After thinking for a moment, I lifted my waist and walked towards him looking out the window, putting my hand on his waist. When I suddenly hugged him, Ian flinched slightly in surprise, but instead of pulling away or reacting in a fuss, he ran his large, warm hand over the back of my head. The gentle touch made me smile, as if my grandfather was hugging me.
“The next time I see you is before the wedding?”
“I have to see it before that. It’s a wedding in name and purpose, so you can’t just invite people and have a quick wedding, right?”
Ian pulled me forward and held me in his arms again.
“Welcoming the most beautiful bride in the world requires appropriate preparation.”
The giggling voice was playful, but even that was good. The scent flowing from his body like this was always enough to fascinate me. It’s so cozy that you feel like you’ll fall asleep just by being hugged. If possible, I want to be held all day. But since I couldn’t act like a fool like that, I licked my lips with regret and got out of his arms and smiled. Ian lightly brushed my hair and then turned his body around.
“I’ll come back with good news next time. See you later.”
It was a sudden breakup, so I wasn’t disappointed, but I couldn’t just be a fool, so I greeted him with a bright expression. Ian smiled through the closing door and then slowly disappeared from sight.
* * *
For about four days after Ian returned, I was busy sorting and organizing the vast amount of information coming from the information guild. He didn’t think he could handle it all alone, so he brought in Fievel and his lieutenants and ordered them to assist in the work. The task entrusted to the Intelligence Guild was to find a list of people who purchased sulfur and titanium, and to find out when mass purchases first began. Since the information came from all over the world, earlier dates often appeared as soon as it was difficult to define a certain date as the first. That was enough for him to be a nobleman. The real problem was that there were more than one or two people purchasing titanium and sulfur in large quantities.
Surprisingly, sulfur is a strange substance that is also used in cooking, so it was purchased even in large restaurants. Moreover, the reference point for ‘large quantity’ was vague, so an entire day passed as I held on to documents and swam in a sea of paper for a long time. However, I couldn’t just focus on this all day. Estate-related affairs had to be handled, and various business-related agendas also needed approval. My grandfather was away from work, saying he had work to do, so he couldn’t entrust it to anyone, so in the end, he had no choice but to shoulder it all.
“Miss”
After scratching my head and staring at the documents for a while, I raised my head when I heard a voice calling me. Fievel had a worried look on his face as he bundled up the documents and placed them on the desk.
“Why are you doing that?”
Fievel glanced at the document in my hand and opened his mouth.
“If you’re tired, leave the work to me and get some rest. Aren’t you having trouble sleeping properly these days?”
“I’m sleeping.”
“If I only sleep two hours a night, the Viscount might kill me. Or I might get fired. They say I’m an incompetent person who caused her granddaughter to collapse from overwork.”
Was he threatening me? I raised my head again and looked at Fievel. Behind him, he could see four lieutenants working hard to organize documents. There were stacks of papers piled up in front of them too.
“It’s okay. Other people are working just as hard.”
Fievel glanced back and shook his head.
“We all take turns taking breaks. At least we are working while maintaining rest and sleep times. However, you eat here, and except for the time when you wash and catch a nap, you are stuck in front of this desk, right?”
Fievel took the document in my hand.
“Please leave the work to me and go and rest for a bit. Even though it may not be satisfactory, I will do my best to sort it out.”
I opened my mouth to say something in response, but I felt eyes staring at us so I closed my mouth. Their eyes were also full of worry, as if telling me to go and rest. You’re trying to communicate with your eyes…
“Ha…”
It was clearly evident on my body that I had been working while sleeping less for the past four days. My skin became dull, my neck, back, wrists, and even my fingers began to hurt. I used more than five cans of ink in four days, so my fingers are at an end.
“All right.”
Fievel was making a strong argument and seemed to be complaining that he was tired, so I decided to take a step back and got up. As Fievel smiled happily at my decision, I burst into laughter. Okay, is it good? What is so good about me resting? After giving a few instructions to the young butler, I left the office and headed to my room. The employees’ eyes widened as they looked at me. Is it that much of a mess? I smiled and welcomed the voice that greeted me, but there was no life in my voice. When I returned to the room after receiving the obligatory greeting, the maid, who was tidying up inside, opened his eyes wide.
“Oh my, miss?”
‘You?’
I was surprised to come in while the sun was still high in the sky.
“The sun is still high in the sky. What are you doing here?”
I would like to applaud my mind reading skills. After smiling slightly at Yuli, he walked over to the neatly made bed and lay down.
“Miss?”
“I’m tired, so I’m going to sleep a little. Can you wake me up around lunch?”
I could vaguely guess that Uli was quite surprised, as I could hear him gasping for breath. But that was only for a moment, and after saying that he understood, he stopped what he was doing and left the room, closing the door. After internally conveying her gratitude to her, she closed her eyes. I felt like I couldn’t sleep even if I lay down because I was so worried, but when I actually lay down, I realized that it was possible for me to be this tired. My head was heavy and I felt weak, as if my whole body was soaked in water. The bed was like lapping waves. Surrendering to the flow, I quietly closed my eyes and fell into sleep.
* * *
“Miss!”
I opened my eyes slightly when I heard someone calling me urgently. Yuli’s urgent face came into view.
“Ugh… why?”
I’ve been sleeping well for a while… Is it already lunch time? My eyes were heavy, so I stood up, rubbing my hands, and stretched out my body. Still, naps definitely work well. How can you feel so refreshed by just sleeping for an hour or two?
“There’s a problem.”
“A problem?”
My body was still tired and my mouth was raw. In the meantime, I heard that an urgent problem arose… I’m completely out of my mind.
“What’s going on, so much commotion? Is there a war?”
“It’s not like that, but I’m not in trouble right now!”
“Why?”
They just keep saying there’s a big problem and don’t say what the big problem is. When asked again, Yuli swallowed her saliva and opened her mouth a beat later.
“A summons has arrived.”
“A summons?”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“To the lady.”
“Where?”
“In the center.”
“…In the center?”
The eyebrows narrowed. A summons was sent to me from the central government? Why all of a sudden? Is there any summons coming at this point? There was an uproar over the funds spent to help people’s livelihoods, but was that really a problem?
“Where is it?”
I thought I would know it with my own eyes, so I asked about his whereabouts. As if he had been waiting, the door opened and Fievel came in. Seeing the deputies fidgeting through the open door, it seemed like they were really waiting for me to cough. Fievel came in with a stern expression on his face and a worried expression.
“What is it about?”
It was very rare for the talented butler Fievel to make an expression like that. Usually, most things could be resolved within his boundaries, and he had the authority to do so. Phi Bell was like a guardian deity protecting Aztain Castle. Even if my grandfather and I have to step away from the front line for an extended period of time. The fact that he came in with such a stern expression must mean that it was a pretty serious matter. I also took the paper he handed me with a stiff expression on my face. Although the seal was separated, the emblem clearly stamped on it was the seal of the central government and the imperial family. As this was my first time receiving an imperial seal, I looked at the letter back and forth with a dazed feeling and then looked it up.
“What’s the problem?”
“I think you’ll understand when you see it.”
After taking one last look at P. Bell’s face, his face scrunched up as if he couldn’t believe it, he opened the letter and unfolded the summons inside. Gorgeous font and beautiful sentences. And the moment I read the concise and clear statement that continues to the end, rolling my eyes from top to bottom to the last period, I opened my mouth in embarrassment beyond the absurdity.
“I manufactured counterfeit money?”
“To be precise, I think it was right to distribute it.”
“What… when did I distribute counterfeit currency?”
“Related to that, this too…”
Fievel snapped his fingers at his adjutant, took the sheaf of paper, looked at a few of them, and handed them to me. What’s wrong? I narrowed my eyes and looked at what was written on the paper. Laughter broke out.
“Isn’t this the data we were researching and organizing?”
“You’re right.”
What was written on the paper was literally a document listing the place of purchase of sulfur and titanium, the time of purchase, and the size. Additionally, what was written afterwards was that the main purchaser was Laurencia of the Aztain family, and that documents with her stamp had been found. In addition, the document stated in detail that all of the huge amount of gold coins used in the transaction were counterfeit currency. Nonsense.
“Are you telling me to believe this?!”
“We can’t believe it either. We are using counterfeit currency.”
“Why would we use counterfeit currency? No, wait a minute, I didn’t even buy the sulfur and titanium in the first place, so how do I have the documentation that I purchased it? Rather, it’s my stamp?”
I furrowed my brows. My seal was the only seal in the world. If lost, it could result in a complete halt to hundreds of businesses carried out by the Ajstain family, so it is kept very secretively. Feeling in disbelief, I moved right away and passed Fievel. She quickly ran to the office, opened the sealed locker with a key, and checked the seal inside. It was located in a safe place. There was no sign that anyone had touched it, so I lifted the seal and examined it. I wondered if it had been changed to a fake, but there was no such thing. The seal was absolutely fine.
“…The seal is here.”
So does that mean the stamp on the document is fake? He opened his mouth to Fievel who followed him.
“Have you checked the stamp that was stamped on the document they claim?”
“I can’t confirm because I didn’t send you a copy. Perhaps you will be able to see it if you are summoned to the center.”
“What…”
Are you saying that what you sent as evidence is a document written on the unbelievable basis that I purchased it? Are you asking me to take attendance with that? I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You must be mistaken. Why would I buy sulfur and titanium?”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on December, 7.
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