ENGDB 15

Chapter 15

‘Or maybe since it looks like a kestrel… Kestrel?’

Even the captain bird, who had been rubbing against Whitey nonstop, suddenly froze at Whitey’s naming sense and could no longer act cute.

Calid was also so shocked by Whitey’s terrible naming ability that he could not react at all.

Before an even more tragic name appeared, Calid felt a sense of duty to save the bird and hurriedly blurted out a name.

“Gray. Gray sounds good.”

‘Hmm? Gray? But the captain bird isn’t gray…. Wouldn’t Brownie be better? Well— Gray isn’t bad either!’

“Ahem-.”

“T-Then from now on, we’ll call this one Gray.”

The captain bird, Gray, was about to cry out in dissatisfaction at Calid’s lazy-sounding name.

But after hearing the second delicious-sounding name Whitey suggested, it immediately swallowed its complaints.

It was a relatively satisfying name for everyone.

Having completely adapted to her new life, Irene was enjoying her happy ghost life.

Recently, led by the messenger bird captain Gray, she had unexpectedly begun expanding her connections with various animals.

Some animals that could recognize Irene would occasionally visit and stay beside her for a while before leaving again.

‘Even in my previous life, animals liked me, but not to this extent….’

She did not know why, but seeing cute animals every day made her heart feel warm and healed.

And after spending several lazy days like a carefree grasshopper reading books beside Calid while he worked—

Perhaps because things had become stable, she suddenly began understanding the conversations between Calid and his retainers.

Then, after secretly glancing at their reports, she tilted her head.

‘Hmm…. I think that part is wrong?’

‘Wait, the quantity there seems to be written incorrectly too?!’

‘Rather than using that method, wouldn’t it be better to….’

Once Irene’s attention became caught by the reports, she could no longer focus on her book.

‘Ugh-. I want to tell them. I want to fix the wrong parts!’

Unable to help because she was a ghost, Irene fidgeted helplessly in frustration.

“Hmm…. The quantity in this section is incorrect. And this method is not very efficient. Rather….”

‘That’s right, Calid! As expected, you didn’t become a Grand Duke for nothing!’

Irene naturally nodded while listening to Calid carefully point out and fix every issue.

At the same time, seeing him notice things she had not even considered made her look at him differently once again.

‘Wow-. Calid really knows everything? He mastered knowledge in so many fields for the sake of the territory. You’re such an amazing lord, Calid!’

“Ahem-.”

‘?’

While enthusiastically explaining things to the retainers, Calid’s ears quietly turned red from embarrassment.

But Irene failed to notice.

After that, Irene unknowingly began helping Calid’s work little by little by muttering corrections and offering opinions whenever she spotted mistakes.

‘No matter how I think about it, Calid and I really think alike. How does he always think exactly what I’m thinking? That’s amazing.’

“Cough….”

Every day, Irene became so full of excitement and pride that she even began looking forward to the meetings.

Sometimes she unknowingly hummed songs to herself.

‘Though Whitey is a ghost, she worked hard every day.
And became helpful to the retainers and Calid.
Shaba shaba hi shaba.
How exciting this is.
Shaba shaba hi shaba.
Hardworking unpaid Whitey with too much work.’

“…….”

‘Under the blue sky, in the office filled with dreams,
all the retainers are holding their heads and crying.
With faces gloomy like rain,
sweat drops drip drip drip drip,
their frowning faces are completely scrunched up….’

“Pfft….”

After humming for quite a while, Irene suddenly stopped when the surroundings became strangely quiet and looked around.

Then she saw Calid right beside her with his head lowered, trembling slightly.

Irene jumped in shock at the unusual sight.

‘Calid?’

Thinking something serious had happened, Irene hurried toward him.

But her vision was quickly blocked by stacks of paper documents.

Still, who was she?

A ghost.

She slowly passed through the documents and peeked at Calid’s face.

There she saw Calid pressing his lips tightly into a straight line while frowning seriously.

Flinch.

But the more she looked, the more it seemed like he was holding back laughter.

His face was slightly red, and the corners of his tightly shut lips trembled faintly.

“Ahem…!”

‘Why… is he acting like this?’

Completely confused, Irene suddenly straightened up from the desk.

Then, after remembering the strange feeling she had sensed from Calid these past few days, her eyes widened with realization.

‘Don’t tell me…. He can hear my voice?!’

Calid, who had been desperately holding back his laughter, flinched so hard that anyone could tell he was startled.

‘Really?!’

Irene immediately caught his reaction.

‘Calid, can you really hear my voice?’

Even though she was a ghost, Irene moved so quickly that it almost sounded like wind.

Faced with her confident tone, Calid became visibly restless and could only smile awkwardly.

Seeing that, Irene felt as though her nonexistent heart was pounding wildly.

‘Oh my god…! He really can hear my voice!’

Irene jumped around excitedly while cheering in joy.

Calid, who had been making a troubled expression, finally gave up and nodded with a helpless smile.

But he still could not stop the ongoing work.

So Calid remained in his seat and tried focusing on the retainers’ reports.

“This time, to celebrate Your Highness’s return, we plan to keep the knights’ training simple by climbing Rapion’s Beard.”

‘Calid- if you can hear my voice, write a memo here! Caaaliddd-.’

“…Proceed with that plan. Compared to the battlefield, Rapion’s Beard should feel like eating cold stew.”

Rapion’s Beard was the highest and most dangerous mountain in the North.

It was also the place where the first wolf clan leader slaughtered all the monsters that fled northward.

The narrow snow-covered path resembled a beard, so it was named Rapion’s Beard after him.

Even now, monsters occasionally hid there secretly, so extermination missions continued regularly.

“Yes. We’ll proceed like that.”

‘Calid? So this is how you want to act, huh?’

Irene became anxious.

What if she had misunderstood everything?

What if she lost the only being capable of communicating with her forever?

Afraid of that, she clung to Calid even more desperately, trying to force a reaction out of him.

Calid stubbornly ignored the angry Whitey and continued working.

“Next.”

“Your Highness. The Ametrine Merchant Company has delivered every single highest-quality item….”

‘Everyone! Please listen to the story of this unfair ghost who is also a resident of the North and a member of this castle!’

“Wait…!”

“Yes?”

‘…….’

Startled by Whitey suddenly shouting loudly, Calid reflexively turned his gaze toward her.

Despite Whitey’s hopeful gestures, Calid looked away again and continued the meeting.

“…Nothing. Continue.”

“…Yes. Everything has arrived, and soon the manager will visit the castle….”

‘Look at this! The lord and master of the Grand Duke’s castle is ignoring the poor ghost again!’

“…Enough!”

“…….”

The moment Sebastian began his report, Whitey shouted loudly again, causing Calid to glare at her fiercely.

‘Hmph-. So what if you glare like that? Do you think I’ll get scared? Then stop ignoring me!’

Watching Whitey grumble and pout, Calid realized continuing work today was impossible.

“Haah…. Sebastian. Handle the rest yourself. And we’ll end things here for today.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

Sebastian looked worriedly at his master, who seemed unusually distracted today and suddenly ended the meeting early.

But Calid was too focused on the pouting Whitey to notice that concern.

In the end, Calid moved to the bedroom and locked the door behind him.

Then he sat down in front of a small table.

Looking at Whitey, he silently gestured toward the chair across from him.

Seeing Calid no longer smiling and looking genuinely upset, Irene finally realized she might have gone a little too far.

Still, it clearly was not something that had only started today.

If she had not stubbornly forced the issue now, someone with Calid’s personality might have kept hiding it forever.

…Though she still felt sorry.

‘Um….’

“Um….”

‘Ah… no. You speak first, Calid.’

When their words overlapped, Whitey shrank back in surprise and instantly became depressed.

Seeing that, Calid immediately lost all desire to scold her.

“First of all, I was not trying to ignore you, Whitey. It’s just that there are too many eyes around us. I planned to talk properly when we were alone.”

‘Ah…. I was just so happy that you could hear my voice…. I wasn’t trying to make things difficult for you. I’m sorry. Don’t be angry.’