I hope you come back soon.” 

He missed Leila as if it had been two months.

*****

I didn’t attend the meeting after that, but I kept hearing about how it was going.

It’s from Diane though, not from the nobles of the same Empire.

I couldn’t believe I heard the news from a diplomat from another country. It was embarrassing.

I was curious about how things were going, so I continued to hear the news from her despite my embarrassment.

When I attended the diplomatic meeting, everyone was acting like a fool, so I was a little worried, but fortunately, the diplomatic meeting was going smoothly.

Still, a diplomat was a diplomat, huh?   

It was fortunate, but I was annoyed for other reasons.

“Sir Thebesa, think carefully.”

It was because the nobles were annoying. 

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the face of the empire. But what would happen to the image of the empire if rumor spread that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t do its job properly in the meeting with other countries? It’s going to fall right away!”

“That’s right. That’s why, about what Sir did at the meeting, we wanted you to keep it a secret…”

Even if there’s a good reason, I was annoyed when they said such nonsense in a situation where they would feel annoyed by it too. 

I held back what I wanted to shout right now and told them.

“I have no intention of doing that, so please go back now.”

“Are you worried about your evaluation, Sir?”

Why are you talking about that here?

When I looked at him absurdly, the nobleman said, “as expected,” and exclaimed.

“If that’s the case, Marquis Valdir had said that he would tell Duke Giltian well.”

“That’s right! The Marquis said that he was going to tell the Duke that, thanks to Sir’s help, we were able to lead the meeting successfully!”

Aha, I was wondering why you were doing your best to persuade me, it turned out Marquis Valdir’s influence was there. 

It was understandable. He was anxious because the credit seemed to be taken away by a lady, whom he ignored, right? 

“We’ll tell the other nobles too! Then everyone will no longer be able to ignore the Lady. Wouldn’t that be a good thing for the Lady too?”

“It’s indeed a good thing.”

“Right? That’s why…”

“But I will refuse.”

For that reason, I didn’t want to pass the credit on to them even more.

When I firmly refused, they paused for a moment.

They looked into each other’s eyes and then asked me again.

“What did you just say?”

“I said I refuse.”

“Ha?”

It was Viscount Malven who said that.

He glared at me as if he didn’t like it and said.

“Does the Lady intend to undermine the prestige of the Empire for her personal gain?”

Did I become a Lady again instead of Sir?

The way they called me was as rude as their personalities.

“Does the Viscount not think his actions like this undermine the prestige of the Empire?”

“Lady!”

“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’ll go.”

I bowed my head to them and turned around.

I firmly refused, so I thought they wouldn’t come anymore, but they didn’t.

“We’re not asking for the Lady’s accomplishment. We just want you to be flexible.”

They were more persistent than expected. 

“If the Lady concedes just this once, Marquis Valdir will keep remembering this and be grateful for it.” 

Even if I tried to ignore them and not deal with them, I couldn’t because they kept sticking to me except when I was sleeping and when I went to wash up.

There were no exceptions when I ate.

They kept talking next to me to the point that I didn’t even know if the meal had gone through their nose or their mouth.

If I left them alone, they seemed like they were going to interfere with my tea time with Diane, which would be a while later.

That doesn’t make any sense. 

I let out a small sigh and looked back at the chattering nobles.  

“Oh, do you finally think of hearing us?”

You’re absolutely wrong. 

“No way. I turned to say that I firmly refused.”

“We already explained it so well, do you still not understand what we’re saying?”

“Yes. I don’t even have any desire to understand.”

“Lady Thebesa!”

“Once again, I have no intention of accepting the offer.”

“Then, are you going to crush the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ face like this?”

“If you didn’t like it, you should have investigated it properly from the beginning.”

I didn’t want to say these words, but they kept saying weird things, so I couldn’t help but say bitter things. 

At my words, all the nobles frowned. 

It seemed that their noble pride was cracked.

“Please also tell Marquis Valdir. I won’t change my mind, so stop making any vain efforts anymore.”

I emphasized the word ‘vain effort’ and turned around. 

This time, they didn’t come after me because their pride was damaged properly.

“Sir Thebesa.”

As soon as I was relieved by that fact, another person appeared.

“Marquis Hutton.”

I had no bad feelings toward Marquis Hutton, but since I had just dealt with annoying people, it felt a bit annoying.

Of course, I didn’t show it.

“I heard that you played a big role in the meeting with the Natsha Kingdom. That’s incredible. It wasn’t an easy job.”

“I was just lucky.”

“You need to have skills before luck follows you.” 

Marquis Hutton smiled with a friendly face and tapped my shoulder.

“It’s very reassuring to have a person like Sir as an official of the Empire. Please continue to take care of us in the future as well.”

Does this person recognize me as an official? 

Except for Kalian and Ver, Marquis Hutton was the first noble to recognize me as an official.

I was touched, and I gained confidence that one day I would be able to be recognized by more people.

“Thank you.”

When I bowed my head, saying goodbye with overwhelming emotion, Marquis Hutton smiled kindly.

“…”

But in an instant, Marquis Hutton suddenly hardened his face and looked around fiercely.