“Oh, you’ve arrived, Administrator!”
“…Yes, good morning, Sir Billy.”
Even as he responded, Lionel’s gaze remained fixed on me. While I hesitated, unable to answer right away, Billy eagerly stepped forward and explained with enthusiasm.
“Captain Clara is going to be engaged to Young Duke Kassen soon! She said she’d give us an invitation to the engagement ceremony!”
“..….”
Lionel just looked at me in silence. I could feel the unspoken pressure, as if he wanted me to explain it myself.
Rubbing my forehead, I gave a short reply.
“Yeah… I was going to give you an invitation as soon as I got to work.”
“…Hmm.”
Soon after, Lionel gave a gentle smile.
But somehow, it wasn’t the usual natural smile, nor the playful one he wore when teasing me or Billy, it felt distinctly different.
It was more like the formal expression he had back when we first met in the Ruby Knights, when we were still being formal with each other.
“Alright then. Let’s have dinner later and discuss it properly, okay?”
“…Uh, sure.”
“Clara, by the way, I received a letter for you. It looks like it’s from the Commander-in-Chief?”
“Oh? Really? Okay.”
“Sir Billy, there’s something I want to check. In yesterday’s records…”
“Ah, yes!”
Lionel handed me the letter before calling Billy over to talk about business matters. The slight chill in the atmosphere must’ve been my imagination.
Anyway, it was a relief for me to escape the awkward atmosphere, so I was glad about that.
I returned to my seat and checked the letter from Commander Geloic. It was full of his usual complaints, mostly about how I hadn’t shown up for training in a while.
“Still, it’s a bit disappointing that you fainted after using the Blue Sword energy previously. Anyway, once things settle down and you’re not so busy, come find me. I’ll train you.”
I had thought his offer was just a courtesy, but it was clear now that he meant it with 1000% sincerity.
It seemed inevitable that I would end up getting beaten with a sword by my master and then, with perfect irony, hand him my engagement invitation……
With bleary eyes, I quickly jotted down a reply, saying that I would visit when it’s convenient for him after work sometime this week.
* * *
And so, during lunch hour.
I arranged a time to formally hand out the invitation while buying lunch for my subordinates, including Sir Lan, who already knew about the relationship (?) with Ludger.
Billy quickly checked the invitation and gasped.
“Wow, the date is so soon! May?!”
“…Well, with everything going on, it ended up being a bit rushed.”
“Congratulations! I can’t wait to see you in a beautiful dress, Captain.”
“Thank you……”
Lionel glanced at the invitation without really paying much attention, then nodded slightly.
“Congratulations, yeah. But there’s probably more you want to say, right?”
“Not really…”
“If you’re going to be like that, this Big Brother is going to be upset~ You’re treating me to dinner later, right? No refusal?”
“Who is Big Brother? Ugh, fine. I’ll treat you.”
With him saying that, there was no way I could refuse. In the end, I agreed to a separate meal with Lionel, which I feared would inevitably turn into an interrogation later.
Honestly, I thought he would tease me a lot more in front of my subordinates, so I guess it’s a relief that it went this smoothly instead.
It seemed like he was mindful of my social position(?).
While everyone else was chattering noisily, Sir Sein, who was sitting in the corner next to me, quietly murmured his congratulations.
“Congratulations… I guess I ended up meddling where I shouldn’t have last time…”
“Ah, no. Your concern was valid. To be honest… it probably won’t be smooth sailing from here on out.”
“..….”
Of course, this engagement was a contract, and we would likely break it off someday. But the aftermath where I would have to live together with Ludger in the townhouse would surely be troublesome.
There was a high possibility that far more worrisome situations than I had imagined were waiting ahead.
“If there’s anything I can… do to help, please let me know. Considering the favor I’ve received from you, Captain, there’s nothing I could do to repay it…”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re doing great as you are!”
“…Right.”
“By the way, Judy will come to the engagement ceremony, right?”
I expected him to give an answer confirming that, but instead, Sir Sein’s already dull expression grew even darker.
“Well… I’m not sure. Judy hasn’t been talking to me much lately.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“I don’t know… maybe because I didn’t stay at home during the festival instead of spending time with her…..”
“Oh no……”
I suddenly remembered that last year, during the festival, Sir Sein had taken a day off to be with Judy.
He must have spent the day sightseeing at the festival with Judy.
Unlike last year, being left alone to guard the house must have made her angry, and with her father being too busy to return until after the festival ended, I’m sure her frustration had built up and exploded.
If the festival had ended normally, he would have at least tried to make time, but since it ended abruptly due to the chaos, that wasn’t possible.
“…..Let me know if you need to take some time off to fix things. I’ll make adjustments.”
“I’m already being given more than enough consideration in that regard, so it’s all right……”
“Please tell Judy that I really want her to be at the engagement. I think if you say that, she’ll probably come around. And if she’s still upset, I’ll personally give her the invitation.”
“I’ll do that…”
“Judy’s been really good at keeping the secret all this time. That’s why I’m even more grateful.”
“Secret?”
“Ah, well… Actually, there was a time when Judy was with me when I was on duty at the knights’ office, and the Young Duke happened to drop by. Because of that, I guess Judy kind of caught on to our relationship…..”
“Aha… I see.”
Sir Sein didn’t press any further. He must’ve sensed how flustered I got whenever that topic came up.
Thankfully, even as lunch continued, no one asked for any more information about our (fake) love story.
Honestly, I was incredibly tense, worrying someone might ask about it……
But instead, Lan went as far as to say, ‘From the way you two looked together, I thought you’d end up getting married for real!’
It meant she accepted it so naturally that she didn’t even feel the need to ask about the details. I couldn’t quite understand the reason.
‘We’re planning to break off the engagement eventually…’
I could only respond wistfully in my head.
The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully. After enduring a brief moment of embarrassment, surprisingly, everything returned to normal.
Most of the peace, I suspected, came from Lionel, who hadn’t teased me at all except for setting up the dinner appointment.
‘This is actually making me even more nervous. That guy, is he planning to tease me later during dinner?’
Still, since we were close, I could tolerate him teasing me a little when no one else was around.
The only noteworthy thing was that I received a reply from Commander Geloic, telling me to come straight to the Royal Palace as soon as I finish work tomorrow. His impatience was legendary.
I was busy, sure, but I’m sure the one busiest among us was Commander Geloic. So why did he feel the need to rush and call me like this?
Since work-related communication had been ongoing, it probably wasn’t about business.
But it shouldn’t be for something personal either… After all, he and I weren’t exactly that close.
‘Hmm, I don’t know.’
Maybe he just genuinely wanted to bully me…
I decided to stop pondering over something that wasn’t going to have an answer.
* * *
And so, during dinner time, after Sir Sein left early, followed by Billy and Lan, leaving only the two of us in the single office room.
Lionel neatly organized his files and placed them in the bookshelf before standing up.
“Shall we go? You’re treating me to something good, right?”
“…Just how much are you planning to squeeze out of me this time?”
“Only a determined Caption like you would pry shrimp skewers out of the poor Administrator’s wallet. Fine, a regular pub is good enough.”
“No, let’s try somewhere new. If it’s full, we’ll go to the usual place.”
“Sounds good~”
Lionel seemed like his usual self again. Perhaps the chilly attitude I had sensed earlier in the morning had just been in my head.
We headed to the restaurant where I once had lunch with Judy, recommended by Ludger.
As expected from a popular spot, the place was nearly full, but luckily, a customer just left, and we managed to get that very seat.
“This place specializes in Le Meridian cuisine. The apple-based dishes are particularly fantastic. When I came before, it was lunchtime, so I couldn’t have any alcohol, but let’s have some apple wine today. How about it?”
“I’m not a big drinker, but I’ll share a bottle with you…”
“Let’s add a dry one too.”
“Alright. By the way, isn’t this your first time coming here with me? How did someone like Captain Clara Weyburn, with such a narrow circle of friends, even find out about a place like this?”
“Uh… Well, actually, Ludger introduced me to this place…..”
“Hmm.”
Lionel lowered his gaze to the menu. It almost seemed like the chill that had briefly appeared earlier in the morning had returned to his face.
But soon, that expression faded, and he quickly decided on what to order.
“I’ll go with this. The meat pie with apples and the shrimp and mashed potatoes.”
“Then I’ll have something with soup…..”
After placing the order, Lionel leaned back on his chair, while smiling faintly.
“Well, let’s set the food aside for a moment…. Clara.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you getting engaged to Young Duke Kassen? Could it be… related to that debt you mentioned before?”
