Academy Completion Rate 33.33% - 3
The Second Department Head’s roasting set my teeth on edge, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. If I could actually use teleportation, I’d have barreled over there on the spot and knocked him around a few times.
Still, he did answer my questions. If he’d just mocked me and given me nothing, I really might have lost it.
That son of a bitch.
I stared weakly down at the communication orb where his face had vanished.
Truth be told, I did have a counter if the bastard kept up his insane provocations. The man was on the verge of marriage—hitting him there would shut him up just fine.
But the fact that he was getting married before me was both my weapon and my weakness.
He’d only get worse.
The more I attacked, the more spectacular the retaliation waiting for me later—a bleak future I could see with perfect clarity. The second his own wedding was over, that bastard would drive a stake straight into my solar plexus. The more I teased him, the more stakes I’d collect. And I had five weddings of my own.
It was a structure where the more we fought, the more inevitable my eventual defeat became. He’d clearly noticed. The provocations he’d once held somewhat in check were now flying free like a horse with its reins cut.
Please. Please let the Minister give him hell in my place. At the wedding, something like, “You can’t take my niece unless you beat me!” followed by a wrestling match would be perfect.
…Should I egg him on?
The thought struck me for a moment. If I couldn’t do it myself, I could just plant the idea with the Minister.
Judging by how hard he’d pressed for the marriage, the Minister seemed to care about his niece in his own way. If he’d felt nothing, he wouldn’t have bothered whether they dated or wed.
Right. Time to awaken the heart of a father sending his daughter off to a complete scoundrel. The Minister already knew the Second Department Head wasn’t right in the head, so it ought to work beautifully.
Perfect.
If I can’t do it myself, borrow one barbarian’s hand to kill another.
It sounded insane, but it was a magnificent plan. I’d do it at once.
Or so I said—things like this were best done face-to-face, not over a communication orb. The closing ceremony was only a few days away; I’d hold out until I returned to the Audit Department.
Besides, right now there was something more important than any scheme of pitting barbarians against each other.
“So you’ll be coming again this time.”
Informing the butler of the Capital trip. From his perspective, advance notice would make hosting guests far easier.
Yet when he said “again this time,” his expression seemed to harden oddly.
It really did harden.
And he had every right. How long had it been since he’d faced that miraculous lineup of imperial royalty, royal blood, and a future saint—and now this again?
A lineup you might not see once in a lifetime. Even catching a single glimpse of one of them counted as a lot—and he was about to see them again before the year was out.
But he was mistaken. This time he wouldn’t have to endure that particular agony.
“It’s not everyone like last time. Just four of us, including me.”
At that, the butler’s face grew noticeably milder.
“Me, Lady Margeta, Lady Luise, and Lady Irina.”
Milder still.
“I see. Understood. I shall prepare with all my strength.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
“Haha. If not now, when else would I put my back into it?”
Watching the butler laugh with his earlier worries gone, I felt my own heart ease as well. How peaceful things became once the exalted personages returned to where they belonged.
True, a duke’s daughter was still among the party, but after tasting the full spice of imperial royalty, a single lady was well within the butler’s capacity.
Moreover, he already knew the nature of my relationship with Margeta, so he would feel less like he was receiving an awkward guest and more like he was welcoming his future mistress.
“All right. Good work.”
“Yes, Master. I shall await the day we meet again.”
I watched him bow and cut the connection. He was the sort who handled things flawlessly once entrusted with them; there was no need to fuss further.
In the meantime, I could think about ring designs. Giving all five of them identical rings would look far too thoughtless. Even if the gemstones were all diamonds, the shapes ought to differ a little.
Not that I’ll be the one making them anyway.
That was the artisan’s job. And an artisan would craft whatever the person paying him wanted.
Pour enough money in and no design was impossible. If something truly couldn’t be done, that only meant you hadn’t spent enough.
I entered the storeroom with Sophia, both of us laden with bedding. The work of swapping every set of linens in the mansion over to winter stock.
Finally finished.
It was only changing bedding, yet the mansion was so vast it had taken several days. Washing and drying the winter linens from the storeroom; washing, drying, and hauling the autumn linens from each room.
After dozens—hundreds—of trips back and forth, we had at last finished the final room. The real winter preparations had been handled by the others, so this year’s readiness for the cold was complete!
“Ugh, my neck’s gonna snap.”
Sophia groaned just as she finished tucking the last quilt into a drawer. Of course it hurt. She’d spent the whole time balancing winter quilts on her head as she moved.
“You should’ve just carried them normally.”
“This way it finishes faster.”
She massaged her neck and answered with a little giggle.
Idiot. Her body wasn’t even that strong. No one would have said a word if she’d taken it a little easier.
“We’re done, so let’s get out of here. I heard they made cake in the kitchen?”
“Whoa! Cake!”
The moment I mentioned the morning’s rumor for Sophia’s sake after all that hard work, she bolted toward the exit. Naturally I went with her. If I lagged behind, she’d eat it all. Even for Sophia, I wasn’t surrendering a cake the Chef had made.
But it seemed it wasn’t time to eat yet—we never made it out of the storeroom.
“Nyeek!”
Sophia, racing ahead, collided with the butler just as he was stepping inside.
Collided was generous; given the difference in build, only Sophia bounced off. The butler himself didn’t so much as sway, as if a balloon had brushed him.
“Sophia, are you all right?”
Looking briefly startled, the butler hastily helped her up. He clearly hadn’t expected a collision the instant he walked in.
“I think I hit the walllll…”
“You’re fine, then.”
He spoke with clear relief at her grumbling.
Last time Sophia had fallen properly, she hadn’t been able to speak and had only cried. The fact that she was complaining meant nothing was seriously hurt.
“Butler, sir. What brings you all the way to the storeroom?”
I asked him over Sophia’s shoulder as she dusted off her skirt. It was rare for him to come down here.
“Master informed me he will be arriving with guests. I need to find the bedding suitable for such distinguished visitors.”
“Guests?”
At those words a few faces instinctively flashed through my mind. The lady who seemed to have that sort of relationship with Master; the pink-haired sister who felt strangely comforting whenever she was near; the blonde sister I personally felt sorry toward.
And the exalted personages whose reason for coming I still didn’t fully understand.
“Are they… the ones who came in the summer?”
A slight unease made me ask carefully.
Back when the exalted guests had stayed, everyone else had suffered terribly. The Chef especially had barely slept and burned himself white. If it happened again, he might truly collapse.
As if reading my thoughts, the butler smiled gently.
“Fewer than last time. Master and three ladies.”
That was a relief. If they were ladies, that meant the future mistress—the duke’s daughter—and the count’s and baron’s daughters. That much we could handle.
…
Huh?
Something felt off. Hearing who was coming this time left me with a strange sense of dissonance.
No exalted personages? That was possible. That was actually normal. No Master’s younger siblings either? Also possible. Master’s family lived on their estate, not in the Capital.
Once you subtracted all of that, everyone remaining was a woman. Three companions accompanying Master even without his siblings—and the future mistress included in the group.
…No way.
I wasn’t sure about the pink-haired sister, but the blonde sister definitely held feelings for Master. Two out of the three already liked him.
Then wasn’t it possible the pink-haired sister liked him too? And if all three did—wouldn’t Master already know their hearts?
I had no proof. It was pure speculation. But…
There’s no proof against it either.
It was a stretch, yet my instincts were roaring that my guess was right.
Tsk…
This was bad. Master meeting good people was something to celebrate—but not right now.
As it was, I hadn’t been able to reach Sister Penelia lately. She usually sent word by letter or communication orb, but these days nothing came at all.
It happened sometimes, so it wasn’t pure worry—but of all times, it had to be now. When Master was coming to the Capital, and when people aiming for him would be many.
There’s clearly been no progress.
If anything had happened between Sister and Master, the mansion would have heard by now.
If Sister entered that sort of relationship with Master, it would show. The Mukgwangdae brothers and sisters nearby would notice, and the news would filter through the squad and into the mansion. Obvious.
Yet astonishingly, there was no word at all.
You idiot…!
Sister, what on earth are you doing!
People who met Master later than you are already stuck right next to him, so why are you—! How far behind are you planning to fall like this!
“Yuris?”
“Ah, yes!”
“What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”
While I burned alone with frustration, the butler’s voice reached me. Suddenly staring at the floor without a word must have worried him.
“Hehe, it’s nothing.”
“For ‘nothing,’ you look like you have a great deal on your mind.”
“I was actually thinking about how to make a ‘nyeek~’ scream.”
“Hey!”
Sorry, but I sold out Sophia.
I have to tell him.
Leaving Sophia’s squawk and the butler’s laughing attempts to calm her behind me, I made a firm vow inside.
I would tell him. Absolutely. When Master came to the mansion, I would tell him that Sister Penelia liked him.
Any further delay was unacceptable. Waiting for Sister to move on her own would get us nowhere.
She’s such a cool sister, so why…
A sigh escaped me. Why did she turn into this whenever Master was involved?
The final item on the Academy schedule—final exams—was over as well.
Even nobles were still students; the moment the tests ended, the Academy brimmed with energy.
Not that it mattered much, since the closing ceremony was right around the corner.
“Everyone worked hard.”
And on the morning of the closing ceremony, I headed swiftly for the student council room.
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you, Audit Department Chief.”
“Haha. I didn’t do anything worth mentioning.”
I was there to collect the slaves I’d waited a whole year for—no, the new recruits—no, just the slaves.
Beautiful.
What else counted as a gold mine? This was the gold mine.