Supporting Characters Also Need Some Love

CHAPTER 3: YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO BE THERE (VXIII)

Part 052

Monday came as promised to Homer. The morning shift was over, but she crouched in front of Tina, who was still silent. This was how she felt when she went to the teacher’s office to ask for a coconut to be removed by feigning illness when she was in high school.

“Miss Tina, I understand that you know I’m doing half-work today.”

Tina lifted her head from her papers and looked up at her as she ran her fingers between her eyes. She then nodded her head, she said.

“I heard. Please organize the parts you have reviewed so far, submit them, and leave.”

She quickly handed out the documents she had prepared in advance. Miss Tina, who read it quickly, said she knew without inspiration. Really, could she go? Wasn’t that like skipping for no reason, and that’s why the young girls were talking shit?

“Hey, miss Tina. I’m really going to work hard at the Treasury Department. I’ll come tomorrow and do what I couldn’t do today.”

“No way. Young lady, I heard from the captain. You decided to help with the ‘King’s Eye’ investigation, right? A young lady’s eyes would be helpful.”

“What?”

“I know that young lady is working hard, so stop talking nonsense and get off work.”

“Yes, yes!”

Oh, she was worried, but this is an unexpected response. Tina did know she was working hard. Feeling proud for some reason, she happily lowered her head and turned around, but Tina called.

“Ah, young lady, take this.”

These were documents related to budget execution and reserve fund collection for the year before last and the first half of this year.

“Captain Homer must have explained what I was trying to do.”

She said while accepting the papers in bewilderment.

“It’s not like that, but it’s obvious what you’re trying to do if you’re looking at the numbers and selecting a bright young lady for the royal palace. It’ll be helpful.”

Tina lowered her head back to her papers, which she had been looking at, and answered casually.

“Now that I have data to compare, it will be a great help in finding errors.”

“It must be worthwhile to prepare. If you need other documents, let me know.”

“I didn’t know you would take care of me like this. Thank you so much.”

As she repeatedly thanked her for her unexpected help, Tina raised her head and smiled at Damian.

“Why, because I hate young girls?”

Seeing that she had a rare smile on his lips, she didn’t seem angry or sarcastic, but Damian was embarrassed because it was an ambiguous question to answer.

“Yes? No, not that.”

“I don’t hate the young lady. I don’t think she won’t show up even tomorrow saying she’s having a hard time. If so I’ll be more disappointed, so I’ll hate the young lady more than the other young ladies.”

“You mean I’m definitely going to be the treasurer?”

“Yes. I really hope you do.”

For some reason, Miss Tina’s attitude was soft, so she summoned up the courage to say her words that she had been thinking about for a while.

“You don’t hate all female administrators, do you? There are a lot of male administrators who quit.”

She slightly turned around, but Miss Tina immediately understood what she was trying to say.

“Why am I so unkind to women, am I discriminating against men and women even though I’m a woman, it’s that what you are asking?”

Since she had a businesslike face that was no different from usual, she was not sure if she should lower her tail or not. What if she didn’t even control the time? While she was shaking her head and thinking about it seriously, Miss Tina picked it up again and smiled.

“It’s not that I don’t like female administrators. No, I’m rather glad and reassuring. But did I mention that? There are actually a lot of young girls who take the administrative officer exam to find a bridegroom candidate. It’s an important job for me, so it looks like a masquerade to them.”

There were young ladies who wanted to become administrators with their bloated dreams of romance. No, a lot of them actually did that. And she didn’t even think that’s a bad thing. Most of the young girls met and married the man chosen by the family head and lived their lives. In Laurenty, where women are at a complete disadvantage when it comes to rational divorce and remarriage, what’s wrong with trying to find someone to share a future with? Besides, most noble ladies get engaged right after the coming-of-age ceremony and get married as soon as they turn 20. That was too young! She was still 18, and she had a flower-like lover named Adrian, but she had never thought about getting married. Even though Kim Mi-hyang, who has lived for 24 years, was inside her, it still seemed like a distant story.

Would the young girls who have lived only twenty years of age be safe and happy living by marrying a man whom their families decided on, even without being able to date properly? So she cheered for her young ladies to become administrators and find her own mates, but after hearing Miss Tina’s words, she thought that she might think that way. For some, it’s a long-term blind date, but for others, it’s a valuable job. Miss Tina was right. She was also surprised that the average length of service was 6 months. Teaching juniors was not an easy job, but if you went through the same thing several times, you would feel disillusioned.

Among her classmates, there was a young lady who was determined to find a good man, and there was Miss Tina with a blurry face in front of her, so she didn’t know who was right and who was wrong. It’s not like it’s decided that a girl should quit once she got married, but everyone took it for granted that marriage was retirement.

Later, even later, if she ever got married to Adrian, would Adrian tell her to quit? Whoa, was this really something to seriously consider?

“Everyone is living a hard life in their own way.”

When she vaguely put her words down, whether it was comfort or an excuse, Miss Tina put on a very self-deprecating smile.

“I guess so. I can’t ask everyone to be an old virgin like me, you know what I mean. Go now, young lady.”

“Yes. See you tomorrow. Senior.”

She left the Ministry of Finance with a complicated mind.

* * *

She went to her son’s teacher’s house to pick him up. They had already talked about it by letter over the weekend, but the teacher she met in front of the residence didn’t seem to like the situation. He moved to a restaurant for lunch, and he asked because he had a different face than usual.

“Do you really hate going to the palace?”

“If it wasn’t for the lady’s request, and it wasn’t for Princess Remina, I would have refused.”

“Why do you hate it so much? It’s easier to study if you have royal support. You don’t even have to be a tutor.”

“My lady, nothing is free in this world. The biggest thing is the huge amount of money that comes in as the principal. It’s obvious what they want from a historian like me. They’ll ask you to paint your face with gold.”

“Ah, this time it’s not like that, so don’t worry too much.”

“So I’m sitting here. Anyway, why is your network like that?”

“Pardon?”

“Dating with that Duke of Bigor, and the acquaintances who exchange favors are even ‘the king’s dog’.”

“The king’s dog? If you’re talking about Homer, he’s the head of ‘The King’s Eye’?”

He let out a long sigh as he put down the fork he was holding. She couldn’t figure out why Mr. Adol was doing this, so she just kept her eyes wide open.

“Didn’t Duke Bigor say anything?”

“Adrian didn’t say anything.”

“If the Duke didn’t say anything, I don’t think he would harm the lady.”

“Yes? Homer was always kind…”

In particular, although his face is unusually kind, Adol stared at her and took another deep breath.

“I don’t know the lady’s discernment at all. You heard rumors that the Crown Prince gets into all sorts of accidents, right? He’s the one who cleans up dirty rumors flowing from the hegemony family, including those behind the scenes.”

“That’s right, since he is the head of an agency under the direct control of the royal family, wouldn’t that be the case?”

“It’s because an accident isn’t as cute as stepping on a passerby’s pronunciation. During the six years that the crown prince was at the academy, three young lords, four young children, and twelve common students left the academy. Among them were:  those who stopped their studies because they were disgusted with him and returned after the crown prince graduated, but there are also those whose whereabouts are unknown.”

“Are you saying they’re missing? Are you saying that His Highness, the Crown Prince, even harmed people?”

“At least 10 young students suddenly disappeared, but no one spoke out. The king’s dog took care of it. The king’s dog took care of it. If the money worked, he paid it, if not, he got rid of it. It’s not a confirmed story.”

Did he get rid of that mouth, did he kill them? Was that Homer? Innocent people, for the crown prince? Teacher Adol was not the one who would say something that he did not know for sure. Even so, it was hard to believe that Homer had done such a thing.

As she froze in surprise, his son added with a slightly apologetic look.

“Duke Bigor wouldn’t have let someone who would harm the lady be close to him. He’s just taking care of the crown prince, not his personal personality. But anyway, never get involved with the crown prince, miss.”

“Yes, I will. I have no intention of doing so. The Crown Prince truly knows the more he is a son of a bitch.”

Adol opened his eyes wide and looked at her, then folded his waist and laughed loudly. 

She glanced at Adol, who smiled coolly and said.

“Don’t laugh, sir, do you know how complicated I am right now? The second prince is a bad guy who might bring in foreign powers and ruin the country, so we have to investigate. Isn’t that right? Adrian said it didn’t matter who was king, but I don’t want to have a bastard or a son of a bitch as king.”

“Ahahahaha, was Adrian like that? Kuk-kuk, that sounds like a guy. Well, Laurentian isn’t a country that’s lax enough to collapse just because an idiot became king. But, at least, I’d like a sane king, too.”

Teacher Adol erased his smile and looked at her with a melancholy face.

She put down the fork she was holding and corrected her posture. She lowered her voice a little and brought out something she hadn’t asked anyone about. Since he was a teacher, teacher Adol was a bit strange, so she thought that even if her words were difficult to accept, he would seriously consider them. Of course, Adrian would listen to everything I say seriously, no matter what, but this problem is difficult. It is a problem that many people risk their lives for. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to make Adrian worry about a problem that even she wasn’t sure about. Because of the title and position, if you get caught up in it, you could get hurt.

“Excuse me, sir, the terms of succession. How exactly are they?”

“The conditions for succession? It has changed little by little over several generations, but the most basic gist is still the same. The ‘eldest son of the king’ succeeds. When the eldest son dies, the eldest son has the qualifications of crown prince, and if the eldest son is younger, he becomes the heir. If you don’t have a family, go to the king’s second son. Well, that’s about it.”

“Then, sir. Who does the ‘Chairman of the King’ refer to?”

“The king’s eldest son is the first child to be born as a descendant of the king and queen. Alas! Lady, are you thinking of the person I am thinking of right now?”

In the language of the Laurentian kingdom, ‘firstborn’ means ‘first descendant, son, child’ of the king. The word itself has no meaning of ‘male’. That means, if taken literally, that the king’s firstborn would be neither Tyrellius nor Dozern. Teacher Adol looked at her with a face that had been beaten in the back of the head, then fell into thought while groaning.

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Translator Note:

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