Chapter 26

***

I tried to sleep soundly without thinking about Philen or Cecily, but I couldn’t. It was impossible.

In the end, I stayed up all night with my eyes wide open, sitting quietly on the sofa and doing nothing.

Even though I had no desire to do anything, there was nothing to do.

After handing everything to Philen, all I had left was free time.

When I was doing the Duke and Duchess’s work, I was so busy that a day wasn’t enough. And then, I suddenly became free, so I didn’t know what to do.

Should I read a book? Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.

Having made the decision, I headed straight to the study.

But, the door to the study was firmly locked.

Of course, I thought the butler would have the key, but he didn’t.

“Master holds the key to the study.”

“Aren’t the keys of the mansion originally kept by the butler?”

“Yes, but last night, Master asked me to bring him the key to the study, so I gave it to him.”

“I see.”

Philen and the study. What a bad combination.

I was surprised when I heard that he took the key to the study, not the key to the training ground.

Ah, did he take the key to the study because of the documents?

Other than that, there was no reason for Philen to take the key to the study.

I thought he would be coasting, it turned out he’s working hard. It was a little unexpected.

“Do you not have any extra keys?”

“The study is an important place. So, for security reasons, only one key was made. If it is lost, we have to change the lock.”

That meant I had to get the key from Philen if I wanted to go to the study.

What should I do?

If nothing happened yesterday, I would have gone to him. But that’s not the case so I agonized about it. It was uncomfortable to meet him.

“Is the Duke in his study now?”

“No. He’s still asleep.”

Then I don’t want to go see him anymore. Because Cecily is in his room.

After agonizing about it, I finally decided not to go.

The desire to not meet Cecily and Philen was greater than the desire to read a book.

I couldn’t read a book, so I was contemplating what to do with the rest of my free time, but then a maid came to me with a magic communication tool.

“My Lady, Aide Tail Wizard has contacted you.”

The reason why Baron Wizard contacted me could be roughly guessed without hearing it. I was sure he’s asking about the rainy season.

I had given all of it to Philen, so it was right to tell her to take the magic tool to him, but I didn’t.

My guess could be wrong. So I thought it would be better to hear what was going on and decide.

I accepted the magic tool from the maid.

As I lightly rubbed the communication tool, Baron Wizard’s face appeared.

[It’s been a while, My Lady.]

“It’s been a while, Baron Wizard. What’s the matter?”

[I’m contacting you to ask about the rainy season.]

It was as expected. I sighed lightly and answered.

“If that’s the case, it was out of my hands.”

[Yes? What do you mean…]

“The Duke took it with him. From now on, the Duke will take care of everything in the mansion himself.”

At my words, Baron Wizard’s look became subtle. It wasn’t a very pleasing look.

“Now that that’s the case, you should contact the Duke directly.”

It didn’t change whether he liked it or not.

This was also right. It was unusual for me to handle the affairs of the Duke of Williot.

…was it really unusual?

[If the matter has been passed on to the Duke, it may take a long time to process. Because the Duke is still inexperienced in this work.]

Baron Wizard, who was silent for a moment, spoke in a sigh.

[I don’t know about anything else, but I need your approval for the rainy season as soon as possible… Can’t you be in charge of only this matter?]

“I don’t think that’s for me to decide, Baron Wizard.”

[That’s true.]

Baron Wizard’s expression clouded.

After rubbing his face with his hands, the baron asked me carefully.

[Could you please check how far the Duke has progressed?]

“Isn’t it better to check it yourself?”

[I want to do that, but unfortunately, the time for the magic communication tool has run out.]

Come to think of it, Baron Wizard’s face looks blurry from some point on.

Magic communication tool is a magic tool that uses magical power. It takes two days of charging to use it for 10 minutes.

[So please, My Lady. And if possible, please send the document here by today. So that we can prepare before the rainy season arrives….]

Before Baron Wizard’s words could be finished, the magic communication tool was turned off.

It couldn’t be helped. I had no choice but to go check it myself.

I didn’t want to meet Philen, but I couldn’t let my personal feelings prevent me from doing what I had to do.

For a moment I wondered if this was the right thing to do, but I didn’t give it much thought.

Now that I was meeting Philen, I was going to get the key to the study.

I headed straight to Philen’s room, took a few deep breaths, and then knocked on the door carefully.

Tok, tok. 

The knocking sound was unusually loud.

Even though it was late in the morning, there was no answer as to whether he was still sleeping.

I’ll knock one more time and if there’s no answer, I’ll come back later.

I knocked again, and this time the door opened, whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.

“What’s the matter?”

It was Cecily. She wore only a shawl over a thin nightgown.

The exposed nape of her neck showed red spots. Her skin was white, so the red spots stood out.

And the glistening blue jewel above them, I felt its quality.

Did she wear a necklace when she slept? It’s unusual.

“The Duke?”

“He’s still sleeping. He overworked himself a little last night.”

Cecily said so and stroked the nape of her neck.

I frowned at the obvious intentional behavior, but I didn’t say anything.

I would be the only one who would get tired if she told Philen again.

I didn’t want to waste unnecessary emotions anymore.

“When does he wake up?”

“Isn’t that based on Phil’s mood?”

Cecily snapped with a vicious look. The wariness was evident on her face.

She seemed to have decided to take off her mask and threw it away when talking to me.

Well, it didn’t really matter. This was much better than putting on a nice mask and pretending to be kind.

“Then, when the Duke wakes up, let him know that I have come. Tell him I want to meet him.”

“There’s no need to do that.”

Suddenly, Philen appeared behind Cecily.

As soon as she saw Philen, she put on a nice mask.

“What’s the matter, Lady Thebesa?” He asked, looking at me with sleepy eyes.

“Are you here to apologize for yesterday?”

Apologize. I smiled a little and looked at Philen.

“Do I owe you an apology, Duke?”

At my words, Philen woke up and looked at me with quiet eyes.

I looked him in the eye and told him why I was here.

“I’ve got a contact from Baron Wizard. Not knowing that I had handed everything to the Duke yet, he contacted me.”

“Baron Wizard? For what business?”

“It’s about the rainy season preparation. As the Duke knows, the rainy season is approaching, so he asked you to send him the approved document quickly so that they could prepare it.”

“Ah, that.”

As he nodded his head as if he understood, he seemed to have read the document.

I guessed he didn’t play with that woman all night.

I felt like an idiot just because I was glad about that.

“I was actually going to review it, and approve it, then send it to the estate today. So I’m asking you, Lady. May I ask you a question?”

“Please ask, Duke.”

“Is the Lady the one who wrote the document? Or is it the aide?”

“If you’re asking the first person who wrote the document, it’s the aide.”

“Then, did the Lady finish reading the document?”

He’s asking what’s obvious.

I nodded.

“Ha.”

Philen laughed and looked at me.

Why is he like that?

Are there any problems with the document?

There’s no way. I had corrected all the wrong parts. 

The document handed to him was the final document that was left for only final review.

“Is there something wrong with the document?”

I asked him carefully, wondering if he discovered a problem I hadn’t noticed, but Philen turned around, shrugging lightly.

“There is, but I won’t tell the Lady. It has nothing to do with the Lady now. I don’t even need any help from the Lady.”

Don’t even need my help, huh? 

“So in the future, I hope that there will be no conversations like this with the Lady. Let’s go in, Cecily.”

Philen was cold like a frost breeze to me but warm like a spring breeze to Cecily.

Cecily, conceited of that fact, entered the room arm in arm with Philen.

I was well aware that Philen liked and cherished Cecily more than me, but it was shocking every time I saw it.

I stood there for a long time like a third wheel. Then I realized one thing later.

It was a very minor thing that didn’t fit the current situation. The fact that I couldn’t ask him for the key to the study.

*****

“What are you looking at?”

Ver, who came to report to Kalian, glanced at what Kalian was looking at.

“Handkerchief.”

It was also a handkerchief engraved with the crest of the Duke of Williot.

Why is he holding that?

Looking at him in wonder, Kalian smiled and held out the handkerchief.

“Isn’t it pretty?”

“Sorry. Pretty?”

“Your Majesty, has your eyesight deteriorated? Should I get you glasses?”

Ver indirectly expressed that the handkerchief was bad.

Then Kalian, who’s sensitive at his remarks, kicked Ver’s desk.

As the papers piled up on the desk poured down, Ver screamed.

“What, what are you doing?!”

Kalian replied in a sassy tone.

“As you said, my eyesight deteriorated and I couldn’t see, why?”

Lie! You did it on purpose!

Since his opponent was the emperor, Ver couldn’t say that and just swallowed his anger inside.

“How’s your test preparation going?”

“I have something to ask you about that.”

Ver picked up some of the papers that were scattered on the floor and held them out to Kalian.

“Will it do if the level of difficulty is like this?”

After checking the papers that Ver handed over, Callian twisted his lips.

“Are you kidding me? Are you going to pick only the idiots one?”

“…this is difficult, too.”

“Yeah, right. I bet it is.”

Kalian answered firmly and tore the papers.

No. The questions that scholars have worked hard day and night for days…!

Although Ver was in despair, Kalian tore the papers into shreds without hesitation and threw them into the air.

The torn pieces of paper fluttered like snow.

“Make it again. Ten times more difficult than it is now.”

“Ten times?!”

Ver was enervated and looked at Kalian.

“Do you really have any intention of hiring an aide?

“Of course.”

Kalian smiled with his eyes sparkled.

“I’ve already had someone in my mind. Of course, it will be decided after the test is taken.”