1.
“Can’t you tell? It’s work Donovan assigned.”
Connie replied nonchalantly, her lips pouting.
“No, I know it’s what Donovan assigned, but aren’t you usually in charge of the Eastern territory?”
The documents Connie had passed to me were for the Western territory. Specifically, they were records of strategic goods traded between the territories.
“Weren’t you there at the time? I was already busy as hell, and Donovan just threw these at me and left, saying I had to do this, too… now I’m dying even more.”
Connie gnashed her teeth.
I ignored her string of complaints and asked, “Why specifically pull these out?”
“Exactly my point.”
The trade documents for strategic goods were auxiliary attachments. It would have been far more efficient for Andrew, who manages the Western territories, to draft them himself.
A short silence stretched between us until Connie broke the stillness.
“Now that you mention it, it is a bit strange.”
She scratched her cheek, blaming her sleep-deprived brain for the oversight.
“I just thought Donovan was doing it because he was playing favorites with the young master.”
Connie tapped the stack of papers on the desk with her index finger.
“That bastard Andrew always claims he doesn’t have time because his cousin—some Viscount or other—has tasked him with family business, so he tries to avoid doing any real work.”
It was a wonder he maintained that excuse while drawing a salary, but it worked remarkably well on Donovan, who was a stickler for status.
*‘Because he’s desperate to build connections with Andrew’s cousin.’*
So, the work Andrew tossed aside usually ended up with the employees Donovan considered easy targets.
*‘Even though that Viscount acts like he’s someone important, so everyone accepts it despite their resentment.’*
It didn’t help that Donovan enjoyed singling out and harassing people he didn’t like.
*‘Dirty and pathetic as it is, this is a society built on status.’*
It was a familiar kind of irrationality. With one small exception.
“Even so, wouldn’t it have been more efficient to assign it to someone else who handles the West?”
Connie, who had only ever worked the Eastern territory, had to grasp the structure of the Western region from scratch.
*‘Since the Empire began as a confederation, there are slight regional differences.’*
From trivial things like how figures are marked in account books to large-scale details like tax collection rates. The East and West had almost no exchange during the old kingdom era, so the differences were vast.
*‘And yet, he specifically chose Connie? It’s definitely strange.’*
I tried to weave together the instinctual warning I felt while watching Donovan get angry at Connie with the incongruity of these documents, but I stopped. I hoped it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
I shook my head to chase the thought away and said jokingly, “Do you think you were the easiest target?”
I said it to lighten the tension, but honestly, it was too plausible.
*‘Passing it off to the easiest person, without any consideration for efficiency—that is exactly the kind of thing Donovan would do.’*
Connie shuddered as if she had goosebumps and grumbled.
“Ranked number one as the easiest person to push around by Donovan Shrodes? This orphan is feeling so heartbroken right now.”
She let out a theatrical sob. I hesitated, wondering how to react, and she began to act even more dramatically, like a stage actor.
“Yes, I have no parents and no fortune!”
I didn’t know how far she’d go if I just let her be.
“Hey! When did I ever say anything like that?”
To save the situation, I picked up a few more documents from Connie’s desk. She eyed the thickness of the stack, stopped faking tears, and smiled in satisfaction.
“I guess I have Carolina Diaz instead!”
Connie did a strange dance, going on about how being my roommate at the academy was the greatest stroke of luck in her life. It was a surprisingly extreme shift in attitude, but I knew she was just joking.
“I was going to help you anyway, you know.”
I shot her a light glare and went back to my seat, picking up my pen.
*‘It’s tricky, perhaps because there are so many iron mines in the West.’*
In particular, the Duke Camelot family, the wealthy powerhouses of the West, owned several iron mines, and the transaction details of their vassal families were complex.
*‘On the surface, it looks like they borrowed money during a bad harvest and, unable to pay it back in cash, paid in kind.’*
Because the promissory notes had been split, added to, and moved around, it was difficult to decipher.
*‘No wonder the young master ran away saying he couldn’t do it.’*
I felt like I had taken on more work than I’d anticipated, but it was better to look at one more page than to waste time regretting it. I forced my drowsy eyes open and flipped through the documents.
Connie, likely wanting to finish quickly and get some sleep, worked without a word. The two of us stayed in the office until the sun rose.
*‘I worked until I was literally just breathing.’*
We finished everything before Donovan, who had left saying he was going out for a moment, could show up for work. I handed the report to Connie, who danced again, singing a self-composed song titled, “It is luck to be roommates with Carolina Diaz.”
“Go get it approved quickly.”
“Right. Thank you so much, Ri-Na.”
Connie, having had the documents confirmed by Donovan, said she felt like she might die and headed home immediately. Donovan made a biting comment about her mental state being weak, but it was a special holiday for the administration for the next three days.
*‘Of course his nagging wouldn’t work. Not when it’s an imperial order.’*
Most of the staff didn’t even show up. I waited a little longer, then slipped away cautiously.
Fearing someone might call me back, I snuck out of the Imperial Palace, walked an extra block, and quickly caught a shared carriage. I dozed off during the rough ride, and before I knew it, I was home. I gathered my last bit of strength to wash up and collapsed onto the bed.
As if someone had struck the back of my neck, my memory cut out the moment I lay down.
I didn’t know if it was sleep or a blackout.
*･☪D✶༄ ‧₊˚a⋰˚☆m✶༄ ‧₊˚
“I slept so well.”
Outside, it was faintly brightening; the clock read 6:00 AM.
“I’m not sure if I should call this waking up early.”
I’d blown through the first day of the holiday, but that was fine. There were still two days left.
*‘I wanted to see the Imperial Army’s parade and the fireworks, though.’*
I wasn’t overly disappointed. It didn’t seem like a bad idea to spend the time catching up on the daily life I’d put off due to my busy schedule.
“For the first time in a while, I’ll feed the cats, go to the grocery store, and clean the house a bit.”
I finished preparing to go out quickly and pulled some chicken jerky from the pantry. Arriving at Grizel Park, which the cats had claimed as their territory, I called out to them in a low voice.
“Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol, where are you?”
The cats began to appear one by one. Sol, the most affectionate one, rubbed his body against my calf in greeting.
“It’s been a while, right?”
Sol, whose meow had the highest octave just like his name, let out a cute, high-pitched chirp. I fed the cats the jerky one by one. They carried the pieces away to eat, returning for more until the supply was gone.
Once their bellies were full, the cats went to their preferred spots to groom themselves or purr in the sunlight. I watched them with a proud expression before waving goodbye.
“See you next time.”
It was just about time for the grocery store to open. Since the construction still hadn’t ended, I was heading toward the west gate of Grizel Park when I encountered someone entering from the opposite side.
It was a large man with his hood pulled deep over his head.
The path to the gate was quite narrow for two people to pass through, especially with a man of his build. I stepped aside to let him pass. Just as I raised my head to tell him to go first, the man’s jawline, glimpsed through his hood, looked familiar.
I had only met him twice, but he wasn’t a face I could easily forget.
*‘Huh?’*
I must have shown my surprise too clearly.
Everett Rohas turned his head away, avoiding my gaze.
*‘I must have stared too intently.’*
“Excuse me, please go ahead.”
I said, feeling slightly embarrassed. Everett Rohas, who had been staring at me for a moment, gave a curt nod and passed by. I didn’t turn back until he was quite far away.
*‘What a surprise.’*
I hadn’t expected to run into him again. And I definitely hadn’t expected this incredible string of coincidences to continue.