Duke, Please Fail! - Chapter 18

Episode 18

No way! Still, compared to when Faust was in charge, there has been significant progress. It’s not like it brought immense benefits to Leonel! While nodding my head, I comforted myself, and then Lizzy’s voice was heard. 

“Ms. Nelly!”

Turning around, Lizzy appeared about to trip over my feet. I quickly approached and caught her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes…”

Lizzy replied with a gloomy expression, taking a step back and tightly holding my hand.

“It’s all thanks to you, Ms. Nelly! You knew the duke and the knight commander’s reflexes, so you sent me to the manor, right?”

No. If I had known, I wouldn’t have sent you.

With a faint smile, Lizzy’s face expressed deep emotion, and she sniffled her nose.

“I’ll become someone who helps you, Ms. Nelly! Please watch over me!”

Saying that, without waiting for a response, she turned around and ran off. Of course, she didn’t forget to stumble once in the middle.

“I’m okay!”

I sighed and smiled, watching Lizzy’s brave figure as she stood up and shouted.

I’m not okay…

* * *

The estate was going well. And my revenge was just rolling along.

The deeds done to use up Leonel’s money somehow didn’t end well. The tents boosted the morale of the estate’s people. The replacement of farming tools cost a fortune, but it sped up the cultivation.

Lizzy seemed to have found some methods as her mistakes reduced significantly. Thanks to her, the Duke’s duties started running smoothly even without Arette.

Arette focused on his main job and strengthened the security. As the public order improved, Leonel’s reputation naturally went up.

“I guess I failed after all…”

Muttering sadly, I slumped over my desk.

Sophie, who was entering my office, was surprised and rushed in with the door still open.

“Ms. Nelly! Why are you like this? Are you feeling unwell?”

Simultaneously, heads popped up from the desk.

“What? Ms. Nelly is feeling unwell?”

“Where? Where does it hurt?”

“You need to rest.”

“That’s right, rest!”

“You must rest.”

“Rest!”

Supervisors crowded in.

Furthermore, repeating the same words felt like a flock of sparrows constantly crying, “Rest!”

My head, which had been perfectly fine, had started to ache badly, so I touched my forehead.

“Looks like you have a headache!”

“I’ll bring you some pain relievers.”

“When your head hurts, you should rest.”

“That’s right, rest!”

I raised my hand to calm people down.

“It’s not like that. It’s just that things aren’t going well…”

“When things aren’t going well, you should rest!”

…Please, stop with the “rest”!

With no strength left to hold back, I buried my face in my palms. At that moment, Sophie slammed the desk.

“Everyone, be quiet! Can’t you see that Ms. Nelly is overwhelmed?”

Then, she drove away the quiet “rest” sparrows from my office. Only then did I sigh and lower my hands.

“Thank you, Sophie.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. But what’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing.”

Sophie gave me a momentarily disappointed look. Then, she took hold of my hand and pulled me.

“Since you’ll have a day off tomorrow anyway, why don’t you leave work early today and do something to lift your spirits?”

“Huh? But there’s still work to be done…”

“I’ll take care of that!”

“But what about the reports, today’s reports too?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Pushed by Sophie’s insistent hand, I reluctantly returned to my room.

I lay on the bed, but I didn’t feel any enthusiasm. I just stared at the ceiling blankly and then suddenly sat up.

‘Just sitting around like this won’t solve anything. Let’s follow Sophie’s advice and do something to lift my spirits!’

I got up from the seat. I opened the door to find something to wear. Then I saw the dresses that Leonel had given me.

‘Right. I was planning to sell those dresses, but I forgot due to being busy.’

I took out all the dresses from the closet except for the simplest one. They were so heavy, it felt like my arms were about to ache.

“Mary!”

Stumbling as I walked, I barely managed to open the door and called Mary loudly. Then a girl about my age, Mary, elegantly approached in a maid’s outfit.

“Did you call me?”

“Can you get a big bag? I want to put all these dresses in it.”

After glancing around the room for a moment, Mary seemed contemplative.

“I hope this isn’t impolite, but may I ask you something?”

“Yes!”

“Are you eloping?”

Eloping? If I hesitated even a bit, I might have rushed to Leonel right away.

I shook my head firmly to dispel any misunderstandings.

“Eloping? Are you kidding? I have nowhere to run to. I just want to organize dresses that I won’t wear.”

“I’ll burn them if you leave them outside.”

“I’ll sell them in the neighboring city!”

“…Ah! I see. Well then, I’ll prepare the bag for you.”

“Yes, thank you.”

As I nodded, Mary brought a large bag and helped me organize the dresses. During that time, I changed into different clothes and prepared to leave. After putting on a coat, Mary asked me.

“Should I call the carriage for you?”

“Please do.”

I carried the big bag and walked outside.

The coachman came out with a quivering gaze and looked at the bag and then at me. After briefly explaining the situation to him, I got on the carriage.

Simultaneously, the carriage started moving. I hummed a tune and imagined how much the dresses would fetch. Just thinking about holding a purse of money in my hand made my lips curl into a smile.

“Hehehe.”

I giggled and enjoyed the passing scenery. The carriage went on for a while and entered the neighboring city, Dames. As soon as I got off, I suddenly gasped.

‘Oh no! If it goes like this, how am I going to get back…?’

Urgently, I called the coachman, but the carriage didn’t stop.

I stopped chasing the carriage as it seemed futile. I looked at the diminishing carriage with my arms crossed and then lowered my head.

‘Selling the dresses should bring in some money, so I should manage somehow.’

But then that money… I had it, but it’s gone now.

Strange, isn’t it? Where did it go? I had sold the dresses, including the bag, at a clothing store. It was quite a large sum of money, and I had tied it securely around my waist.

No matter how much I felt around, I couldn’t feel anything like a purse of money.

“Huh? Huh? Huh?”

This can’t be right. Could I have dropped it somewhere?

With my head down, I retraced my steps. However, even after rubbing my eyes and searching, I couldn’t find anything that looked like a purse of money.

After walking for a while, I looked up and saw the clothing store where I had sold the dresses.

‘Right. I must have left it there. I left it behind.’

The money from selling the dresses was a substantial amount, almost equivalent to my yearly salary.

In my heart, I wanted to carry it like a newborn baby, but I had tied it around my waist to avoid drawing attention. Where could I have lost it?

I rushed into the clothing store with hurried steps.

“Oh my, aren’t you the customer who sold the dresses earlier?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“But why are you crying?”

“I, hmp! Did I possibly leave a purse of money here?”

As I sobbed and asked, the shopkeeper shook their head with a sympathetic look.

My legs felt weak. I plopped down in dismay, feeling the shopkeeper’s pitying gaze on me.

“Would you like some warm tea?”

I was about to nod, but then I quickly shook my head.

There’s no time to drink tea. It’s better to spend that time looking around at least once.

“Thank you, but I’m okay.”

“You must have been pickpocketed. Many kids around the square do that kind of thing systematically.”

“Can I get it back?”

“Well…”

I stood up and gave a small bow. With a worried expression behind me, I left the shop.

And there, I stood, thinking back on what had happened.

I hadn’t bumped into anyone. I had only talked to a young girl. I had asked her where I could rent a carriage. But could a child who might be around 9 years old be a pickpocket?

Yes! No, yes!

‘I need to find that child first.’

She had short brown hair and was wearing brown clothes. Since there were many of them near the square, I decided to head in that direction.

Please, let the purse be safe!

Running around frantically, I spotted the short-haired girl. She was in conversation with someone who looked like a traveler.

I decided to watch for a bit to avoid misunderstandings.

However, before I knew it, the child pretended to help the traveler while stealing their purse.

“Hey!”

I shouted, and an old man nearby screamed and fell over.

“Ah!”

“Oops, sorry!”

Apologizing, I looked up, but the girl was already running away.

“Are you just standing there?! Catch that kid! She’s a pickpocket!”

As I yelled, some people reached out to catch the child. However, the child skillfully dodged her hands like an acrobat and ran.

Even so, the effort to avoid slowed her down, and we managed to close the distance. As I reached out my hand, the girl suddenly turned into an alley.

Without time to think, I followed her into the alley. Even though my endurance had improved from wandering around the estate, I was out of breath. By the time I reached my limits, the girl stumbled. At the same time, I stumbled too.

“Ah!”

As I screamed, I reached out and grabbed the girl’s ankle.

“You! Ugh, ugh, you! My, ugh, money, huff… Where, ugh!”

“What are you saying?”

The girl sharply cried out while wriggling her foot. She had been like an angel when she told me where the carriage was!

I took a deep breath and yelled.

“Give me my money back!”

“I don’t have it!”

“Why don’t you have it!”

“I already got rid of it, you idiot!”

“Got rid of it to whom!”