In the thick darkness, only the red eyes burned like flames.
He nodded only once with a bored expression.
"Countess Asha Delmore has requested a communication connection."
"What?"
Carcel's eyes, which had looked almost emotionless just moments ago, instantly came alive.
Matt was dumbfounded that his boss, who had always given only monosyllabic answers, had suddenly become so lively, but he asked obediently.
“Would you like to allow a communication connection?”
“Connect right now.”
Because I might quit!
Becoming anxious, Carcel stared intently at the state-of-the-art magic communication device placed in front of him.
It was a good decision to buy a magic communicator, of which there are only a few in the Empire.
If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have heard Asha's voice directly in his office!
Soon, communication was established, and Carcel's magic communicator vibrated.
Before the vibration had even stopped, he hurriedly picked up the receiver and answered the call.
[Hello?]
At the sound of Asha's voice coming from the other end of the magic communication device, Carcel pressed his hands firmly against his temples for a moment.
I missed her.
That lively voice of hers.
[Can't you hear me well?]
Overwhelmed with emotion, his response was slow, so Asha spoke to him again.
Carcel answered hurriedly.
“I’m listening.”
[I didn't bother you while you were busy, did I?]
"I have plenty of time, so feel free to use my time as much as you like."
Of course, Matt’s expression instantly crumpled as he entered to get approval, struggling with a pile of stacked documents after allowing the communication connection.
Carcel even gestured to Matt as if to tell him to leave!
Matt left the room, muttering curses about his boss out of sight.
Asha asked gently over the phone.
[It's nothing else, but would you like to meet up briefly tomorrow?]
“When is a good time?”
[Hmm. I have to receive Linea's dress in the morning to check if the size fits, so I'll have time in the afternoon.]
Carcel answered her without even breathing as she asked that.
"Of course it happens."
[I’m glad.]
Matt rushed in front of Carcel as he was saying that and tried hard to silently convey something.
Carcel gazed at Matt indifferently and tried to add at least one more word to Asha.
"Did Asha have a good day today?"
Matt looked at his boss with disdain this time, who was somehow managing to keep the communication going rather than cutting it off, even though he had urgent news to deliver.
He soon lost even the will to deliver it and trudged out of the office.
Fortunately, Asha answered Carcel's words obediently.
[I think so.]
“Have you eaten?”
[I went to a restaurant called Oliveto in Lombardy this morning, and it was delicious.]
At those words, Carcel's eyebrows furrowed slightly for a moment.
"May I ask... who you went with?"
[I went out to eat with Linea for a tea party this afternoon. I promised to treat Carcel to an expensive meal, so I also wanted to take the opportunity to check if the restaurant we were going to was good.]
Only then did Carcel's expression relax.
He couldn't help but feel a tickling sensation in his heart at the mention that she had personally visited the date spot to check the taste of the food.
Because she was cute, Carcel bit his lip tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.
'This is driving me crazy.'
His heart was pounding inside, worried that she might have gone with another man.
The fact that someone had gone to such lengths for him came as a huge blow to Carcel.
"Then, shall we go to that restaurant together tomorrow?"
[That's fine too. Do you like meat? They sell alcohol in the evenings, too.]
“I like it.”
He didn't know if the thing she referred to as liking was meat or Asha, but as long as he went with her, it seemed like it wouldn't matter even if that place was hell.
[Okay. I also have something to ask you tomorrow regarding what you said last time.]
"About trading Asha's time for my connections?"
[It’s not necessarily just a calculated talk. You’ll see once you come.]
At those words, Carcel smiled affectionately.
He never really knew what a smile was or why it was necessary his whole life.
Lately, whenever he thinks of Asha, a giggle just keeps creeping out of his mouth.
So he confessed his honest feelings.
“I miss you.”
[...]
At those words, Asha was silent for a moment.
Thinking the call might have been disconnected, Carcel asked again.
"No? Are you okay?"
[...Uh, yes. Then I’ll make a reservation for tomorrow at 6 PM, so shall we meet at Oliveto?]
"I will come pick you up."
[It's okay. I'll go.]
Carcel nodded.
"Then, please take care on your way. If you need any other help, feel free to contact me anytime."
[Yes. See you tomorrow.]
"I wish tomorrow would come soon."
Asha let out a small, awkward laugh over the phone.
At that laughter, Carcel contorted his face and didn't know what to do.
He just liked Asha.
'Ha, cute.'
Carcel felt a tickling sensation in his chest for no reason, as if it were filled with foam, so he ran his fingers through his hair haphazardly.
He wanted to go see Asha right away.
[Then I'll hang up.]
Carcel did not cut off communication first.
He's just happy that Asha is connected through this magic communication device.
Soon, she cut off the communication first.
"May I come in now?"
Matt, noticing that the communication had been cut off, poked his head out and asked.
As soon as Carcel saw Matt, his eyes turned dead again, and he nodded.
“Why do you do that?”
"Urgent news just came in."
That's not a good thing to say.
Carcel frowned as he thought about his date with Asha tomorrow.
"No way."
"Yes. You are right. They say a monster has appeared near the capital."
“That’s unusual.”
"They desperately need your help, Duke."
Carcel had two titles.
Marquis Rivandel, a figure who usually reveals himself in high society.
Duke Lakan as the Empire's Inspector and Guardian Sword.
When he was Duke Lakan, he had to hide his identity, so he always had to wear a silver mask to prevent anyone from guessing his appearance.
As an inspector, Carcel rooted out internal spies and controlled information from the intelligence guild.
In addition, if there is one more role as a guardian of the empire, it is to exterminate monsters.
Recently, however, the monsters have been cleared out to some extent.
Lately, there have been unusually frequent reports of monsters appearing in unexpected places.
“I’m leaving today.”
"There is still a backlog of documents that need to be approved."
"I'll take care of that today as well, and leave as soon as it's finished."
"Your Excellency, it is a distance that takes three hours just to travel."
"So we have to go even if we have to stay up all night. Drag some wizards from the Magic Tower and set up a teleportation device."
Because he has to go on a date.
If he moves tomorrow to defeat the monsters and return, he might end up being late.
Carcel intended to beat the monsters to death with his bare hands throughout the night.
He could never let Asha smell blood.
He had to come home, purify himself with a reverent bath, and go see her.
"Hand over the documents, and you prepare to move."
"Understood."
Matt staggered toward his colleagues outside who would hear this unfortunate news.
Even if we assume that Carcel grew up in a place that was practically a battlefield where monster extermination battles took place.
The aides were nothing more than ordinary office workers.
“Overtime confirmed.”
As Matt delivered the message with a forced smile on his listless face, the aides let out a silent scream.
Everyone was shouting, "Please, tell him to get married, or at least date!"
It was the sorrow of office workers who could not keep up with the stamina of Carcel, who was close to a workaholic because he naturally did nothing but work since he had no family.
Fortunately, they didn’t yet know that he would soon have a wife and become the kind of man who would only think about going home.
The aides began to focus again today on the political affairs piled up to the brim.
***
I woke up early in the morning and received the dress delivery first.
The one designated for 9 AM.
"That's a relief. She's still sleeping."
It was thanks to knowing my mother-in-law's schedule, who was still sleeping, because the party the day before had ended close to 3 a.m.
Thanks to having built up some rapport with Linea yesterday, unlike before, she let me into her room when I knocked on the door.
"You kept the doll safe, didn't you?"
A doll was placed deep inside the closet, as if it were hidden, when I opened it to put Linea's new dresses.
When I asked, Linea nodded shyly.
"Then why did you hide it? You could have played with it!"
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