CH 145

Raven set down several documents in front of me. “This is a document from the Ministry of Finance and this one is from the Ministry of Military Action. They are related to expenses, so you just have to check the amounts are correct. This document is petition from the suburbs requesting a meeting. Please check that it was filled out properly done and verify the request is reasonable. Make a list of the issues they wish to discuss.”

These tasks seemed easy. I wondered if they were testing me or just going easy on me because I was new. It was time for me to prove my abilities. I picked up the expense report from the Ministry of Military Action. It was the month’s budget from the knight’s order. I picked up a pen to go over the calculations.

The time seemed to pass extremely slowly. After around 3 hours of checking document after document, I stood and stretched my back. The tasks were so simple that I was becoming bored. The only thing I found to be an issue was the number of documents I needed to go through.

“Sir Esteban. I’m done with the documents you have given me,” I informed Raven.

Raven came over and started checking each page I had worked on for accuracy. I took the time to stretch out my aching muscles. I was going to need one of Lina’s famous massages.

“You’re pretty fast.” Raven sounded surprised. “Seems like we’ll be able to leave the palace early.”

The attendees began whispering amongst themselves and some came over to check the documents themselves. The talking back and forth grew as they realized I had completed all the work in a much faster time than any of them could.

“Oh! It’s real! Looks at this clean list! Amazing!”

“This document was always full of errors, but to fix it so cleanly! Such a prodigy!”

“Oh my, to finish all of this in such a quick time! Where have you been hiding?”

One of them even grabbed my hands with joy in their eyes. I was taken aback. I thought they were going to start kissing me. It seemed that, since the emperor didn’t like people, there weren’t enough attendees for the amount of work. I was used to hard work, and it was apparently appreciated more in this world. The attendees went mad and backed me into a corner, bringing their own stack of documents.

“If you’re alright with it, can you check this document as well? This part here…”

“This is more urgent! You just have to organize this part, but the standard is a bit iffy. Have you done this before?”

“Young lady! This chart is….!”

My back was almost against the wall when there was a loud bang.

“Seems like everyone has time to spare.”

As they turned, they saw in the middle of a luxurious wooden desk a hole the size of Ridrian’s fist. The surface was thick, but he had struck right through it. The desk was now damaged beyond repair. The attendees began to tremble.

“Since you all have so much time to spare, I’m ordering extra work. Finish the interim bill that came up from the Ministry of Finance by the end of today. We’ll be able to start tracing expenditures tomorrow,” Ridrian ordered.

Everyone looked devastated, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of changing his mind.

“Your Majesty, it seems like we’ll have to replace your broken desk, so how about we have a break?” Raven who had been watching all of the chaos without saying a word, made the request to Ridrian.

“Sure,” Ridrian said, annoyed. “Viscount Lesprey, please follow me.”

Raven took the document I was holding and then gave me a gentle shove. “He hasn’t slept in two days,” he whispered in my ear.

The emperor left the room without turning back. I took one more look at the broken desk and followed hesitantly. He took me to the drawing room beside the office. There were too many eyes watching to go straight to the bedroom.

Dylan and Eris tried to come in, but Ridrian locked the door the moment I walked through.

“Iona?” Eris sounded flustered outside. But Ridrian ignored her and pulled me towards him.

“Iona.” He hugged me tight. He began to rub his head against my neck, out of habit. It was like a huge black panther trying to snuggle. The curtain had already been drawn and the room was nice and dark.

“Your Majesty.”

“Call me by my name.”

“Your Majesty Ridrian.” He wasn’t going to give up on the name thing until I got used to it.

“Sleepy,” Ridrian mumbled. I looked at his face and his eyes were half closed. There were faint, dark circles under them.

“I’ll be beside you,” I told him. “Sleep a little.”

I sat down on the couch and Ridrian used my knees as a pillow.

“It’s not good. I still can’t sleep without you. Do I have to switch my night and day?” I smiled quietly at what seemed to be a joke. “Does it feel good to leave?” he asked.

“It’s a little awkward with all of the people, but I think it will be alright.”

Life in the mansion was a bit lonely. There were a lot of people, but I couldn’t have any real conversations with them. It was unfamiliar and hard to be alone after getting the Lesprey name returned to me, though I was coping. Once in a while, thoughts of Ridrian would trouble me. Was he sleeping well, or was he in pain from not sleeping all night and acting like tyrant again? The thoughts made me uneasy.

“It’s only been two days since you left but it feels like a year.” Ridrian grabbed my hand and brought it to his chest. I could feel his heart beating rapidly. “It’s good that you like it, but I still don’t want to let you…”

He must have been extremely tired, as he fell asleep in mid-sentence. He looked so defenseless, asleep. I thought I had gotten used to the sight, but for some reason it still made me smile. I felt like I was the only one who ever got to see this face. My emotions were being conflicted. I felt joy that I never felt before, but also sad to the point of almost crying. I also felt like I was stealing something that wasn’t mine. Ridrian needed to move on with his story, so this was it for me.

I contemplated my future in the silence as the summer sun, that glowed faintly through the curtain, heated the room and began to melt my heart.