“As soon as possible, create a child who will inherit the blood of the imperial family and Duke Leopold.”
Hearing Jack's words, Perdes remembered what the Emperor had said when he had called him, and he closed the book loudly.
His stomach swelled as if he had drunk something very hot.
He felt like if he didn't resolve this quickly, he wouldn't be able to hold it in and would spill out what he had been keeping inside.
'That's not allowed.'
That should never have happened. Perdes covered his mouth and stood up.
Jack, who was wiping the nightstand alone and imagining pleasant things, looked at Perdes with puzzled eyes.
“Where are you going?”
Perdes left the bedroom without saying anything.
It wasn't that he didn't want to answer.
He felt like if he opened his mouth and raised hia voice, he would pour out his sincerity, not just an answer.
And without deciding where to go, he left the bedroom as if running away.
Perdes, who had not set a destination and was only looking ahead, stopped when he reached a dead end.
"Ha."
Perdes exhaled loudly and leaned his back against the wall.
Even though Jack wasn't in front of him, he still felt frustrated.
How should I resolve this?
Perdes naturally thought of Adele.
To be exact, he was thinking about yesterday when he went out and had fun with Adele.
Although it was only for a short time, it was such a fun time that he was able to completely forget about Jack.
As much fun as it was, he missed that time.
He wanted to play like that again.
With Adele and no one else.
He felt like he could relieve this frustrating feeling then.
“...Let's go."
As soon as the words left Perdes' body moved.
These were words and actions that came out of my unconscious desire to have a good time with her.
When Perdes came to his senses, he was near Adele's office.
The reason he couldn't go in even though he got this far was because officials were waiting in line in front of the office.
There were so many that they filled the long hallway.
Everyone was stamping their feet and anxiously waiting for their turn.
Since Adele was the one who made the final decisions regarding the affairs of the duchy and the estate, Perdes was well aware that many officials visited her on a regular basis.
Still, he thinks this is a bit too much.
Did something happen?
Perdes, who was worried, soon learned that the reason the officials had come so hard was because he had taken Adele out yesterday and had a lot of work to do.
In other words, he meant that he had asked Adele for an unnecessary favor, which made it difficult not only for her but also for the officials.
“...”
Still, Perdes bit his lip, feeling so foolish that he had come to suggest that she go out with him again.
“Mr. Perdes?”
He was just about to go back, but Haness spotted him and approached him.
“What are you doing here? Are you here to see the Lady?”
“Oh, no.”
Perdes shook his head, thinking he would tell Adele if he answered yes.
Even at this moment, he didn't forget to act like an idiot.
“I see. Please come by whenever you want to see the Lady.”
“...Is that okay?”
Are there a lot of people waiting like this?
When Perdes glanced at the officials lined up from the corner of his eye, Haness smiled and answered as if asking something so obvious.
"Of course. Perdes is the Lady's fiancé.”
Fiance.
When Perdes heard those words, his heart which had been frustrated because of Jack cleared up and became heavy in a different way.
The reason was unknown.
***
As I asked, Sir Aldor spread the story to the knights, saying, 'It seems that the Lady's fiancé is not actually an idiot.'
He was famous for being quiet and of few words. He has never made up false statements or started strange rumors.
This time too, it was not just a rumor, it was fact.
To that extent, people generally believed what he said, but this time was an exception.
There were more people who doubted and disbelieved Sir Aldor's words than those who believed them.
As the wind of suspicion spread not only to the Duke's residence but also to the entire territory, I entrusted financial affairs to Perdes in earnest.
Originally, swordsmanship training was supposed to be done at the knights' training center, not the secret training center... Let’s leave that out because it’s so bad.
I didn't want to show it to people and get Perdes criticized.
When it became known that I was entrusting financial affairs to Perdes, people became even more confused.
In particular, the officials were puzzled and spoke to me with concern.
“Even if you say Mr. Perdes is an ordinary person, I think it would be a hasty decision to entrust him with financial affairs.”
"You're right. Of all the tasks, the most important task is financial management, and I don’t think you should entrust it to someone who has never done this before.”
It was just as the officials said. Since money is needed for everything, including administration and welfare, managing finances was more important than anything else.
If I hadn't made 'that plan', I wouldn't have entrusted Perdes with financial affairs.
I would have taken care of everything, just like I did in my second and third lives.
...The result would be a miserable death by the Emperor.
“Perdes, he will do well, so don’t worry.”
What I can say with certainty is that it was thanks to Perdes' outstanding ability in financial affairs.
Perdes learned it so quickly that if you teach him one thing, he will know ten.
Unlike swordsmanship, teaching was rewarding.
After Perdes took charge of financial affairs, his desk was brought into my office.
Perdes took lessons from Sir Aldor in the morning and worked here in the afternoon.
It was the same today. Perdes, who had been looking at the documents intently without a single glance, suddenly approached me and held out the documents.
“This looks a little strange. Check it out.”
What he presented was a Pura sales report. The report listed the amount of Pura purchased from each merchant.
I skimmed through the documents and asked Perdes again.
“What’s strange?”
“This part.”
Perdes pointed to the graph.
“We bought Pura in bulk from ‘Cosmos Top’, which suddenly appeared two months ago.”
“We didn’t buy that much.”
It was only about a third of the amount purchased by other merchants.
“The Cosmos top is a new top that has been around for a while. Purchasing this much at the top means purchasing quite a lot.”
Did you find out that far? I was surprised inside.
As he said, the Cosmos Merchant Guild was a newly formed ghost merchant mine that I created to lay the foundation for revenge on the Emperor.
The reason I purchased Pura was because of revenge.
Even though it was a ghost merchant, no one thought it was strange because I prepared the documents perfectly and purchased Pura with my own money.
“Pura is a very useful magic stone in real life, but it also has a high possibility of being abused.”
But Perdes immediately noticed something strange.
“But isn’t it strange that a merchant that didn’t originally trade Pura is suddenly buying it in large quantities?”
“There’s nothing particularly strange about it.”
When I answered indifferently, Perdes narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
“You know something, right?”
"Yes?"
“Do you know why Cosmos suddenly bought a lot of Pura?”
I always think about it, but Perdes was very quick-witted.
"Right?"
"That's right."
I couldn't deny that I had been caught up to this point, and I was planning on handing this over to him sooner or later anyway, so I just admitted it.
“For what reason?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Another secret.”
Perdes frowned.
“Why on earth are there so many secrets?”
“Didn’t you know that the more secrets a woman has, the more beautiful she is?”
“...Have you become shameless?”
“I was always shameless.”
When I answered slyly, Perdes smiled and took the document.
“In short, I don’t have to worry about how much Pura you buy from the Cosmos upper level, right?”
“For now.”
“I’m telling you to worry about it later. If you ask me why it’s like that, I won’t tell you.”
“You know me well.”
When I said this with a smile, Perdes shook his head and returned to his seat.
Then he checked the time and stood up.
“I have class, so I’ll just go.”
“Oh, you said there was a ballroom dancing class today?”
Since he would soon have to attend the debutante of the Marquis de Lanchot, Perdes was intensively learning ballroom dancing to avoid being embarrassed there.
“How are the classes? Is it worth learning?”
“The class itself is worth learning.”
What about the class itself?
“Is there another problem?”
“Rather than a problem...”
Perdes' voice suddenly became so quiet that it was hard to hear.
“What did you say?”
“Disgusting... I’m so glad.”
“Disgusting?”
When I questioned whether what I heard was correct, Perdes nodded.
“What is disgusting?”
Is there anything disgusting about learning ballroom dancing?
“...”
Perdes hesitated for a moment, as if it was difficult to answer, and then spoke in a low voice.
“I play the male role.”
I guess so. Because he's a man.
“And the man played the woman.”
The man Perdes was talking about was Lord Aldor.
But Sir Aldor is playing a woman?
“...”
Suddenly, I imagined Sir Aldor wearing a dress and stepping on the steps of a man, and I unconsciously covered my gaping mouth.
That sight is more than disgusting... It matched too well.
So much so that I want to see it.
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