Chapter 206
Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: The Countermeasure Against Labor Exploitation (1)
“Serazad?”
Julien jumped in surprise.
He couldn’t sleep for some reason.
The house felt strangely unfamiliar after being away for so long.
Worrying thoughts kept popping into his head.
So he had simply sat quietly on the bench in the corridor.
The summer night air drifting in from the window across from the bench felt nice.
The sound of crickets from somewhere tickled his ears.
The damp sensation was just so pleasant.
He had sat there with his eyes gently closed.
Then he heard it by chance.
A very faint creak as the door opened.
Careful, soft footsteps.
Worried about waking someone.
Or being caught by someone.
She had stepped into the dark corridor and looked around, only for their eyes to meet.
So Julien’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
“Uh, what’s going on?”
He blurted out.
Even as he said it, he thought it was a stupid question.
Because of Serazad’s blank expression as she turned to look at him.
“…….”
She gave no reply.
She just stared at him with emotionless eyes and a neutral face.
Was she angry because of his dumb question?
Julien shrank back a little and quickly added,
“Ah, I mean, sorry.”
“……What for.”
“Huh?”
“What are you sorry for?”
“Ah…….”
Serazad asked with a straight face.
Her silence breaking was good, but.
This question was somehow even more awkward.
Was she really angry?
Why was she angry?
And what exactly was he supposed to be sorry for?
Julien sweated profusely trying to find an answer.
But the sharp mind that excelled in academics just wouldn’t turn smoothly at that moment.
Like wheels that hadn’t been oiled properly, creaking along.
Julien swallowed hard, having wracked his brain as best he could, and looked up.
“Just, you know, just.”
“…….”
“I was sitting here for no reason, so, um, I guess I startled you.”
“…….”
“If you really were startled, I apologize. Sorry.”
“…….”
Serazad pondered.
She had been startled, but she wasn’t angry.
And he had nothing to apologize for.
So what was she supposed to say when he came at her like that?
She felt awkward too.
‘I didn’t expect to run into him here.’
She really hadn’t.
She had been so out of it just moments ago.
Her emotions had been drained from too much expenditure, leaving her exhausted.
Even with Swordmaster syndrome, her attention had been slightly scattered.
So she hadn’t noticed.
“Um, well, the truth is, I couldn’t sleep. So I was just out here enjoying the night air. I didn’t expect you to come out into the corridor…… or to startle you…… Um, I should’ve made some noise if I knew.”
“I knew you were there. I wasn’t startled.”
“……Really?”
“Yes.”
She had just told lie after lie.
Yet it was strangely odd.
This rabbit-like man in front of her somehow kept making her lie.
“But what’s that bag you’re carrying……?”
“Lunchbox.”
She said it casually to brush him off, then flushed bright red belatedly.
It was such a half-hearted excuse.
But realizing afterward how bizarre it sounded.
‘……Am I coming off as a woman who can’t sleep at midnight and goes out with a lunchbox?’
She hoped not.
But this rabbit-like man in front of her.
He believed even this ridiculous excuse.
“Ah, I see.”
……No.
“You must be really hungry.”
……No.
“Actually, I was a bit hungry too, hehe.”
……I’m not sharing. No, don’t believe that.
Julien smiled so innocently and defenselessly.
Serazad straightened her face at the sight.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
She quickly tried to pass by Julien.
She intended to.
But she couldn’t.
“Um, there is something, actually…….”
“……Pardon?”
The unexpected words stopped her in her tracks.
She turned back to Julien without thinking.
The rabbit-like man grinned at her.
“If you were thinking of taking a walk, um, want to go together?”
“Of course I refuse…….”
“I won’t touch the lunchbox.”
“…….”
“The truth is, I wanted to walk too. But I only read books, so my night vision is a bit poor. I often trip on stones when walking alone at night.”
“…….”
“So I’ll just follow behind you.”
“…….”
Just shake him off.
Serazad thought.
She turned and walked down the corridor without a word.
She heard Julien following behind.
She ignored it.
She passed the reception hall first, opened the door, and stepped into the garden.
She felt Julien’s footsteps quickening behind her.
Still, she ignored it.
She strode across the garden. Away from the annex. She stopped in front of the wall.
“Um, wait a…….”
Whoosh!
Ignoring Julien’s voice, she kicked off the ground.
She leaped over the wall in one bound.
“…….”
Now he won’t follow.
Feeling relieved yet empty, Serazad took a step.
But then.
“……Urgh!”
Thud!
Below the wall she had just jumped over, Julien clumsily tumbled down.
“Ow, come on, let’s go together.”
“…….”
“That hurts like hell.”
“…….”
“Not even gonna ask if I’m okay?”
“……Not at all.”
Ignore him and go.
She tried to turn away.
But an unexpected question pierced her heart.
“Does it…… still hurt a lot?”
“Huh?”
Serazad froze.
He was the one who had clumsily jumped the wall and fallen.
So why was he asking her if it still hurt, of all things?
And why was he looking at her with such worried eyes?
“You’ve been like that since earlier.”
Julien’s words were soft.
Cautious as they continued.
“Earlier, at dinner. With my family.”
“…….”
“You had such a pained look from then on.”
“…….”
“Um, actually, that’s why…… here, take this.”
Limping as he stood, Julien rummaged.
He pulled something from the inner pocket of the vest over his pajamas.
He held it out to her.
It was a small vial of medicine.
“It’s a digestive aid. Dinner had a lot of greasy food, so…… you looked unwell…… Um, it works pretty well. It’s super sour and bitter, but, uh, so I prepared this too.”
He rummaged in the vest pocket again.
This time, two red candies wrapped in oil paper.
“Take the digestive first, then quickly roll one of these in your mouth. You’ll feel better.”
“…….”
Serazad stared blankly.
Not at the digestive aid or candy Julien offered, but at his palm.
‘It’s bleeding.’
It was slightly scraped.
Probably from falling off the wall earlier.
It must sting quite a bit.
Yet his expression showed no sign of it.
He just looked up at her apologetically, worriedly.
“Do you not like strawberry candy, by any chance?”
“…….”
“Um, if not, whew, sorry. I lied earlier. I really couldn’t sleep, and I was wandering because of that, but, um, more than that, I was worried about you…….”
“…….”
“So I was lingering in case, hanging around the annex corridor. If I sensed you awake in your room, I thought I’d give you this. Um, and also…….”
“You lied about something else too?”
“……Ah, yes.”
His rabbit eyes flinched.
Julien spoke with even rounder eyes.
“About wanting to walk and having poor night vision…….”
“That was a lie too?”
“……Yes.”
“Was it to give this to me?”
“Um, yes.”
“You’re good at making excuses?”
“……Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I lied too.”
“Huh?”
He flinched roundly again.
At his upward gaze, Serazad unwittingly chuckled, her first laugh of the evening.
“No lunchbox.”
“……Ah.”
“This bag isn’t a lunchbox container. It’s just a travel bag.”
“No way? Are you leaving?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
“Not gonna ask why?”
“No, I won’t.”
Julien shook his head at her question.
He looked up at her with deeper eyes.
“If I asked, you’d have to explain, and that would mean digging up the painful reason from your heart.”
“…….”
“I don’t want that. Here, take it.”
“…….”
The vial with the digestive aid.
The oil paper with the candy.
She accepted them on impulse.
Then, suddenly, it hit her.
“……Wait.”
She unwrapped the oil paper.
Put one candy in her mouth.
Shoved the other into Julien’s mouth.
She gripped the remaining oil paper. Crumpled it.
Grabbed Julien’s hand, who had handed her the items and was turning away.
Pressed the crumpled oil paper firmly onto his palm.
“……Ah, ow!”
“Hold still.”
“Ow, it stings.”
“Whining? You didn’t even know you were hurt.”
“I didn’t know, but pressing it like that makes it really sting.”
“Stay still.”
She couldn’t leave like this; it would bother her.
At least stop the bleeding on this man’s palm.
That way, her mind might ease a little.
That way, fewer regrets might linger.
Serazad pressed Julien’s hand harder with the oil paper.
A troubled look crossed Julien’s face.
“Um, Serazad?”
“Yes.”
“What if I eat the candy now?”
“…….”
“That digestive is really super sour and bitter.”
“…….”
Was this what worried him even now?
Perhaps that’s why.
Unthinkingly, impulsively, Serazad voiced the rising question.
“Why do you worry about me so much?”
“Huh?”
“Why have you been worrying about me so excessively since earlier?”
She was curious.
Bewildered.
She had to ask.
Even if she left now, she needed to know to feel satisfied.
Julien’s behavior was just too unusual.
Like a baby bird fretting over its mother.
Constantly anxious, following her around worrying.
She thought there must be some special reason.
She resolved to hear it.
That’s why.
When she heard Julien’s answer.
Serazad unwittingly held her breath for a moment.
“Just.”
“…….”
“Just, really just worried.”
“…….”
“So I wandered a bit because I was worried, brought the digestive and this just because, and now that you say you’re leaving…….”
“Regretful?”
“……Yes.”
“Why?”
“That’s just too.”
“…….”
Just.
Really just.
For no reason, her chest tightened.
Serazad bit her lip.
She had lived so hard, trying her best all this time.
She had only ever received worries that came with reasons.
“Just worried” didn’t make sense.
The very idea was bewildering for a moment.
That unfamiliar phrase—what it meant.
Why it felt so foreign to her.
Finally understanding the reason.
The pent-up sorrow melted the mask.
Really just, without a trace.
“Um, I…….”
It must have started then.
As if entranced, Serazad spoke.
She simply pulled out her life story.
Laid it out flatly, like someone else’s tale.
Still pressing Julien’s palm wound firmly.
Just flatly.
Throughout, dryly.
Listing only the facts.
Meanwhile, her oblivious tear ducts kept welling up.
Still, Julien occasionally nodded silently.
No “are you okay?” or “that must’ve been tough.”
He just met her eyes.
Stood quietly opposite.
Listening to her story.
The night passed that way.
And as dawn finally broke.
Realizing she had kept Julien up all night.
The thought of leaving this place vanished from Serazad’s heart.
There was no particular reason.
She just wanted to be by Julien’s side.
♣
‘Ha, look at those two. Having the time of their lives.’
A summer morning already sweltering hot, not just warm.
No, a brutal season that salted and seared the pure heart of a lifelong bachelor.
Lloyd grumbled, chin propped on the wooden fence of the mansion.
He cast his gaze far off.
Below the mansion hill, along the tree-lined path.
A man and woman walking side by side.
Julien and Serazad.
“Hmm.”
Lloyd furrowed his brow.
He recalled the past few days.
About five days ago, right?
The evening Julien returned to the territory, during family dinner, Serazad’s face had been incredibly dark.
She looked like someone about to leave any moment.
But the next day?
Completely different.
‘Like a different person. And she started sticking to Julien often.’
What on earth happened that night?
What incident made those two ride this sweet, harmonious vibe, laughing hoho?
But Lloyd wasn’t curious.
‘That’s not what matters.’
Sure, it stung that he was still single.
But that fact wasn’t important anyway.
Something far weightier mattered now.
‘My retirement plan.’
Not some vague retirement dream.
A clear strategy to counter the foreseeable retirement crisis.
‘Obviously. If I sit idle like this, I’ll never live easy. King Sis won’t let me. For sure.’
He could affirm it sincerely.
Looking back, that’s how it was.
He had shone too grandly so far.
To overcome the territory’s financial crisis.
Then physical, administrative, even bacteriological crises.
Each time, he had exceeded everyone’s expectations.
That’s why.
He had gained the Queen’s trust excessively.
Lloyd bit his lip thinking that far.
‘This won’t do. I can’t see a comfy life sucking honey here for the rest of my days. If I slack off now, I’ll end up like Prime Minister Hwang Hee, unjustly slaving away under King Sejong till the end.’
He hated that.
He wanted to avoid that fate somehow.
He had lived too diligently already.
Now he wanted rest.
A guaranteed comfy retirement.
Lazing around sucking honey forever.
‘So I need countermeasures.’
Lately, he had felt the need viscerally.
But no opportunity to devise them.
No clear picture.
It was troubling.
But right now?
Seeing Julien and Serazad in their hoho lalala summer romance, suddenly, a clever plan crystallized to secure his sweet lazy retirement.
‘It’s possible. If things go my way? Yeah. I can lay the groundwork step by step so King Sis can’t boss me around freely.’
A sly grin crept out.
“Heh heh heh. So here’s the thing.”
Lloyd grinned roguishly at the couple below the hill.
He reviewed the grand plan he had just conceived once more.
“This bro’s gonna play Cupid properly this time. Thanks, Julien.”