Chapter 24: 24

Announcement + Chapter 24

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“Why?”

Claude frowned. Since his accession, the butler only expressed his opposition when he felt like it was necessary. So he’s going to listen carefully to whatever the reason was.

“You know.”

“I don’t know.”

Although Claude knew the answer he looked away for a moment.

(T/N: Lmao this guy)

“It was only two months ago that Lord Tales betrayed Your Grace and left!”

“Betrayal.”

Claude replied stiffly.

“Watch your mouth, Sir Chichester. Sir Tales will be disappointed to hear that.”

“It’s a betrayal. To go away to Count Ford without knowing Your Grace that barely raised him as a prosperous knight for three years…!”

“There’s nothing I can do about it.”

A bitter voice came out.

“What’s the point of raising him into a decent knight, he said his dream was to have a decent house in the capital.”

Count Ford was running a wealthy upper house in Edmoor, the capital. It wouldn’t have been a hassle to get Tales a house. The Duke wasn’t short of money either. It could have cost several times as much as Count Ford spent. The problem was that Tales didn’t just want a house in the capital.

‘He wanted to live in Edmoor. He said he was sick and fed up of the South…’

At that time, Claude let Tales go quietly with a bitter smile as he does now. He didn’t feel betrayed because it wasn’t the first time it had happened.

“How many people are there? The ones that were brought up and carried away to the capital after being taken care of.”

“Don’t speak so badly of those who were once loyal to me.”

It’s true that this place is the countryside. Claude swallowed his words quietly. After his accession to the throne, Tors developed a lot, but it wasn’t a match to the capital.

He didn’t want to blame the people who chased the capital’s infrastructure, as he knew it better than anyone else. Of course, this loyal servant didn’t think so.

“Your Grace is too merciful that it became a problem. That’s why they replaced the master that they served without being scared.”

The butler looked at Claude pitifully.

“She’s a commoner from the North who originally wanted to go to the capital. Can’t you see how it’s going to end?”

“Mrs. Bloe doesn’t seem to have any particular desires. She’s also raising two children from her dead husband, it’s not a situation worthy of an adventure.”

“People change their minds when they have money. And think about it. Wilder’s assistant, that’s great isn’t it?”

“…”

Claude’s eyes narrowed. It was because he had a good idea of what context the butler had brought up the seemingly absurd remarks.

“Wilder won’t pay his assistant enough to move to the capital, and no one will have an eye on Mrs. Bloe, who’s just a jeweler’s assistant.”

“Sir Chichester!”

The butler continued to speak without fear of Claude’s disdain.

“Wilder is Your Grace’s man, so he’ll make sure his assistant is fully available.”

“So you want me to use Mrs. Bloe? Without treating her properly? People aren’t tools.”

“Didn’t you say she rejected your offer once anyway?”

“But that doesn’t mean you can take advantage of a person’s weakness. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear this, Sir Chichester.”

The butler no longer insisted on stopping Claude. He just bowed his head and muttered politely.

“…I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know.”

Claude’s face softened.

“I can’t help but know how much you care about me. So…”

He hesitated for a moment. He hates making promises that he couldn’t keep. But for some reason, Claude had a hunch that he would break the longstanding principle in this matter.

“I’m going to give Mrs. Bloe one last invitation. If I get rejected again, then I’ll really give up.”

Claude was the last to leave the room. If even the official invitation of the Duke had been rejected, there was only one option left.

‘I’m gonna have to be honest about my situation and ask for help.’

It was a way to bring a sense of pride and a little sympathy to the Duke for being someone who ruled the entire Tors. It was quite a petty method so he used it only as a last resort but the win rate has been pretty good. Although all the talented people who have successfully been recruited using that method now left for the capital.

‘I understand Sir Chichester’s concern.’

He tried not to express it, but he couldn’t help but suffer the mental damage blow from whenever the hard-earned talent they left due to a problem that couldn’t be helped.

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Sir Chichester, who had been watching him since he was a baby, must have been very worried. But that doesn’t mean he could keep his hand off recruiting talent.

The aged vassals who were only three remained left, became weaker and weaker as the years went by. Of course, it was natural. They were the vassals of his parent’s generations, not his own.

Claude needed young vassals to spend the rest of his life with. Therefore Claude digs up raw gemstones from all over places in Tors, raised, and treated them with respect. And Karina Bloe had the most potential to covet more than any other talent who had ever passed through him.

* * *

Karina worked hard since morning to sweep and clean the store.

‘I’m gonna have to keep it as clean as possible until Sir Wilder gets here.’

Lately, Wilder goes to work late more often. He told Karina that she just had to stay seated, but considering the help she has received so far she couldn’t just sit around.

She carefully removed the old dust, being careful not to touch anything that looked dangerous. It was a piece of cake. It wasn’t much different from what she was doing at Lord Lenque’s mansion.

The only unstable thing is getting swept away by a rampaged magic stone. However, Wilder also taught Karina how to not be tempted by magic stone’s outbursts a few days ago.

‘Hold on’

‘What…?’

‘Close your eyes and hold on. Then you can endure it without being tempted.’

‘Is it that simple?’

‘Yeah. I think you’ll be surprised how simple it is when you actually do it. Why, you can’t trust me?’

‘No, I trust you.’

At first glance, it seemed like simple teasing, but Karina believed Wilder’s word. Obviously, Wilder was an expert who knew a lot of things she didn’t know.

There was no reason for him to tease Karina with an emergency enough that could happen again.

While cleaning, the bell rang announcing a guest’s entrance. Karina, who was dusting off the shelf deep inside the store, rushed out to the front door.

“Welcome. Wilder Jewelry Store.”

“Mrs. Bloe.”

“…!”

Duke Claude Deviathan Tors took a step into the store with a faint smile. Karina was nervous for a while as she positioned her body, but soon corrected her posture and greeted him politely.

“Sir Wilder goes to work in the afternoon, then should I send an errand to his home?”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m not here to see Wilder today.”

“…?”

Karina blinked, then soon realized the implications and was startled.

“Is it that surprising? The fact that I came to see Mrs. Bloe, not Wilder.”

“I can’t help but be surprised that you came to see a lowly widow like me.”

Karina carefully chose her words. She couldn’t spit out words now like she used to. This man was a benefactor who cured Roland’s illness, but he was also a Duke who had his eyes poisoned by Roland’s talent.

“What brought you here?”

“…Mrs. Bloe.”

Claude muttered a word bluntly.

“It’s about a month since you’ve been in Tors. I think you must have had a lot of hardships during that time, but I hope you can tell me every trivial thing without any hesitation.”

“Ah…”

Karina nodded her head. Claude seemed to have visited her to hear the hardships of immigrants who had no connection to Tors.

‘Come to think of it, Duke Tors was quite popular with the Southerners even in the novel.’

It was amazing that the character of the novel, which she couldn’t remember properly no matter how hard she tried to remember alone, sometimes came to mind like this.

‘The Duke of Tors wants to hear the real reality, not praises of compliments.’

Karina looked straight at Duke Tors. She thought that if the situation had been a little different, she would have been very fond of this young Duke. However, Karina was Roland’s guardian, and she needed to distance herself from this man to protect Roland.

“There’s nothing particularly difficult. Everyone is kind to me.”

Karina gave obvious compliments that Claude wouldn’t want the most. There were many good people in Tors, but there is no heaven in the world.

Quack doctors were neither the first nor the last time someone tries to devour her in Tors. What about the gossip you hear even if you don’t want to hear it?

But Karina hid all the facts from Claude. He was always a stranger and his arms were bent inward. Karina didn’t want to be fooled by someone she thought was good at all costs.

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(T/N: ‘Arms bent inwards’ are similar to ‘Men are blind to their own cause’ which means people tend to think in their own favor even though it can be unfair for others)

“Is that so? That’s a relief.”

Karina’s eyes widened. Far from being disappointed, Claude was relieved! But Karina didn’t think carefully about the reason. In the very next moment, Claude threw a bombshell announcement.

* * *

(T/N: Damn the author left it at a cliffhanger)

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