Duke, Please Fail! - Chapter 36

Episode 36

Roman seems strange lately. For the past few days, he’s been getting all contemplative and running away whenever our eyes meet. Sometimes he even keeps his distance and watches from afar.

It’s like how I look at Leonel!

Look at this, he’s doing it again today. I was petting Guadang’s neck and watching Roman together. When he noticed, he quickly disappeared.

Today, Dylan, who’s in charge of the donkey duty, chuckled.

“Seems like Roman has a real crush on the estate manager, huh?”

“He’s not crushing, is he?”

“Have you guys fought?”

“No, we’re not even close enough to fight.”

…Could it be because he refused that offer to have tea together last time?

When Faust came that time, I ran away. Just because of that, he’s been avoiding eye contact and watching from afar.

Oh well, I guess I’m not the only one who’s a bit childish sometimes. After all, I’m seeking revenge on Leonel myself, so I can understand Roman’s feelings.

But regardless of understanding, I don’t want to be close to him. So, I just nodded and turned away.

I should focus on Guadang.

“Ta-da! Guadang, I brought apples today!”

Guadang perked up at the sound. If there was a problem, the guys nearby also turned their heads at the sound of the apples.

‘Huh? I feel like something like this happened before…’

Before I could finish my thoughts, the donkeys charged menacingly.

“Ah, wait a second!”

I extended my arm upward as if I were going to run away but gave up. I couldn’t outrun the donkeys with my stamina anyway. Instead, I threw the apples I was holding toward Dylan.

“Dylan, catch this!”

“Huh?”

As Dylan caught the apples, the donkeys immediately stopped in their tracks and all turned their heads. The murmurs from the donkeys sounded unusual.

I quickly grabbed Guadang’s reins and stepped back. At the same time, the donkeys rushed towards Dylan.

“Estate manager, give that to me! Ugh! Go away, you brute! Go away!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Dylan! Play with them for a bit and then throw it somewhere else!”

Taking advantage of the chaos, I climbed onto Guadang. Since Dylan had seen me taking it, I didn’t have to worry about losing a donkey!

I headed towards the cultivated fields with Guadang. I surreptitiously sprayed the plant poison that we hadn’t been able to distribute because of Roman.

As soon as I cleared the orc-barrel wagon for a complete cover-up, the residents began arriving to work.

‘Always finishing the job at the perfect time.’

It seems like we haven’t been caught yet! This job has a good feeling, indeed.

I entered the management office with a proud smile, exchanged greetings with people, and began handling tasks when Lizzy came in.

“Miss Nelly, I’ve found something!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“It’s about that foreign cropland!”

Lizzy lowered her voice and then produced a map.

As soon as we cleared the desk, Lizzy swiftly unfolded the map and pointed to a large piece of land near the river with her finger.

“It’s right here!”

The location is perfect! It’s close to the river, so if we extend the irrigation channels, we can provide plenty of water to the fields. Then, those plants trapped in the water won’t be able to grow at all—they’ll all die!

“Hehehe.”

I’ll have to do it secretly this time as well. No one should know!

I should make narrow irrigation channels near the field and bury them underground. It’s going to take a fair amount of time. Should I take a break from spreading the plant poison while making the canals?

“When do they start?”

“Starting tomorrow.”

Alright, I should start preparing slowly. Before my time was up, who used to handle this task? Was it Levance or the butler? One of them seemed to oversee the workers. Of course, they never involved me in this work. So, this time, it’ll probably be the same.

…It has to be.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Why? As soon as I got off work, I went looking for it and found out what this meant.

There is no lightning in the dry sky.

It was never my intention to detect and prevent my revenge. It’s a painful story, but with numerous failed revenge attempts, I’ve become a steward who cherishes the estate dearly.

Such a person wouldn’t deliberately ruin crops…

‘That’s it!’

It’s because my reputation has improved so much! 

Before, the residents didn’t like me, and even Leonel didn’t trust me. But my attempts at revenge ended up having the opposite effect. Not only did people start to trust me, but my reputation improved too. Should I be happy about this? 

I pouted my lips. Leonel tilted his head to the side. 

“Weren’t you studying until dawn for the crops?” 

That exotic crop’s name… What was it? It’s so hard to pronounce. 

“Well, of course, that’s true, but…” 

I studied not to cultivate it, but to let it rot. 

To be honest, it’s a stretch to call it studying. I still can’t even tell potatoes and sweet potatoes apart just by looking at the leaves. 

“It’s a bit overwhelming.”

Moreover, I’ll be responsible for rotting the roots, and I’ll be the one in charge. I won’t be the only one to blame for the failure, of course. 

I don’t feel unjust about ruining it, but! I was planning to stay here to save up for my retirement, but that’s out of the question now. If I fail, I’ll be kicked out. Even worse, if I cause significant damage and get thrown out, I won’t even have a recommendation letter, making it harder to find work elsewhere. 

‘Oh, could it be that’s what you want?’ 

Of course not. Why would I have any ill feelings… Do I have any?

When I stared at Leonel, he finally spoke. ‘

“You don’t need to be burdened. No one has succeeded so far.”

Right, whether it works or not, it doesn’t matter! Why was I forgetting that? Even the previous manager didn’t succeed in cultivating it, but they didn’t face any punishment. Because it’s a plant that’s meant to die!

In that case, the story changes. It’s better to be in a position where I have no responsibilities and can do whatever I want in the field. 

“I’ll do it! Just leave it to me.”

“You suddenly seem enthusiastic.”

“Yes!”

Leonel made a strange sound and then gestured towards the butler. 

“Map.”

“Here you go, Your Grace.”

He spread out the map on his desk and asked.

“Where do you think is a suitable location?”

Why is he asking when he already has a chosen spot in mind? I raised my finger and pointed to the land Leonel had picked out.

“It seems our opinions match.”

This is what I thought when Lizzy told me about Leonel’s choice.

How could he have picked a spot that matched my intentions so well?

“It’s fascinating.”

“Fascinating indeed.”

Leonel gave me a subtle reprimand as he looked at the map for no apparent reason.

“Still, our thoughts rarely align.”

“Our?”

Oops, “our”? I shouldn’t be referring to us as a “we” when it comes to the target of revenge. I quickly turned my head, scolded my cheeky lips, and straightened up.

“I apologize, Your Grace.”

“It’s fine. No problem.”

Still, calling it “our” plan when it concerns our revenge target is deceptive.

“I won’t do that in the future.”

Leonel’s left eyebrow twitched. I wondered what else might be bothering him, but his voice was unexpectedly nonchalant.

“…Sure, then.”

“Shall we start tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

I’ll be quite busy for a while, but there’s no choice!

“I’ll work hard.”

With a vengeance!

* * *

It was the day to begin a new revenge plan. 

Inspired by Guadang’s good spirits, I headed towards the gathering place for the carriages to go out to the fields. Along the way, I spotted Frer heading towards a carriage.

“Frer!”

He turned around at my voice, seeming momentarily startled before waving.

“Miss Nelly.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m planning to visit my hometown for a little while.”

“Your hometown? Suddenly?”

“Yes.”

I thought he might add a reason, but he didn’t. It seemed to be a personal matter. I decided it was better not to pry.

“When will you be back? It won’t be forever, right?”

“It will take a little over a week.”

Frer replied blankly.

“Alright then. Take care and come back safely.”

“You too, Miss Nelly.”

After waving goodbye to Frer, I stopped by the management office and then headed straight to the field. Since this was a test run, the field wasn’t very large. I preferred it that way; it meant I could kill them more quickly and efficiently. I greeted the people while humming a tune.

The oldest worker, Mr. Carlson, approached with a pickaxe in hand. 

“Manager, we’ve already tilled the land.”

“Good. However, we’ll be cultivating this crop using a slightly different method.”

“What method do you mean?”

“For starters, there needs to be a difference in height between this field and the surrounding land.”

“Should we make the field higher than the neighboring land?”

“No, it should be lower. Create a shallow box shape. That way, when we bring in water, the field won’t be completely submerged.”

“Understood, Manager.”