Reading the documents previously recorded, I was able to grasp the atmosphere at the time. But the dates were mixed up. Despite being fairly well organized, the fact that the report was in this form meant that at the time, reports were pouring in like crazy from various departments. Moreover, since the report was more than 10 years old, there were many missing parts. Even if I managed it well, I couldn’t help it because it was not coated due to the nature of the parchment. Careful attention was paid to avoiding damage as much as possible, such as handing over the report. The odd part was stuck all over the place. I opened my eyes and slightly pushed up my glasses. At that time, it was Ian’s father, the former Grand Duke of Berdian, who was entrusted with all authority related to the counterfeit currency investigation. He spread the siege in a dense and quite detailed way and wiped out the enemies. In the process, he also confirmed that the nobles were involved and expelled them along with the Marquis of Bepis. After four years of investigation, the root was finally dug up. Numerous reports showed what the situation was like at that time, but the result report written by Ian’s father, the former Grand Duke of Berdian, was not visible from some point. He wrote a report in which he wrote his opinions on the incident. It wasn’t for reporting. It seemed to be used to write down suspicious points or doubts one by one and pass them on to future generations. However, since the investigation was in the final stage and Marquis Bepis was exposed and attacked, his personal report was no longer found. Curiously, I rummaged through the paperwork, but found nothing missing. He got up and rummaged for a while, wanting to find the tray.
“What are you looking for?”
Ian approached me as I was rummaging through a heavy pile. I immediately opened my mouth, forgetting that it had been blunt with him.
“It’s a report from the former Grand Duke of Berdian.”
“Father?”
“Yes. The reports of the former Grand Duke cannot be found anymore as of a certain point in time. It was from the time when it was revealed that Marquis Bepis was gathering nobles to produce counterfeit money. In other reports after that, It reveals in detail what happened to the Marquis of Peace and what kind of ending the family met later, but I can’t find his personal report.”
Ian’s voice was heard for a moment. He looked up and I looked at his face.
“My personal opinion is that there was a reason why he suddenly didn’t write the report.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Yes?”
Ian followed me through the papers on the tray. As I stared at him, Ian opened his mouth, perhaps sensing my gaze.
“It’s a bylaw of the Berdian family, but when you take on a certain case or task, as Lawrence said, write a personal report, keep it in the family and record it, my father as well as I follow it, I have been taught since I was a child that it is a very important matter. My father was also the Grand Duke of Berdian, but he would have written a report at that time no matter what.”
“But there is none. That’s quite a long time. Half a year…”
“Half a year…”
Ian put on a look of concern for a moment, then went back to his desk and looked over his papers before opening his mouth again.
“We need to determine the period from when the record was broken to the time of the incident and what happened during that period.”
He moved his hand quickly. I looked at Ian for a moment because he was more active than I thought and was unfamiliar with Ian, who was used to grasping documents. I stared blankly and Ian glanced at me and tilted his head. Umm, did I stare too hard? I tried to go out proudly, but somehow the atmosphere seemed to be broken. I thought about continuing to be arrogant, but I took off my glasses with a sigh because I thought it would be strange if I suddenly changed my mind. Even if I wore glasses with no prescription, I was uncomfortable and did not help in my work.
A whistling sound was heard. Did Ian see that? When he saw me, he wanted to take my clothes off because he didn’t like them, but he didn’t bother to look at me. I think it would hurt his pride for nothing. He rummaged through the papers again, sifting through his emotions. As Ian said, from the part where the former Grand Duke of Berdian’s report was cut off, he went through the contents step by step, looking back to see if there was anything that could infer the time. However, even though he moved his hands busily for a long time and wrote down and left out the contents that could be guessed separately, there was no particular income. In the end, I had no choice but to lean back on the chair, feeling my lack of stamina after clinging only to the paperwork without dinner. To ease the strain on his tired eyes, he pressed his thumb firmly against the two of his eyes. As I massaged his eyes, I felt like I would fall asleep at any moment from the drowsiness. Is it natural that he rode a long distance and went to work right away? I slightly opened my eyes and stared at Ian, who was still clinging to his papers. He had good stamina too.
I thought Ian’s concentration was considerable. Usually, after looking at a document for several hours, concentration gradually gets lost, and not only the posture but also the mind is distracted, but Ian did not have such a thing. He was engrossed from the moment he started looking at the papers to the end. Was he feeling proud of himself somehow? Wasn’t it annoying to talk to me once in a while? Considering his usual mischievous appearance, he would show enough such behavior, but it never came out. At the very least, at least say something. There’s no glancing or anything.
“Huh…?”
I rested my chin on his chin and stared at him. Did he like me? Was it for nothing, or was he just trying to use me because he needed money like the others? That man wore a false mask and used me… Come to think of it, Ian betraying me was… I never really seriously thought that I could beat Ian. Even if the contract was written down, other people were suspicious and always watched, but it wasn’t like that with Ian. Why? I knew for sure that trust without a safety device was bad, but why did this man just trust me?
I remember the voice of his confessing that he opened his heart to me. If you look at it, it’s just strange. That was his second meeting, and he confessed his feelings right away. It felt like his doubts were creeping up on him. Maybe this happened, wasn’t I excited for nothing? It was certain that Ian in front of me was a good man. He was kind, sincere, and most of all, the man I needed right away. Because only he could keep those pesky flies away. But didn’t he give me too much faith and heart? Didn’t he believe too much? Could the cold-blooded Lawrence, who was known for her distrust of people, be like this?
Hmmm, I thought about it for a while. What would he do if that man was trying to use me? According to his usual personality, he would make up his mind to overturn everything and take revenge, but the opponent was the head of the duke’s family. If you poke him, he’ll probably come rushing at you. Wealth alone was not an opponent. If so, what should I do? I shook my head hard, but I couldn’t come up with anything. Was there any weaknesses in this man? What’s up soon…
Rumor has it that he liked men? It was false though. Rumors of debauchery then? There could be no such thing in the yard that I had already confirmed with my own eyes, and even if I tried to press him with force, he was, to borrow Benson’s words, invincible. Were all the bloodlines of the Berdian family monsters? Then power… that too was pushed back, then ash… Hmm, rubbing my chin with my finger and contemplating for a moment, feeling my gaze, Ian raised his head. Red eyes caught the light and shone brightly. I didn’t know what’s real.
“Lawrence.”
“Yes. Why are you calling me?”
He answered naturally and softly. Ian hesitated for a moment at the sound of my voice, then scratched his cheek. Why are you like that? What’s wrong? As I lifted his upper body slightly, Ian opened his mouth again.
“…What do you have to say?”
“What to say?”
“Huh.”
“Why?”
Why was he asking such a thing all of a sudden? This time, I smiled awkwardly. My head tilted slightly.
“No, I was wondering if I had something to say because he had been staring at me for over 10 minutes. If you have any questions or need anything, just tell me and I’ll help you. If you’re tired, you can go and rest first.”
Blinked my eyes, I looked at him at least 10 minutes? Did I stare at him for 10 minutes? Come to think of it, my eyes seemed a bit dry. I rubbed my eyes. I had a habit of barely blinking because I wasn’t very good at recognizing when I was staring at something. Because of that, I felt very tired and took my medicine. By the way, 10 minutes. I thought I looked at him for a moment, but 10 minutes passed, but this time I smiled awkwardly.
There was awkwardness when the conversation stopped. My cheeks seemed to twitch from my forced laughter. What do I do when I’m embarrassed? What to say? What should I answer? I’ve been staring at him for 10 minutes, but what should I say? Did I just look at it because it looks cool? I blinked. It was crazy. No matter how urgent it was, how could I say such a thing? I hurriedly collected my mind and said a little shamelessly.
“That’s what you don’t like? Me looking at you?”
“No, I don’t hate it. But I was worried because I had something to say, but I couldn’t say it because I was worried.”
It was right in reverse. He acted shamelessly, but everyone came out fair. I couldn’t be more shameless, so I slightly lowered my eyes, looked at Ian’s eyes, and slowly opened my mouth.
“…Are you worried about me?”
As if asking something like that, his expression changed to round eyes, and then he smiled.
“You’re number 1 for me.”
Those words sound good to me, but the doubts that had been gnawing at me a while ago didn’t make me feel as good as they did. I looked at Ian. He tilted his head with a smile.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Whatever you want.”
If I ask you about your ideal type, will you tell me? Or personal preference?
Did he like younger people, older people, or the same age? I was a mysterious person who was both younger and older. No, he might not like a strong personality like me. Looking at me gently, Ian put down his pen and leaned back on the chair as if he were following me, looking at me in a comfortable position. He brushed his eyebrows and brushed up his bangs, which seemed to gouge his eyes. I thought he had had that habit from before, but if he was going to do that, couldn’t I just shake my head? I was puzzled because Ian had never worn a hairstyle that completely exposed his forehead. I thought it was all men because they always show their foreheads when they wear suits, but why doesn’t Ian do that? I wondered if he didn’t reveal it because of painful memories of the past, such as being injured on the battlefield when he was young, or why he was hiding it. I rang my hand and touched my bangs. I cut it a while ago to change the atmosphere, but it was a little awkward.
“Lawren…”
I just got a feeling… Ugh…
“You know what?”
I cut off his voice calling my name and ran into it. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and stretched out his hand with a smile. Do you want me to tell you first? I smiled the same way and moved my hand to slightly push my bangs.
“Is there a scar on your forehead?”
“A scar?”
Ian swept his bangs covering his forehead as if imitating my gestures. Oh, that’s clean. There were no acne or other scars, and it was very clean. Didn’t he look like porcelain? Ian shook his head.
“No, I don’t have one. Ah, is it because I don’t show my forehead?”
“What… a little?”
“Not a big deal.”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. Thank you very much for reading.
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