Episode 49
“Who told you to hold something like a dusting rag with your injured hand… A rag? Ha! Don’t tell me what you’re holding is a… ra. g…?”
I plugged my ears and sang my favorite song in my head about ten times. Then, when Dad took a moment to breathe and puffed up his chest, I quickly jumped in.
“Nooo, I just tidied up the office nice and neat. Look at this! The desk is sparkling! The sofa is…”
Hm? When did I wipe that?
Anyway, shiny shiny!
“I kind of rushed the cabinet and the table, so they’re not really— Huh? They’re super clean?”
I had only given them a quick swipe, but the cabinet and table were both sparkling clean!
“Guess I’m better at cleaning than I thought.”
Feeling proud, I took out a sheet of paper from my pocket and handed it to him.
“See? Totally clean. So here, please evaluate this.”
“You’ve really outdone yourself…”
Dad let out an incredulous sigh as he accepted the evaluation sheet.
His brow immediately crumpled.
“Is this a joke?”
“Whyyy…”
Were the items too much?
“Essay answers are kind of unfair!”
Then, Dad grabbed a pen and started aggressively circling all four items with a huge round mark.
“Kyah.”
“So. What’s the real deal?”
The Duke, who had tucked my evaluation sheet deep into his drawer, asked bluntly. It was the same drawer where my folded paper frog was stored.
“What’s the whole fuss for?”
“Heh. The thing is…”
I gulped once, then shouted loudly.
“I want to invite a friend to the meeting!”
Presenting, the Empire’s Jelly Prince!
***
“Hah. You became friends with the Second Prince?”
“We shared a carriage and started chatting, and it turns out we really clicked…”
Truthfully, we didn’t click at all from head to toe.
I just couldn’t forget the hand I didn’t manage to grab back then.
“Well, there are other reasons too.”
I patted the soil and let out a quiet groan.
“The one coming to this meeting is only the First Prince. Not sure if the Emperor will approve. Hoo… Fine. I get it, so put down that rag right now.”
“Huh? What’s a rag?”
“Good.”
Dad immediately scribbled off a letter to the Imperial Palace.
And two days later—
“All done planting!”
I threw both hands in the air.
Mintmary seeds, planted!
“Grow well…”
My lovely blabbermouth plants.
Pat pat. As I pretended to tap them and infused them with a bit of magic, the ground seemed to ripple slightly.
“But still…”
I slowly turned my head.
‘Why is Dad… working here?’
Yes. There was a work desk set right under the tree’s shade overlooking the entire garden.
“My puppy, Grandma’s here… Huh? What is this! That’s my spot! Move!”
Just then, Grandma Eliza came carrying a lounge chair and scowled when she spotted Dad.
“What on earth are you doing here?”
While scratching lines across documents, Dad muttered indifferently.
“As you can see, working.”
“…? Why? You’ve got a perfectly good office. Don’t you love that private salon or whatever? Go work there.”
“Well. I’m trying to boost productivity by changing the work environment for a refresh.”
That’s what he said, but his expression showed clear dissatisfaction.
In the end, Grandma Eliza turned to Secretary Ruska.
“Ruska, what’s wrong with him?”
Secretary Ruska, who had been picking up the flying documents like fallen grains, had a sleeping Theo strapped to his back.
Without missing a beat in his bouncing, the secretary replied. His tone was a bit impassioned.
“He seems to have been overtaken by his body’s muscle memory again! He suddenly stormed out saying he had to work here, like he was possessed!”
“Oh dear. What a wretched illness. Maybe we need an exorcism? Ruska, wipe your tears.”
“My documents…”
I chuckled as I watered the soil with a watering can.
‘Come to think of it, even back in Lepi Village, Dad would always watch when I planted seeds in the garden!’
This feels kinda nice.
‘Hmm, but the meeting day’s drawing near.’
We hadn’t yet received a reply on whether the Second Prince would be coming…
I figured it was time to begin full-scale preparations for the meeting.
The mintmary herb was just one part of the plan.
What was more important—
‘Dad’s cooperation!’
So now, let’s dive into the incident that will occur during the Four Dukes’ Meeting.
1. Incident Summary!
‘It’s the incident where it’s revealed that the sacred beast of Wintervalt is withering, tarnishing Dad’s reputation and the family’s status.’
2. How?
‘A magic meter detecting the energy around the sacred beast is submitted as evidence… and Dad is asked to verify the sacred beast of Winterbalt.’
3. Who did it?
‘Hmm, that…’
My inner thoughts came to a sudden stop.
To be honest, this incident would be easily resolved if I just found out who was behind the attack on Dad and blocked them.
But…
‘I’m not sure either.’
Not for any complicated reason.
‘Because the future has already changed a lot from the dream.’
In the dream I saw, the Four Dukes’ Meeting was held as scheduled at the Summerrain Duke’s estate.
In the first place, having the meeting at Wintervalt like now wasn’t part of the plan.
Because in the dream, the Duke of Summerrain hadn’t gone into seclusion to search for something like he had now.
‘I don’t know why the future changed, but…’
Anyway, in the dream, the person who raised the issue about the sacred beast of Wintervalt was—
‘The Duke of Summerrain.’
Dad ended up caught off guard with no preparation and got swept up in the eligibility investigation.
Now here’s the question:
Q. If the Duke of Summerrain doesn’t attend, won’t the issue about the sacred beast get buried too?
‘Hmm, no.’
I answered my own question.
It wasn’t something to take lightly.
Because in the dream…
— Haha. Duke, sorry to suddenly bring up the sacred beast issue. I received some intel, you see.
— Intel, you say…
— Above all, I really don’t think there’s an issue with the sacred beast of Wintervalt. It’s like saying you’re unfit to be head of the house—don’t you think?
— ……
— Which is why I believe you’ll be able to clear this disgrace yourself. Right?
It seemed like Dad and the Duke of Summerrain often bickered.
But I suspected their relationship wasn’t all bad.
‘After all, the fact that Alec Dad chose southern Lepi Village as his hideout must mean he trusts him, right?’
As proof, in the dream, the Duke of Summerrain first sought a private meeting with Dad after receiving the intel.
‘Which means he had no intention of making it public from the beginning.’
But it was dream-Kalec who rejected that.
Because he had just lost Eliza during the parade and was deep in grief.
‘And now that the Duke of Summerrain won’t even attend this time—’
It was highly likely that the person who sent the intel would personally expose the secret about the sacred beast. Since in the dream, the intel arrived during the meeting.
Meaning, it had to be someone among the meeting attendees.
‘Someone carrying a suspicious magic meter, targeting Dad!’
I looked down at the spot where I planted the herbs.
‘It’s my job to identify them!’
This surveillance plant should grow just in time for the meeting.
That’s why I chose the fast-growing mintmary.
‘Now, what’s left is…’
My eyes sparkled as I looked at Dad.
***
The next day.
“Secretary!”
The weary-faced Ruska snapped his head up.
I rolled up on my wooden board, screeched to a stop, and ran toward Ruska, who was descending the steps in front of the main house.
“Lady Lirin? What’s the matter? Isn’t this your time to be riding that board on your way to the garden?”
“Ah, well, that’s true, but…”
The secretary glanced at his watch with his usual cold expression and said,
“You’d best hurry. The gardeners will be moving in a group soon, so the route might get congested.”
“Ooh… Okaaay…”
Ah, that’s not what I meant.
I grabbed onto Ruska’s sleeve tightly.
“Um, so, you know…”
“Yes?”
“Could I ask you for a favor? It’s nothing major…”
Ruska’s eyebrow arched slightly.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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