Duke, Please Fail! - Chapter 41

Episode 41

I’m not even as tired as I was before I died.

Leonel, did he use teleportation or something? He was suddenly beside me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m okay…”

* * *

Leonel caught Nelly as she collapsed without finishing her sentence.

It felt like my heart had dropped to the ground.

While holding Nelly, the young servants rushed to Leonel, who had become stiff.

“Manager!”

Three middle-aged men panicked wildly.

Upon hearing their voices, his surprised heart calmed down instead. He gave orders to the three of them, who didn’t know what to do in a hurry.

“You, call the carriage, you, tell the former ranch keeper to come to the castle, and you, take care of the fields. The sprouted seedlings shouldn’t be completely submerged in water.”

“Oh, understood, Your Grace!”

The three of them answered and scattered.

Leonel first loosened his cloak and spread it on the ground, then laid Nelly on top of it in a proper position.

Then he checked Nelly’s breathing and pulse.

She looked a bit pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes, but she seemed fine.

While sighing in relief, the carriage arrived.

He picked up Nelly. Her slender neck hung limply over his strong arm. However, her breathing sounded excessively deep and steady.

‘Could she be asleep?’

First, he laid Nelly in the carriage and sat opposite her. At first glance, she appeared fine, but her face lacked color, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her lips were parched. However, judging by her restlessness, it seemed like she might have fallen asleep.

Leonel tilted his head and stared at her intently. Her pale and slender arm fell limply below. Her fingers had various wounds, probably from digging in the soil and handling rocks in the past few days. Leonel let out a sigh and gently lifted Nelly’s fallen arm.

“It’s my fault.”

Despite his words, there was a faint smile on his face. This was the first time he had seen an estate manager work so tirelessly for him. Even Levance or Arette had not worked to the extent of injuring their bodies. They had endured because they had the physical stamina for it. 

But honestly, Nelly Pepper’s stamina was just a bit better than a rabbit’s, or maybe even worse.

‘No, maybe worse than a rabbit.’

As she had worked tirelessly on making irrigation canals at night and discussing the territory until dawn. Even amid exhaustion, she would go out to inspect the farmlands. Today was supposed to be her day off.

‘Did I misjudge her?’

He believed that when entrusted with important tasks, one’s true nature would be revealed. And now, before his eyes, there was a manager who had collapsed while giving her best.

Just as Leonel was wiping the complicated expression from his face, the carriage stopped. He picked Nelly up and stepped outside.

Around the same time, another carriage arrived. A man with a stern expression, Frer, got out. He greeted Leonel but then noticed Nelly and his expression turned to one of surprise.

“Why is Miss Nelly at…….”

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

Leonel led Nelly to the west tower. He asked as he heard footsteps following behind him.

“Do you know about herbs and medicine?”

“I know a bit, but not much.”

Leonel gestured for Frer to approach as he laid Nelly on the bed.

“She suddenly collapsed. Her heart is beating, and she’s breathing, but there’s no fever.”

“Yes…”

Frer replied strongly and approached. He lowered his head to listen to Nelly’s heartbeat. After examining her and trying a few things, he clenched his fist.

Leonel, who was standing nearby, raised his left eyebrow.

“What’s the matter?”

“She seems to have fallen asleep now.”

There was a moment of silence.

“…She fell asleep?”

“Yes.”

Leonel let out an involuntary chuckle.

“She collapsed like that and fell asleep?”

His bright red eyes scanned Frer suspiciously.

“At first, it might have been fainting.”

Only then did Leonel’s expression return to normal. However, his gaze toward Frer still held a hint of distrust.

But Frer, undeterred, blinked with a blank expression before asking.

“I heard Miss Nelly made the waterway all by herself. Is that true?”

“…Word travels fast, even to your hometown.”

“Oh. I was asking because I hadn’t seen her on the way back.”

As Leonel nodded lightly, Frer redirected the conversation to its original topic.

“It seems like she has overexerted herself, and the reason she collapsed was likely due to exhaustion. Right now, it’s best to rest deeply. She probably won’t be able to get up tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?”

“She used her muscles too intensely, and as a result, her body relaxed deeply, like she’d been beaten by five soldiers for an hour. Her entire body will probably ache.”

“…Hmm.”

Her condition seemed more serious than he had initially thought. Leonel let out a small sigh.

“She said she would faint if she didn’t have breakfast. She’s been skipping breakfast a lot lately.”

“Well, there are people like that. We should make sure she gets a nutritious meal when she wakes up.”

They chuckled, not realizing that this seemingly casual conversation might be true.

Leonel looked at Nelly again with a renewed gaze. Just how fragile was she that she collapsed from missing a meal and overexerting herself?

‘She’s capable, but it seems like it takes a toll on her.’

While he let out an odd chuckle, Frer blinked with a vacant look for a moment before finally speaking up.

“Then I’ll go back and find some herbs for muscle pain…”

“Your Grace!”

Frer’s words were drowned out by a different sound. It was because Levance, who had urgently opened the door and entered, called Leonel with a pensive expression.

Leonel, who had been looking at Frer, also turned his head. He frowned at the sight of Nelly, who was stirring.

“Don’t make a fuss.”

Only then did Levance remember the words he had heard on his way here. Reminded of Nelly’s collapse, he quickly lowered his voice. But his expression remained anxious.

“The rice fields are flooded. You should go see it right away.”

“Oh, that.”

In response to Levance’s lackluster answer, Leonel tilted his head as if it didn’t matter. He spoke with the same nonchalance.

“I know. It’s Nelly Pepper’s work.”

“But did you just leave it like that? When there’s so much water, the plants will rot. Don’t you know that?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Was the rice field an aquatic plant?”

As the conversation seemed to be getting longer, Leonel started to walk. Levance and Frer followed behind in succession.

Leonel ordered a maid to take good care of Nelly before turning back to speak instinctively.

“I had given Nelly Pepper access to the study.”

That wasn’t anything special. Leonel wasn’t one to be stingy with people who wanted to learn.

Levance felt like there was more to the story and kept quiet, waiting for Leonel to continue.

“It seems she was reading a book called ‘Theory and Practice of Cultivating Special and Rare Crops.'”

When he went to check in the morning, the books Nelly had been reading were piled on the right side of the desk. There was also a book on rare crops on the right side, so she probably read that too. The book on crops from a foreign land was the only one of its kind, but the content about rice was short, almost insignificant.

“According to that book, rice is friendly with water, so it requires a vast amount of water for cultivation.”

“But we were already giving it more water than we give to other fields.”

“It seems Nelly Pepper thought even that amount was insufficient.”

“Do you believe in her judgment?”

“There’s a good reason for it.”

They walked past the garden and entered the residence.

“The rumor has it that rice grows better when it forms clusters. Nelly Pepper already ordered people to sow the seeds densely.”

“…Does that mean she had some understanding of the crop from the start?”

“She couldn’t pronounce it correctly, but it seems so. That’s why I left her to it.”

Leonel climbed the stairs and was about to open the study door when he stopped, furrowing his brow as he turned back.

“But, how far are you planning to follow me?”

“Oh.”

Frer, who had been standing there inconspicuously, sighed softly.

“I got carried away because it was interesting… I apologize. I’ll make some medicine for muscle pain and bring it tomorrow.”

Leonel nodded, and Frer lightly turned away and left the room.

Levance, who had been observing Frer’s departure, opened the door. The two of them went inside. They had lost track of time while focusing on their work.

Lizzy had long since left the office, and so had Levance, who had been dealing with papers she wasn’t supposed to see.

Leonel was left alone, tidying up what remained. 

It was when he heard heavy and fast footsteps approaching the study. Soon after, with a short knock, Arette entered the room, opening the door.

“Your Grace, there’s a fire on the outskirts of the village.”

Leonel got up from his seat with a stern face. As he walked away from his desk, Arette provided one more piece of information.

“And on the opposite side, they say there are wolves.”

“Wolves?”

“Yes. Shall I release the donkeys?”

Leonel shook his head.

“It might cause more chaos if the donkeys start running around due to the fire. Instruct the soldiers to drive the wolves away with torches.”

“Understood. The fire seems quite far from the well; it may require a significant force.”

“Take as many as necessary.”

Leonel gave the command and opened the door.

“What about casualties?”

“We’re still assessing the situation.”

“I should go see for myself.”

He stepped outside and was walking down the corridor when he stopped in his tracks.

A foreboding feeling grazed his spine.

Wolves are sensitive animals when it comes to scent. How could they have appeared in the village where a fire broke out, no matter how distant?

‘And on the day Nelly Pepper collapsed?’

The timing was incredibly convenient, almost too perfect.

Leonel instinctively thought that Nelly Pepper wouldn’t be in her usual place.

Gaining trust and then striking from behind is a very common and effective strategy.