A Relaxed Mood
It seems things have loosened up a bit, huh>
“It’s surprising. You’re asking me all these things, Lady Fordward.”>
I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic at all.>
I was just genuinely surprised that she’d want to know about me.>
“……”>
Her soft lavender eyes locked onto me without blinking. They were flat, without any hint of dislike or hostility.>
“If you don’t want to answer, just say so.”>
Mullia turned her head away again, propping her chin on her hand and watching the street scene unfold before us.>
She really seemed interested in me.>
“I never said I didn’t want to.”>
“I see.”>
With a short reply, silence returned once more.>
The only sound around us was the rhythmic creak of the carriage wheels rolling along the road.>
“Let’s pretend the question from just now never happened.”>
Mullia kept her gaze firmly fixed on something else.>
Was she just making idle conversation because she was bored?>
It was possible. Even someone usually quiet like her must find it tedious sitting in a carriage for hours on end.>
I was in the same boat right now.>
‘Well, it’s nothing I need to hide.’>
Just as I was trying to find the right moment to speak, the carriage slowed and stopped near the northern city gate.>
“I’ll step out and check the surroundings for a bit.”>
“……”>
I had come here on official business, so it was only right to take a look around first.>
I jumped down from the carriage and walked around the walls and streets. Everything looked normal.>
After finishing my inspection, I approached the guards stationed at the gate. I had some messages to pass on beforehand.>
“Is now a good time?”>
I walked up to the soldier on the left side of the gate. As I spoke, I showed him my imperial staff—the symbol of an imperial employee.>
“Yes. Is there some trouble?”>
The knight straightened his posture the moment he saw my staff, his face tense with alertness.>
He had been yawning just moments ago…>
Thanks to that, I could really feel the weight of my imperial staff.>
“No trouble. I just need to pass along a message.”>
“Yes. What is it?”>
I told the guard that the imperial knight order would be returning through this northern gate in a few days and asked him to relay the message to the imperial palace.>
“Also, we’ll be holding a parade, so please keep an eye out for anything unusual in the surrounding streets.”>
“Yes.”>
“And pass the same to the captain of the guard.”>
“Understood.”>
The soldier saluted me. I returned the gesture with a light wave, then climbed back into the carriage.>
My patrol was complete, so it was time to head back to the office.>
In other words, I would have to wrestle with another mountain of documents the moment I arrived.>
‘The X-bureaucracy is never-ending… more X-bureaucracy awaits me after that…’>
Mullia sat with her arms crossed, her expression calm and composed.>
“How was it?”>
“Nothing unusual. I made sure to pass the message to the guards.”>
“A message?”>
Mullia furrowed one eyebrow in surprise.>
“Soon the knight order will pass through the northern gate on their way back. I told them to send word to the imperial palace ahead of time.”>
“Ah, that does sound necessary.”>
Mullia nodded in understanding. I gave the signal to the coachman, and we set off again at the same relaxed pace.>
“……”>
“……”>
The moment the necessary conversation ended, silence wrapped around us once more.>
But the longer I stayed quiet, the more I felt an itch in my throat and the harder it became to stay silent.>
Why couldn’t this fool keep his mouth shut?>
“Lady Fordward. You asked earlier what kind of administrative work I learned. Let me tell you.”>
“……”>
Mullia didn’t answer. She simply turned her gaze toward me.>
Even if she was only looking, it at least meant she was curious.>
“I don’t mind if you don’t want to know. I’m just feeling a little restless on the way back.”>
“……”>
Mullia gave a tiny nod.>
It was better than no reaction at all.>
“As you know, I come from a rural village. Nedville. It’s so far from here that you’d need to ride a horse for nearly two weeks. Just a tiny village.”>
“Lady Fordward probably didn’t even know such places existed until now.”>
“That’s true.”>
Mullia gave a brief affirmative nod.>
“My father was the lord of Nedville. He doesn’t care much for formalities, though… Do you think it’s possible for nobles and commoners to get along closely, Lady Fordward?”>
Mullia’s eyes widened slightly as she tilted her head. It was obvious she couldn’t imagine such a thing.>
That made sense. Nobles didn’t normally behave that way.>
Which just proved my father was the exception.>
I wasn’t slandering him, of course. I was simply speaking from the common view of the era.>
“True. Nobles usually can’t get close to commoners, like you saw just now.”>
“Yes. There’s a clear barrier of status between nobles and commoners.”>
I nodded along with her. She had stated a truth anyone with noble blood could agree with.>
“That’s how our territory was. There were no real nobles there except my father and I. Plus, it was a tiny domain, so we treated each other like equals. And my father loved meeting people, which made it even more relaxed.”>
Interest gradually grew in Mullia’s soft lavender eyes. When the listener became truly engaged, the storyteller got even more excited.>
“The story went off on a tangent. Anyway, my father can’t sit still for long. And except for him, I was the only one who knew how to handle work. So naturally, I ended up managing the territory’s affairs—from overseeing facilities to checking the water supply and harvest, and stockpiling food for the winter.”>
“You handled everything needed to run the domain.”>
“That’s right. Which is why I spent a lot of time with paperwork. Even so, compared to what we do here, it was nothing much.”>
I shrugged casually.>
In truth, that had been the case. At most, Nedville handled around fifty pieces of paper a day.>
Here, you’re expected to process four or five hundred daily. There was no comparison.>
“I had no idea you had that kind of experience.”>
Mullia said in a low voice.>
“Well, there’s no point talking about it if no one asks.”>
“I… see.”>
She gave a small nod.>
But did spilling all that really mean anything?>
It seemed to have done little more than ease my boredom.>
Still, I figured the future would take care of itself.>
I wasn’t burdened by my rural background. Mullia didn’t seem like the type to hold such prejudices anyway.>
Even if I was currently being treated as a suspect, perhaps.>
“Still…”>
“Hm?”>
I leaned forward a little to hear her better. Mullia parted her lips several times before speaking.>
“Thanks to that, I feel like I know a little more about what kind of person the secretary is.”>
It looked like her guard had been lowered, at least slightly.>
* * *>
The carriage carrying Luke and Mullia arrived at the imperial palace.>
Luke stepped down first and offered his hand to help Mullia out. Mullia moved her head slightly in thanks and took his hand.>
“Let’s hurry back.”>
“Yes.”>
Luke led the way. To accommodate Mullia’s shorter stride, he walked a bit slower than usual.>
‘Every time I see it, I think she has a kind heart.’>
Mullia thought, looking at his broad back.>
Since she had first heard the story of how Luke helped Empress Cecilia escape danger, her guard had been slowly slipping.>
The fact that she had brought up administrative work while riding in the carriage today was purely her own personal and trivial curiosity.>
Luke was indeed good at handling paperwork quickly and accurately, so it wasn’t something she could help wondering about.>
There was no way he could have learned so much from just a month with Count Millord.>
‘I actually thought he might not say anything about it.’>
But Luke had spoken far more candidly about his background than I expected. Even someone who had shown hostility toward him.>
Perhaps he simply didn’t consider it a big deal.>
“……”>
Thinking that far made Mullia’s face suddenly flush with heat. She had practically been talking to herself like a fool.>
“Lady Fordward?”>
At that exact moment, Luke stopped and turned around.>
He had simply been checking that she was keeping up. But the timing was terrible.>
“!”>
Mullia covered her burning face with both hands.>
“Lady Fordward?”>
“N-never mind that. Go ahead first……”>
Luke tilted his head, confused. Before long, he decided to head to the office first, just as she wanted.>
It was probably nothing important, so he let it pass without a second thought.>
“Haa……”>
As Luke walked away, Mullia finally let out a long sigh.>
She had no choice but to fan herself in place to cool her flushed face.>
* * *>
That night, Flora and Mullia were gathered in Empress Cecilia’s room. The three women sat around a round tea table, playing a card game.>
“Hey, Mullia.”>
“Hm?”>
Mullia turned to Flora, still holding her cards.>
“What did you talk about with Luke today?”>
Flora’s face was full of curiosity.>
What kind of story was she hoping for?>
“I’m getting a little interested too.”>
Cecilia suddenly joined in. Mullia couldn’t keep quiet anymore.>
She recounted everything she had talked about with Luke on the carriage earlier.>
“Oh ho. So that’s what you talked about. It wasn’t as dramatic as I thought.”>
Flora nodded with satisfaction.>
“I’m glad you sent Luke with you.”>
“Right? His Majesty probably agrees too.”>
As she listened to Cecilia and Flora, Mullia felt puzzled.>
“Flora, what exactly…”>
“Ah, actually, I was hoping you two would get closer, even a little.”>
“Flora asked me, and I gladly agreed.”>
“Ah…”>
So that was why I got to go with the secretary.>
Mullia finally understood.>
“So, has your opinion of Luke changed?”>
Flora leaned forward toward Mullia. Mullia instinctively leaned back.>
“Not completely… but…”>
“Not completely?”>
Flora asked, and Cecilia watched Mullia with curious eyes. Eventually Mullia spoke in a low voice.>
“I think I can trust him a little.”>
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