My Home, Now with Uninvited Guests on the Side - 2
The servants bustled about with purpose. Parking a double-digit number of carriages and hauling off everything loaded onto them demanded serious hustle. Anyone watching would have sworn the mansion had changed hands and someone was moving in.
Guiding the club members as they started climbing down one by one fell to the butler. They were little better than walking luggage, so part of me wanted to dump the job on the ordinary servants, but the highest-ranking person on the household staff had to handle the welcome personally or tongues would start wagging later.
From everything I’d seen so far, the hopeless trio didn’t seem all that obsessed with rank differences even when they skimped on consideration for underlings. Maybe because, to them, nobles and commoners alike were simply lower beings.
“What a splendid mansion.”
“A place this size, right in the Imperial Capital…”
Whispers drifted from the members trailing behind the butler. The mansion was large, no question. Even for the Audit Department Chief, it was excessive for the residence of a noble scion who still held no title of his own.
But what could I do? I was just the guy who’d been tossed the place when the Crown Prince casually announced, “I found this on the way.” I’d meant to refuse at first, yet it had once belonged to the Marquis of Aetherion’s house, so I accepted it with genuine gratitude. Perfect for a little psychological trolling—look how well I’m living in your old digs.
Thanks to that, the already quiet Ainter had grown even quieter. He’d cut ties with his maternal relatives long ago just to stay alive and hadn’t spoken with them in years, but the feeling still had to be complicated.
Sorry about that.
This mess was the Crown Prince’s doing, not mine, so go ahead and blame him. Whenever something goes wrong, cursing the Crown Prince gets you the right answer about half the time anyway.
“So that’s why you never come out to the estate, hyung.”
“Haha, with a place like this right here, who would bother making the long trip?”
Erich’s voice, murmuring in sudden understanding, snagged in my ear. Apparently he’d taken my long absence from the family estate as simply being stuck at the Academy. The truth was I barely ever went near the place at all.
It had been a mansion used for nothing more than sleeping—and even then I usually ended up on the folding cot tucked in a corner of the Audit Department office. To watch my hard-won hardships get instantly rebranded as luxurious living in a fancy house…
When Erich graduated I was going to write him a glowing recommendation letter. Only once he’d tasted civil-service life himself would he understand reverse empathy. Father handled the legislative branch, I handled the executive; sending Erich into the judiciary would complete the set perfectly.
The Crassius separation of powers.
My chest swelled with grandeur all on its own.
The first time my mansion had been reduced to a free inn, I’d felt nothing but dread. Yet once we actually arrived, a strange calm settled over me. At least the building hadn’t suddenly split in half or exploded simply because royalty decided to drop by.
The only real regret was that the one place that should have been my sanctuary had been swallowed up as an extension of work. Suppress that one emotion and everything else was… fine. Same as living at the Academy, really.
If anything, the situation was better now—there were a butler and actual servants, so my body at least got a break. Compared to Academy days, this was an upgrade.
“I’ve heard the plaza in the Imperial Capital is beautiful.”
“They’ve dressed it up nicely enough.”
Things had been peaceful right up until Ryutis came looking for me as the group’s representative. Earlier the kids had been quiet, busy unpacking. I never imagined they’d want to go out and play the very day they arrived. Weren’t they exhausted after all those hours in carriages?
“You must still be worn out from the journey. Why not rest today? We have plenty of time.”
“Spending the entire vacation just looking at the capital would be a waste, wouldn’t it? We should see as much as we can while we still have the energy.”
The sheer determination in his voice was honestly terrifying. He clearly intended to pack the whole vacation schedule solid with sightseeing.
For a moment I pictured myself calling every mayor of every famous tourist city, day after day, repeating the same line: “Royalty’s coming today.” From the mayors’ perspective I’d look like the Grim Reaper himself.
I’m going to get roasted in high society for this.
People would start saying the Audit Department Chief had stopped beating people with audits and started beating them with connections instead. No one would ever stop to consider that the person suffering most from those connections was me. When people want to trash someone, they trash them for the fun of it.
“Will you eat before you head out?”
“Ah, we planned to eat outside.”
“Fine. I’ll join you later.”
“Haha, we’ll be waiting.”
Annoyed but resigned, I sent Ryutis on his way. These people had come under the official pretext of a trip; I could hardly stop them from actually taking one. A crowded plaza, plus dining at actual restaurants in the capital—there was a lot to prepare either way.
Problem was, I barely knew the capital’s good restaurants myself. I couldn’t just dump royalty in some random hole-in-the-wall, and if I asked the butler he’d probably return with dozens of options sorted by cuisine, which was even more terrifying.
In the end only one name came to mind, so I activated the communication orb.
“Chief? What’s going on this early in the morning?”
“You know any decent restaurants near the plaza?”
The sudden question made the blond Second Division Chief scratch his head. Still, if anyone could rattle off good spots, it was the man who tore through the capital more energetically than anyone else.
“There’s a three-story place with a red roof on the southwest side of the plaza. That one’s solid.”
Never fails when I place my faith in him.
“Anywhere else?”
“There’s one on the east side too… Wait, what’s this about? Planning a tax raid on all the good restaurants? You’ll dig up something if you dig, I guess.”
“I’m going myself.”
“Oh? You’re coming to the capital?”
He said it like he genuinely had no idea, not even as a joke. This guy handled intelligence for a living—why was news about his own superior always the last to reach him?
“I’m already here. Came with the Baking Club.”
“Ah.”
His expression stiffened awkwardly. Something had clearly snagged.
“Wow. So that part was true.”
“What’s the matter?”
“I heard from the First Division Chief that you were coming up, and that you were bringing royalty with you.”
“You heard correctly.”
“If that had been all, I would’ve shrugged it off. But then she said they’d be staying at your mansion for the whole vacation. I punched her and told her to stop talking nonsense.”
For once I felt genuine solidarity with the Second Division Chief. Even by Audit Department standards the whole arrangement sounded like pure garbage. Yet the Crown Prince had made it happen. A man destined for the throne really was built different.
“If I’d known it was real I wouldn’t have done that.”
“She holds a grudge for ages when people don’t believe her, doesn’t she?”
“She got me in the solar plexus, so we called it even.”
These people should thank the heavens they worked in the Audit Department. If two division chiefs had started throwing fists in any ordinary ministry, they’d already be sitting in a Ministry of Justice cell. Anywhere else and they’d have been locked up long ago.
Anyway, I scribbled down the list he rattled off into my notebook. He insisted restaurants alone wouldn’t be enough and threw in cafés and a theater as well.
You bastard.
The thought that this guy had been out dating and enjoying the capital while I caught catnaps in the office made me feel sour, but I was the one asking for favors right now, so I swallowed it.
I simply updated the mental duty roster in my heart instead.
“I’ll inform the Deputy Chief that you’ve arrived.”
“Good. Thanks.”
I cut the connection with the Second Division Chief and immediately contacted Villar. People needed to be sent ahead to the places the Second Division Chief had recommended so we could secure seats. If the full escort force tagged along in a noisy pack it would only draw more eyes and cause more friction.
Three or four people should be plenty.
I stared at the communication orb as the signal went through and let out a quiet sigh. I’d steeled myself, but the hassle was still killing me. Under normal circumstances I was the one receiving protocol, not the one stuck arranging it for others.
Thinking of protocol brought the Crown Prince to mind again and instantly pissed me off. Why wouldn’t that bastard get out of my head?
Couldn’t he just get it over with instead of pushing everything to the afternoon?
By rights, now that the Baking Club had entered the capital the Crown Prince should already be out receiving the royalty. Instead he’d postponed the entire schedule until afternoon, claiming that forcing protocol on guests the moment they finished a long journey would only exhaust them.
If the reception had happened right away, no one would have suggested heading to the plaza. After the ceremony we could have used the excuse of heavy crowds and skated through the rest of the day.
“Chief Inspector?”
“Ah, Sir Villar.”
What choice did I have? Orders were orders. Since when had I ever been free to do only what I wanted?
“We’ll be heading to the plaza shortly—”
At least having someone who could suffer alongside me was a genuine blessing.
When it comes to sightseeing, the places a local recommends with real conviction are always better than the obvious tourist traps everyone already knows. And the Second Division Chief was a true capital native.
“I never knew the Imperial Capital had spots like these.”
Even Ainter said as much, which said everything.
“Thanks to our tutor we’ve had a thoroughly productive time. How did you even know about places like this?”
“I have one friend who’s very good at enjoying himself. When I asked, he spilled everything.”
“I’d almost like to meet him myself.”
Ryutis laughed; Later nodded in quiet agreement. Thankfully the schedule had satisfied even these exalted personages.
Still—wanting to meet him in person. In the sense that both of them made me want to punch them in the throat the moment they opened their mouths, the two of them were oddly similar. They might actually get along if they ever met.
“A friend who’s good at enjoying himself… now I’m curious as well.”
Margeta smiled gently and joined in.
Honestly, the idea of Margeta meeting someone like the Second Division Chief felt like cultural shock waiting to happen. I wanted to keep them apart forever if I could help it.
“You’ll have the chance someday.”
“Hehe. I’ll look forward to it.”
And so the full plaza course carefully curated by the Second Division Chief came to a close amid enthusiastic applause.
When we returned to the mansion, an unexpected figure caught my eye.
What the hell is this now.
The Crown Prince had mentioned the Ministry of Special Affairs had spare capacity. The only people there with any real connection to me were those kids, so I’d assumed Mukgwangdae would show up again. I just never expected to meet her like this.
While I stood there flustered, the person pruning trees in the garden seemed to sense my presence and turned. Straw hat paired with a maid uniform—an absolutely unhinged combination. More importantly, why were you pruning trees in the first place?
“Master.”
She removed the hat and bowed at the waist.
“It is an honor to see you again.”
“…Ah. Right.”
The Fourth Division Chief had arrived.