Chapter: 33
A little while later.
Dietrich stepped into the library.
“Lady Ansi?”
But no matter how carefully he listened, Lariette gave no reply.
The spacious library was completely silent.
There wasn’t the slightest sign of anyone else being there.
“Are you here?”
As Dietrich looked around and walked farther inside, he suddenly stopped.
The large window standing wide open let the setting sun pour in like a waterfall.
A dazzling glow, as though gold and ruby had been melted together.
Within that overflowing sunlightā
Lariette sat leaning against a library chair, her eyes gently closed.
It seemed she had dozed off while reading books and documents.
An open book rested on her lap, while several papers lay scattered across the desk.
“…”
For a moment, Dietrich was speechless.
Why was it?
He simply couldn’t take his eyes off the sleeping Lariette.
Just thenā
Whooshā
A gust of wind swept in through the open window.
Flap, flutterā
The wind caught the papers on the desk, sending them flying one by one.
“Mmm…”
At the same time, Lariette frowned faintly.
Seeing her lightly hunch her shoulders…
‘Is she cold?’
After hesitating for a moment, Dietrich removed the coat he was wearing.
He carefully draped it over Lariette’s shoulders before quietly closing the window without making a sound.
When he glanced back, the wrinkle between her brows had already disappeared.
A small smile crossed Dietrich’s lips as he bent down to pick up the papers scattered across the floor.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
“This is…”
The reason I, of all people, ended up assisting the Claudius Ducal House’s vassals’ meeting began with a desperate request from the young duchess.
“I’m sorry, Lady Ansi.”
Not long after the meeting had begun…
The young duchess clasped both hands over her chest and looked at me with pleading eyes.
“I just received word that a new variety of roses has arrived at the nursery… I only found out myself a moment ago.”
She cautiously watched my reaction as she continued.
“These roses are incredibly, incredibly rare. The entire variety has to be imported from overseas, and the nursery only just managed to secure a few seedlings.”
Well, if they had to import the entire stock from another country, they really must be rare.
And from everything I’d seen…
The young duchess was genuinely, wholeheartedly obsessed with roses.
“Normally I’d send one of the servants, but there are so many people trying to get their hands on these rare roses. If I don’t go myself, I can’t be sure I’ll get one.”
Her blue eyes were already overflowing with desire for the rose seedlings.
“I’ve been waiting forever for these roses to arrive. If I miss this chance… I’ll be so devastated I won’t be able to sleep.”
She muttered gloomily for a moment.
Thenā
“Ah!”
Coming back to her senses, she blinked at me adorably.
“So… um…”
She fidgeted with her fingers but couldn’t quite bring herself to continue.
‘Sigh.’
Letting out an inward sigh, I nodded without much hesitation.
“I suppose it can’t be helped. Go ahead.”
“R-Really?”
The young duchess stared at me with wide, rabbit-like eyes.
I gave a small shrug.
“All I have to do is make sure the meeting proceeds smoothly.”
Honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal if she wasn’t there.
The conference room had already been arranged, all the documents were in place, and even the refreshments in the lounge had already been prepared.
On top of that, the duke and the vassals had already entered, and the meeting was underway.
Which meant there wasn’t really anything major left for me to handle.
“Even if you and I aren’t together, I can still make sure everything runs without any problems.”
“Thank you so much, Lady Ansi!”
The young duchess threw her arms around me with a radiant smile.
“If it weren’t for you, I’d never get those roses. I’d spend every night crying over them, and eventually I’d waste away from lovesickness and die!”
…Seriously, how far was her imagination going?
I stared at her in disbelief.
Ignoring my expression entirely, she cheerfully asked,
“Is there anything you want? Or anything I can do for you? I’m so grateful that I really want to repay you!”
“It’s alright. If you really want to repay me, then just take good care of the new roses.”
I smiled warmly.
“And when they bloom, let me be the very first person to see them. How about that?”
At once, emotion shimmered in the young duchess’s eyes.
“R-Really? That’s all you want?”
“Of course. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of roses they are too.”
Hearing that, she clasped both hands tightly over her heart.
“Lady Ansi… you should check your back. You might be hiding wings.”
“W-Wings?”
“Of course! You might actually be an angel who fell from the heavens!”
At this rate, she was about ready to start worshipping me as an actual angel.
Still, helping her was one thing.
“Oh, right. You finished the homework I assigned you, didn’t you? Leave it with the butler before you go. I’ll check it later.”
“Urk.”
The young duchess stiffened.
And so…
For one reason or another…
I ended up taking charge of assisting with the vassals’ meeting.
Fortunately, it wasn’t particularly difficult.
“Ah, Lady Ansi. I heard Her Grace asked you to oversee today’s meeting?”
Perhaps because the young duchess had informed everyone beforehand, the servants of the ducal household treated me very kindly.
The rest of the day passed peacefully.
The meeting, which had begun around lunchtime, continued into the evening.
‘I have absolutely nothing to do.’
Unable to fight off the boredom, I found myself swallowing one yawn after another.
‘Maybe I’ll grade the young duchess’s homework.’
The assignment I’d given her was a mock personnel document.
Recently, she’d mentioned wanting to hire a gardener whose sole responsibility would be caring for roses.
I called over the butler.
“Do you happen to have the documents the young duchess left for me?”
“Ah, you mean her homework?”
Smiling kindly, the butler handed me a stack of papers.
“Here they are.”
“Thank you. If anything comes up during the meeting, please let me know.”
Taking the documents with me, I headed for the library.
Since I had to wait until the meeting ended anyway…
I figured I might as well take my time looking through some personnel management books.
As soon as I entered the library, I couldn’t help but marvel.
‘Wow… this really is the Claudius Ducal House.’
The collection was enormous.
Not only thatā
Even rare books that had long since gone out of print were scattered around as though they were nothing special.
Greedily, I pulled several books from the shelves.
After piling them high on the desk like a mountain and laying the young duchess’s homework beside them…
I somehow felt full, even though I hadn’t eaten yet.
‘Perfect.’
Grinning happily, I opened the first book.
But…
Why did the words on the page seem to keep drifting farther and farther away?
I tried to concentrate harder before squeezing my eyes shut.
And thenā
‘Huh?’
When I finally opened my eyes again, everything around me was dark.
A bad feeling immediately crept over me.
I’d only closed my eyes for a moment…
Yet it felt as though a great deal of time had passed.
‘Don’t tell me… I actually fell asleep?’
Still dazed, I jumped to my feet.
“T-The vassals’ meeting!”
Good griefāI was supposed to keep watch until it ended!
But what shocked me even more was…
“It’s over.”
That irritatingly calm voice.
My body turned stiffly toward the sound.
“D-Duke?”
Wait…
Why was Duke Claudius here?!
