Duke, Please Fail! - Chapter 8

Episode 8

When I tilted my head and asked, the child smiled brightly.

That smile, I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before. I stared, and the child firmly grabbed my hand.

“Manager! Thank you so much. My father didn’t drink yesterday!”

Who’s father is he thanking me for, surely not Faust?

“My father is Faust Lebrave, you know. By the way, he even bought delicious things yesterday. I’ve never eaten so much before.”

Faust’s son! Why is he here?

“Normally, my father just drinks and cries. But he didn’t yesterday! The village ladies said it’s all thanks to you, Manager.”

He’s repeating what he said earlier. I need to redirect the conversation, or he’ll probably keep saying the same things in different ways.

“Yeah, I see. That’s right. But you should thank your father for that. He’s the one who didn’t drink.”

“But the village ladies and the men, they all said it’s thanks to you! Thanks to you, I don’t have to go hungry for food anymore!”

Guilt gnawed at me. If Faust gets fired, does that mean this kid will go hungry? Were Faust’s circumstances really that bad?

“Moreover, he’s not going to drink anymore! He said he’ll work hard and become a good father again.”

Stop! I get it, I won’t fire him! If I don’t fire him, it’ll be fine!

I grabbed the child’s shoulders and sat down. The child then pulled my hand away with tiny hands and opened his palm.

“So, I made this.”

Two clover leaves intertwined and formed a ring on his palm.

“I followed what my mother used to make. I’ll become an adult like you, Manager!”

“That’s, th-thank you.”

“Then I’ll go now!”

The child dashed away like a rabbit. Watching the child’s back, I thought.

‘I’m in trouble.’

Now I can’t fire Faust anymore. I can’t let a child go hungry to satisfy my desire for revenge.

‘My carefully prepared first revenge plan is going down the drain. I feel so depressed.’

Defeated, I opened the management office door. Then, a more depressing scene unfolded before me.

‘There’s no shortage of paperwork.’

Gerald was sprawled over a desk piled with papers, whether he had fainted or fallen asleep, I wasn’t sure. Sophie had her head on the desk and seemed to be writing something.

“Where’s Tom?”

Sophie lifted her head at my voice.

“He’s, uh… Tom went to the forest. Someone probably picked mushrooms without permission.”

Her voice lacked enthusiasm to the point where it felt draining. There were bags under her eyes, and her expression was vacant. It felt like she was looking at a dying version of herself, and a wave of pity rushed over me.

“Did you get some sleep?”

“Ah…”

Sophie let out a sigh of disbelief, not sure whether it was affirmative or negative. It felt like she was struggling to breathe. I felt like that, too, but seeing her made me wonder if things could be worse.

“I’ll take care of the rest, so get some rest.”

“…Alright?”

“I’ll handle the rest.”

“I’m sorry. After three days without sleep, the delusion that someone would cover for me…”

How horrible must it have been for someone to end up like this!

Tears clouded my vision. I covered my mouth with both hands and looked at her, feeling sorry. Then she picked up her pen again.

I pulled Sophie away from the table, which felt like an interrogation chair. Sophie wavered like a piece of paper.

“Not much left to do. Take a break for now.”

I plopped Sophie onto the sofa.

Sophie looked around with a bewildered expression. I tilted her body against the armrest. As soon as her head touched it, she fell asleep as if she had fainted.

‘I know exactly how you feel.’

I felt just as exhausted before I died.

I went to Sophie’s workspace and continued what she had been doing. As far as I knew, Sophie, Gerald, and Tom were all former knights. They had been learning letters and numbers since they started working as supervisors after leaving the knights due to injuries.

Three people like that trying to manage this massive pile of ledgers—it was overwhelming.

‘Let’s save at least one person.’

I had just finished dealing with urgent matters yesterday. Despite staying up all night, I was in better shape than Sophie, who had been awake for three days.

I need to finish what Sophie was doing. Then it will be time to report to Leonel.

‘I probably won’t have time to eat dinner today.’

Sighing, I opened the ledger. Sophie’s tasks continued where she left off.

After a while, my neck became stiff and I lost sensation in my back. By the time I was starting to feel like a statue, the work was finished.

‘Ugh, I’m dying.’

I got up from the chair and stretched my stiff body before heading outside. Sophie, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly shot up.

“Ledgers!”

How tormented must someone be to wake up shouting about ledgers?

Looking at Sophie with a sense of pity, she staggered to her feet. Her eyes were half-closed. It seemed she wasn’t fully awake yet. I was about to tell her to rest more, but the grandfather clock chimed from behind.

‘It’s time to report to Leonel!’

As soon as I realized, I spun around and ran into the room. I grabbed the stack of ledgers and the papers I had just finished organizing and rushed to the carriage.

“Head to the castle! Hurry, hurry!”

I shouted and jumped into the carriage, and it immediately started moving.

‘I’ve never been late before!’

I wondered what kind of reaction he would have if I were late. He wouldn’t… get rid of me, right? I can’t be fired right now!

Anxious, my legs trembled uncontrollably. Despite my legs moving as if I were running, the scenery outside passed by at the same speed.

Stuck in the window, I could see that the castle was getting closer. I hugged the documents in my arms and got ready. As soon as the carriage stopped, I jumped out.

“Manager, you’ve come…”

The butler’s voice passed by next to me.

“Hello!”

I shouted belatedly and rushed up the stairs. As soon as I swung the door open, I heard a cold voice, like ice.

“You’re late.”

“Ugh. Oh, sorry, uh… Whew… I’m sorry.”

I finally managed to straighten up and talk properly. Leonel looked at me sharply and then reached out his hand.

I belatedly understood what he was doing. I quickly handed over the documents I had been holding like a lifeline. He took the documents and asked.

“Why are you late?”

I was still out of breath. It was embarrassing to be gasping for air in front of a perfectly fine person. I tried to catch my breath as evenly as possible and offered a lame excuse.

“I was so focused on my work… I’m sorry.”

I thought he wouldn’t buy it. Surprisingly, Leonel’s cold gaze left me, and he compared the reports with the ledgers.

While he was busy, I turned my head and let out a series of deep breaths. Okay, now I can speak properly. Just as I was about to speak, Leonel’s voice interrupted.

“Let’s start the report…”

*Rumble.*

And then, I heard a noise from my stomach.

*Brpp.*

Levance, the rascal, smirked from the side. That guy—doesn’t he remember that I fed him?

As I glared at him, another noisy sound came from my stomach.

*Rumble.*

Closely followed by another.

*Brpp.*

I glared at Levance again. How dare he! He better keep quiet! I turned and hit my stomach, but it hurt, and my stomach only became noisier.

“Didn’t you say you’d faint if you skipped a meal?”

It sounded as if he were asking why I wasn’t fainting yet. I wanted to faint, too! I’m embarrassed! I glared at Leonel, and he stood up.

“Change your clothes and come back.”

“What?”

Why should I change my clothes? It’s not even that dirty. There’s a bit of dust on them, but… It’s not related to the report.

I tilted my head, and Leonel came out from behind the desk.

“I’ll listen to your report while we have dinner.”

“You’re having dinner with me?”

“Is there a problem?”

There isn’t a problem, but why? Why do we have to do this? Why report over dinner? This is going to be so awkward. Plus, I don’t want to sit across from Leonel and have a meal…

“Get dressed and meet me at Braushtete.”

“I’ll change clothes right away!”

As soon as I heard the name of the restaurant, I rushed out the door. Braushtete was a famous restaurant near the duke’s territory, known for being expensive and delicious.

I had never been there because it would cost half of my salary for one course. I didn’t have time to go there, either, because of work.

‘I once invited the head chef of Braushtete for a grand banquet.”’

I still remember the taste. It was truly heavenly. He said he would take me there, so I had to change clothes, of course!

I rushed out into the western tower. I quickly climbed the spiral staircase and opened the door. Out of breath, I spread the clothes I had with me on the bed.

‘It’s a fancy restaurant, and I have to leave the domain, so I can’t just wear anything!’

Promising to wear my best, I looked at the clothes I had laid out.

“Let’s see… this one’s too wrinkled, this one seems a bit tight, and this one is out of fashion.”

And that was the end of it. By the way, just so you know, the one I said was “out of fashion” was what I was wearing right then.

I looked at the clothes, pondering for a moment. Then I lifted the collar of the clothes and smelled it. Luckily, there was no unpleasant smell.

‘I didn’t want to wear just anything, but I don’t have a choice!’

Still, I wanted to feel better, so I shook the clothes vigorously, put them on again, and tied my hair back in a bundle. I quickly wiped the leather shoes with a cloth.

All right. Perfect.

“Braushtete! Braushtete!”

I hummed a tune and descended the stairs as if I were flying.

I was about to go back to the main house when I saw a carriage in front of the door of the western tower. Just in case, I approached, and I saw Leonel through the window.

When our eyes met, Leonel got up and soon the carriage door opened.

“Do you have to molt to take those clothes off?”

“Must you put it that way?”

Unfortunately, I was about to say that I had to do something unfortunate, but then I saw his incredibly handsome face and his equally fierce expression.

“Asshole?”

“Should I put it more cleverly? Haha.”

With an awkward smile, I got into the carriage.

“Am I a snake that needs to molt to take off my clothes?”

“Muttering under your breath, are you? Fine.”

I grumbled softly and sat across from Leonel. On his side, the documents I had brought were piled up.

He picked up the stack of documents.

It would take some time to get to Braushtete. So, I thought it would be nice to finish the report on the way and have a comfortable meal. I looked at what Leonel was holding in his hand and opened my mouth.

“They say wolves have been spotted frequently lately. They haven’t attacked any livestock yet, but they say we should be careful.”

“Hmm…”

Starting from the livestock, I reported on everything I was responsible for. Leonel listened to me while checking the reports.

When I finished talking about the recent state of the cultivated land, Leonel put the documents in the drawer on one side of the carriage and locked it with a key. Then, he put the key in his pocket just as the carriage stopped.