TPHT 07

Chapter 07

The Grand Duke, who had returned holding Melissa tenderly in his arms, personally came to the shabby storage room in a corner of the imperial palace where I was holed up a few days later.

Luckily—or unluckily—Director McGuffin was away.

“…So this is where you work.”

The Grand Duke threw a contemptuous glance toward the corner cluttered with miscellaneous junk, as if disgusted.

For the record, I had cleaned it up quite a bit since I’d arrived here.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.”

The Grand Duke snorted.

“You must have big ambitions, Vice Director.”

He continued without even waiting for my answer.

“What do you want in return? Money? Status? Do you want to become Director?”

I was momentarily speechless, but barely regained my composure.

“I don’t want any of that.”

The Grand Duke stared at me as if he couldn’t believe it, but I was being sincere.

Say what you will, but imperial officials get paid pretty well. In fact, my salary had doubled since I became Vice Director.

They probably figured I’d only last a few months, so they wanted to stuff my pockets with cash—but I was still hanging on just fine, so it was a huge windfall for me.

And of course, I had no desire for the Director’s seat.

Director McGuffin blocked all the annoying work from reaching me—why would I want to change that?

“Just let me see the young lady often.”

The Grand Duke looked utterly unconvinced.

“Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t try to use my sister as a pawn to get something later.”

Ah, so that was it.

‘Maybe Melissa doesn’t need to struggle so hard to be loved?’

What the Grand Duke feared most was the child getting hurt if I had ulterior motives and approached Melissa.

So he was telling me: if I wanted something, I should tell him now.

He would quietly deal with it where Melissa couldn’t see.

But the problem was…

‘I really don’t want anything!’

All I wanted was to spend time with Melissa.

‘…And I wish he’d put aside that rebellion plan a bit, but saying that would be suicide.’

Considering the story of Black Osprey, the only one who could stop Grand Duke Karditsa was Melissa.

If I meddled clumsily, I might actually lose my head this time.

“I don’t know how to make you believe me, but I’m perfectly content with my current position.”

“…You truly want nothing?”

I was starting to get genuinely tired of this repetitive conversation.

“Didn’t I tell you? I just want to see the young lady often.”

Achilles Karditsa didn’t answer. Instead, he stared into my eyes for a long time, as if trying to read my mind.

But I’m also quite good at staring contests.

I’ve even been told behind my back that I have an “annoying, sharp gaze.”

This time, too, I won.

He averted his eyes first and muttered in a barely audible voice.

“…Vice Director, you must be one of two things. Either a master con artist… or a heaven-sent angel.”

No, I’m neither.

That night.

In the silent, dark bedroom, Achilles Karditsa was deep in thought.

Of course, he had done a background check before entrusting Melissa to her.

He couldn’t leave his precious little sister with some commoner woman of unknown origin.

Tessa Harington, Vice Director of the Child Protection Bureau.

She had been a strict principlist, a cold-hearted, ruthless “villainess” of the Treasury who never made exceptions for personal circumstances… until she was demoted to the backwater Child Protection Bureau.

Normally, he wouldn’t have given her a second thought, but the problem was that she had won Melissa’s heart in no time.

‘…Just because she listened to her.’

Achilles let out a hollow laugh.

Easier said than done.

Melissa would tremble just at the sight of him and always get into trouble. Sometimes it was so bad he wondered if she did it on purpose.

So what was he supposed to listen to?

The summary report on Tessa Harington was far from reassuring, but she was the only lifeline, so he had no choice but to entrust Melissa to her.

Even so, he didn’t send her off without any precautions.

Achilles had forced a magical artifact around Melissa’s neck and taught her how to use it.

It looked like an ordinary amethyst necklace, but in reality, it was a powerful magical tool.

When activated, it would restrain the person in front of her and simultaneously send a signal to him.

…And Melissa never activated the artifact. On the contrary, she even approached him on her own.

That was something he never could have imagined with Melissa just a short while ago.

‘Fine, whoever she is, the fact remains that she’s good for Melissa.’

Still, he couldn’t let his guard down just yet.

She might be a skillful swindler.

‘I need to investigate further.’

But even if Tessa Harington were a con artist, she had made Melissa smile. She had made Melissa come into his arms…

The image of Melissa rushing into his embrace was still vivid. How could he not feel grateful to Tessa Harington?

Achilles was not an ungrateful man.

Rather, he was the type to give exactly as much as he received, and take exactly as much as he gave.

‘…She doesn’t want money or status.’

Still, giving her nothing was out of the question.

There was one sentence in the report that caught his eye.

‘It said she worked day and night and always looked tired.’

He hadn’t noticed before because she always glared at him with venomous eyes, but now that he thought about it, she did look haggard.

‘But her eyes when looking at Melissa were unmistakably gentle.’

Achilles’ lips slowly curved upward.

He had thought of a way to both buy time for further investigation—keeping her away from Melissa temporarily—and reward her at the same time.

“It’s a bonus vacation. Take two full weeks off and come back.”

“Bonus… vacation?”

I was genuinely puzzled by Director McGuffin’s words.

In my three years at the Treasury, I had never taken a long vacation.

More precisely, I had never taken time off except when running a high fever.

Of course, no boss had ever proactively offered me a vacation.

“Yes. It’s an order from above, so just follow it.”

“When you say ‘above’…”

“If you had a little more tact, you’d know when to shut your mouth.”

“Ah, right.”

He was right.

As much as the Child Protection Bureau was a dead-end post, it was still an independent agency.

In principle, there was only one person above us.

The Prime Minister.

…But since when did principles exist in this place anyway?

“So does this mean I don’t have to worry about getting fired over some trivial excuse anymore?”

Director McGuffin looked at me steadily.

“Do you think the Grand Duke would just stand by if you got kicked out?”

“…Oh.”

So, it seemed I now had what you might call backing.

‘Couldn’t it have come sooner!’

Then I could have enjoyed watching those Treasury bastards squirm.

The Director tapped his desk with his index finger.

“But don’t get too cocky. This vacation is also a message to keep a low profile.”

I immediately understood the situation.

‘They want me to stay out of the way and take a break while they conduct a thorough background check on me, huh?’

Grand Duke Karditsa didn’t trust me.

Thanks to Melissa, who had eagerly told me about the “magic necklace her brother gave her” the moment we met, I also knew that he had taken his own safety measures.

It didn’t bother me.

If it weren’t for that necklace, I would have suspected the Grand Duke was hiding somewhere in the villa.

“It’s paid vacation, right?”

Surely, they wouldn’t give me vacation as a gag order without pay.

The Director chuckled.

“Yes, it’s paid. So leave right away.”

Then I had no reason to refuse.

‘Actually, I needed some time to clear my head. This works out well.’

It was the perfect opportunity to get away from it all—the childcare-themed heroine, her villainous brother, the rebellion he was plotting—and cool my head.

“We’ve arrived, miss.”

Just stepping off the carriage, I felt my spirits lift at the deep blue sky and mild weather of the southern resort.

‘Unlike the capital with its bitter wind—this is full-on spring!’

After paying the fare, I wobbled with my suitcase toward the lodging, Hotel Erendal.

I’d heard it was hard to get a room without a reservation, but luckily there was exactly one vacancy left because someone had just checked out.

“But the room isn’t fully ready yet… Would you mind waiting a bit?”

“Of course not.”

I sat down on a plush sofa in the hotel lobby and leisurely began to read a book.

‘Mmm, this is good.’

The bookstore owner recommended it as a mystery novel by a promising new author who was all the rage these days. It was thrilling, with twist after twist.

I had just reached the moment when the detective finally reveals all the tricks.

[Everyone! I hereby reveal that Adel here is not actually Adel!]

[What do you mean, Detective? I’ve known Adel my whole life! There’s never been a switch!]

[Of course you’d say that. Because…]