Chapter – 48
The smoothness of her voice sounded convincing. Even Kaless, who had rejected her several times, knew of Evangelin’s stubbornness and finally accepted it. He did not look particularly pleased; he simply ran a hand through his hair with a complicated expression.
“Then what exactly is the young lady’s share?”
“I decided to buy land.”
“Not that kind. Something… you know… something like… the kind you’d say ‘this is it’…”
He wasn’t necessarily talking about expensive objects. He just didn’t know how to express things that would truly suit her taste, and he was a man who had grown up living only with his grandmother.
“I don’t know. Something from the market… shiny and sparkling…”
“Oh, I think my nanny has arrived!”
The girl, who had been listening somewhat attentively, stood up when she heard the sound of the door. The village volunteer who had taken the grandmother out for a walk looked unusually bright today.
“Miss! Have you been well? Good heavens, it’s been so long!”
“Yes, nanny. It really has been a while.”
She had long grown used to the nanny’s greeting, which felt as if she were seeing her for the first time every day. After being grabbed by the hand and hugged once tightly—just as if it had been ten years—the nanny glared at Kaless, who was leaning lazily against the doorframe.
“Kal! What kind of face is that? You weren’t rude to our young lady, were you?”
“Nanny, really. I wasn’t. I don’t know how well I was treated. She treated me like family.”
“…Really?”
“Of course.”
Right?
At Evangelin’s glance, Kaless let out a helpless laugh. Still, seeing him lift the grandmother and carry her inside made her feel strangely reassured. Suppressing her laughter, she reached toward the shawl placed on the wheelchair and paused.
“Yip! Yip!”
“…Ah.”
Puppies wriggled and wagged their tails inside the basket.
When Evangelin hesitated, unable to even put the shawl back on, the volunteer smiled and took one puppy out.
“Grandma has been in such a good mood today because of these little ones.”
“…Why are there puppies?”
“Our dog gave birth recently, and today happened to be the day I went to the market. There were already many people who wanted the puppies once they were born.”
“….”
“Miss, try holding one!”
The volunteer plopped a puppy into her arms.
Evangelin’s hands stiffened.
Unable to decide whether to stand or move, she slowly bent her knees and sat down. She reached out and gently stroked the fluffy head, and at the soft sensation, the corner of her lips twitched.
“If you like them that much, why don’t you raise one?”
“Pardon?”
“It would make this grandmother less lonely, and you also look like you really like puppies. My eyes can’t be fooled.”
The volunteer narrowed her eyes and looked at her fondly.
Anyone could see that the way she sat holding the puppy as comfortably as possible was unusual. Kaless seemed to think the same, because he soon returned after laying the grandmother down and added a word.
“You should. The two of you would look very good together.”
“Yip! Yip!”
“See? This little one says it likes it. And the young lady should have at least one thing for herself…”
“No.”
The girl, who had been smiling happily for a rare moment, quickly shook her head.
Kaless widened his eyes in surprise, but Evangelin, who had already returned the puppy to the basket, bit her lip with difficulty.
“…I’m not worthy of that.”
◇ ◆ ◇
The Emperor had watched the Teze Duke since his very early childhood.
An unwilling companion, one might say.
Since their ages were similar, like other noble children, he had often heard people say, “Please try to be at least half as good as the young Teze son,” until his ears rang.
Perhaps because of that childhood trauma, or perhaps out of a small rebellious spirit, the Emperor was never greatly surprised or shaken by whatever the Teze Duke did.
Whether he accomplished impossible tasks perfectly, or resolved international disputes that had dragged on for years in a single day, he simply shrugged it off, thinking, “Well, it’s just the Teze Duke being the Teze Duke.”
But this time, after reading the report from the western city inspection, he had to remain silent for quite a while.
“…All the mayors of four cities were dismissed?”
“Yes.”
Despite the Emperor’s stunned expression, Decarno’s eyes showed no particular emotion. It would be more accurate to say he looked soulless.
“No, but still. If you dismiss all the mayors, what are you trying to do?”
“They were dismissed because they deserved it.”
“Sigh… fine. Then at least let’s see the reason. The mayors of Ize and Tenar appointed their relatives without authorization, the mayor of Philos neglected duties… and the mayor of Mare…”
What is this?
As the Emperor read line after line of the report, his pupils widened.
It was obvious that the Teze Duke would not randomly remove people, but the number of pages was incomparable to others.
“Embezzlement, dereliction of duty, bribery, corruption, abuse of power, tax waste due to administrative negligence, and poor attitude? Seriously, what kind of action gets someone flagged for ‘poor attitude’? Did the guy beat the Duke or something?”
“What is written there is only the basic findings. If Your Majesty investigates further…”
“No. I won’t.”
“….”
“I’m sure he handled it properly anyway.”
In the end, the Emperor reached the same conclusion as always.
There was no point in digging further, since it would only give him a headache, and the result would not change. More importantly, the Teze Duke was not a man who would ruin affairs due to personal emotions.
That had been true for the twenty years he had watched him.
Unless someone had hit him hard on the head, there was no other explanation.
“When he said he would personally go to the western region instead of Sir Andyce, he must have planned everything beforehand, right? Probably received some tip-off and decided to wipe them all out like this?”
“…Yes, more or less.”
“Well, anyway… Good work. You’ve accomplished a lot in such a short time.”
Both the one giving the praise and the one receiving it had bitter expressions.
Feeling awkward, the Emperor leaned crookedly against the left side of the throne.
“Well, speaking of which, now that those empty positions are a problem. If we carelessly fill the seats where people were wrongly removed, it would be troublesome, but we also can’t leave them vacant. Especially Mare seems serious. It’s a trading city without many noble families. They still need a mayor to handle affairs.”
“Yes.”
“I should think of a solution. You can’t keep taking on such trivial work forever, can you?”
“….”
The Duke did not answer, and the Emperor glanced at him, feeling a headache coming on.
Since he was thirsty, he felt like drinking. Hoping to invite the Duke for a drink, he casually looked at his face.
“Hmm, by the way, since you’ve returned to Roark after a long time, if you have some free time—”
“I do not.”
“…Ah.”
“I will take my leave now.”
The Duke bowed his head and turned away, creating a small breeze with the dark blue hem of his coat.
He was precise to the end in showing proper courtesy, leaving no room for complaint.
The Emperor, who had extended a hand in frustration, glared belatedly.
“No one calls the Teze Duke the greatest noble! He has no loyalty at all!”
“Well, um, Your Majesty…”
The chamberlain, who was standing nearby and feared becoming a victim of the Emperor’s anger, quickly tried to soothe his mood.
In truth, the Emperor only spoke harshly; he did not truly hate the Duke.
To be more honest, the Emperor was intelligent enough to know that removing the Teze Duke would only harm himself.
“Surely it’s not possible that the Duke would behave that way.”
“You just saw how he treated me! How dare he say ‘no’ immediately when the Emperor is speaking!”
“Perhaps he is simply exhausted. I heard he had been on an inspection tour, visiting four cities without resting even once. On the last day in Mare, he even stayed up all night at the harbor, so he must be tired.”
“…Hmph. It’s not like anyone told him to go that far from the beginning.”
After the chamberlain’s explanation, the Emperor’s mood improved slightly.
If that was the case, he could overlook it. But another question remained that he could not understand.
“But if he was so tired, why didn’t he refuse when told to continue handling Mare’s affairs?”
◇ ◆ ◇
Decarno hated anything noisy and chaotic.
For that reason, he simplified most procedures in the ducal household.
He had long abolished the tedious tradition of noble households lining up on both sides to greet the family head when they returned home.
He preferred walking from the entrance quietly, slowly, and calmly.
It was the only time he could breathe, surrounded by people despite being born into it.
After all, everything visible here was his property.
