When I returned the question out of curiosity, Perdes flinched and closed his mouth.
After a while, he spoke in a low voice.
“When a knight swears loyalty, it means he will serve the lady for the rest of his life. Even sacrificing his life.”
"Yes."
“Even if you change your mind in the middle, you can never quit, and neither the young lady nor anyone else can fire that man.”
I nodded because every word was correct.
And 'Why is that?' When I looked at him with those eyes, Perdes' lips closed in a straight line.
"Nothing."
It's nothing. While showing off that he was upset.
I don't know why, but Perdes doesn't seem to like Lord Aldor swearing loyalty to me.
“Have you done everything I asked you to do before?”
I knew that, but I pretended not to know and asked.
Perdes answered steadily even though he had a dissatisfied expression on his face.
“Almost done.”
“How far did you go? Show me.”
As soon as I brought the words out, Perdes brought the documents.
There's more than I thought. I checked while flipping through the stack of documents.
July was called the month of the rainy season, with the rainy season pouring down not only throughout the empire but also across the continent.
During this time, there were a few blessed lands that suffered little damage from the monsoon rains, and one of them was this place, the Duchy of Leopold.
People say that this is also thanks to the protection of the red dragon... but I don't know about that.
What was certain was that even though there was no damage from the rainy season, it was just as tiring as other regions.
The reason I was tired was because of the disaster relief requests from the areas that suffered damage from the monsoon rains.
Responding to disaster relief calls was not mandatory, but not responding left me feeling tired later.
For example, if something goes wrong with my territory, no one will help me.
My image got bad because I was rumored to be a selfish person who only cared about myself.
It would be a good idea to respond to disaster relief requests, even for the sake of good personal relationships, but the problem was that I didn't know how much to help.
If you help too much, you'll look like a fool and other territories will ask you to help them too.
However, if I help too little, I will get scolded for being petty, so I have to help appropriately.
No matter how many times I repeated that life, I couldn't figure it out, so I asked Perdes for help.
If he has a keen sense of this field, he might be able to find a solution.
“I kept thinking about it, but even if it’s a request for disaster relief, it’s absolutely not okay to help for free.”
I listened to Perdes while looking at the documents.
“If you help them for free, they’ll see you as a pushover. And they will ask for more.”
“But they asked for disaster relief, and I’d be scolded if I received money. I also doubt if they could afford it.”
“Then you can take something else instead of money.”
Something else instead of money?
“Are you saying you want to receive some of the local specialties?”
I think it will be difficult to receive it because most of it will be washed away due to damage from the rainy season.
“It’s similar but different.”
“How are they different?”
"Here."
Perdes handed over the documents and showed the ticket.
The table clearly summarized what kind of support the Duchy of Leopold had provided to other territories up to this point.
“Do you know that the territory that has provided the most support so far is the territory of Tethys in the western part of the empire?”
Of course, I knew. After nodding, Perdes asked again.
“Then do you know what the main source of income for the Tethys Territory is?”
“It’s the transportation industry.”
The Ekos River, which flows through the territory of Tethys, is connected to most rivers throughout the empire, so the transportation industry using the river has developed greatly.
Oh, really?
“Are you suggesting that we ask for a discount on transportation costs in exchange for responding to requests for assistance?”
It also had money issues involved, so it wasn't something I could easily bring up.
Especially if the territory has been damaged.
“I’m not asking you to lower the price, I’m asking you to ship something different.”
Perdes wrote it down on a piece of paper and added a kind explanation.
“For example, on the way from Tethys Territory to Leopold Territory, a merchant is selling the goods we need, so we ask you to receive the goods there and transport them to Leopold Territory.”
"Ah! Then, transportation costs will definitely be reduced a lot.”
"Yes."
Transportation costs were so expensive that they accounted for more than 20% of the price of the product, so even if they were omitted, a lot of savings could be made.
If the Tethys Estate learns of this, they will want to ask for a small amount of transportation fee, but they will not be able to do so.
Because I was asking them to take relief supplies and do other things at the same time.
I can't believe Perdes found such a great method.
“You’re amazing, Perdes.”
When I expressed my sincerity raw, Perdes seemed embarrassed, cleared his throat, and turned his head.
“This is nothing. Eat cold soup.”
"Is it so?"
I was debating whether to entrust this to him or not, but I was able to make a decision after hearing his answer.
I took out the documents I had kept aside and put them down in front of Perdes.
“Then please look at this too and organize it.”
Perdes' expression distorted when he saw the document, but I ignored it.
Because there really wasn't much time left.
I hoped Perdes would adapt to everything as soon as possible.
***
“You’re not going out anymore, are you? Then I’ll help you change into your clothes.”
As Perdes entered the bedroom, Jack naturally approached him and helped him change into his clothes.
Perdes looked at Jack with confused eyes the whole time he was changing clothes.
He tried to send him out, but when he tried to do so, many things came to mind and he couldn't do it.
What was most on his mind was that if he sent Jack away, the Emperor would kill him.
Because Adele said that the Emperor don't have any regrets.
As evidence, he confirmed that Garrett, who he had sent back when he went to the palace before, had not returned yet.
Garrett may have known he would die if he went to the palace and ran away.
Rather, Perdes thought, he would have been killed by the Emperor on his way to the palace.
Perdes hated Jack, but that didn't mean he wanted him dead.
Moreover, when talking with the Emperor, it seemed like Jack had told him only a small part.
There was no mention of Perdes pretending to be an idiot or anything like that.
When he thinks about it, he doesn't think it's a complete betrayal, so he can't send him away.
But time passed by in an awkward and uneasy state, as if he was not good at keeping him around.
Perdes needs to make a decision soon, but what should he do?
“Do you have something to say to me, Perdes?”
“...You won’t betray me, will you, Jack?”
Out of frustration, he ended up telling the truth without realizing it.
"Sure."
Even though it was a sudden question, Jack answered as if he was asking something so obvious.
“I will never betray you, Perdes.”
"...Yew."
Perdes sighed deeply and turned his head away, feeling foolish for taking comfort in those words that might be false.
***
One day in mid-July, when the warm sunlight was ripe.
The investiture ceremony for new knights, one of the major annual events of the Order of Leopold, was held.
There are a total of 12 new recruits joining this year, all of whom are rookies who have just graduated from the academy.
“Why didn’t you hire a single experienced engineer?”
“From what I heard, only two experienced people applied, so I guess there were some problems with all of them.”
“Oh my, there are noticeably fewer applicants this year.”
“There’s nothing I can do. His Excellency the Duke is away...”
The knights who had been clamoring all fell silent when Aldor appeared, dressed in knightly attire.
The uniform of the Knights of Leopold was a deep red color symbolizing the red dragon.
People who had never seen this knight's uniform were reluctant to wear it, thinking that it reminded them of blood, but when they actually saw it in person, they were amazed at how cool it was.
In particular, this knightly uniform matched Aldor's dazzling silver hair so well that it seemed like it was made just for him.
Not only the knights but also the servants and officials who came to watch the investiture ceremony looked at Aldor in half-fascination.
“...!”
"Oh my God."
The reason why everyone was surprised was because Adele appeared behind Aldor.
Adele's red hair was tied high in a ponytail and she was wearing the uniform of Leopold's knights.
She had a sword on her waist, so anyone who saw her would know that she was a knight.
The cloak that fluttered every time she walked could only be worn by Commodore Leopold.
The insignia she wore on her lapel also belonged to Commander Leopold.
It was absurd that Adele appeared in knightly uniforms, but the people who discovered them were even more embarrassed.
They were also curious.
Adele, standing on top of the stage with everyone's attention on her, looked down at the knights who were standing upright, even in surprise.
The knights swallowed dry saliva without realizing it as they faced green eyes that were as fresh as summer greenery and seemed to see through everything.
“Lord Aldor.”
When Adele called his name, Aldor came forward as if he had been waiting and bowed respectfully before Adele.
“God, Aldor Shanktis, and the young lady of the Duke, Adele Leopold.”
Aldor emphasized the last name ‘Leopold’.
The existing knights, who immediately noticed why Aldor was doing that, all bowed down.
“Meeting with the Lady Adele Leopold.”
The Knights of Leopold were an order of knights who were loyal to and worked for the Duke.
And Adele Leopold was the only blood relative of Duke Leopold.
That is, whether she was the commander of the knights or not, she was someone the knights had to be loyal to.
Even daring to question it was an impure act for a knight.
The new knights, who realized this fact too late, bowed all at once.
“Meet the Lady Adele Leopold!”
The roaring sounds of the knights pierced the training hall and echoed loudly throughout the Duke's residence.
The warm sunlight shone dazzlingly on the knight's uniform, which was even redder than his own.
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